New technology might someday help solve an age-old concern in the La Conner area.

A plan to deploy portable geotextile-lined flood barriers as part of a future ring dike system on the northeast edge of town was part of an otherwise watered-down Thanksgiving week Town Council agenda last Tuesday.

The mesh barriers, similar to those used by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers when battling flood conditions on the Mississippi River, would supplement construction of proposed new dike sections north and east of La Conner High School.

The earth-tone units can be filled with sand, sod, or well-graded...