Bay Buzz
Most Recent Entry 04/24/2006
The most recent entry is always at the top.
Submit your current thoughts on Birch Bay.
(Include you street address & phone number)
Newer News at The Top
 

Thank You for participating in the speed limit survey.
Here are the rough count results. I will send you a closer count in a few days when all three of us can look over the responses.
Your responses have informed me and others. You should take the time to read over the opinions people came up with. They are worth reading and thinking about. 

20 mph the year around ...................19

20 in the summer/ 30 the rest of the time 12

20 in the summer/ 35 the rest of the time 66

25 mph the year around ...................24

Opinions..................................24

Opinions
Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive
I certainly have an opinion on the matter of the speed limit, but I can't access the survey.  Here's my opimion.  There is no need for a 20 M.P.H. year round.  It makes sense during the summer when there are many, walkers, riders etc. on the road, but it is absolutely not appropriate during the winter when the roads are viortually empty of all but cars going at a reasonable 35 M.P.H.

Thank you

Heather J Perks

Birch Bay Village
 

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

 I think the summer speed limit should remain at 20 mph.  The speed limit for winter should be 35 and continue at that speed through the now posted of 30 mph past the BBV entrance.

 G.Marie Webb

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

 I think the speed limit along Birch Bay Dr. should be 35 mph all year, including the area of Birch Point Rd. past Birch Bay Village. In the summer it should be 20 mph to Shintaffer Rd. and then 35 mph past Birch Bay Village. 

Thank you, Pat Vavrick

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

25 mph during the summer and 35 in the winter... alot of the houses on the way out to birch point are year round and not a tourist activity

 I would like the speed limit on the drive be increased year round from the 20 & 35 to a year round 35MPH beginning at the Thai Steak House and continuing west towards the point.

 As for the rest of the drive, continue with the 20 in the summer and 35 in the winter.

I don't have a problem with the current arrangements as long as it is only on Birch Bay Drive.  I would like to see the speed limit changed on Birch Point Road (from Shintaffer on) to 35 mph year round.  There is no reason to have such a low speed limit there since there are very few people walking along that stretch of road. Having the speed that low along that road causes a lot of impatience in drivers.

 Thank you, 

Lori Dillon

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

I agree with the 20 in the summer and 35 in the winter but I do think the boundaries need to be changed on the north end of the drive.

 

Yvonne Schaff

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive  

I tried to send an email thru the web site, but it didn't go through.  But Maybe this will work.

I like the 20 mph for the summer and 30 mph in the winter.

It looks like things have really changed up there.

I remember when I was growing up, it was 10 mph on Birch Bay Drive. 

 

Ann Fischbach

Part of the Ennen Family at "Hi Tide" (Carol Ennen)

 The speed limit should be 35 mph year-round.

 I ride a motorcycle and stability is adversely affected at 20 mph, which is unsafe.

 In addition, 20 mph does not provide enough airflow to keep the engine from overheating.

 Birch Bay Drive is a popular route for motorcyclists in the summer.  A 35 mph speed limit will provide more safety and a lower chance of mechanical problems.

 Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive 

Hello,

 In reviewing the options presented I don't believe any of them work. The reason is the encompassing area being discussed is too broad for any single speed limit.

 My goals:

That said it would be better if I could lay this out on a map and I am willing to do so if requested. For now I will attempt to describe it textually.

Proposal:

Additionally a request to get intersection lighting at Anderson and Harborview. This is a dark intersection and difficult to determine the intersection at night traveling towards Birch Bay.

I like the patterns because they flow from high to low and vice versa as you travel towards the heart of our community. They would be permanent so our behaviors could adjust to them and embed them into our daily habits rather than the constant change adjusting to seasonal traffic patterns. I am against (20 mph speed limits on main roads) unless there is a school zone. If we really need a 20 mph speed limit for safety then there are inherent problems with those road conditions and we need to go after the county to make the required improvements rather than agree to (non-standard) speed limits to save money.

