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The Town of La Conner formalized its support for the Museum of Northwest Art by passing a resolution recognizing its “annual fundraising auction as an official local event” to cement the auction being held in La Conner. The Town Council authorizes partial closure of Second Street for Museum tent set up. Museum board and staff members cited problems getting permits as a reason the auction was held at the Swinomish Casino and Events center the last two years. Mayor Ramon Hayes summarized his February meetings with the MoNA board, telling Cou...
In 2018, we mark the centennial of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the most powerful and important bird-protection law ever passed. In honor of this milestone, nature lovers around the world are joining forces to celebrate the “Year of the Bird” and commit to protecting birds today and for the next hundred years. Last month I brought a resolution to the Town Council to promote intentionally improve things for birds here in town. The idea is to have the Town choose plants that specifically help birds with either habitat or food sources. This wou...
The Town of La Conner’s decision to install a single 16-inch pipe when it replaces the broken water main along La Conner Whitney Road this year provides excess capacity of 18 million gallons annually beyond what the Shelter Bay Community uses. The Community may decide it doesn’t want water from the Town at all. Board of Directors President Anne Hays told the Weekly News that its March 2 response to the Town “stated the community is talking with the Swinomish Tribe to provide water from their system, which is much closer to the Community and c...
In a county bracing for anticipated future flooding due to the impact of climate change, having access to water isn’t a given. This after state lawmakers excluded Skagit County from recent legislation allowing rural property owners to again drill wells on their land, a measure designed to provide relief for those whose property values had spiraled downward due to water access restrictions that precluded development. Among supporters, the new law has been hailed as a statewide “fix” to the Hirst decision, a 2016 state Supreme Court ruling that...
The big news about 2018’s July 4th fireworks at the February 13 town council meeting was that Kody Skvaril, Port of Skagit harbormaster, has resigned, to move back to Guam. Mayor Ramon Hayes lamented his loss, saying “Kody was the glue, from the Port side. He knows exactly what to do.” With only a little discussion, the Council approved a motion by member Bill Stokes to lock in the $10,000 agreement with Western Display Fireworks, of Oregon, to provide fireworks on July 4 from the west side of the Swinomish Channel. With no fireworks, but o...
Work progressed this week on laying two water line sections to replace a failed 60-year-old main along a 1.5 mile stretch of north La Conner-Whitney Road. Crews were working on the final 100 feet of replacement line Monday afternoon, said Town Public Works Director Brian Lease. The two four-inch sections will tie into an existing 14-inch main to serve 10 homes in the affected area. An aging eight-inch La Conner-Whitney Road line dating to the 1950s ruptured last week, making necessary the emergency fix. Once the twin line sections pass...
The Town’s five council members were asked to share their hopes and goals for 2018 from their perspective as elected officials. Jacques Brunisholz, committees: Long Range Planning, Utilities, WAB, Flood Control An elected group of your fellow citizens is busy overseeing crucial and mundane tasks with the tools of a budget. We are keeping up with the maintenance of infrastructure: water lines, sewer, drainage, roads, parks, town buildings, and public safety and encouraging economic opportunities – and more. There is also a “vision” need...
To the Editor Back in October 2013 the meter which measures sewer flow from the Tribe, was found to be malfunctioning. It was reading lower than it should. Three years later, in October 2016, the meter was replaced and re-calibrated. Since then it shows an average reading of 25.49 percent of total flow from the Tribe, while the rate charged to the Tribe for 2017 was based on 18.4 percent. The Tribe owes the Town $6,565 for 2017 and for the years 2014 through 2016 the Tribe owes $33,529. In 2017 the total flow at the sewer plant from Town was...
An already short-handed Public Works Department was literally swamped last week when an aging Town water line on La Conner-Whitney Road north of Peth’s Corner ruptured in three places Jan. 8 and 9, leaving the area temporarily without service. The five-member work crew, including department head Brian Lease, toiled overtime between McLean and Young Roads to fix the leaks and restore water to affected homes. But more work remains to be done. The Town and a private contractor are tentatively s...
