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Letters
The Northern Light is published weekly by Point Roberts Press Inc.
Locally owned and managed, the company also publishes the All Point Bulletin, covering Point Roberts, Mount Baker Experience, covering the Mt. Baker foothills area, Pacific Coast Weddings annual guide, and the summer recreation guide Waterside as well as maps and other publications. Point Roberts Press Inc. is a member of the Washington Newspaper Publishers Association, Chambers of Commerce of Bellingham/ Whatcom County, Birch Bay, Blaine and Point Roberts and the Bellingham/ Whatcom County Convention and Visitors Bureau.
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The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the editors.
Letters Policy
The Northern Light welcomes letters to the editor. Please include name, address and daytime telephone number for verification. Letters are limited to 350 words and may be edited or rejected for reasons of legality, length and good taste. The letters to the editor column is primarily intended to allow readers to voice their opinions on local issues of general interest to local readers. A fresh viewpoint will increase the likelihood of publication. Thank-you letters are limited to five individuals or groups. Writers should avoid personal invective. Unsigned letters will not be accepted for publication. Requests for withholding names will be considered on an individual basis. Consumer complaints should be submitted directly to the business in question or the local chamber of commerce. Only one letter per month from an individual correspondent will be published. Email letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com.
Publisher & Managing Editor Patrick Grubb publisher@pointrobertspress.com
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Contributors In This Issue Doug Dahl
The Northern Light 225 Marine Drive, Suite 200, Blaine, WA 98230 Tel: 360/332-1777 Vol XXVIII, No 22 Circulation: 10,500 copies
Circulation Independently verified by:
Next issue: Nov. 17 Ads due: Nov. 11 Holiday lights go up around downtown Blaine
s A city of Blaine public works employee strings winter holiday lights near the corner of Peace Portal Drive and H Street on November 2.
Photo by Fay Brockhoff
Letters
The Editor:
2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Blaine Food Bank serving our community. During that time, we have had 10 presidents, engaged in five wars, entered a new age of “e-everything,” welcomed a new millennium, endured terrorist attacks both foreign and domestic, had our world shut down as we fought to survive the global pandemic and now face the most raging inflation in 40 years. Through it all, because of you, we have been here, working to end hunger in our community. At no time since opening in 1972 has the need been greater, or the resources more limited.
The beginning of this year we were serving around 400 families each week. Today we are serving just over 600 families each week, and that number increases at each distribution as new families seek our help. Skyrocketing prices for food and fuel have affected everyone, including us, as we face the same price increases as each of you. In addition, donations have decreased dramatically as folks struggle with higher costs. We are in a perfect storm of increased need and decreased resources.
We depend on our community for the resources to do the job that we do. You are the heart and soul of the Blaine Food Bank. Without you we simply could not exist. Every year at this time we run our only fundraiser, the Matching Funds Campaign. The funds from this campaign are vital. They are used to purchase milk and eggs for the upcoming year. This year, our generous anonymous donor and benefactor has offered us $40,000 if our community matches that amount by December 23. We need you to meet that goal. Our neighbors count on us, and we count on you.
Please help us if you can. We can’t do it without you. Donations can be made in person at 500 C Street, by mail at PO Box 472, Blaine, WA 98231 or on our website blainefoodbank.org using a debit or credit card or through PayPal.
I thank you for caring and wish you all a blessed holiday season.
Sally Church, Blaine Food Bank
Blaine
The Editor:
We applaud the Bellingham and Whatcom County Council for budgeting to create a Racial Equity Commission (WREC). Additional thanks for the hard work done by Kristine Martens and Shu-Ling Zhao, with support from the Chuckanut Health Foundation, along with 32 residents who met over the last year to make recommendations.
A positive step in the right direction, this commission will include 31 voting members including 12 representatives from tribes and other people of color, and 19 appointed by the county executive and mayor.
With so much division and discord, it is refreshing to see a commission whose purpose is to gather, evaluate data and make recommendations to eliminate racial inequities. We believe this will be a place for all voices to be heard. We encourage people to roll up their sleeves and apply once that process gets started.
In the meantime, there is still much work that can be done through organizations such as our justice system committee, Whatcom CARE and Community to Community. Make it a point to attend some of the county’s many cultural events, or reach out and help people through tutoring or volunteering at the Food Bank.
Imagine how enriched our community will be if we all help to achieve WREC’s vision: “People of all races in Whatcom county live, thrive and belong for who they are, without fear. Every day.”
Lola Hudson, Riveters Collective
Bellingham
Please send letters to letters@thenorthernlight.com no later than noon on Monday.
CiviC Meetings
Birch Bay Water & Sewer District: Second and fourth Thursdays, 4 p.m., district offices, 7096 Point Whitehorn Road, Birch Bay. Info and Zoom meeting link: bbwsd.com. Blaine City Council: Second and fourth Mondays, 6 p.m., Blaine City Council chambers, 435 Martin Street. Info and virtual meeting login: ci.blaine.wa.us. Blaine Planning Commission: Second and fourth Thursdays, 6 p.m. Info: blainepc@cityofblaine.com. Info for joining Zoom meetings: bit.ly/2CiMKnk. Blaine-Birch Bay Park and Recreation: Second Tuesday, 5:30 p.m., location varies. Info: bbbparkandrec.org. Virtual meeting info: bbbparkandrec.org/board-meetings. Blaine Park and Cemetery Board: Second Thursday, 9 a.m., virtual meeting. Info: 360/332-8311, ext. 3330. Blaine School Board: Fourth Monday, 7 p.m., Blaine school district offices. Info and virtual meeting link: blainesd.org. North Whatcom Fire & Rescue: Third Thursday, 11 a.m., Station 61 at 9408 Odell Road and via Zoom. Info: nwfrs.net.