 Comments on existing speed conditions:

  1. It can be frustrating to full time residents to get a summer visitor passing through in the winter time. Many times the experience is someone traveling 20 kilometers (12 mph) in a 35 mph zone. Having added no passing lines only increases the frustration.
  2. Behaviors - Full time residents are at risk each year in remembering to change our natural behaviors from 35 to 20 and we are at risk for speeding tickets.
  3. There is a 30 mph zone that conflicts with the current winter time conditions. We travel through Birch Bay at 35, but must slow down just past Birch bay village reality until entrance of Birch Bay village and then increase back to 35 mph. (This again places local residents in an unnecessary risk for speeding) The road risks do not have a significant change to cause this speed reduction. As a matter of fact once past the reality office the risks are reduced. There isn't a good reason for this speed reduction.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide opinions. I don't assume mine is right, just different. I appreciate the fact that as diverse thinkers you all are sharing these comments and attempt to agree on a proposal/plan forward. If you have questions regarding what I have written or would like to see it in a color coded map, please respond, and if you could provide me with a map. I would be happy to color code it for your team.

Regards,

Randy Bellville

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

the speed limit in the summer should start at Schintaffer not Birch Bay Village

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive

I believe 25 MPH during the summer would work; then change to 35 MPH for the balance of the year.  Am not in favor of 20 at any time and from many others comments, they agree. 

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive
25 MPH is acceptable in many small cities; Blaine, Lynden, Ferndale, etc. so people are used to that speed, and if we can educate those who habitually go over the limits it can produce our objective.

 

Speed Limits on Birch Bay Drive
    Your Views Will Be Appreciated
There has been some discussion of keeping  the speed limit at one speed the year around. The new speed limit some people are thinking about is 25 miles per hour. It would be good hear the thoughts of other people at Birch Bay.
Patrick Alesse
 

Oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound
The Exxon Valdez ran aground in 1989 at Prince William Sound, Alaska. Now, years later, fisheries remain devastated, jobs lost, and if you dig two inches under the beach rock oil remains. They said in time it would break down.
With these facts in mind, energy companies mobilize against the Magnuson Act, which restricts oil tanker traffic in Puget Sound. The act limits high tanker traffic in Puget Sound to reduce the risk of catastrophic oil spills like Exxon Valdez.
We just concluded a local election. A central campaign issue was sustaining our county's quality of life. So, now think of washing oil off our beautiful eagles, of watching helplessly as our salmon, already struggling to survive, are put at greater risk of a black toxic death.
As the 60 percent of us know who voted last month, we can shape our future. We cannot allow the Magnuson Act to be overturned. Respect who we are and what we have here. Our sound and its wild residents are counting on us.
Eliana Friedlob
Birch Bay

 City of Birch Bay   Fear Birch Bay will bear costs of growth
We, along with Elie Friedlob and Jo Slavinsky, are writing about the possible incorporation of Birch Bay.
The Birch Bay Steering Committee is studying if Birch Bay should incorporate as a city. The idea of being an independent city has some positive aspects. Perhaps, as a city, we can do a better job than the county in planning Birch Bay's growth. Birch Bay's biggest asset is the bay, with its beautiful natural environment, which we should protect. These valuable assets would attract tourism and create a healthy economy with jobs that will last for a long time.
But we fear it may be too late to pursue that independence.
The county is inundating Birch Bay with developments - close to 2,000 residences are in various stages of approval. This requires very expensive upgrades to the infrastructure.
It's doubtful the county is collecting sufficient impact fees from developers to pay for necessary improvements. If Birch Bay became a city in the next few years, it could end up bearing this financial burden. The developers will be gone and, just like the cuckoo, they'll have laid their egg in our nest!
The developer should pay through impact fees and pass on the cost to the homebuyers. These services are for the new homebuyer's benefit.
Kay and Fred Schuhmacher
Blaine

 


Logging      Carl, Thanks for the repot. It is in fact  logging. New trees have been planted on the area in question.

Logging    Does any one know what the logging that is going on on the Bay Road West of  the rail road tracks is about? I keep getting conflicting reports. Pat

Terrill Creek  Click on this and you will see what the mouth of Terrill Creek looked like a few years ago.

Terrill Creek  My wife and I have noticed changes in the bed of Terrill Creek toward the mouth. Pat

Terrill Creek  I have noticed that the creek has changed directions in the bay. At low tide, there is a new channel that comes out of Terrill creek. The channel flows swiftly and is cutting through the clam beds. I am very concerned about both the clam beds and the erosion of the banks from this flow of water. What caused the creek channel to change direction? Prior to this year, the creek spilled out to the left of the clam beds and took a turn into the bay, now the new channel goes north, parallel to the road, directly
in front of the cabins. Could you please forward my concerns to the appropriate county personnel. Do we need a marine biologist to look into this change in the creek channel? What caused the change? Do we need to change the channel back to its original direction? Will this new channel ruin the clamming? Will this new channel erode the beach? Let me know any info about this environmental change. thanks, Pauline
 

