2005: Another year has come & gone...

By Meg Olson

Was it just us or did the year 2005 zip right by? Before it’s all gone here we present a look back at what happened in the year gone by...

January
• Fire district commissioners gave up looking for a full-time fire chief, returning to a volunteer chief and deputy and a part-time administrator.
• County council approved the Point Roberts sewer plan, with a recommendation that if the Point build a sewer it should begin by serving the central core and large users. District manager Dan Bourks said the plan will remain inactive until there is a petition for service.

February
• Blaine high school principal Dan Newell was suspended as he prepared to face charges of obstructing a law enforcement officer and rendering criminal assistance. Newell is alleged to have tipped off the parent of a student under investigation for smuggling marijuana on the school bus in 2003.
• Supporters of the local wellness clinic packed the community center on the eve of a mail-in ballot to create a local hospital district that could collect taxes to keep the clinic running.
• County parks planners came to the Point to find out what local priorities were for recreation, and preserving Lily Point for public use came out on top.
• Local resident John Lesow was appointed to the county planning commission.

March
• Two dozen local parents brought a petition to the Blaine school board asking for a long term strategy to handle fluctuating enrollment at the local primary school.
• Voters gave a strong endorsement to the formation of a hospital district and elected Margery Biery, Barbara Bradstock and Victor Riley as commissioners for the new district.
• Syd Wallace approached the water district on behalf of the group calling themselves the Point Roberts economic development committee infrastructure task group, asking for data to help that group plan a sewer system to serve the western third of Point Roberts.
• Blaine high school principal Dan Newell filed a not guilty plea in response to charges he aided criminal activityand obstructed law enforcement.

April
• Only five people came to an open house on local recreation priorities held by the county parks department at the Point Roberts community center. Those who did attend again made the preservation of Lily Point the primary issue.
• The newly formed hospital district held its first meeting, commissioners carving up the sizeable pie of research and planning needed to get the district in a position to take over operating the wellness clinic.
• Millionaire swindler Frederick Gilliland was lured to Point Roberts by the prospect of two-for-one lunch deals at Brewster’s Restaurant and was promptly arrested by federal authorities and local deputies.
• Verizon Wireless asked the water district to lease space near the water tower for a cellular communications tower.
• The local water supply was found officially out of compliance with federal standards for chlorination by-product levels.

May
• The All Point Bulletin front page went color to mark 20 years as the local newspaper.
• James Jarosz, 19, was sentenced to 18 months in Walla Walla state penitentiary after pleading guilty to four counts of unlawful delivery of a controlled substance. Jarosz and alleged partner Robbie Poor used students on the school bus to Blaine to smuggle marijuana in 2003 and 2004.
• The U.S. State Department unveiled the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative, proposing a requirement for passports at all land borders by January 2008.
• County staff came to Point Roberts for the first of what county executive Pete Kremen said will be a series of community meetings to take the place of the cancelled rural advisory committee.
• Twenty stalwarts collected 1,400 pounds of trash from local roadways in the annual spring cleanup.
• Despite pending charges of rendering criminal assistance and obstructing a law enforcement charges, Dan Newell was reinstated as principal of Blaine high school by the school board. School superintendent Mary Lynne Derrington said Newell had served a one-month unpaid administrative leave for “conduct warranting disciplinary action,” and said the board reserved the right to reevaluate their decision as legal proceedings against Newell move forward.
• At the voters association annual general meeting only one candidate came forward to fill five vacant positionson the board.

June
• Local port director Chris Demello started a manned commercial primary inspection lane.
• The local parks board announced both its regular summer program, now being run by program alumnus Neil Teutsch, and the new Sea Otter Paddle Club, would be expanding this year.
• Parents and residents went to the Blaine school district board meeting to protest cutting one teacher and a grade level from Point Roberts primary school.
• Lifeforce founder Peter Hamilton looked at cutting back his group’s monitoring of local orca due to financial constraints and dwindling donations.

