August
5, 2010
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With July a fast fading but decidedly chilly memory, we now turn
our attention to party time as we celebrate five years as the Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood.
Party Central will be Wade Street Park where, on Saturday, August 21
(noon-4 p.m.), we’ll recognize our first five years as part of the City of
Located in The Reserve’s
Wade Street Park, the event also celebrates our close association with M:KOV Development and its leader, Ted Mischaikov. It was Ted who provided
The August 21
celebration, titled Meet & Greet, takes the form of an old-fashioned block
party with hamburgers & hot dogs, balloons for kids, an inflatable Bounce
house, prize drawings, egg tosses, and music recorded when music was
music. It’s all free and it’s all fun so
walk to the park by way of
As Cordata Trail Phase One nears the home
stretch in its construction, plans are underway to celebrate the occasion in
this most celebratory of Neighborhoods. The
meandering trail, of 3,000 linear foot length and six feet wide, will feature
steel and concrete bridges of 96 and 60 feet.
In keeping with Parks and Recreation policy, our Neighborhood will have
the opportunity to augment the placement of two benches near the bridges. Memorial benches have become a traditional
means of supplying resting places in our many parks. Entry trail points are located near what is
currently the end of
Our most recent GM/
Meanwhile, on another “parks” front, the Play Area at
While the summer hiatus rolls on, it’s worth noting that our
monthly meetings at Birchwood Presbyterian Church will resume Tuesday,
September 14, at
That garage sale, expertly organized by Lucy Alejandro and Karie Solomon, produced $550 in profit for
Deadline Dash….Our thanks go to
More later,
Bob Sanders
July
8, 2010
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There is something delightfully ironic about a re-scheduling of our
annual GM/
The August 21 Noon to 4 p.m. event is being made possible by developer Ted Mischaikov whose M:KOV purchased undeveloped Phases I and II from DR Horton. At this writing, the fun-filled event will include hot dogs, hamburgers, lemonade and cookies plus the ever-popular Inflatable Bounce House for kids and daring adults who also will be eligible for prizes including rounds of golf at North Bellingham Golf Course, a City Gym Membership, golf balls and a Bellingham Automotive free oil change. Next months Insider will have more details.
Yes, this event replaces what had been scheduled for June 26, at Bakerview Square. A
funny thing evolved as we got within two weeks of the planned event. Some of the BS merchants balked at sharing
the event with neighborhood Big Box stores Costco and WalMart. Asked to “dis-invite”
our supportive corporate friends, we refused.
That’s when Mischaikov offered the use of
Summertime, and the building of community spirit continues at
The Gardens, by the way, have reached You Tube status thanks to Tim Guy who produced a video titled “Community Garden Runs Amuk!” starring all kinds of marvelous fruits and veggies plus Alice Bell and Tiller, the Wonder Dog. Rumors that the video was produced by a production company called Lettuce Entertain You are totally without merit. Readers may find this engaging film at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXlyaMEMJvO and at the Gardens website at Cordatagardens@yahoo.com
Enthusiastically welcomed aboard by your board of directors is Steve Crooks whose fascinating background ranges from air combat operations during the Vietnam War to current countrywide consultant work for private property owners threatened by potential/ongoing litigation regarding loss/impact to their business properties through condemnations.
