Road widening accommodates development in Barkley Village

           Starting this spring, Barkley Boulevard will be widened from Howe Place to Woburn Street. The addition of two lanes will improve traffic flow at the Woburn and Barkley intersection and make room for more traffic anticipated with the opening of a new movie 16-screen movie theater opening in fall 2012.

            Broadening Barkley Boulevard will help manage the increased flow of traffic due to the new cinema, according to Chris Comeau, the transportation planner for the city of Bellingham. The road improvement will also reduce current clogging of the high traffic street.

            “It’s a boulevard, I’d expect it to be wide and fast into the future,” Barkley resident Steven Niedermeyer said in an email.

            Construction on Barkley Boulevard will begin in spring and be finalized by June in time for the opening of the new movie theater.

            The Barkley Company, which is developing the movie theater in Barkley Village, will fund the road improvement project projected to cost $400,000 in the six-year transportation improvement program for Bellingham.

Improvements aim to fix current traffic concerns

            During rush hour, between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. and between 4:30 p.m. and 5 p.m., the traffic on Barkley Boulevard backs up from about half a mile from Woburn Street to Orleans Street. The widening of the section of Barkley Boulevard may help mitigate the eastbound traffic congestion beginning at the intersection with Woburn Street.

            “Only time will tell, but we hope it will alleviate some of the problem,” Stowe Talbot, owner of Barkley Company, said.

            The west side of the intersection at Woburn Street and Barkley Boulevard only has one lane in each direction while the other streets extending from the intersection have two lanes in each direction.

            The Barkley Boulevard widening project was originally adopted to correct the interrupted flow of traffic due to the insufficient amount of lanes on Barkley Boulevard west of Woburn Street. Widening the approximately 160-meter section of Barkley Boulevard will balance the streets converging at the intersection, according to Comeau.

            “It definitely bottlenecks [at the intersection] when it goes from two lanes to one lane,” Barkley resident Dan Maldonado said about the traffic jams on Barkley Boulevard.

            A new right turn lane will be added in the widened section of Barkley Boulevard. This will reduce traffic congestion that begins at the intersection, according Comeau.

            Barkley resident Juan Baldovinos said he doesn’t think the theater traffic will add much to the current traffic problem, but he looks forward to the traffic flowing more smoothly after the road construction is completed.

            “I see it as the long term solution to the current issue,” Baldovinos said.

            Maldonado thinks the roads surrounding Sunset Square will be more of a problem.            
            “It’s already nutty over there,” Maldonado said. “That’s how everybody is going to get to the movies.”

            With moviegoers coming from the freeway to get to Barkley Boulevard, increased traffic on East Sunset Drive may cause more traffic hold ups.

            “The Barkley Regal Cinema traffic study and the concurrency evaluation thoroughly considered traffic impacts throughout this portion of the City,” explained Comeau in an email. “Vehicle traffic congestion in and around Barkley Village will increase over time as development continues to occur.”

Construction of theater calls for widening

            The new cinema in Barkley Village will bring more traffic to the area, which is part of why the city transportation planner is requiring the Barkley Company to do road improvements.

            “The development that’s triggering this is the movie theater,” Ravyn Whitewolf, the engineering manager for the Public Works Department, said.

            Whenever a new development is proposed, Comeau does concurrency evaluations to determine if improvements are needed. Concurrency evaluations essentially assess the impact of traffic and ensure that sufficient transportation infrastructure is available for new developments.

            “Anytime we do a project out here, of any size, the city requires us to do a future traffic survey to figure out the projected impacts,” Talbot explained.

             Since the current infrastructure cannot handle a significant increase in traffic the road widening was required in order for the Barkley Company to proceed with the development of the movie theater.

 New cinema adds to urban village

            Although some Barkley residents were not aware of the plans to develop a movie theater when they moved to the area, they have embraced the changes.

            “I believe the theatre lot was originally zoned for light industrial so I’m thankful they’re putting in a theatre and retail verses other uses,” Niedermeyer said in an email.

            Joanna Wiebe moved to Barkley four years ago with her husband, and although they didn’t know about the theater they were cognizant of the amenities Barkley Village would bring.

            “That’s one of the reasons why we picked this area,” Wiebe said. “We really like the urban village idea a lot.”

