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Another week, another free issue of the La Conner Weekly News provided to every home in the La Conner school district. This is the third invitation for you to subscribe, but more: to become more engaged with your neighbors and increase your participation in, yes, the school district, which will be asking for your support of a school levy in February. Last week you were invited to watch – virtually – the annual lighting of the Town Christmas tree in Gilkey Square. And Santa wrote to everyone in the community, child and parent alike....
For decades it has been the scene of local youth sports, most notably as a hub for little league baseball. But now Hedlin’s Ballfield is in line for a changeup. The nearly two-acre site – roughly 80,000 square feet – is the subject of a rezone application that would allow the public use property off Maple Avenue to be developed for residences and a park and playground area. The Town Planning Commission will hear an initial public hearing on the rezone request as part of its 6 p.m. Dec. 15 teleconferenced meeting agenda. The Town C...
Santa Claus is coming to town – just not as often this Christmas season. The COVID-19 pandemic and restrictions to stem its spread will limit Santa’s appearances in La Conner, but Mayor Ramon Hayes – who calls himself an eternal optimist – is confident travel advisories around the globe will be lifted in time for the jolly toymaker and his reindeer to fly under the radar and arrive late on Christmas Eve to deliver presents to children who avoided the 2020 naughty list. H...
After a steady diet of glum COVID-19 news the past eight months, the La Conner area rallied during Thanksgiving week to assure there was holiday flavor here aplenty. Goodwill and generosity, more than anything, were on the menu. In the midst of grim economic times, local residents, businesses and agencies on both sides of Swinomish Channel went to great lengths – while observing pandemic restrictions – to assure no one went hungry on turkey day. The Swinomish Tribal Community held a...
The La Conner Planning Commission last week waded deeper into the details of Town Shoreline Master Plan (SMP) updates. Of particular interest at the outset of the panel’s 50-minute Zoom meeting last Tuesday were revisions to La Conner’s Critical Areas Ordinance (CAO). The CAO, adopted in 2006, applies both inside and outside the shoreline jurisdiction of La Conner, primarily addressing wetland areas. The SMP regulates critical shoreline areas and the Town expects to incorporate its revised standards as an appendix into the updated sho...
The local First on First committee is helping brighten the mood here despite last week’s pandemic restrictions imposed to stem the increase of COVID-19 cases across Washington state. Committee members will be setting up 400 luminaries along First Street to light up the night Friday, Dec. 4. The luminaries are being provided by Linda Banaszak, owner of Caravan Gallery, said First on First co-coordinator Rick Dole. “Enjoy the lights,” he said, “as you pick up your takeout dinner or dine outside where available,” Dole said. First on First is...
The next Friday night extended shopping hours event in La Conner will be closer to Christmas than the start of the month. And that is under the best of conditions. Organizers have tentatively rescheduled to Dec. 18 the new First on First local business promotion in response to Gov. Jay Inslee’s four-week state pandemic restrictions imposed today (Wednesday) to curb spread of the coronavirus. “That is our preliminary plan, assuming we open back up by the 18th,” First on First co-co...
Council and staff are finalizing the budget La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes presented to them Oct. 21. He called 2020 unprecedented, noting the coronavirus pandemic and the spring’s “dramatic decreases in economic activity” when presenting his budget message to the Town Council and community. All comparisons of the 2021 budget are against the 2020 budget as passed. Revenues through October were down 3.5% from the budget passed last December. Town revenues received a boost from the $200,000 sale of the Town-owned “Kirsch property.” Full year 2020...
Explosive Town Council meetings are nothing new to La Conner. But the panel’s Nov. 10 tele-conferenced session briefly blew up in a way not seen here before. Mayor Pro-Tem Bill Stokes had to shut down the meeting for several minutes after it was “Zoom-bombed” with disturbing, profanity-laced content. The meeting did resume, and Town business was conducted, but the unexpected and troubling interruption left its mark. “I hate these Zoom meetings, especially if we’re going to get bombed like that,” said Stokes, who presided since Mayor Ramon...
As Thanksgiving approaches, local police officers have plenty on their plates. Only this is not talking about turkey and all the fixins. Sgt. Jeff Willard, who administers the Skagit County Sheriff’s Office La Conner detachment, outlined for Town Council members the busy schedule deputies are shouldering as Washington state enters a new round of COVID-19 restrictions. “It hasn’t been too bad yet,” Willard told the Weekly News on Monday. “Hopefully, the new lockdown will not negatively affect the public.” The detachment’s workload had been full...
While his biggest plans for La Conner never achieved fruition, Spokane native Vaughn Jolley established roots here that led to valued friendships and helped shape local development concepts for a generation. Jolley, who with business partner Larry Willman unveiled plans in the early 1990s for a mixed-use revitalization of the vacant Moore-Clark property on La Conner’s waterfront, passed away Oct. 29 in Wenatchee. He was 68. Jolley spent nearly two decades trying to develop the once bustling industrial site, whose landmark building is the d...
Halloween had a different look in La Conner this year and not just because of new costume designs. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and precautions taken to curb spread of the virus forced cancellation of the traditional downtown parade and community party, the hallmarks of La Conner’s traditional Halloween festivities. Neighborhood trick-or-treating was limited, also. But La Conner and Swinomish residents and business owners adapted to the new normal, ensuring that Halloween here would not be a m...
