What BBCC Needs to Do

You can’t say the Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce has gone down hill because in our five years' experience it was never up.

What the Chamber does well is to organize and manage successful events – the Polar Bear Swim, Discovery Days parade and fair, the Sand Castle contest and the New Year’s Eve Ring of Fire and Hope. The Ring promises to be a fantastic event when more participants plant flares to create a continuous rim of red around the bay.

What the Chamber doesn’t do is to make these events profitable for the entire community. What’s needed is more business for the merchants and profits to help pay for essential amenities, such as a bathhouse, a community center (perhaps including a city hall), and – most of all – The Berm.

When it was suggested more could be charged for Polar Bear T-shirts, the answer was that the Chamber is “non-profit.” Well, many non-profits raise significant amounts of money, starting with chicken dinners to pay off church mortgages.

Speakers at the monthly luncheon meetings, who can be categorized as poor presenters selling what few people want, are the weakest aspect. Recent meetings became “networking opportunities” – members selling other members. Three of them are enough.

The Birch Bay Chamber of Commerce could provide a platform for discussion of the major needs of the community:

1) Kathy Berg, leader of the Steering Committee, to discuss the recently completed feasibility study: “How Birch Bay Can Become a City.”

2) County Executive Pete Kremen on Whatcom’s finances: “What the County Can and Can’t Do for Birch Bay”

3) Congressman Rick Larsen on funding: “What Birch Bay Needs to Do for Me to Earmark Money for Your Berm.”

4) Ditto our state legislators, State Senator Dale Brand and Representatives Kelli Linville and Doug Erickson.

5) Messrs. Wynstra, Bovenkamp and Kent: “How We See Development in Birch Bay in the Next Ten Years.”

We would bet these programs could fill the big room at the top of the Sand Castle resort and nobody would complain about the cost of the meal.

The survey included with the April newsletter also asked for comments about other meetings. We would vote for breakfast workshops on “How to Gain Leads and Make the Sale”. Reinstating the 5:31 socials would be good way for members to learn more about other members and for newcomers to meet leaders of the community.

We’ve put our answers to the survey on this blog because BBCC at its peak will benefit the whole community.

Parks & Rec – Milestone for the Community

Is there significance that the first community-planning meeting for the revived Northwest Parks and Recreation District took place on the same Saturday as the Birch Bay Road Race?

Maybe that’s a stretch. But there were more runners out in the rain than participants at the meeting held in the warm and pleasantly restored facility of the county park at the west end of the Semiahmoo spit.

Of course, not all of runners were from Blaine and Birch Bay. Whatever, the enthusiasm of about 35 participants in the meeting – not near one percent of population that will benefit when the plans discussed materialize – made up for the small number.

The commissioners are obviously intent on building a program that will appeal to the community that covers area of the Blaine school district, excepting for Pt. Roberts. They got a 10-cent levy passed in November to restart the district that began in 1982with active programs, and then fell dormant when a renewal levy failed in 1986.

For most of the two hours the commissioners listened to suggestions from participants. First, groups sitting at round tables brainstormed ideas. Then one person from each table reported to the room. Suggestions varied widely, including walking trails and classes for older people well as youth and even softball for seniors. Swimming lessons were suggested with the hope that a pool – perhaps at Semiahmoo Resort – would be made available.

Several qualified instructors have volunteered to teach various classes. The first scheduled session is free golf lessons for six youngsters with Brian Southwick, the pro at Sealinks Golf Course.

Much of the discussion centered on a ball field at Horizon Park, a World War II military facility that is now in the Whatcom County park system. It is located off Alderson Road in Birch Bay, west of Blaine Road and near the large Bay Crest development and other family homes nearby.

Commissioner Richard Sturgill mentioned an unused utility right-of-way that could be utilized for a trail between Blaine and Birch Bay, creating a leg of the Millennium Trail that will someday connect Vancouver with Seattle.