Logging I was dismayed by the sight of the fires which are being burned on the Trillium property recently at Birch Point.  The air looked like LA ( IE: BROWN ) last Thursday (Jan 22) outside the gate of Birch Bay Village.  I could see the flames which reached 75 - 100 feet into the air from just two piles of burning waste.  I called the fire marshal and the DNR and was told that they have a permit to burn all of the piles of stumps.  It doesn't seem to matter that it will cause health problems and a fire risk.  It also smells and is a general nuisance.  Everyone I spoke to agrees that they have a permit issued by the DNR. 

 
Tom Smith (DNR) told me that they won't be burning on the weekends and will only burn when the pollution is carried out west over the water.  I guess it is no concern of the boaters or waterfront residents.  His and others statements are insulting to anyone of reasonable intelligence.  These piles of stumps are huge by any normal standards - 50 - 75 feet in diameter and 50 feet high.  There are dozens of them.  The piles are green and wet wood and other vegetation mixed with dirt and rocks from land clearing.  Anyone who has ever burned stumps knows that they smolder for weeks even after the flames subside.  You don't just "put them out on weekends or during air stagnation periods or when the wind changes direction".  The wind changes direction daily and sometimes hourly.  The idea that this smoke is "managed" is preposterous.  If all of these piles are lit, they will burn for the entire summer.
 
The agencies involved seem to think that this is "an unpopulated area" and so this burning is ok being as this project is to make a "tree farm" and all.  There are thousands of homes within a mile of this site and even if there weren't, there are even more people affected to the east where this smoke will ultimately travel.  The true health costs of this will be spread to us all in the future problems it will cause.  The benefit of burning this stuff is solely to the developer who will have already left with his profits from the sale of his "tree farm" by the time the true costs to the community accrue.  The permit cost $500.  The alternatives would cost much more but it would provide some employment and would not be nearly such a problem for the neighborhood.
 
Anyone else doing land clearing is required to chip or haul away this kind of waste.  I am not against growth or building development but this aspect of this particular project is completely unreasonable on its face and should have been prohibited from the start.  The genius who approved this plan should be fired and the heads of the agencies(so) as well.  I plan to find out everyone who is on a board which has any oversight over this project and do everything I can to see them voted out of office if they do not step up on this matter and I hope others will do the same.
 
Apparently, the only effective action is to write and call to complain to the NW Air Pollution, the fire marshal and the DNR.  They implied that they might stop the burning if there is enough reaction to it.
 
The following are people and their phone numbers as best I know now.  I am not absolutely sure of all of the following info but it is what I have put together so far.  Some have talked to me and some haven't.
 
Tom Smith (DNR fire management genius) - 360-856-3500
Northwest Air Pollution Agency - 800-622-4627 - Call with smoke complaints - they need the business
Fire Warden Dan Heidal (issued the permit as I was told) - 360-676-6907
DNR Resource Protection District Manager (and nonresident genius who I was told ultimately approved this plan) Dan Pugmire - 360-856-3500
another DNR person - Nancy Joseph - 360-856-3500
Trillium representative Randy Bartelt ?sp - 360-676-9400
Whatnot Fire Marshall Bill Hewitt 360-676-6907
Local Fire Marshall Ron Booth
County Director of Planning and Development Hal Hart - 360-380-8100
 
 

 

New Signs  Blaine and Vernon, B.C. have led the way in certain beautification projects from which Birch Bay could benefit. Blaine has produced some very attractive sculptures, an attractive new sign as you cross the railroad tracks into town and one building which has displays a large painted mural of fish packing. Vernon, B.C., has taken the mural idea to new heights, with about 15 murals on buildings depicting the city's history. These are written up in a booklet, and a map takes the tourist on a neat walking tour.
 
Take a look at Birch Bay's signs. Most look like they are not made to last. They appear to be made on the cheap, with little care for aesthetics. There is much Birch Bay could do to make it more appealing to visitors.
 
Lyle Hanson
Sea Links

 

I say that we at Birch Bay need a place were we can say what we are think about the needs of Birch Bay. This does not mean what ever we are thinking is right or wrong. I just means that we all can benefit from everyone's current thinking, particularly if we can learn from the discussion.
Patrick Alesse

 

Fire 13 Blaine Annexation Archives

 

 

 

 

 

 

Hit Counter