The city will consider ways to use remnant lands to grow the amount of green space in the West End.
Council has approved a recommendation from the parks and recreation committee to develop policies to protect and preserve city-owned remnant lands and to explore opportunities to enhance these lands – particularly in neighbourhoods that are underserved by city parks.
At the city’s committee’s meeting in November, West End resident Mary Wilson spoke about the need to preserve green space and requested the city adopt a policy about the selling, protecting and conserving of city-owned green spaces. The city later received correspondence from the West End Residents’ Association requesting a similar policy.
Mayor Jonathan Cote said the city owns some “unusual pieces of land” and given the city’s built-out nature, it could look at creating green space or parks in some of these spaces.
Money in the bank
New Westminster city council has approved a bylaw that would allow the city to borrow up to $3 million.
Council has given three readings to a “revenue anticipation borrowing amendment bylaw” that allows the city to temporarily borrow up to $3 million annually. A staff report about temporary borrowing for 2015 states that the city’s bank requires this bylaw to be renewed annually in order to provide the city with a line of credit that protects the city from going into an overdraft position.
“I can’t remember the last time that we have actually gone into our line of credit. … It is there to help us just in case we don’t have the cash in the bank and it covers us,” said Gary Holowatiuk, the city’s director of finance and information technology.
