Iversen asks Town to save salmon slide

La Conner’s iconic fish slide may not be fin-ished, after all.

Town of La Conner Parks Commissioner Ollie Iversen made an impassioned plea last week to town council members asking them to reverse their recent decision to scrap the slide due to ongoing maintenance and safety issues.

The slide, a favorite at Conner Waterfront Park with locals and tourists alike, has been closed since last year. But for several years volunteer spring touchup and repair work by Iversen and former town administrator John Doyle kept it open.

Their efforts involved grinding, sanding and painting the 13-foot slide, whose surface material has been susceptible to moisture blistering. Iversen and others contend it can yet be salvaged as a functional slide. Short of that, they say, its ends can be plugged and it can remain on-site as a sculpture.

Iversen said he has received numerous emails in support of retaining the slide. La Conner residents Glen Johnson and Marilyn Thostenson, also spoke in favor of the slide’s retention last Tuesday.

Iversen and Johnson suggested there are artists and restorative professionals who can be enlisted as resources to rehab the slide.

Mayor Ramon Hayes town staff will review the slide’s status.

“We’ll discuss it internally,” he said.

The slide is believed to be the final completed project of acclaimed Pacific Northwest sculptor, poet and salmon advocate Tom Jay, who died in 2019, at age 76. During his remarkable career, Jay, who resided at Chimacum on the Olympic Peninsula, was often referred to as a “watershed shaman.”

The slide is modeled after one Jay sculpted in the 1990s for Carkeek Park in Seattle. It is mentioned in an article posted on the Oregon State University College of Liberal Arts website announcing a Tom Jay Memorial Scholarship. That account notes that the La Conner slide was rendered in ferro-cement and stained in a returning King Salmon’s colors.

The Council also heard pleas for relief from early morning construction noise on Snapdragon Hill. Councilmember Mary Wohleb, who resides nearby, joined in, noting work began one morning at 6:45 a.m.

“We’ve been very patient with what’s been going on there,” Wohleb said, “but this was over the top.”

Thostenson’s property abuts the development. She asked if there is an ordinance that addresses when morning construction can begin.

“This should be addressed,” she said. “I’d like the planner and (Town Public Works Director) Brian Lease to come up and take a look.”

La Conner builder Gary Nelson, a former planning commission member, followed up by asking what mechanism is in place for enforcing the Town’s noise ordinance.

Town Code Enforcement Officer Aaron Reinstra said he would confer with the project foreman regarding possible noise and setback violations.

“If need be,” added Hayes, “there are other tools in our toolbox.”

Council approved Hayes’ appointment of Summer Holt to fill the planning commission vacancy created when member Liz Theaker stepped down earlier this year. Hayes said no one had sought the appointment during the period stated in the notice posted twice in the Weekly News. So, Hayes turned to Holt.

“I’ve been trying to get her on the planning commission for a decade,” he said. “I know she’ll be an asset to the planning commission.”

Wohleb asked about the process, since an interested resident reached out to her but had not applied.

Ivan Carlson was confirmed as Mayor Pro-Tem for the next six months, with the responsibility to serve as the chief elected official in Hayes’ absence.

“I might have to bribe you,” Carlson quipped, turning to Hayes, “to keep showing up.”

Both votes were 3-0. Councilmembers Marylee Chamberlain and Annie Taylor were absent.