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At Saturday’s Meet the Mayor session at the La Conner Swinomish Library, Mayor Marna Hanneman ended the hour upbeat, telling the seven assembled they were awesome and that she was encouraged. “I keep saying it takes a village,” she said, suggesting, “let’s take it on the road,” to Shelter Bay and other communities, in a collaborative effort to tackle greater La Conner’s problems. And while she noted, “It’s all of us, farmers, merchants, the Tribe, Shelter Bay,” everyone at the table had faithfully attended most of these near monthly meetin...
Just like last year. The $60,800 in August sales tax revenue reported to the Town of La Conner by the state’s Department of Revenue is $20 below 2023’s collection. The eight month total is 67% of the budget’s projections, on target, with the next two months the highest grossing every year. The $6,070 collected for the special use fire tax tops 2023 by six dollars. It will exceed its revenue estimate, standing at 81% with four months remaining. More visitors are staying over. The $22,440 hotel motel tax total is an August record, 13% above...
HEADS UP IMPORTANT! Wednesday, Oct. 9, S. First Street traffic shifts to ONE-WAY SOUTHBOUND. Commercial Street will become ONE-WAY EASTBOUND. Info: Call 360-466-3125. NOT TO BE MISSED Free docent-led tours at Museum of Northwest Art. Join a docent for a public tour of exhibitions at MoNA, 11-11:45 a.m. second Saturdays, 121 S. First St. RSVP at monamuseum.org/docent-led-tours. Sept. 23-27 is Fall Prevention Week at the Anacortes Senior Center. Daily presentations include Safe Walking; Core Strength; Life Events and the Risk of Falls; Safe...
She has owned a downtown bookstore, helped found the town's senior center and written accounts of La Conner history and her memoir. Janna Gage, who hails from a pioneer Skagit County family, is now ready for her next chapter. Seaport Books, which she and Marion Melville launched in 2017, is listed for sale. "We're not retired," quipped Gage, a 1958 La Conner High School graduate and class valedictorian. "We're just tired." But not so weary that Gage can't imagine taking on a new project or...
The countdown is on for 10-9-1 – as in Oct. 9, First Street shifts to one-way southbound traffic. The official deadline for changing the downtown traffic pattern, which includes the block of Commercial Street in front of Maple Hall, was announced at the Aug. 27 La Conner Town Council meeting. "We don't want this date to be a surprise," Town Assistant Planner Ajah Eills said. "We're going to do a big information campaign in September, getting the word out on kiosks, at the library, and h...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF SUMMARY ORDINANCE 1250 Notice is hereby given that the Town Council of the Town of La Conner, Washington, passed Ordinance No. 1250 at the August 27, 2024 Town Council meeting. A summary of Ordinance No. 1250 is as follows: An Ordinance amending Titles 5 of the La Conner’s Uniform Development Code Complete copies of Ordinance No. 1250 are available at La Conner Town Hall, P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257 Dated this 29th Day of August, 2024 /s/ ____________ Maria DeGoede, Town Clerk Published in the La Conner W...
HEADS UP The La Conner wastewater treatment plant will close at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6 to septage hauling, yard waste dumping and compost pickup. The plant is expected to be closed most of the day. NOT TO BE MISSED Saturday with the Mayor, it’s open mic. Come and talk with Mayor Marna Hanneman at 10 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 7 at the La Conner Swinomish Library. Join local poet Susan Rich for a short introduction to writing poetry about visual art, 4-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Museum of Northwest Art. Get inspired surrounded by art and o...
HEADS UP The La Conner wastewater treatment plant will close at 11 a.m. Friday, Sept. 6, to septage hauling, yard waste dumping and compost pickup. The plant is expected to be closed most of the day. NOT TO BE MISSED Join local poet Susan Rich for a short introduction to writing poetry about visual art, 4-5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 7, at the Museum of Northwest Art. Get inspired by art in MoNA’s galleries and other poets writing around you. You will have the opportunity to have your work published on MoNA’s website and to read it at the Poetry Ope...
