Train Whistling at Crossing in Langley City

Every so often, I see a request asking the City to do something to stop train whistling in our community. I understand this request as one of the busiest rail corridors in the country goes through Langley City. I also hear training whistling from time to time.

Back in 2004, Langley City and Canadian Pacific Railway (which operates the tracks through the City) signed a whistle cessation agreement. This agreement requires that, normally, when a train goes through the City, it should not sound its whistle at crossings. This process is regulated by Transport Canada. Even with a whistle cessation agreement in place, you will still hear train whistles in our community, as a railway crew will sound a whistle if they feel there is a safety concern.

Because of how sound travels due to certain times of the day and cloud cover, you might hear the train whistle from crossings that are outside of Langley City as well.

Safety is always a priority, so while the City has an official whistle cessation program, there will be occasions when train whistles sound in our community.

Have Your Say on the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board Structure

I’ve been posting about proposed changes to governance at the Metro Vancouver Regional District. About a year ago, Deloitte Canada made 47 recommendations to improve governance at the Regional District, which provides services to over half of BC's population. The Regional District has a Board Governance Review Tracker where you can learn more about the implementation of these recommendations.

One of the larger recommendations is to review the size and structure of the Regional District Board to improve decision-making. The Regional District is actually four separate legal entities: the Metro Vancouver Regional District, the Greater Vancouver Water District, the Greater Vancouver Sewerage and Drainage District, and the Metro Vancouver Housing Corporation. Today, these entities operate effectively under a single board.

Today, there are 41 directors appointed by their respective municipalities, treaty First Nation, or directly elected in the case of Electoral Area A. There is a formula that determines how many directors each member jurisdiction has and how much weight each director carries based on population. This system is meant to balance having a voice at the table for each jurisdiction, no matter the population, while also ensuring population-based representation.

The Regional District is reviewing potential changes through the lens of governance effectiveness, size/scalability, member jurisdiction representation, public accountability, and ease of implementation.

Proposals include keeping the status quo, reducing the size, or including appointed non-political members on one or more of the four legal entities' boards.

One of the more interesting proposals for me is the inclusion of a smaller Major Projects Committee, which could have delegated authority on the most complex projects, such as wastewater treatment plants, and could comprise a blend of elected and externally appointed directors with technical expertise. The main board would still have ultimate control over the budget, but a committee such as this would be best practice.

Over the next month, the Regional District is seeking feedback on proposed changes to the governance structure. You can learn more, including how you can participate, by visiting the Metro Vancouver Regional District's Governance Review webpage.

Langley City Council received a presentation by Heather McNell, the Deputy CAO of the Regional District, on Monday about these proposed changes.

Langley City 2025 Year-End Financial Housekeeping

As part of the year-end financial reporting process, some of which I posted about yesterday, Langley City must update the 2025-29 Financial Plan to reflect the actual revenue and expenditures for the year.

The following table shows the differences between the Council-approved 2025 budget and the final results at year-end.

Table from Financial Plan 2025 – 2029 Amendment Number 2. Select the table to enable.

Council also had to update the capital budget to reflect additional grants the City received to offset the cost of some projects, as shown:

56 Ave (200 St to 203 St) Repaving - $48,362.89 TransLink Grant
Emergency Operations Centres Equipment and Training - $39,870.25 Union of BC Municipalities Grant
Bicycle Infrastrucutre - $16,258.00 TransLink Grant
Community Emergency Preparedness - $13,565.30 Union of BC Municipalities Grant
Emergency Management: Indigenous Engagement - $2,000 Union of BC Municipalities Grant
Fraser Highway Oneway Tree Replacement - $27,000 Grant from Langley Foundation

2025 Audit: Langley City Financially Healthy

Every year, local governments must have their financial statements independently audited. Langley City engaged Kristine Simpson from BDO Canada as our auditor. As is normal, the auditor found that our financial statements were accurate.

Early this year, I posted about net financial assets (or debt). This is a key metric that shows a local government has the finances to continue delivering services and investing in infrastructure. In 2025, Langley City had $51.3 million in net financial assets, a slight decrease of $0.3 million from 2024. This is still a positive indicator.

Another key metric is accumulated surplus. This metric shows how much money the City has in its savings accounts to fund infrastructure projects, and how much in tangible assets, such as roads, land, and buildings, the City has on the books. The City increased its accumulated surplus by $27.4 million to $405.9 million in 2025. About $5.1 million was transferred to reserve savings accounts. The remainder was the “on the books” value of new or renewed infrastructure. Generally, if the “on the books” value is increasing, it means a local government is maintaining or expanding infrastructure such as roads, pipes, parks, and facilities. If the number is going down, it means that a local government is not keeping up.

Every year, the operating budget will have a variance between what is budgeted and what is actually spent. Local governments in BC have to budget conservatively because they cannot run a deficit. One of the primary drivers for Langley City’s $5.1 million surplus was labour costs. When new positions are added that take time to hire, such as additional firefighters, or people leave their jobs, it temporarily reduces labour costs.

Some of the areas where the City exceeded budgeted cost were on recreation programs due to increased demand, snow removal, streetlight and signal repair, park maintenance, garbage removal, vandalism repair, homeless camp cleanup, and legal fees. Again, there was an overall surplus in 2025.