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Location, location, location. It’s not just the familiar real estate mantra. It’s also a key element as La Conner’s Emergency Management Commission crafts long-term disaster preparation strategies. The six-member advisory panel discussed best methods to publicize the locations and primary functions of La Conner’s network of emergency shelters at its Nov. 28 hybrid meeting. A map listing La Conner’s various shelter locations, suggested by Councilmember Rick Dole, drew the greatest support. Dole, council liaison to the commission, offered h...
It's been a busy fall quarter in the La Conner School District. Owing to hard work and some long hours, La Conner School District staff, faculty and administration have successfully applied for and received grants that will benefit La Conner students and the community. $16,000 grant provides new oven The district's food service department received a $16,000 grant to purchase a new oven. Food service supervisor Kelly Kjarstad reports that the ovens at the elementary school went out last year,...
The 2024 annual budget the La Conner Town Council will pass at its Dec. 12 meeting will be the largest in its history. It projects revenues of $7.4 million, expenditures of $8.6 million and the fund balance growing to $5.9 million. The graph, above, shows continued growth in revenues council's continuing to commit more resources each year. The bars represent approved funding, except for the fund balance, which is an end of the year total. A graph tracking actual year ending revenues will show...
After just one meeting, Town staff and representatives of KSA Investments are agreed on 80 per cent of the design revisions La Conner’s planning department requires for a proposed three-story apartment/condo project at 306 Center Street. But reaching consensus on the remaining 20 per cent could literally be a tall order. At issue is a planned elevator shaft that planning staff finds exceeds height restrictions. The developer, according to Planning Director Michael Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills, has countered that state building c...
Dear Greater La Conner Community, Welcome to the La Conner Weekly News. If you are getting the paper for the first time, I hope you will find your community newspaper an enjoyable and worthwhile read. Valued subscribers, I hope this issue meets your expectations and needs. Thank you, subscribers, for your ongoing engagement with the community through these pages. This newspaper exists for everyone reading it this week That is you. Decades ago, when the local paper was The Puget Sound Mail, every issue said “Covers La Conner and its Rich A...
At the end of October, the only four homes for sale within La Conner town limits were two Landed Gentry residences on Maple Avenue and the two BYK Construction properties on High Street, near Whatcom and Douglas streets. The other 11 homes are in Shelter Bay or near it. Two pending La Conner properties closed in November, a resale of a Landed Gentry home for $725,000 and an 1890 mansion on Benton Street bought for $1.25 million, On Snee Oosh Road south of Kukutali Preserve a home sold for $1.8...
Mingling pays off in La Conner. The proof is in the long-term results from an October forum on short-term rentals. Residential input on short-term rentals at the Civic Garden Club building – referred as “a mingle,” by Town officials – produced much-anticipated planning department recommendations. The staff report was well received at the Nov. 21 Town Planning Commission hybrid session at Maple Hall by community members concerned that the green light for inclusion in town neighborhoods could be given. That possibility appears highly unlikel...
Santa is coming to town early this long holiday shopping season. He makes his first appearance today, Wednesday, Nov. 29, at the La Conner Swinomish Library to read stories to children from 4:30-5:30 p.m. On Saturday, Dec. 2 he is at the La Conner Rotary Club's Pancake Breakfast at Maple Hall, 8-11 a.m. After a breakfast that includes scrambled eggs and sausage, Santa is waiting on stage for dog friendly photo taking. Cost: $10, adults, $5 kids; free, under five. Your wallet will be needed as...
Grace Hubbard's 100th birthday celebrated last week in the Weekly News reminded me of the sister cities project we worked on together in the early 1980s. Grace has an excellent memory, which helped to jog mine. So I'm adding to her story. I had returned from Peace Corps in the Fiji Islands a decade previously and birthed my first baby. Ronald Reagan was president, which worried some of us as to the saber rattling with the Soviets. I went to a Peace Corps reunion that was electric with creative...
Sunday, November 19 2:23 p.m. What a drag—A sailboat had dragged anchor and was not on the rocks off Skagit Island. Nobody was in danger and a tow vessel was headed out to assist. No action by sheriff’s office.Greater La Conner. 5:58 p.m. Cold dog— Caller had found a shepherd type dog that seemed to be lost and cold. The caller just wanted dispatch to be aware in case anyone called in and needed her information. Caller was keeping the dog until an owner could be found. Morris St., La Conner. Monday, November 20 2:59 p.m. Hissy fit —Repo...
The La Conner Town Council has paved the way for smoother rides around town. The panel during one of several public hearings at its Nov. 14 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall unanimously approved formation of a transportation benefit district to generate revenue for maintenance of streets, sidewalks and crosswalks. The council, by state law, serves as commissioners of the district, which operates as a separate entity. The next move, said Town Administrator Scott Thomas, is to decide how the revenue will be raised. A one-tenth of one per cent...
As a youth, Grace Hubbard experienced history. As an adult, she helped make history. And now, having completed her first century of life, the local icon is keenly focused on the here and now, checking off a diverse to-do list of activities at La Conner Retirement Inn and the community's senior center as well as outings with longstanding friends. Shortly after her 100th birthday this month, Hubbard enjoyed dinner with one of those friends, Joan Cross, former owner of Balance Point Physical Therap...
