Edgemoor
Neighborhood Association Newsletter
February 2007
Edgemoor
Neighborhood Association
Quarterly
Neighborhood Meeting
Thursday,
February 1 , 2007 7
- 9 PM
Fairhaven Park
Pavilion
Minutes from the December ENA Business Meeting
(The January ENA Business Meeting was canceled due to icy road conditions)
Topics for the February
ENA meeting:
Elections for the
positions of President, Vice President, Growth and Land Use Chair,
and Hospitality Chair will be held at the February quarterly
neighborhood meeting, since these positions were not filled at the
Annual Meeting in November, 2006.
The Chuckanut
Mountains Parks District petition drive will kick off soon.
Volunteers are needed to collect signatures.
A major focus for ENA
in 2007 will be to update the
Edgemoor Neighborhood Plan. Committee members are needed to
assist co-chars, John Stephens and Marty Nickerson with the planning
process.
Small and Simple
Project Funds are available from the City of Bellingham.
Applications must be filed by March 15, 2007.
Annual ENA
flyers were sent to over 800 Edgemoor residents in January which
included the 2007 ENA membership form. If you did not receive a
flyer,
click here to print the membership form, fill it out and send it
along with your check made out to ENA, PO Box 4023, Bellingham, WA 98227.
Thanks for your continued support!
Dead fawn prompts concern about speeding in
Edgemoor
Some time back I
wrote to to city council members about my concern for speeders
coming up from the intersection of Chuckanut and Hawthorn et al. I
suggested speed bumps. That strip in front of Fairhaven Middle
School is so very vulnerable. It is not hard to be reminded to slow
down coming down the hill. The signs are well posted and free from
greenery. However, coming up the hill, the reminder sign is back
there on the bridge, and can be out of mind by the time you round
the corner. A better located sign ( near the bus stop?) would help.
I find speed bumps are really the best. As cautious as I am, I still
lapse now and then and head uphill a little too fast. It was the
dead fawn by the side of the road that prompted me to write this. I
weep for the fawn and am soo glad it was not someone's child. I have
seen cars whip up this hill as if it were a race track of their own
making. Signs alone won't do the safety job needed.
A concerned
Edgemoor resident
Waterfront
Advisory Group Meeting
Wednesday, January 31, 6 pm
Bellingham Cruise
Terminal
We are ALL invited
to a community meeting to highlight the concepts being considered by
the Port of Bellingham and the Waterfront Advisory Group for our
Fairhaven Harbor Comprehensive Improvement Plan. The meeting is a
time for the local community to be sure that the Port is on the
right track on key development issues (height, zoning etc.) and to
plan strategies and preliminary concepts for addressing those
issues.
Public Outreach Meeting on
Greenways Levy III implementation Re-scheduled
The public outreach meeting on Greenways Levy III
implementation that was scheduled for Tuesday, November 28 at 7 p.m. has been
re-scheduled due to inclement weather. The meeting will take place on
Wednesday, January 31, 2007 from 7 to 9 p.m.,
at the Squalicum Boathouse in Zuanich Point Park.
This is the first of
several city-wide outreach meetings sponsored by Bellingham Parks & Recreation
and the Greenway Advisory Committee to familiarize the public with the process
for land acquisition using Greenway Levy funds (as well as money from park
impact fees and other sources) and the roles of the key Levy partners - Parks
and Recreation Department, Greenway Advisory Committee, Parks and Recreation
Advisory Board, City Council, and the public.
Participants will have the
opportunity to share their opinions about what projects are most needed in their
neighborhoods and city-wide, what land might be available and appropriate for
such projects, and what other ideas and suggestions they have for maximizing the
value of new Greenway Levy funds.
If you cannot attend the
meeting, or do not care to speak at the meeting, and would still like to give
input, please fill out this
public input form (PDF) and turn it into the Parks Administration Office at
3424 Meridian Street, Bellingham, WA 98225, Attention Greenway Advisory
Committee.
Petition drive begins for Chuckanut Mountains Park District
The Chuckanut Mountains Park District (CMPD) Advisory Board announces its 2007
petition drive kickoff with a drop-in, volunteer information session 6-9 p.m.
Friday, February 2, at the Whatcom Educational Credit Union public meeting
space, 510 E. Holly St., Bellingham.
Supportive citizens are encouraged to stop by and sign up to assist with the
petition circulation and signature-gathering needed in specific Whatcom and
Skagit County precincts in order to place the question of establishing this
metropolitan park district, as authorized by Washington state statute, before
voters on the November 2007 general election ballot. Maps of the proposed park
district, official petitions, and additional information packets for petition
circulators will be available to those who volunteer to help circulate the
petition to voters registered within the district boundaries in Whatcom and
Skagit counties.
Specific information about the proposed park district, which emphasizes
conservation in this unique region where the Cascades meet the sea, is available
on the CMPD website,
www.chuckanutmpd.org. More information about the petition drive is
available from Joanne Peterson, 676-7573.