A graduate of California
Polytechnic State University (Cal Poly) in San Luis Obispo, California in 1968
with a B.S. in Business Administration, Crooks was commissioned a Second
Lieutenant in the U.S. Marine Corps Reserve and trained at the U.S. Naval
Flight School in Pensacola, Florida. He
received several Air Medals for combat operations against the
Crooks joined Mobil Oil
Corporation in 1973 and appointed to several positions on the West Coast. It was while working in
When Mobil Oil Pacific
Northwest was purchased by British Petroleum, Crooks went with BP serving in
Seattle, Cleveland and Chicago until retirement in 2008. While at BP, he had case oversight
responsibility for all eminent domain (condemnation) cases by governmental
agencies targeted against BP’s retail assets and terminal properties through
condemnation. Crooks
replaces Linda Trentman who, along with
husband Jon, are moving to the
Deadline Dash….Cordatans are urged to
attend our update of the Neighborhood Plan to the City Planning Commission at
City Hall on July 15 at 7 p.m.. Prepared
by Adrienne Lederer and Ralph Wenning,
the Plan, if passed, will then be examined by the City Council sometime in the Fall….That was a nice mid-June Herald story about Matt Verguth and his The Bike Shop in the Herald. There was, however, a mistake. The second Bike Swap of the year at the Sportsplex will be held August 21, not August 1….The paper
also played the better late than never game when it reported a June 12 drugs
robbery at the Cordata Haggen’s
Pharmacy. The robbery story appeared six
days later….Recent evidence suggests conservative anti-tax activist Brett
Bonner is becoming
More later,
Bob Sanders
Vol. 5, No. 57
The Waterfront Plan, one of
Bellingham’s most exciting and at times vexing challenges,
will be addressed by Linda Stewart, the Plan’s co-manager, on Tuesday June 8,
at Birchwood Presbyterian Church. Her
presentation is part of a process to update neighborhoods on waterfront
redevelopment work in progress and follows years of planning and comprehensive
environmental analysis. It is hoped that
a draft Waterfront Master Plan, agreed upon by the Port and City, will be
submitted to the City’s Planning Commission later this year.
Stewart, Neighborhoods & Special
Projects Coordinato, works in the Mayor’s Office and
extends an invitation to all residents to attend Waterfront Advisory Group
(WAG) meetings. These opportunities to
participate in shaping the community’s vision for Bellingham’s Waterfront are
held on the second Wednesday of each month, 6 p.m., Port Offices, 1801 Roeder
Ave.
The Waterfront Plan general meeting
will be our last before the usual summer hiatus. We’ll resume Tuesday, September 14 when our
concentration will be directed toward Disaster Preparedness. Featured speakers will include: Bob
Jacobson, Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) supervisor and Brock Ward,
Whatcom County Condo Association member and GM/CNA member.
A second park for Cordata
is still alive as a viable project as M:KOV
Development continues to offer 35 acres of the
“DR Horton” project to the City.
The land, roughly half of what M:KOV president
Ted Mischaikov wanted to turn into South Springs can
be had for the same price-per-acre as recent north side City acquisitions. Faced with a close-at-hand deadline (as early
as next week), your board of directors will have face-to-face conversations
soonest with all City Council members as we attempt to bring some balance to
the city’s park system while Cordata grows
exponentially.
Bakerview Square & GM/CNA are united for this year’s Fourth
Annual Neighborhood Celebration as we move the event around Cordata. The date is Saturday, June 26 (noon to 4 p.m .) with party central the giant Trillium Corp. tent to
be located immediately west of Soy House Restaurant. A cornucopia of neighborhood services and
businesses will participate including: Wal-Mart, Costco, Community Food Co-Op,
GM/C Community Gardens, Birchwood Presbyterian Church Children’s Playground, PeaceHealth St. Joseph Medical Center, Bellingham Fire
& Police Departments, Whatcom Community College Adult Education and
Library, and three Cordata developments: South
Springs, Cordata Village, and West Cordata Green.
In addition, GM/CNA will be
represented by way of maps of the new Cordata
Neighborhood (we change our name next year), Cordata
Park and the just started Cordata Trail Phase I. We have a lot to celebrate so stop by for
light food, fun and music. See you at Bakerview Square on the 26th. As a post script, we need the loan of a
bridge table or one 4’x6’size plus a medium size easel. Donors please call Adrienne Lederer (738-8966).
As a new Neighborhood Plan is cobbled
together through a series of work sessions and hearings involving your
Neighborhood Association and City government, The Insider is most impressed by the
following suggested vision statement written by board member Ralph Wenning and approved by his Neighborhood Plan Committee
confreres: Adrienne Lederer, Aly
Howisey, and Vinson Latimore.
