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The 2023 budget the La Conner Town Council passed Dec. 13 is robust in its expenditures, at $6.97 million and modest in its increase in revenue, to $5.6 million. It is a deficit budget of $1.37 million, with reserves covering the difference. Expenditures will be $1.1 million more than projected for 2022, almost 19% higher. Five funds will increase by a total of $1.1 million next year: The general fund increase of $215,874 will include staff raises of 7.3% for administration and 3% for public works. Replacing the fire hall roof is $180,000,...
The La Conner Town Council was productive at its last meeting of the year Dec. 13. It approved the Town’s 2023 budget and passed ordinances raising fees after hearing from residents and getting staff reports. No residents spoke at the public hearing ahead of unanimous approval of the budget. The budget estimates $5.6 million in revenues with expenses of $6.97 million, projecting a $1.4 million deficit. See story, page 1. The business-side approvals included an amendment finalizing the 2022 budget, joining increases passed earlier. The six f...
The slight dip, to $57,164, in the Town of La Conner’s November sales tax revenue was the first sizeable year-to-year drop in collections since the first summer of the coronavirus pandemic, in 2020. That is $3,7467, 6.2% below 2021. Still, the $631,012 collected in 2022 is almost $140,000 above the year’s budget projections and exceeds 2021’s year total. Elsewhere, revenues are solid gold, moving to platinum by year’s end. The $21,228 in hotel/motel tax revenues is the highest November report ever, 5.2% over 2021. Revenue is almost $50,000...
Those attending the Port of Skagit’s open house Thursday at La Conner Marina lost their marbles. That was the plan, it turns out. Port consultants handed people Zip-Lock bags containing seven marbles each as they entered the Swinomish Yacht Club for the two-hour event, which offered an opportunity to share ideas and learn more about Marina redevelopment plans. Attendees were asked to indicate preferences by placing marbles in jars matching the respective Port proposals presented on illustrated placards. They ranged from pedestrian and r...
La Conner school board members approved a new district civility policy promoting mutual respect and a positive learning environment throughout the district at its Nov. 28 meeting. This builds on an earlier policy addressing student use of telecommunication devices as part of a campaign to curb bullying. Student school board representative Taylor-Rae Cayou said bullying issues related to uncivil behavior and mental health awareness were topics of discussion at the Washington State School Directors Association conference. “I’m excited you went (t...
5 Commercial Street Upper Maple Center and by Zoom Information is below and on the Town Website I. Call to Order II. Pledge of Allegiance III. Public Comments (Limit: 3 minutes per person) IV. Presentations: V. Consent Agenda A. Consent Agenda (Approved without objection 5/0) 1. Approval of the Minutes: Council Meetings of November 8 and 22, 2022 2. Finance: Approval of Accounts Payable Approval Payroll B. Items Removed from the Consent Agenda VI. Reports 1. Chamber Report 2. Revenue /Expenditure Report 3. Department Head Reports 4....
After more than a decade, the Waterfront Café has a tried-and-true recipe for its popular annual community Thanksgiving meals. But this year a new ingredient was added to the mix – outdoor dining. La Conner was greeted with bright sunshine and unseasonably balmy weather last Thursday, leading numerous diners to enjoy their traditional turkey-and-fixin's and beverages on the café's deck overlooking Swinomish Channel. "I can't remember it ever being warm enough outside for people to eat out on...
The final chapter on the fate of Brandon Atkinson’s 306 Center Street condominium project opens Thursday with the appeal to stop the project before Town of La Conner Hearing Examiner David Lowell at 2 p.m., a Zoom-only hearing. Residents Debbie Aldrich and Linda Talman are again presenting their case that Atkinson’s conditional use permit must be denied since the town council in 1986 approved a contract rezone of the property that placed conditions on its future use. Atkinson’s one page response relies on Town planner Michael Davolio’s Septemb...
Dear Friends, I would like to provide an update for town issues from my side of the table. Regarding the north end issue, an appeal of the 306 Center Street project permit is working its way through the steps in the process. The issues are the Contract Rezone which was not honored and the Administrative Determination that we perceive to have errors. The oral arguments are Dec. 1. These arguments are the second last step. Code: Code change suggestions are being sent or already have been sent to the planner to be placed on the docket for 2023...
A colorful Love La Conner “selfie station” at Gilkey Square is an idea whose time has come. And gone. That was the unanimous sentiment expressed by La Conner Town Council last week. At their Nov. 22 hybrid meeting, members nixed the design for a marketing icon at the downtown waterfront location, saying the timing is no longer right for such promotional signage. “It was conceived during COVID-19,” Councilmember Rick Dole explained. “La Conner was empty during what would have been the height of tourist season. We’ve passed the worst of times. It...
This letter is written by four women. Two of us are professional, working artists. One is a long-time collector of fine art, who recently donated a major sculpture to the town of La Conner. The fourth is a long time gallery owner and the director of the La Conner Arts Foundation. We write out of concern for the proposed Love La Conner sign. We feel that the town is not being well represented by this ill-conceived project. While perhaps good intentioned, these kinds of projects actually degrade La Conner’s image. Attempts to promote La Conner t...
I attended the Nov. 8 town council meeting. There was a lot on the agenda, including proposed changes to the municipal code. I would like to suggest that in the future when there are detailed material to present and discuss, especially when language precision is important, such as amending code language, using a screen and Power Point or similar desktop publishing software that has redline and strikeout functions. There were several instances of council members having difficulty tracking the changes that the planner was discussing, even though...
