November 14, 2012

&PITT MEADOWS

MAPLE RIDGE

OUTLOOK

Business. Development. Tourism. Education. Health. Lifestyle.

Those are the guiding principles behind Outlook Magazine, a progress report about the vitality of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

From the area’s prosperous agricultural industry, to residential and commercial and industrial development, to capital infrastructure improvements and incentives to the restoration and rebirth of historical neighborhoods, all are key to continued growth of both communities.

In the first edition of Outlook, The News examines the area’s economic energy.

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November 2012

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Plans for empty space beside Golden Ears Bridge Maybe the berm between the business park and homes should be wider to provide more of a buffer space. Drainage and ground water also has to be considered, so that putting new buildings on the 41 acres beside the Golden Ears Bridge won’t produce flooding elsewhere.

“If our basement floods and they’ve never flooded before, who’s going to pay?” asked one resident.

And make sure doors and windows face away from Hammond homes if the new business park does get built, a few years from now.

Those were just some of the concerns of the local folks in Hammond as they reviewed what could be a boost to Maple Ridge’s industrial base in the next few years.

Camp Developments wants to develop the 41 acres it owns on the east side of the Golden Ears Bridge into a business park, starting with the northern part of the property near Kingston Street and 113th Ave., followed by the southern portion next to Wharf Street, where it hopes to attract a major tenant.

“If everything went smoothly, we might see construction start in two years,” Camp Development

spokesman Kevin Hussey told residents in September. Hussey is with Aquilini Construction and Development, one of the partners in Camp Development.

The 2014 start date is providing Maple Ridge council agrees to rezoning the land industrial, the soil conditions are OK and there is market demand, he explained.

According to an October staff report and diagrams of the proposal,

Maple Ridge: still more room to grow If you’ve been for a drive anywhere east of downtown Maple Ridge in the past couple of years, you don’t need statistics to tell you things are changing in the once mostly rural landscape. But the stats are there.

This past year has seen a record spike in development activity for Maple Ridge and caps off a five-year span in which the municipality grew at double the national rate.

“This has been our busiest year ever,” Manager of Development and Environmental Services Chuck Stoddard said of the number of development enquiries and applications.

This flurry of interest comes on the heels of census results that reported a 10 per cent increase in overall population to 76,052 in Maple Ridge. That’s approximately double the national average rate of growth and a little more than halfway to projections of a population of 132,000 by 2041.

While there’s been a recent surge in interest in the municipal core, there has been steady residential growth in the eastern regions of Maple Ridge, Stoddard says.

“We’re still affordable and beautiful,” he says. “The market may be catching up, but it still makes sense to locate here.”

The majority of the activity in eastern Maple Ridge has been clustered in Albion and Silver Valley, and both are at two-thirds capacity, Stoddard says.

I n S i l v e r Va l l e y, t h e re a re

currently 175 townhomes and 1,440 single-family homes. The area is at about two thirds of its 3,700unit capacity with 676 applications in process.

Albion currently has about 2,000 completed homes and is at two-thirds of its capacity of 3,000. The current housing mix consists of 108 townhomes and 1,880 single-family dwellings with another 616 application at municipal hall, according to planning department statistics. Those new homes mean more people.

The overall population in the Albion area is slated to grow from 22,300 in 2006 to 37,300 at its peak in 2041, a 69 per cent increase over 35 years, according to a 2010 socioeconomic municipal report. Those numbers include the Thornhill urban reserve, which is not being developed, but is marked as the next area for urban growth.

Population in the northeast, which includes a large portion of Silver Valley, is expected to reach 11,400 by 2041, an increase of 20 per cent over three decades Maple Ridge council and staff are grappling with the best way to service these neighbourhoods and attract

commercial interest to the historically agricultural and rural regions.

While about half the commercial properties in eastern Maple Ridge are developed, the majority of designated commercial land in Silver Valley is still vacant, the 2010 report states.

“It’s a bit of a chicken and egg situation in that area,” municipal planner Diana Hall said of planned commercial hubs, which exist in the Silver Valley Official Community Plan, but haven’t attracted much interest from the business community. “Businesses want to settle where they see a strong base of support.”

But it’s important to hang onto those commercial designations and sites to help create strong communities as more homes are built, Hall noted. “It’s absolutely essential.”

A commercial and industrial strategy will be brought to council later this month to help give a clear view of the state of retail and industrial interest and how and where to attract business.

“It will give us a realistic outlook of what is possible.” Hall said.

To date, commercial and retail interest have been strongest in south Albion, where the municipality

the property will have a buffer area where the odd-shaped property borders Hazelwood Street, as well as along the back yards of homes along Ospring Street.

A larger buffer area on the northern end of the property, also near Ospring, will have a meandering stream lined with native vegetation to encourage fish production, while the business park also will have a mini park, playground and green space on its property near the corner of Hazelwood and Ospring.

A larger green space and buffer on the west side of the property, closer to the Golden Ears Bridge and next to an environmentally sensitive area, will have a winding pathway with interpretive signs, as well as a detention pond, and will run the length of the property to Wharf Street.

Pathways will allow Hammond residents to access those green areas within the business park.

Camp Development re-acquired the property from TransLink in an out-of-court settlement after TransLink abandoned its plans in 2009 for a bus maintenance yard.

TransLink previously had expropriated the property.

Hussey pointed out that he reviewed the concerns raised from TransLink’s neighbourhood liaison committee from five years ago, from which a few were at the October meeting.

Road access to the property is one issue that remains unresolved.

The project proposes a road running through the property at 11055 Hazelwood Ave., connecting 113th Ave. with Wharf Street.

Coun. Al Hogarth questioned if Wharf Street was wide enough for big trucks.

Some residents were concerned about motorists exiting Golden

is in land-swap discussions with SmartCentres, which has been hoping to develop a big-box centre in Albion for several years. The municipality owns lands to the east of 105th Street, while Smart Centres owns land to the west of that, and where an application for removal of that land was rejected by the Agricultural Land Commission earlier this year. Commercial zoning has been included at the corner of 240th Street and 112th Ave..

Staff has recommended council increase density in north Albion from about 12 half-acre lots to 30 smaller lots to attract development to the area and away from southern Albion, which is at near capacity.

This would up the number of homes to 1,250 from 1,000 in an area that now includes a number of large rural plots.

About 25 per cent of Maple Ridge’s farmland is in rural areas outside the Agricultural Land Reserve, according to the 2010 report.

Agricultural Advisory Council chair Christian Cowley says such land is key to the community’s agricultural economy. “The protection of this land should strongly be considered for the future good of the community,” he said.

The recommendation to increase density in North Albion will now go to council workshop later this month.

It will be discussed in conjunction with a proposed amenity-zoning

Ears Bridge and cutting through to Wharf Street as a means of getting farther east.

Hussey said there were pros and cons to having a road connect to Wharf Street and pointed out a traffic study may be required.

People were also concerned about noise and impact on drainage and groundwater levels when the project is built but, Camp Development says it’s aware of drainage and stormwater issues.

While TransLink had preloaded part of the site to compact the soil, Hussey said Camp Developments is starting its geotech studies from Square 1, assuming no research or work has been done yet.

When TransLink was planning its bus maintenance yard, neighbours were concerned about building height, a municipal park Wharf Street tying in with the project, the depth of water holding pond and the level of groundwater rising.

Somebody asked why homes couldn’t be built on the property.

“The city wants its jobs, they were pretty clear about that,” Hussey said.

Hammond resident Rafe Fitzgerald pointed out that, at one point, $600,000 in grant money was available to do drainage improvement in cooperation with TransLink.

One resident asked how he would benefit if the business park is built?

Another replied: “It doesn’t. But they have the money and they own the property.”

Hussey said the project could benefit residents by providing local jobs.

“Hammond resident Eric Phillips was pleased with the meeting, saying it was informative. So hopefully, we can come with the best for everybody.” ❚❚ Story: Phil Melnychuk.

Photo: Collen Flanagan.

bylaw, which would ensure developers contribute to things like parks or community centres.

New schools will also have to be built. School District 42 recently released a report estimating growth will mean 3,793 students will be added to the district by 2021, primarily in east Maple Ridge.

District No. 42’s new capital plan calls for four new elementary schools in Silver Valley and the expansion of an already overcrowded Samuel Robertson Technical School.

The capital plan also calls for two new schools in Albion, including one already pegged as a priority to be located on district-owned land along 104th Ave..

H o w e v e r, t h e M i n i s t r y o f Education has not yet agreed to foot the $17.3 million bill needed to build the school. Despite the growth in the east, Victoria will take into account that overall district enrollment is down and schools are underutilized, said School District No. 42 director of facilities Rick Delorme.

The go-ahead for the 104th Ave. school may come early next year, but Delorme warns it could be three years after the green light from the province before a school is built.

“If you are buying a house because a school is planned, you may be waiting awhile,” he said, noting it could be more than a decade before all those planned schools are built. ❚❚ Story: Lynn Easton

Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012 5

An overview on agriculture “To market, to market” that could be the new rallying cry for local farmers as a recent University of Northern B.C. study pegged the economic benefit of the Haney Farmers Market to the local economy at $1.6 million.

“It’s very good news and doesn’t really surprise me,” says Christian Cowley, chair of the Maple Ridge Agricultural Advisory committee who says the Haney Farmers Market is a social and economic success.

Another $1.1 million is pumped into the local economy with spinoffs from those who decide to spend the day downtown after the market, stated the report, which was done in conjunction with the Investment Agricultural Foundation of B.C., Vancity, Agri-Food Canada and B.C. farmers’ markets.

“The attendance has been increasing year by year,” Cowley adds, noting that the spin-offs are understandable as the market becomes a social hub and meeting spot for the community.

The good news may be reflected in 2011 Metro Vancouver census figures, which show while the percentage of land dedicated to farming in Maple Ridge has decreased four per cent since 2006, the number of farms began to creep back to former levels, with 18 new farms in operation.

Many of those are smaller operations, with 70 per cent of farms in Maple Ridge now producing earnings under $10,000. Haney Farmers Market has had a “huge impact” on young farmers and is encouraging them to “take the leap of faith” and get into farming, Cowley says.

“There’s lots of evidence they

can be successful going straight to markets,” he says.

This shift may be creating a strong new force in the local food network, but farm receipts were down 71 per cent in 2010 from the 2006 census. Maple Ridge farm revenue was $10,183,840 in 2010 compared with $34,546,984 four years earlier.

Wages in the farming sector sank 81 per cent, to $2,239,312 from $12,090,770.

The overall number of greenhouses decreased dramatically and Cowley says the large drop in revenue is due largely to the closing of Pelton seedling nursery.

Maple Ridge’s loss of revenue is in stark contrast to an explosion of agricultural success in Pitt Meadows, where farm receipts now top $83.5 million, up 44 per cent from 25.3 million in 2006.

Agricultural related business in Pitt Meadows now makes up 12 per cent of the overall tax base, according to the Agricultural Land Commission.

“Pitt Meadows has done a really good job of protecting farmland in support of our economy,” says economic development officer Kate Zanon, who sits on the agricultural committee and is behind a new economic marketing strategy for agriculture in the community.

“Agriculture is a substantial part of our community.”

The city produces 20 per cent of

the province’s blueberries, but has farms producing in all categories, from corn to chickens, according to the Metro Vancouver report. The amount of land used for farm related production jumped 15 per cent to 6,275 hectares in 2011.

Zanon says people are often surprised that 86 per cent of land in Pitt Meadows is agricultural and says that’s because efficient and thoughtful planning has created a dense urban centre, while protecting farmland.

“Farmland has been preserved and respected in Pitt Meadows,” she says.

Both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are facing pressure on their agricultural resources and opposition as they grapple with requests to remove high-profile properties from the Agricultural Land Reserve.

In Maple Ridge, the community is awaiting the Agricultural Land Commission’s decision on two separate applications to remove land from the ALR. Despite opposition from some residents, Pitt Meadows council and the agricultural advisory committee have supported removal of land along Lougheed Highway to allow for retail and transportation expansion along the North Lougheed Corridor. The committee’s support came primarily to gain some certainty and safety for farmers traveling along Old Dewdney Trunk Road, according to committee reports.

“There are ongoing pressures on the

Kate Zanon, Pitt Meadows economic development officer, who sits on the agricultural committee, is behind a new economic marketing strategy for agriculture in the community.

agricultural land base,” notes Zanon.

