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Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay
March 31 - April 6, 2022
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IN THIS
ISSUE
Vogt letter to the community, page 5
Blaine track and field places at invitational, page 7
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Luxury subdivision coming to Semiahmoo, page 8
Blaine Library supporters continue work on new library By Grace McCarthy
(See Library, page 3)
s State senator Simon Sefzik (R-Ferndale) gave a legislative report to Blaine City Council during its March 28 meeting. Photo by Grace McCarthy
Blaine City Council convenes in-person By Grace McCarthy Blaine City Council convened in council chambers for its March 28 meeting, signaling the start of what will hopefully be a return to normalcy for the city government and members of the public looking to participate in civic meetings. A work-study session on park and traffic impact fees was held before the regular meeting. City finance director Daniel Heverling presented city staff’s recommendations for council to vote on the fees at their next meeting, which would then go into effect August 1. If passed, park impact fees would increase $600, from $1,200 to $1,800, and traffic impact fees would increase nearly $1,000, from $1,558 to $2,500.
Impact fees are one-time charges on development projects to pay for increased demand on public services such as public roadways and parks. Currently, the city of Blaine has low traffic and park impact fees in comparison to other Whatcom County cities. City manager Michael Jones said the city could revisit the fees in the future if it decided the fees were too high. The study session and the regular meeting took place at Blaine City Hall, at 435 Martin Street, as well as virtually through Zoom. All council members and city staff were in attendance except for councilmember Eric Davidson, who was excused, and Stacie Pratschner, who joined remotely from out of town. Audience members and city staff were not required to wear masks in council
Arts and jazz auction makes return for 25th year, volunteers looking for donations By Grace McCarthy Blaine Fine Arts Association volunteers are looking for donations to make the Blaine school district’s 25th annual arts and jazz auction a success. The event will be held 7 p.m. Saturday, April 16 at the performing arts center, 975 H Street. The event will fundraise for scholarships for graduating seniors pursuing a
career in the arts as well as other needs for Blaine’s art, band, choir and theater arts departments. Monetary donations will be accepted after the event, until the end of April, and event organizers will need to have their auction donation list finalized by Friday, April 1. Event organizer Kimberli Shea said the fundraiser is especially important for students having the pandemic limit their
performances for two years. “The students who participate in the arts have had a lot of challenges with their inability to practice and perform so there’s been a loss of opportunity,” she said. “With the funds raised we’re able to provide additional support.” During the pandemic, the fine arts association has covered additional (See Festival, page 2)
chambers. No community members participated in public comment. The regular city council meeting kicked off with state senator Simon Sefzik (R-Ferndale) giving council a wrap-up of the 60-day Washington state legislative session that ended March 10. Sefzik’s five-minute talk focused on the $500,000 in the state’s capital budget that was allocated to fund the east Blaine water pump station and a proposal supported by the city to increase the border gas tax by one cent that failed to pass. He also went over $2 million allocated to the Nooksack Valley school district for flooding relief, $14 million to elevate Slater Road and over $20 million statewide for small-business relief (See Council, page 3)
INSIDE
Friends of Blaine Library (FOBL) is continuing to raise funds for the future Blaine Library while waiting for Whatcom County Library System (WCLS) to give word on what the path forward will look like. The plan for a new Blaine Library building hinges upon what will happen to the future Birch Bay Vogt Community Library. Birch Bay voters didn’t meet a supermajority threshold to establish a taxing district for the future Birch Bay library during elections last November and February. Now, the WCLS is looking at its options for the library that’s estimated to cost $6.5 million on waterfront Birch Bay Drive property. The WCLS board of directors is expected to have more in-depth conversations on the Birch Bay library in June, when the WCLS reviews the maintenance and funding needs for its 11 buildings. Until then, Blaine Library supporters won’t know how the WCLS plans to assist community supporters in getting a new Blaine Library. FOBL vice president Pat Kingshott expects some fundraising guidance from WCLS during their April meeting, but not to have an indication on WCLS’s direction for Blaine until this summer. The group has been fundraising through the pandemic with book sales, both on the WCLS website and during large events such as the Fourth of July and Christmas tree lighting. The group received a funding boost in December, when the Ronald Cyr Estate donated $19,000 to the future Blaine Library. Cyr visited the Blaine library almost every day. In 2020, his estate donated $10,000 to the library, according to WCLS. “Other than that, we’re more or less waiting to see what the move is from Whatcom County Library System and what the move is in Birch Bay,” Kingshott said. “We’re kind of in a holding pattern.”
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