HomeMy WebLinkAboutCouncil this Week 2015-02-02.pdfRepresentatives of the Metro Vancouver Mayors Council and TransLink
made a presentation to Council outlining the 10 Year Transportation &
Financial Plan that would be funded by the 0.5% Sales Tax that is the
subject of a referendum that will be held in the Spring of 2015.
The presentation was live streamed to the community on the City web-
site, and the full Council Workshop meeting is available for video review
here.
Mike Budda, Executive Director of the Mayors Council walked Council
through the development of the Transportation Plan. He noted that the
region is expected to grow by a million citizens in the next 30 years. He
presented a number of statistics related to Maple Ridge’s projected
population growth and provided data relating to the average commute
times of citizens in the region.
Mr. Budda explained the process the mayors used to develop the plan
Cont’d...
City of Maple Ridge
Council This Week
Maple Ridge
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Maple Ridge, BC
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Inside This Issue:
TransLink 10 Year
Transportation &
Financial Plan
Workplan
Overview:
Information
Technology
Maple Ridge Tree
Management
Bylaw Process
Report TransLink 10 Year Transportation & Financial Plan
February 2, 2015
TransLink 10 Year Transportation & Financial Plan ...cont’d
and how the final report reflected a broad approach to increasing service using existing services
along with some of the larger capital plans that would require the financial support of senior lev-
els of government.
Bob ? from TransLink then walked Council through the proposed increases in service for the
West Coast Express, the introduction of rapid bus service from Maple Ridge to the new Evergreen
line, increases in existing bus services, work on the local road network and improvements to the
cycling and pedestrian network. Mr. Budda completed the presentation by reviewing some of the
steps that will be taken to improve transparency and accountability to citizens and new powers
for the Mayors Council.
Council asked a number of questions relating to some of the presentation points and looked for
guarantees of when some of the enhanced services would be up and running for the community.
We strongly urge you to take the time to review the video of this presentation so that you can see
the questions and comments of your Mayor and Council. Once again, here’s a direct link to that
video presentation.
Council This Week Page 2
Workplan Overview: Information Technology
Christina Crabtree, Director of Information Technology, provided Council with a verbal overview of
the department’s 2015 budget and work plan.
Ms. Crabtree summarized her background and described the work that the City Information Tech-
nology (IT) department does to support the broad needs of the community. She noted that local
governments have a far wider range of services, from the registration of citizens for recreational
programs to the infrastructure to allow online services across a number of areas. Simple things
like the management of sprinkler systems in our parks require remote technology.
She noted that there has been a great deal of work to ensure that there is a strong technology
infrastructure to support the delivery of services to the public. She highlighted some recent en-
hancements to the systems used by the Building Inspections and Bylaw teams to allow for more
efficient management of data and to improve customer service in these areas.
She noted that Maple Ridge is working on a joint Request for Proposal for enhancements to the
system used for recreation registration and program management with other cities to ensure that
all taxpayers get the best value and that common software standards are developed in the region
to mitigate the costs associated with software upgrades. Cont’d...
Workplan Overview: Information Technology ...cont’d
She finished her presentation by noting that the goal of the IT department is to be nimble and re-
sponsive to the changing technology needs and the services that our citizens are demanding re-
lating to mobility and access to information.
Council asked a number of questions relating to the IT department and some challenges they are
dealing with managing their large volumes of emails. Ms. Crabtree will be following up with them
to provide training and improvements to ensure they can do their work efficiently. Council thanks
Ms. Crabtree for her presentation.
Council This Week Page 3
Maple Ridge Tree Management Bylaw Process Report
Chuck Goddard, Manager of Development & Environmental Services provided Council with an
overview of work that had been done on the development of the City’s Environmental Manage-
ment Strategy, and the desire of Council to make the development and implementation of a new
Tree Management Bylaw a priority in the new term. Mr. Goddard noted that the development of
the new bylaw would require a public consultation process and that an interim amendment to the
existing Tree Protection Bylaw would be required to ensure that there was no inappropriate re-
moval of the tree canopy while the new legislation was being reviewed.
Rod Stott, Environmental Planner with the City of Maple Ridge, provided Council with a presenta-
tion highlighting the key points of a report on the existing Tree Protection Bylaw and the develop-
ment of an updated bylaw that would reflect some of the best practices in the region to manage
the tree canopy in our community.
Mr. Stott noted that the report contained a draft of the proposed Tree Management Bylaw and
outlined the public consultation process that would see experts in the field and community stake-
holders provide their input. He also spoke about a public open house so that the community
would have an opportunity to provide feedback. That consultation would be brought back to
Council as the bylaw moved through the approval process.
Council passed a recommendation that approved the consultation process and an amendment to
the existing Tree Protection Bylaw to protect the inappropriate removal of trees across the com-
munity. Council gave the amendment three readings and called a special Council meeting for
1:00 pm on Wednesday, February 4, 2015 in the Blaney Room to give the amendment final read-
ing.
There is a media release related to this item that was posted after the February 4, 2015 meeting.