May 31 Council Notes: Streetscape Bins Waste Audit and Bylaw Traffic Fine Increases

Protecting and enhancing the environment where we live is a priority for Langley City residents and Langley City Council. People who completed an online survey about the proposed new Official Community Plan ranked its environmental policies with the highest levels of support.

Earlier this year, Langley City Council passed a motion declaring there is a climate emergency in our community and ask City staff to outline the next steps to:

• Achieve net-zero carbon emissions before 2050 with a balanced approach for today and future generations
• Update the current Sustainability Framework to incorporate current best practices on climate mitigation, adaptation and resilience, and to incorporate principles of biodiversity, sustainability and stewardship to guide future developments and infrastructure projects within Langley City

On May 31st, Council approved $14,000 to complete a Streetscape Container Waste Audit. Streetscape containers include the garbage and recycling bins you see at bus stops, at trailheads, and around the Downtown and Langley Bypass areas.

Langley City has 175 of these containers. This audit will sample 25% of these containers to see what people throw away. The audit will also check if people follow the labelling on multi-stream containers (silver bins) and will pilot new labelling at select bins to see if that improves sorting.

Based on the audit results, staff will plan for funding future phases of this waste audit starting next year to find the best ways to reduce the amount of waste that ends up in landfills or burned at Metro Vancouver’s Waste-to-Energy Facility.

At the same meeting, Council also gave final reading to the 2020-24 Financial Plan Amendment Bylaw.

Council also gave first, second, and third reading to update the Municipal Ticket Information System Amendment Bylaw to increase the fines for many highway and traffic regulations violations. Penalties range from $30 to $500. If given final reading, you could get a $500 fine for damaging or altering City’s streets and sidewalks or for obstructing traffic flow.

Council also gave first, second, and third reading to the:

• Community Standards Amendment Bylaw
• Mural Regulation Amendment Bylaw
• City of Langley Sign Amendment Bylaw

These were housekeeping amendments to remove redundant wording from these bylaws.