B y G race M c c arthy
Birch Bay Water and Sewer District (BBWSD) has finished its nearly $2 million automated water meter installation project. The meters are expected to detect leaks more quickly, which will help with water conservation and save taxpayers money.
BBWSD announced November 2 that it completed the project in October after three years of installation. The automated radio-read network gives more accurate readings and provides more data on the water flow rate. Previously, BBWSD employees would use a long probe to read meters every two months but now BBWSD employees are able to read the meters from their vehicles weekly.
“Customers can call us and we can run a data log on their usage,” BBWSD finance director Sandi McMillan said. “If they suspect their high bill was something they can control, we’ll run a data log for the whole week.”
About 129 leaks per year were detected in the five-year average before the new meters, according to BBWSD. But an average of 196 leaks per year have been detected since the new meters began being installed, which is a 50 percent increase in detected leaks. McMillan said it’s difficult to gauge the amount of money customers are saving as more leaks are detected, but estimated, for example, something like a leaky toilet flapper, which is a common issue, could save someone about $50 to $130 per month, depending on the leak size.
McMillan said BBWSD had an employee checking on meters every day during the freeze last winter so the district could alert people of breaks. s Above, a water meter box lid, the meter box interiors and the automated water meter. BBWSD courtesy photos
In 2018, the Washington state Public Works Board approved the $2 million capital project, which BBWSD finished with about $200,000 to spare. The state’s public works board set a 1.5 percent annual rate for 20 years to pay off the project, which McMillan said was a very attractive rate as municipal bond market rates are currently 3 to 5 percent.
BBWSD and its contracted I&I Pipe Services began replacing over 5,400 water meters, all of which were at least 15 years old, in 2019. A small percentage of newer meters didn’t need to be replaced and were set up to the radio-reading system.
BBWSD has about 8,000 connections in its 12-square-mile service area, McMillan said.
“The water department wants to thank all our customers that we impacted by the project, whether from water service interruptions to digging in their yards or blocking driveways,” wrote Charlie Hagin, of BBWSD’s water department, in a statement. “The cooperation and understanding we experienced was so appreciated by all our staff.”
Manufactured homes public hearing rescheduled
The city of Blaine rescheduled the planning commission’s public hearing on manufactured homes for 6 p.m. Thursday, December 8 in city council chambers, 435 Martin Street. The city announced November 7 that it pushed the hearing, previously scheduled for November 10, a month back.
The public hearing is over a proposal to fix zoning inconsistencies impacting the approval of manufactured home developments in east Blaine. The proposed change would allow manufactured homes and manufactured home parks in residential planned unit developments (PUDs) in the city’s planned residential zone. Right now, manufactured homes aren’t allowed in PUDs but they are allowed within the city’s planned residential zone, which runs from 15th Street to the eastern city limits and from the U.S./Canada border to H Street Road.
Comments can be sent by mail, email and fax to Stacy Clauson, of the community development services department, at 435 Martin Street, suite 3000, in Blaine. Comments can be emailed to cdscomments@cityofblaine.com with “East Harbor Hills LLC” in the subject line or faxed to 360/332-8330.
Stabbing ...
From page 1 was found in the area.
The man was booked into Whatcom County Jail for first-degree assault and resisting arrest, according to jail booking data. He is being held without bail.
Jail staff ran the man’s fingerprints after he refused to give his name to officers, but haven’t identified him yet, Richardson said. BPD officers were familiar with the suspect, who was known to spend time under the overpass, Richardson said. BPD has received several calls regarding mental health issues for the man, but not for anything violent, he added.
“We’re glad that everything resolved itself safely and that we were able to safely put him in custody,” Richardson said.
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CITY OF BLAINE NOTICE OF PUBLIC HEARING CITY COUNCIL
Notice is hereby given that the 2023 Preliminary Budget was filed with the Blaine City Clerk on November 2, 2022. Copies of the preliminary budget are available for review in the City Clerk’s office.
Public Hearings on the final 2023 budget are scheduled for Monday, November 14, 2022, and Monday, November 28, 2022, at 6:00 pm. The meeting will be held in-person and virtually. Information on how to attend the City Council meeting virtually will be included on the agenda. City Council meeting agendas are published the Friday before the City Council meeting.
If you do not want to give testimony during the public hearing, please email your testimony to CityCouncil@cityofblaine.com. Please note that emails and letters sent to the entire Council are public record and they will be included on the City Council meeting agenda. All City Council meeting recordings are on the City’s website.
Anyone wishing to attend and participate who may need special accommodation to do so should contact the City Clerk’s office no later than seventy-two hours (72) hours prior to the scheduled meeting.
For further information on the 2023 budget, please contact the Finance Department, 360-332-8311.
CITY OF BLAINE
Information on how to listen to the meeting live will be on the City Council agenda which is located on the City’s website homepage under Your Government, City Council, City Council Agenda. Please check the agenda prior to each meeting as the call in number or location may change.
Thursday, November 10
9:00am – Parks and Cemetery Board Meeting 10:30am – Public Works Advisory Meeting 6:00pm – Planning Commission Meeting
Friday, November 11
City Offices Closed – Veterans Day
Monday, November 14
4:30pm – Study Session: 2023 PW Budget 6:00pm – City Council Meeting: Public Hearing on 2023 Budget
Tuesday, November 22
3:30pm – Civil Service Commission Meeting
Contact information for staff and Councilmembers can be found on the City’s website. Call (360) 332-8311 or visit our website. www.cityofblaine.com
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