The priorities for Brad West’s first year as mayor of Port Coquitlam in 2019 have a familiar ring to them.
In a presentation to PoCo council on Tuesday (Jan. 8), West summarized 2018 and looked forward toward 2019. In an interview with The Tri-City News, the mayor highlighted the ongoing $132-million renovation of the Port Coquitlam recreation centre and community centre.
“The community centre is the largest project in Port Coquitlam history,” said West. “It will continue to be a huge priority and it will command an enormous amount of attention and resources from staff and council.
“Every day it becomes a little more real. It’s one thing to see an artist’s rendering of what it’s going to look like, but it’s an entirely different thing when the community can see it take shape and rise out of the ground.”
Like many other lower mainland municipalities, West wants to see more family-friendly housing choices in Port Coquitlam and the city plans to update its official community plan to reflect that.
“We were seeing way too many [development applications] of studio and one-bedroom apartments. I know enough people who are trying to raise children in a one-bedroom condo or a basement suite, and it’s just not possible,” said West. “We need to have housing options for every stage of their lives.
“So many times the discussion is formed by what works or is needed for developers. You’ve got to pay attention to the people who are developing the housing, but we’ve also got to have options for [home buyers].”
His third priority isn’t as snazzy as an elaborate rec centre or as issue-oriented as affordable housing. It’s giving the city some TLC to its roads, parks and services.
“People want us to get the basics right. Roads that are upgraded, lines that are painted so you can see them, street lighting so you can see where you’re driving, traffic calming measures to reduce speeding and providing safety. The basic cores of a municipality,” said West. “If you’re not paying attention to that sort of stuff, which might not be the most flashy, [they will deteriorate].
“They are the things that people expect to get on the return for their tax dollars.”
Something that lingers on from 2018 are issues concerning the Kwikwetlem First Nations, said West. One is the KFN and the city getting together on a service agreement for its proposed business park off Pitt River Road. The other is the band’s land claims filed in 2016 for vacant city-owned property and park land, including Gates Park.
“I don’t think it’s become more problematic [in 2019], it’s been a very, very critical issue from the beginning,” said West. “The city continues to evaluate what would be required to service [the business park], the same way we would do with any development, particularly with anything of that size and scale. Because of the magnitude of what is being proposed there are a lot of details that need to be considered. And some of it is incredibly technical. It involves engineers working away and trying to find solutions.
“A lot of the staff who would be working on that application are also having to spend time responding to the land claim.”
West said a lot depends on whether the claims go before the courts or resolved before they do.
“For our residents, and as mayor, we have a whole lot at stake here. We’re talking about Gates Park which is really one of the most cherished, public assets or public parks, community-owned assets that we have in our city,” said West. “It really has become such an important gathering place. And I can’t emphasize enough how valued it is by the community, and as mayor I will be taking every necessary step to make sure it is protected.”
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