November 2022
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Whatcom County Council roundup, page 4
Big increase in tax assessment? Page 8
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Hospital board Rockin’ the Reef! turns down extension request B y P a t G r u bb A request by SuperTrack to extend the term of its contract with the Point Roberts hospital district was rejected by the board of commissioners at their regular meeting on October 12. SuperTrack is the medical services provider that operates the Point Roberts Clinic on Benson Road. Commissioners Stephen Falk and Sara Oggel voted against the motion while Noel Newbold voted in favor. At the August board meeting, SuperTrack co-owner Dr. Sean Bozorgzad had raised the issue of changing the one-year renewal period to two-years. The current contract went from 1/1/21 until 12/31/22 with an automatic one-year renewal if neither party gave notice of non-renewal six months before the end of the term; as no one gave notice, the contract was automatically extended until 12/31/23. Bozorgzad told the board that all of their medical providers are on one-year contracts and it would expose their company to liability should SuperTrack lose the contract and had no work for the providers. Hospital district superintendent Barbara Wayland pointed out that recruiting is the biggest issue facing the healthcare industry and “if we can make it easier for our provider to recruit people, it’s a win-win situation.” Bozorgzad agreed with that assessment and added it would mean the two parties wouldn’t need to go through the same process each year. Falk’s response to the proposal was twopronged. First was technical – he did not see how changing the length of the renewal period would be a complete solution for SuperTrack. He restated this argument in an email dated October 26 to the All Point Bulletin where he wrote: “It seems to me that the proposed change to a 2-year renewal period would only provide minimal benefit regarding the hiring issue because, while the first part of the renewal term could completely encompass the employment contract period, the second em(See Hospital, page 6)
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WEEKLY NEWS BULLETIN
s The Apple Harvest Festival ended on a rocking note with the band, The Point, playing at the Reef on Sunday night, October 9.
Photo by Louise Mugar
Green waste tops list of community concerns B y P a t G r u bb The second of two town halls organized by the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) to discuss the curbside trash pickup system attracted a larger crowd of around 25 people either in person or on Zoom then the first town hall that just 17 people attended, five of whom were PRCAC board members or media. The meetings were held at the Gulf Road community center on October 16 and October 22. The point of the town halls was to discuss the current curbside trash program as the contract between Whatcom County and the provider, Cando Recycling
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and Disposal, is coming up for renewal. The current term ends on December 31, 2022; the original contract has been extended four times since the original contract was signed in 2018. The town hall meetings were scheduled during PRCAC’s regular meeting in September. During that meeting, PRCAC chair Alli Calder read an email from county environmental specialist Jennifer Hayden who advised the committee that the health department would not be sending a representative to the meetings. Hayden wrote, “I shall not be available to attend a townhall meeting. The solid waste system that was implemented to (See Town hall, page 7)
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Inside
Church ............................................. 10 Classifieds ......................................... 16 Coming Up ....................................... 18 Crossings ............................................ 3 Obituaries ......................................... 17 Opinion ............................................... 6 Sheriffs, Libary................................. 17 Tides ................................................. 13