            She is pleased that her grocery, medical and some retail needs can be fulfilled in one place in walking distance from her house on Sussex Drive. Now that there will be a movie theater both Niedermeyer and Wiebe plan on seeing movies there in the future.

            “People sense that Bellingham is long overdue for a first class cinema experience,” Talbot said.

            “We go to the movies a lot,” said Juan Baldovinos, a Barkley resident. “What else is there to do in Bellingham really?”                                                                                                           
            There will be three other buildings for retail space in the 51-acre area where the new theater is being built. 

            Talbot said that in long-term developments they expect to reclaim some of the parking lot with more retail space and build a parking garage.

            The theater should only significantly affect traffic on the weekend, but the road improvement will reduce traffic congestion on weekdays when people drive home from work.

            “Friday will be a whole different story,” Baldovinos, said with a smile. “Friday is movie night.”

Trees in Northridge Park are a concern

At the quarterly Barkley Neighborhood Association meeting on Feb. 17 a representative from Bellingham Parks and Recreation came to address residents’ concerns about trees in Northridge Park. Residents perceive that dangerous trees are an ongoing problem for property bordering the park.

“People who live next to mature trees often have concerns with potential damage in light of the winter wind storms we experience here in Bellingham,” design development manager for the Parks and Recreation Department Leslie Bryson, who addressed residents’ concerns at the neighborhood meeting, explained in an email.

There are about 100 homes adjacent to Northridge Park, according to a count of homes surrounding the park in the Barkley Neighborhood Land Use Plan.

Jim Brennan, who lives in the Woodside community, has a large tree about 50 meters from his house and 15 meters from his back fence. He expressed a concern that, if the tree fell, his house might be damaged.

Residents who live near city trees cannot remove or trim trees on the city maintenance responsibility list, which includes trees within city parks. Residents at the neighborhood meeting expressed that that city is not active at removing trees citizens felt were dangerous until after the trees have caused damage.

“I have not experienced any preventative activity from the city,” Brennan said.

Citizens who want to remove, prune or trim a tree that is not on the city maintenance responsibility list must first obtain a street tree permit.

People living on the perimeter of Northridge Park have been victims to falling trees and branches in the past. Brennan had a tree damage his fence and another Woodside resident, Laura Hinds, had a tree break a window in her house.

When a tree damages private property, the property owner can file a damage claim with the city attorney. Lawyers then determine who pays what.

“The city basically says it’s an act of God,” Brennan complained about the city’s policy for reimbursing people for damaged property.

James Luce, the city arborist, is aware of minor property damage to fences, sheds and decks. Minor damage to a fence is the only incidence caused by a tree in the last year.

"We are aware of things, but we don’t see every inch, so we rely on people to report things," grounds supervisor Steve Nordeen said.

Trees or parts of trees are removed when potential tree failure poses a threat to people or property, said Luce. Sometimes construction will require tree removal.

In 2011 Park Operations spent 96.3 hours working on tree-related tasks throughout the city including tree inspection, removal, bucking and chipping and 84 hours on trail maintenance, according to Nordeen.

Trees that don’t pose an immediate danger to property have the lowest removal priority Bryson explained. Trees that are close to houses and are not healthy are considered a risk.

“Trees may be removed for reasons that center on risk abatement, tree health and forest health,” Luce said in an email.

Removing trees that may fall on trails is not the arborist’s main concern since they don’t hurt anyone.

"It's not as urgent as protecting life or property," Nordeen explained.

Residents at the neighborhood meeting expressed interest in the state of the trees in the park.

“There are several leaners and there are several dead [trees in the park],” Brennan said.

He notices that when trails are developed the roots of trees are sometimes cut, possibly damaging the stability of trees.                                                                                               

The root systems of trees can be damaged by construction, and trail construction can affect trees within the park. The Parks and Recreation Department has specific procedures to follow when creating a new trail.

“Mitigating measures are taken to minimize root damage in the construction zone,” Luce explained in an email.

A stand management project, which is a resource management plan for the forest, took place last summer to remove trees at risk of falling from around the trail leading from Chandler Parkway to Northridge Park. The perimeter of the park was also surveyed to remove dangerous trees.

