Archive for November, 2011

Council moved a number of correspondence items forward to the Council meeting of November 8, 2011, including:

• Metro Vancouver’s request [PDF, 434KB] that Council consent to the establishment of the Greater Vancouver Regional District Pan-Municipal Affairs Service Establishment Bylaw to permit the Regional District to provide various services of pan-municipal interest.
• Metro Vancouver’s request [PDF, 423KB] that Council consent to the adoption of the Greater Vancouver Regional District Labour Relations Conversion and Amendment No. 1156, 2011 and a staff report [PDF, 670KB] recommending that Maple Ridge Council consent on behalf of the electors to the adoption of the bylaw.
• A letter [PDF, 1.0MB] dated October 18, 2011, from Burnaby Mayor Corrigan providing a report titled ‘Energy Vision for Canada.’

An email [PDF, 60KB] from the Federation of Canadian municipalities seeking the support of Council to have the Bay of Fundy named as one of the New 7 Wonders of Nature

Frank Quinn, General Manager: Public Works & Development Services, presented a report [PDF, 518KB] in follow-up to a presentation to Council at the Committee of the Whole meeting on October, 17, 2011,  by the Alouette Valley Association on the development of a recreational roadway for the section of 132 Avenue between 216 Street and 232 Street. The report outlines the anticipated next steps and work that has been done to increase safety along this section of road.

Council discussed the challenges of the east-west flow of traffic that have been seen as the population in our community grows. Mr. Quinn noted that the development of the Abernethy corridor is part of the District’s long term traffic planning goals, and that the 2012-2016 Business Plan will incorporate ideas that deal with the short term implications of the challenges in our transportation infrastructure.

Council received the report as information.

Chris Iverson and Yvonne Desabrais, community volunteers and co-chairs of the Port Haney Neighbourhood Change Initiative presented a verbal update on the progress that has been made in the neighbourhood during the first year.

Mr. Iverson thanked Council for their support and praised the consultant who has been working with the group, Michele Ninow, for her support. He reported that the Port Haney Safety Committee had been working with the Licences, Permits and Bylaws and Engineering Departments, RCMP and TransLink regarding concerns with parking associated with the use of the West Coast Express and speeding in the neighbourhood. That committee is developing recommendations around possible signage and other traffic calming solutions in the neighbourhood that will be presented after consultation with stakeholder groups.

Ms. Desabrais spoke about the first Port Haney Days event and expressed her hope that this would become an annual event. She spoke of the neighbourhood cleanup and a number of specific items that were done to improve safety in the community, and was particularly pleased that the Northumberland Court buildings were finally gone. Ms. Desabrais noted that her group is receiving great support from the local business community and that this is critical in creating a unified and cohesive community.

Council was invited to partake in the second annual Caroling Night on December 2. That event will include the distribution of warm clothing to community members.

Council thanked Mr. Iverson and Ms. Desabrais for doing such a great job in showing how residents and neighbours can take action to own Port Haney and highlight all the positives in the place that our community was born.

Village of Belcarra Mayor Ralph Drew, LMTAC Chair provided a presentation [PDF 287,KB] which spoke to a discussion paper [PDF, 6.5MB] addressing the development of  local area service agreements with First Nations.

Mayor Drew’s presentation outlined the development of a service agreement to provide municipal services for First Nations who are looking to develop their band lands. Mayor Drew reminded Council that these types of agreements should be thought of as business relationships and he also reminded Council that municipalities are under no obligation to provide these services. His presentation outlined the finer points associated with the development of service agreements, and he shared the experiences of other communities so that Maple Ridge could benefit from the collective wisdom of the LMTAC membership.

Maple Ridge is working with the Kwantlen First Nation to establish a service agreement that would help them meet their objectives for the development of their lands, while ensuring that the interests of Maple Ridge taxpayers are protected.

Council thanked Mayor Drew for his report and his work with LMTAC and moved the proposed resolution forward to the Council Meeting of November 8, 2011.

Frank Quinn, General Manager: Public Works & Development Services, introduced Jenny Lewis from LEWCO Consulting Inc. Ms. Lewis has been working with Public Works & Development Services staff in the development of a Customer Service Initiative to create standards that will guide this staff group in their customer service interactions.

Ms. Lewis’ presentation [PDF, 1.0MB] outlined the goals of the programs, the steps that have been taken, and the ideas that will guide the program’s implementation. She indicated that Public Works & Development Services staff have been involved extensively as the program’s proposed standards were developed.

Ms. Lewis conducted extensive meetings with an internal focus group as well as an external focus group which was made up of a number of clients of the District, representing a diversity of business dealings with Public Works & Development Services. Her presentation outlined areas of satisfaction and areas that need improvement, which helped to form recommendations for the program’s standards.

Ms. Lewis outlined the proposed Customer Service Standards and offered a number of suggestions on their implementation. The project will now move to an implementation phase, and the results will be reported to Council on a regular basis.