The Cordata
Neighborhood strives to enhance the quality of life of its residents through
access to public safety, educational opportunities and recreational
facilities. The Cordata
Neighborhood is committed to a community value of view protection, maintenance,
preservation and enhancement of open spaces and wildlife corridors. The proposed changes to the transportation
system, the development of parks and trails and other planned improvements will
promote security, neighborhood cohesion and aesthetic appeal while enhancing
overall livability. We strongly believe
that any future develop-ments within the neighborhood
must be considered on a comprehensive basis, with infrastructure built
concurrent with or in place before any further development proceeds The implementation of infrastructure
in a timely fashion is a key to successful growth.
Another innovation has been
introduced by the Garden Committee, this time by Lisa Moss. Aimed at creating more of a social atmosphere
at Cordata Community Gardens is a series of musicals
featuring soft music and scheduled for the first and third Wednesdays of summer
months. With the enthusiastic backing of
the Neighborhood Association, the first musical clambake will be June 16 (6-8
p.m.) featuring End of the Road string band.
Other groups are being contacted to play at performance central on the
side grass by the road. Bring your own
picnic to the notable experience. Way to
go, Lisa Moss.
Meanwhile, the Gardens are moving
along in the spirit that has endeared the project to Cordatans
and, indeed, all of Bellingham. Members,
undismayed by the weather’s lack of cooperation in May, are seeking donations
from the commercial world, a weed-whacker has finally been found thanks to
Terry Parks of our Food Co-Op, and lock teams have been organized. A consensus determined to keep the gate open
for garden visitors during the day and locked at night along with the shed
whenever anyone leaves the garden.
Deadline Dash….Much conjecture
followed the announcement of Bellingham Planning Director Tim Stewart leaving
for a similar job on Mercer Island. The
announcement came on the heels of David Stalheim
becoming Planning’s Block Grant Program Mgr. after less than three years with
the County as Planning Director. Stalheim’s move, at a salary loss of $50,000 (from $119,000
to $69,000) may be a coincidence but The Insider doubts it. While an interim choice is in place with the
usual “national search” going on, the timing is off the wall if the job
isn’t really Stalheim’s….Delighted to contribute $200
to the Birchwood Presbyterian Church Playground at the May general meeting was
your Neighborhood Association. Ground
breaking will be in August….House 2 Home Network has a place for your unwanted
furniture. The organization is
collecting items for the recently homeless now putting lives back
together. Contact Lisa Hust (224-7185) or lisah@whatcomvolunteer.org....The May 15
Bike Swap, held at the Sportsplex and directed by our
March speaker, Matt Velguth, raised nearly $1,500 for
our Sterling Drive Neighborhood’s The Bike Shop. Velguth’s project
can dramatically change the lives of at-risk kids through the bicycle….A
predicted 19% Washington State homeless increase so far this year is not
happening in Whatcom County. The figure
here is 1,334, up but slightly from 2008 before the recession took hold. The recession also figured to boost crime
statistics, but it hasn’t happened although there have been eight murders the
result of domestic violence during the past 14 months…. A showcase of Whatcom
Community College student talent, titled “Symphony of Infamy” can be yours
Friday (June 4) beginning at 7 p.m. in Heiner
Auditorium…At the risk of offering an impolite thought, there is something intrinsically
amusing about a City (Bellingham) being delayed parking pay station revenues by
uncooperative weather in a community famous for an abundance of rain and a lack
of sufficient sun. The rain has turned
trenches dug for electrical connections into rivers while dampening pavements
thus denying all important stall numbering while the pronounced lack of sun in
areas heavily-shaded by huge trees has left solar stations (yes, solar
stations) with limited juice to become activated. Life used to be much simpler….A sign of the
times is the offer made by the Bellingham School Board for 14 acres on Kellogg
Rd. adjacent to owner King Mt. Church.
