In a press release sent by the Ferries Division of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) on April 3, it was announced that WSDOT is rejecting a $26 million bid from Todd Pacific Shipyards to build a 50-car ferry. At the March 27 bid opening, Todd was the sole project bidder. Its bid was higher than the WSDOT engineer’s estimate of $16.8 million.
It looks like frisky but well mannered dogs will soon have a new location where they can run, romp, and play.
At the regularly scheduled public Board meeting of March 26, the Lopez Island School District Board of Directors conducted an annual performance evaluation of Superintendent Bill Evans and renewed his contract for school year 2008-09. The Board declared Evans to be performing satisfactorily and then renewed his contract unanimously with no changes. The no-frills contract presented by Evans includes vacation days, a cell-phone allowance, medical benefits, and no pay increase.
Orcas Fire responded to a reported wild land fire near the Westsound Fire Station on Saturday, March 22. Despite winter weather conditions and the fact the fire was burning on a wet marsh, over three-quarters of an acre was scorched before firefighters were able to knock it down. The fire moved quickly through dead grass and brush, briefly threatening a boat barn and debris next to the structure. There were no injuries or structural damage.
A house being moved from Bakerview Road to Port Stanley Road on Lopez Island clipped trees and spread fiberglass insulation along the six-mile route late Thursday night and early Friday morning, April 11.
Bringing 15 different local conservation organizations together in a summit in celebration of Earth Day proved to be beneficial to all. “We all have similar goals,” said Lincoln Bormann, Director of the San Juan County Land Bank. “It is helpful to meet like this to avoid working at cross purposes.”
The Orcas Island Fire District Commissioners wil hold a special meeting for Strategic Plan review on April 29 at 7:30 p.m. in the Eastsound Fire Hall.
The fact is, the Orcas Island School District has pulled itself out of the budget hole it was in last year – it finished the 2006-’07 school year with a zero balance, and is projected to keep its $150,000 or three percent fund reserve at the end of this school year. However, the fact also is, a juggernaut composed of underfunded cost-of-living increases and district increases to state teacher salaries and health benefits coupled with declining enrollment is headed straight for the District, in the amount of $667,000.
Thanks to the support of Bilbo’s Mexican Restaurant, Chasanoff’s first and second grade families are working to send their children to the Seattle Aquarium and actually spend the night there. Two of the aquarium’s teachers will be on hand to educate students about the wonders they will experience.
Bogie’s Café and Pub has opened for breakfast, lunch, and snacks at the Orcas Island Country Golf Club. Clubhouse manager Nikki Freeman is in charge of this new venture, which is open to the public daily from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., with Happy Hour from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays.
Tickets are still available for all performances of “Beauty and the Beast” on its last weekend at Orcas Center.
Orcas Island School District Board to focus on the 2008-2009 budget and program recommendations on April 24 and 30.
Brewer-Rogstad resigns
