April 12 Council Meeting Notes: Mail Theft and Insecure Mailboxes, Final Approval for Langley Lions Affordable Housing, and Sewer Main Renewal Approved.

While the overall crime rate is down in Langley City, mail theft is on the rise year-over-year. Mail theft is a serious concern. The immediate impact of a stolen bank card, credit card, or cheque is often followed by identity theft and other fraud. A victim of mail theft can spend a significant amount of time recovering from one incident and can often be revictimized.

Each occurrence of mail theft and associated identity theft and fraud takes significant police resources to investigate.

To help reduce mail theft which would also free up police resources, Langley City’s Crime Prevention Task Group asked City Council to “direct staff to investigate an incentive program to retrofit insecure mailboxes in multifamily housing to increase security and deter mail theft, which in turn, reduces policing costs.”

While newer townhouse and apartment developments have secure mailboxes, many of the older buildings in Langley City do not.

On Monday afternoon, Council approved this request.

The redevelopment of the Langley Lions Housing Society’s seniors-focused affordable housing complex to the south of Langley Mall has been working its way through the approval process at City Hall. Council gave final approval to the housing agreement, official community plan update, rezoning, and development permit to construct a new 101-unit Birch Building on Monday. This approval also set the groundwork for the eventual redevelopment of the current 518-unit complex into a 981-unit, seniors-focused affordable housing complex.

Council also approved a land exchange as part of the West Country Hotel redevelopment. The exchange enables expanding the community garden along Michaud Crescent and a new access lane between Michaud Crescent and 56th Avenue.

Council approved staff applying for a grant to fund 50% of the cost to assess the City’s road pavement conditions. This assessment will help staff prioritize road repair work.

Council awarded a contract to PW Trenchless Construction for $821,213.11 to complete a sewer upgrade, as shown in the following map.

Map showing the 200th Street sewer replacement from 49 Avenue to the Nicomekl River.

Council endorsed Mayor Val van den Broek to stand for election to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Board of Directors for one year starting in June 2021.

At the end of Monday afternoon’s meeting, Council asked staff to send a letter to the province asking them to bid for the 2026 Commonwealth Games.