James Bolick and Christie Rector were there to speak for Blaine Youth Baseball that involves some 200 boys and girls from age seven to 13. They explain their teams are now limited to a short season. Their only fields are at the school district’s Pipeline facility that closes down in mid June with the end of the school year. Mr. Bolick, who lives in Birch Bay Village, played baseball at Horizon as a youth. While now it is very much a diamond in the rough, there is plenty of unused space.

Ms. Rector, who lives in Blaine, explained that the Mariners as well as the Babe Ruth and Cal Ripkin junior baseball organizations make funds available to pay for amenities such as bleachers and backstops if the facility is unrelated to a school district. Both agreed that Blaine parents would have no more trouble getting their kids to a Birch Bay field than Birch Bay parents have getting their kids to Blaine.

Another advantage is that Horizon Park is under-utilized except for a hostel and Lions program for disadvantaged youth in the summer. Along with kitchen and showers, there is a small gym and a one-lane bowling alley. Jim Bolick, who thinks like an entrepreneur, says there is a modest moneymaking opportunity to attract visitors with tournaments. Commissioner Terry Johnson said that when he lived in Southern California he built a number of ball fields with volunteers.

First on the agenda is a master plan. Qualified consultants are being invited to submit proposals. Commissioner Ted Morris, our leading donation-getter, is confident that the levy amount of approximately $325,000 per year can be extended by contributions and volunteer workers to a value of $450,000.

After this good meeting, it is easy to imagine a Blaine-Birch BayTrail Race in 2010 race over a new leg of Millennium Trail. Then a party at Horizon Park!

Dear Reader: What do you think?

Birch Bay's Viability as a City

Brett Sheckler is fond of saying that almost every community can incorporate if it is willing to accept the level of service it can afford. He is a consultant at Berk & Associates, the firm that Washington cities go for answers to financial questions, and he is the leader of the team that evaluated Birch Bay’s feasibility. The final report was released March 31.

Many people, even some who go to Steering Committee meetings, believe Birch Bay is not viable as a city because we have few retail businesses to generate sales taxes. But Mr. Sheckler shows that there are other revenues available to Birch Bay, and the city “would generate enough revenues to provide a slightly higher level of service than residents currently receive.”

The report explains that under a tax that held Birch Bay residents’ tax burdens equal to what they pay as residents of Whatcom County, the city would generate $3,181,000 in ‘core’ operating revenues (in 2009), able to provide slightly higher levels of service over those currently received for $ 2,963,000. That would leave $218,000 in revenues (7%) remaining to increase levels of services.

At the outset, the report goes on to say, Birch Bay’s government would be a bare bones operation, most likely renting space for a “city hall.” Police services would be provided by the county sheriff with police cars with Birch Bay insignia and officers in Birch Bay uniforms. The important difference, advocates of incorporation can argue, would be that decisions would be made by a Birch Bay city council with local boards and more opportunity for resident participation.

Berk and Associates also compared the property tax base and sales tax revenues of Birch Bay with those of 11 Washington cities that incorporated in the past 15 years. Birch Bay’s property and sales tax base per resident would rank above that of eight of the 11 recently incorporated cities, indicating that a Birch Bay city would have a relatively strong financial base.

The full 87-page report can be read at the Incorporation pages of wwwbirchbayinfo.org.

Our purpose is to build awareness and understanding for informed discussion.

All comments are welcomed.

New Construction

At a memorable meeting of the Steering Committee Patrick Alesse said that the business of Birch Bay is building homes, primary homes and vacation homes.

Last year new construction dropped off. New hookups for the Water and Sewer District – which only approximates the UGA – were less than a hundred, yet enough to match the minimum of 85 used by Berk Consultants in the tax-revenue estimates of the incorporation feasibility study. In previous years that average was about 200 per year.

