The Bellingham Herald from Bellingham, Washington • A2

ZOE FRALEY THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BLAINE After several weeks of debate, the City Council decided to elimi- nate impact fees throughout Blaine, in a 4-3 vote Monday night, Oct. 26. Council members Paul Greenough, Charlie Haw- kins and Harry Robinson dissented, with others sup- porting the citywide elimi- nation of fees requested by Fairhaven developer Ken Imus. The council recently elimi- nated water and sewer con- nection fees as another con- cession to the developer. Imus has said he would like to develop properties in Blaine.

is a risk by our council, and we are asking developers also to take a Councilman John Liebert said. need to get the businesses to get the revenue stream coming into the Impact fees are collected from builders to help pay for effect on parks and roads. Mayor Bon- nie Onyon said the city could go about four years not collecting the fees, with- out having a noticeable effect on parks. She hopes by that time the fee elimina- tion will have spurred devel- opment and provided the city with additional revenue. No detailed studies have been done on the financial impact of removing the fees, but estimated the city could lose up for $1.5 mil- lion of revenue over the next 20 years, or about $75,000 a year.

According to city figures, Blaine has brought in about $500,000 in traffic and park impact fees since 2004. Blaine residents at the meeting seemed split on the idea of eliminating fees, especially with the recent announcement that the city might increase its property tax revenue by 1 percent. think there a single person in Blaine who does- want to see the city said resident Penny Senov. does seem a little odd to remove impact fees and ask to increase property taxes. Why does it have to be us giving it all upfront? a pretty hard pill to Several local business owners spoke in favor of eliminating the fees, hoping that development could revive the struggling city.

has been on a downhill slope for awhile said businessman Art Lawrenson. have to do something to change it. No matter which way you go on it, this will have a major impact on Imus, who owns Jacaran- da and colleague Kathleen Hill, have applied for a permit to do work at the former Worldly Trea- sures Furniture store at 638 Peace Portal Drive. Because it is an existing building, that project would not have been affected by impact fees, said Michael Jones, community devel- opment director. Reach Zoe Fraley at zoe or call 756-2803.

SAM TAYLOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD a history-making elec- tion for Whatcom County Council candidates. Nearly $300,000 has been received by the eight candi- dates, including in-kind, independent and personal funding. Specifically, the state Public Disclosure Com- mission says the candidates have brought in $297,857. And a penny. The previous record came in 2005, when candi- dates raised $254,249.

Candidates were required to file C4 paperwork by Tuesday, Oct. 27, showing how spent money and who has provided them with in-kind contributions, loans and more, up to Oct. 26, the period of reporting required by the PDC seven days before the Nov. 3 elec- tion. The amount of money coming in, and potentially being spent, worries some candidates who argue that development and real estate interests are trying to pave over rural Whatcom County for financial gain.

Candidates receiving those donations insist they want no such thing, and say they sim- ply want to listen to more people than current or for- mer council members and Planning Commissioner Ken Mann would. MORE CAMPAIGNING TO COME Candidates vary on where they get their cash, but make no mistake, a lot of it. It also appears that sever- al candidates have large war chests but spent much of it with only a week to go. That could mean big TV advertising campaigns, robo-calls to your home phones, or more campaign mailers, depending on can- strategies. Three of the four conser- vative council challengers, Mary Beth Teigrob, Kathy Kershner and Bill Knutzen, have raised more than $40,000 each, but spent much.

Kershner report- ed spending the most, but only $7,730. The other challenger, Michelle Luke, has spent $34,869 of her $47,275 raised, including $17,500 of her personal money. Of the four progressive candidates, only Mann has more than half of his war chest, $41,242, intact. He has spent $18,015, accord- ing to his PDC reports. Former County Council- man Dan McShane has spent $21,084 of his $27,828 raised; Councilman Carl Weimer has spent $26,644 of his and Council- woman Laurie Caskey- Schreiber has spent nearly all of her $26,180 raised.

Their money went to mailers, TV commercials, food for parties, and other uses. The conservative can- didates spent their money on similar things. SOURCES OF MONEY DEBATED Candidates contend a stark difference in who is WHATCOM TheBellinghamHerald.com/localnews Contact: Debbie Townsend, 715-2280, debbie.townsend@bellinghamherald.com A2 Wednesday October 28, 2009 Record campaign donations $300,000 in contributions breaks mark set in 2005 See CAMPAIGN, A10 Volcanologist to discuss Mt. Baker DEAN KAHN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD LYNDEN Volcano re- searcher Dave Tucker will discuss the history of erup- tions at Mount Baker, and the hazards of future erup- tions, at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct.

29, at Lynden Pioneer Museum, 217 Front St. A research associate in the geology department at Western Washington Univer- sity, Tucker has been doing field work on Mount Baker the past 15 years. Admission to his talk is free. For details, call 354- 3675. Blaine council eliminates development fees Cable barrier divides Guide Tofer Wade, director of The Amadeus Project, is shown in the concert hall in downtown Bellingham on Thursday afternoon, Oct.

22. Daniel Johnson The Bellingham Herald Question: Tell me about The Amadeus Project. Answer: I started it at my home and moved to down- town Bellingham in January 2008, thanks to generous help from Ali Fouladi, our landlord. We have two top- notch grand pianos, a Schimmel donated by my father (John Wade of Birch Bay), and a Fandrich and Sons. There are two primary aspects to The Amadeus Project.

