S3pm_9-economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT ADVISORY COMMITTEE Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 7:00 p.m. Salmon River Committees & Commissions Room 4th Floor, 20338 – 65 Avenue, Langley, BC

MINUTES PRESENT: Teri-Lyn Conrad, John Graham, Ed Kolla, Gerry Larson, Rian Martin, Carol Paulson, Carla Robin, Alan Robinson, Chul Seung Lee, Catherine Thompson, Garry Tingley, Kitty Tsai and Joe Zaccaria MUNICIPAL REPRESENTATIVE: Councillor Jordan Bateman STAFF: G. MacKinnon, Economic Development Co-ordinator P. Crawford, Manager, Long Range Planning S. Carneiro, Recording Secretary IN ATTENDANCE: Mayor Rick Green, Councillor Grant Ward and Ramin Seifi of staff INTRODUCTION G. Mackinnon welcomed the six new members to the Economic Development Advisory Committee and roundtable introductions occurred. A.

APPROVAL OF AGENDA 1.

Economic Development Advisory Committee April 1, 2009 Moved by R. Martin, Seconded by J. Zaccaria, That the Economic Development Advisory Committee approve the Agenda of the April 1, 2009 meeting. CARRIED

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes B.

ELECTIONS 1.

Elections – 2009 There were two nominations for the position of Chair for 2009, E. Kolla and A. Robinson. The committee members were, therefore, requested to cast their vote in favour of one of the candidates. Members agreed that the unsuccessful Chair candidate would be the Vice-Chair for 2009. E. Kolla received the highest number of votes and was, therefore, elected Chair and A. Robinson Vice-Chair of the Economic Development Advisory Committee for 2009.

C.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES 1.

Economic Development Commission November 5, 2008 Moved by G. Tingley, Seconded by J. Zaccaria, That the Economic Development Advisory Committee adopt the Minutes of the November 5, 2008 meeting. CARRIED

D.

NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION 1.

New Member Orientation Bylaw 4700 G. MacKinnon gave a brief overview of Bylaw 4700 that was adopted by Council in September 2008. The Highlights of his report were: • Composition and Structure: he noted that the bylaw states it shall appoint a maximum of 12 voting members per advisory committee. Advisory Committee member’ terms will be such that half of the members’ appointments will expire each year. •

Resignation: Section 4.4.1 of the bylaw states that an Advisory committee member who no longer wishes to serve on the Committee shall tender his/her resignation in writing to the Committee Chair.

•

Member Attendance: Section 4.5 states that if a member fails to attend three consecutive committee meetings without leave, he will be notified by the Advisory Committee Chair and if the member fails to attend four consecutive regular meetings and has not provided the Chair with a request for leave, the Chair shall advise Council of the situation and request that the member be removed from the Advisory Committee.

-2-

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes D.

NEW MEMBER ORIENTATION •

Task Force: Each Advisory Committee may establish a Task Force for specific purposes that have a maximum duration of 90 days without Council’s prior approval

•

Communication: All Advisory Committee Chairs shall meet with the Mayor and available members of Council two times per year to share information about work of the Advisory Committee and related Council issues.

G. MacKinnon also advised the new members that the EDAC Binders handed out at the beginning of the meeting were intended to provide the bulk of background information required to get “up to speed” on EDAC progress in the recent past. G. MacKinnon advised that it is important for the Advisory Committee to be involved in the items/issues to be included in the agenda and take ownership of both the agenda and the Work Plan. The members indicated that they would like to be reminded, via e-mail from staff, of the time-frame for adding items to the agenda. The draft agenda has to be compiled by the Chair a week before it goes out to the members and therefore, agenda items should be forwarded to the Chair two weeks prior to the meeting. The members requested that a copy of Bylaw 4700 be emailed to them. E.

PRESENTATIONS

F.

REPORTS (WRITTEN) 1.

Economic Development Co-ordinator’s Year End Report Some of the achievements during 2008 are: • • • •

•

Greater Langley Chamber of Commerce - Council’s endorsement of a 2008 fee-for-service contract with the Chamber of Commerce. Establishment of Tourism Langley Office and Visitor Centre Aldergrove Task Force Implementation – the effort to create a business improvement area in Aldergrove has not been successful. There may be another attempt this year to create one in Aldergrove. Langley 10 by 10 Challenge Committee continues to be very successful and at the half way point has succeeded in meeting the Challenge goals. The Committee also attracted $22,000 in funding from the Province’s “Measuring Up” program. The Sports Langley Advisory Committee had its first successful Annual General Meeting of Sport Langley.

