Fraser Heights Community Association

Fraser Heights Community Association Minutes
Mar 16 2011

President’s report

• Web site – the address remains the same (www.fhca.ca) but the server has been changed and everything has been transferred over. Emailing software was also changed

Treasurer’s report

• Financial statement – account balance is $4818.00

Gateway representative – changes at 156th St & 176th St.

Sheila Hui – from Transportation Investment Corporation did a presentation:

• Website for the Port Mann project is – www.pmh1project.com or email them at info@pmh1project.com, Tel 1-866-999-7641
• There are about 20 interchanges from Vancouver to Langley that have to be restructured
• Cables on the new Port Mann Bridge started going up yesterday – The bridge is 50 % complete as of now
• Cape Horn Collector / distributor system – 33% of bridge traffic goes between 152nd and Cape Horn Interchanges so this traffic will be separated from the traffic going into Burnaby and Vancouver
• The current Port Mann bridge has to be taken down in order to build the 2 lanes on the north side of the bridge so bridge will open with 8 lanes
• Project should be completed and open to traffic in December 2012
• Sound abatement/retaining walls – the retaining wall on the south side of the #1 Hwy (Jim Pattison mall to 156^th Street) is now complete
• Excavation has started in the median for the #1 Hwy HOV median on/off ramp at 156 Street– HOV lanes will be extended from Vancouver to Langley. New median ramp will enter freeway in the HOV lane
• HOV/transit use for median ramp only – will be signal operated for entry
• 156 will be a 3 lane road – with left turn lanes in the middle – they will make sure the turning lanes will be long enough so it will not back traffic up in or coming into Fraser Heights (currently turning lanes are proposed to be 300 metres).
• HOV regulations will remain at 2 people per vehicle
• The rapid bus from Langley to Lougheed Skytrain station – the bus will exit freeway at 156^th street but it will not stop until it reaches Guildford then it’ll get back on the freeway, (it would not stop at 156^th unless a bus loop is installed).
• There’s still talk of a possible bus exchange at 156^th but no definite answer available yet
• Piling, for retaining wall, will be starting in the next weeks – intermittent noise will be heard – they are committed to working on this during the daytime
• Fall to winter of this coming year – all west/eastbound traffic will be pushed to the south so work can be done on the north side of the #1
• Girders for the 160^th and 104^th overpasses are up. There will be upcoming closures on the #1 between 176^th and 160^th during the night to allow for the overpass girders to go over the freeway at 176^th Street.
• 160 will be 2 lanes in each direction plus there will be left turn bays so it should help alleviate some of the problems that were being anticipated for 156^th Street. The on/off ramp at 156^th will be only for buses and HOV traffic so 160^th will handle the rest of the traffic and single occupancy vehicles
• Noise abatement wall on south side of #1 is essentially complete – the coating still needs to be put on (sealant and anti-graffiti protection – done within 2 or 3 weeks or when weather is better). Wall on north side should also have this “highway” finish
• All trees were removed west of 156^th – there will be a sound wall constructed (154^th to 156^th). No plans to replace the trees at this time – landscaping will be done as per choices made during the open houses.
• Barnston overpass over 176^th Street will connect Fraser Heights with Abbey Ridge on the east side of 176^th Street. There will be a closure and rerouting of traffic along 176^th (north of #1 Hwy) in the next few weeks to build the overpass (as it can’t be built with traffic running along 176^th. 177A St. – a connection has been put in for rerouting the traffic.

Intersection at 156th St & 104th Ave

• Residents expressed frustration that no progress has been made on improving the traffic flow at the intersection. Southbound traffic into Guildford can experience backups at the intersection of as long as 20-30 minutes in the morning.
• There were three options for improvements at the 104^th Ave and 156^th St intersection:

1. force pedestrians to cross only on the east side of 156^th Street,
2. narrow the lanes on 156^th heading south close to 104^th Ave so the 2 lanes become three lanes so a right turning lane can be installed or
3. make a lane for right turn by widening (many of the pedestrians want to cross on the west side as they are trying to catch a bus – restricting where they can cross would mean they would have to cross 3 sides of the intersection).

