January 26 Council Notes: Committee, Fines, and Local Election

Yesterday, I posted about some of the items covered at Monday’s Langley City Council meeting. Today, I wanted to cover the remaining items.

Langley City Council updated the Terms of Reference, a document that outlines the who, what, why, and how for Council’s Arts, Recreation, Culture and Heritage Committee. The update included adding an additional space for someone from the Langley performing arts community and two additional spaces for someone from the community-at-large. It’s madate was also updated to reflect Council’s 2026-2030 Strategic Plan with a focus on cultivating an inclusive community.

If you would like to apply to serve on a committee, please visit Langley City’s website.

As I previously posted, Langley City now has a tree protection bylaw. Council gave first, second, and third readings to update the Fees and Charges Bylaw and Municipal Ticket Information System Bylaw to enable the fines related to the tree protection bylaw.

It is a local election year, so Council appointed the Chief Election Officer and Deputy Chief Election Officer for the 2026 Langley City General Local Election. These folks are the City’s Corporate Officer and Deputy Corporate Officer.

January 26 Council Notes: Development and Affordable Housing Matters

Langley City Council addressed three development matters at its Monday, January 26th meeting.

As part of the BC Builds proposed affordable housing project at 19991 49 Avenue, 19990 50 Avenue, and 4951-4975 & 4991 200 Street, the City requires the affordable rental units to be secured via a binding housing agreement. The housing agreement requires that 30% of the units, or 91 units, be rented at 20% below Langley City market rents for the life of the building. It also requires that the below-market units be rented only to people who meet the Middle Income Limit as determined by BC Housing, and that at least 10% of the below-market units be three-bedroom units and at least 10% of the below-market rental units be two-bedroom units. Council gave first, second, and third reading to the bylaw to enable this housing agreement. The next step will be to consider final reading at an upcoming Council meeting.

The Langley Senior Resource & Recreation Centre hosts many events in the main hall and has been growing its rental and catering business over the years to support the good work of the Langley Senior Resources Society.

Many catering and hall rentals, such as weddings, include liquor service. For each of these events, the Society has taken out a liquor Special Event permit. To streamline their operations, the Society would like to apply to the province for a permanent liquor primary license. The current zoning for the Langley Senior Resource & Recreation Centre does not permit a liquor primary license, so they are applying to the City to update their zoning.

Council gave first and second readings to a bylaw amending the zoning of the property to allow a liquor primary license. The next step will be to schedule a public hearing, which is one of the ways the City can gather and provide the required public input for the provincial Liquor and Cannabis Regulation Branch regarding the proposed liquor primary license. You can stay informed on this process by visiting the City’s development application portal.

Site plan for the expansion of a car dealership at 20622 Langley Bypass. Select the image to enlarge.

At the same meeting Council also issued a development permit to allow for the expansion of a car dealership at 20622 Langley Bypass.

It’s a New Day for Animal Control and Shelter Services in Langley City. LAPS Continues Service to Community.

For more than 20 years, Langley Animal Protection Society (LAPS) has been Langley City’s service provider for animal control and sheltering services. LAPS has built trust within our community over that time, and its staff, volunteers, and donors are known for providing exceptional service and giving back to our community.

As one example of the above-and-beyond service LAPS provides, they work with people at the Salvation Army’s Gateway of Hope to ensure that the pets of people using the shelter receive care, including veterinary services.

The City’s last five-year contract with LAPS expired on December 31, 2023, and we’ve carried on with two 1-year extensions. Last year, it was time to issue a new long-term contract. City staff went through the public Request for Proposal process. City staff selected LAPS’ proposal (the only proposal) for Council’s approval as our continued animal control and sheltering services provider.

Our City is growing, and so is the need for enhanced animal control services. Previously, Langley City had essentially a half-time animal control officer. Under the new contract, we will have two dedicated animal control officers. They will provide service from 8:00am to 6:00pm seven days a week. As it is today, if you experience a dangerous animal outside of these hours, you can contact the Langley RCMP. This new level of service will mean that animal control in the City will become more proactive.

Service enhancements include:

• Door-to-door service for people in detached homes/townhomes
• New education programs and outreach for people in apartments
• Pop-up information events in playgrounds and schools
• Improved visibility in the community
• Enhanced collaborations with other community safety partners, such as Bylaw Enforcement and the RCMP

Dogs found in Langley City will continue to receive LAPS high-quality, compassionate care, as they do today. Adoptions and rehoming will continue to be provided by LAPS.

Cats found in Langley City will continue to be supported by LAPS’ donor-funded cat program, which includes sheltering, medical care, support for reunification, and rehoming.

The cost for animal control services is increasing from $42,627 to $230,902 annually in the new contract. The dog sheltering service is increasing from $86,937 to $95,674 annually. This enhanced service will require about a 0.3% tax increase next year. It will be covered this year within the existing budget. The new contract will be for three years with three one-year extensions permitted.

Council approved the new contract at its meeting last night.

Improving the Governance Model at the Metro Vancouver Regional District

Last year, the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board received a governance review report from Deloitte. The report contains 49 recommendations. The Regional District is home to over half of BC's population. One of the challenges flagged in the report is that all regional district boards in BC operate under the same legislation, though our region faces unique challenges related to size and scale that other regional districts in the province don't. The current Metro Vancouver Regional District Board has 41 members and is expected to grow to 50 within the next decade, as board membership is determined by provincial legislation. This structure makes the Regional District Board more like a provincial legislature than a board responsible for delivering services and planning to member municipalities, which is why regional districts were set up in the first place. This creates challenges in setting policy and appropriately overseeing the financial and technical aspects of water and sewer utilities.

The Deloitte report provides several examples of ways to improve board operations. One option is to make the Metro Vancouver Regional District more like a crown corporation, such as BC Hydro, with a professional board selected by a nominating committee. Other options include capping the board's size without making many additional changes. Another option is a hybrid approach in which the Regional District Board operates as it does today, while the water, sewer, and solid waste utilities split off into their own smaller boards, each with a mix of elected and professional members to improve oversight. The elected representatives would be selected from the Regional District Board.

The new Metro Vancouver Regional District's Governance Committee is now working on selecting a preferred board governance model. This work will occur over the next half year, which could be endorsed by the Regional District Board and presented to the province for consideration before the fall municipal election.

Now, having a perfect governance model is not a silver bullet. Having an awesome governance model with people who act poorly, not with the region's best interests in mind, can be worse than a crummy governance model where people roll up their sleeves and just make it work. Of course, what we want is good governance and people who act in the region's best interests.

From my perspective, the biggest governance need at the regional level is for elected representatives to have independent advice (in the form of a hybrid board structure or another approach) on the complex operations of our regional water and sewer utilities.

I look forward to seeing how this governance review progresses and what option will be selected over the coming year.