Tuesday, October 8, 2019

October 7 Council Meeting: Vandalism at Penzer Park, trail network upgrades, housing needs report, and library funding

Last night’s Langley City public council meeting was a shorter meeting as it was held one week from the last council meeting. Normally, public council meetings are held every two weeks.

Langley City council received an update from Rick Bomhof about the departments that he looks after.

One of the gems in our parks system is the recently upgraded Penzer Park which includes an outdoor parkour playground. Langley City has invested significantly into this park, but it has been experiencing a rash of vandalism lately. Most recently, this included destroying a park bench, lighting a garbage can on fire, damaging a tree, and trashing the band-new washroom. The City is working with the RCMP to find the person or people that are responsible for this vandalism.

A slide showing the recent vandalism at Penzer Park. Select image to enlarge.

If you see people actively damaging City property, which is our collective property, please call the RCMP at 911. If you have any tips, please call the RCMP at 604-532-3200.

One a positive note, City crews have recently upgraded the Pleasantdale Creek trail which runs from the Nicomekl Floodplain, via HD Stafford, to the BC Hydro right-of-way. The upgrade has received positive reviews from people in our community.

A slide showing recent trail network upgrades. Select image to enlarge.

Along with this upgrade, the City is enhancing trailheads throughout our community. You will notice that garbage cans and more prominent trailhead markers are being rolled out throughout our community. For more information, please read Langley City’s Nature Trail Network Plan.

As I posted about recently, City Park has received extensive upgrades. While a grand opening is scheduled for the end of the month, the updated areas, including the dog off-leash area, is now fully open.

The City has also been working to improve the health of the Nicomekl River by stabilizing sections of bank, and by removing debris that restricts the flow of the river.

City council has increased funding over the last few years to help keep our streets and walkways in a better state of repair. You should be noticing improvements throughout our community.

The City owns and maintains a water reservoir. In the past, someone would have to dive into the reservoir to clean it. Now, the City uses robots to keep the reservoir clean.

In 2009, funding was cut to public libraries in BC. Libraries throughout the province are calling for the restoration of those funds. The following video outline some of the important services that libraries provide.

As required by the province, all municipalities must complete a housing needs report. This report is meant to help identify gaps in housing within a community. This can include affordable housing, rental housing, special needs housing, seniors housing, and family housing by income percentile.

The province has made funding available to complete these reports via a grant program that is administered by the Union of BC Municipalities. Council approved submitting a grant request, and getting the ball rolling on creating the housing needs report.

For more information about housing needs reports, please read a previous post I wrote on the topic.

If the mayor is unable to chair a meeting or attended a public event, the deputy mayor can take over. In Langley City, we rotate this role among members of council. The following 2019/20 schedule was approved last night:

Nov.1-Dec.31, 2019 - Councillor Storteboom
Jan.1-Feb.28, 2020 - Councillor James
Mar.1-Apr.30, 2020 - Councillor Pachal
May 1-June 30, 2020 - Councillor Albrecht
July 1-Aug.31, 2020 - Councillor Martin
Sept.1-Oct.31, 2020 - Councillor Wallace

As a fun fact, I’ll be deputy mayor on my birthday.

1 comment:

Michele Scott said...

I am so sorry to hear about Penzer Park. What a terrible waste of our tax dollars-I don't understand why anyone would destroy community use property we can all enjoy. I hope that the responsible parties are apprehended and punished accordingly.