Langley Township Council Meeting Report--Monday Afternoon, Oct. 19, 2009
Langley Township Council notes for our afternoon meeting, Monday, October 19, 2009. No evening meeting was held this week. Councillors Ward and Kositsky were away, as they were attending the memorial service for longtime local volunteer Uwe Boecker. Uwe, probably best known for his work with the Langley Canada Day celebration, will be greatly missed by this community.
All staff reports and other background material can be viewed here.
After receiving a presentation from staff on traffic calming, Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox) to approve a new traffic calming policy. At my urging, Council did make one significant amendment, changing the necessary threshold of community support from 66% to 50% plus one (amendment moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson; passed unanimously). I don't feel we have been aggressive enough in traffic calming some of our neighbourhoods, especially near schools and parks, and this policy signals a shift in that direction.
After a presentation on improvement options for the 248th/Fraser Highway intersection, Council voted unanimously to have staff investigate and cost out another idea, from Coun. Long, to do a northbound-only improvement from 248th toward Otter Co-op (moved by Long, seconded by Richter). I don't think the idea will have much effect on the issue, but I look forward to the report.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Dornan) to endorse several changes, mainly brought on by senior levels of government, to the Master Transportation Plan. I was concerned when I saw the draft bike route plan, but staff intend go out for public consultation and redo the bike routes in the early part of 2010; the map was only included for our reference and was not part of the endorsement. I think all high schools and parks need to be accessible by bike paths, and that's not the case on this map (for example, LSS, ACSS, and Brookswood are not bike-accessible). I also encouraged staff to look at the possibility of adding a couple of "bike bases" to the map, where bike lockers, storage, and other items could be located. For example, we could have a small bike hub somewhere near Fort Langley, and in the south as well.
We received a report from the Long Range Planning Department on their current workload and priorities (moved by Ferguson, seconded by Bateman; passed unanimously).
Council voted unanimously to send the Central Gordon Estate plan options out to public open house (moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson).
We voted 6-1 (moved by Long, seconded by Ferguson; Richter opposed) to defer a motion to establish a Property Endowment Trust to the next meeting, when the full Council will be present.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson) to partner with our Economic Development Advisory Committee in hosting a special half-day workshop with three experts on economic trends. The cost to the Township will be $3,000, but this will provide more groundwork for the committee as they write a new Economic Development Strategy for the community.
We voted unanimously (moved by Long, seconded by Bateman) to send a letter to the provincial government asking them to restore $40,000 in funding for the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee, which represents municipal interests in First Nations treaty negotiations.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Richter, seconded by Fox) to appoint our Director of Community Development Ramin Seifi to the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. Catchy name, I know.
After an amendment to reduce the amount to our usual community grant level of $2,500 passed 6-1 (amendment moved by Bateman, seconded by Long; Richter opposed), Council voted 6-1 (Richter opposed) to grant $2,500 for the Healthy Eating Active Living for Youth program running in Township schools. Coun. Richter wanted to give $5,000, but that would double the limit laid out in our community grant policy.
Council voted 4-3 (moved by Richter, seconded by Green; Bateman, Ferguson, and Fox opposed) to have staff bring forward a bylaw amendment laying out our interpretation of where exterior stairwells could be located. I found the motion unnecessary as we already gave our interpretation last week.
I made a motion that the Aldergrove Community Plan document be sent to the relevant Township committees for their input as part of the public consultation process (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox; passed unanimously).
I made a motion (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox; passed unanimously) that Council send a letter of congratulations to the Langley Animal Protection Society for their grea success in licencing dogs. The Vancouver Sun reports today that Langley Township has the highest per-capita number of licenced dogs in the region, and that's a direct result of LAPS' work.
All staff reports and other background material can be viewed here.
After receiving a presentation from staff on traffic calming, Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox) to approve a new traffic calming policy. At my urging, Council did make one significant amendment, changing the necessary threshold of community support from 66% to 50% plus one (amendment moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson; passed unanimously). I don't feel we have been aggressive enough in traffic calming some of our neighbourhoods, especially near schools and parks, and this policy signals a shift in that direction.
After a presentation on improvement options for the 248th/Fraser Highway intersection, Council voted unanimously to have staff investigate and cost out another idea, from Coun. Long, to do a northbound-only improvement from 248th toward Otter Co-op (moved by Long, seconded by Richter). I don't think the idea will have much effect on the issue, but I look forward to the report.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Dornan) to endorse several changes, mainly brought on by senior levels of government, to the Master Transportation Plan. I was concerned when I saw the draft bike route plan, but staff intend go out for public consultation and redo the bike routes in the early part of 2010; the map was only included for our reference and was not part of the endorsement. I think all high schools and parks need to be accessible by bike paths, and that's not the case on this map (for example, LSS, ACSS, and Brookswood are not bike-accessible). I also encouraged staff to look at the possibility of adding a couple of "bike bases" to the map, where bike lockers, storage, and other items could be located. For example, we could have a small bike hub somewhere near Fort Langley, and in the south as well.
We received a report from the Long Range Planning Department on their current workload and priorities (moved by Ferguson, seconded by Bateman; passed unanimously).
Council voted unanimously to send the Central Gordon Estate plan options out to public open house (moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson).
We voted 6-1 (moved by Long, seconded by Ferguson; Richter opposed) to defer a motion to establish a Property Endowment Trust to the next meeting, when the full Council will be present.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Bateman, seconded by Ferguson) to partner with our Economic Development Advisory Committee in hosting a special half-day workshop with three experts on economic trends. The cost to the Township will be $3,000, but this will provide more groundwork for the committee as they write a new Economic Development Strategy for the community.
We voted unanimously (moved by Long, seconded by Bateman) to send a letter to the provincial government asking them to restore $40,000 in funding for the Lower Mainland Treaty Advisory Committee, which represents municipal interests in First Nations treaty negotiations.
Council voted unanimously (moved by Richter, seconded by Fox) to appoint our Director of Community Development Ramin Seifi to the Metro Vancouver Regional Growth Strategy Intergovernmental Advisory Committee. Catchy name, I know.
After an amendment to reduce the amount to our usual community grant level of $2,500 passed 6-1 (amendment moved by Bateman, seconded by Long; Richter opposed), Council voted 6-1 (Richter opposed) to grant $2,500 for the Healthy Eating Active Living for Youth program running in Township schools. Coun. Richter wanted to give $5,000, but that would double the limit laid out in our community grant policy.
Council voted 4-3 (moved by Richter, seconded by Green; Bateman, Ferguson, and Fox opposed) to have staff bring forward a bylaw amendment laying out our interpretation of where exterior stairwells could be located. I found the motion unnecessary as we already gave our interpretation last week.
I made a motion that the Aldergrove Community Plan document be sent to the relevant Township committees for their input as part of the public consultation process (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox; passed unanimously).
I made a motion (moved by Bateman, seconded by Fox; passed unanimously) that Council send a letter of congratulations to the Langley Animal Protection Society for their grea success in licencing dogs. The Vancouver Sun reports today that Langley Township has the highest per-capita number of licenced dogs in the region, and that's a direct result of LAPS' work.
posted by Jordan Bateman @ 10:51 AM
