Editor’s note: you can take a look at the full recap of council via Twitter here. 

Council strategic priorities plan

The meeting opened with a presentation by New West’s chief administrative officer Lisa Spitale. The latest version of the city’s work plan spans 2023 to 2026; her goal was to highlight the five strategic priorities in the years to come. This includes:

• Community belonging and connection

• Homes and housing options

• A people-centred economy

• The safe movement of people

• Asset management and infrastructure

Spitale noted that there would be ways by which to measure success through metrics: this included regular reporting to mayor and council—and thereby the public. As of deadline, the website had not been updated with the plan. (New West Anchor will let you know through social media and, of course, through our newsletter, when it’s ready to read online.)

Coun. Nadine Nakagawa said she was excited to see people at the heart of many of these themes. “Obviously housing, it’s still one of the biggest issues in our community, and I do love the frame of focusing on those who need housing the most…the one really near and deal to my heart…is community connection,” she elaborated, adding that it was imperative for everyone in New West to feel like they are at home.

Coun. Ruby Campbell was elated about topics related to the arts and business activation, while Coun. Jaimie McEvoy said that while there are certainly difficulties around finding a rental, it was incredibly challenging even 20 years ago to find a place to rent in New West. “I think that even the most privileged of us, we have relatives, or we know people who are affected by the housing crisis, so we have to be active on that,” he explained.

Coun. Daniel Fontaine requested an amendment to the strategic plan, adding he wanted to see a focus on the Connaught Heights area, in particular on housing near 22nd St. Station.

The Connaught Heights area has long been part of a discussion related to densification. On April 25, Fontaine hosted a town hall that included Michael Mortenson, an urban planner, and Bryn Davidson, the founder of Lanefab. Lanefab designs and builds custom houses, as well as laneway houses.

The City of New Westminster previously noted it would have to delay work related to 22nd St. because of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can take a look at the latest information related to the area here.

Delegation highlights

Day of mourning for workers killed and injured on the job. A representative for the New Westminster and District Labour Council gave a presentation that touched on the April 28 date.

Shawn Bayes Day. This day will be celebrated on May 12. Bayes still works as CEO for the Elizabeth Fry Society, though she will be retiring on…you guessed it, May 12. (Stay tuned for our forthcoming piece on this longtime New Westminster resident!)

The Elizabeth Fry Society supports vulnerable populations, including women, girls, and children.

Hyack Festival: this will be happening on May 27, 2023. Find all the details here.

National Public Works week. Mayor Johnstone and council were invited to attend an open house at the New West works yard later this month. National Public Works Week is from May 21 to 27.

Falun Dafa Day. Representatives from Falun Dafa will also be marching in the Hyack Festival Parade; they also have their own day taking place on May 13.

Child and youth in care week. This is taking place from May 29 to June 4.

Salmonbellies season is en route. The season home opener is happening on May 25. President Paul Horn (who also happens to be the Mayor of Mission) did a sort of quiz, offering a “Bellies’ Beer“ to anyone who got a certain amount of questions correct. Mayor Johnstone and Coun. McEvoy passed.

Aging. Nancy Whiteside spoke about the too-soon death of her mother, who had Alzheimer’s. Whiteside’s comments come after Coun. Fontaine pulled his age-friendly motion a few weeks ago; Fontaine had pulled the motion, though notice of it was given in the March 13 agenda. Coun. Campbell noted she’d be bringing a motion related to aging in New Westminster at a future date.

Trans Mountain pipeline. Dr. Tim Takaro, along with three others, gave a presentation regarding some concerns about the pipeline and its proximity to the Fraser River.

Coun. Nakagawa put forward a motion to file a statement of opposition to the Trans Mountain pipeline (TMX). Coun. Fontaine, saying that he had been criticized for putting forward motions at the last minute, said he had a lot of questions related to the issue, while Couns. Campbell and Tasha Henderson said they knew where they were with their opinions on said pipeline. Coun. McEvoy thought it could be worthwhile to have a workshop delving into the issue, seeing as the last time they had some kind of update regarding TMX went back to the previous fire chief.

