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All Point Bulletin • January 2022
YIR ... From page 7
Roberts as a cross-border vaccination site for Canadians to boost the local economy while helping out our Northern neighbors. • Bellingham Whatcom County Tourism president and CEO Sandy Ward visited the Point looking to help with short and long term solutions to the community’s economic challenges. • County parks was able to hire seasonal staff for Lighthouse Marine Park and eyed the possibility of opening the campground even if the border stayed closed. • The chamber of commerce chose to withdraw from PRCAC and the committee voted to ask the county to change the makeup of the committee to five at-large members chosen in an informal community election and representatives from the two remaining organizations – taxpayers’ and voters’ associations. • A total 664 people had received their Covid-19 vaccinations through the program run jointly by the fire department and the clinic. • Working with engineers and a project contractor, Trinity Lutheran Church came up with a $400,000 plan to stabilize the building. Fundraising picked up steam from both sides of the border, with $13,000 of the $200,000 needed to start the project raised. The sanctuary is closed until the work is complete. • The Centers for Disease Control advised Americans not to travel to Canada, even if vaccinated. • The Point Roberts health clinic began offering service seven days a week, three days open on-site, two days of telemedicine through the local clinic and weekend coverage via telemedicine through the Bellingham SuperTrack clinic • Owners of central Point Roberts properties issued violations by the county for unpermitted road building said that they were working on a farm. June • A proposal by local fire chief Christopher Carleton to vaccinate Canadians in Point Roberts was turned down by B.C. Premier John Horgan. • Sources at the U.S. ports of entry in Blaine told local immigration attorney the U.S. would unilaterally open its border with Canada on June 22. • An Israeli ketch circumnavigating the world had its trip cut short when it ran aground arriving at the Point Roberts Marina. • A petition started by Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce president Brian Calder to use the Point as a pilot project for a controlled reopening the U.S./Canada border garnered over 1,000 signatures from both sides of the border. (See YIR, page 9)
County engineers to evaluate drainage issues on Point By Meg Olson County engineers will be coming to Point Roberts to assess drainage systems for county roads and determine how they might tie into the marina’s private drainage system. Numerous property owners approached the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) with concerns about drainage, leading to a special meeting of the committee on December 3, attended by over 30 community members. “We had a lot of different people coming forward with concerns about the flooding on their property and on roads,” said PRCAC chair Allison Calder. During heavy rainfall in mid-November properties in OceanView Estates, along Edwards Drive and along Gulf Road suffered from flooding. Water was over the roadway at several locations in Point Roberts, including Tyee Drive, Johnson Road, Gulf Road and Edwards Drive. “Most of the water eventually goes into the basins operated by the marina,” Calder said. In an email to Calder and members of county council, Whatcom County engineer Jim Karcher said the county’s legal department has determined that the marina “is fully responsible for maintenance of their drainage system.” An inspection team will be dispatched from the county public works department “to attempt to determine if any system operating deficiencies exist. If system deficiencies are found, the county will make a formal request of the
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marina for correction of the situation.” While Point Roberts Transportation Benefit District (TBD) funds that have been accumulating for lack of an appropriate project could not be used to upgrade the marina’s system, those funds could be used to develop an inventory of drainage infrastructure and a drainage plan for Point Roberts, Karcher reported. The fund grows through a one-cent-per-gallon tax
on gasoline sold in Point Roberts to be used only for transportation-related projects. The balance is over $1 million. “Public works will seek a qualified drainage consultant to evaluate and propose improvements to drainage facilities associated with county roadways at the Point,” Karcher wrote. “This effort would involve PRCAC members, along with maintenance and operations and engineering staff. The timeline for this effort is early January 2022.” Calder said that the drainage plan would “Sort out what part is the marina and what part is the county,” and community participation would be crucial to help identify where drainage infrastructure, often put in many years ago and not on county maps, was located. She added that the newest appointee to PRCAC, Brian Hunter, was coming on board at the right time for this project. Hunter, appointed to PRCAC in November, is a planning and development professional who previously served as the stormwater runoff planner for the state of Hawaii.
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s Top photo: Heavy rains filled the Ocean View Estates lagoon to the brim. Above, the sluice gates.. Courtesy photo
Traffic into Point Roberts for July, August, September and October 2021, with figures for 2020 following. July: Vehicles – 6,581 (14,194); Commercial – 139 (296) August: Vehicles – 9,129 (13,678); Commercial – 149 (316) September: 10,705 (13,509); Commercial – 129 (262) October: : 11,094 (13,772); Commercial – 127 (254)
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