May Neighborhood Meeting

The next Birchwood Neighborhood Meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 25th, 6:30-8:00pm at Birchwood Elementary School.

We are planning to have speakers discuss gardening activities in the Neighborhood and Community. Come for a slice of pizza and meet your neighbors!

Birchwood Neighborhood Association’s website

Want to know about meetings, neighborhood issues, and neighborhood contacts? Visit Birchwood Neighborhood Association’s website!  www.birchwoodneighborhood.org

On the website, you can find out when general neighborhood meetings are held, read the minutes from previous meetings, contact your BNA Board members, get information on projects that affect our neighborhood, find out about other meetings of interest to Birchwood residents, and read copies of previous newsletters. This is the place to go for current information of what’s going on in our Neighborhood.  

Airport Plans

Art Choat, Aviation Director for the Port of Bellingham, discussed plans for airport improvements at the Birchwood Neighborhood meeting in March. Mr. Choat gave a presentation covering the history of development at Bellingham Airport from 1941 to the present. Currently the airport handles over 300,000 passengers a year. Allegiant Air has the most flights per week (44). Horizon, Alaska and Allegiant Air provide the commercial flights from Bellingham Airport. Canadians make up 50-55% of the passengers using the Airport.

Mr. Choat gave details on a large project to rehab the runway. Work will start in April, with the majority of the work happening September 1st – 21st when the Airport will be closed.

A second project, the improvement and enlargement of the terminal, will be done over the next 7 years. The current terminal is operating at 300% capacity. Enlarging the baggage claim area and installing luggage carousels is first on the list of improvements If neighbors have complaints about the Airport or specific aircraft, they should call 425-227-1999.

Help Needed for Community Garden!

Faith Lutheran Church (2750 Mclead Rd) is in the planning stages for a community garden on their lot and they need our help! Contact them below so we can help make community gardens in Birchwoood a success!

Faith Lutheran Church

2750 Mcleod Rd.

(360) 733-3970

bellinghamfaithgarden@gmail.com

Little Squalicum Creek Park Clean-up

The EPA has identified several alternatives for cleaning up contaminants in Little Squalicum Creek Park. The BNA Board had a discussion of the merits of the EPA clean-up alternatives at the April Board meeting. The Board was unanimously in favor of having toxic material removed from the Park site, rather than having it capped and left in the Park. The preference is for it to be moved to a toxic waste site. The second choice would be to have it moved to the Oeser site and capped there. The Board sent a letter to the EPA expressing our opinion on the best clean-up options. The clean-up, which should begin this summer, would require the Park to be closed for 6 to 8 weeks.

Annual Birchwood Picnic is Coming

Our annual summer picnic is Sunday, August 1 from 4-6pm at Birchwood Park. People are welcome to bring a dish to share. BNA will provide the hot dogs and veggie burgers. If any acoustic musicians would like to join us please contact Adrienne at 920-7412. 

Newsletter Changes

Birchwood News will be distributed through neighborhood businesses and through our Neighborhood Association e-mail list. If you would like to be on our e-mail list, please contact: Barb Campbell  campbell2920@comcast.net 

Birchwood News is published three times a year: Spring, Fall and Winter.

You can also read the Birchwood News on our neighborhood website:

www.birchwoodneighborhood.org