At last Wednesday’s meeting (2.27) of the Steering Committee, Bill Grant, builder of the TrendWest and Whiskie Jack complexes, took the microphone to report that with the economy off he gained a two-year extension for the permit he has to build six to eight more condos. Lisa Guthrie, the smiling face of Homestead Northwest stood up to say they have broken ground for a 19-unit addition to the Grand Bay condos. Half of the initial units are sold.

Meanwhile three homes are being built in what we call the Terrell Creek District, between the Jackson Road and Alderson Road bridges. On the west side of the creek, Lee Barma and his wife, who’ve lived in Birch Bay more than 20 years, are rebuilding the cottage they’ve owned at 7540 Birch Bay Drive. Leaving only the front walls, Tandem Design & Construction is adding a second story. For now, the Barmas are living in the cottage they own next door.

Across the creek at what will be 7589 Wooldridge, Charlie Gorsuch and his wife, Linda, poured a pad that will hold a modular factory-built whose exterior Charlie will cover with shakes and add other enhancements. Included in this long narrow strip will be a garden with native plants and evergreens. (See free offer nearby.) Included in the landscaping will be the stumps now on the property that came from Birch Bay Village where they live now. Yes, their home is going to be close to the creek as well as the road – Charlie persevered through three variance hearings.

Overlooking both at the top of the Sunset hill, Credo Construction is building a neat three-level house for Joel DiManno and his family. This home is fruition of a dream that began six years ago when they visited friends of Mrs. DiManno’s parents in Birch Bay Village. They looked in the Village, but wanted a better view, then found the Sunset property on http://www.birchbay.com/. Mr. DiManno is pleased with the cement structure that he explains includes high-tech innovation to support the hillside home.

All of these projects are now farther along than the pictures indicate. The builders work faster than our photog.

FORUM – Kathy Berg on Incorporation Feasibility

Here is response from Kathy Berg, chair of the Birch Bay Steering Committee and Governance Sub-Committee on Alan Friedlob’s comments:

With the incorporation feasibility study showing that Birch Bay could be a viable city, the question now is, "Do we want to keep the majority of our property taxes here at home to spend as we choose/prioritize locally or do we want to continue to subsidize all of Whatcom County at the expense of needed projects here?" It is about self-determination and home rule.

The Birch Bay community and Whatcom County Council determined back in 2004 with the adoption of the sub area plan that low impact development standards would be a high priority for maintaining a clean Bay. Those kinds of standards have yet to be adopted for the Birch Bay urban growth area (UGA) or anyplace else in the County.

Whatcom County declared Birch Bay an urban area where development should be concentrated back in 1997 but still calls our roads "rural" and continues to design and build them accordingly. The fire district considers only certain areas of the Birch Bay UGA as "urban" with their goal of providing an "urban" level of service (LOS)/response time goal. The rest of the UGA is considered "suburban" and all areas outside the UGA are "rural" with commensurately greater LOS/response time goals.

Counties are set up and meant to take care of the rural areas while cities are set up and meant to take care of the urban areas. Frankly, Whatcom County does not know how to take care of an urban area nor is there any indication that County has any intention of learning how or is willing to provide staff to treat urban areas differently with higher, urban levels of service. The notion that Birch Bay should have an urban LOS for it's roads was immediately and soundly thrown out back in 2004.

County does not now, nor has it ever in my experience, enforced with any consistency or timeliness it's existing codes such as, "WCC 20.80.540 Non-permitted storage... in Residential and Commercial Zone Districts." I consider it highly unlikely that Whatcom County would ever adopt, let alone train staff to administer, the "Birch Bay Design Guidelines for Commercial Development" published in June of 2007, since it is so far behind in the enforcement of existing code complaints.

How important is it to have public servants responding in a timely manner with sufficient local knowledge to deal with the situation appropriately? Taxes will go up as taxes always do, no matter as a city, in the county or in special districts. Would you like to have more, or continue to have less, control over the amount of your taxes and the spending of same? That is the question.”

More comments are welcome.