April 27 Council Meeting: Expanded free ebooks, online streaming, classes and courses. COVID-19 local update.

On Monday afternoon, Langley City’s third virtual open council meeting was held. Yesterday, I posted about a new proposed 2020 budget for Langley City which would result in a significantly lower property tax increase than was approved earlier this year. I will be covering the remaining items haerd at the meeting in this post.

With people spending more time at home, and physical libraries closed, the Fraser Valley Regional Library (FVRL) has been focusing on its online resources. They have ebooks, audiobooks, magazines, music, and online streaming services such as Acorn TV available. There is also access to online learning resources such as Lynda.com, and content that is especially for kids.

These online resources are accessible via your library card which is funded by property taxes. If you do not have a library card, you can get one online and start accessing these resources instantly.

Because of the surge in demand, and closure of physical library branches, FVRL has expanded the breadth and quantity of online resources available.

They have also added virtual storytimes for kids which is done on Facebook.

Langley City’s has also moved its recreation services online with “Recreation at Home.” There are instructor-led fitness classes and art courses that have been created in-house. These classes and courses are for all ages, from kids to seniors. Youth activities are also happens including Teen Time Online and Instagram Live events.

Council received an update from Ginger Sherlock who is the emergency coordinator for the Langley Emergency Program, and acting fire chief Scott Kennedy.

Langley City and Township activated our emergency plan on March 11th due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Emergency Operations Centres for both communities have been setup to coordinate local government efforts in response to this pandemic.

Ms. Sherlock stated that the provincial government is leading the COVID-19 pandemic response, and the role of local government is to follow the advice and orders of the province.

She also stated that unlike other emergencies in our community’s history, this is going to be a longer-term sustained response.

While we are still in a COVID-19 state of emergency, the Langley Emergency Program is starting to shift its focus to a recovery plan.

As a housekeeping matter, council passed a motion that “open meetings of Council be held in the absence of the public until such time as the provincial declaration of state of emergency has been lifted.”

While people have not been able to attend council meetings in-person, they can still be viewed online. City staff are working to make virtual meetings even more accessible.

Finally, council appointed the following people to its Advisory Design Panel which gives advice to council on development projects:

Scott Thompson, City of Langley Resident
Rob Chorney, City of Langley Resident
Heidi Tobler, Business Community Representative (Downtown Langley)
Garth White, Business Community Representative (Chamber of Commerce)
Clark Kavolinas, BC Society of Landscape Architects
Chad Neufeld, BC Society of Landscape Architects
Mark Lesack, Architectural Institute of BC
Wendy Crowe, Architectural Institute of BC
Ella van Enter, Accessibility Representative

These appointments are for a year. This panel will be meeting virtually.

Langley City proposed updated 2020 budget in response to COVID-19 will see tax increase halved

When Langley City council approved our 2020 budget at the end of February, we were about to launch the much-needed Nexus investment plan for our community. This investment plan was to be funded by a $50 million loan to be paid back in five years.

For people who owned single family homes, the portion of their City-control tax bill would have increased 5.65% or on-average $179 this year. For people that owned a townhouse or condo, the portion of their City-control tax bill would have increased by 5.52% or on-average $86 this year.

This seems like an eternity ago.

The COVID-19 paramedic has caused financial instability for households, businesses, and local governments. Because of this, Langley City staff and council reviewed our 2020 budget.

Yesterday afternoon, a proposed new 2020 budget was given first and second reading.

While we still need to move forward with the Nexus investment plan, this year is not the right time. Because we still need to make investments in our community, this Nexus plan is proposed to be deferred by one year. This deferral will result in $827,665 less taxation revenue being required this year.

Council is also proposing to defer several staffing positions that were planned for this year including:

• A Community Outreach Facilitator to deal with matters around poverty, homelessness, and other social challenges in Langley City.
• A Recreation support worker to help children with disabilities participate in City recreation programming.
• A City Hall support worker to help with increased workloads.

The staff training budget was also reduced.

These deferred positions and training will result in a further $135,855 in taxation revenue no longer being required for this year.

Langley City’s capital projects are funded by around one-third from revenue received from the casino. With the casino now closed, this will impact capital projects.

Langley City has a policy of budgeting conservatively. Because of this, council is proposing to maintain this year’s capital projects minus what was part of the Nexus investment plan. Some capital projects planned for future years will need to be deferred due to the casino being closed, unless the City is able to receive extra funding from the provincial and/or federal government.

Every year, council tries to set aside taxation revenue for capital projects in future years. The proposed revised budget will see this reduced by $50,000.

Due to conservative budgeting and a reduction in funding for future capital projects, an additional $450,000 in taxation revenue is no longer required for this year. This is not sustainable, and is a one-time reduction.

