Doggie Poo Bin Pilot Permanent; New Street Garbage Cans

Around this time last year, Langley City launched a dog poo bin pilot program to help reduce the amount of dog waste that ends up in our natural areas, where it pollutes our waterways and kills salmon and other animals. Dog waste also ends up in the garbage, which is not the best practice, as dog waste should be disposed of via the sewage system.

Over the last year, red-lidded dog poo bins have been placed throughout the City. These bins have resulted in a 31% reduction in dog poo ending up in the street garbage bins, which is a success. This program had been made permanent. You will start to see new bins being rolled out throughout the City in the coming months.

The City had contracted out street garbage bins throughout our community, with ads on them. These were installed for free back in the day in exchange for the contractor being allowed to place ads on the bins. There were a few problems with these bins. First, they were placed more for advertising than for where the demand for street garbage cans was the highest. Second, they looked like they had recycling, but it was all just going into the garbage. Third, they were bulky and unslightly. These bins are now end-of-life, and their contract has expired. The City will be rolling out its own bins over the coming year, with a focus on downtown and higher-density areas, to be more useful to more people in our community.

The following map shows the locations of the current bus stop bins (which are being retained), new dog poo bins, and new street garbage cans in the northern part of our community.

Locations of current bus stop bins, new dog poo bins, and new street garbage cans in the northern part of the community. Select the map to enlarge.

These bins will comply with our downtown streetscape standard and have an exterior basket for beverage containers.

Funding is already in place for this renewal program.

The City isn’t installing public street recycling and organics bins because people currently have a hard time sorting where things go, so they end up going into the garbage anyway due to contamination. The City is still committed to finding ways to enable recycling and organics collection in street bins.

May 25 Council Notes: The Place to Bee, Bat Homes, No Changes To On-Street Parking

Today, I wanted to cover some of the non-financial matters that Langley City Council addressed at its Monday meeting.

Council gave final reading to allow a rezoning and issued a development permit for a 27-unit, three-bedroom townhouse project at 4505-4535 200A Street, which is just north of Alice Brown Elementary School. You can read more about this project in a previous post.

Council also received, but did not adopt, the Public Parking Strategy that I posted about previously. Further work is needed to engage the Downtown Langley Business Association, so it will be up to a future Council to decide whether to adopt the strategy after that engagement. In the meantime, there will be no change to on-street parking management, including time limits in the City.

Langley City is a certified bat-friendly community. Bats are important because they help manage pests, pollinate plants, and spread seeds. The City owns the historic Michaud House near Portage Park, and Council approved installing a bat house on the property as recommended by Council’s Arts, Recreation, Culture and Heritage Committee.

Council received a presentation from the Langley Bee Club on becoming a certified bee-friendly community. This is something that Council’s Environmental Sustainability Committee is currently working on, so the Club was invited to present to it. We all know how important bees are to our ecosystem.

Council received a presentation from TransLink about the Bus Rapid Transit project that will connect Willowbrook to Haney in Maple Ridge. TransLink staff noted strong support for Bus Rapid Transit in Langley City and that travel times along the route would be comparable to driving. You can learn more about Bus Rapid Transit on TransLink’s website.

May 25 Council Notes: Financial Plan Updates

Langley City Council addressed two financial plan items at its meeting last night. As I posted last week, the City must align last year’s financial plan with the actual funds received and expended to prepare the 2025 year-end financial results. Members of the public had the opportunity to provide feedback on the reconciled 2025 financial results last night. No one provided feedback. Council approved the year-end financial plan for 2025-2029.

Throughout the year, the City may also update the current financial plan. Council gave first, second, and third reading to update the 2026-2030 financial plan to provide one-time funding through the City’s savings accounts and reductions in spending in other areas as follows:

• Computer Workstation Upgrades - $57,000
• Portage Park Picnic Shelter - Additional $70,000 to fund the replacement of the shelter that was burned down
• Firefighter Turnout Gear (PSAF-Free Protective Clothing) - $180,000
• Fire Engine Repair - $82,288
• Efficiency and Effectiveness Review - $125,000 to undertake an independent review of the City’s operations to identify opportunities to improve service delivery and optimize processes
• Social, Cultural, and Economic Development Catalyst Fund - $20,000 as seed funding to help support the City’s social, cultural, and economic development priorities
• Workforce Succession, Strategic Capacity and Temporary Coverage - $600,000 to support workforce succession planning in advance of anticipated retirements and to provide temporary staffing capacity to cover long-term leaves and unplanned absences
• Legal Fees – Labour Matters - $500,000 to cover the cost due to unanticipated legal matters
• Policing Arbitration and Mediation - $900,000 to support the negotiation, arbitration and mediation of policing partnership agreements with the Township of Langley

These one-time items do not impact property taxes. At an upcoming meeting, members of the public will have an opportunity to provide feedback before Council considers the final reading and adoption of the update.

Train Whistling at Crossing in Langley City

Every so often, I see a request asking the City to do something to stop train whistling in our community. I understand this request as one of the busiest rail corridors in the country goes through Langley City. I also hear training whistling from time to time.

Back in 2004, Langley City and Canadian Pacific Railway (which operates the tracks through the City) signed a whistle cessation agreement. This agreement requires that, normally, when a train goes through the City, it should not sound its whistle at crossings. This process is regulated by Transport Canada. Even with a whistle cessation agreement in place, you will still hear train whistles in our community, as a railway crew will sound a whistle if they feel there is a safety concern.

Because of how sound travels due to certain times of the day and cloud cover, you might hear the train whistle from crossings that are outside of Langley City as well.

Safety is always a priority, so while the City has an official whistle cessation program, there will be occasions when train whistles sound in our community.