September 5 - 11, 2019
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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
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Public invited to 9/11 memorial service, page 3
Birch Bay hosting new pickleball festival, page 10
Register for free financial literacy course, page 13
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
City receives offer for five acres of Gateway property By Jami Makan
(See Gateway, page 5)
s Visitors enjoyed the sunflower fields at Home Farm UPick & Events on August 24 and 25, when the family-run farm in Birch Bay hosted its first Sunflower Festival featuring face-painting, pony rides, a petting zoo and live music.
Photo courtesy of Jennifer Bogle
Yakima County terminates inmate housing agreement By Jami Makan The Yakima County Department of Corrections has notified the city of Blaine that it is terminating an inmate housing agreement at the end of the current calendar year. Like other cities, Blaine is technically responsible for housing inmates who are convicted of misdemeanors and gross demeanors in its municipal court. These crimes include drunk driving, domestic violence, assault and violations of protection orders. The county, on the other hand, is responsible for housing all inmates convicted of felonies. To meet its obligations, Blaine has historically contracted with Whatcom County for its inmate housing needs. Due to space constraints and other issues at Whatcom County Jail, Blaine has also contracted
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with Yakima County since about 2017. It is unclear why Yakima County has decided to cancel the inmate housing agreement; a call to Yakima County Department of Corrections director Ed Campbell was not returned by press time. However, it is understood that Yakima County is open to the possibility of renegotiating the contract, perhaps for a higher rate. Currently, Yakima County charges the city of Blaine $63.65 per inmate per day, though additional fees apply when medical costs are incurred. Other cities in Whatcom County have also contracted with Yakima County, and have recently received similar termination letters. Whatcom County is currently struggling to house its inmates. According to sheriff Bill Elfo, the Whatcom County Jail in downtown Bellingham was designed for 147 inmates but currently houses about
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212 inmates. The building is having some major structural issues, and “millions of dollars of projects are on the horizon to keep the building functioning,” he said.
INSIDE
The city of Blaine has received an offer for a five-acre commercial parcel that is owned by the city and located on the Gateway property, formerly the site of the Blaine Municipal Airport. On August 16, Larry Leasure of the White-Leasure Development Company wrote to city manager Michael Jones, enclosing an offer to purchase the land for $950,000. According to its website, the Boise, Idaho-based company was formed in 1972 and specializes in the development of retail shopping centers, hotels and other projects. “We are anxious to pursue discussions concerning the said purchase so that we can pursue serious discussions with some national and regional retail and hospitality tenants for the planned retail/commercial property,” wrote Leasure. “We strongly believe that we can bring retail and commercial users that are not presently in your community.” The land sought by the White-Leasure Development Company is adjacent to a 2.5-acre plot of land that is currently the subject of negotiations between the city and Family Care Network (FCN), which hopes to build a new medical center there. In his letter, Leasure wrote that his group is “very supportive” of the proposed medical facility. “If we are successful in pursuing a purchase agreement with the city, we would look forward to working cooperatively with the medical group,” he said. Jones emphasized that the two proposed transactions (with FCN and White-Leasure, respectively) will not interfere with each other. “Both the FCN deal and the White-Leasure deal have the buyer and the seller mutually agreeing on the parcel configuration,” he said. “This means we stay in control of what land we sell, and they stay in control of what land they buy for things like shape, size and location. In two separate deals, we (the city and the buyer) have to agree on the property configuration.” The White-Leasure offer was discussed in an executive session at the August 26 city council meeting. No action was taken following the executive session. Prior to the session, Jones described what would be discussed. “In regards to the sale of real
Letters . . . . . . . . . 4 Sports . . . . . . . . . . 6 Classifieds . . . . . 11 Coming Up . . . . . 14 Sheriff . . . . . . . . . 14 Tides . . . . . . . . . . 14
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