Monday - Dec. 16, 2024 - Hope boosts bench budget

🌧 High 5C

Good morning!

How do we choose what to cover? That’s the question a faithful reader asked me last week. So I answered it in our weekend member’s newsletter. Over the past year, we’ve pumped out 52 member-only newsletters, each of which has an extended write-up by myself or Grace. (Grace’s husband apparently calls these my “rants” though the tone isn’t usually all that ranting.) Anyways, if you want my screeds on how your expectations of house prices might themselves influence home values, the challenges with archiving journalism, the relevance of local news at election time, or why I’m probably going to continue writing “anyways” despite angry emails, you can become a member. (If we get 20 new members by the end of the year, I’ll pledge to not write “anyways” anymore, despite my belief that it simply reflects the constant and inevitable evolution of the English language.)

– Tyler

Keep local journalism alive by supporting The Current. Become a Current Insider member today and help bring local stories to life.

Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope (We have had to temporarily change our forecast links to the Weather Network due to a technical error.)

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

🛣 Click here for links to road cameras across the Fraser Valley, including those for the Coquihalla, Highway 7, Hope-Princeton, Fraser Canyon, and Highway 1 in Langley and Abbotsford.

NEWS

Langley greenhouse operators told to keep farming

Fraser Valley Regional District staff say they have uncovered more complications during efforts to apply new provincial housing legislation to the valley’s rural regions.

In November 2023, the provincial government told local governments they would need to follow new rules aimed at increasing the amount of housing available in the province, including allowing secondary suites and increasing density near transit hubs. The new provincial rules also required local governments, including regional districts, to complete an Interim Housing Needs Report to determine just how much more housing they were likely to need.

• Today, Grace writes about the province’s new method for calculating housing needs—and why it’s frustrating local politicians. 

Related

Need to Know

👉 Former Chilliwack MLA Dan Coulter has died; a public service will be held in January [CTV]

📽 A Langley driver posted a video of a narrow miss with a pedestrian [Global]

🤝 The BC NDP and Greens have announced a deal to co-operate in the legislature [CBC]

📧 Postal workers say they are striking partly because the physical demands of their jobs have significantly increased in recent years [Global]

🚔 A man threatened others with bear spray on Hope’s Rotary Trail Thursday; police are seeking more information [Hope Standard]

👉 Mission’s mayor says people have become overly fearful of change and have lost their ‘sense of adventure’ [Mission Record]

🚗 An SUV plowed into a Chilliwack bakery, causing significant damage [Chilliwack Progress]

🙀 Seven cats survived a fiery RV fire near Hope Friday [Hope Standard]

💰 A bank wants to foreclose on a Langley building tied to a struggling development company [Langley Advance Times]

🏥 An air ambulance was called to assist a man hit by a vehicle in Abbotsford Friday [Abbotsford News]

🚔 A trio of masked men broke into a Mission home and demanded car keys from its occupants [Mission Record]

⚡ Saturday’s windstorm knocked out power for thousands in Langley [Langley Advance Times]

SPONSORED BY CIRQUE DU SOLEIL

Echo, the new spectacular

ECHO follows a curious young woman named Future and her dog Ewai as they explore the symbiotic bond between humans and the animal kingdom. This stunning spectacle captivates audiences with breathtaking acrobatics and vibrant visuals, inviting them to celebrate the beauty of life and connection to nature.

The Agenda

Veterans don’t object to weed store near park, council told

A Chilliwack legion branch hasn’t objected to a proposal to open a new cannabis outlet near a park that honours veterans.

In October, Chilliwack Coun. Bud Mercer asked the city to consult with the local legion before it gives the thumbs-up to a proposed new Young Road pot shop. The outlet would be located next to Sapper Park, a small triangular park with a memorial to those who served in overseas wars. The company applying for the new store had asked the city to waive a rule that prohibits weed outlets within 300 metres of parks. They had argued that the park does not have any benches or other attractants and that its use is unlikely to be affected by the store.

According to a report to council ahead of its Tuesday meeting, the city has since emailed three Legion members to request comment but has not received a reply. The operators of the proposed shop also contacted the legion and told the city that the matter was discussed at a meeting, but that no objections were raised.

Council will discuss the matter at its Tuesday meeting.

Hope aims to inspire more park picnics

Memorial Park in Hope may be a little more cozy next summer.

The District of Hope is looking to add benches to the outskirts of the popular central park to provide more resting spots for visitors.

At a November committee of the whole meeting, council urged staff to explore the feasibility of placing seasonal benches near Park Street, where RV users frequently park, between April and October. There’s only a couple picnic tables available to travellers who frequently stop in the park in the summer.

A request for more picnic tables in the park is expected to be submitted by the accessibility committee.

The potential investment is one for a department that has more money to spend than in past years.

The parks department spent almost $516,000 in 2024, roughly $200,000 less than it budgeted. It spent $677,000 in 2023, mostly made up of expenses to Memorial Park ($88,495) and other parks ($175,835).

The district spent roughly $54,000 on Memorial Park in 2024. It has budgeted more than $112,000 for the park next year.

-Josh Kozelj, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter

Share

You can share this newsletter by forwarding it or copy and pasting this link—https://fvcurrent.com/p/december-16-2024/—into a social media post.

Community journalism needs the entire community for it to succeed.

Become a Current member today and join 1,200+ other local supporters who help keep our lights on.

As part of a membership, you get our special weekend roundup of all the things you might’ve missed each week!

🤝 Now hiring

• Meat cutter at Costco in Langley

• Prison guard in Chilliwack

• Camp director at Zajac Ranch for Children in Mission

• Tactical security guard at Blackbird Security in Abbotsford

• Bookkeeper at Valley Helicopters in Hope

Hiring in the Fraser Valley? Reply back and let us know!

🗓 Things to do

Seniors sing-along: Seniors 55 and older are invited to a Christmas sing-along social on Tuesday at 10am at the Abbotsford Recreation Centre. The sing-along is free and coffee, tea, and holiday treats are provided. Details online.

Senior meet-up: Langley Seniors in Action's monthly hub meeting will be a holiday social on Wednesday. Come to 20605-51B Ave from 10am to noon for connection, coffee, treats, and door prizes.

Holiday train: The CPKC Holiday Train will travel through Agassiz on Thursday, Dec. 19 around 5:45pm. Head to the Ag Hall to watch the decorated train roll in and enjoy a live musical performance. Details online.

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

Catch up

That’s it!

Thanks for reading Fraser Valley Current today ♥️ 

If you found something useful, consider forwarding this newsletter to another local.