You Need to Attend the Langley Initiative's Inaugural Meeting - June 18

When I first got involved in local Langely civic life, I joined VALTAC. This community group's goal was to restart the Interurban, bringing back passenger rail to Langley and beyond. This blog was originally the blog for VALTAC.

Very quickly, a few of us who were part of VALTAC realized there was a gap in Langley City and the Township, as no one was advocating for "Smart Growth" at the time. Passenger rail was only one piece of building a great "Smart Growth" community. We started South Fraser OnTrax, held community workshops and meetings, and advocated to both Langley City and Township Councils. We brought in experts from around the world.

These groups made me feel a part of the community and that I was contributing to improving Langley. These experiences eventually led me to run for Langley City Council.

These real grass-roots community organizations, like VALTAC and South Fraser OnTrax, are essential to a healthy democratic society. This is why I was so excited when I met The Langley Initiative co-founders Dammy and Armaan. They originally planned for their first meeting in January, but it was snowed in. They pushed back their first meeting, and I wanted to pass on the details of their new first meeting.

Pictures of The Langley Initiative Co-Founders Dammy Ogunseitan and Armaan Lilothia

The Langley Initiative is born out of a deep commitment to fostering a more engaged and informed citizenry. Our motto, "Empowering Citizens, Advocating for Change," encapsulates our mission to create a platform where the voices of the people can be heard and translated into meaningful action.

The inaugural meeting will serve as a crucial starting point for the Langley Initiative. During this gathering, we will outline our goals, discuss key issues affecting our community, and strategise on effective ways to bring about constructive changes. We envision a collaborative approach, drawing on the distinct perspectives of our residents to address issues that matter most to all of us.

Details of the inaugural meeting are as follows:

Date: June 18, 2024
Time: 7:00 pm
Location: CoWorks by Elevate - 20627 Fraser Hwy, Langley, BC V3A 4G4

We encourage all Langley City residents who are passionate about creating a positive impact to attend and contribute to the conversation.

If you want to learn more about the Langley Initiative, visit their website at https://www.thelangleyinitiative.ca or email them at info@thelangleyinitiative.ca.

Discover Langley City Spring Tourism Update

Discover Langley City is our community's Destination Marketing Organization (DMO). All DMOs in BC have the mandate to promote their community of interest to encourage tourism and overnight stays. Like all DMOs, Discover Langley City is primarily funded by a hotel stay tax, which people pay when they stay at a hotel or Airbnb. Discover Langley City also receives grants and a small fee for service from Langley City.

Langley City Council recently received our biannual update from Discover Langley City.

The biggest news is that Discover Langley City will be opening a permanent summer Visitor Information Centre in Downtown Langley. It will be staff with younger people with the support of the Canada Summer Jobs wage subsidy. Discover Langley City is working with the province on potentially getting visitor information directional signage installed on provincial highways to help people get to the new Visitor Information Centre.

Digital marketing is key to getting folks excited about coming to Langley City. Discovery Langley City has worked with influencers to help amplify its marketing efforts. This marketing includes viral successes like for Estrella's Montreal Deli & Cafe, a unique find in Metro Vancouver. The campgain resulted in 165k+ views and 4k+ shares, resulting in people making the trip to Estrella's and Langley City.

Example of tearaway map from Discover Langley City presentation. Select the image to enlarge.

Old-fashioned rack cards, which you see at airports, ferries, bus depots, and tourist hotspots, are still popular, as are the tearaway maps you get when you want to know what's around your hotel. Discovery Langley City completed a refresh of all their paper-based materials.

Discover Langley City is working with Indigenous Tourism BC to build relationships to help grow and promote Indigenous tourism experiences in Langley City and the surrounding area.

As you are out and about this summer, look for Discover Langley City's Mobile Visitor Centre at events throughout the community.

Council purchases new $3.5 million 100' platform fire truck and new street sweeper

Last night's Langley City Council approved purchasing a new 100' platform/ladder fire truck to replace the current truck, which is reaching its end of life.

Platform fire truck extended at Community Day. Select the image to enlarge.

This truck is a very specialized piece of firefighting equipment; only Surrey and Langley City have a 100' platform fire truck in the South of Fraser. This truck benefits Langley City and neighbouring communities, such as the Township of Langley.

The City's platform truck was an essential piece of equipment used to fight the 2021 Willoughby Fire, the largest building fire in Langley's history. The platform truck and Langley City firefighters helped prevent the fire from spreading to additional sites.

Reference drawing for the new platform fire truck. Select the drawing to enlarge.

With the new platform truck, Langley City will continue to be able to help our neighbours and keep our community safe.

Council approved purchasing the new platform fire truck from Safetek Fire Trucks for $3.5 million. The truck will be delivered in about two years.

Example of street sweeper: Source: Seth Granville

Langley City Council also approved purchasing an Elgin street sweeper from Vimar Equipment Ltd. for a net cost of $418,310.20. We will be replacing our current street sweeper, which is eight years old. The City will trade in our current street sweeper as part of the deal with Vimar Equipment Ltd. Street sweepers are usually replaced every eight years. The new street sweeper will take about two years to be manufactured and delivered to the City.

Your Input Needed: Langley City’s New Economic Development Strategy

I wanted to share the following news release from Langley City:

Langley City is updating its Economic Development Strategy, focused on job creation, investment attraction, and business retention and expansion. To gather valuable feedback, residents and the business community are being asked to share their ideas about how to boost the economy and enhance quality of life through an online community survey open from May 22 through June 24, 2024. The survey seeks to understand what drives people to invest in and relocate to Langley City, and how to nurture business growth and entrepreneurship.

“We want a ‘made in Langley City’ Economic Development Strategy that combines the local knowledge of people who live, work, and own businesses in our community with world-leading best practices,” says Mayor Nathan Pachal. “Our Economic Development Strategy will only succeed if we can capture the diverse ideas from within our community.”

Ongoing work includes a community leaders workshop and interviews with community and business leaders.

The Strategy also aims to connect the dots to a broader community development action plan that enables job creation, including lifestyle-focused services/amenities, placemaking, downtown enhancement, housing choice and affordability, and more flexible commercial form and function for today’s entrepreneurs needing more nimble solutions.

The Strategy is scheduled for completion in Fall 2024.

Fill out the survey now.