One, a school of piano composition and improvisation instruction for about 50 students, ages 5 to 65, in all genres of music, which is why we seek donations for scholar- ships. Two, we rent the con- cert hall at affordable or sometimes even free rates to various artists and artis- tic groups. Do your students find improvisation easier than composition? Many do, since they find improv comes easier than reading music. My stu- dents who improvise in public are so much more confident than if they were reading a piece of music, because it arises out of who they are rather than having to be digested by an exter- Inspired by Mozart Teaching, performance space named after composer Tofer Wade, left, discusses 16-year-old Andrea original piano composition on Thursday afternoon, Oct. 22.

Daniel Johnson The Bellingham Herald MICHELLE NOLAN FOR THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Tofer Wade recalls being really annoyed as a teenager when his father played loud classical music. sometimes I find myself blasting out classical, and I absolutely love said the 44-year-old coordinator of The Amadeus Project, an instruction- al and performance piano studio in Bellingham. Wade get into music until his 30s, but he turned out be a natural at the piano and now teaches composition and improvisation. THE AMADEUS PROJECT What: Upcoming events at The Amadeus Project, 1209 Cornwall Ave. Nov.

1, 3 p.m.: tation to the Ford Hill, Jeffrey Gilliam and Dan and Victoria Sabo perform two-piano, four-hand duets and solo piano dance music. Dec. 13, 3 p.m.: Elephants and Cassandra Carr and Victoria and Dan Sabo present music inspired by the written word, dramatic storytelling and poetry. Dec. 19, 7 p.m.: David Lanz performs solo piano.

Tickets: $15 adults, $12 seniors, $10 stu- dents, available at 671- 6104 or 661-5984, and at bellingham Details: 815-1825, theamadeusproject.org, or See AMADEUS, A10 Mt. Baker High FFA wins honors DEAN KAHN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD The FFA chapter at Mount Baker High School received the 3-star award given top national chapters, at the national convention held Oct. 21 in Indianapolis. It was the third year in a row the Mount Baker High chapter has received the honor, which goes to the top 1 percent of FFA chapters. FFA, formerly called Future Farmers of America, focuses on the science, business and technology of agriculture.

The following day in Indi- anapolis, Mount FFA forestry team placed sixth at the National FFA Forestry Career Development Event. Booker Schmidt placed sixth as an individual, win- ning a $400 scholarship. Other team members were Matt Cronk, Kurtis Zender, Joe Scarpete, and alternate Aaron Leavitt. All team members received a gold ranking, meaning they placed in the top third of in- dividual contestants. Forty teams competed in such areas as tree and tool identification, disease and pest identification, and tim- ber and ecosystem manage- ment.

Mount sixth place was the highest finish for any team west of Arkansas. rare for a West Coast team to finish in the top 10, said Todd Rightmire, Mount FFA adviser. Meeting set on Team in Training ISABELLE DILLS THE BELLINGHAM HERALD BELLINGHAM An informational meeting about joining the Leukemia and Lymphoma Team in Training program will be at 7:15 p.m. Friday, Nov. 6, and Friday, Dec.

4, at Fairhaven Runners and Walkers. The Team in Training program prepares athletes for various endurance events by providing them with four to five months of personalized training with certified coaches. Partici- pants are of all ages with varying levels of experi- ence. Teams participate in marathons, half marathons and triathlons across the country, including the Pa- cific Northwest. The Bellingham team raised $200,000 last year par- ticipating in events such as the Bellingham Bay Mar- athon and Padden Triathlon, according to the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.

Fairhaven Runners and Walkers is at 1209 11th St. JARED PABEN THE BELLINGHAM HERALD Crews have begun in- stalling cable median barri- ers on a northern stretch of Guide Meridian. The work, which will result in lane clo- sures, will last for about a month. The barriers will be installed from Ten Mile Road to Wiser Lake Road to pre- vent dangerous crossover and T-bone collisions, accord- ing to the state Department of Transportation. By the end of the year, the agency hopes to install another mile of cable barrier north to Fishtrap Creek, said spokesman Dustin Terpen- ing.

The work will require lane closures between 7 a.m. and 5 p.m., but delays are expect- ed to be minimal, Terpening said. During the years 2002 through 2007, a total of 53 people were hurt in 55 crash- es along that stretch of the Guide. The most common crashes were head-ons (27 of them), and collisions in which one vehicle turned left in front of another (26). Nobody was killed.

The barriers will prevent left turns in and out of con- necting roads. The depart- ment has installed three roundabouts, and has plans for a fourth, with the idea that motorists will use them to reach the other side of the highway. Roundabouts have been installed at Ten Mile, Pole and Wiser Lake roads, and one is planned at River Road. Not everyone likes the roundabouts, or that drivers make left turns with the barriers in place. downtown Bellingham, where you turn left on one road so you have to go down to the next said Jamie Catrac- chia, who has lived off Beard Road for two decades.

not the next block out in the county; the next couple of She wished the depart- ment left a break at Beard and King Tut roads and installed a center turn lane. The roundabouts might not be bad when people learn to use them, but people there yet, Catracchia said. have been cut off so many times on those round- she said. Reach Jared Paben at 715- 2289 or jared.paben@bellingham herald.com. Read his Traffic Talk blog at TheBellinghamHerald Officials hope savings will spur construction Median device will prevent some left turns.