While 73 per cent of farm-taxed land in Maple Ridge is within the Agricultural Land Reserve, another 27 per cent is outside the ALR, according to a 2010 staff socioeconomic report.

Cowley says it’s difficult for smaller farms to compete on the international scale, and Zanon admits there’s been little interest from new

large-scale operations to set up in Pitt Meadows recently, despite the positive fiscal showing.

Instead of concentrating on attracting such operations, both communities have banded together under the economic umbrella of Invest North Fraser to jumpstart Phase 2 of a regional agricultural plan.

Continued on page 7

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Future of the Albion flats Debate about the Albion flats now has stretched across four council terms and outlasted three mayors – but the fog around the future of the farmland along Lougheed Highway may be starting to lift.

Words from the Agricultural Land Commission that it will only consider development of land on the east side of 105th Ave. has pushed the landowners on the west side to make a deal.

SmartCentres wants to swap the 20 acres it owns west of 105th Ave., all of which lie in the Agricultural Land Reserve, with the district’s 17 acres on the east side of 105th Ave., currently the site of the Albion Fairgrounds and home to Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows Country Fest.

Whatever deal is worked out, Country Fest manager Lorraine Bates is focused on the future well-being of the 112-year-old fair.

“We’re not going to go backwards.”

A land swap with SmartCentres means moving the fair to the west side of 105th Ave., to what would become district property along Lougheed Highway.

That means moving or rebuilding the old barns and buildings that have housed the fair for almost a century and re-creating as much as possible the old farming ambience of the previous location.

“The grass, the trees, that’s what makes the site stand out,” Bates said.

“I keep referring to it as a jewel, because that’s how I see it. We need to try to replicate that.”

Part of the transaction would include space that’s equivalent to that provided by Planet Ice and the curling rink during Country Fest.

The current site carries plenty of cultural value. Memorial trees planted near Spencer Creek nearby honour former mayor Belle Morse, and Bates’ daughter and several others who’ve passed on a left their mark on Maple Ridge.

Those trees would have to be part of the move.

A problematic piece is the heavy old Spencer farm milk house, which is made of concrete, a tough moving project. Maybe that could become part of the new Spencer Farm shopping centre, suggested Bates.

She adds that SmartCentres was nice enough to deal with. “They weren’t overly aggressive. I think they want to make it work.”

Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin acknowledges the decade-long discussion over Albion flats. A SmartCentre’s application to remove farmland was nixed by council in 2004, under then mayor Kathy Morse. Daykin is the third mayor dealing with issue.

He said the land commission also has to approve non-farm use of the land west of 105th Ave. for the fair if the deal is to go through. And decisions are still waiting on separate applications to take land out of the reserve, north of SmartCentres’ existing property.

And if that doesn’t happen, the land swap would be off and it would be time for Plan B. “We need to go full steam ahead and see what we can do on the east side. A 60- to 80-acre mall could provide a lot of shopping options for folks, as well. We could get some good quality shopping options for folks,” Daykin said.

However, the district would want the east side to be developed as a whole, to acquire economies of scale and council’s desired mix of retail, recreation and business. “People are going to need to realize they’re going to have to work together.”

“At least we have a Plan B.” If the SmartCentres-Maple Ridge land swap does work out, drainage improvements on the west side, to improve soil and growing conditions, will also have to be part of the agreement, the mayor pointed out.

“There are going to be some pretty high expectations on it,” adding SmartCentres will benefit by higher land values that result when land is removed from the agricultural reserve. ❚❚ Story and Photo: Phil Melnychuk

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An overview on agriculture continued from page 6 The two municipalities are about to launch an agricultural branding strategy that will focus on promoting existing operations such as Hopcott’s Premier Meats and Golden Ears Cheesecrafters that attract buyers directly to local farms. This will include a promotional push that will also see agri-tourism signage for local farm-gate businesses, Zanon says.

She is also working on an ambitious plan to create an agricultural distribution hub in Pitt Meadows. Thirty five participants recently gathered to discuss partnerships to cut overhead by sharing supply and transportation

costs. There are also discussions and brainstorming about teaming with educational institutions such as Kwantlen College to bring agri-education to the area.

Cowley remains optimistic there is a future for agriculture in Maple Ridge and sees no reason it can’t be an economic engine similar to Pitt Meadows. Agriculture can be a great tax base since services needed for farming are lower than for residential or industrial use, he says.

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Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012 7

Airport plays big role in economic development While it lies inside the city boundaries, Pitt Meadows Regional Airport reaches well beyond its 640 acres of land. Nestled along the shore of the Fraser River, the airport plays an important role in the economic development of the communities it serves.

Glenn Ralph, general manager at Pitt Meadows, or YPK, said the challenges that lie ahead for the board of directors for one of Canada’s 15 busiest airports is to work through its strategic planning process and trying to answer the question of “what does it want to be when it grows up.”

Until Ralph gets that direction, it’s up in the air. But what he does know is that it will play a big part in the region’s long-term growth.

“It’s important to note that this is a regional asset,” says Ralph. “This is not just an asset for the municipality of Pitt Meadows. It’s an asset in terms of attracting companies to the region and we see ourselves as a magnet to attract business. Many large employers want to be near an airport. So in fact, we are a significant component as an economic driver to the region.

Ralph says there are quite a few examples throughout the country where the decision to locate a business is driven by proximity to a viable airport.

“All things being equal between two communities, having an airport, in many cases, is going to sway that decision,” he said.

Ralph says while the airport can provide a quick way in and out for executives in corporate aircraft, it also provides avenue should a manufacturing facility want to locate within the region. It is critical for manufacturing or assembly facilities to have the ability to fly in or out without delay.

“As an executive airport, we play that role now. But going forward, we will see an ever-increasing role in that way,” says Ralph.

Owned by the Pitt Meadows Airport Society, YPK saw more than 110,000 flights in 2011. With two runways and a waterdrome for floatplanes, more than 500 people work at the airport, with another 600 people coming to the airport to drop off everything from jet fuel to food.

Each year it pays around $750,000 in taxes to the municipality.

“This is a very unique airport in that it has parallel runways,” says Ralph. “No other airport in the

Lower Mainland has that.”

The airport is also in the process of creating a turf runway, which Ralph says positions it as an ideal training facility. Currently, pilots train both domestically and internationally. One of its main clients, the Civil Aviation Authority of China, trains pilots for Chinese airlines. The CAAC in Pitt Meadows is one of only four such facilities in Canada recognized to train their pilots. In addition, Ralph emphasized the airport continues to train small fixed-wing and float plane pilots.

“It’s a big part of what we do, and is probably going to stay that way,” he said.

The other main area of focus is commuter service. Ralph says the airport is on the verge of inking a deal to have scheduled service from Pitt Meadows to Victoria, twice a day.

“This will be the beginning of what we actually become longterm, a regional commuter service,” notes Ralph.

While B.C. Ferries continues to raise prices, Ralph says commuter service to Vancouver Island and other areas along the coastline will open up, but not necessarily because of price.

“The real advantage that we offer for going to a place like the island is time. You can be in Victoria in 20 minutes as opposed to the two-plus hours by using B.C. Ferries. You have to have time to spare, and a lot of folks don’t,” says Ralph.

Also, being a float facility, the Pitt airport can provide float plane service to a lot of the coastal areas of B.C. currently serviced by the ferries. “But we can have you there a lot faster,” he notes.

He says corporate planes can stop at YPK and use floatplane service to land at the harbour in Vancouver in just six minutes. He says that can save a valuable amount of time compared to landing at Vancouver’s Airport and trying to negotiate traffic down Camby Street.

Ralph says while the board tries to shape the airport’s future and determine what it wants to be, he’s confident what YPK won’t be.

“It’s unlikely we are going to become the Bellingham of the north and operate aircraft that large. Realistically, we already have Abbotsford.”

With Abbotsford serving as a hub to connect with long-haul flights out of Calgary, Ralph said it wouldn’t make sense to go after an already established market.

“The challenge to match the Bellingham price for jet service south is Abbottsford’s challenge, not ours.

We’d have to do too much in order to accommodate that. We would have to put in so much in terms of runway extensions.”

Ralph also points out the airspace in the region is already congested because of the mountains and YVR. He points out that the seven-member board is reluctant to spend money on a runway extension if their isn’t a sufficient return on the investment.

“There’s a lot more than just making the runway longer. Once you start messing with the runway, you’ve got to start messing with the lights,” Ralph says. “Our infrastructure of lights is older, so it would need to be upgraded. And that’s expensive.

It’s not just about asphalt. It’s about a whole host of other issues like terminal facilities and parking. It’s not as simple as it looks.”

Ralph says one area where there is a real chance for growth is in creating a general aviation servicing industry at the 325 acres are still available for development at the airport.

Currently a majority of those businesses sit on the south side of YVR. However Ralph says it appears that YVR wants to expand and their capability to handle more airliners.

“They’ve only got so much land out there and some of the general aviation servicing businesses may be being encouraged to locate elsewhere in the Lower Mainland,” he said. “I think we offer a viable alternative so that we could end up creating a hub here.”

Ralph gives credence to the plan based on the fact that Pitt Meadows, Maple Ridge, Mission, is a much more affordable place to live. ❚❚ By Tim Fitzgerald

Golden Ears Bridge use continues to rise ahead of new Port Mann opening Usage of the Golden Ears Bridge has risen every year since its opening in 2009, and that’s set to continue this year.

The first quarter of 2012 saw a 12 per cent increase in traffic from 2011, and TransLink spokesman Drew Snider said that’s held firm through the first half of the year.

“Traffic in the first half of 2012 on the Golden Ears Bridge reached 5.17 million crossings, about 11.5 per cent higher than the first half of 2011– 4.63 million,” he said.

“Usage for all of 2011 was 12.6 per cent higher than 2010. We don’t have the audited figures yet for the third quarter, but the preliminary figures show the trend is continuing.”

The traffic picture will change regionally when eight lanes of the new Port Mann Bridge open in December. Usage of that bridge will be free for the first week, but then tolls kick in at a reduced rate.

Snider said it’s going to take some time to see how Golden Ears Bridge traffic is affected by the new Port Mann, and a clear picture may not be available until after the introductory rates on that new bridge end.

“As for the impact the new Port Mann Bridge might have, we expect a period of transition as drivers try different routes,” he said. “With the temporary introductory rates on Port Mann, this transitional period may last for many months. Eventually, traffic patterns will settle down as drivers find the routes that work best for them, taking into account all factors.”

Those Port Mann rates will be at a discounted rate of $1.50 per trip through December 2013 for those who register for the new TReO electronic tolling decals before Feb. 28.

Those who don’t will only get the $1.50 rate until March 1.

The TReO decal will work on the Golden Ears Bridge as well, and existing Golden Ears Bridge transponders will work on the Port Mann, but motorists can get that discounted rate for a longer period by exchanging their transponder for a TReO decal (which will be available starting in December).

Billing for Golden Ears Bridge and Port Mann Bridge travel will be combined by default once Port Mann tolls begin in December, but motorists can opt out of that and receive separate invoices for travel on each bridge by calling one of the Golden Ears Bridge customer service centres.

Snider said Golden Ears Bridge traffic may be in flux for a while after the new Port Mann opens, especially considering the introductory rates offered on the new bridge But he expects it to stabilize over time.

He said the key consideration in bridge use is where people are headed, and the Golden Ears Bridge works well for many commutes and excursions.

“The Golden Ears Bridge is a very attractive option for north-south travel between Langley and Surrey to the south and Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows, and portions of the northeast sector to the north,” Snider said. “TransLink will continue to monitor traffic volumes and travel pattern trends.” ❚❚ Story: Andrew Bucholtz. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

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Maple Ridge shares its secrets with the rest of the province Economic development manager Sandy Blue has been spreading the word about Maple Ridge’s grand downtown plan for a while now. But probably her biggest chance for winning converts came from the captive audience she had in September at the Union of B.C. Municipalities gathering in Victoria.

Her presentation was called “Maple Ridge: A Town Centre Transformed,” and she highlighted the efforts Maple Ridge has spent on the downtown the past several years.

A major focus was the downtown incentive plan, which gives tasty incentives such as property tax exemptions, fee discounts and priority processing to encourage builders to move their plans from the drawing board to the construction site.