In my 11th year as mayor I can honestly say that I am a much different person than when I started. Thank you for the opportunity to represent you throughout the county, state and national levels. As we enter 2018, La Conner has so much of which to be thankful. We live in one of the most beautiful communities in the country and are blessed to have an eclectic group of neighbors and friends that create a dynamic and wonderful atmosphere. Over the past decade the town has been focused on projects. Of course, the most visible project has been the...
Be prepared. It’s not just the Boy Scout motto. It’s also a timely approach to life, one that helps define those who train to be Community Emergency Response Team or CERT, members. Local CERT training starts Jan. 9 at Shelter Bay Clubhouse. The mission is one that has helped shape lives here and elsewhere – and not just those victimized by hurricanes, floods, fires and earthquakes. The trainees themselves have found CERT to be, if not life-saving, certainly life-changing. Regardless of age. Consider its impact in Mart, Texas, a town of 2,...
At its last meeting of 2017, the La Conner Town Council approved its 2018 budget with a rare dissenting vote, again from John Leaver. The $5.42 million expenditure budget is $66,500 above 2016’s, 1.24 percent. The $4.65 million revenue budget is $843,000 below 2016’s, 15.33 percent. The revenue drop is primarily in the street fund, which is $707,700 less. The 2016 expenditures were for reconstruction of North Third Street. Primarily a stasis budget, it passed after three months of Council rev...
It’s never too soon to think ahead. “Or,” quips Town Administrator John Doyle, “the future isn’t what it used to be.” That’s why La Conner Planning Commission members are in the midst of a major review and revision of the Town’s Comprehensive Plan, the primary policy document that provides a framework for future code development and enforcement. The panel hopes to forward its recommendations, shaped by public input, to the Town Council in mid-2018. “Revision of the Comp Plan,” notes Town Administrator John Doyle, “is a collaboration. We’re...
This is my sixth month in La Conner. I am a newcomer. Some 13 years ago Sandy Stokes was new to town. Soon she was co-publishing the newspaper and did so for ten years. Folks are rightfully proud of La Conner schools. Yet Tim Bruce, like Whitney Meissner, was once new. At his start 27 years ago he inherited a very different school system than today’s. Scott Thomas comes to work in January to a very stable town government. Many remember how chaotic the council and mayor could be before John Doyle became town administrator in 2008. Kim B...
In an hour-long meeting with the Weekly News Nov. 26, Ward Phillips shared his assessment of his new hometown and his vision for La Conner. Phillips, 77, “retired” to Shelter Bay 20 months ago. The life-long Washingtonian has property on San Juan Island and a 21-foot boat here. His Skagit Valley roots go back generations. Relatives include a County judge with a farm abutting the Skagit River and construction workers on the Diablo Dam powerhouse. Phillips was looking for a more relaxed experience than his Bainbridge Island home. He “remembered t...
The fire station on Chilberg Road is now solely the Town of La Conner’s. Town Council unanimously approved that Mayor Hayes sign the Purchase and Sale Agreement for the Fire Hall at its November 28 meeting. This fall the Town negotiated the $563,750 price to buy Fire District 13’s half ownership. A loan from Kitsap Bank finances the purchase for the entire amount. The Council also unanimously approved increasing the 2018 property tax levy effectively by one percent over 2016. On the income side, the La Conner Senior Center is getting a $6,856 g...
Scott Thomas has been chosen by Mayor Ramon Hayes to be La Conner’s administrator and attorney, the mayor announced Nov. 17. Thomas, a Mount Vernon lawyer in private practice, has been city attorney in both Burlington and Mount Vernon. He trained as an architect and has lengthy experience in local government, particularly in planning and land use. “We are fortunate to have a person with a tremendous breadth of experience in law, planning and architecture,” said Hayes. Thomas was chosen after...
