May 26 - Council Highlights

From the meeting of May 26, 2021

Roll up your sleeves Agassiz!

Mayor Pranger is participating with other Fraser Health Mayors in a Challenge to Community Immunity! Help us be one of the communities with the highest vaccination rates!

Thank you to the many volunteers who continue to ensure that the vaccination clinics are available in our community and to the Agricultural and Horticultural Association for the ongoing donation of the Agricultural Hall.

The District hosted the Lets’emot Community to Community forum. Mayor Pranger highlighted an introduction and presentation by Regional Chief Terry Teegee of the Assembly of First Nations of British Columbia. Each of the member communities reported on recent projects and activities. We were also pleased to have the participation of MP Brad Vis and staff from MLA Kelli Paddon’s office to hear the concerns from all the different communities.

Be safe, be kind and shop local.

Agricultural Plastic Recycling

Councillor Post thanked Mayor Pranger for representing the District of Kent at the virtual annual meeting of the Lower Mainland Local Government Association (LMLGA).

The District’s resolution regarding agricultural plastics recycling had full endorsement from the membership which includes Mayors and Councillors from the Lower Mainland.

Next steps, the resolution will go before the Union of British Columbia Municipalities (UBCM) for consideration. If endorsed, UBCM will advocate with the Province.

Although a slow process, steps are being taken in the right direction to ensure provincially that agricultural plastics do not end up in the landfill.

Community Futures North Fraser

During her report, Councillor Spaeti highlighted that Derek Hansom, a Business Advisor will be working in the Agassiz-Harrison area. Mr. Hansom can assist with business advice or COVID related grants and supports.

Community Futures North Fraser provides free advisory services, self-employment training and business loans for small and medium sized businesses located in the north Fraser area including Mission to Kent to Harrison Hot Springs.

It is their mandate to help businesses in our area to get started, expand and be successful. If you would like to find out more about Community Futures, you can contact them at 604-826-6252 or by visiting their website at: northfraser.org/.

Volunteers Needed!

The Agassiz-Harrison Community Services needs drivers for their “Drive 4 You” program. There are 168 community members signed up for needing drivers with the majority requiring transportation to Chilliwack and Abbotsford for medical appointments or shopping trips.

Please contact Community Services at 604-796-2585 or email Drive4U@agassizcs.ca to learn how you can become a volunteer.

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinic

Councillor Spaeti reported that as of May 24^th, 80% of those over the age of 50 are vaccinated in the Agassiz-Harrison local health area and 67% of those over the age of 18 are vaccinated.

On June 2^nd, the vaccination clinic at Agricultural Hall will be open from 9:00 am to 6:00 pm. This clinic is for anyone 12 years of age and older. If you are unable to book an appointment and still want to get your vaccination, please come to the clinic during this time.

Concrete Sidewalk Improvements

Council awarded the 2021 Sidewalk Improvements to Contour Concrete in the amount of $39,702.40 (excluding tax) and will be funded by the District’s 2021 Capital Budget.

In 2019, District staff completed an assessment of all sidewalk letdowns in the townsite, and a three-phase plan was created to replace or improve sections that were in poor condition and presented hazards to pedestrians. The first two phases were completed in 2019 and 2020 by Contour Concrete.

A complete list along with a map of all concrete work to be completed in 2021 is available at www.kentbc.ca/sidewalks.

Agassiz Slough Floodbox

The Agassiz Slough Floodbox drains approximately 8 km² of land and receives most of the stormwater discharge from the Agassiz Townsite itself.

In July 2020, a contract for engineering services was awarded to Urban Systems Ltd. A floodbox with a manual gate was designed, providing significant capacity upgrades and enormous benefits to fish passage due to its “default-open” position.

As the project has fish-passage and environmental benefits, the District worked with other interested parties including the Resilient Waters Initiative which is a non-profit group working to re-connect waterways to the Fraser River where possible. This helped secure $700,000 in additional funding.

This project was supported through the Healthy Watersheds Initiative, which is delivered by the Real Estate Foundation of BC and Watersheds BC, with financial support from the Province of British Columbia as part of its $10 billion COVID-19 response.

Council awarded $854,200 (excluding tax), to Jake’s Construction Ltd to complete the work.

Traffic Calming on Ashton Road

Council thanked the residents for taking the time to sign a petition and bring forward their concerns of safety on Ashton Road.

 A motion to refer to engineering staff to come up with traffic calming solutions to bring back to the residents was approved.