The offer of $1.65 million is $400,000 less than the appraised value…V’s
Barbershop in Bakerview Square is now open with beer
being served to patrons. The opening the
other day, deemed “soft” by the Herald, makes one wonder if the suds offered
might have been Belgium’s Fat Tire?
More later,
Bob Sanders
Vol 5, #56
May, 6,
2010
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Newsletter of the Guide Meridian/Cordata Neighborhood Association
An unfortunate City Hall culture was a major factor in a May 3 defeat handed M:KOV Development whose president, Ted Mischaikov, was told by the Bellingham Planning Department that he would have to go back to square one should he continue a desire to develop South Springs. The project, reduced in size from 429 residential units to 204 as an accommodation for a City park, means that Mischaikov’s time frame has been extended by three years should he continue pursuit of his objectives. His other option is to change the Comprehensive Plan, a mission that would consume around three years.
The bureaucratic stonewall has a park-wise bright side as a result of Mischaikov’s loss. The developer, whose re-planning of the original DR Horton plat included a park of about 35 acres to be sold to the City, will now offer the parkland property at the going price of recent City Hall park purchases.
Expressing deep disappointment three days later to GM/CNA board members, Mischaikov reiterated his decision to bring a park to Cordata. “I have every hope that the City Council will approve a sale. It could happen as early as the 24th of this month.”
Developer Ralph Black, a major force in Bellingham’s expansion, will be our speaker at the Tuesday, May 11 general meeting. The session, beginning at 7 p.m., at Birchwood Presbyterian Church, promises to be both lively and timely coming on the heels of the Planning Department’s rejection of the M:KOV re-design of South Springs.
The articulate Black is involved in many things affecting Cordata. His Alliance Properties plans a King Mt. Neighborhood urban village, he has a passion (shared by us) to build a pedestrian overpass on Meridian Rd., and he is the owner of Ferndale land given further attractiveness when the Ferndale City Council made a beguiling offer to Walmart that the Bellingham City Council finally recognized as a threat. Our June 9 speaker, Linda Stewart,will be Waterfront Project Co-Manager.
Although Orientation Day sounds like something out of boot camp, more than half our Cordata Community Garden stalwarts braved the elements to kick off a new season. Following a short briefing, a work session included digging, weeding, sorting compost and exploring. Karie Solomon has organized the shed, the high bed (B-1) will be devoted to herbs this season and is available to all. You can bring your own or use seeds in the shed drawers. Another assignment finds Laura Fornalski (F-4) officially recognized as the gardens “Fruit Lady” and a berry, berry good decision it is. One of Laura’s responsibilities will be those jazzy blueberry bushes located at the east end of the gardens. Composting, another key gardening element, will be headed up by Stan Dean. Gardens manager Dee Andrews reports that Walmart this year is contributing $1,000 in the form of equipment for the project. Past help also has been significant.
The Big Box Dilemma that began with a bang ended in a 7-0 whimper of a vote by the Bellingham City Council. The Council’s decision to back off from a series of badly thought out threats to the big guys came about when Ferndale became particularly aggressive in its overtures to Walmart. During two months leading up to the vote, your board of directors met with Council members (no more than three at a time in observance of City Hall rules) to discuss many things including the Big Box issue. The night of the Council vote (April 12) found board members Adrienne Lederer, Julie Guy and Bev Jacobs speaking on behalf of Big Box expansion. The Insider feels the Ferndale property, owned by developer Ralph Black (our general meeting speaker May 11) is very much in play. Although no negotiations are going on at present, don’t bet against the property one day being the location of a Sam’s Warehouse. A major reason: its appeal to Canadians and the rising Canadian dollar.
The New Cordata, whose planned boundary re-working impacts adjacent Neighborhoods, was one of the reasons a large gathering attended an April 27 Bellingham Planning Department presentation. The session, first of a number dealing with imposing north Bellingham modifications, was held at Birchwood Presbyterian Church and attended by Neighborhood representatives from the established (Guide Meridian/Cordata, Meridian and Mt. Baker), the new (King Mt.) and the planned (Irongate). The latter will be carved from the sprawling Mt. Baker Neighborhood. Our new name will be voted upon in December, then go into effect in January.