Citizens re-elected MaryLee Chamberlain, John Leaver and Bill Stokes to the La Conner Town Council Nov. 7. Chamberlain topped the vote count with 226. Fire District 13 Commissioners Bruce Shellhamer and Larry Kibbee, also unopposed, won election, Shellhamer for the first time. Similarly, Doug Peterson won his first race, unopposed, as a commissioner for Fire District 12. Michael Madlung won, again unopposed, in Fire District 2 as did Steven Omdal for Port of Skagit Commissioner 2. Jon Petrich will be District 2’s commissioner for the Port of A...
Fire District 13 commissioners unanimously approved selling its half-interest in the Chilberg Road fire station to the Town of La Conner for $555.750 at their Oct. 20 meeting. The Fire District and Town each had the property appraised. The average of the appraisals is $1.1 million. The two bodies are following their 2014 agreement giving the town the right to buy out Fire District 13’s portion of the fire station. Mayor Ramon Hayes had reported to the Town Council at its Oct. 10 meeting of the appraisals and recommended the price. The appraisal...
If only the candidates vote in this year’s town council election, they will win. Running unopposed are incumbents John Leaver, Council Position 2, Bill Stokes, Council Position 3 and Mary Lee Chamberlain, Council Position 4. Once the La Conner School District directors vote, they, too, win. Running without opposition are Brad Smith, Director District 3, Lynette Cram, Director District 4 and John Thulen, Director District 5. The same is true for Fire District 12 and 13 commissioner positions. Doug Peterson is running unopposed for C...
Town council members, planning commissioners and a few citizens spent last Thursday and Friday touring La Conner with a panel of scientists, engineers and professors. Survival, not tourism, was the focus. This design charrette was in support of next year’s updating of the Town’s comprehensive plan. Town administrator John Doyle brought together staffs from the University of Washington’s Climate Impact Group, United States Geological Survey and the Skagit Climate Science Consortium to focus on infrastructure needed to protect the town from the c...
Long time town administrator John Doyle will retire November 30. Doyle’s departure, and the process for replacing him, was discussed during the mayor’s roundtable of the September 12 town council meeting. Doyle’s retirement was not a surprise: Mayor Ramon Hayes announced at the Fir Log Park timeline dedication September 6th that Doyle had informed him the week before. The mayor also e-mailed the news to council members. The mayor asked to have two council members work with him in the search process. Council members John Leaver and Mary Wohle...
Mary Wohleb is La Conner’s new town council member. Council member Stokes made the motion to appoint Wohleb after some 15 minutes of introductions, questions, and discussion with the three candidates. Wohleb is a 23 year resident and a member of the Town’s planning commission. She said representation of residents was needed. Council member Brunisholz seconded the motion, Mayor Hayes called for a vote, and council member Chamberlain voted yes. Council member Leaver chose to not vote. Wohleb’s appointment is effective once she takes the oath...
La Conner needs to replace its water mains in 2019, but town officials need a decision from Shelter Bay’s board of directors for whether the Association will use La Conner water service. And the Town needs to know soon, in August, commissioners at the July 11 council meeting said. Currently Shelter Bay residents are 40 percent of La Conner’s water customers. The pipes are aging. Breaks in the line occur, but how big the next water line the town constructs, and whether it needs to cross Rainbow Bridge, depends on a decision from Shelter Bay...
Henry David Thoreau auspiciously and with forethought moved into his cabin at Walden Pond on July 4th. Some people locally may have heard that ahead of this July 4th the La Conner Weekly News changed hands, that Cindy Vest and Sandy Stokes turned over the paper’s ownership. That makes this July 4th a special celebration for them and for me, the News’ new publisher. Fireworks are appropriate to highlight and appreciate and thank Cindy and Sandy for their having created, nurtured, and built the La Conner Weekly News into the newspaper that it...