“It was really well received,” said Blue, who manages Maple Ridge’s Strategic Economic Initiatives.

Maple Ridge’s website, which lays out the plan, shows more than $77 million worth of projects have been started downtown since January 2011.

When total value of all construction projects in the district is added, there was a total of $121 million in construction in 2011.

The incentives include the district paying up to $75,000 to cover part of the development charges on a green, four-storey apartment project,

to more than 50-per-cent discounts for building permits, to fast-tracking projects, to exemption from property taxes for either three or six years.

Those incentives have sparked some projects, such as Haney Place Mall renovations, including Target, to open in 2013, the Maple Ridge community gaming centre, and new condo or apartment projects totaling more than 400 units.

Blue said when Maple Ridge was devising the strategy, the district consulted developers and investors, asking them what would help get new projects off the ground.

She also pointed out the incentive plan was part of a long-term town centre area plan approved in 2008 based on Smart Growth on the Ground principles.

The process takes time and you can’t expect a city to change over night, she added.

Blue reviewed other tactics, such as the facade improvement program, which sees renovation costs split

three ways between the business, the district and the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Association.

It’s now the fourth year of the program and 21 stores have had redos.

Underpinning the whole downtown incentive strategy is Maple Ridge’s town centre area plan, passed in 2008, an ecologically conscious

plan based on Smart Growth principles that sets out the basic intent of the whole downtown area.

Blue told the B.C. mayors and councillors they should use the expertise they have in their planning departments, start with a visioning process involving the community, and use municipal investment in key areas.

Maple Ridge has spent $80 million

in the past several years, rebuilding roads and parks in the downtown and creating the Arts Centre Theatre, the Leisure Centre, seniors centre and Greg Moore youth centre.

On one of her powerpoint slides she writes, “Consider how the plans you develop today will impact your great-grandchildren.” ❚❚ Story and photos by Phil Melnychuk

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Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012 9

ExcEptional opportunity

Maple ridge Maple Ridge: Exceptional Investment Opportunity.

In January of 2011, Maple Ridge Council implemented the Town Centre Investment Incentive Program. The goal was straight forward, to encourage and accelerate private investment to create a vibrant, dense and economically sustainable urban centre at the heart of the community to compliment our popular suburban landscape.

Now, almost two years later, this program is hailed as one of the most innovative and successful urban development programs in the nation. A strong and vibrant economy continues to be a focus for Council and their vision around increased commercial and industrial growth has resulted in major policy work that will be completed in the upcoming months.

An update to the Maple Ridge Transportation Master Plan will come before Council before the end of 2012. This will set the stage for the next decade of growth in our transportation infrastructure for pedestrians, cyclists and personal and commercial vehicle traffic. Since the last plan was developed, a billion dollars of bridges and roads have been completed, including the Golden Ears Bridge, the Pitt River Bridge and numerous projects within the community.

The Commercial and Industrial Review is also coming before Council by year end. This document will be the cornerstone of Council’s work to ensure that our community has the policy and planning framework to ensure that our commercial and industrial infrastructure can support the projected population and employment doubling in the next 25 to 30 years.

For the fourth year, the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) has recognized Maple Ridge as a #5 Top Canadian Investment City and #2 in BC. This report identifies regions that will outperform in the next decade. Everywhere you look in Maple Ridge there are signs of this development boom.

Strategic Partnerships Maple Ridge has a number of important partnerships to promote Maple Ridge in the region and around the world. Locally, the Chamber of Commerce and the Downtown Maple Ridge Business Improvement Area (DMR BIA) are key partners in ensuring that our business and property owners have a strong voice in local decision making.

The DMR BIA has managed the Façade Improvement Program that is part of the Town Centre Investment Incentive Program. This

organization has been working tirelessly to market the area 750 plus businesses ranging from restaurants to funky new shops and the best professional services in the Lower Mainland. The result is that Maple Ridge Town Centre has been attracting great entrepreneurs whose businesses help create the dynamic shopping experience our growing population desires.

The Maple Ridge Economic Development Department markets our ‘Invest Maple Ridge’ brand to the world. Our Council has a strategic focus on attracting employment in the advanced technology field, clean and green tech, information and entertainment sector, international education, tourism and agriculture.

Entrepreneurs in these priority investment attraction sectors represent the leading edge of the world economy. Our community has all the elements, affordability, lifestyle and the workforce that is encouraging business leaders to invest and live in Maple Ridge.

Area .........................266 Square Kilometres Population ............................... 77,402 Projected Population 2040 ... 132,000 Building Permit Values: 2009 ........................................$91.7 Million 2010....................................... $147.4 Million 2011.......................................$134.3 Million Investment Summary:

(ConStruCtion 2006 to 2011 in $Cdn)

Commercial ..........................$31.1 Million Industrial ..............................$37.3 Million Institutional .........................$32.1 Million Residential.........................$133.9 Million Total............................$234.4 Million Public Works & Infrastructure Spending: 2005 -2010 ..............................$96.8 Million

Sandy Blue, Manager Economic Inititives 604-467-7319 sblue@mapleridge.ca investmapleridge.ca *Detailed information and sources available from Economic Development

10 Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012

Our Provincial and Federal government partners have stepped up big time. Maple Ridge is proud to have partnerships with the BC Jobs Plan, British Columbia Technology Industry Association, Urban Land Institute BC and other national and provincial programs to help citizens, entrepreneurs and developers achieve their economic goals.

Maple Ridge has a fabulous economic partnership with the ‘Invest North Fraser’ initiative. This program has brought the talents and resources of the District of Mission, City of Pitt Meadows and the District of Maple Ridge economic development teams together to

MAPlE RIdgE FAST FACTS:*

Invest Maple Ridge

market the opportunities of this region to the world. The goal is to attract high value investment to the community, and the signs of progress are everywhere.

mapleridge.ca @yourmapleridge district of Maple Ridge 11995 Haney Place, Maple Ridge BC V2X 6A9

Our Agricultural Roots Maple Ridge was settled by farmers who carved out their dreams of prosperity from the soil and established this area as one of the most productive and diverse agricultural communities in BC. As we fast-forward a century, agriculture has changed significantly, and Maple Ridge Council has established an Agricultural Advisory Committee to provide input on how policy and land use can support agriculture in today’s global economy.

Some of the solutions have been hyper-local.

Haney Farmers Market and the Circle Farm Tour are connecting consumers and farmers directly to help grow this sector. Maple Ridge is proud to be partnering with Kwantlen Polytechnic University to encourage agriculture education to ensure that the next generation of farmers has the knowledge and skills to ensure that our lands continue to feed citizens with high quality crops.

Creating a Sustainable Community.

From Vision to Action In 2003 and 2004 Maple Ridge Council took part in a ‘Smart Growth on the Ground’ study with the UBC Design Centre for Sustainability and the Real Estate Institute of BC. That work resulted in the development of an Area Plan for the Town Centre that has become embedded in our Official Community Plan. As mentioned, in 2011, Council enacted the Town Centre Investment Incentive Program to accelerate the pace of development and bring density and commercial investment to our urban core.

Projects in this program are shown on the District website at mapleridge.ca. Visit the Investment Incentive Program link to view all of the projects that are underway. From façade improvements to one of oldest and most beloved businesses in Maple Ridge, Fuller Watson, to the redevelopment of Haney Place Mall including the new Target store scheduled to be opened in November of 2013, you can see the diversity of residential and commercial projects that have resulted.

As of the deadline for this publication, the program has attracted over $100 million in construction value. This building boom has helped create jobs and generate economic benefit. The stage was set for this work with an ambitious program of infrastructure improvement undertaken by Maple Ridge with equal funding from the Federal and Provincial governments. Close to $100 million of improvements to the sewer and water infrastructure in the Town Centre were combined with a redesign of the streetscapes and public spaces to make Maple Ridge ‘investment ready.’

commercial and industrial development, and investment by companies like Thrifty Foods, Target Canada, Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and numerous local entrepreneurs are leading the way in our Town Centre.

The photos on these pages were taken in Maple Ridge over the last year. If you’d like more information about the projects or events contact our Invest Maple Ridge team today.

Outside our Town Centre In 2010, Council moved the Albion Area Planning process to the top of the Public Agenda, and began a process that will culminate in 2013 with the final development of the Albion Area Plan. As with the Town Centre Area Plan, this work will set the framework for the development of the area for the next decade. The District is awaiting a number of decisions by the Agricultural Land Commission that will shape this plan.

In addition to the development of the Albion Area Plan, the Maple Ridge Commercial and

Industrial Review will come before Council late in 2012. This report will provide Council with a current market inventory and allow for the development of programs and policies to support their economic vision as the population doubles in the next quarter century.

With construction of the Golden Ears Bridge, and the redevelopment of the Pitt River Bridge, Maple Ridge commercial and industrial properties are now easily accessible to Metro Vancouver, the Fraser Valley and the U.S. border. The Commercial and Industrial Review will help us map out the strategic plan for the coming decade and beyond.

The multi-million dollar Target Canada redevelopment at Haney Place Mall and the unprecidented amount of renovation and reconstruction work that is happening in our commercial and industrial properties is the sign of changes that are coming. As Mayor Daykin has been quoted, “It’s not a matter of IF we’ll grow, but how.” Our Council Vision for a vibrant local economy is at play both in the Town Centre, and all around the community.

While there are currently 40 major projects happening in the Town Centre, there are 500 projects underway outside the Incentive Area.

It’s happening in Maple Ridge.

Our Council had a strong vision a decade ago, and today that vision is evident by the action on our streets. In the coming years, the population growth will be the catalyst for

Exceptional Place.

Exceptional People.

Exceptional Opportunity.

Maple Ridge has a strong vision for economic growth. This is an extraordinary place to achieve your personal and professional goals.

Maple Ridge is exceptional both because of its beautiful natural setting and the amazing people that choose to live and invest here.

The prosperity of our community comes from the men and women who invest their ideas, education and money to turn the ‘opportunity’ into reality.

There’s a lot happening in Maple Ridge. This is a place where dreams are coming true.

Help us spread the word.

Invest Maple Ridge.

mapleridge.ca Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012 11

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It’s time the local arts and culture community took a bow on centre stage. That’s the song those involved in both the arts and the economy of Maple Ridge are singing these days as the local arts scene matures on the 10th birthday of its centerpiece, The ACT. “The creative community and the economy are inextricably tied,” says Maple Ridge strategic economic manager Sandy Blue. “It is so important to the fabric of a healthy community.”

Besides the jobs and money the arts brings to the community, Blue points to something called the Bohemian Index, a new economic marker in academic circles that places monetary benefit to cultural attributes.

“A vibrant arts community really attracts people,” she says. “People and companies want to know what’s going to be available to their families if they choose to locate here.”

Those thoughts are music to the ears of the Maple Ridge Pitt Meadows Arts Council’s executive director Lindy Sisson, whose daily work is dedicated to improving and celebrating the arts in Maple Ridge.

“Cultural activities are so important to the quality of people’s lives and in tough times they can be uplifting and inspiring.”

It’s also her job to book the talent and get people into the seats: the nuts and bolts of running a business. Sisson oversaw a $1.5 million operating budget last year, with almost one million of revenue coming from outside grants, fundraising and money raised by programming.

The recent economic downturn has meant attendance has fluctuated over the past years, but as the 10th anniversary season begins tickets have “been selling great” for this year’s line-up, Sisson says.

She reminds people that supporting

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performances at The ACT is vital for quality programming. “I tell people it’s like voting,” she says. “If you value the arts, you need to support the artists and their work.”

The ACT employs 12 full-time staff, and that’s a good deal for the arts council, taxpayers and the buying public, she says. “People employed in the arts often wear two or three hats,” she laughs. ”There’s a lot of value there.”

Blue echoes Sisson’s sentiment.

She notes that some of the most creative community thinking comes from those with an arts background. “They never do just one thing in our community,” she says.

And while big names like the Vienna Boys choir, which Sisson was ‘thrilled’ to have booked for October, are important to build a serious theatre presence in any community, it’s the small community events that cement relationships, she says.

Maple Ridge was wise to include its 500-seat theatre when The Act was planned because the mid-size venue is perfect for community theatre, local secondary schools and dance groups to hold their music and dance events.

Nearby communities such as the Tri-Cities have no such facility.

“It’s a real gem,” she says. “I get calls all the time about how we do things.”

