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New La Conner Emergency Management Commission chair Jerry George had sad news to share when the panel met March 5 at Maple Hall. George had the unenviable task of announcing the death of commission charter member Duane Carpenter, 64, whose expertise in meteorology was frequently tapped during the board’s inaugural year as it considered flood mitigation strategies. George said that Carpenter, with an extensive background in cartography and weather analysis, died unexpectedly March 1 from complications following a surgical procedure. “Duane was...
No one in town knows a better yarn than Chris Jennings. The owner of Jennings Yarn & Needlecrafts, a fixture on First Street for more than a half-century, is spinning a yarn in the literary sense these days, coordinating the plot for La Conner’s Second Annual Murder Mystery event set for March 23. Chamber of Commerce Director Mark Hulst credits Jennings with weaving the thread that ties together “The Case of the Bumped-Off Bootlegger,” a throwback to the 1920s Prohibition era of rumrunners and speakeasies, among the more colorful chapt...
It was a four-letter word that defined a briskly paced, 45-minute hybrid Town Council meeting at Maple Hall on Feb. 27. That word was code. As in the council’s approval of both a formal town code of ethics and update to La Conner’s uniform development code. The ethics code was one of Mayor Marna Hanneman’s first initiatives upon taking office in January. “In this climate of people not being civil to each other – not that this is happening here – I asked for a code of ethics,” Hanneman said. Upon adoption of the code, following a motion by cou...
If the 30 residents at the Feb. 20 community mingle on what was billed as a forum to discuss parking on South First Street had their way, the clear sentiment was to improve safety in the downtown by making it a one-way street south of Washington Street, past the post office. At the start of the evening, La Conner Fire Department Chief Aaron Reinstra was asked to speak on safety from his perspective. He did. The data he shared showed that on average, a fire department vehicle was called to First Street twice a month over the last two years. But...
Lots of tourists stayed overnight in La Conner last November. The town council’s January packet summarizing revenues reported $9,464 was collected in hotel/motel taxes, above 2023 and the second highest ever. The visitors did not spend a record amount of money, though. Still, the $42,875 in sales tax was only 1.2% and $516 below last year’s total. It is the third highest January total reported to the town by the state’s Department of Commerce. The $4,281 collected for the Special Use Fire Tax was below 2023’s total, by $225. Residents were mo...
If February's first town council meeting was any indication, new La Conner Mayor Marna Hanneman is in it for the long haul. The marathon Feb. 13 session covered new and old business and multiple discussion and action items before concluding with a closed executive session. "I thought after the first month," said Hanneman, who took office Jan. 1, "that things would be kind of calm. Then February came." The 95-minute meeting began on a pair of somber notes. Resident Debbie Aldrich shared that...
When we bought our home in La Conner in January of 2019, we were told that our block, the only block on Washington Street where there is no storm sewer, was in “Phase 2” of the project to provide storm drainage throughout the town. Shortly after we moved in, members of the town council told us that there was no money at present for such improvements. We were asked to be patient. Our lot periodically floods and such phenomena as atmospheric rivers leave behind a pond of 6-8 inches in depth, which can remain flooded for several weeks and whi...
While it’s been a hot topic in La Conner for decades, the last word on parking likely won’t be spoken here anytime soon. And the always lively local conversation continues 6 p.m. Feb. 20 at the Civic Garden Club on South Second Street. The second in a series of in-person “community mingles” will address all angles of downtown parking, from traffic safety and pedestrian access to signage and revenue opportunities. “We’re wanting to solicit input on what if any changes and improvements the public wants to see regarding parking,” Assistant Pla...
Largest ever, that is the Town of La Conner $971,884 2023 budget surplus. Councilmembers opened their January packets to find that the $43,947 in sales tax revenue pushed the year’s total to $630,453, 3.5% and $21,272 above budgeted projections. It is the third straight year above $630,000, though $47,470 below the almost $678,000 collected in 2022. The Special Use Fire Tax was likewise flush, with the $4,345 pushing the year’s total to $61,350, 22.7% above the $50,000 budgeted. And while the hotel/motel tax on lodging finished 2023 47.2% abo...
Emergency management has been a priority here since channel flooding in 2022 swamped waterfront and low-lying areas. Attention turned last week to fears of catastrophes and disaster at the dilapidated former Moore-Clark warehouse building at South First and Caledonia streets. A fixture in La Conner since before the turn of the century – to the 20th century– and once part of a bustling hatchery fish food processing plant and longtime local industrial hub, it was constructed as a grain war...
More people are seeing the light solar energy offers. Members of the La Conner-based Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative are hoping to see that number grow Saturday after a 10 a.m. forum at the La Conner Swinomish Library. The program explores solar and energy storage and how they help build climate resilience and support community needs. They will discuss their approved feasibility study for a grant to fund solarization and energy storage at the La Conner fire station and school campus. If funded, both venues will serve as emergency...
Hours before snow hit outside, the La Conner Planning Commissioners plowed through a busy agenda during their 80-minute Jan. 16 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. The pile of issues addressed were housing and parking issues, the status of the Talmon Project at 306 Center Street, population projections for the town and the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community’s plans to convert its Maple Avenue apartment complex to a staffed home recovery facility. The tribe has designed a program for persons and families who have completed treatment at the Didgwalic W...
Mayor Marna Hanneman called a special meeting of the La Conner Town Council for Friday, Jan. 26 at 1p.m. held through Microsoft Teams. The meeting purpose is: discussion of the 2021 and 2022 state audit conducted by the Office of the Washington state Auditor. Contact Town Hall by 9 a.m. Friday for the link or for phone access: 360-466-3125...