CSN - Coalition of Southside Neighborhoods
A reminder to attend the Port's meeting regarding
their proposed Fairhaven Harbor Scheme. The meeting will be on Wednesday January
31st, at 6:00 PM at the Cruise Terminal in Fairhaven.
The Coalition of Southside Neighborhoods has presented the Port with 6 requests,
and we want to make sure they are listening to us!
1. Padden Creek Lagoon and Estuary, restoration and protection 2. Stormwater
treatment, coordination with city 3. Parks and Beach enhancement 4. Waterfront
connections 5. Building height limits of 35' 6. Waterfront - retain marine
character.
The public contact for the Coalition of Southside Neighborhoods is Steve Wilson,
President of South Neighborhood: 671-3380,
kswilson2@earthlink.net .
MNAC - Mayor's Neighborhood Advisory
Committee Report for January 17, 2007
The meeting started
off with presentations of 2 separate neighborhood grant opportunities. The first
one is a new Neighborhood Association Support Grant. This grant makes available
$700 for each neighborhood to do neighborhood association business. This grant
does not require matching funds. The second grant is the Small and Simple
Grant. This grant allows Neighborhoods or organized entities the ability to
receive a matching grant up to $2500 to be used for projects that benefit the
community. In the past other neighborhoods have used this grant to help build
neighborhood signs, perform a neighborhood survey, plant trees, etc.
After the grant
presentations, we had a presentation from our Planning Director, Tim Stewart.
He talked about all of the items that have been submitted for Neighborhood Plan
amendments and Property Owner initiated zoning change requests. The items that
directly affect Edgemoor are the Fairhaven Neighborhood’s Plan amendment that
asks for tighter controls on building height and design. At the same time there
is a Property Owner zoning request for the 8 acre Haskell property (Harris Ave
between 8th and 4th) – the applicant wants to change the zoning from its current
"Light Industrial" designation to become an extension of the zone 5 area – which
is "Planned Commercial" without height restrictions. There are numerous other
proposals across the entire city. To find out more information use the
following links:
Site Specific
Neighborhood Plan Amendment Requests:http://www.cob.org/pcd/planning/2007SiteSpecificNPA.htm
Neighborhood
Plan Amendment Requests:http://www.cob.org/pcd/planning/2007NeighborhoodInitiatedNPA.htm
After the Planning
Director, we had a presentation from Chris Comeau about Capitol Road
Improvements and the Neighborhood Traffic Safety Program. The Capitol Road
Improvement tasks for MNAC is to try and prioritize the various projects that
have been proposed city wide – this item has been moved to a committee to try
and come up with a fair and balanced priority list that addresses the needs of
the entire city not just a single neighborhood.
The Neighborhood
Traffic Safety Program is a new directive that requests that each neighborhood
identify their potential traffic safety problem areas (Non-Arterial roads) and
then finalizes a list of the top three. These three items will be reviewed and
studied by the traffic staff to determine which if any traffic calming methods
can be implemented to help improve safety.
As always, check out “Just so you are Aware” so you can be aware of various items of public
interest within the city at:
http://www.cob.org/documents/mayor/boards-commissions/neighborhood/2007-01-10-just-so-you-are-aware.
Burglary on Fieldston Road
There was a burglary on Fieldston last week. A person went to the back of house
and entered. Jewelry was taken. If you saw anything suspicious in the
area, please contact the police department.
Police make arrests, seek victims of
lottery scam
DATE: January 14, 2007 11:03:37 PST
City of Bellingham News Release
Bellingham police arrested two Canadian men on
Saturday, Jan. 13 related to a lottery fraud investigation involving victims
across the United States. Police Chief Randall Carroll urges anyone who has
been told they have won a lottery and must send money before receiving their
winnings to call his office.
"We are expecting more victims to contact us as
this story is told," Carroll said Saturday after the arrests were made. "We
are expecting to discover more victims and greater monetary losses as this
investigation continues." Anyone who has been contacted and told that they
have won a lottery and must send money to any address in Washington State
before receiving their winnings is asked to call the Bellingham Police
Department at: 360-676-6925 (Sergeant Ken Brown) or 360-676-6920 (Police
Department main number)
On January 2, 2007 the Bellingham Police
Department received a telephone complaint from a 57-year-old California woman
stating that she was the victim of a fraud and had been scammed out of $8,200.
She stated that in December 2006 she received a phone call from a man claiming
to represent the Bank of America. The woman was told that she had won a
lottery of $850,000. The man identified himself as "James Sithe*", and told
the victim that in order to claim her winnings, she would have to first pay a
1% cash fee. Mr. Sithe told the victim to send the money to an "attorney" by
the name of "John Anthony*" at an address in Bellingham. The victim sent the
cash and never heard from anyone again and could not find Mr. Sithe.
Bellingham Police Detectives checked the address
in Bellingham the victim had sent the money to and discovered the address to
be a business that offered postal drop services. Detectives learned the box
the victim sent money to was still active and had just received another
package. A search warrant was obtained to examine the contents of the package.
