City council pauses east Blaine taxing district study, supports port grant application

Blaine City Council had an agenda-packed meeting on February 13 that resulted in council revising its legislative priorities, asking the city to pause a study on creating a taxing district in east Blaine and supporting the Port of Bellingham’s grant application for a feasibility study on a maritime research institute in Blaine Harbor.

Bell Road project letter

State legislators from the 42nd district wrote a letter to U.S. Department of Transportation secretary Pete Buttigieg asking for support of the Bell Road overpass project. The letter, dated January 26, said the city of Blaine submitted a grant application for the project from the Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity (RAISE) program.

The city is working on the project’s 10 percent design phase and the RAISE funding would allow the city to immediately begin the preliminary engineering and environmental phase, according to the letter.

A U.S. Department of Homeland Security railcar scanner is located near the Bell Road and Peace Portal Drive intersection, which causes traffic congestion as trains are scanned. In 2020, the city decided not to

(See City, page 6) code allows for manufactured homes in east Blaine in areas less than five acres. The city’s planned residential zone runs east of 15th Street to city limits and from the U.S./Canada border to H Street Road.

The Jansens’ next development East Harbor Hills, where they are considering a manufactured home park, is still a ways out from having city council consider its approval. East Harbor Hills will be between The Ridge at Harbor Hills and Grandis Pond.

(See Planning, page 3)

I grew up in Bellingham, attended public schools and graduated from Bellingham High School and then attended Western Washington University. While my profession became teaching my dream was to travel. I received a Fulbright Teacher Exchange opportunity and spent a year in an English Girls’ School in Newcastle England. I then attended Columbia University in New York City and received a master’s degree. I was offered a supervisory position with the military schools in Europe. I really enjoyed the opportunity to travel throughout Europe with that position. My desire for more education brought me back to New York where I received a doctorate degree in education and eventually taught at the City University of New York. At that time, I was invited to be an international representative (NGO) at the United Nations and participated in other organizations relating to women and children such as UNICEF. After my return to Bellingham I grew tired of cooking and housekeeping so I made a decision to move to Solstice Independent Living. After 12 years, I have made no plans to move.