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The La Conner Town Council will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 8, Upper Maple Center, 104 Commercial St. Call to Order Pledge of Allegiance Public comments (Limit of 3 minutes per person) Presentations Consent Agenda Consent Agenda (approved without objection 5/0) Approval of the Minutes: Council meetings of July 24 and 25, 2023 Finance Approval of accounts payable Approval of payroll Items removed from the consent agenda Reports Chamber report Revenue /expenditure report Department head reports Mayor’s report Council committee reports Unfinished...
The Town of La Conner Public Works Department is performing its annual fire hydrant flushing and valve exercising in August from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m., Monday-Friday. If you notice any discolored water, please run your cold water supply until it clears up. If the problem does not clear up, please call Todd Park, 360-770-4536, or Chip Sherman, 360-840-3684, for assistance. Source: Town of La Conner...
A group of Native American rowers on the Paddle to Muckleshoot arrive to a warm welcome at the Swinomish Reservation on Tuesday. Canoe families from Washington and British Columbia are paddling canoes to Muckleshoot Reservation land in West Seattle for arrival on Sunday, July 30, with multiple overnight stops along the way....
Beset with declining student enrollment and the loss of federal emergency pandemic funding, La Conner Schools officials are bracing to adopt what finance chief David Cram has termed a “bare bones” budget July 31. A 9 a.m. public hearing in the campus administration building precedes the vote. The fiscal plan is designed to rebuild the district’s dwindling fund balance, shrunk in large measure by reduced state financial support resulting from a decreased student population. But it comes at the cost of painful personnel cuts across the board...
The Swinomish Indian Tribal Community is one of two tribes in the state that will receive $500,000 grants to secure high-speed, affordable internet service. The Swinomish and Makah Tribes each received grants through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Tribal Broadband Connectivity Program, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) announced Friday. “This award,” Cantwell said, “will help the Swinomish and Makah Tribes plan out and build broadband infrastructure so that over 300 more tribal households can access telehealth appointments, remote learning and oth...
After promoting the Valley's most famous flower gardens, Cindy Verge is looking forward to tending her own backyard. Executive director of the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival for 20 years, Verge will retire this fall. Verge was a journalist and editor when she joined the Festival as its Sponsorship Coordinator in 1999. When she became executive director in 2003, "I learned how to run a business," Verge told the Weekly News, "because it was payroll, accounts receivable, accounts payable, a budget...
Emotions ran high during a July 18 meeting of the Home Trust of Skagit board, its director and residents of its Channel Cove community. Home Trust of Skagit Executive Director Jodi Dean invited residents to the meeting to explain changes at Channel Cove related to the completion of five new housing units and parking revisions. Some Channel Cove residents said the changes caught them by surprise, especially recently installed bollards that prevent residents from driving on the fire lane to...
The plight of independent community newspapers has become a national story. And last week that story's dateline was LA CONNER, WA. A five-minute segment crafted by Jeanie Lindsay, statehouse reporter for KUOW Public Radio and the Northwest News Network, chronicling the struggles of newspapers in small towns focused on efforts by Weekly News publisher Ken Stern to find a buyer for the paper he purchased six years ago. It was heard nationally. Stern received a phone call Thursday from a "between...
Hector Soltero has made countless deliveries in La Conner during his years as a United Parcel Service driver. Now it is his turn to be on the receiving end. And in a big way. The La Conner Town Council unanimously approved a resolution July 11 honoring Soltero and expressing appreciation for the outstanding service he provides to his La Conner area customers. "He's well loved by everybody in town," Councilmember Rick Dole said in proposing the resolution. "He's just a joy to be around." Council...
Tiny houses were a big topic at the La Conner Town Planning Commission meeting July 18. Planning Director Michael Davolio shared a revised draft proposal that would amend Town regulations to allow high density residential development as a conditional use with commissioners at their hybrid meeting in Maple Hall. The amendment is in response to developer Greg Ellis wanting to site 44 tiny home units on Whatcom and Washington streets behind Pioneer Market. It will be considered separately. He said he will continue tweaking the draft proposal and o...
The median price of the 137 homes that closed in Skagit County in June was $560,000, almost unchanged over the four months since March. Fewer homes closed in most of the county’s nine markets than a year ago but the number was about the same as sold in May. The 27 homes sold in Anacortes was six less than in May and seven fewer than in 2022. The median sold home price there dipped to $765,000 after two months of being above $800,000. Data are from the Kirkland-based Northwest Multiple Listing Service. A La Conner area broker shared a report t...
La Conner High School championship volleyball coach Suzanne Marble, a member of two separate state-level halls of fame, is about to add another honor to a thick resume. Having retired after 30 years from the coaching ranks and on a leave of absence, Marble will receive the 2023 Skagit County Pioneer Association Spirit Award. She will be recognized Aug. 3 during the business meeting segment of the 119th annual Skagit County Pioneer Picnic in La Conner. Marble led teams to seven state crowns – a likely eighth title was denied when COVID-19 forced...
“I just think food people are the best people,” said Danielle Halstead, Viva Farms development manager, when asked about her favorite thing about working with the organization. “People who grow food in the dirt are authentic and inspiring and anything I can do to help them is wonderful.” Executive Director Michael Frazier, shares that enthusiasm. It was visible as they led a tour last Wednesday evening. Attendees came from all parts of the Skagit Valley to learn more about Viva Farms and getting involved. Viva Farms was founded in 2009 to provi...