Making the presentation were Planner Kathy Bell and Communication Coordinator Nicole Oliver. One of the more interesting aspects of the evening, produced by a question from the audience, involves the future role of Trillium Corp. in our Neighborhood’s upkeep. The subject is of considerable complexity produced over many years starting with annexation of the once County land by the City and brings to mind a Winston Churchill quote about (Russia) being “a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.” Incidentally, readers with a penchant for the bizarre are invited to Google (or whatever suits you fancy) Trillium Corp’s nearly 1 million acre logging adventures in Tierra del Fuego back in the 1990s. Among the oddities: a bailout by Goldman Sachs. Now, there’s a switch.
Deadline Dash….Sterling Drive’s The Bike Shop (director Matt Velguth spoke at our March meeting) will get 10% of sales at the May 15 Bike Swap. The event, to be held beginning at noon at the B-Ham Sportsplex, is a chance to unload an old bike or find something to ride home. C heck out www.thebikeshop1.org for further details…..In these highly divisive times, it wasn’t surprising that the sales tax levy on behalf of the Whatcom Transit Authority was defeated. Voted down by nearly one percentage point, the levy lost because of a heavy anti-vote in the County. Quoted in this week’s Cascadia Weekly about planned cuts, WTA board member Jack Weiss lamented: “About 55% of service hour reductions come out of Ward 1.” Weiss, also Ward 1 councilman, then pointed to the northernmost ward as, like the rest of Bellingham, in approval of the levy. “We need to look at that,” he added. Weiss’s comments beg the question: why does the north side (and Cordata in particular) continue as the City’s whipping boy?....At press time, Weiss called a WTA Public Hearing to be held Thursday, May 13 at Whatcom County Copucil Chambers, 311 Grand Ave….Bellingham has become the Nation’s 37th Certified Community Wildlife Habitat Community. A 2005 program to gain certification was begun by then Mayor Mark Asmundson, Parks & Recreation and other community leaders. A celebration will be held Tuesday, May 8 at Fairhaven Village Green….The failure to return phone calls, at the very least off-putting, is what Marriott Hotel people did when the City asked when two storm water vaults are planned for construction. It’s another footnote in the continuing story about construction slowdown….Southsider Clay Butler, whose campaign to add Bellingham to a list of 51 other Washington State cities with a total ban on the sales, possession and use of consumer fireworks, has a petition for you to sign. Approved by your board, the petition is available at http://lpetitions.com/petition/bellingham_consumer_fireworks_ban/....As we continue to work with the City and those intimately involved who can make Cordata an even better place, we find ourselves often repeating what is becoming a mantra about our unprecedented development: Having reached a population of 5,855 at the end of last year and with 800 homes planned as a minimum reality, Cordata MUST receive services commensurate with that growth.
More later,
Bob Sanders
April 8, 2010
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Director of Parks and Recreation Paul Leuthold
will be guest speaker at our April 13 general meeting at Birchwood Presbyterian
Church. His
Come to the meeting and learn where Parks & Recreation has been and where it is going as Cordatans work effectively with a most important City Hall department. A second speaker, Jim Zander, will offer the very latest information about the planned playground at Birchwood Presbyterian Church.
That Playground brings relief to many Cordatan families frustrated by our lack of facilities and
represents the area’s first non-restricted playground, a decided contrast to
what DR Horton left behind in The Reserve: afterthoughts open only to those who
live in the development. The new
available-to-all play area will be about 2,800 square feet (trapezoidal shape
whose dimensions are roughly 70’ x 50’feet) and located west of the building at
the northwest corner. Adhering to the
latest safety standards, the project will use the same architect who has
designed parks installed by the City of
With seating for adult supervisors, the play area will be fenced from vehicular traffic and consist of two major groupings for young and older children. The latter will feature “The Volcano,” similar to a short rock climbing wall. The contribution to the community will cost about $95,000, a price based upon using volunteer labor for as much of the construction work as is practical. Money raised thus far is within $10,000 of the total cost. Contributions can be made through Allyson Vlas at the church (733-8860).