“The goals of a stand management project like this one include decreasing future problems by promoting a stronger, more diverse forest community,” Luce said in an email.

The city arborist only oversees trees owned by the city, but Luce can advise owners and construction workers about trees in the city street right of ways.

It can cost between single digits to hundreds of dollars to remove a tree depending on the size and condition of the plant, according to Luce.

Luce encourages citizens to call with any concerns and questions regarding trees.

The Park Operations Center takes requests to inspect trees on park land at 360-778-7103.

Street tree permits can be acquired by contacting the City of Bellingham’s Permit Center at 210 Lottie Street in City Hall.

Music students to perform in nation’s capital

A crescendo builds as mallets bounce off of metal and wood bars, gradually raising the volume of vibrations in the music room. Starting with silence to a rolling wave of music, the sounds intensify, and then cut off all at once. The percussion students in Squalicum High School band are practicing for a performance in the nation’s capital.

Squalicum High School’s Music Department is traveling to Washington, D.C. from March 29 to April 4 to perform at the 100^th anniversary of the National Cherry Blossom Festival. They will have three opportunities to perform as part of the National Festival of the States on March 31, April 1 and April 2.

The trip will cost $1,860 for each student. Since some students don’t have the funds to make the full payment they are doing various fundraising events to generate money for the excursion. Hosting events that patrons pay to attend and selling products have been the main source of money raised.

The trip will be a fusion of musical performances and historical discoveries. Besides performing at the centennial celebration, the 108 students from Squalicum High School’s music department will visit famous sites, memorials and museums. They will also participate in master classes and get performance critiques.

“It’s so important to travel with your groups,” said Andrew Marshall, the choir director. “It’s more of an education than any of this in class stuff.”

Some of the students are learning about United States history in school, so they will be able to make connections between what they’re learning in class and the sites they visit in the nation’s capitol, Marshall said.

“It’s kind of cool to go see what I’m learning about,” said Chloe Hovind, a french horn player in the band who is taking AP U.S. History.

Marshall also explained how having a goal to perform really gets students to focus on perfecting their performances.

This will be the first time the concert band, concert choir and orchestra are doing a trip together as a department. They have been preparing for the trip since last spring and finalized their decision to visit Washington D.C. in September.

The music department teachers have set a goal as a department to do a big trip every three years so their students will get at least two chances to perform outside the local area while they are in high school. The teachers agree that travel is key to expanding students’ horizons.

“It’s really important for them to get that exposure in high school,” Reilly said.

The vast majority of students would not be able to go on the trip if it weren’t for fundraising according to Katherine Reilly, the band director.

“I wish we could provide the funds for all of our kids to go, but unfortunately it’s not possible,” Reilly said.

She said her students like doing group fundraising better than individual fundraising because they get to spend time with each other. On Friday, Feb. 24 the band hosted a “Kid’s Night Out” which was an opportunity for parents to bring their children to the high school for a night of fun for $15.

On Feb. 12 the music department performed at Birchwood Presbyterian Church as entertainment at a lasagna dinner and auction. They raised $6,000 at the event.

The students are also selling various products. The orchestra will start selling cookie dough next week. Choir students are going to sell tickets to a Bellingham Theater Guild show in March and will be able to keep all of the profits.

The five-week cherry blossom festival spanning from March 20 to April 27 is a celebration commemorating the gift of 3,000 cherry trees from Tokyo, Japan to Washington, D.C. in 1912.

The three branches of the music department will perform “Battle Hymn of the Republic” and “Dry Your Tears Africa” together. The band, orchestra and choir all have individual pieces they will perform in Washington D.C. as well.

The tour and performances are arranged by Music Celebrations International, a performance tour organizing company that hosts the National Festival of the States as part of the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington D.C. each year.

Music Celebrations International selected one musical group to represent each state at the National Cherry Blossom Festival. Squalicum High School’s music department will be the representative from Washington this year.

Airline Interior innovations create more jobs

Heath Tecna, a Bellingham company that creates airline interiors is offering approximately 35 new engineering and manufacturing positions while in the process of increasing its workforce to more than 800 employees.

The hirings are a result of new contracts with international airline companies and follow layoffs in 2009 that left Heath Tecna with a workforce of 380 employees. Now it has 768 employees, most of which work in the manufacturing arena.