Town officials are inching closer to what would be a big step toward brightening the mood here this holiday season. The Town Council is poised to accept interlocal agreements with Skagit County and the Port of Skagit to cover costs of lighting the north side of the iconic Rainbow Bridge. “The Port has indicated they are proceeding with it,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas told the Council during the nearly one-hour tele-conferenced session Oct. 27, bringing the long-sought sanctioned bridge ligh...
No waves are being made in the latest round of updates to the La Conner Shoreline Management Plan. Town Planning Commissioners enjoyed smooth sailing during their first review of proposed changes to shoreline guidelines here during a briskly paced video-conferenced meeting Oct. 20. “There are no major changes,” Town Planner Marianne Manville-Ailles confirmed, “just updates to reflect state law.” The local shoreline management plan outlines land use policies and regulations developed to guide activities along the town’s waterfront. It was last...
Despite an ongoing global pandemic, La Conner area residents can still look on the bright side. The bright side of the Rainbow Bridge, that is. This after the Town Council last week inked an interlocal pact with Skagit County officials allowing the north side of the visually striking and popular arched span above Swinomish Channel to once again be lit. The long-sought town-county agreement is being hailed as a literal bright spot here during the virus crisis. “This is (an example of) economic de...
The La Conner Town Council approved Planning Commission recommendations liberalizing accessory dwelling units (ADUs) terms at its video-conference Oct. 13 meeting. The 4-1 vote caps a year of work by the Commission to upgrade ADUs from conditional to permitted uses and allow more space in commercial structures for residential purposes. The goal is to add housing units in town. Town Planner Marianne Manville-Ailles called the ADU change “low-hanging fruit” at the start of a lengthy public hearing. Councilmember Jacques Brunisholz, que...
Tues., Oct. 27 - 6 p.m. ZOOM MEETING (Info to join on Town Website) 1. Call to Order 2. Pledge of Allegiance 3. Public Comments 4. Presentations 5. Consent Agenda 6. Reports 7. Unfinished Business a. Interlocal Agreement - Port of Skagit (Bridge Lighting) b. Public Hearing 2021 Budget c. 2021 Budget Discussions 8. New Business a. Interlocal Agreement - Skagit 911...
Background / qualifying experiences I have been a resident of La Conner for 16 years. I Am a former La Conner Town Council member where I served on the Parks Commission, Park and Port Committee, Utilities Committee and helped to develop and approve La Conner’s budgets. I also served on the Association of Washington Small Cities Advisory Committee. I have 30 years of practical business experience that includes being a property manager; former realtor, estate planner and town merchant. State e...
La Conner businesses impacted by the COVID-19 outbreak have until 5 p.m. Oct. 7 to apply for grants up to $5,000 through EDASC, the Economic Development Alliance of Skagit County. The total fund of $20,000 is from the Town of La Conner’s CARES Act allocation. Eligible businesses must be within La Conner town limits and employ 20 or fewer employees. Priority will be given to businesses which support La Conner’s tourism industry. Eligible grant expenses include operational expenses including rent, supplies/inventory, utility bills, con...
Putting heads in beds is a big part of the tourism industry. And putting lodging tax dollars to work promoting La Conner is a big part of the local economy. As such, disbursing hotel/motel tax funds assumes even greater value during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, which led to a frequently spirited discussion during the La Conner Town Council meeting last week. The Council then approved a 2021 hotel/motel tax budget based on anticipated virus crisis revenue shortfalls. Several recipients of...
The initial option for slowing traffic on North Third Street has hit a speed bump of its own. Hindered by expected revenue shortfalls linked to COVID-19, Town officials are backing off plans to install elongated speed bumps on the main route to and from the Port of Skagit’s La Conner Marina. “The reality is I don’t think we can afford these measures,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said of placing speed bumps similar to those at the U.S.-Canada border crossing in Blaine as a means of improving traffic safety on North Third, long a priorit...
Dear Mayor and Members of Town Council: I would like to ask that you remind the Sheriff’s Office about the code here regarding motorcades. They are basically unlawful unless permitted 45 days ahead. The town is on a slippery slope toward becoming the favorite of everyone with a cause. We have had three events since the start of summer and while they haven’t been disastrous, what recourse will we have when possibly horrible things might come? The code is here to plan to draw the line between lawful and the not lawful. The Sheriff is here to hel...
On a morning when La Conner remained shrouded in wildfire smoke and haze, it was still possible to get a clear picture of the town. Of course, you had to go indoors to do so. The colorful, much celebrated Bob Patterson mural of La Conner was hung a week ago Monday inside Maple Hall, the venue chosen by Town officials so the public can easily view the detailed four-panel, 20-foot image, a nearly 700-hour project completed in 2014. Town Public Works staff placed the mural at the balcony level of...
Curtis W. McCauley of La Conner, Washington passed away on Sunday, September 13, 2020 at the University of Washington Hospital in Seattle from complications following a stroke. Curt was born on June 11, 1943 in Sacramento, California. He was named John Rudd Hart by his biological mother. When adopted shortly after birth by Lila and Carl Duncan, he was renamed Curtis Wesley Duncan. When he was seven years old, Curt moved to Washington State with his mother and step-father, George McCauley. The...
More help is on the way. It will not be part of a new federal economic stimulus package, but instead additional CARES Act funds from legislation passed last spring and which will be earmarked for support of La Conner businesses. Town officials last week said La Conner is receiving about $15,000 in added Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) monies after a previous $28,800 award. The earlier funding was dedicated to Town staff’s wages and other COVID-related items, including placement of a port-a-potty in front of the Morris S...