-3-

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes F.

REPORTS (WRITTEN) •

The contract for conducting the Employment Lands Study in the Township has been awarded to a consultant. The tentative schedule for the report is as follows: o o o

Draft report – end of summer Draft report presented to the Economic Development Advisory Committee in early September for comment Final report presented to Council for endorsement by the end of 2009

G.

REPORTS (VERBAL)

H.

CORRESPONDENCE

I.

2009 WORK PROGRAM 1.

Draft Work Plan 2009 The Economic Development Advisory Committee would like the following items to be included in the Draft Work Plan for 2009.

Task 1.

Review remaining portion of 2002 Council-endorsed Economic Development Strategy. Decide whether to recommend to Council that 2002 Strategy is essentially implemented and it is time to consider development of a new Economic Development Strategy for the Township.

2.

Do a comparative analysis of Township’s economic development/economy with that of Chilliwack, Abbotsford, City of Langley, Surrey, Delta, Richmond, Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows. 1) Assess the impact of Campbell Heights Industrial Park on existing Langley economy 2) Identify if/why Langley is being ignored (barriers to development) 3) Recommendations of direction for the economic development of Langley in the future

3.

Commence a think tank and develop a new Economic Development Strategy for the next decade. 1) More industry-specific focus rather than breadth of local economy 2) Take advantage of opening of Golden Ears Bridge (make Langley a destination) 3) Take advantage of opening of LEC as an economic generator 4) Create a marketing/positioning statement

4.

Brainstorm on economic and growth indicators that should be used to evaluate the Township’s economic development.

-4-

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes I.

2009 WORK PROGRAM 5.

Explore pursuit of light rail manufacturing firms relocating to Langley (presentation in June?)

6.

Aldergrove Task Force Implementation 1) Walking Tour of Aldergrove 2) Downtown Aldergrove Charrette

The members requested that the Draft Work Plan be emailed to them as soon as possible with a column for priority ranking and it would be discussed in detail at the next meeting. Terms of Reference: G. MacKinnon informed the committee that Section 16 of the Bylaw requires the members to review their Terms of Reference every two years or establish a Terms of Reference and make suggested changes to Council for approval. Such Terms of Reference may be in addition to, but not in conflict with, the Council Advisory Committee Establishment Bylaw. COUNCIL Moved by A. Robinson, Seconded by C. Robin, That Council endorse the following statement of the Economic Development Advisory Committee, which, if approved, would form part of the Committee’s Terms of Reference: “That the Economic Development Advisory Committee may make recommendations to Council on economic aspects of activities affecting the economic development of the Township of Langley.” CARRIED

J.

COUNCIL RESOLUTIONS AND REFERRALS

K.

SUB-COMMITTEE UPDATES 1.

Farmers’ Market G. MacKinnon informed the members that the Langley Community Farmers Market will be starting up this summer in the Kwantlen Polytechnic University parking lot.

2.

Tourism Langley G. MacKinnon reported that Tourism Langley has two new members on its board and is expected to sign a lease for the Langley Events Centre shortly.

-5-

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes L.

ITEMS FOR INFORMATION Moved by C. Paulson, Seconded by J. Zaccaria, That the Economic Development Advisory Committee receive Items for Information. CARRIED 1. 2Economic Development – Industrial Market Eases – Release #25 2.

Future of the Region

3.

Blue Collar, Green Collar

M.

ITEMS FROM PRIOR MEETINGS 1.

Aldergrove Walking Tour The Aldergrove Walking Tour was discussed under Item I.1 – 2009 Work Plan.

M.

OTHER BUSINESS

N.

ROUND TABLE

O.

1.

G. Larson would like a copy of the Township map.

2.

J. Zaccaria would like the Economic Development Advisory Committee to invite Brent Graham to do presentation on Light Rail.

3.

C. Paulson would like to know the difference between “doing” and “advising”. NEXT MEETING Date: Wednesday, May 6, 2009 Location: Salmon River Committees & Commissions Room 4th Floor, 20338 – 65 Avenue Time: 7:00 p.m.

-6-

April 1, 2009 Economic Development Advisory Committee Minutes P.

TERMINATE Moved by J. Zaccaria, Seconded by R. Martin, That the meeting terminate at 9:05 p.m. CARRIED CERTIFIED CORRECT:

_____________ Chair, Ed Kolla

-7-