April 20 - 26, 2017
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
IN THIS
ISSUE
Arts and Jazz event raises thousands for BFAA, page 2
Library board OKs buying Birch Bay property
Borderite baseball team suffers first losses, page 6
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Plants your animals should avoid, page 9
Easter egg hunts in Birch Bay reap sweet rewards
By Oliver Lazenby
(See Library, page 13)
s Participants in The C Shop Easter egg hunt revel in their baskets full of treats on April 15. More Easter photos, page 8.
Artifact sampling will slow Birch Bay traffic By Oliver Lazenby Traffic could be slow on Birch Bay Drive through Monday, April 24, because a consultant for Whatcom County is digging pits between Cedar Avenue and Lora Lane to examine the soil for cultural artifacts. The sampling, a necessary review before work begins on the Birch Bay Drive and Pedestrian Facility project (commonly called the berm project), could close one lane of the road on weekdays between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., and drivers should expect minor delays,
according to the Whatcom County Public Works Department. On April 17, the first day of work, Environmental Science Associates Inc. had dug two test pits out of a total of 14 along 1.6 miles of Birch Bay Drive. Once the square pits were cut into the asphalt, both lanes of the road were opened. Chris Lockwood, principal investigator and geo-archaeologist with Environmental Science Associates, said not all the pits would require blocking traffic. The company is digging pits near the planned location of drainage pipes on the onshore side of the
Special election ballots due Tuesday, April 25 B y S t e fa n i e D o n a h u e With just a few days left before the April 25 special election, Whatcom County Auditor Debbie Adelstein is reminding voters to get their ballots in on time. Ballots should be postmarked by April 25 or deposited at an official drop box location by 8 p.m. on election day. Dropoff locations in Blaine and Birch Bay include the Blaine library, located at 610 3rd Street, and North Whatcom Fire and Rescue, located at 4581 Birch Bay–Lynden
Photo by Molly Martin
Road. Ballots can also be dropped off at the Whatcom County Auditor’s office, located at 311 Grand Avenue, suite 103 in Bellingham or at the drop box located in the south parking lot of the Bellingham courthouse, located at 201 Grand Avenue. Voters within Blaine precincts 301, 302, 303 and 304 should all have received ballots by April 14. For those who have yet to receive a ballot, contact the auditor’s office election division at 360/778-5102 between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. On the ballot is the choice of whether
or not to fund the newly formed Transportation Benefit District (TBD) through an increase in Blaine’s sales tax. If approved by a simple majority of voters, the sales tax would go up from 8.5 to 8.7 percent. The .2 percent increase is expected to generate $200,000 in revenue to fund transportation projects for streets, sidewalks and trails for the next 10 years. Lynden, Bellingham and Ferndale have already approved similar measures. (See TBD, page 2)
planned sand and gravel berm. The purpose of the berm project is to restore the natural shoreline in a way that will protect the road from storm damage. It will also include paths, bike lanes and signage to make Birch Bay Drive safer. The county has been working on the project for decades. Early in the sampling process, Lockwood and others from Environmental Science Associates were sorting through sediment onsite and hadn’t yet found much of interest. “We found a couple of chicken and cow (See Berm, page 2)
INSIDE
Though it’s not quite official, it looks like the Vogt property at 7986 Birch Bay Drive will in time become the Birch Bay branch of the Whatcom County Library System (WCLS). The WCLS board of trustees voted unanimously to allow its executive director, Christine Perkins, to sign a purchase agreement for the property once a few minor changes are made to the agreement. The vote took place at the board’s April 18 meeting. “I think that it’s a beautiful property and a beautiful location, and I think the community saw it as the right place for a library,” said board chair Marvin Waschke. “To me, that is more important than anything.” Perkins and a two-member finance committee have been negotiating with the property owners, Gary and Cindy Lou Vogt and their real estate representative, Pat Jerns, since the board’s last meeting on March 28. The Vogts offered the property to the library system or a “Friends of the Library” organization last September, with the hopes that the public use of the property would save the historic building from being bulldozed to build condos. The property’s zoning would allow up to 18 condos. The property is a Birch Bay landmark, and the Vogt family were some of the first white settlers at Birch Bay. The Vogts offered the 0.86-acre property, which includes a 2,135-square-foot Craftsman-style house and two outbuildings, for $750,000. The library system on April 18 requested changes to the sale agreement to give it more flexibility and ensure that it could modify the building to make it a usable library. A memorandum of understanding between the Vogts and WCLS reads, “The buyer agrees to not destroy the home
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