After Gerry Nuttall receives his Freedom of the City award at a special ceremony at Port Moody city hall on Saturday, he’ll be able to park anywhere in the city for free.
But Port Moody isn’t yet a big enough city to charge for parking anywhere and everywhere.
Maintaining that small town spirit and sense of community has been the driving force behind Nuttall’s four decades of community service and volunteerism, even as the city grows from 7,000 residents when he and his wife Barb first moved into a home they’d built on April Road.
It all started with a stop sign.
Or rather the lack of one at the corner of April Road and Bedingfield Street where drivers speeding down the hill often overshot the sharp curve and careened into a retaining wall or a neighbour’s yard. Not good for students who might be walking to nearby Pleasantside elementary school on Barber Street.
So Nuttall made a one-person delegation to a meeting of city council to pitch his solution to slow drivers down. Several civic officials were opposed to a new stop sign, afraid it would slow response times to emergencies.
But when council voted in favour of the idea, and the mayor at the time got one installed the very next morning, “it was the first time I realized you can make a difference at city hall,” Nuttall said.
That led to his involvement to prevent development of the land that would eventually become Bert Flinn Park and eventually three terms as a city councillor, as well as countless volunteer hours guiding community amenities like Golden Spike Days and the Port Moody Seniors Friendship Society.
Along the way, Nuttall has seen the city grow up. Literally.
“There were no highrises when we first got here,” Nuttall said.
The proliferation of condo towers at places like Newport Village and Suter Brook, with more planned for the future, has brought greater import to Nuttall’s work to connect residents and build community. Like maintaining the city’s own police force, or the opening in 2016 of The Club, a gathering place for Port Moody’s seniors.
“That was missing here,” Nuttall said of the comfortable lounge on Noons Creek Drive where people 50 and up can drop in for chats, order coffee from the small canteen, participate in book clubs or trivia competitions, or set out on bus excursions. “In condos you don’t know anybody, people just hibernate.”
But Port Moody’s urbanization also brings benefits, Nuttall said. Families downsizing to a condo can stay in the community and a greater population brings more amenities like shops, services and recreation that improve everyone’s quality of life.
And within that population a tireless core of volunteers works to maintain Port Moody’s sense of neighbourliness and community pride.
“People get involved,” Nuttall said. “It still has that small town feel.”
And the curbside parking is still free. For now.
• Nuttall will be honoured with the Freedom of the City at a special meeting of city council that begins at 1 p.m. Saturday at city hall (100 Newport Dr.)
