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Feb. 29 - Mar. 6, 2024
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Library and condominium project meeting, page 2
Wings Over Water NW Birding Festival, page 5
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Rally for paraeducators held in Olympia, page 10
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue to hold hearing on levy proposal By Grace McCarthy
(See NWFR, page 2)
s Developers of Creekside at The Ridge, a proposed 49-acre manufactured home park in east Blaine, presented their project idea during a community meeting at Blaine Harbor Boating Center on February 27. The project would create about 150 modern-designed manufactured homes with attached stick-built garages and a clubhouse offering recreation spaces. Photo by Louise Mugar
Modern design unveiled for proposed east Blaine manufactured home park By Grace McCarthy East Blaine developers unveiled their proposal for a luxury manufactured home park during a February 27 community meeting, signifying the first time the developers presented the project after over a year of arduous debate in planning commission and city council on whether manufactured home parks should be allowed in east Blaine. JIJ Corporation owners Skip and Katie Jansen, who are developing the project, along with Craig Parkinson, principal engineer at Cascade Engineering Group,
provided project details to a group of people packed into the Blaine Harbor Boating Center during the Tuesday morning meeting. Two officers monitored the room, which has become common after several altercations at city council, but conversations remained civil. “We didn’t want this to look like a traditional manufactured home so we brought in a designer who specializes in more of a modern look,” Skip said. “We’re creating a product that you probably won’t see anywhere else, at least currently. We’re pushing the envelope.” The proposal, called Creekside at The
Leu, Ford resign from Blaine school board By Nolan Baker In a whirlwind week for the Blaine school board, board president Don Leu and member Ryan Ford both resigned from their respective positions just weeks into their elected terms. Leu, who has served on the board since 2022 and was recently appointed board president, resigned from his position due to unspecified health reasons, effective February 22.
Ford, who was elected to the board in the November election, officially resigned on February 21 to spend more time with his wife who is battling cancer and five children. The three remaining school board members unanimously appointed Cliff Freeman, who was elected in November, as board president. Per district policy, the board has 90 days to appoint two new members to replace the departing members, and school district
superintendent Christopher Granger said interviews are planned be held March 15. More information on how to apply will be released in the following days. “I appreciate that I had the pleasure to work in collaboration with both of these gentlemen, albeit for a short time,” Granger wrote in an email to The Northern Light. “They both care deeply about education and the community and have said they (See School, page 7)
Ridge, would be a gated community of 145-155 manufactured homes and a clubhouse within the Jansens’ upcoming East Harbor Hills subdivision, north of H Street Road and east of North Harvey Road. Creekside would have modern-designed homes with attached two-car garages surrounded by trails and natural landscaping. The homes would be about 1,200 to 2,000 square feet, excluding the stick-built garages, and average about three bedrooms, Skip said. There would (See Homes, page 7)
INSIDE
North Whatcom Fire and Rescue (NWFR) is holding a public hearing on a proposal to put a fire levy lid lift on the August primary election ballots at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6. If approved, this would be the district’s first levy increase in nearly 20 years. The NWFR Board of Fire Commissioners will hold the hearing at Station 61, 9408 Odell Road in Blaine, and remotely on Zoom. The Zoom link is expected to be posted on the NWFR website ahead of the meeting. The district proposes increasing the levy, which pays for daily operations and construction projects, by $0.34 per $1,000 of assessed property value, from $0.76 to $1.10 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The levy lid lift would cost the owner of a $500,000 home about $14.16 more per month, or $170 more annually, according to the fire district. After hearing public testimony, fire commissioners will vote on whether to include the levy proposal in the August primary election during their next regular board meeting at 10:30 a.m. Thursday, March 21 at the Blaine station. NWFR chief Jason Van Der Veen and fire commissioners have repeatedly said over the past few years that the amount the district collects in property taxes is not keeping up with increased costs, pushing the district into a tough financial situation that could lead to reduced services, longer response times and potentially losing firefighters not being paid at the market rate. “We’re trying to do more with less but our levy rate has just become unsustainable,” he said. “In order for us to maintain services, we’ll need to increase our levy.” In addition to rising expenses, NWFR call volumes have nearly doubled the past 10 years, with overlapping calls occurring 30 percent of the time. In 2023, NWFR responded to over 5,750 calls, 71 percent of which were EMS. Just over half of the district’s budget
Coming Up . . . . . 14 Classifieds . . 11, 12 Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Police . . . . . . . . . 14 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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