Monday, July 10, 2023 - Building soccer from scratch

Monday, July 10, 2023 | 🌤 High 24C

Good morning!

Years ago, after my parents sold our family home, everyone discarded their unwanted items in the garage as we started to pack up. I naturally went shopping in the pile of stuff. I came across our old VCR and decided I would hold on to it. I’ve thought many times about playing an old family video but now I worry about the film getting caught inside. Holding on to the VCR has been easy, but using it? Not so much. I should probably look into getting those precious VHS tapes converted.

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WORTH KNOWING

🌤 Local forecast: Langley | Chilliwack | Abbotsford | Hope

⚠️ Here’s the current smoke forecast / Check the BC Wildfire Dashboard here

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

NEWS

An international coach takes on a new challenge in Langley

Afshin Ghotbi has coached soccer in seven different countries from developing youth to coaching in FIFA World Cups. But his recent move to Canada has him facing a new challenge.

Just eight short months ago, Ghotbi was announced as the first head coach of the Langley-based Vancouver Football Club. Forty years into his coaching career, he was moving to Canada—and developing a club from scratch. The 59-year-old would also be uprooting his life in Southern California and leaving behind his family—again.

• Today, Joti writes about that journey (so far) and about the man who is responsible for the success of the team.

Need to know

🔥 Fifty-five crew members are responding to an out-of-control fire north of Mission [BC Wildfire]

⚽️ Abbotsford and Chilliwack soccer superstars were selected to Canada’s Women’s World Cup team [CBC]

😔 Vandals targeted a Chilliwack school playground [Chilliwack Progress]

🚔 Mission RCMP arrested a driver who attempted to flee from Mounties [Mission RCMP/Facebook]

🚫 The man who murdered a couple on a Langley street 20 years ago was denied parole [Langley Advance Times]

🎤 A BC band performed in nine Lower Mainland cities in 12 hours in an attempt to break a world record [CBC]

👮🏻‍♂️ Langley RCMP seized $1 million of meth at a traffic stop [Langley Advance Times]

🫐 An Abbotsford farm is seeking nearly $2.5 million from an insurance company after losing more than two-million pounds of blueberries in 2019 [Abbotsford News]

🚒 Some residents of the Mission Inn Motel remain displaced after a fire broke out at the hotel last month [Mission Record]

💙 Get together with family and friends to experience an unforgettable weekend of live blues music at the Fort Langley Jazz & Arts Festival. Grab your tickets today!*

🌲 Abbotsford Tech District on Sumas Mountain will bring affordable housing for young people and families. It will build up not out, preserving nature and trails.*

*Sponsored Listing

The Agenda

The future of flag-raising, road improvements, and construction permits: Langley Township council preview

Langley Township council will consider approving nearly $1.4 million dollars for improvements to a high-traffic Yorkson street at Monday’s council meeting.

In May 2022, a strata group in Langley’s Yorkson neighbourhood asked the Township to expropriate a private road adjacent to Yorkson Creek Middle used by hundreds of kids and families. The group, made up of owners from four condominiums and a townhouse complex, were concerned about being liable for the safety of those who use 207A Street between 82 and 84 avenues.

In February, council unanimously approved to convert the street from a private to a public road. On Monday, council will vote on using money from the capital projects reserve fund to proceed with improvements.

Council will also consider a heritage alteration permit application submitted by Martini Construction Ltd. for a property near Murrayville’s five corners. The proposal is for construction of a gymnasium, vestibule, storage, and exterior renovations to a home that is currently being converted into an additional school space at Murrayville Academy.

Councillors will also vote on updating the Township’s flag-raising policy and options for raising guest flags and proclamations.

View Monday’s agenda online.

Pump station would cost $870 million

Building a new pump station to drain Sumas Prairie when the Fraser River is high could cost nearly $900 million.

That figure is included in a staff report to council Monday as Abbotsford prepares to ask the federal government to cover the cost of that facility and other improvements to flood-proof the prairie.

The 2021 flood was aggravated by the fact that water could not drain from Sumas Prairie—as it would normally do—because the Fraser River was higher than the level of the incoming water from the Nooksack River. That allowed the western portion of the prairie to fill, a situation that eventually led to the breaching of the Sumas Dike and the flooding of the eastern half of the prairie. You can read our story on that here.

Abbotsford now wants to build a new pump station that would be able to empty the western prairie, without relying on floodgates that must be closed when the Fraser is high. But the cost of a new facility would be extremely expensive. Staff estimate that the cost would be approximately $870 million. They also say $66 million is needed to improve the resiliency of the existing Barrowtown Pump Station, which nearly flooded in 2021 as water rose in the prairie. Another $120 million is needed to enhance flood storage and local habitats they say.

Things to do

🎶 Live music: Guitarist Albert Lee will be performing at The Hope Cinema on July 12. Tickets online or at the door.

🦇 Hang with bats: Bring a chair to the Kilby Historic Site on Friday and watch mothers and their pups emerge at dusk to feed on mosquitoes. Families are welcome. No pets. Registration is $5.

👟 Walking tour: The Mission Museum is offering Historic Walking Tours of the city’s downtown on July 22 and 29. Tickets are $10.

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