Heritage protection proposed
The owners of a heritage house in the Queen’s Park neighbourhood want to protect the home —
including some of the interior elements of the 1911 home.
The city has received a heritage designation application from the owners of 109 Third Ave., which would provide legal protection for the house. In addition to increasing the protection of the house through a heritage designation bylaw — the strongest form of heritage protection — the owners also want to list some features for protection that contribute to the home’s heritage value, including 22 stained glass windows, some wood mullioned windows in the bathroom and attic, and some interior woodwork (including architectural features, trim, doors and flooring in the front hall, front hall stairway, living room and dining room).
On Jan. 9, council gave two readings to the heritage designation bylaw. A public hearing is scheduled for 30.
Councillors connect
New Westminster city councillors have divvied up their duties for liaising with residents’ associations in the city.
Each of the six councillors will serve as a liaison between city council and two of the various residents associations in New West. Here’s the rundown of who is liaising where: Coun. Ruby Campbell — Brow of the Hill and Quayside Community Board; Coun. Daniel Fontaine — Connaught Heights and Massey Victory Heights; Coun. Tasha Henderson — Glenbrooke North and Queen’s Park; Coun. Jaime McEvoy — Sapperton and Downtown; Coun. Paul Minhas — West End and Victoria Hill Ginger Drive; and Coun. Nadine Nakagawa —Moody Park and Queensborough.
McEvoy was originally slated to be a liaison with the Glenbrooke North Residents Association and Henderson was to be with the downtown liaison, but council agreed to switch those roles, at McEvoy’s request.
Mayor Patrick Johnstone noted the change conforms to the city’s practice, which is that councillors don’t serve in the neighbourhood where they live and that they don’t serve the same neighbourhood in consecutive years. Fontaine, a newly elected councillor, sought clarification around that policy.
“The reason we do it this way is to provide councillors with the maximum exposure,” said city clerk Jacque Killawee. “We presume that you're well exposed in your own neighbourhood, you have lots of friends and contacts. So, by assigning councillors to neighbourhoods that they're not residents in, you get greater exposure to city residents. That's the reason for that. And similarly; the reason for not doing it over multiple council sessions is so that no one councillor gets entrenched in that residents' association. So, everybody gets a fair moving around. It's just a way of getting councillors more exposure.”
Fontaine suggested that practice may be something for council to discuss further in the future.
“I think that perhaps the time has come just to review just to make sure it's still in line,” he said. “I appreciate the clerk's explanation; it makes a lot of sense. I can actually see both sides of it. I can see there being a good reason to not have someone and then I can also see a good reason to have someone who has that local experience.”
Noise alerts
If you think it’s noisier than normal in the coming weeks, you may be right.
At its Jan. 9 meeting, council approved requests for two exemptions to the city’s construction noise bylaw.
* Bosa Development sought a noise exemption for construction activities proposed for Saturday, Feb. 25 between 7 and 9 a.m. The work involves the delivery of crane sections for the Pier West development, one of the tallest waterfront residential properties in the Lower Mainland. (The bylaw allows work to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturdays.)
* Oscar Renda Contracting of Canada requested a noise exemption for two weekday nights, between Monday and Thursday, from Jan. 9 to May 19. The noise exemption will allow “sanitary vault entry” to be done as part of sewer rehabilitation on Columbia Street.
Coffee chats
Mayor Patrick Johnstone is hoping to connect with city staff – over coffee.
Johnstone has started hosting “coffee chats” with employees in some city departments.
“I am doing tours of six locations in the city to talk to staff, to basically just to have an opportunity to hear from the staff about what's going on with them,” he said. “It's something that I've decided to do just to in order to connect better at the recommendation of senior staff to connect better with people on the road and see what's going on.”
Coun. Daniel Fontaine raised the issue at the Jan. 9 council meeting, noting staff had informed councillors of the mayor’s plan. He asked if the rest of council could attend those events.
“I don't see why not,” Johnstone said.
Money wanted
New Westminster is seeking provincial assistance to boost its emergency planning efforts.
Council has approved a staff recommendation to approve a funding submission to the province community emergency preparedness fund, for the city’s Emergency Support Services, for up to $20,000. A staff report said these funds would be used to purchase computer equipment and supplies, which would assist the city’s emergency management team in providing coordinated resources and support and care to people who are forced to evacuate.