Rod Proctor is the new president of Shelter Bay board of directors, elected at the board’s special July 5 meeting. The officers are: Vice President Rick Parnell, Secretary Monte Hicks, Treasurer Jan Paul and Secretary Pro Tem Nancy Shimeall. Paul takes the seat vacated when Joe Hurley resigned. She came in fourth in May’s elections. Hurley, Proctor and Parnell were elected in May. Lawson Earl was appointed in May to fill the seat Judy Kontos lost when recalled....
The Town of La Conner Public Works Department will be performing its annual fire hydrant flushing and valve exercising during the month of August from 7:30 a.m.-3:30 p.m. Monday-Friday. If you notice any discolored water, please run your cold water supply until it clears up. If the problem does not clear up please call Todd Park, 360-770-4536, or Chip Sherman, 360-840-3684, for assistance. Source: Town of La Conner...
La Conner Planning Commission will meet at 6 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 1, Lower Maple Center, 104 Commercial St., La Conner. By Zoom: phaudowud-online.zoom.us/j/87588605640?pwd=aXFzNkswNGxpMENNTmRCMFNRbG9KQT09, meeting ID 875 8860 5640, passcode 993636. AGENDA Public Comment (topics not on agenda, time limit 3 minutes) MINUTES Approve minutes from July 18 meeting OLD BUSINESS Status Report: Talmon Development Status Report: Public Participation Program Comprehensive Plan Update: Discussion of Transportation Element Ongoing Discussion: Short Term...
The Washington Department of Labor & Industries invites the public to attend hearings in Bellingham and Anacortes on updates to Process Safety Management requirements for petroleum refineries. Six workers at an Anacortes oil refinery died in 1998 in one incident and seven more died in 2010 in an explosion and fire. Hearings will be held: Tuesday, Aug. 15: Virtual via Zoom Passcode: PSM@1230. Meeting ID: 879 4704 9101. Passcode: 43800387. Join by phone (audio only): 253-215-8782. Pre-hearing overview at 12:30 p.m., public hearing at 1:30 p.m....
Because it’s never too soon to prepare for the future, La Conner Town Council invested an hour in a special session last week studying factors and strategies that could define La Conner decades from now. The 60-minute hybrid meeting, which featured online commentary from Seattle-based consultants, was a down payment of sorts ahead of a daylong July 24 council retreat. The topics discussed and identified as either community strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, or threats (SWOT) – some of which overlapped into more than one category – were...
The drought conditions for Skagit County? Not good. The U.S. Drought Monitor’s website’s weekly report lists almost the entire county in drought by area, 97.5%. Greater La Conner is in a small coastal slice of moderate drought, as is the Cascades region. Together, 11.4% of the county is in moderate drought. The rest of the county is in severe drought, 86.1%, except for the northeasternmost corner, 2.5%, measured as abnormally dry. Skagit River streamflow at the Mount Vernon bridge was measured as record low. The definition: “Estimated strea...
"I didn't realize Master Gardeners did so many things!" Skagit County Commissioner Lisa Janicki said as she addressed the standing-room only crowd in the Sakuma Auditorium at the Washington State University Extension Northwest Education and Research Center on Memorial Highway last Thursday. The audience chuckled knowingly, as Janicki listed some of the many community outreach programs handled by the volunteers. She had been reading the 50th Anniversary commemorative Master Gardener magazine...
Community members gathered around the Skagit City School Sunday, July 16, for the annual Skagit City School Picnic, hosted by the Skagit County Historical Museum. Live music filled the air as a breeze worked its way through the sunny front lawn of the school, dancing around attendees as they ate lunch provided by the La Conner Rotary and joined their community for an afternoon of talk, trivia and treasuring the legacy of the school before them. Picnickers cycled through the display room,...
It took a do-over, but the La Conner Town Council last week approved an infrastructure improvements plan for the construction site of a three-story, 19-unit condominium building on Center Street. The unanimous action – though some of the “aye” votes were barely audible – came during a special session in the Maple Hall’s Fireside Room Thursday morning and allows staff to begin a review process needed for project modifications. A motion by Councilmember Rick Dole seeking approval for the infrastructure plan died for lack of a second July 11....
Patriotism, matching the hot weather, was at a feverish pitch this July 4. But not everyone had a bang on Independence Day – or in the days leading up to and following the holiday. For La Conner area firefighters, already grappling with extended dry and windy conditions, fireworks activity lost some of its pizzaz. Their enthusiasm was dampened by the number of fireworks-related fires to which they responded. In fact, Skagit County Fire District 13 staff, which serves Swinomish Reservation and rural La Conner, are now suggesting limiting the l...
A time-honored adage says no job is finished until the paperwork is done. For the Town of La Conner Parks Commission, the reverse is true when it comes to installing a much-anticipated pavilion at Conner Waterfront Park. The pavilion project, on the drawing board for several years, has received approvals for both shoreline and building permits. Now, it’s just a matter of working out final details with the public works department and reaching a consensus as to exactly where at the park the structure should be located. “The pavilion is going to...