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The wheels of justice are said to grind slowly. But when it comes to planning for future local transportation needs, Town of La Conner officials, relatively speaking, are putting the pedal to the metal. Two years after the transportation section of the comprehensive plan was updated, Planning Director Michael Davolio, Assistant Planner Ajah Eills and planning commissioners are looking at parking in revisiting that element of the land use plan. Davolio conducted an inventory of available parking spaces on First Street and found there are 307...
The memories of severe saltwater flooding that deluged La Conner in December remain firmly etched in the minds of residents and business owners here, perhaps no more so than former council member and planning commissioner Bill Stokes. But Stokes, unanimously chosen to chair the Town’s new six-member emergency management commission at its first meeting April 19, is focused more on the future than the past. “We’ll talk about everything that can cause an emergency,” Stokes said. “That includes fires, tsunamis and earthquakes. “Our current goal,” h...
A two vehicle crash on Fir Island Road shortly after 3 p.m. Sunday sent a plume of thick black smoke high into the air. Bright orange flames were visible from Moore Road southeast of Best Road. Skagit County Fire District 3 responded at 3:17 p.m. to the 911 call coded as D MVA Rescue. The Skagit County Sheriff's Office responded to the same call. A white Dodge Journey traveling southbound on Fir Island Road crossed over the center line, striking a northbound red Subaru head on, the deputy...
The weather has not cooperated or coordinated itself with this year's Skagit Valley Tulip Festival, but sunny days are surely here again for Andrew Miller's new Tulip Valley Farms operation. His Bradshaw Road operation, in partnership with Larry Jensen and Shannon Perkes, continues to be open for business after an April 7 agreement between his lawyer and counsel for Spinach Bus Venture Group, owners of Tulip Town. Miller was sued on March 28 to halt his operations by Tulip Town's owners in Skagi...
Skagit County Superior Court judge Laura Riquelme sided with the five executive committee members of the Shelter Bay Community board of directors Friday, denying a request for an injunction that could have led to their removal from the board and would have prevented them from making financial decisions, including approving the community’s 2023 interim lease with the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community. In a near hour-long hearing attended by 15-20 Shelter Bay residents and watched over Zoom by another 45, attorneys for defendants Wendy P...
Last spring, Judy Kontos won election to the Shelter Bay Community’s board of directors on a platform of increasing transparency and ushering in reform as part of the nine-member governing panel. This time around, Kontos didn’t fare well when Shelter Bay residents marked their ballots. Kontos was recalled on a 343-149 vote last Wednesday when in-person and mail-in ballots were tallied. Kontos, whose career background is in finance with extensive experience as a mortgage broker, was sanctioned and suspended from the board in February pen...
Nobody anticipates a train derailment in their backyard. Nobody, perhaps, except Skagit County Fire District 13 Training Officer Chris Olbu. A model railroader, Olbu led a detailed tabletop exercise at the district’s SneeOosh Road fire station earlier this year, presenting the many scenarios that can arise when a train derails. As fate would have it, about two weeks after practicing moving model emergency vehicles around the train track Olbu had set up on the fire station’s second floor, two BNSF locomotive derailed near the Swinomish Cas...
The Town of La Conner won’t be caught with its pants down while drafting rules regulating adult businesses. Its Town Council last Tuesday unanimously adopted a six-month emergency moratorium on development applications within commercial, commercial transition and residential zones while controls addressing adult-oriented businesses are enacted. The action stems any attempt to locate here before specific regulations are adopted. “The moratorium,” planner Michael Davolio said, “will address anything that might come up in the interim.” Restricti...
The turmoil continues in Shelter Bay. Resident Judy Kontos filed five petitions, one against each executive committee member of the Shelter Bay Community board of directors, Thursday, April 13. The day before Kontos, elected to the board in May, was ousted from the board by a 55% yes vote of 492 of residents. This followed Kontos’ sanction and suspension from the board in February. “Collectively, I delivered over 1,000 signatures,” Kontos told the Weekly News Monday. Each petition had 220 signatures, she said. Community rules require 25% of th...
Will Judy Kontos be a Shelter Bay Community director tomorrow? Community leasehold members voted through 12:30 p.m. today “whether or not you approve the recall,” with “yes” a vote to remove her. Kontos was sanctioned and suspended Feb. 15 based on four code of conduct complaints filed against her in the fall. A special membership meeting was held April 12, starting at 11 a.m., recessing at 11:45 a.m. and reconvening at 5:30 p.m. The sole agenda item was Kontos recall for “four violations of rules and regulations of the associati...
Fewer homes sold in Skagit County in March, keeping the average median price high, $556,250 for the 105 homes that closed countywide. Anacortes remains the most expensive housing market in the county, by far: The 23 homes that closed had an average median price of $730,000. Sold home prices in the Burlington and Mount Vernon markets were also high, with $587,500 the average median price for the 20 homes that closed in the smaller city,. The 33 homes that closed in Mount Vernon had an average median price of $585,000. These three markets kept...
Thirty thousand doses of the pregnancy -ending drug mifepristone was purchased by the state under an order by Gov. Jay Inslee. The abortion-related drug is legal in the state of Washington to end pregnancy up to 10 weeks. The drug was approved for use by the Federal Food and Drug Administration 20 years ago and studies show the drug is safe to use. But, a federal judge in Texas is presiding over a case that challenges the FDA’s approval, and that could impact the ability of women in the state of Washington to have access to the drug, Inslee s...