Inside detectives discovered $3,000 cash that had been sent by a man from
Pennsylvania. Bellingham Police contacted him by telephone, and the man stated
that he had sent the cash after receiving a phone call from a man stating that
he had won a one million dollar lottery. The victim in Pennsylvania was told
he had to first pay taxes on the amount of money he had won before receiving
the winnings. The victim had sent the cash to Bellingham as a first
installment.
Officers learned that a suspect in the scam would
likely be arriving in Bellingham on Friday or Saturday to pick up the package.
A similar package was put in place of the original by Bellingham Police and
the business was kept under surveillance. When the suspect arrived and picked
up the package, he and an accomplice were detained and the vehicle they were
in was impounded.
The primary suspect that picked up the package
claimed to be working as a courier for an unknown man in British Columbia. The
driver of the car claimed to be along for the ride, although during a
conversation with police he stated he was aware of the suspicious and probably
illegal nature of the purpose for the trip to Washington State.
At this time, Bellingham Police Detectives have
found there are at least four other victims from different areas around the
United States. Losses so far are estimated to be close to $50,000. Further
charges are expected to be filed as this investigation continues.
Arrested Jan. 13 and booked into the Whatcom
County Jail were Abbotsford, British Columbia residents:
1) James Richard Jongkind, 2/11/1981, using the
false name of "John Anthony*", booked for two counts of 1st Degree Theft.
2) Daniel Mark Duerksen, 8/06/1981, the driver of
the suspects' car, 1st Degree Theft.
"At this point in our investigation, I am asking
for any assistance in getting this message out to people across the United
States," said Chief Carroll. "We know there are additional locations in
Bellingham and other cities in Washington State where money has been sent," he
said.
Bellingham Police have a list of possible victims
outside of Washington State that have they suspect have sent money to
addresses in Washington State used by the suspects. Bellingham Police will
make every attempt to contact the people on the list.
*Note: the names "James Sithe" and "John
Anthony", used to perpetrate this scam, are fictional and not related to any
actual legitimate attorneys or Bank of America employees.
Media Contact:
Bellingham Police Chief Randall Carroll, 360-676-6920
Small and Simple Project Funds available
The
City of Bellingham is now accepting applications for its Small and Simple
Projects fund. This program funds up to $2,500 for projects that provide a
city-wide benefit. Deadline to apply is March 15, 2007.
Neighborhood associations, community organizations, schools, and similar groups
and agencies are eligible for these funds. Projects may include park
improvements, tree planting, neighborhood signs, community events, music
performances, production of promotional materials, community support programs,
and similar activities that can demonstrate a city-wide benefit. Applicant
organizations must have a valid Federal Tax ID Number. Individuals are not
eligible for funding.
For additional information and application materials, see the Small and Simple
Projects link from the City's website at
www.cob.org/documents/planning/2007-small-simple-app.pdf.
The deadline for applications is 5 p.m. Thursday, March 15, 2007.
For more information contact Travis Cary, City of Bellingham Planning &
Community Development Department, (360) 676-6880,
tcary@cob.org.
The Edgemoor Neighborhood Blog
To
further our efforts to keep you informed, the Edgemoor Neighborhood Blog has been set up to
provide a place to post articles and announcements about
important issues and events in our community on a regular basis. Go to
http://edgemoorneighborhood.com/blog/blog.html
to read the latest posts. Much of the information in the monthly ENA newsletter
will be published on the Blog, so if you delete your ENA newsletter, you can
visit the Blog to read about an important community meeting or event. The Blog
can also be reached from the Home page of the Edgemoor Neighborhood website.
Check the City of Bellingham website regularly for news and information about
our local community. Read the latest issue of
Just So You are Aware, press releases from the city at
http://www.cob.org/press/index.htm and current Public Notices at
http://www.cob.org/cob/Pubnot.nsf.
Our
Fairhaven neighbors to the north have an informative website at
www.fairhavenneighbors.org. Their photo galleries page is constantly being
updated and they recently put their Blog back on line.
The
Neighborhoods Page on the City of Bellingham website has recently been
updated and now contains a clickable map of the various neighborhoods in
Bellingham. If you click on Edgemoor it will take you to a page with a
description of the neighborhood that contains links to the Edgemoor Neighborhood
Plan and various zoning and land-use maps of Edgemoor.
Edgemoor
Neighborhood Association (ENA) sends monthly newsletters and an occasional
notice about important news and events in our local community. If graphics,
email addresses and links in the ENA newsletter do not appear above, go to
http://www.edgemoorneighborhood.com/Newsletters/2007/February 2007.htm.
Feel free to send the Edgemoor
Neighborhood Newsletter
to your friends and neighbors.
Click here
to subscribe or unsubscribe from the mailing list. Visit the Edgemoor
Neighborhood website at
www.EdgemoorNeighborhood.com.
