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It could have been the perfect weather or the Guitar Festival that steered residents away from the Citizen Engagement Opportunity in the La Conner Swinomish Library conference room last Saturday, May 20. About ten people came to it, including La Conner Town Councilmembers MaryLee Chamberlain and Rick Dole. The relaxed setting encouraged public discussion of pre-selected topics: sustainable businesses; open spaces, infrastructure needs; public safety; and density development and growth. The gathering was put on by the council’s communications c...
Shelter Bay residents reelected Joe Hurley to their board of directors Saturday, May 20 at the community’s annual meeting. New on the board are Rod Proctor, who was appointed and served briefly in 2022, and Rick Parnell. The winners were overwhelming selected. Their totals: Hurley, 308; Proctor, 278; Parnell, 249. They beat candidates Jan Paul, 190 votes; Julie Peddy, 138; Marianne Remme, 90; and Larry Tagala, 87. Also newly on the board is Lawson Earl, selected by board members May 17, replacing Judy Kontos, recalled by the community in A...
The 2023 Shelter Bay Board of Directors campaign trail crossed Rainbow Bridge into La Conner Monday evening. A scheduled three-hour community members-only meet-and-greet with board candidates in the canopied Santo Coyote Mexican Kitchen outdoor patio area gradually shifted from mix-and-mingle to question-and-answer to a free-wheeling and often spirited discussion on a wide range of topics among attendees. About 50 people participated on a come-and-go basis. Seven candidates are vying for three...
Discussions are going on among La Conner residents advocating for development of a community garden at Jenson Field, as some are calling the property south of Pioneer Park and west of Maple Avenue Sybil and Tom Jenson sold to the Town of La Conner last September. When council voted to make the purchase, Mayor Ramon Hayes called it a gift: the $60,000 price was less than one-third its assessed value. At that council meeting resident Debbie Aldrich promoted the importance of green space and play areas for children after the loss of the Hedlin...
Well-built houses last for centuries. Today’s decisions during construction of a new home can affect your grandchildren’s grandchildrens’ energy bills. If you were building a new house for maximum energy efficiency, what innovative technologies could you add during construction that wouldn’t add much to its cost today, but would keep energy costs down over its lifetime? Metering and monitoring: Design the electric circuits to monitor energy consumption. Incorporate the ability to monitor...
The national COVID-19 public health emergency ended May 11, as ordered by President Joe Biden. People covered by Medicare will continue to get COVID-19 vaccines at no cost. Medicare will cover COVID-19 PCR and antigen tests with no out-of-pocket costs when ordered by a doctor. Expanded telehealth services will continue through December 31, 2024....
The Weekly News updated and corrected its May 10 story, “Shelter Bay lease negotiations continue,” on its website by deleting the final two paragraphs that incorrectly stated that attorney Paul Taylor’s statements were “mistaken” and he “erred” in his stating “that the Defendants herein voted to approve the Resolution to bind the Community to the proposed terms set forth by the Swinomish Tribal Authority without an appraisal as required by the Master Lease on Wednesday, April 19, 2023” and that “the Defendants passed a resolution acceptin...
With long-awaited warm weather hinting of summer arrival, La Conner Mayor Ramon Hayes told Town Council members that tighter fitting fashions will be the coming style at their May 9 Maple Hall session. “We’re going to have to tighten our belts this fall,” Hayes predicted, referring to next year’s budget, despite robust sales and hotel-motel tax revenues. “There will be pressure on our budget negotiations,” said Hayes. “Costs are rising, and we see inflation across the board. And labor costs are on the rise.” Councilmember MaryLee Chamber...
Shelter Bay resident Jan Henrie filed a motion in Skagit Superior Court May 5 asking for a default judgment in her lawsuit against the community’s board members Wendy Poulton, Elaine Dixon Monte Hicks, Joseph Hurley and Louise Kari because defense lawyers had not responded to Henrie’s motion for reconsideration. Her lawyer, Paul Taylor, argued that the court erred in ruling the defendants had no fiduciary duty to Henrie, and as a matter of law and ttat it applied the wrong standard of law. Defense lawyer Meredith Thielbahr responded that the...
Andrew Miller of Tulip Valley Farms has a June 1 Skagit Superior Court date to have claims against him made in March by Tulip Town’s owners dismissed. Miller’s lawyer filed a motion for summary judgment to dismiss Tulip Town claims and request equitable relief May 8. Spinach Bus Venture Group, owners of Tulip Town, sued to halt Tulip Valley Farms from opening, but on April 7 the parties agreed to strike the pending motion. Since then Mark Lee, Miller’s lawyer, has filed documents supporting his May 8 filing....
Politics is by nature a social science. But, in Shelter Bay, questions have arisen over whether there should be a separation of politics and social gatherings, akin to that of church and state. The community’s social and recreation committee canceled a Cinco de Mayo celebration scheduled last Thursday afternoon following publication in the Weekly News the day before of an ad that invited those attending to meet candidates seeking election to the Shelter Bay Board of Directors while enjoying their favorite adult beverages. Shelter Bay Board P...