Your Neighborhood Association is joining forces with Bakerview Square for a June 26 Noon to 4 p.m. gala
celebration of the still-under-construction member of the business community
and our Neighborhood. GM/
International Basketball League professional competition returns to
Whatcom Community College tomorrow (April 9) at 7 p.m. when the Bellingham Slam
plays the Tacoma Tide at Whatcom Pavilion
With the first five games at home, the Slam is led by the recently
signed Ra’Sean Dickey, an outstanding member of the
Georgia Tech Bulldogs, who becomes the first Atlantic Athletic Conference (
Deadline Dash….Members of the GMCNA Board of Directors will offer
Big Box comments at Monday’s (April 12) 7 p.m. City Council meeting at the
Municipal Court Bldg.,
More later,
Bob Sanders
Vol. 5, #54
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A most unusual presentation is on
deck for our March meeting. Speaker
Mathew Velguth will soon have The Bike Shop up and running
in the Sterling Neighborhood where at-risk kids are taught responsibility
through the ownership of bicycles. It’s
an exciting concept that has worked in Labrador and Portland, Maine under Velguth’s direction.
The Bike Shop is an open-door preventative project whose goal is
integrating children (ages 8 to 15) from low-income homes into the greater
community. The bottom line of Velguth’s work is that
he instills in kids the habits of good physical health while providing the
internal tools that enable them to move out of a subsidized existence.
Also scheduled to speak is our Ward One
Councilman Jack Weiss who will address our most pressing problem: the Big Box
Ban and the distinct possibility of mega stores leaving Bellingham for
Ferndale. His comments follow a City
Council working session in which a bewildering array of “solutions” were put on
the table in what threatens to enlarge the Big Box Controversy. The possibilities include: a demand for a
“living wage” (whatever that means); a highly complex green transportation plan
that would require a percentage of employees use alternative means (as in
bicycles and buses) to and from work; and a reduction from a 90,000 sq. ft.
limit to 60,000. The latter, if adopted,
would make even more difficult the development of The Waterfront Project.
Come experience an exciting program Tuesday,
March 9, at 7 p.m., at Birchwood Presbyterian Church, 400 Meadowbrook Ct.
Your Board of Directors has completed
five/sevenths of a series of meetings with members of the Bellingham City
Council. The sessions are believed to be
the first of its kind with Neighborhood Associations normally concentrating
contact on the council member responsible for the Neighborhood. While most Bellingham Neighborhoods are
well-established with few problems, Guide Meridian/Cordata
is unique. Growing at a rapid rate (our
population will top 6,000 when current building plans are completed), the Neighborhood continues to encounter problems that need
to come to the Council’s attention.
Attendant to those problems is the inclination of Council members, highly aware of
commonly-shared responsibilities, to know considerably less about smaller
matters in other bailiwicks. Having
written that, it is worth mentioning that by far the largest chunk of total
meeting time with the Councilmen has dealt with the Big Box situation. It is our contention that the Big Boxes,
principally WalMart and Costco, will leave Meridian
if the City continues to threaten them with unrealistic demands of compliance. At this writing, there are a lot of complex
possibilities on the table, the kind that, if adopted, would likely produce
paroxysms of laughter among the Big Boxes, then send them scurrying to Ferndale
where the door is open. Should that
happen, our forlorn hope would be that WalMart, the
target of a pronounced postcard-writing campaign by unions, keeps the
Bellingham store open as a “service” operation.
With the approach of this publication’s deadline, we have learned that WalMart will spend nearly $1 million on interior
re-vamping. Bear in mind that that $1
million expenditure can be regarded in a number of ways including this corner’s
suggestion that the money is chump change to WalMart.