A Skagit County Superior Court judge will rule Friday on a motion to continue Shelter Bay leaseholder and resident Jan Henrie’s civil complaint accusing five Shelter Bay Community board of directors of violating their statutory fiduciary duty and malfeasance. The lawsuit, filed March 15, Jan Henrie vs. Wendy Poulton, Elaine Dixon Monte Hicks, Joseph Hurley and Louise Kari, is on the April 14 civil motions docket. The case number is 23-2-00221-29. To participate remotely: zoom.us/my/skagitsuperior2; 253-215-8782; Meeting ID: 667 929 1013; P...
Recycling three typical 12 ounce aluminum beverage cans, to create an aluminum sheet for making a new can, saves about a kilowatt-hour of electricity compared to the electricity it would take to make a sheet from aluminum ore. Glass, steel, plastics, car batteries and paper recycling can also create energy savings. Waste materials that are recycled are not sent to landfills, and thus do not contribute to the use of land for landfills. Recyclable materials are typically mixed at the initial...
Employers would be prohibited from denying a person a job for their non-work-related cannabis use in a bill passed by the state Senate 28-21 and the House of Representatives 57-41. There is one difference between the two bills. The House legislations excludes people seeking positions as a first responder, corrections officer, a law enforcement agency or a fire department. Both bills exclude applicants in the aviation and aerospace industries because of federal transportation rules. Beyond those exemptions, Engrossed Substitute Senate Bill 5123...
The $40,187 reported in sales tax revenues to the La Conner Town Council for March by the state’s Department of Revenue is the second highest ever, only behind 2022’s record $44,210. It exceeds $40,000 for only the second time and is 20% above 2021, the third highest March report. The Special Use Fire Tax Revenues also dipped from 2022, by $314, 7.4%, below $4,000, barely, to $3,924, but still the second highest ever March total. Tourists still stayed overnight, creating record revenues for the Town’s hotel/motel tax, $8,083, the highest March...
While historic preservation is a major concern of the Town of La Conner Planning Commission and planning staff are intent on fending off any future character-changing developments that may arise. Adult businesses locating here is one. Town planner Michael Davolio and Assistant Planner Ajah Eills have repeatedly cited court decisions ruling those businesses can be regulated but only if specific parameters are on the books prior to permits being sought. Without regulation beforehand, adult business proposals must be treated the same as other ente...
Much worse than metaphorical slings and arrows are being fired on Shelter Bay social media community platforms, including their Next Door community. A handful of residents who have criticized sanctioned Shelter Bay Community Director Judy Kontos for her postings have called on the Weekly News to investigate, alleging she continues to violate association rules and regulations of confidentiality as a board member. They criticize as not true, as she told residents attending the April 2 town hall meeting - and as the Weekly News summarized in its...
Since COVID-19, the Zoom communications platform has been the next best thing to being there. And for Shelter Bay residents, it was even better than that Sunday night. Over 200 of the community’s homeowners logged onto a one-hour Zoom-only town hall addressing the April 12 recall election of Shelter Bay Board Director Judy Kontos. The start was delayed about 15 minutes to accommodate increased participant capacity, which drew more than twice the number of people who regularly attend monthly in-person meetings at the Shelter Bay clubhouse. It a...
March was a cold month in a cold winter. Seven nights it frosted, with four overnight lows below 30 degrees the first two weeks and the 28.1 degree month's low March 17. Snow was not measured locally. By all calculations it was cold. The 35 degrees average morning low was 2.9 degrees below the century average of 37.9. The average daily high of 51.4 was 0.8 degrees below the 52.2 century average. Those combined to have the 42.9 degree daily average peg at 1.9 degrees below the 44.8 degrees for the century. The high topped 50 degrees 18 times,...
Fidalgo Island — The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington issued a decision concluding the liability phase of trespass litigation filed by the Swinomish Indian Tribal Community against BNSF Railway March 27, ruling that “BNSF willfully, consciously and knowingly exceeded” limitations in an easement to cross the Tribe’s land. Swinomish Chairman Steve Edwards stated in a press release that “the Tribe takes its agreements very seriously and it expects them to be honored and we are thankful that BNSF is being held to...
The Federal Railroad Administration has confirmed KUOW reporting that a safety device meant to keep trains from plunging into Puget Sound knocked a train off the tracks and onto the Swinomish Reservation early Thursday morning. The short, seven-car BNSF Railway train was approaching a swinging bridge over the Swinomish Channel after leaving an oil refinery in Anacortes. The bridge swings open to let boats through the Swinomish Channel, a shallow, 11-mile long arm of Puget Sound that connects Padilla Bay to Skagit Bay. Devices called...
Should the Town of La Conner’s new Emergency Management Commission have five or six members? Town Council tabled adding a sixth person last week. An alternate might be added, though. Resident Linda Talman nudged officials toward that compromise position during a lengthy discussion. Mayor Ramon Hayes proposed adding a sixth voting member after Jamie Throgmorton applied. Her background makes her an asset to the commission. Town Administrator Scott Thomas was tasked with drafting a resolution modifying membership. Former council member Bill S...
Embattled Shelter Bay Community Director Judy Kontos is on the offensive, petitioning since mid-March to have residents recall the five members of the board’s executive committee. The board sanctioned Kontos in February after an ethics committee investigation Kontos believed was patently unfair. The petitions against board President Wendy Poulton, Vice President Joseph Hurley, Treasurer Louise Kari, Secretary Monte Hicks and Secretary pro tem Elaine Dixon read the same: “In accordance with Shelter Bay Community, Inc. Article V, Section 2, we...