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Shelter Bay Community leaders gathered a panel of experts to give residents the lowdown on the “best and final” lease proposal from the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. In short, the tribe’s proposal which would include substantial rent increases, could make homeownership in Shelter Bay unaffordable, the experts indicated. Shelter Bay consists of 870 residential lots developed on land that is held in trust by the United States for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community and some individual tribal members. Back in 1968, the developer signe...
An attorney with the Skagit County Prosecutor’s Office sent a letter to an attorney for the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community seeking clarification on jurisdiction the tribe claims in proposed changes to its tribal constitution. An amendment to the Swinomish constitution states that the tribe will have jurisdiction “over all persons, subjects, property and activities occurring within … the Tribe’s usual and accustomed fishing grounds and stations and all open and unclaimed lands…” In other words, not just on the Swinomish Reserva...
La Conner Town Council will consider adopting an ordinance that would disband the town’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. The town established the advisory committee in 2009 to study and make recommendations on how the “bed tax” collected from overnight visitors in the local hotels and inns is spent. By law, the money is to go for things that accommodate activities for tourists or attract tourists to the area. But the state law governing the committee role was changed a few years ago, making it impossible for the Town Council to adjust the a...
The comment period on the proposed Tesoro Anacortes Refinery “Clean Products Upgrade Project” environmental review ends Monday and the Town of La Conner has made itself an official party of interest. Councilwoman MaryLee Chamberlain first brought the issue up early in April and garnered a consensus of support from her colleagues on the dais to study the project. At the last meeting the council voted unanimously to send its comments on the project’s environmental impact statement in the form of a resolution. Tesoro proposes to upgrade its refin...
Pat, a 30-year resident of Mount Vernon, passed away peacefully surrounded by family on Monday, April 17. In her final days, people who loved her came from as far as Alaska to say goodbye. She was 39 and holding. Pat was born in Council Bluffs, Iowa on March 23, 1938 to Louis and Mary Murren. She moved many times in her young life. When she lived in Chicago with her mom and sister, she enjoyed going to the movies, sometimes staying all day. Her grandmother helped to raise her which she was...
The La Conner High track team stayed in the running at the Skagit County Championships last week in Anacortes. Well in the running, at that. While one of the smaller enrollment schools at Rice Field, La Conner High proved long on talent during the intense two-day event. Consider that La Conner sprinter Emma Lee, hurdler Sofie Thulen and jumper Matty Lagerwey were double gold medalists on the girls’ side of the County Meet, which saw the Lady Braves place a strong third in the team standings—ahead of Mount Vernon High, among others. T...
I am moving on to my next adventure in life. Due to my medical reason, I have closed Bamboo Coffee. I have completed my task by putting love into the shop over eight years. Thanks for concerns and the cares during tulip season. I appreciate your business, friendship and support over the years. Thank you for stopping by each day and season. You brought me tears, joy, laughter and wonderful memories and the most important thing, “love.” Once again. Thank you. Watch out for the next adventure. Charity Starkenburg La Conner...
Did you look at your property tax statements, and notice your county road tax, etc. increased? They did – minimally, because 931 Shelter Bay parcels were removed from the county property tax rolls, as the non-payors “revenue” was “shifted” to the payors! Most people believe the removal of tax parcels from county tax rolls reduces the amount of taxes collected by the various governments involved: Not so, each taxing bodies submits annual budgets to the county, and the county collects that revenue from remaining payors to fund the service...
The Safety Committee has recommended a 20 mile per hour speed limit on all community streets except for Shelter Bay Drive. I feel this is an unnecessary change that will incur added community expenses for purchase and installation of new speed limit signs throughout Shelter Bay, as well as unreasonable decreased speed limits on many of our streets. Admittedly, there are occasional speed violators in our community, but they are rare, and, quite honestly, they will speed regardless of the signage. In my seven years living in Shelter Bay, I have...
Monday April 24 3:24 p.m.: Opps! – A resident at the La Conner Retirement Inn misplaced $60. They found the missing money later. Tuesday April 25 8:30 a.m.: Camping – A homeless man was reported staying on private property with a tent in the Channel Drive area north of La Conner. Deputies asked the man to move along and advised him not to return. Thursday April 27 7:58 a.m.: False Alarm – Deputies responded to a burglary alarm at the Conway Pub. Everything appeared to be OK. Friday April 28 5:54 p.m.: Check in –...
