Gone Fishin’ page 11
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Glen Valley residents rally to save forest ‘crown jewel’ Land bearing trees, 80 to 100 years old, put up for sale to pay for Aldergrove school site MIRANDA GATHERCOLE Times Reporter
The corner of 252 Street and 84 Avenue holds one of Glen Valley’s best kept secrets — a pristine forest of large, 80 to 100-year-old conifer trees that some locals compare to old-growth regions in Stanley Park and Vancouver Island’s Cathedral Grove. But residents fear that this gem may soon be gone. The Township, which acquired the land in the 1930s, is now selling the 21-acre parcel — comprised of one five-acre and two eight-acre plots in the Agriculture Land Reserve (ALR) — to raise funds to purchase the empty Aldergrove Elementary School building on Fraser Highway.The school will be turned into a recreation centre for the community. While the Glen Valley residents say they have no intention of halting the purchase of the school and, in fact, support the proposal, they believe the money for the Aldergrove Elementary site should come from somewhere else. “This is about preserving (the forest) for all present and future residents of all areas of Langley, a site that cannot be relocated or purchased elsewhere at any price in the future,” Glen Valley resident Stuart Bucholtz told council on Monday evening. “This treasure belongs to all the people of all of Langley and we respectfully seek a stay of execution of this rare forest,” he said. The decision to sell the land was made at an incamera council meeting in September, 2011. Since then, a new mayor and two new councillors have been elected. The parcels at 252 Street and 84 Avenue are three of eight pieces of land being sold to help pay for the Aldergrove site. The others are five-acre lots, located outside the ALR at 257A Street and 84 Avenue. If all eight parcels are sold at their appraised values, they will generate more money than is needed to purchase Aldergrove Elementary School, Mayor Jack Froese told The Times. The lots were put up for sale on the BC Bid website in May, and the bids will be closed this Friday (June 29) at 2 p.m. However, this does not mean that the properties will necessarily be sold on June 29, Froese said. continued, PAGE 6
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Teachers, province reach one-year agreement Times Reporter
submitted photo
Jada stands next to a large conifer on the 21-acre Glen Valley property which Langley Township has put up for sale. Proceeds would be used to purchase the former Aldergrove Elementary School which it plans to convert to a community Centre. Area residents want the land left as it is.
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'Highest Prices Paid for Gold & Silver'
After a highly combative year of what seemed to be go-nowhere bargaining, the B.C. Teacher’s Federation signed a tentative agreement with the government on Tuesday. Now Langley Teachers Association president Gail Chaddock-Costello is scrambling to book the Coast Hotel for Thursday (today) so local teachers can vote on whether they accept the agreement. “Hopefully, we will have teachers voting on Thursday. We have to get their ballots to the BCTF by Friday,” she said. The BCTF executive is recommending teachers vote in favour of the temporary contract. Chaddock-Costello said she is “pleased for teachers,” but is happy this contract ends June 30, 2013. “The government hasn’t succeeded in destroying our union and we are stronger than ever,” she said. “We can fight another day.” Chaddock-Costello said the B.C. Liberals have tried and failed to strip their contract. “Absolutely no other public sector has been attacked like this.We do feel we have been vilified by the government,” she said. The new agreement does improve benefits like dental coverage for teachers in Langley, something that hasn’t been increased locally in 20 years, said Chaddock-Costello. It also provides teachers with better leave provisions. The agreement kept within the government’s net zero wage increase, which the BCTF said it will be hammering away at again next June. It also doesn’t deal with class size and composition, something the govcontinued, PAGE 7
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