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A smattering of Channel Cove residents took new Home Trust of Skagit Director Felicia Minot up on her offer to meet and greet them at the complex's community room Dec. 16. Each of the four residents that came out between 11 a.m. and 12:30 p.m. could have taken a box of donuts home and boxes would have remained. Minot was hired to replace Jodi Dean in November, who retired after overseeing the completion of five owner-occupied homes on the property's north edge last summer. Many of Channel...
The new year is bringing a new opportunity for local public service. Pleasant Ridge Cemetery, Skagit County Cemetery District No. 1, needs a commissioner. Candidates must reside within the cemetery district, according to cemetery district secretary Lori Buher. “Interested persons can check their property tax statements to determine if they do reside in our district,” Buher told the Weekly News. “This position would become effective in January 2024.” The vacancy was created when Curt Miller moved to Anacortes. Duties include meeting with pa...
Skagit Transit is increasing bus service on both Route 513 and 615. Route 513 starting Jan. 2, 2024 Route 615 will run between Mount Vernon, La Conner and the March’s Point park and ride lot every two hours. Route 513 will run between Burlington and the March’s Point park and ride lot every hour. Skagit Transit is committed to providing reliable and superior service to the communities it serves. Questions: 360-757-4433....
No building permit has yet been issued, but excavation began at the 306 Center Street condominium project site last week to find the water table on the property so that paperwork could be completed for removal of contaminated soil. Following that initial dig, a soil removal plan was drafted and submitted, according to Town of La Conner Assistant Planner Ajah Eills. Public Work Director Brian Lease approved the plan and soil removal commenced, Eills said. That work was completed and by early Friday afternoon all equipment had left the site. The...
Holiday Closures Christmas Monday, Dec.25 Closed: Everything Bank: Closed Buses: No service Library: Closed Post Office: Closed Schools: Till Jan 3 Town Hall: Dec 22-26 County government: Closed Trash Pick Up: None Weekly News: Closed And God bless us, everyone...
Four-term La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes chaired his final town council meeting Dec. 12, but it was a business-as-usual session with no celebration or reception. Hayes wouldn’t have had it any other way. “It’s just not my personality,” he told the Weekly News afterward on his reluctance to see the meeting morph into a retirement party. “Once something is done, it’s over,” he explained. “And we had a very long, grueling agenda to work through.” There was, however, mention during the meeting – which included a 20-minute executive session o...
It’s been said that an ill wind blows no good. In the case of the Skagit County Fire District 13 coverage area, which entails Swinomish Reservation and rural La Conner, a facsimile windstorm at the end of March is designed to do plenty good. Planning has started for a March 30 Emergency Operations Center Windstorm Disaster Exercise and unified command strategy. Captains Gary Ladd and Ted Taylor and Brad Reading of Shelter Bay summarized the training at the December commissioners hybrid meeting at the Snee-Oosh Road station last Thursday. ...
It’s often said that to everything there is a season. For La Conner’s emergency management commission, that means development of a comprehensive guide addressing all disaster scenarios. “We’ve been working on flooding issues hot and heavy for quite a while,” Town Administrator Scott Thomas said at the the commission’s Dec. 12 hybrid meeting. Now we need to develop a process and procedure for our (emergency management) plan.” Identifying groups within the community that will need extra assistancen is key. “How do we accommodate persons with di...
The 2023 Town of La Conner budget has met its $5.8 million revenue goal with December not yet counted. Even better, expenditures, now at $4.55 million, are likely to finish below 67% of projections. The budget surplus is $1.23 million and may still grow. Of the 12 program funds generating revenue, only the sewer fund, at 85% is below 100% of budget projections with one month still to come. The $3.58 million generated this year from the water, drainage, sewer and compost funds is the real engine of town income, bringing in 62% of total revenue....