The economic input and spin-offs from the ACT are substantial, Sisson says. While arts events help build community they also stoke the economy she adds.

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Lots happening at inter-modal yard The engineer toots his horn as he nears the railway crossing on Harris Road and flashing red lights bring traffic to a halt.

A rehearsal for Ballet Jörgen Canada’s production of Coppélia choreographed by Bengt Jörgen last year at the ACT.

Music to the ears… continued from page 12 Local groups rent the theatre at a fixed rate. Costumes and dance shoes need to be purchased. Things like celebratory dinners out and opening night flowers add up to real dollars, she says.

Sisson is thrilled about a first-ever deal she has recently inked with School District No. 42 that will see 2,000 local grade 4-5 students see five young-audience plays this year. There will also be a public performance by one of several theatre companies, and Sisson points to these partnerships as vital for the health of any local arts community and economy.

“Those are real paying jobs,” she says.

The other star of the local arts economy is no doubt the film industry, which Blue says brought $3.5 million to the local economy last year. She estimates that $10,000 is spent for every one of the 300-400 shoot days a year with spinoff profits for everything from restaurants to construction. She also notes that those with good paying local film industry jobs are now choosing to live in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

“It’s another hidden benefit,” she says.

Those hidden benefits are being seen on a smaller scale at The ACT. Last year, approximately 48,000 people attended events at The ACT, while another almost 4,000 attended 384 arts programs and 7,892 people walked through the art gallery. Inside the gallery, 176 artists were represented – many of whom sold their work.

“That’s a great thing,” says Sisson. “This is their livelihood.”

The familiarity and sense of ownership residents have with The Act is vital to its success, but it’s also one of the reasons they may sometimes take it for granted 10 years after it the first curtain was opened on the facility, Sisson says.

“We don’t know how lucky we are sometimes,” she says noting partnerships with groups like the Arts Club Theatre, which will do three plays this season, including the highly acclaimed Craigslist Cantata.

“You don’t even have to go downtown Vancouver. It’s all right here. You just have to buy a ticket.” ❚❚ Story: Lynn Easton. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

Drivers watch the train rumble past, carrying containers, stacked two high, that will be unloaded at the inter-modal yard near the Pitt River Bridge.

The railway has always been integral to Pitt Meadows. The arrival of the Canadian Pacific Railway line in 1885 spurred growth in the community, as it was no longer necessary to travel here by boat.

Today, Canadian Pacific currently owns 83 hectares (205 acres) along Lougheed Highway near Kennedy Road on both sides of the tracks, 63 of which are undeveloped.

The other 20 is an inter-modal yard.

John Olsen, a Pitt Meadows resident, worked for CP Rail for 35 years until he retired in 2008. He started out as a yard man, then became a train man, a freighter conductor and finally worked at the transfer terminal in Port Coquitlam.

Linking train cars together was much like a puzzle. “It was challenging enough,” he says when asked how he came to work with the same company for 35 years.

And because he worked many night shifts, he always got to see the start of the day. “I got to see more sunrises than most people,” he says. “I liked that the best.”

In Pitt Meadows, Canadian Pacific employs a total of 37 employees (both union and non-unionized), along with roughly 40 contracted staff.

There are a wide range of jobs in an intermodal yard that range from shunt and truck drivers, crane operators, kiosk clerks, train crews, mechanical staff, operations managers,

the terminal superintendent and office staff.

It’s a 24-7 operation, always buzzing, in all kinds of weather. Between 400-500 trucks visit the terminal each day, Monday to Friday.

CPR’s 22,500-kilometre network extends from the Port of Vancouver in Canada’s west to The Port of Montreal in Canada’s east, and to the U.S. industrial centers of Chicago, Newark, Philadelphia, Washington, New York City and Buffalo.

Spokesperson Kevin Hrysak says CP’s Vancouver Inter-modal Facility is one of many yards across North America that involves the movement of freight through multiple modes of transportation such as rail, trucks and ships and includes both domestic and international services.

In 2011, inter-modal represented 26 per cent of CP’s overall business, In the company’s recently published quarterly report, inter-modal revenue was $363 million in the third quarter of 2012, an increase of $25 million, or 7 per cent, from $338 million.

“We have the capacity to efficiently handle goods shipped in customer containers or shipped in our own fleet of dry, heated or refrigerated units to North American and world markets.”

Canadian Pacific is also a company that’s set to stay in Pitt Meadows for the long term.

In January, the company purchased of 23 hectares (58 acres) of land on the other side of the train tracks for $4 million, but there are no immediate plans to increase the size of its operation. ❚❚ By Monisha Martins

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Since opening its doors in April, the new employment centre has seen 500 people a month come in for help, says coordinator Karoline deVries, who was working right into this month on the huge task of combining the efforts of several local employment agencies into one facility.

“It’s been so busy,” she said of both the numbers of those seeking work and her task of setting up a new space near Memorial Peace Park, at 107–22470 Dewdney Trunk Rd. Recent job numbers show that despite the addition of 52,000 jobs throughout Canada in September, B.C.’s employment rate remained about the same, and the unemployment rate edged up slightly to seven per cent. The local rate is slightly higher with approximately 2,800 people looking for work.

And those new full-time jobs are going to a specific group of males between the ages of 25-54, according to StatsCan. Displaced older workers make up many of those 500 a month looking for help at WorkBC, and this age group faces tough hurdles when it comes to finding new employment, deVries says.

Retraining is key for this sector of the population she adds. “They need to work on highlighting their transferable skills.”

WorkBC begins by helping people brush up their resumes to reflect their skill and target specific jobs. If more help is needed, there is one-to-one help, workshops on technology and computer training. Whether such training gets you a job or not, it’s vital to grab any opportunity for education, she says.

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The site combines the efforts of Douglas College along with existing Maple Ridge employment agencies, Bowman Employment Services, Buxton Consulting and Inner Choices. It also houses the Immigrant Services Society of BC, which is vital for integrating new Canadians into the local job market, she adds.

“It’s really exciting,” she said. “New initiatives for training are out there and we can link into these things. We have the one-to-one A-Z of retraining.”

While deVries is positive about the difference WorkBC can make, she’s realistic about the difficulties facing workers in this changing economy. She’s been in the employment business a long time throughout B.C. and has seen workers in primary industries, such as logging and fishing, try and make the leap into the technological world.

StatsCan numbers also indicate that more people share her optimism about the future job market as 72,000 unemployed people decided to start looking for work in September.

Sandy Blue, strategic economic initiative manager for Maple Ridge, says there is plenty to be optimistic about. Plans to densify the downtown core will bring concrete improvements to the local economy, she says. She notes that 40 projects have come through municipal hall as part of the municipality’s town centre investment incentive program and another 500 across Maple Ridge.

She’s seeing high quality building project proposals with unique benefits such as LEED Continued on page 15

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target the creation of high tech jobs to attract the 60-70 per cent of people working outside of Maple Ridge.

She points to companies like RST Instruments, a high-tech firm which relocated to the community specifically because most of its skilled workforce lived here. She’s talking to people around B.C., Europe and Asia in hopes of attracting green technologies to Maple Ridge and says there is more interest than she has ever seen before.

That’s good for those educated commuters currently flocking out of Maple Ridge each morning for work, says deVries, who notes that 23 per cent of local residents have degrees.

“We have a highly educated community,” she said. “And they want to work here.”

If companies do locate in Maple Ridge, chances are they will stay, Blue notes. Maple Ridge has a strong rate of survival for small businesses. About 90 per cent of Maple Ridge start-up businesses are still alive after three years, according to municipal stats, well above the 66 per cent provincial average.

“When business do make the decision to come here,” she said, “they tend to stay.”

Fa

certified environmental standards and other upscale designs that she’s sure will attract new business to the community.

To attract that business, Maple Ridge has partnered with Pitt Meadows and Mission to promote the region through Invest North Fraser. Pitt Meadows has targeted agriculture, aviation, retail and tourism, while Maple Ridge will promote itself as a great home for technology, advanced education and tourism, and agriculture.

To date, however, retail, health, and manufacturing remain the top employment sectors, according to the Maple Ridge community profile. And while Invest North Fraser hopes to attract specific sector and high tech jobs to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, deVries says there’s a current shortage of workers in traditional trades.

“There’s a great opportunity to find work in those fields,” she said.

Projections suggest the approximately 37,000 local jobs will double and construction needed to house the expected doubling of the population will keep the demand for skilled tradespeople high.

But Blue notes the municipality’s plan is to

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Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows give back to local hospital Ridge Meadows Hospital holds a special place for many in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. As the only one serving the two communities, Ridge Meadows Hospital is where many local residents entered this world, and where their final days will be spent.

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16 Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012

So it’s no surprise the extent to which local residents have come to support their hospital.

In recent years, the hospital has added a new emergency room, a new ambulatory care ward, and a new psychiatric ward. All of these projects would have been impossible without the support of the community, says Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation acting director Annika Polegato.

“We’re very lucky to live in such a generous community,” she says. “It never ceases to amaze me how willing people in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows are to give.”

The Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation collected more than $800,000 in donations last year, with 90 per cent of those donations coming from individuals in the community.

“Every dollar counts, whether it’s $10 or $10,000,” says Polegato.

In 2004, the Greg Moore Foundation donated $500,000 to the campaign for the hospital’s new emergency room.

The hospital’s Betsy Bilodeau Ambulatory Care Ward, home to the hospital’s new cataract clinic, was made possible thanks to Maple Ridge resident and former hospital volunteer Betsy Bilodeau, who left her entire estate – close to $500,000 – to the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation several years ago.

The hospital’s $3 million psychiatry ward, which opened in 2009, was made possible in part by a $1 million donation by Maple Ridge realtor Ron Antalek, who now chairs the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation.

“This hospital holds a special place in this community, that’s why I, and so many others, feel it’s important to support it any way we

can,” says Antalek, whose mother was a nurse at the hospital.

Recently, Ridge Meadows Hospital opened its new Health Information Resource Centre with the help of a $7,000 donation from Saint Mary’s Health Foundation.

Former patient Tom Manion helped fundraise $25,000 in gratitude for the hospital staff who likely saved his life after he was diagnosed with having had a heart attack.

The foundation also raises money for equipment, education and research at the hospital, and with government funding in short supply, staff at the hospital have come to rely on the foundation to provide things like colonoscopes, cardio monitors, surgical equipment, blood analyzers, and more.

Foundation grants for staff training allow doctors, nurses, and all health care workers to upgrade their professional skills.

In addition to individual donations, the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation holds a number of fundraisers throughout the year.

This year’s 24th annual Snow Ball gala raised $238,000 for the hospital foundation, besting the pervious record for the event by more than $35,000. The foundation’s annual Fund Run attracted 375 runners on June 3, raising more than $34,000.

“The community is what makes this hospital special,” says Polegato. “Everything we do is with the support of the community.”

• To learn about how you can give back to Ridge Meadows Hospital, visit the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation’s website at www.rmhfoundation.com ❚❚ Story: Robert Mangelsdorf. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

Annika Polegato, development manager, and Ron Antalek, chair, of the Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation, stand in front of the donor wall.

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Modernized hospital attracts top staff STAIN-RESISTANT Ridge Meadows Hospital has seen its fair share of changes over the LEES* CARPET past 10 years, and health care professionals are taking notice.

The hospital’s new 2,950-square-metre Greg Moore Emergency Room is nearly triple the size of the old emergency room, and close to double its capacity for hospital visits.

The hospital’s new Betsy Bilodeau Ambulatory Care Ward is home to the hospital’s new cataract clinic, while the new $3 million psychiatry ward, which opened in 2009, offers a more spacious therapeutic environment and adds critical capacity to care for patients requiring acute psychiatric services.

The many improvements to the hospital have not gone unnoticed by health care professionals, and have allowed the hospital to attract the best staff available.

“With all the changes, [Ridge Meadows Hospital] has attracted the best people, because they know they can do the best work here, and that improves health care,” says Ridge Meadows Hospital Foundation chair Ron Antalek. “And the physicians who come here, they end up moving here.”

While the modernized facilities have helped attract some of the top doctors in the region, so too has the community itself.

Close to five years ago, the District of Maple Ridge put together a CD package extolling the virtues of life north of the Fraser River to attract physicians and health care workers.

“We recruited 10 physicians that year because of it,” says Ridge Meadows Hospital executive director Val Spurrell.