A new year, a new mayor. It's been a long while – going back to January 2008 – since that sentence has applied to the Town of La Conner. Now it does. Former planning commissioner Marna Hanneman, who has spent the past six months prepping to succeed retiring four-term mayor Ramon Hayes, transitioned into her new role at a Jan. 9 hybrid town council meeting at Maple Hall that ended with a half-hour executive session. Council members Annie Taylor and Mary Wohleb also took ceremonial oaths of office...
Town of La Conner residents have two weeks to offer their two cents – or perhaps exceedingly more valuable recommendations – as possible amendments to the town’s comprehensive plan – and the development code, too. Submittals made through Jan. 31 are free. More important is the schedule, for proposals through January are considered this year, in the 2024 cycle by the staff, planning commission and council. Stay awake. This is important for the future of anyone planning to stay or move into La Conner. The Washington state Legislature mandate...
For the past nine years I have complained in writing about the way the City of Anacortes reconciles the amount of money its wholesale (regional) customers owe for water. Last month, Anacortes billed the Town of La Conner $444 for 2021 and $5,540 for 2022. The truth is that the City of Anacortes owes the Town of La Conner a total of $49,631.52 for both years. Counting O&M alone and considering both years, the city made a profit of $8,173,301 on water. The accountant charged “Taxes and Assessments” to both Regional Expenses (RCC) and Admin Ove...
New Town of La Conner Mayor Marna Hanneman chaired her first town council meeting yesterday, Jan. 9. The council packet she received the week before included a memo from Town Administrator Scott Thomas. Its first point summarized for council the town’s need to plan for 124 housing units by 2045, required by the state’s Growth Management Act. Thomas writes “Of these units, 92 are expected to be occupied by low to moderate income families.” Looking at the data, 82 units, 66%, are to be priced for people making less than 80% of the area median...
How does one thank a person who has unstintingly given 16 years of his life to our community? Ramon Hayes has been La Conner’s mayor twenty four hours a day for every one of those years. Many of us have had the pleasure of chatting with him on his daily walks, often accompanied by his smiling, gregarious wife. A useful way of taking the pulse of the town person to person, he seemed to genuinely enjoy his walks. But the mayor’s day was often much more than glad-handing. He chaired 16 years of town council meetings, some being quite con...
December was frosty and frozen 4-Jan La Conner Community combats wave of saltwater flooding 4-Jan Flood damage cost estimate $1.8 million 11-Jan Council creates emergency management commission 1-Feb Center Street condos a go 15-Feb Marna Hanneman will be next La Conner Mayor 24-May Festival celebrates author Tom Robbins 6-Sep Earthquake rattles La Conner Sunday 11-Oct 29 newspaper contest awards for Weekly News 11-Oct Blessing the La Conner Swinomish Library 18-Oct Town's short-term rentals...
Cynthia Elliott isn't the retiring type. The proof is in her willingness – eagerness, actually – to become a La Conner Planning Commissioner, a role not for the faint of heart, just 13 months after wrapping up a 35-year career. Mayor Ramon Hayes announced his choice of Elliot during the Dec. 12 town council meeting to fill the seat vacated by Marna Hanneman, who becomes mayor Jan. 1. Hayes stressed that three "very qualified candidates" had applied and that he and Hanneman reviewed applications....
No building permit has yet been issued, but excavation began at the 306 Center Street condominium project site last week to find the water table on the property so that paperwork could be completed for removal of contaminated soil. Following that initial dig, a soil removal plan was drafted and submitted, according to Town of La Conner Assistant Planner Ajah Eills. Public Work Director Brian Lease approved the plan and soil removal commenced, Eills said. That work was completed and by early Friday afternoon all equipment had left the site. The...
Four-term La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes chaired his final town council meeting Dec. 12, but it was a business-as-usual session with no celebration or reception. Hayes wouldn’t have had it any other way. “It’s just not my personality,” he told the Weekly News afterward on his reluctance to see the meeting morph into a retirement party. “Once something is done, it’s over,” he explained. “And we had a very long, grueling agenda to work through.” There was, however, mention during the meeting – which included a 20-minute executive session o...
The atmosphere was electric at the Dec. 11 La Conner School board meeting. Campus solarization options lit up the room. La Conner Town Council member MaryLee Chamberlain and resident Bob Raymond, of the Skagit Valley Clean Energy Cooperative, provided an update on local solar grant projects, including a feasibility study and analysis of energy consumption at the school district. They made a pitch, eliciting a positive board reception, for the school district to convert to electric buses. The two presented data that showed cost savings and envir...
The 2023 Town of La Conner budget has met its $5.8 million revenue goal with December not yet counted. Even better, expenditures, now at $4.55 million, are likely to finish below 67% of projections. The budget surplus is $1.23 million and may still grow. Of the 12 program funds generating revenue, only the sewer fund, at 85% is below 100% of budget projections with one month still to come. The $3.58 million generated this year from the water, drainage, sewer and compost funds is the real engine of town income, bringing in 62% of total revenue....
Look around: We live on the edge of the continent, less than 35 miles due east of Victoria Harbor in one of the most idyllic communities on the west coast. Positioned as a safe passage for marine travel and tied to the to the salt waters of the Salish Sea, La Conner is the true gateway to the San Juan Islands. We are blessed with tremendous soil that produces some of the highest yielding crops per acre in the world. We are a regional, national and international tourist destination and have found success in this space, in part, because we offer...