July
• The local water district and Verizon Wireless agreed on $1,000 a month in rent for space the cellular company plans to build a new transmission facility that could improve local service.
• Point Roberts fire district commissioners responded to the state auditors finding of sloppy bookkeeping in 2001, 2002 and 2003: they weren’t there. In their response to the auditor commissioners said they were working to correct a “gap in the current management’s knowledge,” caused by considerable changes in management during that period.
• All county beaches were closed to shell fishing after a flush of red tide.
• The Point Roberts Arts Foundation started a drop-in art program for young people using donated greenhouse space at Bloomers nursery.
• Anxieties of local parents facing deep cuts at the local primary school was featured on the front pageof the Seattle Times as kindergarten enrollment for the fall dropped to one student.

August
• The water district put an emergency moratorium on new connections in place after a sudden rush left the district with only 50 remaining connections under state limits for the water system.
• Fire commissioners started looking at charging for ambulance service and gave their support to a ballot measure that would boost sales tax to support the county paramedic service.
• Lines slowed down at the border as inspectors grudgingly enforced a national policy of rolling 100 percent identification checks.
• Local resident Brian Canfield was honored for his 49-year career with TELUS, formerly B.C. Tel, by havingthe company’s Burnaby headquarters named after him.

September
• With as many Canadian as U.S. members and many of them using the department as a professional stepping stone, chief Bill Skinner put out the call for more local volunteers.
• After meeting with state department of health officials water district manager Dan Bourks said he expected the district could get permission to issue additional connections.
• With both the voters and taxpayers associations struggling to get people willing to serve as board members, taxpayers association president Michael Rosser suggested the two groups might talk about forming a single entity.
• Three juveniles were arrested after a joy-ride that started with a stolen car in Blaine being driven through flower beds and ended with a stolen boat beached on Lily Point.
• The Point Roberts Emergency Preparedness Committee (PREP) began its efforts to plan for local self-sufficiencyin case of a disaster at a spaghetti dinner co-hosted by the Red Cross.

October
• The Point Roberts Water District started looking at ways to increase water supply without asking for more from Canada, after learning B.C. laws would need to change to get more water from north of the border.
• Fire district commissioners grudgingly agreed to pay off $16,000 of debt racked up by the North Fire and Rescue Services (NWFRS) repair and maintenance shop, for which former district commissioners had agreed to shoulder financial responsibility when the fire district was still part of NWFRS.
• Blaine schools superintendent Mary Lynne Derrington and board member Red Goodwin started a series of meetings with concerned local parents and community meetings.
• The Point Roberts Pirates hockey team won their division in the Coast Hockey League.
• The taxpayers association agreed to look into hiring a consultant to reform the organizationto be more responsive to what the community needs.

November
• The Blue Heron Express community van skirted extinction but users will need to put together a compelling proposal to earn Whatcom Transportation Authority support for the program when they need to reapply next year.
• A 15-year-old at Blaine high school student was arrested on suspicion of writing a note threatening to kill principal Dan Newell and 12 students.
• A 49-year-old man suffering from mental illness burned down a barn on Marine Drive, telling sheriff’s deputies he thought it was filled with ill omens.
• Desiree Kleemann and Tom Fijal, owners of the local yoga studio Madrona Yoga, expanded their operation by purchasing the Maple Meadows Bed and Breakfast.
• There were several unofficial reports of cougar sightings in Point Roberts.
• Water commissioners extended the moratorium on new connections and started looking at how they would fairly distribute new connections if the state gave then the go-ahead to givet a limited number.
• Point Roberts primary parents and school district staff got to work on a survey to help determinewhy many Point Roberts kids don’t use the public school.

December
• The hospital district board adopted its first budget and approved a new tax levy of 68 cents per thousand dollars of assessed valuation.
• Fire district commissioners approved a new plan to charge patients who use the Point Roberts ambulance.
• In the November 8 election Renee Coe beat Snider Vick to claim the seat on the water board left vacant by Arthur Wilkowski, and incumbent Fred DeHaan beat Ted Mohr for his seat on the parks board.
• County voters approved the new sales tax to support the Medic One paramedic system while state voters banned smoking in public places, putting the viability of the firefighter’s bingo into question.
• At the chamber of commerce annual meeting departing president Terrie LaPorte was acclaimed for her years of community service.
• The water district got more questions from community members wanting to know what criteria the district had been, and would be, using to see who got a connection during and after the current moratorium.
• After 18 years on the taxpayers association board of directors, Larry Crossetti handed in his ledger.