The opening of the Pitt River and Golden Ears bridges has made it easier than ever for staff to commute to the hospital, she adds.

With more than 1,000 employees at Ridge Meadows Hospital, the Fraser Health Authority is the second largest employer in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, behind only School District No. 42.

Having high quality local health care is a benefit not only for Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows residents, but employers too, says Spurrell.

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company, because they don’t take as much time off work,” she says.

It also makes it easier to attract employees to work locally.

“For young families thinking about moving to Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows, we can offer top-notch health care from prenatal to end-of-life care,” says Spurrell.

And the hospital still has room to grow. Currently, the Alouette Rehab Unit and 3 North Ward contain 32 beds that can be used as overflow if needed.

“As we surge in the winter, rather than get extremely congested in the emergency room, unlike other hospitals … we can overflow into those wards as needed,” said Spurrell.

The next major step in the contining rejuvenation of the hospital will be the renovation of the 1 North Ward, which was the former home of the hospital’s psychiatry ward.

Spurrell says the hospital has submitted a business case to the Fraser Health Authority to turn the currently empty ward into a new surgical unit.

The current surgical unit would be moved from the third floor, and that would free up more medical space. “[1 North Ward] is right beside the OR, so it would be an ideal surgical unit,” she says. “It will cost a few million, and it will take a few years to get the money, but we’ve put in the business case, and they didn’t throw it back at us, so that’s good.” ❚ Story: Robert Mangelsdorf.

Photo: Collen Flanagan.

Housing market stable in Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows The local housing market has not been immune to the deep freeze enveloping the housing market throughout the Vancouver region and the entire country in the autumn of 2012.

But locally the result has more of a slight cooling after a decade of heating up, says one of the area’s top selling realtors.

“The market was so hot for the past decade,” says Ron Antalek of Remax Lifestyles Realty. “The Vancouver and Richmond concerns are driving much of the forecasts.”

Real Estate Board of Greater Vancouver (REBGV) stats show that Lower Mainland sales dropped by 32.5 per cent last month from September 2011. The region also posted an 8.1 per cent drop in one month from August to September, leading to sales declining to 41.6 per cent below the 10-year average.

But to date, the downturn is nowhere as harsh as the drop seen in Vancouver or surrounding communities.

“We have been consistently stable,” Antalek says.

While surrounding communities have seen sales declines of 40 to 50 per cent, such as in Burnaby and Coquitlam, September sales were down by 16 per cent for a home in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, according to REBGV’s Multiple Listing Statistics.

Between July and September 2011, 294 single family homes were sold compared to 247 in the same period of 2012. The downturn was higher for townhomes sales, which dropped 24.3 per cent from September 2011, with 78 sold from July to September 2012 compared with 103 in 2011.

In one of the few positive showings anywhere in the MLS stats, apartment sales in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows were up 16 per cent.

And while other markets have seen equally dramatic downturns in the benchmark price for homes, Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows prices have

remained “virtually the same,” Antalek says.

The benchmark price for a single-family home in 2012 was $483,000, compared to $488,000 in 2011. The drop was slightly more for townhomes, for which the average price of $272,400 was down four per cent from $308,770 the year before.

Antalek expects the local market to cool off a little more during the fall and winter months and begin thawing in April.

Ron Antalek stands outside a home he is selling along River Road in Maple Ridge.

Housing starts in Maple Ridge are still strong, with a record number of apartments being built in the downtown core, he says.

Pent up demand and reaction to further HST transition changes taking place in April 2013 will also help shift the market, he says.

“It may be a psychological shift,” he added, “but

that usually puts confidence back into the market.”

Many pundits are blaming the lack of consumer confidence about new mortgage rules as the main reason for the dramatic downturn in the market.

“There’s been a clear reduction in buyer demand in the three months since the federal government eliminated the availability of a 30-year amortization on government-insured mortgages,” said Eugene Klein, REBGV president. “This makes homes less affordable for the people of the region.”

Antalek echoes the REBGV president’s sentiments. “The biggest notable affect came from those mortgage changes,” he says.

The new reality is that buyers applying for government-backed mortgages with less than 20 per cent down must now face a maximum amortization rate of 25 years instead of the 30-40 year amortizations that became popular in the past decade.

The federal government says the changes, which took affect in July, are to help homeowners save money by building equity in their homes.

The new amortization limit applies to those buying a home under $1 million with less than 20 per cent down. Anyone hoping for a government-insured mortgage for more than $1 million must find 20 per cent to put toward their mortgage. As well, the total amount of debt is now limited to 39 per cent of household income.

But Antalek says there’s plenty to be positive about. He points to the “astronomically good” interest rates that have remained throughout the recent market volatility and suggests it’s a buyer’s market for those who can navigate the new mortgage rules.

“We’ve been a bit spoiled by these incredible rates and things are just stabilizing a bit.” ❚ Story: Lynn Easton. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

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MAPLE RIDGE & PITT MEADOWS OUTLOOK 2012 19

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A LEADER in the Outlook of MAPLE RIDGE PITT MEADOWS Since 1953

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Currently, the four dealerships sell about 5,000 new and used vehicles a year while 200 employees work within the group.

group ownership, costs can be cut and economies of scale achieved.

“It’s very tough competing in this day and age with this business climate that we’re in right now.”

“with the amount of knowledge our customers can get, which I’m not opposed to.”

Results are based on long-term marketing and brand building.

“Most definitely, that is the trend,” says Scott. “There are fewer and fewer stand-alone operators and more and more groups taking over.”

The Internet’s also changed how the auto business works.

No longer do shoppers rely on a car salesman to explain the features.

That might seem to reduce competition, but Scott says sales managers within the same group compete for each sale while for the final reality check, there are at least 10 separately owned dealerships for each make in the Lower Mainland.

While most car shoppers still want to test drive a new auto, many do all of their homework first online, accomplishing about 80 to 90 per cent of the buying process, Scott says.

Customers are more prepared when they walk into a dealership. But that means the dealership and sales staff have to be better, she points out. The cyclical nature of the business means if sales of one manufacturer cools, the other picks up

“It’s good to be diversified with different brands. That’s all part of it,”Scott says.

“We’re very aggressive in our marketing, not only tactical which is pricing and payments, but also with brand and image building.

“We’ve concentrated quite a bit on building the West Coast Auto Group image. We’ve been doing that for a long time and built ourselves up on that name over time,” Scott says.

“It’s good when you have more than one type of vehicle. I call it friendly competition.

By combining administration and finance centres through

“That’s becoming more and more important daily. So many consumers shop online now.”

Michelle Jones-Ruppel, who runs the Ford Lincoln and Nissan stores, agrees – the Internet has changed the car business,

As manager, she realizes staff are the priority. “So you build yourself a strong team, strong managers, surround yourself with good people.

“You tend to grow your business and customer retention and customer loyalty are a lot stronger.

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bridging the gap located at the north end of the golden ears bridge

E

A LEADER in the Outlook of MAPLE RIDGE PITT MEADOWS Since 1953

a history with.... THE JONESES Scott Jones & Michelle Jones-Ruppel.

Owners of West Coast Ford Lincoln, West Coast Toyota, West Coast Nissan, West Coast Mazda, West Can Leasing, West Coast Detail & Accessory Centre and....

Soon to be open a new Kia Dealership

Currently, the four dealerships sell about 5,000 new and used vehicles a year while 200 employees work within the group.

group ownership, costs can be cut and economies of scale achieved.

“It’s very tough competing in this day and age with this business climate that we’re in right now.”

“with the amount of knowledge our customers can get, which I’m not opposed to.”

Results are based on long-term marketing and brand building.

“Most definitely, that is the trend,” says Scott. “There are fewer and fewer stand-alone operators and more and more groups taking over.”

The Internet’s also changed how the auto business works.

No longer do shoppers rely on a car salesman to explain the features.

That might seem to reduce competition, but Scott says sales managers within the same group compete for each sale while for the final reality check, there are at least 10 separately owned dealerships for each make in the Lower Mainland.

While most car shoppers still want to test drive a new auto, many do all of their homework first online, accomplishing about 80 to 90 per cent of the buying process, Scott says.

Customers are more prepared when they walk into a dealership. But that means the dealership and sales staff have to be better, she points out. The cyclical nature of the business means if sales of one manufacturer cools, the other picks up

“It’s good to be diversified with different brands. That’s all part of it,”Scott says.

“We’re very aggressive in our marketing, not only tactical which is pricing and payments, but also with brand and image building.

“We’ve concentrated quite a bit on building the West Coast Auto Group image. We’ve been doing that for a long time and built ourselves up on that name over time,” Scott says.

“It’s good when you have more than one type of vehicle. I call it friendly competition.

By combining administration and finance centres through

“That’s becoming more and more important daily. So many consumers shop online now.”

Michelle Jones-Ruppel, who runs the Ford Lincoln and Nissan stores, agrees – the Internet has changed the car business,

As manager, she realizes staff are the priority. “So you build yourself a strong team, strong managers, surround yourself with good people.

“You tend to grow your business and customer retention and customer loyalty are a lot stronger.

“Good quality people are hard to find.”

LOOKING FOR A CAR THEN WEST COAST AUTO GROUP IS YOUR ANSWER. With 5 dealerships, a leasing, a detailing and accessory centre you get the best choice when making your car buying decisions.

West Coast Ford Lincoln treats the needs of each individual customer with paramount concern. We know that you have high expectations, and as a car dealer we enjoy the challenge of meeting and exceeding those standards each and every time.

Visit us....for your new car.

At West Coast Nissan, we pride ourselves on customer service. Our commitment is to provide you with the best possible vehicles and related services. We conduct our business with a personal and ethical approach, in an atmosphere of respect for all our customers and employees.

We invite you to visit West Coast Nissan and experience a better way to buy a vehicle.

Have you ever visited a dealership after hours because you were intimidated by aggressive sales people, or maybe you just felt like some pressure-free browsing time?

At West Coast Toyota, you can feel comfortable walking around our lot and browsing through our showroom because we won’t bother you until you’re ready.

We believe buying and servicing a car doesn’t have to be a difficult process. We believe in doing things in a different way - a better way!

West Coast Mazda is a winner of the President’s Club and Dealer of Distinction awards. What does that mean? It means we have a lot of really happy customers all over Pitt Meadows, Metro Vancouver and the province of British Columbia.

Kia Motors Corporation is part of the Hyundai-Kia Automotive Group, the fourth-largest automaker in the world.

Kia has played a leading role in developing alternative-fuel vehicles to help significantly reduce fuel emissions West Coast Auto Group will be opening up a local Kia Dealership in 2013

WEST COAST

WEST COAST

WEST COAST

WEST COAST

WEST COAST

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1-866-334-8581

20000 Lougheed Hwy. Pitt Meadows

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Jason Walker, an employee of the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, stands by a truck. Photo: Colleen Flanagan.

Creating a greener tomorrow The way we see garbage is going to change dramatically in the next few years.

That’s the word from Kim Day, executive director of the Ridge Meadows Recycling Society, and she should know given her position as manager of one of the province’s leading recycling facilities.

Day says two big ideas currently filtering their way through regional and provincial planning bodies will have a huge impact on how garbage and recycling issues are handled in years to come.

The Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) program is currently being hashed out amongst stakeholders to develop a workable plan that will ensure product manufacturers take start-to-finish responsibility for the packaging in

which their goods are delivered to consumers. Products to be dealt with by 2015: Packaging and printed materials; Electronics and electrical products; Mercury-containing products (including lamps); Household hazardous and special wastes; Automotive products.

Day says the EPR program will make manufacturers 100 percent responsible for the products they produce – including the packaging – so that the impact of both product and packaging on the environment can be kept to a minimum.

She admits her colleagues in the recycling industry aren’t sure yet how this will affect their operations because implementation details

haven’t been finalized, but she’s pleased that this measure is taking place.

“We’re not sure how it will affect us, but it’s an absolutely great concept – that industry pays for the whole lifecycle of its products,” says Day. The second big shift is the move to require separate processing of organic waste by households and waste companies so that foodstuffs aren’t landfilled or incinerated anymore.

“Organics are going to be a huge shift for the community,” Day suggests. “The municipality is currently studying the impact [it will have]. We’ll likely start seeing organics picked up soon to beat the 2015 ban.”

