December 2024
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Parks sets 2025 calendar, page 7
Port OKs contract for Point Roberts strategy
Democrats prevail in county, page 8
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Whooping cough cases soar, page 10
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
It was a Super Beaver Moon!
B y P a t G r u bb Port of Bellingham commissioners have authorized a contract to create an economic development strategy for Point Roberts to help its recovery from lingering post-pandemic effects. The board approved the staff recommended project at its November 5 regular Tuesday meeting. Three companies had competed for the contract: the winning bid was entered by Maul, Foster and Alonghi (MFA), a large consulting firm with offices in Bellingham and seven other locations in Washington, Oregon and Idaho. MFA has done previous studies for the Port and was recently selected to perform an inventory and strategic study of Whatcom County industrial lands as part of the county’s comprehensive plan update due by the end of 2025. The bid was accepted for a price of $89,900. The two other firms bidding on the job included a local group headed by David Stumpo, president of Aptrex Institute. Stumpo’s expertise and experience lies mostly in transit operations and other group members included local community members Brian Calder, International Marketplace owner Ali Hayton and former water district manager Dan Bourks. Two other consultants based in California and Maryland rounded out the Aptrex group. The Altrex proposal would have cost $138,950. The other firm submitting a bid was Greenhouse South LLC located in Puerto Rico and North Dakota. The firm’s estimated total cost for the project was $35,000. The three bids were evaluated on a scoring matrix that compared the three plans on various measures with a total possible score of 100 points. MFA received 98 points followed by Greenhouse with 69 and Aptrex with 43. Measures included local knowledge, engaging with local stakeholders, economic and market analyses, strategic planning, costs and budget and others. Interesting, one of the data points considered whether the proposal identified “creative solutions to reducing travel costs to this difficult to reach community.” Both (See Port, (24No) page 2) tjohnson;Seattle;Clean Air Comfort Systems;C33432;10x2-4c
s The last Super Moon of 2024 on November 15 was also a Beaver moon and accompanied by a 22° halo, also known as a moon or storm ring. Moon rings were thought to be harbingers of coming storms as they appear when the sky is covered by thin cirrus or cirrostratus clouds that often come a few days before a large storm front. Five days later, the bomb cyclone hit. Coincidence? You decide. The planet Jupiter can be seen to the bottom left of the super moon. Photo by Pat Grubb
School bond falls short By Nolan Baker For the second time in 10 months, the Blaine school district’s proposed $70 million general obligation bond failed to reach the required 60 percent supermajority threshold at the ballot box, and the district will again look to find solutions to various aging infrastructure in the new year, district superintendent Christopher Granger said. According to the most recent vote tal-
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lies from the November general election, by the Whatcom County auditor, 11,872 Blaine, Birch Bay and Point Roberts residents voted on the bond measure, with 55.9 percent (6,584) voting to approve, and 44.1 percent (5,204) voting against the property tax. If passed, the bond would have gone toward infrastructure improvements, mainly financing the construction of a new middle school, upgrades to multiple campus buildings, updates to Pipeline Fields ath(See Bond, page 3)
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