April 2015
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ISSUE
Check out the design of the new library, page 5
ECRWSS PRSRT STD U.S. Postage PAID Permit No. 14
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Dealer in animal parts jailed, page 7
Louws to speak at voter AGM, page 16
Point Roberts, WA 98281 Postal Patron Local
Commissioners An apple a day... agree to bump radio budget By Meg Olson A new study that gives a clear picture of the communications challenges faced by members of the local fire department has prompted fire commissioners to raise the limit on a spending fix. At their March 11 meeting fire commissioners unanimously approved increasing fire chief Christopher Carleton’s spending authority for communications improvements from $50,000 to $70,000. “It’s not a small amount of money and we do have it in our capital reserves, but if we don’t have communications we don’t have emergency services.” The recent radio study, prepared by Palidor radio communications consultants for NW Communications, compared reception on the Point under the current system, in which signals come from the top of Galbraith Mountain to pagers and radios used by department members, to the proposed new system that would put antennas on the Whidbey Telecom tower. A series of graphics showed poor coverage in red and yellow, and good coverage in green. With Point Roberts firefighters’ portable radios sending a signal to dispatchers through the Galbraith site, three quarters of Point Roberts came up red or yellow, which Carleton called “basically dead spots.” Carleton said department members on scene at an emergency either will not reach dispatchers or “if we do, they won’t understand us,” hampering requests for backup, calls for a helicopter and consultations with physicians. The more powerful radios in the department vehicles have a better chance of clear communications, but coverage on the northwest side of the Point is still poor. With a signal from dispatch to activate firefighters’ pagers coming through the Galbraith site, the picture was a little better, but not good, with half the Point red (See Fire, page 2)
s Local musician and singer George Wright, accompanied by Brewster’s Fine Foods owner Richard Procter, entertained diners at the recent cider tasting dinner held at the restaurant. Story, page 10.
Photo by Louise Mugar
Tower opponents looking to replenish legal chest By Meg Olson As the Cross Border Coalition to Stop the Radio Towers heads into round three in their opposition to a proposed tower farm on the corner of Tyee Drive and McKenzie Way, they are rallying the troops. “We need people to come out to events, we need people to donate,” said coalition member Jennifer Urquhart. At the March 10 meeting of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Commit-
tee (PRCAC) Arthur Reber reported on the latest move by BBC Broadcasting Inc., which has applied to build the array of five AM radio transmission towers. The county hearing examiner first denied the company’s application because the towers did not meet height restrictions and no exemption to those rules exists in county code. Whatcom County Council upheld that decision and the applicants have now appealed it to Skagit County Superior Court. “They are using the Land Use Petition
Legislative push appears to run out of gas By Meg Olson Legislation to loosen up how Point Roberts and other border towns can spend their gas tax dollars appears to be stalled in the state legislature, and members of the Point Roberts Community Advisory Committee (PRCAC) are urging people to write to their elected representatives. For the past two years, PRCAC, along with the taxpayers and voters associations, has been pursuing a small change in state code that could allow a more flexible use
of the funds for more than just “road construction and maintenance” and would include a wider range of transportation-related projects. At the top of the group’s list is a late-afternoon bus from Blaine schools so local students can participate in team sports and other extracurricular activities. “This would really be fantastic for those kids and families,” said PRCAC chair Joel Lantz. Blaine school district doesn’t have the funds for the bus but has agreed to run it
if the county-collected Point Roberts gas tax could be used, according to Point Roberts Taxpayers Association president Mark Robbins. Currently the tax is collecting approximately $8,000 per month, said former PRCAC chair Arthur Reber, and approximately $750,000 is in the Point Roberts Transportation Benefit District (TBD) fund. The cost for the school district to make the bus available and operate the (See Gas tax, page 6)
Act which allows them to say the use of the land is being inappropriately interpreted by Whatcom County,” Reber said. “The process is long, it’s painful and it’s expensive.” While Whatcom County attorneys will defend the council decision as the appeal moves forward, Reber said the coalition was determined to have their own attorney (See Towers, page 3)
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Church ............................................. 15 Classifieds ......................................... 17 Coming Up ....................................... 14 Crossings ............................................ 2 Obituary ........................................... 18 Opinion ............................................... 4 Seniors, Library ............................... 18 Tides ................................................. 12