The new manufacturing, engineering and management positions available at Heath Tecna will bring new jobs and new residents to Bellingham. Kelly Services and Manpower, international employment agencies that hire for Heath Tecna, receive most applications for Heath Tecna assembly line jobs from the Whatcom county area, but some associates are from out of state as well.

“Our business is growing,” Rich Ballantyne, president and CEO of Heath Tecna, said. “We have quite a few contracts we’ve won over the past year.”

In 2010 Heath Tecna’s revenue was $78 million. The company generated more than $100 million in 2011.

Heath Tecna hires production line workers through temporary employment companies Manpower and Kelly Services. Engineers and supervisors are hired directly by Heath Tecna.

Heath Tecna relies on employment agencies to hire light industrial jobs with an entry-level salary of $20,800 and a salary of up to $24, 960 with more experience when working for Kelly Services.

“The main reason they do that is to ensure a good fit for the company,” said Kiera Berghof, district manager for Kelly Services.

Both the employee and Heath Tecna need to be confident in their compatibility before committing to putting in additional resources said Rodger Brown, staffing specialist at Manpower.

“It’s like a try before you buy,” he said.

After three to six months of working for Heath Tecna as an associate of Kelly Services or Manpower, a person can be employed directly by Heath Tecna.

“Our biggest challenge is hiring engineers,” Ballantyne said.

He said that Western Washington University doesn’t offer the kind of engineering major that Heath Tecna is looking for. Heath Tecna generally looks for traditional engineers such as mechanical, electrical and civil engineers. WWU offers majors in applied engineering.

“It’s a more hands on version of engineering,” WWU plastics engineering professor Nicole Hoekstra said.

A lot of the engineering job descriptions require at least five years experience, which Ballantyne says may be why new graduates are tentative about applying.

While most of Heath Tecna’s expansion is in the hiring realm, they also met with contractors last week to launch potential plans for enhancing the workplace for employees.

Some ideas include a larger lunchroom, more environmentally conscious facilities and possibly a bigger parking lot, which would be the only exterior change.

Two of its newest projects are designing the interiors for Mitsubishi Regional Jets, a contract obtained from Japan, and “Project Amber,” a retrofit design for Boeing 737 airplanes.

“If we can break into this Boeing 737 market it’s huge because there’s so many of them,” Ballantyne said.

Heath Tecna does not usually design interiors for single-aisle narrow aircrafts like the Boeing 737.  Most of their clients are international airlines that have more passenger capacity.

Zodiac Aerospace, an aerial equipment and technology company based out of France, finalized its acquisition of Heath Tecna on Sept. 1, 2011. The merging of the two companies will expand Zodiac Aerospace’s influence in the realm of aerospace innovation.

Heath Tecna’s specialty in airline cabin interiors reinforces Zodiac Aerospace’s capacity to retrofit commercial airline cabins according to a Zodiac Aerospace press release from Sept. 5, 2011.

Zodiac Aerospace is pursuing external growth strategies by buying smaller companies that specialize in airline components. It has about 20,000 employees and facilities on five continents. Zodiac Aerospace also recently solidified their acquisition of Contour Aerospace, which was Heath Tecna’s United Kingdom location until Contour changed its name in 2011.

Ballantyne said that being part of Zodiac Aerospace may have an impact on business in the future, but right now Heath Tecna is expanding because of the new projects.

Revised School Schedule

Some Students in the Bellingham School District may have been estatic to have a few days off of school in January to play in the snow. The snowstorm during the week of Jan. 16 left the roads icy enough to cancel school for four days. But now students will have to stay in school two extra days at the end of the school year.

The school calendar has been revised to require students to attend school on June 21 and 22. This means the school year will end on a Friday instead of a Wednesday. One of the other missed days was made up on Feb. 3, which used to be a teacher work day. The fourth missed day of school will be made up on March 23, another Friday that was originally a teacher work day.

The Bellingham School District operates on a 180-day school year by state law. It is required to make up the missed days unless the are waived by the state.

Graduating seniors will finish their high school years on June 15 instead of June 14, but graduation is still scheduled for the same day. Squalicum High School seniors will graduate on June 16 at 11 a.m. in the Squalicum High School gymnasium.

