January 2017
IN THIS
ISSUE
www.AllPointBulletin.com
Reno Ranch sold, page 5
Dual citizens hit flying snags, page 2
PRCAC positions shift in 2017
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14
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Vacancies on park commission, page 6
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
The Year in Review issue
By Meg Olson The Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) will have new faces at the table in 2017. Three of the five positions will expire in January 2017 and new committee members will serve a two-year term beginning in February 2017. Heather McPhee replaced Steve Wolff as the representative from the Point Roberts Chamber of Commerce on PRCAC at its December 13 meeting. She will also represent the chamber at the January PRCAC meeting while the chamber board of directors determines who will take the spot for the next term. At the December meeting Ron Clark, representing the Point Roberts Taxpayers Association, announced that he will not be serving another term. The association will choose a replacement for Clark to begin serving at the February PRCAC meeting. The term for one of the at-large positions on the committee, currently held by Keith Glading, also expires in January. The position is appointed by Whatcom County Executive Jack Louws and interested applicants will need to submit an application by January 12, 2017. Information on how to apply is available at wa-whatcomcounty. civicplus.com/1584/How-to-Apply. Glading has applied to serve another term. PRCAC meets monthly on the second Tuesday at 7 p.m. at the community center, advising the county executive on issues of relevance to the Point, and also serving as the Character Plan Advisory Committee. A top priority for the committee in 2017 will be the review of a proposed new character plan, now in draft form. The committee has had discussions about potential changes to the draft in recent months, specifically whether or not to retain a change that would see the proposed new plan apply to residential developments in the commercial core. Whatcom County planner Gary Davis said the county would work with PRCAC to solicit public input and move the proposed new plan towards county council review in 2017. “We don’t really have a time frame at this point but it’s definitely in our work plan for this year,” he said. PRCAC chair Joel Lantz said the draft character plan as well as the current plan are currently on the Point Roberts Registered Voters Association website at prrva. org/usefullinks.html. The county executive’s office is in the process of setting up links to these documents on the county website.
s Trinity Community Choir, conducted by Natasha Neufeld, performed to a full house at Trinity Community Lutheran Church on December 15. Photo by Al B. Conahan
2016
year in
REVIEW
A Look Back at the Year That Just Was
By Meg Olson January • The Cross Border Coalition to Stop the Towers celebrated a hard-fought victory after BBC Broadcasting abandoned its plans to build an array of AM radio towers on the Point. • A flurry of outages prompted Whidbey Telecom to put infrastructure improvement on the fast-track. • The appearance of an unwanted electric water cooler at Baker Field prompted the local parks district to send out an appeal to stop illegal dumping of trash, a problem which has plagued the park. • The fire district’s new $79,000 radio communications system was up and running, eliminating communications dead spots on the Point. • Water sales were high for 2015, but new connections to the water system hit a 20-year low. February • Whatcom County Council unanimously approved a resolution to offer their support for plans to build a lighthouse at Lighthouse Marine Park and establishing their desire for the project to move forward. • With the Canadian dollar hovering around 70 cents local businesses got creative to draw in customers from north of the border. • County parks removed the failed section of the boardwalk at Lighthouse Marine Park and
began the design process for what will replace it. • The fire department torched a donated house on Marine Drive, providing live fire training for department members. • The local Dollars for Scholars met the requirements to return under the umbrella of the national Scholarship America organization and awarded 13 scholarships to local post-secondary students. • Linda Hughes took over the role of chair of the Point Roberts Parks and Recreation District. • A revitalized chamber of commerce board made plans to improve signage and their website. • The Whatcom Marine Mammal Stranding Network determined that a Steller’s sea lion that washed ashore at Lily Point had died from a gunshot wound. • A $1.5 billion Powerball jackpot had lottery hopefuls lining up at local retailers. March • Blackfish Resort submitted a building permit application to Whatcom County five days before the project’s conditional use permit was set to expire. • A buoy outfitted with a fin at Maple Beach set off a stream of reports of a stranded Orca. • The water district started crafting a policy that would allow people to abandon their water connection. • The parks district turned to the public for input on how to make up the shortfall in funding to turn the Julius fire station into a new library after project costs came in over the $540,000 the
Friends of the Point Roberts Library had raised. • San Juan Airlines resumed service to Point Roberts after soggy conditions on the grass landing strip led them to suspend operations. • Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputy Ian Johnson started his two-year assignment as one of the Point’s resident deputies. • Continuing erosion led county parks to consider whether the Cedar Point Avenue entrance to Lily Point could be reopened.
(See Year in Review, page 6)
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Inside
Church ............................................. 14 Classifieds ......................................... 17 Coming Up ....................................... 15 Crossings .......................................... 16 Opinion ............................................... 4 Seniors ............................................. 18 Tides ................................................. 18