12 issues printed since July 5, 2017. 17 weeks to paper’s final issue Yesterday afternoon, at a hearing before the Town of La Conner ‘s hearing examiner, the case of granting a conditional use permit for a health club to open at the former COA restaurant on Maple Avenue was heard. The land is zoned residential. The restaurant operated with a conditional permit. Once the building was vacant for six months the zoning reverted to residential. Several residents oppose the permit application, saying workforce housing is needed in La Conner and an...
Music to one's ears can be mere noise to another's. To find harmony between the two, the La Conner Town Council discussed potential noise control at its Aug. 13 Maple Hall meeting, especially those related to the La Conner Live Sunday concerts amplified music in Gilkey Square. Administrator Scott Thomas raised the topic in his written report in the council packet. "As has been the case for several years, Gilkey Square has been frequently used for musical performances," Thomas began. "I am aware...
The La Conner Town Council passed a budget amendment adding $163,500 to the general fund “as a commitment to the fire boat” at a July 31 special meeting called for that purpose, the meeting minutes state. The council also approved an agreement with Beckwith Consulting for the Moore Clark sub area development plan, funded by the state’s Community Development Block Grant awarded in 2022. Both votes were 4-0. Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain was absent....
NOT TO BE MISSED Annual Summer Concert. Hear the Skagit Community Band at 2 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 24, for its annual summer concert at Gilkey Square in La Conner. As always, the concert is free. Bring lawn chairs and sun screen. Animal, landscape and rural travel photography by travel photographer Terry Divyak is on display at Caravan Gallery, 619 S. First Street, La Conner. Open daily. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.lclib.lib.wa.us. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday....
Skagit Valley arts and cultural nonprofit organizations can request funding from the Town of La Conner Hotel/Motel tax fund for 2025. In 2023 5The La Conner Town Council granted $34,650 to nine community organizations and another $90,000 to the La Conner Chamber of Commerce. Over $217,450 was allocated for internal, Town projects, primarily Maple Hall improvements, the Morris and First street restrooms and landscaping. Last year hotel/motel tax revenues were $195,784. The 2024 budget projects $1...
NOT TO BE MISSED Annual Summer Concert Hear the Skagit Community Band Saturday Aug. 24 at 2 p.m. for its annual Summer Concert at Gilkey Square in La Conner. As always, the concert is free. Bring lawn chairs and sun screen. Animal, landscape and rural travel photography by travel photographer Terry Divyak on display at Caravan Gallery, 619 1st Street, La Conner. Open daily. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.lclib.lib.wa.us. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Storytime...
Heroes, by definition, are those admired for outstanding achievements and noble qualities. Seven Upper Skagit Valley community leaders, termed "Concrete Heroes" by the Skagit County Pioneer Association, will be honored in La Conner Aug. 1 during the 120th Pioneer Picnic. They are recipients of the Pioneer Spirit Award, recognized for putting life in Concrete on a solid foundation. The awardees are: Jason Miller, publisher and editor of the monthly Concrete Herald, is a Tacoma native with an...
La Conner’s town government – elected officials and staff – created a long task list for the second year of implementing the five-year strategic plan they adopted last September. Credit them for being ambitious: 31 tasks came out of their June retreat, with over half of them placed on Mayor Marna Hanneman and Administrator Scott Thomas’ shoulders. The fire department, with five tasks, has made progress, getting a $150,000 commitment from the town council to buy a fire boat. Public works and finance staff are assigned these tasks: improving inte...
7 Maple Street is the site of what many call the old COA restaurant. This letter is an attempt to make La Conner’s conditional use procedure process clearer. The property’s current zoning is residential. This means that residences can be located on the property. The residences can be single family or multifamily. Residences are not a conditional use. No conditional use permit would be needed to locate new residences there. Most of Maple Street is residential. Is there anything else that can go on 214 Maple Street? Yes, The code specifies a nu...
