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October 26 - November 1, 2023 Community Newspaper of Blaine and Birch Bay HHHECRWSSHHH Postal Customer
Candidate Q&As, pages 6, 10 and 13
IN THIS
ISSUE
Blaine Community Theater brings “Misery” to life
Blaine sports, page 7
Halloween events, page 14
PRSRT STD U. S. Postage PAID Permit NO. 87 Blaine, WA 98230
Parks and recreation holds fall festival
By Madisun Tobisch
(See Theater, page 5)
s Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2 held its first fall festival at the Birch Bay Activity Center on October 21. The festival, which served as a community appreciation event, had a vendors market, carnival, pickleball, live music and other entertainment. Photo courtesy Celine Mauger/Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation District 2
Council approves text amendment allowing large manufactured home parks in east Blaine By Grace McCarthy Blaine City Council voted 4-0 during its October 23 meeting to approve a text amendment to the city’s planned unit development (PUD) code that will allow large manufactured home parks in east Blaine. The vote comes after over a year of debate in planning commission and council meetings. The dispute surrounding manufactured home parks began after east Blaine developers Skip and Katie Jansen submitted the PUD text amendment request to the city. The Jansens submitted the request in fall 2021 after realizing that, while the city’s zoning code allowed manufactured home parks, the PUD code, which is needed for manufactured home park developments that are five acres or larger, did not. The Jansens have previously said that it would not be fea-
sible to develop a park under five acres. In August 2022, east Blaine residents began voicing their opposition to the text amendment during planning commission meetings, citing various concerns including housing affordability, environmental impacts and traffic problems. After a lengthy and confusing process in planning commission and city council, the planning commission recommended during its September meeting that council approve the text amendment only if the parks were constricted to a smaller area. During its October 9 meeting, city council voted 4-1-2 to hold an October 23 public hearing and consider approving planning commission’s recommendation. However, council changed its tune during its October 23 meeting and voted in support of the city’s recommendation, which was to approve the text amendment without a geographic limitation. Council voted after the public hearing that
Rally planned for proposed B.C. biofuel project B y P a t G r u bb Opponents of a proposed biofuel project that would be built on Semiahmoo First Nation (SFN) land almost within sight of the international Peace Arch will gather at the border crossing on Sunday, October 29 at 1 p.m. The protest is being organized by the Clean Air Alliance – Residents Opposing Biofuel in South Surrey (bit.ly/3S8WLIp). The project first caught the public’s eye following a June 27, announcement of $14.4 million in federal support of a facili-
ty that would convert food scraps from the Lower Mainland into biofuel. According to the SFN, the facility would divert 70,000 tons of food waste from landfills annually. If approved, the facility would be built immediately west of Highway 99 across from the Peace Portal golf club, south of 8 Avenue, and less than 1 kilometer north of the Peace Arch border crossing. The project would be jointly owned by the SFN and Andion Global Inc., a Vancouver-based company that has built over 50 biofuel facilities worldwide. The project
would employ 14 people, preference being given to SFN members. An average of 20 trucks a day would enter and exit the site, according to the proponents. Andion and SFN has entered into an agreement with Fortis BC that would extend a gas pipeline onto the reserve for the first time. Opponents to the project center their objections to four main areas of concern. One, they feel it is located too close to the “unique and fragile ecosystem of the Lit(See Biofuel, page 15)
drew a large group of residents and discussion among members. The majority of the whole council needs to give approval to pass an ordinance, and because councilmembers Garth Baldwin, Eric Davidson and Kerena Higgins were absent, the councilmembers at the meeting needed a unanimous vote. Councilmember Richard May made a motion to not allow manufactured home parks but it failed without support from other councilmembers. May then proposed council allow manufactured home parks in east Blaine and direct staff to later develop stricter geographic limitations, but the motion again failed without any backing. “The project can get going and there would be a geographic limitation drafted by planning commission and staff. Once everyone sees what this first project looks like then various areas could be added back in,” May (See City council, page 3)
INSIDE
Blaine Community Theater’s (BCT) small but dedicated cast and crew take over Blaine High School’s Black Box Theater on Friday, October, 27 for the opening night of “Misery.” Showings will continue for two consecutive weekends, October 27 through Sunday, October 29 and again from Friday, November 3 to Sunday, November 5. Standard tickets are $17.70, with discounts available for students, veterans and seniors. The Friday and Saturday shows start at 7 p.m. and the Sunday matinee begins at 2 p.m. More information about times and pricing is available on BCT’s website at bit.ly/3rL0XDv. While the group prides itself on catering to a family-friendly audience, actress Megan Claire Bradshaw admits things get gory in the latest production. The show is not recommended for audiences under the age of 14. Director Nick McDonald refers to BCT as nomadic because the group’s practice space often rotates. It takes a special kind of actor to be as adaptable as his cast, he said. “We are a rogue theater. We do not have a home, so everybody is kind of … scrappy,” Bradshaw said. “If you’re going to be involved in this sort of thing, you’ve got to be scrappy and have a real passion for it.” The show, which playwright William Goldman adapted for the stage from Stephen King’s 1997 novel, centers around famed author Paul Sheldon, played by BCT newcomer Brennan Krieger. After surviving a car crash, Sheldon finds himself in a remote home, under the care and increasing instability of his biggest fan, Annie Wilkes, played by Bradshaw and her understudy Lori Auriemma. After being involved with theater for most of her life, Bradshaw found BCT in time for last year’s Halloween production of “Wyrd Sisters” and enjoyed her time on stage as well as painting sets and prepping costumes. Krieger is also no stranger to the community theater scene, having performed in his home state of Mississippi and lat-
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