Wednesday - Aug. 28, 2024 - Mission contemplates its downtown parking future

🌦 High 17C

Good morning!

I’m still trying to figure out how to cover the upcoming provincial election campaign. Normally, a local publication would bash out questionnaires to each local candidate. We may do so, but I increasingly question the usefulness of those exercises, since it can tend to mainly be platitudes and regurgitations of a party’s platform. I would like to know more about the candidates themselves, but that is also of questionable use, since most will generally spend most their time doing as their party leader dictates.

I have sought interviews with individuals with unique perspectives on local issues, but it’s been hard to get them to actually pick up the phone; I suspect they suspect (perhaps accurately) that an interview may come with more risks than benefits. In the meantime, we’ll be brainstorming other useful ways to cover the campaign. If you have an idea, drop us a line.

We do plan to showcase our frequent collaborator Aaron Pete’s interviews with each party leader. The first of those conversations comes tomorrow.

– Tyler

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Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

🚘 Driving today? Check the current traffic situation via Google, and find DriveBC’s latest updates.

NEWS

FVC Perspectives: Fireworks! Air show! Loud noises!

Cities and societies are always balancing the benefits of infrastructure, commerce, and community gatherings with the potential difficulties they may create.

Restaurants bring unwanted noise, roads pose dangers for children and animals, and parades disrupt traffic. Communities and governments are in a constant struggle to find a balance between public and private enjoyment, convenience, and safety.

Fireworks are a long-time feature of community celebrations in Canada. They have endured despite occasional concerns about their effect on pets and those with post-traumatic stress. Recent years have brought increased threat of wildfires and led to the cancellation of fireworks or, occasionally, their replacement by drone shows.

Communities are now considering their future, with some sticking with the popular thrill of seeing (and hearing) airborne explosives light up the sky while others turn to quieter technology.

For our August Perspectives piece, we asked readers whether events like fireworks and airshows are worth the stress caused to some.

Readers were roughly split, with slightly more people in favour of loud events. Fifty-five per cent of respondents endorsed noisy events, while 45% were opposed.

• Of course, the issue is not exactly black-and-white. So we asked readers to explain further how communities might balance the trade-offs between community events and their effects on some individuals.

Related

Need to Know

👉 The 20th Lytton River Festival takes place this weekend with pancakes, artisans, and entertainment and ‘chicken poop bingo’ [Lytton River Festival/Facebook] / We published a visitor’s guide to being a tourist in Lytton earlier this summer as a different festival approached [FVC]

🚔 The Abbotsford Police are hosting a free outdoor movie at Mill Lake Park this Friday [APD/X]

📱 All school districts now have “bell to bell” cellphone bans, the premier says [CTV]

🎥 Video shows how an apparent highway road rage incident led to an SUV rollover near Chilliwack [Erikdv/X]

🐶 A dog brought into the Chilliwack SPCA was so matted, a staffer couldn’t tell its front from its back [Chilliwack Progress]

🍺 The Cultus Lake Pub is up for sale for $5.5 million; for a little less, you can buy a building occupied by a Boston Pizza franchise [Realtor.ca]

👉 A new report paints a ‘gut-wrenching’ view of the impact of toxic drugs and COVID on Indigenous communities—but there’s some hope [The Tyee]

🚓 Chilliwack Mounties are asking the public to identify two men suspected of beating a victim two weeks ago [Chilliwack RCMP]

💧 Boston Bar’s water system has a leak, and the FVRD is trying to find the source [Hope Standard]

🗳 Tyler will be on CBC Radio at 7:50am to talk about his reporting on health board salaries; you can listen live here [CBC]

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The Agenda

Mission has enough parking of the wrong kind

Mission’s downtown has enough parking, staff say—but it’s “not the right type of parking located in the right areas” to serve the area’s businesses, shoppers, and residents.

Mission city staff have recommended the city tweak parking rules, increase enforcement, and create a permit parking program for certain buildings and businesses. The recommendations follow a study by consultants hired by the city.

That study and an attached strategy list a variety of things the city can do to better maximize the use of available parking in the city’s downtown. The strategy suggests the city rewrite current parking time limits across the downtown. Parking in more areas would be limited to two hours, although permits would allow residents or employees of local businesses to park longer in many places.

The strategy says the city also needs to actually enforce its parking rules more. Currently, staff patrol for parking violations only twice per week. The study says daily monitoring is needed to ensure the parking limits are actually followed.

The changes may not happen immediately. The study suggests the most urgent actions be completed within five years. Although council broadly endorsed the study and strategy, the municipality’s politicians offered a variety of suggestions of how the ideas can be refined and customized for the downtown.

Coun. Carol Hamilton, though, impressed the need to actually get something done.

“I’m frustrated that it’s just taking far too long for us to come to some kind of decision on what we’re going to do,” Hamilton said.

Mayor Paul Horn said he agreed with the sentiment, saying that the city now has a “realistic” slate of actions it can work to complete over the next year.

Premier reacts to health authority board pay story

Premier David Eby says he was “unpleasantly surprised” by the pay increases handed to health authority board members that were revealed by the Fraser Valley Current this week.

Asked at a press event yesterday, Eby said he will “go back with the finance minister and make sure they make sense.” He said he has seen some comparisons that suggest the pay is in line with other provinces but added that “still it’s a big increase when people are grappling with affordability with our province.”

You can watch Eby’s response here. The pay increases came from a Treasury Board directive signed last summer by Health Minister Katrina Conroy. The directive was sent to every minister in the province, when it was approved.

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🗓 Things to do

Resource fair: Reducing Overdose Abbotsford Response (ROAR) hosts its annual resource fair today in Jubilee Park from 11am to 2pm. The gathering takes place on International Overdose Awareness Day and includes Indigenous performances, community art, and support services for people affected by substance use. Details online.

Free Langley concert: KatMoon performs a free concert at Langley's Douglas Park on Thursday, Aug. 29 starting at 5pm. The concert will feature music from the past 50 years. Details online.

Beach bands: Harrison hosts its 15th annual Bands on the Beach concert series on Saturday, Aug. 31 and Sunday, Sept. 1. Musicians will perform on Harrison's beach stage throughout the afternoon and evening both days. Details online.

Have an event to tell us about? Fill out this form to have it highlighted here.

Classifieds

• Cargo Climbing or Storage Holder NET [LINK]

• SCCA GT Pontiac Roadracing Team For Sale [LINK]

Members can use this link to submit their annual classified in the weekly FVC Insiders Edition. Every member will get one bonus classified until the end of September. Become an FVC member here.

Catch up

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