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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil this Week 2014-07-07.pdfRichard Bullock, Chair of the Ag- ricultural Land Commission (ALC) and Brian Underhill, Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the ALC ap- peared before Council to speak about some of the changes that are happening to the ALC as a result of potential changes to pro- vincial legislation. Mr. Underhill noted that it is ‘business as usual’ as the im- pacts of the new legislation are fully explored and that the Com- mission will continue to work with BC’s 145 Regional and Municipal Governments on issues of plan- ning and land use as it relates to land in the Agricultural Land Re- serve. He spoke about the move to have two different zones, and noted that the legislation would have little impact on the southern BC zone that includes the south Okanagan, Lower Mainland and Vancouver Island. Mr. Bullock noted that the discus- sion on the impacts and role of the ALC moving forward would be discussed at meetings commenc- ing on July 8. He noted that mu- nicipal governments are repre- sented at the table through the Union of BC Municipalities and that in his view the Minister of Ag- riculture, Norm Letnick, is very interested in hearing from all stakeholders. He spoke about the evolution of the ALC and was frank that the protection of agri- cultural land will remain the priori- ty of the ALC. Mr. Underhill and Mr. Bullock an- swered a number of questions from Council. In response to one question Mr. Bullock spoke with great passion about how the ALC is responsible for protecting farm- land, but it is not the place that people should be looking for an- swers about the viability of cont’d... Provincial Agricultural Land Commission Council This Week Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place Maple Ridge, BC V2X 6A9 Canada Tel: 604-463-5221 Fax: 604-467-7329 Website Enquiries Email July 7, 2014 Inside This Issue:  Provincial Agricultural Land Commission  Joint Leisure Service Model Review: Draft Recommendation  Proposed Hammond Area Boundaries  Proposed Sign Bylaw No. 7008- 2013 Council This Week Page 2 Joint Leisure Service Model Review: Draft Recommendation Brian Johnson, Facilitator, Professional Environmental Recreation Consultants Ltd., made a presen- tation to Council on the draft recommendations of the Joint Services Model Review that is currently underway. Mr. Johnson noted that the overall financial benefits of the agreement are approximately $800,000 for the two communities. The financial benefits for Pitt Meadows are greater than those for Maple Ridge, but Mr. Johnson noted that the dollars do not reflect some of the benefits to customers of dealing with one entity for recreation services. He noted that there are a number of ways commu- nities that have joint agreements use to allocate costs, but that the current model seems to be the most equitable at this point. Mr. Johnson presented a number of conclusions relating to the existing agreement and noted that while there are some stresses and strains, that it should be a straightforward process of dealing with the issues of governance, service levels and financial issues so this can move forward. His recom- mendations outlined some of the mechanisms to achieve this. Council asked a number of questions and asked for some points of clarification before thanking Mr. Johnson for his work. The final report will come forward in the upcoming weeks. Proposed Hammond Boundaries agriculture in general. The Commission exists to protect the land, and while he had strong views on the broader issues around agriculture, the Commission does not have a legislative mandate or re- sources to delve into those areas. He noted that all stakeholders need to work with the Agriculture Ministry to ensure these broad issues were highlighted. Council thanked Mr. Underhill and Mr. Bullock for their time and thoughtful responses. Provincial Agricultural Land Commission cont’d... Jim Charlebois, Manager of Community Planning, and Lisa Zosiak, Planner II, made a presentation summarizing their report on the proposed boundaries that will encompass the ‘Hammond Area Plan.’ Ms. Zosiak showed a slide that animated the close to 80 responses that had been offered at the open house on June 5, 2014. There was a strong agreement on the south boundary of the commu- nity, and by using a combination of the submitted maps and mapping of the open house participants, a recommended boundary was presented. cont’d... Page 3 Council This Week Proposed Sign Bylaw No. 7008-2013 Liz Holitzki, Director of Licences, Permits & Bylaws provided a brief verbal overview of the Draft Sign Bylaw report. She noted that the existing bylaw dates back to 1992, and that the proposed bylaw in- corporates some of the best practices from surrounding communities as well as consultation from the public. Ms. Holitzki noted that this new bylaw does not impact development signs, as the department wishes to seek greater consultation from the community stakeholders before introducing any revisions in this area. She noted that the largest changes proposed relate to election signage, based on the di- rection of Council and best practices from the region. She noted that the fee structures proposed in the new bylaw better reflects today’s costs associated with the delivery of service. Council provided some feedback, but adjourned the item to the next Workshop meeting later in July for further discussion. Please Note! Council This Week is an informal summary of the reports and discussion of Council’s work at Work- shop. This document provides links to all reports and presentations that were provided to Council as part of their deliberations. The comments are not the official minutes of the meeting. These notes are intended to capture the essence of the discussion so that citizens can keep in touch with the work of Council in this public meeting. This version of Council This Week has been modified to a more accessible version that better meets the needs of our citizens with visual impairments. Council asked a number of questions and provided feedback on the recommendation and a slight revision will come forward to the July 8, 2014 Council meeting for final approval. Proposed Hammond Boundaries cont’d...