Burnaby city council roundup – July 4, 2022

It’s not often you can say a public government meeting was “short and sweet”, but that was the case for Monday’s Burnaby city council meeting.

Nevertheless, we still have a roundup for you to read in case you missed all the fun.

Here’s your city council roundup for the July 4 meeting.

Delegations

Deteriorating Street Conditions due to Gilmore Place Project

There were two delegations presented at council on Monday.

The first was from Martin Kendell, a local resident who is also running in the upcoming municipal election. He kicked off the meeting with a presentation regarding the deteriorating street conditions caused by the Gilmore Place Project.

Kendell, who is a strata council president at 4182 Dawson Street, highlighted how settling from vibrations and other impacts of construction have been causing safety hazards with streets and sidewalks, including sinking and flooding around the neighbourhood.

He noted that three strata councils in the area, including his, have paid over $100,000 in remediation efforts—and the councils are requesting that Onni Properties, the development company behind the Gilmore Place Project, are asking to be reimbursed.  He also noted the councils are requesting the impacted sidewalks be repaired to ensure safety for pedestrians and those with mobility issues.

Mayor Hurley said the presentation will be referred to the city’s engineering staff and will get back to Kendell with possible solutions.

The Holdom Overpass

Representatives from the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority were the second delegation with a presentation on the Burnaby Rail Corridor Improvements Project and the Holdom Overpass.

The project, led by the Vancouver Fraser Port Authority, will see an overpass constructed over the rail lines at Holdom Avenue. It will include a four-lane overpass for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians over Holdem Avenue South over the rail corridor and Still Creek to connect with Douglas Road and Norland Avenue. The Douglas Road rail crossing to cars would will eventually close (anticipated in 2025) to eliminate delays from crossing trains. According to Mayna Vancaillie, project manager and acting director of infrastructure delivery, the Douglas Road crossing is currently closed 30 times per day, on average.

“These closures create uncertainty for road users about whether or not they will wait and how long it will take them to reach their destination,” she said.

This past spring, three teams were shortlisted and were invited to bid on overpass construction and design. A decision on a preferred team is expected to be made by the end of this year, and the city will award a design and construction contract by early 2023. The team will then finalize the overpass design, which will be shared with the community and stakeholders, and a third round of public engagement will take place prior to starting construction.

The Port Authority said it has worked closely with interested Indigenous groups to identify spaces on the overpass that “could be used for cultural recognition.” Some design pieces could include decorative art wraps on overpass columns, art in the bridge railing design, art pieces on either end of the structure, and educational signage in the public spaces below the structure.

Overpass construction is expected to begin in mid-2023 and be completed by 2025.

Bylaws, bylaws, bylaws

There was a slew of first and second readings of bylaws carried but one, in particular, was opposed by Coun Sav Dhaliwal.

He was the sole councillor who voted against the second reading of Bylaw 14454,  which “permits the construction of the Grosvenor Brentwood Site over two main phases, including four high-rise market residential rental buildings and two high-rise strata residential buildings set atop non-market residential rental and commercial/retail podiums with underground parking, as well as a City Community Centre.”

Dhaliwal expressed his concerns with the 100,000 sq ft, multi-storey community centre specifically, back in April, which you can read about here. 

New business and inquiries

Dhaliwal brought up a notice of motion regarding adding bathrooms to the Brentwood Town Centre SkyTrain Station upgrade.

Dhaliwal requested the city urge TransLink to include a functioning public washroom at the station.

He noted that the city requested a washroom be added at Metrotown Station and the design of the upgrade was changed to include one. “Regrettably it’s not a functioning washroom still,” said Dhaliwal. “I think TransLink needs to step up to the need of the public. … I see having washroom facilities in the transit network is a necessary requirement because I don’t believe you can call your system a very inviting, accommodating, and supportable when people don’t have the amenity to use basic needs such as washrooms,” he said.

The notice of motion was carried.