Last night was a brief council meeting; several items were given final reading for approval. Final reading is the “sober second thought” for local government bylaws. Final reading does not normally occur at the same time as other readings and debate of a bylaw. At final reading, you can only vote for or against a bylaw. Council tends to go through final readings quickly.
Council gave final reading to a bylaw to update the Official Community Plan to incorporate Environmentally Sensitive Areas (ESAs), and development guidelines for ESAs. You can read more about ESAs in a prior post.
Council also gave final reading to our 2017 Financial Plan. You can read more about the capital projects and operating component of the budget, which includes increases to services, in previous posts. The financial plan was approved unanimously by council.
Council also gave first and second reading for a proposed rezoning to allow a 98-unit apartment building near Michaud Crescent and 201 Street to be built. This will allow for a public hearing about the proposed rezoning at the March 6th council meeting to proceed. I will be posting more about this proposed project after the March 6th meeting.
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| Rendering of proposed apartment building at the corner of Michaud Crescent and 201 Street. |
Putting in place solutions to reduce homelessness in our community is something that is a priority for people in Langley City. Langley City council approved the creation of a Homelessness Action Table —a task group— to guide the implementation of our Homelessness Strategic Plan, as well as track and report on progress, and advocate for projects and funding last night.
The Homelessness Action Table will have members from local, provincial, and federal governments as well as representatives from the Fraser Health Authority, BC Housing, RCMP, and other community social service agencies in Langley. The Township of Langley was invited to sit on the action table, but have declined at this time.
Throughout the City, there are banners on some of our streetlights with a focus around the Downtown area. The current policy that guided the installation of these banners was dated and inflexible. Council approved a new banner policy last night which is more flexible.
The new policy continues to allow seasonal streetlight banners to be paid for and installed by the City in the spring, summer, and fall. The biggest change in policy is to allow the installation of banners that are not seasonal to support civic, charitable, or community-oriented events within the following guidelines:
- Be specifically happening within Langley City.
- The majority of the population of the City would be able to participate in or be generally interested in the public event.
- Benefit locally-based, non-profit organizations.
- Not be political, religious, commercial, or profit making.
Organizations that request and are approved for the installation of banner, must pay a fee for the installation of their banners. Council gave first, second, and third reading to update our Fees & Charges Bylaw to set the installation fee prices.
Langley City allocates $168,000 per year from casino revenue for community grants. Last night, council approved $131,341.05 in grants to the following organizations:
- Alano Club of Langley: $1,000.00
- Arboretum and Botanical Society of Langley: $1,000.00
- Arthritis Society, BC & Yukon Division: $1,200.00
- Bard in the Valley: $11,700.00
- Big Brothers Big Sisters of Langley: $1,500.00
- Boys and Girls Club of Langley: $1,000.00
- Brookswood Baptist Church – Homeless Feeding Program: $1,786.05
- Children of the Street Society: $1,000.00
- DLBA – Arts Alive: $7,926.00
- Douglas Park Community School Society: $5,000.00
- Encompass Support Services Society – Best Babies: $3,456.00
- Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation: $250.00
- Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives – Black Book: $1,000.00
- Fraser Valley Cultural Diversity Awards: $500.00
- Healthier Community Partnership – Youth HUB: $2,500.00
- HUB Cycling: $400.00
- Kiwanis Fraser Valley Music Festival Society: $4,000.00
- Langley 4H District Council: $150.00
- Langley Amateur Radio Association: $262.50
- Langley Arts Council: $1,000.00
- Langley Baseball: $3,000.00
- Langley Better Breathers: $2,000.00
- Langley Children’s Society – Child Development Centre: $1,000.00
- Langley Division of Family Practise – Youth HUB: $2,500.00
- Langley Early Years Centre (Assoc for Community Living): $800.00
- Langley Field Naturalists: $500.00
- Langley Flippers Swim Club: $4,605.60
- Langley Food Bank: $3,000.00
- Langley Fundamental Secondary School - Dry Grad: $500.00
- Langley Good Times Cruise In: $13,000.00
- Langley Lawn Bowling Club: $2,100.00
- Langley Literacy Association: $2,500.00
- Langley Meals on Wheels: $1,728.00
- Langley Pos-Abilities Society: $950.25
- Langley Royal Canadian Legion – Remembrance Day: $2,170.00
- Langley Scholarship Committee: $3,600.00
- Langley Secondary School – Dry Grad: $500.00
- Langley Senior Resources Society: $19,650.00
- Langley Ukulele Association: $1,650.00
- Langley Volunteer Bureau: $1,500.00
- Lower Fraser Valley Aboriginal Society: $618.00
- Parkinson Society BC – Langley Chapter: $328.65
- Pitch In Canada: $425.00
- Pucks Powerplay Foundation: $2,500.00
- Salvation Army – Gateway of Hope: $5,000.00
- Shape Your World Society: $1,130.00
- Sport Tourism: $5,000.00
- Stepping Stone – Langley Homelessness Steering Committee: $2,000.00
- Terry Fox Run: $1,365.00
- Vancouver Goalball Club: $3,490.00
- Youth Parliament: $600.00
There will be another intake for grants with a due date at the end of June as not all of this year’s grant funds have been allocated.
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