The ongoing emergence of low-cost energy technologies is leading to the development of a host of interesting systems that aren’t directly related to the large-scale electric grid. Read this asking yourself if and where the Town of La Conner might be able use the following. It’s become possible to use a solar array (or a solar panel mounted on, or even wrapped around, the light pole) to charge batteries mounted in a street or parking lot pole during the day. This can provide enough energy to powe...
La Conner's new flood barriers are staged and in place up and down the waterfront. But the work of the Town's six-member Emergency Management Commission has only just begun. The Nov. 11 power outage here that impacted residents, businesses and those attending the annual Art's Alive celebration underscored in real time that the mission of the local advisory board is to focus on all forms of emergencies. "The commission met an immediate need by addressing flood mitigation," said Rick Dole, town...
The $7.4 million in revenues in the Town of La Conner’s 2024 preliminary budget will be the largest ever and is matched against projected expenditures of $8.6 million. The $1.2 million deficit will be covered by the $5.9 million fund balance. The year’s theme is “plan, prioritize and perform” Mayor Ramon Hayes states in his budget cover letter. Staff are prioritized with all receiving a 4.3% cost of living increase, except the unionized public works employees. Their contract is in negotiations. The code enforcement budget is $73,604. a 20.9% i...
There is an open position on the Town of La Conner Planning Commission. Commissioners serve six years and must be town residents. Qualified persons can apply until Nov. 29 or until the position is filled. Information: call Town Hall 306-466-3125 or townoflaconner.org/....
Sunday, November 12 4:38 p.m. Pile up— Multiple vehicle collision with several injuries. Two car head on with both cars totaled and subjects transported to the hospital. Best Rd., Greater La Conner. Monday, November 13 1:06 p.m. Bored—Caller complained of a motorhome that speeds in the area and has visitors at all hours. No others complained on this vehicle and a deputy was unable to locate. Caller has a history of unfounded complaints. Park St., La Conner. Tuesday, November 14 11:26a.m. Pick up—Caller found a dog and wanted it picked up. C...
After two more ballot tallies, totals indicate La Conner School District Director John Agen is likely to continue on the board, moving over from his District 1 seat to taking the District 2 position. Voters are giving Agen 53% of the vote against former District 2 Director Janie Beasley after counts on Nov. 14 and 15, after the Weekly News went to press. Beasley has gained 29 votes, to 675, reducing Agen’s lead to 95 votes. His total is 770. Another 144 school district votes were counted Monday and Tuesday. Elections office staff estimate 5...
What is more American than the post office? The post office is older than the United States, established the year before the Declaration of Independence, in 1775 by perhaps the wisest and most practical of the Founding Fathers, Benjamin Franklin. He understood that to knit not only each community – say a town like La Conner – together but to forge a new nation, we had to be in communication – connected – with each other, from Rhode Island to Georgia. What leads this week’s page one news? The terrorist attack on the Skagit County Elections...
It is not unusual for tourist towns to reserve a free parking lot for its visitors. For example, Sedona, AZ and Cedar Key, FL. Not to mention Anacortes and Mount Vernon locally. I think our town council should think of free parking as a form of hospitality. Free parking will welcome guests to our town. La Conner has a huge lot (on South Third Street, below Town Hall – ed.). Make this lot free so residents, employees and guests will use it. Free parking there will relieve parking on First Street, Second Street and beyond. What motivated me to w...
It is back to the drawing board for at least parts of the controversial 306 Center Street multi-family three-story project. Town of La Conner Planning Director Michael Davolio said several planned elements of the proposed apartment/condo building have been remanded to the project applicant for revision. “We’ve noted three or four things that aren’t consistent with the approved project and we have advised the applicant of these inconsistencies,” Davolio told the planning commission during their Nov. 6 hybrid meeting at Maple Hall. Davolio...
Up again. Not a record, but the $65,603 in October sales tax revenue reported to the La Conner Town Council by the state Department of Revenue is the highest monthly collection in 2023 and topped only by four record setting months last year. This is the third month in a row that sales tax revenues are above $60,000, with totals increasing monthly The $528,778 collected to date is 86.8% of the total forecast for the year when the budget was set. It seems likely that the revenue target of $609,191 will be met if tourists continue coming. The...
They didn't win a single match this season, but Black Bird Landscaping U-11 girls' soccer players were champions, nonetheless. And not just here in town, but across the entire county. That's because the La Conner team was honored at the end of the regular season with the Skagit Valley Soccer Association's coveted Sportsmanship Award. On that score, it wasn't even close. During the season, referees assigned to youth soccer matches submitted scores for sportsmanship for each team on a 1-5 scale....
Strategic planning and chaos aren't mutually exclusive. That is the approach taken this coming high school basketball season by new La Conner Braves hoops coach Lance Lopez. Lopez, who has served on coaching staffs in various sports at Mount Vernon, Sedro-Woolley and his alma mater Burlington-Edison – larger schools – will employ "borderline chaos" to control tempo and take advantage of a versatile, athletic boys' roster this winter. "I'm very familiar with the group we have here," Lopez tol...
The 534 votes counted today, Nov. 16, by Skagit County Elections Office workers did not change any candidate positions in the District 2 La Conner school board director race, nor are there changes in trends. John Agen added eight of the 18 ballots tallied for 778 votes, 52.9%. Janie Beasley's 10 votes gives her 685 and means she reduced Agen's lead by two, to 93 votes. Elections staff estimate 200 uncounted ballots remain. Almost all would have to be from the La Conner School District and Beasley would need to win about 75% of them to edge...
