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Bill Bruch, who was elected to the La Conner Town Council in 2015, told his colleagues at Tuesday’s meeting that he will resign his position effective July 1. Bruch, a property manager who has lived in La Conner for 13 years is moving out of town for a new career opportunity. In a letter to the council, Bruch said, “If it were up to me, I would love to finish out my four-year term, however, this move means I will no longer be able to continue as a La Conner Town Council Member.” Council membe...
La Conner Town Council will consider adopting an ordinance that would disband the town’s Lodging Tax Advisory Committee. The town established the advisory committee in 2009 to study and make recommendations on how the “bed tax” collected from overnight visitors in the local hotels and inns is spent. By law, the money is to go for things that accommodate activities for tourists or attract tourists to the area. But the state law governing the committee role was changed a few years ago, making it impossible for the Town Council to adjust the a...
The comment period on the proposed Tesoro Anacortes Refinery “Clean Products Upgrade Project” environmental review ends Monday and the Town of La Conner has made itself an official party of interest. Councilwoman MaryLee Chamberlain first brought the issue up early in April and garnered a consensus of support from her colleagues on the dais to study the project. At the last meeting the council voted unanimously to send its comments on the project’s environmental impact statement in the form of a resolution. Tesoro proposes to upgrade its refin...
The Rotary Club of La Conner wants to bring Maple Hall’s 1990s technology into the 21st century. To do that, the club wants to contribute $12,000 for upgrades including a new router and updated wireless access and a state of the art sound system. Club president Susan Macek said the club is asking the town to pitch in around $3,000 to cover half the cost of the projector. The whole upgrade will cost around $15,000 plus town Public Works time for installation help. The La Conner Town Council on Tuesday unanimously and gratefully accepted the g...
La Conner Volunteer Fire Department is one beneficiary of a federal grant that funded the purchase of the department’s 15 new breathing apparatus for firefighters. The air tanks allow firefighters to avoid smoke inhalation injuries while battling structure fires. Anacortes Fire Department was the lead agency on the grant, which according to Anacortes Fire Chief Richard Curtis, is close to $1 million to pay for 90 units to equip firefighters in four departments, La Conner, Mt. Erie, Guemes Island...
Standing proudly in their new dark-blue uniforms, 11 volunteer firefighters recited one-by-one an oath in front of their peers as they received an official badge from the mayor last Wednesday evening. The La Conner Fire Department held its first “badging ceremony” to present both new and old recruits with badges as they were sworn in—vowing to uphold the law, place their responsibilities above their personal feelings and to serve their communities fairly and to the best of their abi...
The La Conner Town Council voted unanimously to cancel the town’s agreement with Fire District 13 and buy out its interest in the fire station on Chilberg Road near the roundabout. This move comes after Fire 13 in December announced plans to staff the station round-the-clock to provide better service to its taxpayers on the east side of the Swinomish Channel. Meanwhile, La Conner Volunteer Fire Department, which already has firefighters spending the night at the station, has grown too big to share space with Fire 13, the council decided at a s...
For most La Conner property owners, flood insurance is a big deal – and it’s about to become an even bigger one. On Tuesday, after spending thousands of town dollars in staff time to comply with Federal Management Agency’s Community Rating Service requirements over the years, the Town Council voted unanimously to cut bait and drop out of the program because it is costing too much in bureaucratic paperwork. Despite months of town work, the FEMA program downgraded the town’s flood rating this year. That means homeowners’ flood insuran...
La Conner town representatives met Tuesday morning with representatives of Fire District 13, which has plans to staff the La Conner Fire Station with its own crew. The upshot of the conversation is that Fire 13 will spend about 30 minutes making a presentation to the La Conner Town Council at its Jan. 10 meeting, said Mayor Ramon Hayes. Fire 13 wants to staff the fire station near the roundabout with two firefighters 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Meanwhile, the La Conner Volunteer Fire Department, which Fire Chief Josh Morrison said has...
The La Conner Planning Commission met on Tuesday to review the historic design components of Michael Girdner’s plans to renovate and expand the old Lighthouse Inn building on First Street. Several of the project’s detractors were there ... and so were some who want Girdner’s plan to proceed. The California businessman purchased the dilapidated building last year for $385,000 after it had been sitting mostly vacant since a bank took it over in 2010. Girdner initially planned to expand the building over the entire property two stories high,...
La Conner’s Town Council will be faced with an agonizing task in the near future: they must ask their constituents to pay more for utilities. Residents should brace themselves and perhaps start budgeting for a sticker shock that could hit with the April water bills. The town’s water mains and sewer lines are starting to fall apart, and the costs to maintain them have outpaced the yearly rise in utility bills. On top of that, the price charged by the town’s water supplier, the city of Anacortes, has been rising yearly. Presently, a La Conne...
Janna Gage, who has been at the helm of the La Conner Senior Center for nearly 15 years, gave the Town Council notice that she’ll be stepping down in April. The Senior Center was organized in 2002, as a department of the town, and Gage has been its volunteer coordinator the whole time. From day one, she and a small cadre of original members have maintained a vibrant program with services and activities for seniors who meet every Tuesday at Maple Hall. Gage says 15 years is long enough and she wants to move on and do other things in life. A...