The La Conner Town Council’s three hour meeting Nov. 8 included four public hearings. A 530 p.m. 2023 budget meeting started the evening. Three hearings, including one on the budget, were dispatched quickly. Council did not adjourn till 9 p.m., however because the 25 residents attending had a lot on their minds, first with general comments and during the hearing on amending the municipal code. The now Heart of La Conner tourist promotion icon on Gilkey Square was “deja vu times four,” said project originator John Leaver in his lead prese...
Just like that, the La Conner Town Council is four weeks away from approving the 2023 municipal budget. Discussions started in September. Council has already approved $173,260 for tourism promotion, awarding $112,800 to nine groups and sending $60,450 to public works for restroom and landscaping maintenance. These are the mundane, specific line items in your – if you are a town resident – $6.5 million 2023 expense budget. At council’s Nov. 8 meeting Mayor Ramon Hayes said, as he does annually, that he is being cautious, saving for coming large...
I have a daughter who in her early teens was happy to sit hang out, or travel with me. She usually preferred to do so in near silence. I would say something, maybe an idle comment and she would smile silently and watch the scenery. This was a little frustrating. I tried to accept it as normal for the age. However, I remained unsatisfied. I wanted to chat. I decided I needed a teaching aid, an analogy or metaphor, to illustrate the basics of communication. I found one, tennis. “Genny, have you ever thought that hanging out with someone is l...
The $66,648 in Town of La Conner sales tax revenue reported for October continued the year’s record setting trend. This was the fourth month above $66,000, driving the year-to-date total to $573,848, 16.6% and $81,545 above annual projections with two months left. The year’s total will almost certainly top $675,000. The 2022 budget estimated sales tax revenues of $492,303. Revenues from all tax sources are over $5 million and 99% of the annual projections, led by the sales tax, REET – real estate excise taxes – and public works street program...
I find it useless to go to town council meetings. This it how goes. You arrive. The mayor may smile at you. You get your three minutes of time. Someone times you. The bodies at the front tables may stare at you. Or not. But they don’t respond. Not then. Not ever. (One intrepid council person does sometimes respond later in the meeting but the council, particularly the fellow who sits next to mayor, shoots him down. Almost always. In the last couple years a group has grown that wants to improve things here in terms of community involvement ...
At its own special meeting Oct. 28, the La Conner Town Council voted to cancel a special planning commission meeting called for Nov. 1, directing “the Planning Commission to only conduct special meetings called by the chair, the chair pro-tern or requested by three commissioners; the same as the Town Council. The motion by Councilmember Rick Dole carried 4-0, with Councilmember Carlson abstaining. Dole’s concerns, summarized in the council’s meeting minutes, were that “the Agenda that included items that were not legal, such as term limits. Als...
UPDATE: 4 Public hearings on regular meeting agenda There are four public hearings on the La Conner Town Council’s agenda for their regular meeting, which starts at 6 p.m. Beside the 2023 preliminary budget, hearings are on 2023 property tax revenue source, 2022 Proposed Code Amendments and Parks and Fire Impact Fees Mayor Ramon Hayes called a special meeting of the La Conner Town Council for Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 5:30 p.m. to be held in person in Upper Maple Center and on Zoom. The meeting purpose is: Budget discussions. Online access to the m...
One special meeting has canceled another. The La Conner Town Council Friday afternoon at a special Zoom session adopted procedures for calling planning commission special meetings that in effect nixed a special meeting the advisory panel had scheduled for Nov. 1. The rationale was process. A council majority objected that a short-handed commission had scheduled a special meeting for last night during a regular meeting not attended by chair Marna Hanneman and only had three members present at its close. Councilmembers Annie Taylor, Rick Dole, Ma...
The Shelter Bay board of directors would not discuss with its community its exploration of ending its water supply contract with the Town of La Conner to switch to the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community, said Gary Ladd, facilitating the evening as a member of the board of directors at the Shelter Bay town hall meeting Oct. 22. But can the Shelter Bay board break the agreement with the Town? The 2011 agreement between them states: “This contract shall remain in force in perpetuity or until such da...
By Linda Talman La Conner’s Town Council had a barely announced special meeting on Oct. 28. The meeting was illogical. The issue stemmed from a request of a group of hopeful residents to have a special planning commission meeting Nov. 1 to look for common ground for the next year. The planning commission would have set the agendas. Pretty evil, huh? A council person who wasn't at the October planning commission meeting spoke as if he actually knew what had happened there (he didn't) and persuaded other members to vote his way. Their bad. The in...
The Oct. 28 council meeting was about planning commission procedures. Marna Hanneman, the planning commission chair, was upset that at the previous planning commission meeting, which was chaired by Carol Hedlin because Ms. Hanneman was absent, the commissioners listened to a group of La Conner citizens who asked to meet with the commission to discuss issues of concerns which will affect future town plans. The commission had a quorum and, with the advice and counsel of the town planner that those meetings would need to be public and published,...
The recent purchase of the Jenson property, with its restriction requiring that the property be used for a public purpose, presents a valuable opportunity for the town and its residents. I’ve heard of a few uses of the property are being discussed, including tiny homes, green space or a park. I’d like to suggest another use: taking advantage of the purchase to provide affordable housing units in La Conner. While affordable housing is a goal in our Comprehensive Plan, it has never made its way into the municipal code and hasn’t been a priority f...
Town Council Agenda November 8, 2022, 6PM 104 Commercial Street Upper Maple Center And by Zoom Information is below and on the Town Website I. Call To Order II. Pledge Of Allegiance III. Public Comments (Limit: 3 Minutes Per Person) IV. Presentations: Heart Of La Conner Sculpture Presented By John Leaver V. Consent Agenda A. Consent Agenda (Approved Without Objection 5/0) 1. Approval Of The Minutes: Special Council Meeting Of October 28, 2022 2. Finance: Approval Of Accounts Payable Approval Payroll B. Items Removed From The Consent Agenda VI....