For an updated school calendar click here.

Needed: Blood Donations

January is blood donor month, according to Puget Sound Blood Center, and the snowy weather two weeks ago caused a decrease in blood donations. Now that the month of love is upon us, you can use your heart to pump blood into collection centers to replenish the short supplies.

Icy roads during the snowstorm in January prevented regular donors from visiting the donation center and scheduled blood drives were cancelled. Now that the snow has thawed you may feel more comfortable driving to Puget Sound Blood Center located in Sunset Square to donate blood.

There will be a Barkley Community Blood Drive on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 2219 Rimland Dr. The blood-mobile will be parked there to collect blood from previously made appointments between 8 a.m and 11 a.m. To make an appointment you can click here.

If you have the time, blood is in short supply, so drop on by to help save some lives!

Bakery Expecting Better Business

Bakery franchise Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen hopes to score more business with the advent of a new movie theater in Barkley Village in fall 2012. 
 

Tucked in the midst of the financial buildings on the north side of Barkley Boulevard in Barkley Village is a mom and pop bakery and coffee shop called Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen. They advertise as a place where you can do all the fun baking you would do at home without the mess and having to buy all the baking supplies. 
 

Terri Zweber opened Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen in June 2008. She chose to open the bakery in Barkley Village because it was a high traffic area, situated next to the Barkley branch of the Bellingham Public Library.
 

“Being next to the library was a really good way to get the parents and families in here,” Zweber said.
 

The location, while initially a prime place for pedestrians to drop in, is no longer beneficial since many business spaces on the north side of Barkley Boulevard are now empty. 
  

“We’re a little bit hidden so a lot of people come in and say ‘we never even noticed this was here,’” said employee Monica Cribbs.

The new 16-screen Regal Cinema being built in Barkley Village scheduled to open in fall 2012 is likely to bring more traffic to the area. Zweber plans to market her business at the theater to bring in more foot traffic.

Now the bakery’s most common customers come through the library, work at one of the surrounding offices or are repeat customers for custom orders or parties. 
 

The baking studio for parties and classes is the main focus of Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen. The coffee shop is an addition for extra business.

Zweber said Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen is the only baking studio of the kind in Bellingham. There are other baking classes available but Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen provides all the supplies and ingredients while other classes may require students to buy their own supplies.

Cribbs, who started working at Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen in August, teaches cookie and cupcake classes for kids. Zweber teaches the adult baking series and cake decorating classes on most Saturdays.

Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen provides a variety of decorating materials for all types of baking endeavors.

Saturday, Jan. 27 they are beginning their Mardi Gras cake classes. People who take the four-week series will leave with a tiered cake complete with pastillage and fondant decorations and buttercream frosting.  

Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen receives custom orders for weddings and birthdays. In 2011 the bakery tripled the number of wedding cake orders from 2010. Zweber said they are currently creating three different cakes for one birthday because the guests have so many allergies. 

Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen also hosts parties and creates made to order cakes and other baked goods for events and other restaurants. Cribb’s daughter had a birthday party with a few friends on New Years Eve. They supply Majestic Inn in Anacortes with scones and Babe’s Place in Ferndale with cinnamon rolls.

One inhibitor for business at Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen is its name. 

“They think it’s a rental kitchen,” Norbert Zalabai, Zweber’s husband and business partner, said. 

Employees from the surrounding commercial buildings still come in daily to get their coffee and pastry fix. 

Renee Showalter, who works at Sterling Insurance, is a regular because it’s located conveniently near her work. 

Regular customers say part of the reason they continue returning is the quality of coffee. Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen uses Batdorf and Bronson coffee, which is roasted in Olympia. 

“It’s the best coffee around,” customer Julie Straight said.

People enjoy going to Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen because of its quiet, calm environment. 

John Forgette goes about four times a week. “This is my favorite coffee house,” he said. “Two reasons: One, the library’s right there and I can pick up the paper. Two, it’s quiet and you can always find a seat.”

The connection to the Barkley branch of the Bellingham Public Library provides patrons who want to use Wi-Fi with free Internet available in the library. 
 

Our Kitchen Is Your Kitchen is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. 

Terri Zweber tests the consistency of cookies that will be used for a children's Valentine cookie decorating class scheduled for Friday, Feb. 3.