Ultimately Coun. Nakagawa noted she didn’t want this to be defeated on the principle of process and not the topic of TMX. Nakagawa offered to withdraw this and bring it back to a future meeting as a notice of motion.

Other highlights

Be Heard New West. The Anchor has a bit of a deep dive coming out on Be Heard New West (Be Heard) later this week, but there was some discussion from Coun. Fontaine about whether Be Heard was the future of public feedback, or if there was interest in another tool. Staff noted that while they were sharing information about the Be Heard community’s demographics, this was only one way of engaging with people in New West.

716 Columbia St. This building was initially constructed with the intent of being a hotel, but the units are online for rent. There has also been discussion of possibly putting these units up for sale. Coun. McEvoy took issue with these units due to their size—he did not like how small they were.

This was carried, and the strata conversion will move ahead.

Rezoning application for conversion to supportive housing. The space at 422 Sixth St. previously housed a tech company and would provide a place to stay for about 30 people. Staff said residential use is already permitted on the second and third floors of this building, and that this conversion would be in line with other conversions in the region.

Coun. Fontaine said he was worried that if the trend continued, there would be a precedent to keep converting office space. The next stage of this went ahead.

Motions from members of council

Bye bye, bridge. As we previously reported, Coun. Fontaine is looking for a letter of support from the City of New Westminster to the Ministry of Transportation and other related bodies, to have a party on the current Pattullo crossing.

Coun. Campbell noted that this didn’t feel like a new ask, but Coun. McEvoy noted that there were people who were negatively impacted by the bridge. McEvoy proposed an amendment to hold a memorial day be held for all the lives harmed or lost on the Pattullo.

“I think it’s very much in the spirit with the motion, and a wonderful way, perhaps there is a day where it is quiet, and people can reflect,” said Coun. Fontaine.

After a spate of amendments, this went ahead, with the group making clear that it would have to be TransLink and/or the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure hosting any kind of event, albeit with the city’s input. It’s also important to note that no date has been set for any of these related events.

The effectiveness of the tree protection bylaw. Put forward by Coun. Paul Minhas, the idea behind this was to have staff report back to council about the operational impacts tied to these practices. This is similar to a motion that was discussed in March.

Coun. Henderson wanted to know what the actual issue was, while Mayor Johnstone said that there were other things for staff to spend their time on. “Tree canopy protection is not necessarily an effective measure of a tree bylaw,” he commented. “It does not stand alone, and it’s not a way to measure it standing alone…now has the strategy been evaluated? Yes,” he added, saying there was “significant review” to make sure that the trees are being protected.

As an example, here is some information regarding the City of New Westminster’s tree canopy work.

“The city plans to plant 10,000 trees in 10 years and has adopted the new tree bylaw to regulate removal of trees on private and city-owned land towards meeting the plan’s strategic objectives,” reads a report from Diamond Head Consulting, which worked with New Westminster on the strategy.

This motion did not go ahead and was defeated 5-2, with only Fontaine and Minhas supporting it.

A sudden move to a closed meeting

This part of the meeting opened with a discussion of an on-table report to explore the advisory assembly model.

The advisory assembly model is part of the strategic planning process; the aim of this is looking at potentially changing how city committees are put together. Some of the ways in which selection could happen, for example, might include a so-called “blind selection process.”

Coun. Fontaine wanted to know what would happen to the existing committees if things were to change. The city clerk responded by saying that the result would still need to be determined.

At approximately 10:15pm—while the meeting was still going, and while Coun. Fontaine was speaking—Mayor Johnstone announced the group would be moving into a closed session. Johnstone immediately got up and left, with councillors, then staff members following.

Mayor and council returned to the chambers at approximately 10:35pm, with Fontaine resuming his questioning.

Because mayor and council moved into a closed session, that information is privileged, and we aren’t able to tell you what happened.

Fontaine went onto say that while the feedback of 80 people would be appreciated, New Westminster is a city of more than 85,000.

The motion ended up going ahead as-is, even with Coun. Fontaine trying to amend it to have the public be involved.

And that was it for the meeting. The next council meeting is scheduled for Monday, May 29.