April 14 Council Meeting Notes: Supporting More Depot Recycling Options

Langley City has two recycling depots: Langley Bottle Depot and Willowbrook Recycling. On Monday, Langley City Council held a short public meeting where we heard a presentation from the owner of Willowbrook Recycling.

They were previously a Recycle BC depot before the pandemic, which meant they accepted paper, containers, foam packaging, glass, and flexible plastic. They now want to become a Recycle BC depot again and asked that City Council provide a letter of support. While Langley Bottle Depot is already a Recycle BC depot, we must make it as easy and convenient as possible for people to recycle. Langley City Council approved sending a letter of support to Recycle BC for Willowbrook Recycling and forwarding our support letter to the City of Surrey and Township of Langley Councils, as we know the depot service people in those communities as well.

An Overview of the Proposed TransLink Investment Plan

Over the past several months, the Mayors' Council and provincial government have been negotiating a funding proposal to prevent cuts to TransLink, moving towards some modest transit system expansion and maintaining regional road network funding.

The funding proposal includes the following high-level transit services investments:

• Introducing new routes or enhancing existing routes that serve the Gloucester, Tilbury, and Campbell Heights industrial areas
• Introducing a new bus route along 68th Avenue in Surrey
• Upgrading the 335 route, which serves Guildford, Fleetwood, and Newton, to frequent transit network status (a bus every 15 minutes or better, all day, every day)
• Providing better transit access to regionally significant parks and beaches during the summer
• Addressing overcrowding on bus routes throughout the region
• Increasing frequency of bus routes throughout the region in areas underserved by transit
• Increasing HandyDART service
• Continuing with planning and design for bus rapid transit

The following map shows the proposed transit improvements as part of this proposal.

Map of proposed transit service improvements. Select map to enlarge.

TransLink also funds the regional road network and provides funding for municipalities to improve walking and cycling access. The proposal includes increasing funding by 70% to keep the regional road network in a state of good repair. For example, 200th Street is TransLink-funded.

The proposal includes $103 million in municipal funding programs until the end of 2026 to support improving walking, cycling, bus priority, and the overall regional road network.

The proposed funding for this plan is coming from a:

• 5% overall fare increase in 2026, then about 2% per year after
• $1.50 increase to the YVR AddFare, then about 2% per year after
• 8% transit property tax increase in 2025 and a further 22% increase in 2027
• Increase in the parking tax from 24% to 29%
• $312 million operating grant from the provincial government

As you may know, last year, we discussed cutting transit service by about 50% due to funding challenges. This proposal solves about half of TransLink's funding challenge and modestly increases transit service. In 2027, we will need another investment plan to solve the other half of the funding challenge and provide enough revenue to operate bus rapid transit and increase transit services significantly so more people can access fast, frequent, and reliable transit services.

The TransLink Mayors' Council must adopt this proposed Investment Plan at its April 30th meeting. Please visit the TransLink website for more information on the 2025 Investment Plan.

Langley City Council Awards $168,000 in Community Grants

Every year, Langley City Council awards community grants to organizations and groups that contribute to the betterment of Langley City. This year, Council awarded $168,000 in grants to the following organizations:

Organization	Grant Amount
BARD in the Valley	$22,585
Langley Senior Resources Society	$15,000
DLBA Arts Live	$13,404
HS Stafford Middle School (PAC)	$12,876
Waceya Metis Society	$10,000
Zajac Ranch Society	$7,000
Douglas Park Charity Pickleball Tournament	$6,126
Langley Animal Protection Society	$5,000
RibFest - Langley Rotary Clubs	$5,000
Langley Community Services Society	$5,000
Langley School District Foundation (Scholarships)	$4,950
stɑl̓əw̓ Arts & Cultural Society	$4,750
Agri-Kids Society	$4,000
Big Brothers Big Sisters Langley	$4,000
KidSport Langley	$4,000
VAYA Youth Arts Society	$3,000
Encompass Support Services Society	$3,000
Langley Community Farmers Market	$2,700
Langley Fastball Association	$2,500
Lower Fraser Aboriginal Society	$2,500
Langley Literacy Association	$2,500
Langley Arts Council - Kids Zone	$2,500
Douglas Park Community School Society	$2,305
Boys & Girls Club of South Coast BC	$2,260
Ron Cares Society	$2,170
Langley Field Naturalist Society	$2,000
Rotary Club of Langley	$2,000
Run for Sobriety Association	$1,920
Terry Fox Run Langley	$1,670
Langley Lawn Bowling Club	$1,400
Fibromyalgia Well Spring Foundation	$1,050
British Columbia Agriculture in the Classroom Foundation	$1,050
Volunteer Cancer Drivers Society	$1,000
PLEA Community Services Society	$1,000
2nd Langley Mavericks Scout Group	$1,000
Fraser Region Community Justice Initiatives Association	$1,000
Youth Parliament	$1,000
Langley Amateur Radio Association	$583
Kat Moon Band	$551
Langley Fine Arts School Dry Grad	$500
Langley Seniors Secondary Dry Grad	$500
R. E. Mountain Senior Secondary Dry Grad	$500
Langley 4-H District Council	$150
Total:	$168,000

The City funds these grants from the revenue we receive from the casino. For more information about Langley City's community grants, including how to apply, please visit Langley City's website.

April 7th Council Notes: Metro Vancouver, Cannabis, and BC Builds Public Hearing

On Monday, Langley City Council held an afternoon Council meeting followed by a public hearing.

At the Council meeting, Councillor Albrecht was reappointed as the Langley City Director for the Metro Vancouver Regional District Board.

We also received a presentation from the BC Chapter of the Canadian Medical Cannabis Partners. This group is looking to set up a medically supervised pilot program to switch people from fentanyl and other opioids to cannabis to reduce health risks. They asked Langley City to consider supporting a pilot program. Council will consider this request as part of our upcoming strategic planning, potentially asking staff to explore the feasibility of a pilot program in our community.

The public hearing was for a proposed 6-storey BC Builds rental mixed-use project at 49th and 200th. You can read more about this provincially-supported project in a previous post. A significant part of the project is that it will have 60 units priced at 20% below Langley City market rents. These 60 units include 15 studios, 30 one-bedroom, 12 two-bedroom, and three three-bedroom units.

Around 150~160 people attend the public hearing, with about 30 people providing verbal or written feedback at the public hearing.

The top concern expressed at the public hearing was the impact on traffic, especially along 50th Avenue. This proposed project would have primary access from the Grade Crescent/200th Street intersection and secondary access from 50th Avenue. Another common concern was the height of the building.

Other concerns expressed included environmental protection considerations, impact on neighbouring property value, impacts on the character of the neighbourhood, and schools and hospital capacity.

I also noted a lot of concern and confusion around the role of the church, the province, and the City in this proposed project. The province will provide financing, the church will provide land, and the City will sell land below market value for the project if approved. The church's non-profit housing society would own the building with a mortgage. All rent money (commercial and residential) would have to be used to pay down the building's mortgage and maintain the building. The church would get a new auditorium/meeting space (shown as Congregation/Sanctuary on the building drawings) in the proposed project.

I didn't cover all the feedback but wanted to highlight some top themes.

Council considers all feedback received at the public hearing and written responses received before the close of the public hearing as part of its overall determination of whether to give third reading to amend the Official Community Plan and rezoning bylaws to enable the construction of this proposed project. After the public hearing, Council cannot receive or consider further feedback on the proposed project. This process is standard for all local governments in BC.

Council plans to consider the third reading of the bylaws for this proposed project on April 28th.