Blaine City Council roundup ...

The latest news from the May 23 city council meeting.

Public comment 

Five members of the public showed up to the city council meeting to give public comment. Concerns regarded lack of development oversight, parks maintenance and speeding on east H Street.

U.S. CBP visit

Harmit Gill, new U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) port director for the Blaine area, introduced himself to city staff and council. Gill said he graduated from Blaine High School, attended Western Washington University and is now a Blaine resident. Gill has served in the port director position for about 1.5 months and oversees 17 ports of entries in Washington as well as Anacortes, Bellingham and Friday Harbor, he said.

“It’s an honor to be here and to introduce myself as the federal law enforcement entity that is in your town and neighboring towns,” Gill said. “My kids go to school here and we attend the local churches and temples and are part of the community.”

Sewer bond approval

City council unanimously approved ordinance 22-2980 that allowed the city manager to enter an agreement with DA Davidson to apply for up to a $7.5 million bond to finance the sewer rehabilitation project. City staff only expected to need $5 million and the project will be financed at a fixed rate of no higher than 4 percent for the next 10-20 years, according to a city memo. The city will pay back the bond through sewer rate revenue.

The project will replace 4,000 feet of aging sewer infrastructure and add a 3,000-foot sewer main trunk east of I-5, mostly in the Lettered Streets.

Public works director Bernie Ziemianek gave an update on the sewer project. The project is still experiencing setbacks but should still be on track to be in the bid cycle by mid-June, Ziemianek said. He said public works crews discovered 30 homes around F Street dumping rainwater directly into the sewer’s stormwater, creating back-up at the sewer plant and sewer project delays. 

“There’s a lot going on and it doesn’t surprise me that we’re finding things we didn’t know existed,” he said. 

VACIS letter

Mayor Mary Lou Steward wrote a letter to Blaine’s U.S. Congress representatives and U.S. Representative Rick Larsen (WA-02) for assistance in encouraging CBP and BNSF Railway to finish installing an updated Vehicle and Cargo Inspection System (VACIS). CBP had told the city two years ago that VACIS would be replaced but it still hasn’t been addressed, Steward wrote.

The current system requires trains to slow to 5 miles per hour in order to inspect railcars for contraband and human trafficking. The slow trains cause traffic delays at Bell Road and Peace Portal Drive as well as Marine Drive. The update is expected to allow trains to increase to twice the speed.

“We recognize that the VACIS facility is an important part the US Customs and Border Protection infrastructure used to help secure our nation’s border,” Steward wrote in the letter. “However, the traffic blockage is not only a tremendous inconvenience, but it delays the arrival of school buses to school in the morning, it delays emergency responders as they head to a call for service, it delays ambulances transporting patients to the hospital, and it impacts economic development in our community.” 

Gill said CBP ran into a couple of hurdles but is working to install the system. CBP needs to work with BNSF, which Gill said is the first hurdle, and then CBP can take over the project. 

The current system was installed in 2003 and is at the end of its life cycle, Gill said. If it fails before being replaced, then each railcar would need to be processed by hand or the train just wouldn’t come into the U.S. “I’m working on a sense of urgency to get the updated equipment installed,” Gill said. 

The new system was estimated to cost a few million dollars, but is now $5-7 million because of inflation and rising construction costs, he said.

City Hall demolition update

Ziemianek told council two contractors have toured the old city hall building on H Street. He said he expects to start receiving bids in the next few weeks, possibly in time to have estimated demolition costs for the June 13 city council meeting. Ziemianek said he was optimistic that demolition could start the first week of July and that Blaine Police Department chief Donnell Tanksley had asked for it to not start until after July 4.

Drayton Harbor Oyster
Company seeks expansion

Community development services director Stacie Pratschner told council Drayton Harbor Oyster Company (DHO) has applied for a new oyster bed over almost 9 acres in Drayton Harbor. The application was submitted to Whatcom County’s planning and development services department. 

The proposed floating oyster array will be on the harbor’s western side, south of Semiahmoo Parkway and Turnstone Lane. About 18,000 square feet of water will be covered by 22 lines with 6,600 floating mesh baskets, according to the project description. 

Public comment may be submitted to the county until Friday, June 10. For more information on written comment, contact Whatcom County shoreline administrator Kyla Walters at 360/778-5917 or kwalters@whatcomcounty.us.