Deadline Dash….Ten acres across from Fred
Meyer stands a decent chance of becoming a mixed-use urban village. By a 6-1 vote, the City Council will
re-consider a re-zone of the area from industrial to commercial and industrial
after rejecting the proposal two years ago.
City planners will now work with landowners and our Association before
the project returns to the Planning Commission and Council….That wicked left
hand turn off heavily-trafficked Telegraph Rd. to get to Key Bank and Rite Aid
will soon be eliminated after two straight years as Bellingham’s worst spot for
traffic accidents. Polite drivers headed
west are the odd problem who by stopping encourage the turns as the outside
lane rolls on….It’s good to see a third tenant announced for Whatcom Plaza at
the entrance to Whatcom Community College.
Westside Pizza will move in shortly….We already owe such great thanks to
the Birchwood Presbyterian Church and now even more with the news that a
playground project will start as early as October. The project, whose estimated price of $50,000
was met with contributions, is now challenged by a new price tag: $95,000. Further contributions will be regarded as
answered prayers. Next month’s Insider
will include details of what will be built on west church grounds close to what
will be Cordata’s first trail….Those Phase One Trail
bids, by the way, came in at well under anticipated costs. The winner: Razz Construction with a bid of
$565,270. Unfortunately, Parks & Recreation has decided that any “found”
money will go to “unforseen budget demands” rather
than, say, a trail extension to the church project….An elementary school on
Aldrich Rd. took another step toward reality the other day when the Bellingham
School Board gave district officials the green light to call for bids. The project was made possible by passage of a
$67 million bond issue in 2006….And, for your considered opinion, how about the
complexities of a possible demand by the City Council that a to-be-determined
percentage of Big Box employees take either the bus or bicycle to and from
work. One wonders how the bureaucratic
mind might grapple with accreditation for the bicycle built-for-two?
More later,
Bob Sanders with a low bow to Micah
Vol. 5, #53
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We’re
most fortunate to have as our next general meeting speaker Eric Hirst,
active in local government and environmental issues since arriving here late in
2002. The meeting, to be held Tuesday, February 9, at 7 p.m., at
the Birchwood Presbyterian Church, will center on land use. Hirst has served on: the Bellingham Budget Advisory
Committee (2004-06); Bellingham Herald Voices (2004-06); Bellingham Greenway
Advisory Committee (2006-present); Futurewise Whatcom
Steering Committee; and Bellingham Capital Facilities Task Force
(2010-present. The essence of his attitide
toward life here is that “Whatcom County is a wonderful place to live, but I
worry that the pressures of population growth will slowly erode our terrific
quality of life.”
Hirst has a Ph.D. in engineering from Stanford
University, taught at Tuskegee Institute, then worked as a policy analyst at
Oak Ridge (TN) National Laboratory on energy efficiency and the structure of
the electricity industry. The last eight years of his career prior to
retirement in 2004 were spent as a consultant.
Also
appearing at Tuesday’s meeting will be Scott Miles, Social Media Chair of
Transit Works, the campaign favoring a sales tax
increase of two-tenths of one percent with funds going to the WTA.
By
the way, dates for coming general meetings, always held the second Tuesdays of
the month at 7 p.m., will be: February 9, March 9, April 13, and May 11.
There will be no meetings June, July, and August.
Having
been elected unanimously by the membership at the January general meeting,
your board of directors met February 2 and chose the following officers:
President, Adrienne Lederer; Vice-President, Bob
Sanders; Secretary, Julie Guy; and Treasurer, Bill Dubay.
In addition, the following will head committees: Dee Andrews, Community Garden;
Beverly Jacobs, Library; Vinson Latimore,
Transportation; and Linda Trentman, Homeowners
Associations.
Your
Association Board continues to improve and expand. Our newest additions: Bill Dubay and Vinson.B. Latimore.
Bill comes to us by way of a full-time move to Bellingham last August.
