Another Burnaby school is one step closer to getting its seismic upgrades. Education Minister Shirley Bond signed a capital project agreement to make Douglas Road Elementary more sound if an earthquake hits.
The ministry will pitch in nearly $2.8 million, with about $450,000 to cover rising construction costs if needed.
"The ministry recognizes the need for these works, and our expectation is, more approvals will follow shortly," said Phil Shepherd, director of facilities services for the Burnaby school district.
A controversial plan to build three townhouses on Chaffey Avenue will have to wait now that city council has tabled the project until its July 21 meeting.
The Boffo Land Corp. project includes three three-storey townhouse buildings and an extension of Sardis Street.
Visit the lake on a sunny summer afternoon, and it`s easy to see why the Deer Lake amphitheatre has become one of Metro Vancouver`s most idyllic locations for festivals and big-name concerts over the last few years.
For Dennis Nokony, the city`s assistant director of cultural services, its appeal is clear.
"When the sun is setting and you see the Canada Geese flapping over the lake, while you`re out there enjoying a concert, it`s beautiful," he said. "It`s a delightful place to be."
The next step towards a revitalized downtown Chilliwack was taken on Tuesday evening as the city held an open house to get resident input into the city`s long-term plans for the downtown area.
Part of the focus of the public meeting was to look at different examples of residential infill housing to increase downtown density such as: coach houses, cottage clusters, row housing and others.
Port Moody being `blackmailed` with hotel offer: councillor
With a proposed hotel at stake, Port Moody council struggled with a request by Onni Development Corp. to add more density to its 22-acre Suter Brook development, before sending it to a public hearing on July 22.
Portions of the Suter Brook site south of Murray Street and west of Ioco Road have been completed or are close to completion, but Onni has put a hold on the construction of a proposed hotel at the southeast end of the development.
Port Moody may host an innovative solution to Metro Vancouver`s carbon gas emissions by next year. The city has signed what Mayor Joe Trasolini calls a "non-binding understanding process" with the Plasco Energy Group for a waste conversion facility to occupy the Barnet Highway landfill.
Plasco is a private waste conversion and energy generation company based in Ottawa, developing plasma-based application technology since the mid-1970s.
Power lines construction may be well underway, but that doesn`t mean the fight is over.
That message was made loud and clear Wednesday evening to an incensed crowd at an emergency community meeting at the South Delta Recreation Centre.
About 400 people turned up to hear how they can keep the fight going against the B.C. Transmission Corporation`s project, which Tsawwassen residents have been trying to stop for more than three years.
Technology experts from the Greater Vancouver Home Builders` Association (GVHBA), in partnership with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, (CMHC), are presenting What`s New in Homebuilding, a workshop for people contemplating having a custom home built for them.
The popular full-day workshop will be held on Saturday, July 26 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the lower level theatre at the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board, 15463 - 104 Avenue, Surrey.
The City of New Westminster will receive a new plan for a downtown development that will include a former `locked-in` lot.
Europe Pacific Develop-ments applied to the city for a development permit with variances to build an 18-storey building with 114 units in the tower and seven townhouse units at the base of the tower.
The development was proposed at 126 to 130 Agnes St., 127 to 131 Dickenson St., a portion of Dickenson Street and all of Sarnia Street and Albert Crescent.
New Westminster city council will consider a proposed development on Ewen Avenue at Monday`s council meeting.
The city has received an application to rezone 1130 Ewen Ave. to allow the construction of eight buildings of ground-oriented housing and two buildings that have commercial at grade and residential units above. The project will have a total of 32 residential units and two commercial units. The site is currently vacant as the house that had been located on the site was recently demolished.
The District of North Vancouver and the Squamish First Nation may be embarking on a new era of co-operation with the establishment of a Memorandum of Understanding and Protocol agreement.
The agreement, similar to a deal signed with the Tsleil- Waututh Nation, creates a formal framework for information sharing and co-operative planning.
NEGATIVE public reaction to a contentious e-mail and the proposed routing of the Spirit Trail between 19th and 24th streets in the District of West Vancouver have brought the project to a grinding halt in that community until at least summer`s end.
"We have abandoned the routing that has caused such concern," said District of West Vancouver Mayor Pam Goldsmith-Jones over the loud applause of an overflow crowd of some 500 residents at the West Vancouver Senior`s Centre Wednesday.
Municipality developing strategy to improve flood protection
The Corporation of Delta is looking to update its flood protection policy.
"As you know, the majority of Delta is surrounded by dikes," deputy engineering director Hugh Fraser told civic politicians at a recent Delta council meeting.
Fraser`s presentation outlined a flood management strategy the municipality will undertake over the coming months.
If you think there`s more road construction slowing you down this summer, it`s not your imagination.
Summer roadwork in the city is up at least 50 per cent from typical years because of last year`s strike, Canada Line construction and the continuing construction developments in the city, says John Clelland, a communications officer for the city`s road projects.
"We`ve got this great economy and it`s booming, and yet that booming is what`s causing us nightmares trying to get places," he said.
A new, innovative concept of construction came to Nelson last March and although the business has just begun, The Building Tree has many Nelsonites in support of its initiatives.
One of the goals of The Building Tree is to facilitate more sustainable construction practices in the Nelson area.
"I`m trying to bridge the gap between wanting to have a green project, and getting it done," said Paula Kiss, owner.
That was the catch phrase emblazoned across the T-shirt of Okanagan College`s Casey King, and it`s also what most succinctly explained what the new Minister of Forests said to a room full of construction students, Tuesday.
It`s been two weeks since Pat Bell took over the Ministry of Forests, and in his Kelowna debut he worked to raise awareness about the wonderous world of wood—highlighting its potential to help the environment and keep the money flowing through the province.
According to Bell, and John Allan, the vice chair of the B.C. forestry climate change working group, forestry isn`t just a struggling industry, it`s also an area of tremendous opportunity.
The environmental assessment (EA) review process for the proposed Prosperity gold and copper mine at Fish Lake will be moving forward, Taseko Mines announced Monday.
The company has been waiting for a decision about what form the EA process would take since February.
"This is good news," says Taseko Mines Vice-president of corporate affairs Brian Battison. "This will be a province-led environmental review. The province is asserting its rights and responsibilities over provincial assets.