The proposed new 2020 budget will see people who own single family homes have the portion of their City-control tax bill increase 2.44% or on-average $78 this year. For people who own a townhouse or condo, the portion of their City-control tax bill will increase by 2.41% or on-average $37 this year.

We are in a time like no other in the history of Langley City. The property tax increases for this year are proposed to be reduced significantly to help people get through the COVID-19 paramedic.

Investment still needs to be made, and in future years, we will have catching up to do if this proposed new 2020 budget is approved.

For more information, please visit the financial plans section of the Langley City website.

TransLink: $710 million to $3.25 billion budget shortfall due to COVID-19

TransLink has been losing $75 million per month since the start of the COVID-19 state of emergency in mid-March, but has still been providing transit service to some 150,000 unique riders each week. About 40% of people using transit today are “essential” workers.

At last week’s Mayors’ Council virtual meeting, TransLink staff provided an update and presentation on the state of transit service in our region.

The following map from the presentation shows the location of Vancouver General Hospital employees, 30% of whom rely on transit to get to work.

Home Location of 5214 VGH Employees - colour shows relative distance from VGH. Select map to enlarge. Source: VGH 2016.

Without transit service, these people would have a hard time getting to work.

As I noted last week, because of significant revenue loss, TransLink was forced to slash transit service last week. Due to these cuts and measures put in place to promote physical distancing on transit, transit capacity is 18% of what it was a few months ago.

It is not just transit service that is being impacted, road network maintenance and projects in our region are also being impacted. TransLink is responsible for funding 50% of the costs to upkeep the major roads in our region, and up to 75% of road project costs. This money is transferred to municipalities, but is now being deferred. For example, TransLink is responsible for 50% of the costs to upkeep 200th Street, Fraser Highway, 203rd Street, and the Langley Bypass in Langley City*. This will put a strain on municipal revenue which is already being significantly impacted due to the COVID-19 state of emergency.

TransLink has investigated four plausible scenarios of how the COVID-19 pandemic will play out over the next one to four years.

Four plausible COVID-19 scenarios. Select to enlarge. Source: TransLink.

Depending on the duration of the current physical distancing measures, and how people change their travel behavior as the economy re-opens, TransLink would face anywhere between a $710 million and $3.25 billion shortfall in revenue compared to what was forecasted before the start of the COVID-19 state of emergency.

Transit and transportation agencies throughout Canada are in a similar situation to TransLink; a federal response is needed.

If the federal government does not help support TransLink, not only will transit service and road repairs be further eroded in Metro Vancouver, but projects like building SkyTrain to Langley could be cut. This cannot happen.

If you believe that transit and roads are important, please ask your MP and MLA to help.

In Langley City our MP is Tamara Jansen: tamara.jansen@parl.gc.ca
Our MLA is Mary Polak: mary.polak.MLA@leg.bc.ca

*Section of 203rd, north of Fraser Highway. Langley Bypass, south of Glover Road.

Enhancing public programming in regional parks to better connect people with nature

Over the past week, I’ve posted about regional parks in Metro Vancouver.

One of the goals of the Metro Vancouver Regional District is to enhance public programming within its park network:

• To instil knowledge and deeper understanding of nature so people:
• respect, protect and care for nature and regional parks;
• feel comfortable in and want to become familiar with nature;
• make intellectual and emotional connections while they are in nature;
• develop a sense of wonder about nature, and strive to live sustainably.
• To enhance regional park visitor enjoyment. To build community connected to regional parks.
• To showcase nature to regional park visitors.

The regional district’s future enhanced parks programming will be focused around the following themes:

Broaden Your Base: Work needs to be done to connect culturally diverse families, seniors, young adults, and older teens to nature.

Extend Your Reach: Increase awareness of Metro Vancouver Regional Parks’ outdoor programming.

Make a Deeper Connection: Improve public programming to do a better job of acknowledging the unique essence of place and ecology that defines each regional park and makes it special.

Invest in Youth: Children today spend too much time indoors, and when they do get outside, they are constrained and supervised by parents worried about their safety. Park programming should connect children to nature facilitated by a trusted mentor. This can foster a lifetime of environmental engagement.

Ensure Financial Sustainability: Set programming fees to stay in line with comparable market rates, and not unduly subsidize program and event costs through the tax levy.

Enhancing public programming requires additional staff which would increase regional park expenditures. The regional district will be exploring various cost recovery options as follows:

A pyramid model for revenue generations for parks programming. Select image to enlarge.

In Langley City, some recreation programs have fee such as fitness classes, while other services are free. The idea of having various cost recovery options for recreation and park services is nothing new.

While public programming will not likely resume for some time due to the COVID-19 state of emergency. Once we get through this pandemic, I will look forward to seeing more public programming in our regional parks. I think the challenge for the regional district will be to balance the needs of cost recovery with the public benefits of connecting people better to nature.