Monday November 4, 2024 | LANGFORD, BC
by Mary P Brooke | Island Social Trends
City of Langford council at their regular council meeting of November 4, 2024 covered a range of topics and motions.
All of Council was in attendance in council chambers: Mayor Scott Goodmanson, and Councillors Kimberley Guiry, Coldy Harder, Mark Morley, Lillian Szpak, Mary Wagner and Keith Yacucha.
Among the items discussed tonight:
- The direction that council might wish to take regarding ownership vs lease of the YW/YMCA facility (presently owned by Westhills Land Corp) after hearing a presentation by Colliers which compared options of continued leasing vs purchase.
- The city’s new community garden policy — the policy was approved for any/all future community gardens in Langford. Discussion included how bylaw would enforce any vagrant use of a developed garden area and that (at the Porcher Park location) a playground is included immediately adjacent to the garden area.
- A motion to provide a per diem for councillors and staff who must pay the cost of dependent-care in order to travel to attend city business. Itt was noted that the overall per diem fee level at $80 is lower than the original rate of $60 as established many years ago (when factoring in inflation). More details will be fleshed out by staff.
- Awarding a construction contract for Centre Mountain Residential Work Package 2B and 6 Interim Civil Works (the winning bid out of nine bids went to Colecon Contracting Ltd).
New Business:
There was also a last-minute item under New Business, that being a letter from the West Shore RCMP advising council that the police will pull out of a youth mental health support program.
It was pointed out by Mayor Goodmanson that program is still covered in the City budget through 2026 but after that would apparently be withdrawn by the RCMP.
A few councillors — including Lillian Szpak who for many years chaired the city’s former Protective Services Committee — expressed concern over this sudden announcement by West Shore RCMP given how much this council supports the well-being of youth in the west shore region.
More details to come on this in the days ahaed.
Public access to meetings:
Several members of the public addressed council during Public Participation (both in the room and via Zoom).
Attending in person to address council included Mike Wignall, Lisa Foxall, Nirmal Johal, Wendy Hobbs, and Steven Rossander. Fraser Johnson provided comments via Zoom.
The meeting was livestreamed and available on Zoom and by dialing-in.
The video will be posted online on the City of Langford website tomorrow.
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NEWS SECTIONS: LANGFORD | VANCOUVER ISLAND | BUSINESS & ECONOMY