CORRECTION: The Weekly News has updated and corrected this story, below, by deleting the final two paragraphs that incorrectly stated that attorney Paul Taylor’s statements were “mistaken” and he “erred” in his stating “that the Defendants herein voted to approve the Resolution to bind the Community to the proposed terms set forth by the Swinomish Tribal Authority without an appraisal as required by the Master Lease on Wednesday, April 19, 2023” and that “the Defendants passed a resolution accepting the ten-year increase in rent without an...
You are right to remember April as dreary, damp and cold. What it wasn’t was wet. The 1.7 inches of rain was the fourth year in a row of under 1.7 inches of moisture and the seventh driest April since 2000. Rainfall was 37% below the 2.7 inches average for the century. While rain came down 19 days, 11 times it was less than 0.1 inch and 15 times less than 0.2 inches. The most rainfall was 0.34 inch April 16, one of three days of over 0.2 inches of precipitation. When it rained six of seven days April 20-26, that was only 0.64 inch and the 10 of...
Town officials aren't turning a blind eye to the prospect of peep shows coming to La Conner. That's why, with a six-month moratorium now in place, they're hustling to enact restrictions limiting where adult businesses can operate – at a safe distance from residential areas and the school campus. But finding such a location in a town hemmed in geographically is easier said than done. Industrial zones on the north and south ends of La Conner could be designated for adult businesses. Two sites a...
Tulip Valley Farms operator Andrew Miller filed for dismissal of all claims made by Spinach Bus Venture Group, owners of Tulip Town, in Skagit Superior Court April 25. His 15 page memorandum of law filed in support of his motion again cites the 2019 operating agreement the then partners signed: “Any Member or Manager may engage in or possess an interest in other business ventures of every nature and description, independently or with others, including but not limited to, the ownership, financing, or management, employment by, lending to, or o...
Ongoing work towards both energy independence and the transition to energy sources that don’t use fossil fuels are going to create choices for energy consumers that we haven’t had in decades, or ever. If technologies in the energy field continue on their current course, buying energy is going to involve decisions we haven’t had to make before. We’re already seeing some of these changes and can expect to see more. For instance, electric utilities won’t offer just one product (now with electricity...
Shelter Bay resident Jan Henrie wants another day in court, continuing her lawsuit to stop the five Shelter Bay Community board of director officers from making financial decisions and to remove them. Meanwhile, the board approved a lease agreement with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community April 19. Henrie’s March motion for injunctive relief in Skagit Superior Court was denied April 14. She filed a motion for reconsideration April 24, alleging Judge Laura Riquelme’s denial of her motion was “contrary to law, that substantial justice has not b...
A perennial issue topped the agenda of a rare short La Conner Town Council meeting last Tuesday. As had the town’s planning commission a week earlier, most of council’s 40-minute April 25 session emphasized downtown parking and traffic congestion. The parking topic likely would have consumed even more Council time – as it has for springs and summers over decades – were it not that many at the meeting wanted to attend the much-anticipated Matika Wilbur book launch at Swinomish at 7 p.m. Even longtime La Conner resident Linda Talman, an attende...
The permit for a 300 square foot billboard on Cedardale Road on the east side of I-5 at the Conway exit was approved by the Skagit County Planning and Development Services Department April 18. Staff found the application met all requirements in Skagit County’s code and comprehensive plan and the applicant provided “adequate analysis of and mitigation for the specific adverse environmental impacts of the project,” planner Kevin Cricchio wrote. The applicant received a SEPA Mitigated Determination of Nonsignificance. Cricchio approved an admin...
It is time to decide to run for mayor or a town council seat in La Conner or for school district director, Fire District 13 commissioner and cemetery district 1 positions. Filing by mail for elected offices has started. File online or in person May 15-19. Get a Skagit County candidates guide with information on office qualifications and candidate filing instructions at the Skagit County Elections website. Offices without a fixed annual salary have no filing fee. Voting for the primary election closes at 8 p.m. Aug. 1. Only races with three or...
Swinomish Tribal Community lands are in line for salmon habitat restoration and coastal resilience grant funds, U.S. Rep. Rick Larsen (D-Everett) and U.S. Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA.) announced last week. The federal funding support has been recommended by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration as part of infrastructure and inflation reduction legislation passed to combat climate change and create green jobs. One of 14 NOAA-endorsed conservation projects is an $11.6 million Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife salmon and...
Cooke Aquaculture Pacific, LLC did not meet the state of Washington 's April 14 deadline to remove its Hope Island fish net pens from Skagit Bay. After the state Department of Natural Resources ended the company’s leases in November, it faced a December deadline to pull all its infrastructure. In January Thurston County Superior Court extended until April fish harvesting and removal of equipment from the firm’s Hope Island and Bainbridge Island fish farms, granting a preliminary injunction against the DNR. In a statement then, Cooke called the...
The Washington State Legislature adjourned April 23 after passing two-year budgets. It failed to approve a controversial bill setting drug possession penalties, raising the possibility of a special session in the coming weeks to resolve the issue. The state operating budget allocates $69.3 billion for areas such as behavioral health, K-12 education and more for the 2023-25 biennium. That budget includes $2.9 billion for K-12 education and $400 million for the Climate Commitment Act, which helps prepare for climate crises such as flooding and...