Metro Vancouver plans to remove 70 percent of organic waste by 2015, and eventually a complete ban will be in place, along with fines for those who defy the efforts to keep organic waste out of landfills.

Day says Maple Ridge has yet to decide how collection of organic materials will take place given that the community has private garbage pick up, but the Pitt Meadows program is already in place.

Again, it’s all part of the ever-changing world of waste management, says Day, whose recycling depot has been at the forefront of the battle to come to grips with our trash for four decades. It was one of the first in British Columbia, having started as an environmental group that eventually managed to convince a couple of forward-looking municipal councils that recycling would be the way of the future.

Today, the recycling depot handles about 11,000 tonnes of materials per year, and employees 64 full- and part-time people. About 350 cars per day make a trip to the centre because, as an eco-depot (one of the few in Metro Vancouver) it offers the complete range of recycling options and programs currently available … all in one location.

“Most municipalities don’t have one-stop recycling,” says Day, nothing that recycling tends to be fragmented between private and public bodies elsewhere. “Burnaby is setting up a city-run program similar to ours, and other communities are now looking at creating eco-depots like we have.”

She says an eco-depot makes sense because it makes recycling easier for

the average resident, who only has to make one stop, and is therefore more likely to do so.

With so much being recycled at the Albion depot these days – paper, plastics, paint, oil, appliances, metals, cardboard, electronics of all kinds, batteries, polystyrene (Styrofoam) – the recycling society’s executive director says there’s a bit of a space crunch happening at the current site.

“There are no plans for physical expansion, but we could sure use some land because we are so squished at this location,” says Day. That said, she acknowledges that finding a new location would be a large project given it would have to include Metro Vancouver’s waste transfer station, and the fact that there aren’t a large number of suitable parcels of land currently available.

For now, Day says the recycling society will continue to do what it’s been doing for the past 40 years – divert waste from landfills so that the environment continues to get a break.

The society’s immediate plans involve purchasing a new truck to handle the spate of blue box infill projects currently taking place as new homes are built, plus some new hires to keep up with the urban densification that is taking place.

There are also plans to expand current education programs with School District No. 42, to teach children about composting and “reduce/ reuse” lessons.

The way we look at garbage is definitely changing, says Day, and that’s going to mean a greener tomorrow for all of us. ❚❚ Story: Robert Prince.

MARC DALTON MLA

MAPLE RIDGE/MISSION

Technology + Passion = Beauty

My constituency office is here to assist you with:

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• Government related issues • Information on government programs • Certifying your copies • Arranging congratulatory messages

Marc has been appointed Parliamentary Secretary for Independent Schools and sits on the Tuesday - Thursday 10-5; Friday 10-8; Saturday 10-5; Closed Sunday Monday committee on Finance Select& Standing at

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22 Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows Outlook 2012

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Business parks in Pitt Meadows Rotary Club, and Maple Ridge offer a range service about self so much good work being done for the of choice for potential tenants With community by Rotary, you’d think everyone would The view from the top of 256th Street - on a clear day - is breath-taking. Looking west, through early morning fog, you can see Maple Ridge below, the towers of the Golden Ears Bridge rising into the sky and the Fraser River snaking towards the sea.

The vistas seen from Kanaka Business Park could be worth a million dollars, but the 45.7 hectare (113 acre) site is some of the most inexpensive industrial land in Metro Vancouver.

The park offers 48 vacant industrial lots from one to four acres for sale, lease or build-to-suit options.

Interest in the park, which is only two years old, has picked up over the past six months after lying dormant during the worst of the recession.

“What I can attribute that to is – we offer some of the best value for industrial land in Metro Vancouver and good building conditions, “ said Vito DeCicco, a senior vice-president with the park’s leasing and sales agent, Colliers International.

The Van Maren Group, which owns the park, has been flexible to generate activity and interest.

“We are kind of out there distance-wise, so we have to differentiate ourselves and that’s on price. We’ve certainly done that,” said DeCicco.

Thus far, two business have set up shop in the business park, but Colliers has been fielding interest from trucking and light manufacturing companies because the land is a deal. The Kanaka Business Park has land priced at $450,000 to $500,000 per acre.

“I don’t think you can find land for that price anywhere west of Hope. I know pricing in Chilliwack is above ours,” DeCicco said.

“The pricing in the rest of Metro Vancouver for industrial land makes it really difficult for manufacturing to locate there. We are at a price where we can encourage manufacturing,” he added.

While the Kanaka Business Park boasts some of the

most affordable industrial land in the area, the Golden Ears Business Park in Pitt Meadows sets itself apart by featuring up to 750,00 square feet of build-to-suit options.

The second phase of the park, located on Airport Way near Harris Road, will add another 100,000 sq. ft. to the industrial hub.

The Onni park has also just attracted two new tenants.

Euro-Rite Cabinets will be relocating to Pitt Meadows from Port Coquitlam to occupy 118,840 sq. ft. and be the sole tenant in one building.

Chicago-based Maurice Sporting Goods is moving its operation from Burnaby to expand into 73,645 sq. ft. in another newly designed building.

Once both new buildings are compete, they will represent a 50 per cent increase in Pitt Meadows industrial base and is expected to generate between 175 and 200 new jobs.

“It’s very significant, especially since this was a site that was pioneered as a place where the owner would build to suit a business,” said Chris Morrison, senior vice-president in the industrial division with Colliers International.

“It represents the opportunity to have something custom built that doesn’t exist in the market place.”

The Golden Ears Business Park’s location is ideal. Not only is it close to railway and highways, but it is at the centre of an untapped employee base, thanks to a dearth of local jobs. The park is the second largest in B.C. “There is not a lot of supply out in the market,” said Morrison.” So when someone needs something specific, we’ve been able to accommodate them. We are really excited about how it is moving forward.” ❚❚ Story: Monisha Martins.

want to be involved.

But the biggest challenge going forward for the Haney and Meadowridge Rotary Clubs is membership.

If they’re going to keep up the fundraising pace, Meadowridge Rotary Club president Lindsay Hendy says new members will be necessary just to replace current attrition. An aging membership, and a lack of younger members to replace them, has been a difficulty for Rotary in the past decade, and the only comfort Rotarians can turn to is that the problem is not specific to their organization; it’s a problem faced by every North American service club.

“Youth is always a challenge for us,” says Hendy, whose club currently sits at about 36 members. “The membership committee is always looking for suitable new members.”

It’s the same story for the Haney Rotary Club, which currently has 41 members, according to club president Keesha Rosario.

“We would love to see more members to help us with our very important work,” says Rosario.

“And we’d love to see a greater cross-section of the community become involved.”

Rotary is not about being a

business leader so much anymore, but about being a leader in whatever it is you do in your daily life.

She says she joined for the mentoring opportunities Rotary affords.

“We’d really like to see more people come from the education sector, the not-for-profit sector, and from government,” she adds.

“I think a lot of people think it’s an elitist business club that they can’t join, but that’s not the case.

I think we’re going to need better communications to explain what modern Rotary is about.”

With its outstanding track record of “service above self,” Rotary has made some significant contributions to Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows over the years.

Some of the major Rotary -funded projects in recent years included the Albion Sports Fields, Iron Horse Youth Safe House, Rotary spray park, as well as bursary programs, the Rotary House Lawn Bowling Club, and just recently the building of a wheelchair accessible playground at Eric Langton elementary.

In addition to these local efforts, are the international projects that Continued on page 25

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Rotary presidents Lyndsay Hendy, left, and Keesha Rosario, at the Albion Sportsfields.

Rotary Club… continued from page 24 Rotary supports around the world, in particular the fight to eradicate polio, which is fast becoming a thing of the past thanks to Rotary’s leadership.

Programs focusing on peace and conflict prevention and resolution, disease prevention and treatment, water and sanitation, maternal and child health, basic education and literacy, and economic and community development are the areas where Rotary International steps in to help.

The Meadowridge and Haney clubs are active at both the local and international levels, so the opportunities for those interested in service to the community and the world are ever-present.

Going into 2013, Hendy says Meadowridge has made no changes to its usual fundraising efforts, such as Wine Fest and the sports banquet.

Rosario says the Haney club will continue its ladies’ and men’s nights (though the format of the latter will likely change), and there will still be a golf tournament. The Rotary Duck Race sponsored by the two clubs will also be back.

Rosario noted that her club will continue to push the five avenues of service it’s been following for a long time – club service, community service, international service, vocational service, and New Generations (youth) service.

“We are going to be networking more with organizations in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows [over the coming year] to determine our community needs,” she adds.

She also expects to work more closely with Meadowridge Rotary as joint projects requiring larger dollars come more to the forefront for the two organizations.

“We’re looking to shake things up a bit to make it more exciting for everyone,” says Rosario. “We’re starting to embrace social media more, identifying community needs is key ... and we’re going to have to do better at explaining what modern Rotary is about.”

Hendy has been with Rotary for a decade and the message hasn’t changed: “service above self.”

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North Lougheed: A blank slate, prime for development Envisioning what will occupy the land that runs along the north side of Lougheed Highway requires a little imagination.

Picture an old wooden barn, battered by wind and weather, replaced by a business park. Picture another stretch, which has been cleared of trees, replaced with sparkly stores.

From Harris Road to Meadows Gardens Way, the land is prime for development.

“The area is very strategically located,” said David Bell, a senior associate of planning and retail consulting at Colliers International. “Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge have a lot going for them. With the new bridges comes a new awareness of their spot on the Lower Mainland map.”

The City of Pitt Meadows has begun a process that will pave the way for development on 50.9 hectares (125 acres) of land in the North Lougheed Corridor by filing an application in October to exclude the area from the provincially protected agricultural land reserve.

In supporting the first step towards development, Mayor Deb Walters pointed to council’s strategic plan, which seeks to pursue improvements to the Lougheed corridor, diversify the city’s tax base and create local jobs.

“I believe that this application

supports the vision of our strategic plan,” said Walters.

“It is not easy to make a request to remove 32 hectares from our 8,825-hectare farmland inventory.

Growth will bring people with needs and demands and those will fill the businesses. If this is approved, it’s not going to happen over night. We are looking at a 10-year build-out.”

The process to develop the corridor has been a lengthy one that included a thorough study, which envisioned what kind of development the area could support.

The city hopes that developing the entire site will facilitate the construction of the North Lougheed Connector, a road that’s needed to access the commercial strip. The bill will likely be footed by developers.

From a market perspective, consultants see the intersection at Harris Road and Lougheed Highway as a commercial cluster that could host a variety of uses, including a business hotel with meeting facilities, a business park, as well as more shopping. Somewhere in the mix could be room for an agricultural trust or educational institute.

And it’s not just the vast tract of

land available that makes the strip attractive. Once developed, the location will be able to serve drivethrough traffic and, if properly anchored with a big-box store, larger regional populations.

The plan to develop the area, however, does not have unanimous support. Many residents spoke against it during a public hearing held in December and would rather see the area preserved as farmland.

From an economic perspective, though, the undeveloped land is a boon. The city's economic development advisory committee wants to

make sure the development eventually built in the North Lougheed Corridor is done right and not rushed.

The committee envisions a mix of uses on the site – from light industrial to retail.

"We have a chance now to start a discussion and make sure a high-quality development goes on the site," said the committee's chair, Terry Becker.

The committee also sees development in the North Lougheed Corridor as a way to increase employment, which has been contained since 2006.

Vacany rates are also low at 1.4 per cent, according to the committee, even with the Golden Ears Business Park.

Becker said the proposed land use in the corridor present an opportunity to meet continued demand for commercial, retail and light industrial uses.

Quality is important to the committee because the development needs to attract regional commerce and create consistency with the community's brand as a desirable place to "live, work and play." ❚❚ Story: Monisha Martins.

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Forestry in Maple Ridge’s roots The forestry industry has been a part of the communities of Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows since their founding, and while the industry has changed drastically in the past 150 years, forestry is still a vital part of the local economy.

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The first large scale logging operation locally was the Abernethy and Lougheed Logging Company, which by the 1920s was the largest in the province.

The logging company laid 55 miles of railroad into the forested valleys north of Maple Ridge, where crews harvested more than 7,000 acres of old growth cedar and fir. The company’s main camp was on a 40-acre site, now known as Allco Park, with bunkhouses to accommodate 700 employees.

In 1931, logging in the area came to a halt when a forest fire destroyed what is now the southern portion of Golden Ears Provincial Park.