It was pretty dangerous, probably even a little illegal, but the result of a clandestine effort was brilliant: La Conner’s Rainbow Bridge has lights again for the first time in a decade. Mayor Ramon Hayes and the Town Council have been trying to figure out a way to get the bridge lit up for more than a year. At the last meeting, Town Councilman Bill Bruch gave an update: A contractor could bring a boom truck and string lights on the bridge with special clamps for under $50,000. But two local m...
La Conner locals who love getting free compost from the bin on Chilberg Road will be pleased to know that the program is going strong after 17 years. The Town Council recently approved a two-year contact to process yard waste from Mount Vernon at the La Conner water treatment plant. The mutually beneficial deal helps support the program that allows the public to grab some free soil amendment for their yards and gardens. “It reduces Mount Vernon’s costs and decreases what we have to spend on buyi...
A flashing yellow light that used to hang over La Conner’s Maple Avenue at the intersection of Caledonia Street could cause the town extra work, whether or not it is replaced. Town officials still haven’t figured out why it was there — the beacon had been flashing into the night as long as anyone could remember. The Public Works director was hoping that someone with historical knowledge of the artifact would come forward and, well, shed some light on it. But that hasn’t happened. The light was hit on two occasions by a truck or heavy...
After spending her entire life in La Conner, Roberta Nelson died Saturday, October 1, at the age of 94. She was comfortable and in the company of family when her journey began. Roberta was born on July 31, 1922, and spent her life in the service of the local community. She worked for a number of family-operated businesses, identified aircraft in the town’s watchtower during World War II, and sat on La Conner’s town council for several years. She was a source of knowledge about La Conner’s past...
Remember that blinking yellow light hovering over the intersection of Maple Avenue and Caledonia Street? It met an unceremonious demise on Tuesday, Sept. 13, when it was knocked down by an over-height vehicle. As mysterious as its purpose, the origins of the flashing beacon called for investigative journalism. Brian Lease, La Conner’s Public Works director, said the amber light had been there as long as he could remember — and he’s worked here for over 19 years. He said the town changed the light bulb now and then when it burned out. One...
Turning 60 could mean brighter nights – if not brighter days – are ahead for iconic Rainbow Bridge. Town officials are again weighing options to light the much photographed, though faded, orange Skagit County span that links La Conner and Fidalgo Island. The bridge, opened amid much hoopla 59 years ago this month, but in recent years has remained dark after nightfall. That could change in the future. More and more folks, including County Commissioner Ron Wesen, are seeing the light,...
La Conner officials are mulling a plan to install a charging station for electric vehicles in town. Right now the idea is to put one at the small First Street parking lot between the boardwalk gazebo and the Pier 7 building. Presently, that lot has three spaces for handicap access only. An idea that surfaced at the last Town Council meeting was to move two of those spots to on-street parking, and install a two-outlet charging station there. Town Public Works Director Brian Lease presented the council with options for a dual port charger, a sing...
La Conner will wait until next year to repair the elevator in Maple Hall. After about 23 years of service, the elevator gave up the ghost about six months ago, after one kiddie ride too many. Town Administrator John Doyle said the control panel is worn out. Maple Hall is frequently rented out for weddings and other events, and the elevator has occasionally been a source of entertainment for inadequately supervised children, “using it as a ride running it up and down,” Doyle said. Most of Maple Hall’s amenities, including the restrooms and k...
La Conner’s iconic Rainbow Bridge underwent a thorough examination, and since the bridge docs didn’t notify the county of any serious problems, it looks like the ageing structure will get another clean bill of health. Skagit County’s Transportation Program Section Manager Forrest Jones, who is also the lead bridge inspector for the county, said he expects detailed inspection results in the next week or so. Traffic backed up for a few hours on Wednesday on the county-owned bridge across the S...
Never has the payment kiosk at the La Conner town parking lot been so popular. Every afternoon this week, there have been visitors standing in line to use the new parking pay station that runs on debit and credit cards. “For some reason, people are just more than happy to slide their cards,” said Town Administrator John Doyle. For the first time in 13 years, the town increased the parking fee to $4 per day this year, but business has picked up. Last year, the fussy, old clunker of a meter that took cash yielded $3,548 during the three mon...
La Conner resident, Don Wright, died at home on Saturday, February 6, 2016 at the age of 69. Don was born in Mount Vernon on March 29, 1946. He attended Mount Vernon schools and graduated with the Mount Vernon High School class of 1964. After graduation, he moved briefly to Eastern Washington. He came home to Skagit County and settled in La Conner. He embraced life here and became an active part of the community. Don was married twice and raised two sets of stepchildren. He worked as a forklift...
Return tourists will be relieved to find out that we now have a 21st Century parking meter that will only take plastic as payment. But along with the new parking meter comes a new price. It is now $4 per day to park, still a bargain when compared to the daily fees in other locales. The Town Council approved the increase earlier this month. This is the first time the price of parking in La Conner has gone up since 1997, when the lot was built, and the fee was set at $3 per day. The $1 increase is partly due to credit card company charges to the...
With the assessed value of properties going up, the tax rates per $1,000 of assessed valuation are dipping slightly for La Conner area home owners still paying property tax to the Skagit County Treasurer. At Monday night’s La Conner School Board meeting, district finance director Bonnie Haley distributed the latest assessment figures from the county Assessor’s Office. It shows that for school taxes, the rate will drop about 15 cents, from about $6.61 per $1,000 to $6.46. Skagit County Assessor Dave Thomas said the new rates were certified on...