La Conner Fire Chief Aaron Reinstra has for years sounded the alarm about his department’s inability to fight downtown blazes from Swinomish Channel or make timely water rescues. The simple answer, he and Assistant Fire Chief Adam Avery have said, is to purchase a fire boat. What has not been so simple is finding a way to pay for it, even though the original estimated price of $600,000 has fallen to about $425,000. With necessity being the mother of invention, La Conner Hook and Ladder and town officials agreed in principle last week on a p...
NOT TO BE MISSED Anacortes Arts Festival, Aug. 2-4. More than 220 artisans will have booths filling Commercial Avenue in downtown Anacortes. It’s one of the largest arts festivals in the Northwest. Music on the Jazz Stage all three days. Free admission. Join Firefighter/EMT Natalie Baker for coffee at 10 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 10 in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room. She’ll discuss fire safety topics and will have some firefighting equipment for the community to try out. This event will end with a Q&A. Bring your coffee mug and que...
TOWN OF LA CONNER NOTICE OF ORDINANCE APPROVAL Notice is hereby given that the Town Council of the Town of La Conner, Washington, passed Ordinance No. 1248 at the July 23, 2024, Town Council meeting. A summary of Ordinance No. 1248 is as follows: An Ordinance revising Section 3.60.100 of the La Conner Municipal Code (Facility Rental Fees). Complete copies of Ordinance No. 1248 are available at La Conner Town Hall, P.O. Box 400, La Conner, WA 98257 Dated this 24th Day of July, 2024. /s/___________ Maria DeGoede, Town Clerk Published in the La...
NOT TO BE MISSED Humanities Washington Speakers Bureau at Museum of Northwest Art: We All Transition with Mac Scotty McGregor. 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, July 27. What is it like to see and walk in the world from both the male and female perspectives? Mac will share his gender journey and what it taught him about life, our culture and how it affects our interactions with others. Free. RSVP to monamuseum.org/events/wealltransition. Anacortes Arts Festival, Aug. 2-4. More than 220 artisans will have booths filling Commercial Avenue in downtown...
La Conner fire chief Aaron Reinstra and a Sedro-Woolley builder have presented Town officials with a new option for purchase of a fire boat to safeguard the historic La Conner waterfront. “This is food for thought, another option for the fire boat,” Reinstra said as he provided copies of a proposal from TJ Lowry of Full-Time Custom Fabrication & Machine Shop to Town Council members during their 70-minute July 10 meeting at Maple Hall. Lowry is proposing to build a hull, house, and trailer for $150,000, about one-fourth the cost of a com...
Town leaders have their eyes on the future. This after having given La Conner's current five-year strategic plan a second look during the town's annual summer retreat at the Waterfront Café last month. Mayor Marna Hanneman, Town Council members, and the town's staff and department heads huddled June 24 to address current issues and long-range planning. The strategic plan, crafted in 2023 and comprised of five focal points, was the centerpiece of the retreat's afternoon session. Each of the...
NOT TO BE MISSED The 20th annual NW Art Beat Studio Tour sees 22 artists showing their works in 16 studios in a free, self-guided Skagit Valley art studio tour from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. July 20 and 21. NW Art Beat is presented by Skagit Artists. Learn more at NWArtBeat.com. LIBRARIES La Conner Swinomish Library. 520 Morris St., La Conner. 360-466-3352. www.lclib.lib.wa.us. Open 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Monday-Friday, 10 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturday. Storytime for Children. 11 a.m. Fridays. Tech Help. 3-5 p.m. Mondays. Dungeons & Dragons Club. 3-5 p.m. Tuesdays....
This year's July 4 celebration in La Conner was a double feature times two. Several entries in the town's Independence Day parade looped downtown a second time. That evening, tribal vendors led by Rodney John filled the sky with fireworks for hours following the official pyrotechnics show over Swinomish Channel. Both the parade and fireworks received positive reviews as did the two-band holiday evening concert at the Port of Skagit's La Conner Marina. Social media was filled Thursday night and...
