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 (although his sign, based on information he got from the county, says Morrison), Charlie Gorsak 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. (Some from the free offer from A Lot of Trees.) Included in the landscaping will be the stumps now on the property that came from Birch Bay Village where they currently live. 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 the 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.

FORUM – Alan Friedlob on Incorporation

Two weeks ago, members of the Governance sub-committee of the Birch Bay Steering Committee met for the last time with the consultants who produced the incorporation feasibility study. At the end of the meeting, the question asked was: “What’s next?” So far, no one is coming forth to circulate petitions that would put incorporation to a vote.

In our article published last month in the Cascadia Weekly three paragraphs were devoted to Alan Friedlob’s reasons for being unwilling to vote for incorporation now. Previously a commissioned officer in the U.S. Public Health Service, Alan has been active in this community over the past several years. Following is the full text of the memo he provided to us as we were working on the article:

"Having participated in the smaller group which has worked closely in the design and conduct of the financial feasibility study, we must realize that this analysis does not, and will not address whether the citizens of Birch Bay's quality of life will be better off if we incorporate. I for one believe that we do not have to incorporate to enhance the high quality of life we treasure here. My experience over the last five years leads me to have guarded confidence that we can continue to collaborate with the County and our elected officials to achieve those outcomes which will enhance and sustain Birch Bay as a unique place to live. In my opinion these outcomes are:

1. Clean water quality in Birch Bay so that we can continue to enjoy the Bay's bounty and beauty for generations to come. The efforts to establish the Birch Bay Watershed and Aquatic Resources Management (BBWARM) District is the way to go in this regard as its efforts will take in all of the Birch Bay watershed, not just the UGA.

2. Revitalizing the Birch Bay Central Reach through designing and implementing environmental sustainable and people-friendly public places, including a walking and biking path on Birch Bay Drive that we can be proud of, and that will attract persons from throughout the County to Birch Bay. To this end, the Country appropriated $400,000 to do the design work for managing Birch Bay's Central Reach shoreline. [Editors Note: At the sub-committee meeting, Kathy Berg held up a report she had just received for this project that provides cost and time estimates.]

3. Working with developers and builders to promote green building and low-impact development design guidelines. In 2006-2007, citizens and the County invested considerable time and energy in developing design guidelines for a town center and for our waterfront. Such guidelines could be adopted now if we introduce them to County Council, and hold public hearings. What are we waiting for? No city of Birch Bay needed.

4. We just passed a parks levy to support the Northwest Parks and Rec District. Citizens now need to engage in a public dialogue about how these monies should be spent to design and implement recreational activities, especially for Birch Bay's middle school and early teens whose families may not have the resources to provide structured recreational opportunities. In this regard, we need to work closely with the Blaine School District to develop such programming. Let's look at our recreational assets and develop these, such as Bay Horizon Park. Why do we need $1 million a year investment in a Birch Bay police force when we can prevent vandalism by offering recreational outlets.

None of my priorities, which I believe will enhance Birch Bay's quality of life, require that we move forward with an incorporation effort. Maybe the County now wishes Birch Bay to move in this direction so that it no longer has to engage an active citizenry that has been quite effective in recent years in getting the County Executive and administrators to listen to our wants and needs. We do have clout, and let's continue to use our substantial tax base to influence our future. We are doing this now, and it is working."

We’re offering this Forum for others to express their opinions on incorporation and other subjects that are important for the Birch Bay community. Our objective is to start and continue conversations rather than provide final answers.

Faces from the Caucus

Legend has it there were two participants at the 2000 caucus, and 220 in 2004 at the Senior Center in Blaine. Saturday, the cavernous American Legion Hall in Birch Bay was packed. There were so many people and so few chairs that Bob Hendricks, the site manager, was moving so fast the camera couldn’t catch him in focus.

This Blaine High School Track & Field team sweatshirt described the situation. The wearer, Brandon Utter, now studies engineering at Whatcom Community College.

His friend Bobby King, a freshman at WWU, may have been the youngest voter of the few young registrants at the caucus.

The Obama people showed they know how to organize a campaign. Credit Richard May, an Obama field organizer who calls Blaine home. (He previously worked in Iowa, Nevada and Oregon.)

Obama signs lined the roads leading to the Legion. Obama posters studded the Legion’s walls. Standing by this one was the Whatcom Democratic Party stalwart, Bryan Dixon, precinct captain of #303. (Clinton supporters drew a few crude signs.)

One enthusiastic Clinton supporter, Sylvia Rhoads, stood firm. After reading an offered article by Peggy Noonan, an important speechwriter for Ronald Regan, concluding that Obama is “bullet proof“, she exuberantly stuck with Clinton.

Elsie Babcock came to decide between parties. Leaving the building before the vote, she said she had decided to be a Republican. However, “I could vote for Obama in the general election, but not Clinton.”

Hendricks mentioned the party in Whatcom County strives for diversity. We found these two people with distinctive hats. Could they be from Turkey or Finland? No, Chris Camp and Kim Coscarart are from Birch Bay. The hats hail from Nepal, purchased at Fair Trade Haven in Fairhaven. Camp became a delegate.

After the vote, came the appeal for money to support the Whatcom Democratic Party. Our precinct captain, Trudee Smith collected handfuls of contribution envelopes.

Despite being packed in like sardines, with little to do after signing up, most seemed to enjoy the experience.

Mine’ Hakim estimated the crowd at 700. Now a fragrance chemist who makes new leather scents for used car dealers, she previously worked conferences and learned to count in batches of 30.

Would 700 be 10 percent of the registered Democrats in the nine precincts? How will 700 compare with the number of voters in the primary whose vote won’t count for anything but headlines?