Council pledges to take steps to help with New West library funding

“More Claude books, please!” was the rallying cry from Ellis, Elaine Su’s son, as the youngster sat in his mom’s lap and addressed council. Ellis was part of a group giving a presentation about the importance of funding the library. (If you don't know, Claude is a very fashionable dog who goes on a number of exciting adventures.)

During a meeting in mid-May, the library board voted to request city council reach out to local MLAs Aman Singh (Richmond-Queensborough) and Jennifer Whiteside (New Westminster) to ask for more funding for the city’s libraries. Additionally, the board wants to see the motion brought up to the Union of BC Municipalities, so that it can be discussed during September’s meeting.

Vanessa Woznow, another New West local, chimed in to say that, much like Ellis, Woznow’s daughter Eleanor had made an amazing friend through the library: Mina. Mina is actually a mouse in a library book that Eleanor loves to read.

“A library is a place to explore for the first time…for the thousandth time,” Woznow explained, “it’s probably one of the last places where you can borrow a DVD,” she finished with a laugh.

The motion was supported by council, with many of them thanking the group for their presentation, and sharing their own experiences of community connection through the library.

Age-Friendly Grants

Staff were hoping to apply for funding that became available last May through the BC Healthy Communities initiative. Some of the funding could be used for projects like Connect and Prepare, which, according to staff, would allow those who are living alone and socially isolated to connect to the people in their building. One option for the project would involve residents at Ross Towers, in the Glenbrook North neighbourhood. City staff believe this space “meets several domains of an age-friendly community.” Council supported the motion to apply for the funding.

Thank you, Stephen, and welcome, Laura!

We’re getting closer to the so-called passing of the baton at the Arts Council of New Westminster. Executive director Stephen O’Shea will be turning things over to Laura Grady as of July. Council members took the opportunity to welcome Grady into the role, while taking a stroll down memory lane with O’Shea, and thanking him for his advocacy and work.

Legislation to protect biodiversity

Whitney Vicente of West Coast Environmental Law gave a brief presentation on the importance of rallying for better legislation around protecting biodiversity. Vicente says that much of the legislation doesn’t work in concert to really do anything.

It turned out Councillor Nadine Nakagawa had put forth a motion asking for the same thing; the motion was presented near the end of the meeting. This motion was supported by council.

Waiving public hearings

Resident Chris Bell mentioned he had concerns about some of the changes to the Local Government Act that stemmed from simplifying and speeding up the development approvals process. To review, the previous changes included:

• Removing the default requirement for local government to hold public hearings for zoning bylaw amendments that are consistent with the official community plan, and,

• Enabling local governments to delegate decisions on minor development variance permits to staff.

Bell said he was worried that the public would lose its ability to properly weigh in on the various projects in the city.

Councillor Chuck Puchmayr said he looked forward to council drafting some kind of protocol on the change, while Councillor Jaimie McEvoy noted that typically public hearings happen too late into the process; that they’re usually one of the last stages of the development. While he agreed with Bell’s concerns, he feels there is a better way for the public to participate.

Councillor Patrick Johnstone felt council had to take the onus and ensure that the relatively new tool from the province was being used responsibly by council. Councillor Nakagawa took the opportunity to note that she would like to see staff get their council packages to them sooner.

The next council meeting is scheduled for Monday, June 27.