Wednesday - July 16, 2025 - Harrison considers works yard relocation

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Good morning,

Over the last four years, the Fraser Valley Current has published something like 1,200 newsletters and nearly as many stories. We’ve won some awards, and published some corrections. But mostly, it feels like we’ve built relationships.

Four years ago, I couldn’t have predicted that I would come to know the names of hundreds of readers and that so many would respond to our little daily introductions with their own stories and comments—and do so in such a pleasant and encouraging manner.

Which is why it’s harder to move on than I would have ever expected it to be.

This month, I’m leaving Overstory Media and the Fraser Valley Current to take a position at a provincial news organization. As we've written in our membership campaigns, working at the local journalism level can be challenging; this decision was also impacted by personal circumstances—I’ll be living full-time in the Fraser Canyon after splitting time between there and Chilliwack in recent years.

A publication has to be larger than individuals. When we started, I hoped that, one day, I would be able to hand FVC off to someone else. Now here we are. My last day helming FVC will be Friday, and a new editor, Lubna El Elaimy, will be taking over next week. She has spent the last couple of years doing critical Local Journalism Initiative reporting in Burnaby and understands the importance of covering what's happening at the municipal level in communities that don't have the same level of news coverage as they once did. I wish her all the best of luck and I know all of you will give her a warm welcome.

I know when I’m old and aging, I’ll look back on these last four years immensely proud of the work we did—and thankful for the people who joined me. That includes Grace Kennedy, Grace Giesbrecht, Joti Grewal Josh Kozelj, and a huge cast of Overstory colleagues. But mostly, it includes readers, who made the publication more than I could have expected. Thank you again. Leaving is bittersweet, but I’m excited to join your ranks.

– Tyler

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News

Top city earners

Abbotsford chief administrative officer Peter Sparanese was the top earner among all city staff in the Fraser Valley. 📷 Tyler Olsen/City of Abbotsford

Abbotsford’s top bureaucrat tops the list for the highest-paid city official in the Fraser Valley.

Abbotsford Chief Administrative Officer Peter Sparanese made about $350,000 in 2024—$20,000 more than any other city staffer in the region. The region’s second highest-paid staffer was Francis Cheung, the longtime chief administrative officer of Langley City. Chris Crosman, the City of Chilliwack’s former chief administrative officer received the third most compensation. Crosman midway through last year, and a city spokesperson said retiring employees can “transfer earned banked overtime and a portion of unused vacation time into a retirement bank, rather than having it paid in the year it was earned.”

David Blain, who took over for Crosman at the start of the year, made $299,000.

Langley Township’s top earner was Jason Winslade, its long-time general manager of municipal administration. Winslade made more than the Township’s CAO, his putative boss.

The figures come from financial statements issued by local governments in May and June.

Related

Need to Know

🚓 A woman was attacked and burned by an ‘unknown substance’ Saturday along Fraser Highway in what police believe to be a targeted attack [Castanet]

🔥 Two neighbouring homes caught fire near Mission early Tuesday morning [Mission Record]

🚚 Abbotsford police say a truck driver who was believed to be impaired asked to them to ‘forget about this’ after being pulled over [CTV]

🚂 A Chilliwack woman was struck and killed by a train on Sunday [Chilliwack Progress] / The incident happened just west of the Squiala First Nation reserve; we recently reported on the legacy of train deaths in that community [FVC]

🚑 An inmate at an Abbotsford prison was hospitalized after an assault [Fraser Valley Today]

🚔 A man in Langley allegedly shot a gun at a police drone [CTV]

👉 A prison guard was stabbed in the face at Kent Institution near Agassiz [Chilliwack Progress]

🚲 The City of Abbotsford is surveying the public about their use of local trails [Abbotsford News]

🚨 A Lytton man was killed in a crash near Boston Bar [Hope Standard]

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The Agenda

Harrison Hot Springs is investigating relocating their works yard to make room for seniors housing. 📷 Tyler Olsen/Google

Harrison explores works yard relocation

Harrison Hot Springs is revisiting a long-standing plan to relocate its public works yard to a former landifll site at the south end of the village.

The current works yard is just east of the village’s tiny municipal hall and has been identified as a prime site for a future seniors housing building. In 2008, the village obtained a permit to investigate moving the yard to land at the southwest corner of the East Sector Lands.

The village abandoned those plans but is now reconsidering them as a result of the potential seniors housing project. The former landfill site is located at the northeast corner of McCombs Drive and McPherson Street. It served as a landfill from the 1950s to 1983. The land is now located in the Agricultural Land Reserve and covered in trees. This week, council approved an application to seek an initial “investigative use license” that will allow it to conduct feasibility studies and other research into the use of the chunk of Crown land.

Council discussed the need to move forward on the seniors’ building with speed—and it could take a significant amount of time to get provincial permission to move the works yard to Crown land.

Mark Schweinbenz also suggested any project should attempt to limit the scope of disturbance of the property, which is a portion of the East Sector Lands. Staff said that while a permit would allow for the village to explore the use of four hectares of land, any works yard would require much less room than that.

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🗓 Things to do

Open archives: The Langley Memorial Hospital archive museum hosts an open house every second Thursday through the summer from 1 to 3pm at Michaud House, 5202 204 St., in Langley City.

Fair time: The Aldergrove Fair runs Thursday to Sunday at Kinsmen Park Field in Aldergrove. Gates open at 6pm Thursday with evening entertainment. Friday brings more exhibitors and events. Opening ceremonies take place Saturday at 1pm. You can find the entire schedule here.

Bird walk: Wild Birds Unlimited hosts a morning guided walk through Fishtrap Creek Park in Abbotsford Saturday at 10am. Register online.

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Tyler Olsen

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