November 7th, 2016 Council Meeting Notes: Fentanyl Overdoses, Business Walk Program, and Motions Approved

Today is my last post about Monday night’s City of Langley council meeting. You can read Tuesday’s and Wednesday’s posts to learn about other items that were on the agenda.

We heard from Rory Thompson who is the Fire Chief. He presented the third quarter report for Langley City Fire-Rescue Service. Similar to last year, 78% of incidents that the Service responded to were medical-related or motor vehicle crashes.

As you can see, drug overdoses are significantly higher compared to last year due to fentanyl. There were 28 overdoses in October for example. Thompson noted that Naloxone is a critical live saving tool, and was happy that it is now available over-the-counter in BC.

Overdoses that Langley City Fire-Rescue Service responded to in 2015, and this year-to-date. Select image to enlarge.

The most significant fire loss in the third quarter was $40,000 from a garage fire. Our on-call firefighters also distributed 200 bags of goodies on October 31st which according to Thompson was a relatively quiet night compared to other years.

One of the roles of our Fire-Rescue Service is to do building inspections as a preventative measure to identify and reduce fire risks. I asked Thompson how many inspections have been done this year. He didn’t have the information on-hand, but said he would have this information available at a future date.

Thompson noted that there have been some people taking their 4-wheel power scooters into the floodplain onto submerged paths. Several people have had to be rescued. He is warning people not to drive these scooters on submerged paths.

Langley City Council has a Business Walk Program where certain members of council visit local businesses to “obtain a pulse” of that segment of our community. In October, businesses in both Downtown and along the Bypass were visited. The following common themes were noted:

• Current state of businesses is very positive
• “Location”, “Cost of Doing Business”, “Business friendly local government” and supportive “Downtown Langley Business Association”, were identified as what they liked most about doing business in the City of Langley
• Most businesses identified they are experiencing recruitment challenges
• Most businesses indicated that they are not considering future expansion at this time, primarily due to their recent expansion
• Business Walk Businesses identified several issues leading to the following common themes: Increased business competition, Criminal activity increasing, Desire for freestanding reader-board signage, Union wages too high for small business to complete, Visible Homelessness, Improved Downtown sidewalk and lane maintenance, Negative impact on road construction, Cost of advertising, Desire to develop mentorship program for new businesses, Expand networking receptions and special events to enhance business awareness.

Later in the meeting, council approved a recommendation from the Parks, Recreation & Environment Advisory Committee to partner with Green Teams of Canada to run habitat restoration events in the City of Langley.

Finally, council approved a motion from Councillor Martin to wave the usage fee for McBurney Lane to support the Langley Soroptimist’s vigil calling for end to violence against women on November 25th.