Today, active commercial logging still takes place in northern Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge, but on a much smaller scale. The Malcolm Knapp UBC research forest, BCIT research forest, Kwantlen First Nation woodlot, and the Blue Mountain woodlot combine for 70,000 cubic metres of timber harvested annually.

“Logging here in Maple Ridge is definitely on a smaller scale that it used to be,” says Paul Lawson, manager of the Malcolm Knapp UBC Research Forest, which stretches across 56 sq. km in northern Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows. The working demonstration forest and field school employs close to 40 staff, and hosts more than 100 UBC forestry students every school year.

Lawson estimates the many local mills and active logging operations employ as many as 1,000 people locally. Most of the local forestry jobs are in the many mills that dot the shores of the Fraser River.

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However, the biggest of the bunch is the Hammond Cedar Mill, which celebrated its 100th anniversary in 2010, and was at one time the largest red cedar mill in the world.

Today the mill employs more than 300 workers, making it one of the largest employers in Maple Ridge.

The Ruskin neighborhood of east Maple Ridge has long been home to red cedar mills thanks to close access to transportation routes such as the Canadian Pacific Railway, the Lougheed Highway, and the Fraser River, as well as power from the nearby Ruskin Dam. ❚❚ Story: Robert Mangelsdorf. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

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“The mills today are more specialized in nature,” he says. “Many of them produce nichetype products, value-added products.”

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Local school district prepares students for post-secondary life Without a major university, college, or trade school campus in Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows, it is up to the local school district to prepare the next generation of skilled workers.

And there’s no shortage of options at the secondary and post-secondary level offered by the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows School District.

In addition to offering apprentice trade programs for high school students, the local school district also operates its own accredited post-secondary learning institution, Ridge Meadows College.

And thanks to partnerships with Lower Mainland universities, high school students can earn university credit for free while still in high school.

With tradespeople in high demand, university may not be the next best step for some students, according to Ron Lancaster, the district’s partnership program coordinator.

“University is not for everyone,” said Lancaster. “And it’s not the only path to a career and financial stability.”

The district offers apprenticeship programs in a variety of disciplines, including automotive repair, carpentry, culinary arts, electrical, metal fabrication, integrated trades, and hair design.

The trades apprenticeship programs offered by the district allows students to complete their provincial Level 1 schooling while still at high school.

“After they graduate, they would work for a year, and then go on to their Level 2 schooling,” said Lancaster. “We even have some students who work while going to school, and go straight into Level 2.”

Upon graduation, students in the district’s apprenticeship program are also eligible for a $1,000 cash scholarship to help them continue their education.

The district has also partnered with Kwantlen Polytechnic University, Vancouver Community College, and BCIT to provide local students with the ability to complete post-secondary credits while still in high school, for no cost.

With no major local universities or colleges, it’s up to the local school district to provide post-secondary education options for students in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows once they’ve graduated high school.

Douglas College previously operated a satellite campus based out of Thomas Haney secondary. However, its presence dwindled after the opening of the David Lam Campus in Coquitlam in the mid-1990s, eventually shutting close to 10 years ago.

Sprott-Shaw Community College recently closed its Maple Ridge location in September.

That leaves the school district’s privately-owned, and fully-accredited, Ridge Meadows College to serve local post-secondary students.

Ridge Meadows College offers certificate programs in early childhood education, dental reception, computer accounting, and office administration, as well as general interest courses. The college, now located at Riverside Centre, formerly Riverside Elementary School, also offers trades programs, including FoodSafe, WHMIS certification, building service worker, and forklift operator.

• For more information about Ridge Meadows College, visit rmcollege.ca • For more information about School District No. 42’s trades apprenticeship programs, visit apprenticeship.sd42.ca

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PricewaterhouseCoopers, the multinational professional services company, estimates in its 2012 report on entertainment and media that the industry is worth $2.1 trillion dollars worldwide, and every corner of the globe is fighting for a piece of the pie.

Marg Johnston, the Film Production Liaison for the District Maple Ridge, estimates her community has benefited from local film production to the tune of $3.7 million in the past two years. That money adds up as a result of location fees, buy-outs, donations to charitable organizations, and use of local services.

In 2012, she says the municipality has received $50,000 in permit and licence revenue so far.

“The conservative industry estimate is that each ‘shoot day’ produces approximately $10,000 in economic benefit to the community,” she says.

That industry daily estimate likely applies to Pitt Meadows, as well, but Lauren Halliday, the development services clerk who oversees film production permits in the city, says she doesn’t have a dollar figure available concerning total economic benefit to her community.

What Halliday does know is that filming in the community has remained relatively steady for the past five years, with an average of nearly 25 permitted productions a year, and the last two years showing an upswing.

“Based on the numbers, we would like to think there would be an increase, but again we have no way to determine what will happen over the next three years,” she said.

In Maple Ridge, Johnston says, “It is very difficult to make predictions in this industry. It really depends on the strength of the Canadian dollar and competition from other provinces.”

She adds, “Productions filming east of the Pitt River Bridge currently receive a regional six percent tax credit for filming outside of the

designated Vancouver area. The revitalization of the downtown core has helped though – I’m seeing a lot of repeat customers who are very pleased with the results, and are using the Memorial Peace Park, 224th Street area extensively for their film locations.”

Johnston says Maple Ridge sees between 30 to 40 productions each year, primarily lower-budget feature films, television shows and commercials. She notes that, according to the B.C. Film Commission, Maple Ridge receives a fairly substantial number of the province’s film projects.

So what makes the Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge so attractive? The tax break is a big help, but the natural scenery and friendly atmosphere are big factors, as well.

Recent productions in the area that should hit the big screen next year: The Company You Keep, directed by and starring Robert Redford; Girl In Progress, starring Eva Mendes; and a Jeff Bridges production called Seventh Sun, which stars Julianne Moore. Folks will also want to keep an eye out for the adventure film Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters, which filmed up at Golden Ears Park.

What makes the Pitt Meadows and Maple Ridge so attractive? Well, the tax break is a big help, but our natural scenery and friendly atmosphere are big factors, as well.

“We are a small city with a variety of amazing scenery,” Halliday says of Pitt Meadows. “From the mountains, dikes, rivers, agricultural land, housing [and] commercial space, there are many filming options to choose from.”

The same can be said for Maple Ridge, says Johnston, who adds that there’s a lot of versatility provided in the area that makes filming locally much easier.

Continued on page 31

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Celluloid dreams continued from page 30 “They can park their trucks in one area, and film high-end offices, streetscapes, mountain vistas, plus a huge variety of neighbourhoods, without having to venture too far.

“I’m constantly hearing from location managers about how much they enjoy filming in Maple Ridge as our residents and businesses are so accommodating and friendly. They also find our film application process much smoother and simpler here compared to other municipalities.

“The B.C. Film Commission refers to Maple Ridge as a ‘model’ for other communities in reference to our services, processes and positive ‘can do’ approach. We ensure our rates are cost and globally competitive for services and locations.”

Both Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows intend to keep the ball rolling as far as film production goes, as both are taking steps to ensure producers bring their projects east of the Pitt River.

Johnston points to the fact that Maple Ridge has had a dedicated film production liaison officer since 2006 to assist companies looking at this area. Her office is a “one-stop” resource for film companies, effectively collaborating

with all sectors of the community – emergency services, municipal hall, business, residential organizations – to make local film production as painless, and as lucrative, as possible.

In addition, Johnston says Maple Ridge is looking at ways to attract more production facilities to town, including CGI and special effects companies, which she calls a “great fit for our community.”

Halliday says Pitt Meadows city hall is currently reviewing its filming policy with an eye to attracting more production to the community.

“We are looking to have filming fall under the Economic Development Office, like how it’s managed in Maple Ridge. Being managed under economic development should help with the promotion of filming in Pitt Meadows.”

In the meantime, both liaisons say one good way for local businesses and individuals to take advantage of the film industry’s economic benefits is to register their property at bcfilmcommission.com. Location managers are always on the hunt for interesting locations, and being registered creates opportunity. ❚❚ Story: Robert Prince. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

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So when the idea that the Golden Ears United Soccer Club and the Pitt Meadows Soccer Club would unite under one banner, there was bound to be apprehension. The two long-time rivals had squared off countless times over the past three decades, creating that competitive antagonism that can bring out the best, and sometimes worst, in rivals.

But with an eye on the future of the ‘beautiful sport,’ the two clubs united officially last May, forming the West Coast Auto Group Football Club with hopes of writing a new chapter in the region’s storied soccer tradition.

Nick Pollard, vice-president of the WCAG FC, says the original merger started when B.C. Soccer introduced the its Premier League in early 2011 and the region applied for a franchise. While the bid was turned down, Pollard says it lead to the realization the competing fractions had more to gain by working together than by competing for bragging rights on the soccer pitch.

“When we actually sat down and started doing anything other than being competitors on the field and we started to work together, it went really well,” says Pollard.

As unification looked like it was going to be a reality, the benefits became obvious to both executives. Before the formation of the WCAG FC, the two rivals shared a couple of teams where the player numbers made sense.

“We decided that this is what makes sense for the kids, so let’s push it forward, recalls Pollard.

After fifty years of good morning and good night kisses...

After fifty years of good morning and good night kisses…

Over the years there had been some back and forth in terms of numbers, says Pollard.

“It didn’t matter, we were splitting the talent.

It became obvious that there were a lot of synergies between the two clubs.”

The combination of the two clubs would lead to one of the largest soccer association’s in the province, with about 4,200 players. But after some tense moments, the Golden Ears United Soccer Club officially gave its blessing in early May. The biggest benefit of the merger comes from having a deeper talent pool, fielding stronger teams at every level. Pollard said when the talent isn’t split, kids can improve because a wider selection of ability allows them to play at a level that equals their own strengths and weaknesses.

“The one thing about kids is that they develop at a different rate,” notes Pollard. “One kid might be a way ahead of the curve at 13 and everyone is saying what a superstar he is.

But by the time he’s 16, a lot of his peers may have caught up.”

He said from the executive standpoint, they want to see kids get as much support as they can so they stay interested in the sport beyond their first few years of playing.

“It’s important to have liked-skilled levels at every age level.”

The bigger pool of players also allows the WCAG FC to focus on a wider range of teaching, he says. Pollard emphasized that the Continued on page 33

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Merger makes teams… continued from page 32 greater competition within the organization also pushes players to strive to be better. More internal competition to vie for the top teams in your aged division is a bonus for players, not a hinderance.

He says soccer is fortunate to be in the position it is in B.C. The Vancouver Whitecaps have generated a growing interest in the sport, as with the success of the Canadian women’s team. Locally, players can draw inspiration from someone like Karina LeBlanc, the Canadian goalkeeper with more than 100 international games under belt and an Olympic bronze medal to boot.

“I applaud what they are doing because they are aiming to raise the level of soccer in our community,” says LeBlanc. “This region has always had great players come out of it and hopefully by combining all the clubs, players will get to play with and compete at a higher level daily. I think one thing when I was growing up that helped my success was surrounding myself with like-minded driven people.”

She said she and a few friends would often go out and play with the boys in order to find that competitive training and mentality.

LeBlanc says combining everyone will make it easier to find the right people to train with on a regular basis.

“I’d love to see the future Olympians of Canada come out of Maple Ridge because there is so much talent here,” she notes. “In speaking at the schools across the district, so many kids said they’d love to be an Olympian one day.

With the right training, resources and environment, there dreams can become a reality.”

Compare that to the sorry state of Canada’s beloved game of hockey.

Participation rates for hockey in Canada continue to drop, and for good reason. While the current NHL lockout squanders any goodwill the league had built since it torched an entire season in 2004/05, soccer in Canada has

been gaining incredible momentum. According to B.C. Soccer, more than 120,000 are registered to play throughout the province, with another 2,500 certified referees and thousand of volunteers contributing to the world’s most popular game.

Pollard says soccer’s allure stems from a number of reasons, one of which is its accessibility.

“Why I originally got my kids into soccer, and why I Iove soccer, is that everyone gets to play,” he says. “You don’t need thousands of dollars of equipment. You need a ball and some cleats. You can outfit any kid for a season for pretty much under $100.

With low registration fees and a seven-month season, Pollard says it’s easy to understand why the game is so popular with families.