It didn't just rain on the Swinomish Yacht Club's Lighted Christmas Boat Parade Saturday night. It rained hard after a gray day of steady rain. But that hardly dampened enthusiasm for what has become a beloved La Conner holiday season event. Downtown restaurants were filled with diners at tables with waterfront views. Folks wearing heavy coats and raingear and carrying umbrellas and glow-in-the-dark balloons on lighted poles made their way to the popular Swinomish Channel boardwalk, eager to...
Seeing might be believing, but it’s collecting data that’s confirming. That’s the approach longtime resident and former planning commissioner Linda Talman is recommending officials take regarding remedies to La Conner’s downtown parking. A week after Town officials heard a presentation on mobile paid parking systems, Talman suggested to the planning commissioners that more information should be gathered before committing to a new First Street parking scheme. “We don’t have the data that we need,” Talman said at the planning commission’s...
There was a time when La Conner’s parking problem was inverted to its present situation. When downtown Mount Vernon was lined with clunky parking meters, La Conner had little need for either a paid or timed parking system on First Street. Many storefronts here were boarded up – some year-round– before La Conner morphed into its present state as a popular destination. Change has been the defining feature over the course of 50 years. Now, with seemingly every parking space in the town’s business district contested during peak tourist season,...
La Conner's favorite tourist had a unique solution for the town's vexing parking problem during his visit here last Saturday. World renowned toymaker Santa Claus parked his large sleigh and reindeer atop Maple Hall, managing to avoid damage to the building's solar panels, while greeting local children downstairs and recording their carefully crafted Christmas wish lists. The jolly white-whiskered global goodwill ambassador was the featured guest at the La Conner Rotary Club's annual Pancake...
The most current statistics available through Skagit County Public Health (for the week of Nov. 19-25) showed moderate Covid 19 and Influenza activity, but high RSV activity. The county did not define “activity.” The county recommends staff, patients and visitors to healthcare facilities wear a well-fitting mask, and notes that RSV vaccines are still available for infants over 8 months and adults age 60 and over as well as pregnant people. To track weekly respiratory illness changes in Skagit County, visit skagitcounty.net/D...
First Street parking issues were discussed in detail at the Nov. 28 Town Council meeting. But perhaps lost amid a one-hour presentation on potential future paid parking options for the downtown business district was a brief plea by Councilmember MaryLee Chamberlain to revisit the concept of one-way traffic on increasingly congested First Street. Chamberlain suggested that dealing with downtown traffic flow should be addressed “before we venture into parking.” “We need to have this discussion. We can look at all the pros and cons,” Chamber...
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...
The paper collection can for recycling at the La Conner post office was removed from the lobby area late last week. Post office management made this change because of customer disregard; there were too many people contaminating the collection by tossing too large a quantity of non-paper into the container, according to post office staff. The recycling container has been moved to the retail lobby. Residents are welcome to recycle their unwanted mail inside....
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...
A few hours after completing the La Conner Turkey Trot, Jaime Stroebel-Reinstra was keeping a brisk pace as a volunteer server at the Waterfront Café's community Thanksgiving Day meal. She and others – including her own family members – who pitched in to help with the annual fundraiser for local charities were kept busy throughout a three-hour early afternoon shift last Thursday. "We had more reservations and more people this year than ever before," Waterfront Café co-owner Marla Vallee told...
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...
John Agen has won the District 2 La Conner school board director race with 52.9% and at least 779 votes against Janie Beasley, a past school board member. The Nov. 17 count added one vote to each candidate. The last 70 or so countywide ballots will be counted by Skagit County elections office staff Nov. 28 when they certify the results. Agen leads by 93 votes. Agen led the only contested election in greater La Conner by a wide margin since election day, Nov. 7....
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...
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...
It’s long been said that two things in life are certain – death and taxes. Now a third certainty can be added to the list: high winds in November leading to power outages in and around La Conner. A year almost to the day after a windstorm knocked out power for local Puget Sound Energy customers, gusts exceeding 60 mph Friday night led to extended outages from southeastern Fidalgo Island across Swinomish Channel to the Skagit River at Fir Island. Some households reported a literal “on again, off again” experience with their electrical service...
