Blaine City Council roundup ...

The latest from the July 22 Blaine City Council meeting …

Swearing in new officers

Mayor pro tem Rhyan Lopez swore in Blaine police officers Travis Campbell and Reagan Ritzer during the July 22 Blaine City Council meeting. The two officers graduated from academy training in Burien on July 11 and are now undergoing 14 weeks of field training in Blaine.

Campbell joins the Blaine Police Department from the U.S. Navy, where he retired after 24 years as chief hospital corpsman. Ritzer, originally from Olympia, graduated with an economics degree from Western Washington University in 2023.

Boblett Street roundabout, other improvements

City council approved the city of Blaine’s contract with Stremler Gravel Inc. to construct the Boblett Street roundabout and other traffic improvements.

The Boblett Street traffic channelization and corridor improvements project will impact Boblett Street from State Route 543 to Ludwick Avenue. Work will include a roundabout just west of Chuckanut Bay Foods at Boblett Court, widening Boblett Street to add a two-way left-turn lane, a right-turn slip lane on Yew Avenue and restriping to improve channelization. The project will also add a sidewalk, crosswalks, and ADA ramp installation and replacement.

Construction is estimated to take 75 days. The city will ask the contractor to keep one lane of Boblett Street open during construction, but there may be two lanes closed for short durations, city manager Mike Harmon said after the meeting. If that’s the case, Harmon said a detour will be set up to reroute traffic.

Stremler, of Lynden, bid $3 million on the project. The project is being fully funded by federal and state grants.

The vote was 3-1, with councilmember May abstaining.

AEDs gifted to police

A Blaine resident is donating $26,500 of automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to the Blaine Police Department, enough to replace the aging AEDs in the entire vehicle fleet.

AEDs are used to treat sudden cardiac arrest and are in all BPD vehicles. BPD’s current AEDs are over 10 years old.

The anonymous Blaine resident is donating the AEDs in honor of former Blaine police chief Michael Knapp and Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office deputy Matthew Herzog, both of whom died in the line of duty.

City council unanimously accepted the donation.

Climate Commitment Act to provide $150,000

in credit to lower income electric customers

The Washington Climate Commitment Act has funded a clean energy grant that will provide $150,000 in total credit for energy assistance to 750 low to moderate-income Blaine electric customers. Each customer who is selected for the program will receive $200 in their account within the next three months, Harmon said.

Council unanimously approved the grant agreement with the Washington Families Clean Energy Credits Grant.