“It’s a great sport for everyone. It’s a team sport. It’s great for physical conditioning. It’s got a lot going for it.”

Pollard says having the backing of the West Coast Auto Group helps while competing with other local clubs. Many of the existing clubs have the backing of big name local businesses and the sponsorship goes a long way to making the club competitive. He said the name West Coast FC had already been decided on before the sponsor was approached, but obviously the fit was perfect.

“Everyone agreed from the beginning that it shouldn’t be the Ridge Meadows Soccer Association or something like that, because everyone was getting away from names like that.”

While it failed in its first bid to gain entrance in the Premier League, he’s hoping the strength in numbers will open the door in the future.

Their is hope the region can build a soccer only facility, with artificial turf. But those are issues he’ll deal with an executive level. For now, he’s just going to enjoy the games.

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In Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows, there are 27 facilities that provide various levels of care to seniors – from independent living situations to extended care.

The costs and levels of service can vary widely – from private, for-profit facilities that provide many amenities, to income-based, subsidized housing that provide the necessities.

Ensuring that there are adequate levels of all kinds of seniors housing (and housing in general) is a major concern for civic politicians and bureaucrats.

Affordable seniors housing is a key consideration – given the aging “Baby Boomer” generation is already starting to place strains on available housing – locally, says Maple Ridge Coun. Cheryl Ashlie, who liaises with the Social Planning Advisory Committee.

Ashlie says the availability of market housing is not a problem at any level of the housing spectrum, as market forces do an adequate job of maintaining necessary stock.

However, she points out the same cannot be said for affordable housing, especially when it comes to seniors.

“Seniors’ [needs] have long been identified as an area we need to look at,” she says.

Ashlie notes that planning committee is currently gearing up for a major study into housing needs across the district, so that such issues can be addressed, and policy developed for the future.

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“This will be a huge body of work, but [also] an important body of work because it will define policy in the years to come,” she says.

Sue Wheeler, director of community services, says work on the housing action plan will begin shortly. A request for proposals will be issued before the end of November, and the public process should begin early in the new year.

Members of the Seniors Network, of which Heather Treleavan is chair, are interested in the whole process, especially as it affects those without the resources to afford the more expensive seniors’ facilities.

She says there is a high demand for low-income housing for seniors, and a serious lack of temporary housing in the area for those transitioning from their homes to care facilities.

It’s a tragedy, she says, that people who have long been contributing citizens in the community often find themselves facing homelessness because there is no place for them to go when their house is no longer an option, and when the long-term facilities they need can’t take them right away.

Something has to be done about temporary housing, she insists, because the closest such facility is in Burnaby, and that’s just too far away for most Maple Ridge residents to contemplate.

Concerning seniors housing issues over the next couple of years, Treleaven laments, “I don’t Continued on page 35

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New gaming centre on target for 2013 opening If you’re wondering whether the new gaming centre in Maple Ridge will open on schedule, don’t bet against it.

Residents of Sunwood Mature Lifestyle Community enjoy themselves at a Halloween Party.

Seniors‌ continued from page 34

Boomers require new housing. “People don’t want to be alone, and facilities like ours will be busy, for sure.�

The sentiment is echoed by Cheryl Noble of Greystone Manor, which has been operating 74 units in central Maple Ridge since 2008.

It took four years to lease all of the units, but Greystone is “pretty much full now� she says.

Noble says her company has no plans to build anymore facilities in the area, especially with the Westbrooke having opened this past summer in Pitt Meadows. “There is definitely an adequate supply of private independent living units in the area,� she confirms.

A one-bedroom suite at Greystone, with all accompanying services, rents for $2,588 per month. Noble considers that a pretty good deal, considering meals are included, as is recreation, housekeeping, on-site emergency support, and more. “It’s definitely the way seniors should get to spend their final years,� says the Greystone manager. “One resident said she felt like she was going on a cruise when she moved in four years ago, and she still feels like she’s on that cruise.�

Noble understands it’s not like that for all seniors because not all have the income necessary to afford such accommodations, but she thinks the Greystone model is the way the industry will go in years to come, especially the community activity. She expects even subsidized housing will try to offer more “active lifestyle� services to help keep people “focused, agile and busy.�

have any good news stories for you right now.�

The same cannot be said for Jessica Campbell, general manager for Sunwood Mature Lifestyles Community in Maple Ridge. The future for the residence she manages is looking bright, she says.

Sunwood is almost full, and the waiting list for specific types of units – in particular double bedroom and large bedroom suites – is a good length. Sunwood is just one of several seniors-oriented facilities that have opened in the past decade. Private facilities like Greystone Manor, Willow Senior Living Residence, Panorama by ECRA, Fraserview Village, Maple Ridge Towers and so on provide several hundred market value suites for singles and couples.

There are many reasons such facilities are attractive to seniors and their families, says Campbell, but one of the most important is the sense of community they create. “Seniors don’t want to be alone, and their families don’t want them to be alone,� says Sunwood’s manager. “It’s not good for people to be alone, or to be stuck in the ‘tea and toast’ syndrome, where they stop eating properly. It’s not good for them not to socialize, or to stop using their mental faculties. Being in a facility like ours helps them stay active and happy.�

Campbell says Sunwood doesn’t presently have any projects for Maple Ridge or Pitt Meadows on the drawing board that she’s aware of, but she predicts the seniors housing industry is going to be busier than ever in the next few years as more

Debbie

â?šâ?š Story: Robert Prince.

Photo: Collen Flanagan.

Kevin

Howard Blank, vice-president of media, entertainment and responsible gaming for the Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, confirms that construction of the new facility is on track for a late 2013 early 2014 opening, even though the building itself hasn’t been started.

To date about 300,000 cubic metres of earth have been moved on the parcel of land that has been a vacant lot on Lougheed Highway for many years. The portion of 227 Street that will eventually connect Lougheed to the Haney By-Pass has been the priority in preparation for construction of a gaming centre.

Early in the new year, however, passersby should start to see construction of the new facility taking shape.

Blank says that, as far as he knows, there have been no significant challenges encountered during construction to date, and that the project, as envisioned, will continue unchanged.

That project consists of a 22,000-square-foot facility that will include a 500-seat bingo hall, 150 slot machines, off-track horse race betting, a 150-seat restaurant and bar, a banquet hall, a conference room, and a 303-stall parking structure. It will replace the much smaller building on 224th Street that currently houses Great Canadian operations in Maple Ridge.

When the new gaming centre is completed, Blank says there will be about 75 new positions involved in the operation, in the areas of security, food and beverage, management, gaming personnel, and the like. He anticipates that the 224th Street staff members who currently work for Great Canadian in Maple Ridge will transfer to the new facility, and that hiring for new or unfilled positions will begin much closer to the opening date.

Aside from jobs, the Great Canadian vice-president says Maple Ridge will benefit from proceeds generated by the centre to the tune of 10 percent of net revenue. What that will turn out to be in actual dollars he was unwilling to say, but Maple Ridge Mayor Ernie Daykin

Howard Blank, vice president of Great Canadian Gaming Corporation, stands on the future site of the new Maple Ridge gaming centre. Photo: Colleen Flanagan

mayor, because any revenue from the facility will be a welcome addition to municipal coffers as council struggles to keep tax rates down.

Daykin is quick to point out, however, that any money generated by gaming in the community will be directed to one-off projects and special grants rather than general revenue. “We’re [council] adamant from the get-go that the money doesn’t go into general revenue,� he states. “It will be used for downtown investment, one-off grants to community groups that need help, and capital projects that seem to keep getting put off because we never have enough to do everything.�

The goal, says the mayor, is to

As for becoming more involved in community activities, Blank says that will happen more as time passes. “We’ll be reaching out to the community in many ways; we’re quite involved in the communities we have facilities in. We give millions of dollars away to organizations in the communities we serve, both at the site level and provincially.�

Blank says Great Canadian takes its responsibility to the communities it serves seriously, and anyone with a concern is welcome to call with questions.

As for future plans involving Maple Ridge, the Great Canadian executive says there is currently nothing else on the company planning table. â?šâ?š Story: Robert Prince.

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avoid falling into the trap of becoming dependent on the gaming money for operating costs because the amount is not guaranteed from year to year, which means shortfalls are a potential reality. “That’s where you get into trouble; it becomes very seductive, all that money.�

As for opposition to the project, Howard Blank says he hasn’t heard of any since the project received approval from council earlier this year.

In following months, he says Great Canadian has been reaching out to the community by speaking with a variety of organizations, including business groups and service clubs.

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says the municipality is projecting about $500,000 a year initially, and hopefully a lot more in years to come. “We’re going to have to get a year or two under our belt before we have a good handle on the number,� says the mayor, who points out the relatively small amount of money compared to other casino communities is a result of the fact that Maple Ridge will have a gaming centre, not a full-fledged casino. “I believe Coquitlam, for instance, gets about $5 or $6 million a year [from the Boulevard Casino operation], but we won’t see that kind of dough.�

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Selection process still underway for B.C. Jobs project plan Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows were first on the list last year for the B.C. Jobs plan.

After brainstorming sessions with local experts a year ago, the idea was to identify areas where jobs could be produced by removing roadblocks and creating conditions that could kickstart projects.

The meetings paid off and nine possible job producers were identified in what’s been labeled the North Fraser Regional Economic Investment Pilot.

More work and more details are needed, and

in the next few months Invest North Fraser, the entity that represents Maple Ridge, Pitt Meadows and Mission, will pare down the list from nine – to two or three doable projects.

North Fraser covers about 600 square miles and contains a fast-growing population, affordability, diverse workforce, good transportation according to the Ministry of Jobs, Tourism and Innovation.

As it stood in October, the nine possible job generators in Pitt Meadows-Maple Ridge-Mission: ❚❚ Mission Interpretive Forest Located on the west side of Stave Lake, a working forest offers 12,000 acres of land that’s been approved for recreation and will serve 2.5 million people in the Lower Mainland. Up to 70 jobs could result as Mission, First Nations and the Ministry of Forests, Lands and Natural Resource Operations open their land to outdoor recreation by improving an access road and developing camp sites. ❚❚ North Fraser Tourism Corridor In the same tourism vein, a North Fraser Tourism Corridor could promote the array of outdoor recreation, from fishing, hiking and mountain bike riding. Tourism Maple RidgePitt Meadows, Tourism Mission, and Scenic 7 – a partnership involving municipalities from Pitt Meadows to Hope. The intent would be to develop a marketing plan for the area, as well as coordinate the Experience the Fraser project. Experience the Fraser is intends to see hiking and cycling trails on both sides of the Fraser River from Vancouver to Hope.

About 40 per cent of those trails already exist.

❚❚ Fraser River Navigation More jobs could exist in transportation, by developing the Fraser River as a shipping and recreational channel from Hope to Vancouver. Jobs in forestry, river navigation and tourism would result. Agencies involved would include Transport Canada and Port Metro Vancouver. ❚❚ Pitt Meadows Regional Airport International Education Park The short form is YPK (which refers to the airport’s call letters) International Education Park and envisions international aviation education and a business park. Investment will increase intellectual and infrastructure capacity. International students already are being trained at the airport by the several flight schools at YPK. ❚❚ Eco Industrial Park The goal would be to create an industrial park that would support businesses from start-up phase to maturity. Businesses involved in agri-food, forestry, clean manufacturing, advanced technology and waste renewal and could see companies

Brad Hopcott stands in the corn maze at Meadows Maze on his family’s farm.

coordinate their products and minimize waste and impacts on the ecology. ❚❚ Agri-food distribution hub The centre would be located in Pitt Meadows and see a value-added food processing, production and distribution hub supporting local food production or the 100-mile diet. The general area is expected to be around the North Lougheed connector, the land for which is currently being sought for exclusion from the Agricultural Land Reserve. ❚❚ Business Innovation Accelerator A partnership between post-secondary institutions, industry and Maple Ridge will offer training to create competitive

entrepreneurs in agriculture, international education and tourism. ❚❚ Green Building Technologies Centre This would involve building a six-storey B.C. Wood learning centre located in Maple Ridge’s town centre to showcase renewable energy and green building technologies. A demonstration project and education centre would serve as spur to innovation. ❚❚ Working Farm School This too would be located in Maple Ridge and create a centre of excellence for agriculture and innovative environmental technologies. ❚❚ Story: Phil Melnychuk. Photo: Collen Flanagan.

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