Monday - June 3, 2024 - Vedder parks getting too popular

🌧 High 13C

Good morning!

I am a sucker for a good country fair. (Some of you long-time readers may remember my three-part series on the history of fairs in the Fraser Valley.) I also like canning, and getting my report card back in school. So it is perhaps surprising that I have never entered the Chilliwack Fair before.

That changes this year. I have some jars of pickled carrots in the basement that are awaiting judgment. I may be bold and attempt a pie, or a chocolate cake, or some jam. Who’s to say. My love of the fair is less about the individual entries and more about the community participation. I can’t wait to be part of that experience this year.

(As an aside: I am tempering my expectations and expecting to take home no prizes. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to try for a blue ribbon. If you have entered local fairs in the past and want to share your tips and tricks, send me a line by replying to this email! I’d love to hear them.)

– Grace

Traffic & Weather

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

🚘 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

Did the Fraser River cause the Sumas Prairie floods?

An alleged blunder by the City of Abbotsford during the 2021 Nooksack River floods allowed water from the Fraser to also pour into Sumas Prairie and turned an evolving flood into one of Canada’s costliest natural disasters.

That provocative, and still unproven, allegation is now at the heart of a class action lawsuit filed by Sumas Prairie property owners against the City of Abbotsford. The lawsuit was certified last week by a Supreme Court justice, meaning it can now proceed to trial, where the plaintiffs’ claims will be put to the test.

The trial will determine whether the City of Abbotsford—and its taxpayers—are on the hook for potentially tens of millions of dollars in damages. But it will also shape the flood’s legacy, and reveal whether one of the valley’s largest natural disasters could have been mitigated.

• Today, Tyler writes about the class action lawsuit filed by local property owners against the City of Abbotsford, and why the case will turn on the question of whether the Fraser River is to blame for much of the flooding.

Related

Need to Know

👉 A broke Langley businessman has been banned from running public companies after raising money from investors then spending most of it on consultants [Langley Advance Times]

🚒 Abbotsford firefighters have ratified a new collective agreement with the city, and will be getting a 3.5% pay raise next year [City of Abbotsford]

🌲 The husband of Langley’s Naomi Onotera has pleaded guilty to manslaughter [Langley Advance Times]

🌩 Lightning-caused wildfires burn the most area in Canada; they could become more common with climate change [CBC]

🚒 A fire in a Chilliwack apartment building was caused by an electric scooter that was being charged [Chilliwack Progress]

🔎 Hope Mounties are looking for info about a man found dead along Highway 3 last September [Hope Standard]

🔥 A small wildfire near Harrison Lake was quickly brought under control [Agassiz-Harrison Observer]

👉 Serial killer Robert Pickton has died after he was assaulted in prison [Vancouver Sun]

🚓 Mission RCMP say a man threw a shelf at a police officer in a pharmacy on May 25 [Mission Record]

🏢 Luxury awaits at 900 Carnarvon Street. Experience urban sophistication with premium amenities and a prime location.*

*Sponsored Listing

SPONSORED BY THEATRE BC

Six nights of live performances

Mainstage is coming to Chilliwack! Six different plays to see from July 1-6 - a week of entertaining performances as part of the Provincial theatre festival. Each night of Mainstage features a performance chosen as tops in its region - the best of community theatre in BC. Choose the individual shows you want to see, or a full week package; get Mainstage tickets today via the Chilliwack Cultural Centre box office.

Mainstage 2024 also offers a variety of acting and directing workshops, led by professionals associated with the Arts Club of Vancouver.

Mainstage is one of the longest running theatre traditions in Canada. This year’s festival is hosted by the Chilliwack Players Guild at the Chilliwack Cultural Centre.

The Agenda

Vedder parks getting too popular among event organizers

Parks and trails along the Vedder River in Chilliwack are extremely popular among residents and event organizers and that’s starting to cause a problem, according to city staff.

Currently, an average of 30,000 people use the Vedder Rotary Trail every month, staff said in a report to council. In the last five years, the number of people wanting to organize events on the trail, as well as in Vedder Park and Peach Park, has grown too. Between March and September of 2022, there were 18 large-scale events held in those areas, with 2,500 attendees. The following year, the number of attendees grew to more than 5,000 people. Staff said there have also been an increased number of requests from event organizers clearly based outside of Chilliwack.

The result is what Chilliwack staff have called an “imbalance” between passive users (people walking on the trail or visiting the playground) and active users (people coming to the Vedder for an event). New rules are now in place to limit that imbalance for 2024. These include: prioritizing local, nonprofit events; only allowing one large event per weekend; planning bookings outside of high use times, like long weekends or spring break; and moving biking and equestrian events to the south side of the river.

With the new rules in place, staff will be watching to see how it affects both events and trail use during the summer. Any amendments to the guidelines will be brought back to council in spring 2025.

Mission business hopes to add cannabis to health drinks

A Mission business that makes vitamin and health beverages is looking for permission to add cannabis to their drinks. Mission Naturals already operates a business manufacturing flavoured drinks that include vitamins, minerals, and natural health products. Now they hope to add cannabis to some of their beverages. To do so, though, the company needs permission from the City of Mission to allow food processing that incorporates cannabis.

The company says that it will have no more than one litre of cannabis distillate on the site at any one time. But that one litre will be enough to make 85,000 cans of its THC-infused beverage.

Mission council will get a chance to review the proposal at its meeting today.

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SPONSORED BY SCOTFESTBC

ScotFestBC - June 14 and 15

Cape Breton fiddling great Ashley MacIsaac is headlining a day of Celtic music in the Big Tent at this year’s ScotFestBC festival, the annual celebration of Scottish culture and highland games held at Coquitlam’s Town Centre Park June 14 and 15. Come check out pipes, dance, heavy events, and great food. Get your tickets today!

🤝 Now hiring

• Tobacco Processing Supervisor at Harriwood Farm in Agassiz

• Fire Sprinkler Fitter Journeyman at Fraser Valley Fire Protection in Abbotsford

• Anesthesiologist at Abbotsford Regional Hospital and Cancer Centre

• Hair Stylist at Great Clips in Mission

• House Cleaner at Pink Ladies Cleaning in Langley

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

🗓 Things to do

Puppet play: The Reach Gallery Museum is hosting a performance of Luminous Waters today at 7pm. The puppeteered performance is based on the award-winning children's book Semá:th X̱ó:tsa: Sts’ólemeqwelh Sx̱ó:tsa about Sumas Lake. Tickets online.

Seniors week: Langley is hosting a number of free events for BC Seniors Week until Sunday, including tea parties, yoga, fitness classes, and more. Register online.

Dance party: The Murrayville Library is hosting its Toddler Dance Party on Tuesday at 2pm. The party is recommended for kids ages two to five and their caregivers. Details online.

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

Catch up

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