Before that, he and his wife of 32 years, Diane, had owned a unit at El Dorado
while spending vacations there six weeks of the year. Home base then was
Sacramento where Bill spent 33 years as financial manager for a commercial
general building contractor with annual revenues of $30MM. Possessor of a
B.S. in Business Administration (Accounting) from California State University,
Sacramento, Bill was born in Detroit, Michigan,
graduated from high school in Petoskey, Michigan, then spent 10 years in the
U.S. Navy as a nuclear reactor operator on submarines.
Vinson
B. (“Vinny”) Latimore is
president of Gibraltar Senior Living which he founded in 2006 to focus upon
meeting the needs of seniors with dementia. It was a natural progression
beginning with a discovery early in life that he had an affinity for the
elderly. After earning a B.A. from the University of South Carolina in
1992, Vinny began work as a laboratory assistant with
Northwest Laboratories in Anchorage, Alaska. His next move was to Seattle
where he was accepted by the University of Washington’s Master of Health
Administration program, ranked number two in the Nation. It was while
working on his Masters thesis at the Sisters of
Providence skilled nursing facility in Seattle that Vinny
produced an internal study subsequently used by administrators to help improve
interaction between staff members and residents. Having earned a Master of
Health Administration in 1996, Vinny worked six years
within the hospital as both an administrator and consultant. In
addition, he possesses additional certification in Alzheimer’s dementia and has
worked for various not-for-profits playing organizational roles in their
formation.
Author
Tobias Wolff, whose list of literary triumphs includes This Boy’s Life, will
speak Monday, February 8, at Whatcom Community College’s Syre
Center, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Wolff, a professor at Stanford University,
has taught English and Creative Writing there since 1997. This Boy’s
Life was turned into an absorbing 1993 film starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Robert De Niro and
Ellen Barkin.
This
is the day (Thursday,
February 4) that Phase One Trail bids will be opened amid high Cordatan interest. Bellingham’s north side trails
will one day number 65 miles with wetland mitigation a major cost factor.
Phase one will start at the end of Horton Rd. and run north through Cordata Park not to connect with Birchwood Presbyterian
Church under whose auspices a playground is being built for kids. Rather,
the Phase One Trail (costly because of its eight foot width) will veer east to
the dog run at El Dorado. Parks & Recreation is very hopeful the bids
will be many and competitive allowing for any savings to be applied to future
work.
Deadline
Dash….While our Neighborhood Association tends to concentrate on challenges
within our boundaries, such subjects as our water supply from Lake Whatcom and
Waterfront Development affect all of us. The latter will be discussed
Wednesday, February 10, at 7 p.m. at the Bellingham Cruise Terminal in
Fairhaven….Graffiti, sometimes considered art but mostly regarded as vandalism,
has moved north into Cordata and there is something
you can do about it. Give Public Works a call (778-7700) and tell them
how your eyes have been offended and/or the empathy you feel for the property’s
owner. Often, city property is involved and the owners are us….A man with
a mission is Matthew Velguth who is creating The Bike
Shop in the Sterling Neighborhood. Velguth, an
educator who learned that working with troubled kids was more emotionally
rewarding, teaches responsibility by involving youngsters in the use and care
of bicycles. His wonders have been worked in such places as Portland,
Maine and Labrador….Always looking for ways to increase interest in our
Association general meetings, the Board of Directors ask if the creation of
child care would be of help. If so, call Vinson Latimore
(389-2360)….Note to Home Owner Associations: The Neighborhood Watch program is
worth your attention if your involvement does not yet exist. Katrin Dearborn can be reached at 778-8660… That’s a wild
situation up in Ferndale where one of the community’s councilmen signed a
contract to buy nearly $1 million worth of land for a new police station.
Neither the mayor nor the guy’s fellow council members had a clue regarding the
lone land arranger’s transaction…The world of computer search engines recently
came up with the latest in mole reduction, a subject about which ‘hamsters know
far too much. Key in the new elimination process is the connection of
mole holes to a running automobile by way of a hose-line. It certainly
begs the question: regular or premium?
More
later,
Bob
Sanders with mucho thanks to Micah
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