Plunging into 2025
About 300 people came to Lake Padden on New Year’s Day to take part in the Resolution Walk/Run and the Padden Polar Dip. Participants kicked off 2025 by taking a lap around the lake, submerging themselves in the chilly water, or doing both.
First City Council Meeting of the year
The first City Council meeting of 2025 will take place at 12:30 p.m. on Monday, Jan. 6. The Council will elect officers, assign Council Members to committees, and consider other City matters – including a work session devoted to landlord tenant relations and unfair or excess fees in rental agreements. Council meetings are streamed live on the City’s website, on the City’s YouTube channel, and on Comcast channels 10 and 321. To contact Council Members, you can e-mail ccmail@cob.org or send a letter addressed to City Council, 210 Lottie Street, Bellingham, WA 98225.
Kick off the New Year with music
Local musician Peter Ali presents Songs from the Heart, a free concert and interactive flute demonstration at the Bellingham Central Library Lecture Room on Saturday, Jan. 4, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. The event will provide music and stories of Native American, Mesoamerican, Middle Eastern, and Nordic style flutes, as well as a hands-on introduction to the basics of playing the Native American style cedar flute. This participatory experience is a celebration of Bellingham Public Library’s January theme, Bring the Light.
Environmental protection by the numbers
With 2024 behind us, now is the time we look back at what we accomplished throughout the year. We work hard to protect and preserve our environment, which includes preventing and reducing pollution, protecting our drinking water, restoring natural areas, and engaging with our community. Here are some highlights of our environmental work in 2024.
- We removed approximately 240 tons of litter from public property, including 39 tons downtown.
- We spent nearly 2,600 hours cleaning streets to get rid of pollutants.
- We purchased an additional 11 properties in the Lake Whatcom watershed, protecting more than 50 acres from development.
- We provided pollution prevention technical assistance to 135 businesses.
- Through our Parks Volunteer Program, we led events for 3,239 volunteers who planted more than 3,000 plants in Bellingham parks.
- We planted about 13,400 native plants on public property through our restoration, mitigation, and Lake Whatcom protection programs.
- We inspected 12,304 boats visiting Lake Whatcom and Lake Samish to prevent the spread of aquatic invasive species.
- We installed new electric vehicle (EV) chargers at 22 locations as part of our project to expand EV charging.
- We met with more than 1,000 students and adults through our Water School program during the 2023-2024 school year, teaching participants about the importance of conserving our water resources.
Thank you to all our staff members and volunteers who help make this work happen each year!