• This is a City issue, not Port Mann/#1 Hwy issue.
• This project has been stalled for over a year and we need to keep pressing for changes. Please email Heather or the FHCA directors if you would like to be part of a delegation that would go to City Hall about this issue.
• Update: Vince Lalonde, General Manager, Engineering, provided the following update on Mar 18th:

“Thank you for your e-mail and I certainly understand your concern that this improvement has not yet been implemented. While we were able to complete road widening to accommodate a SB right turn lane on 156 St at 104 Ave, unfortunately due to weather we have not been able to install the new pavement markings yet. An additional complication is that we were expecting the Gateway program to have completed their widening work to the immediate north by now, but progress has been slow. Our preference is to wait until they complete their widening so that we can implement the planned pavement markings; however, if the delay is too great, we will prepare an alternate temporary pavement marking plan to facilitate the right turn lane. We are currently awaiting an update on their construction schedule.”

Police and safety update – Constable Dibblee

• Constable Dibblee can be reached at: 604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
• The crime rate is low in Fraser Heights – there were 7 break and enters and 4 vehicles were stolen/damaged over a 6 week period – several of the car thieves are in jail now so this should cut down on theft
• Police have set up “watches” from time to time and ticketed those not stopping at the stop signs, especially at 156^th Street and 108^th Ave.
• A few members of the community have requested the police set up a speed trap on 156^th Street by Northview Park – people are going too fast past the park. The concern is that there are often families with small children at or around the park.
• 15818 108^th Ave house – this is a rooming house being rented out to upwards of a dozen people – it is not provincially funded so it is difficult to get enforcement there. Police are trying to monitor criminal activity around the area. There has not been an increase in “reported” crime in that area so either the crimes are not being reported or there hasn’t been a problem. This rooming house is being run by Vision Quest – it is one of the better run facilities – they haven’t really been seen as high in crime. Some of the residents of this house are out on parole
• One resident said his car had been broken into 3 times in the last month – residents MUST report any activity, even if nothing was taken in the attempt – without making these reports, stats can’t be kept. These stats are very important as they allow the City to justify funding for more police officers
• There seems to be a general decrease in grow ops in Surrey (from what the police know) – if residents know about one, report it! Fraser Hts is usually more of a hotbed for grow ops because it is a quieter neighbourhood and the houses have big basements.

176th St Development Update (east of 176^th Street/north of Hwy #1) – (proposed: 67 unit apartment building, 85 townhouse units)

• Between 700 and 800 condos / apartments had been proposed for the entire site.
• Phase 1 (only part of the land mentioned above) – An application for a 67 unit 4 storey apartment and 85 townhouses (originally no townhouses were proposed) has been made
• There has been no further word on any commercial development for this site – maybe a small corner store? Zoning for a gas station has been in place since 1992 and this has remained unchanged
• Children from this development would go to Bothwell Elementary and to Fraser Heights Secondary – the overpass to get over 176^th Street should be completed in 2011.

South Fraser Perimeter Road update

• Pam Ryan – we had asked for 30% noise abatement asphalt to be used on this roadway – no news if this material will be used, (Update: As of Mar 17 2011, Pam Ryan of Gateway, confirmed that this asphalt is still planned to be used.)
• The viaduct that had been planned to run from 168 over to 176 is still in place – it is very important due to sensitive lands and fisheries.
• Possibly heading into the year 2031, there could be some extra intersections added in but for the foreseeable future, it does not look like there will be further changes from what was planned

10^th Fraser Heights Scouts

• They will be holding a bottle drive on Saturday, April 9, 2011 – people can drop bottles/cans at Fraser Wood School between 9 a.m. and noon
• Scouts is a parent sponsored group. They are looking for new people to help out in the roles of: commissioner, treasurer and registrar
• Their email address is: commissioner@fraserheightsscouts.ca

Freezer Heights community fundraising event

• Flyers in most of the stores in the Fraser Heights Plaza. It is on April 16^th and starts at 6 p.m.
• The PACs from each of the Fraser Heights Elementary schools are organizing a raffle as all of these schools benefit from the funds raised

Member’s concerns

• If anyone has concerns pertaining to the City, email or mail city council for issues (e.g., 156^th Street at 104^th Ave)
• Some residents were interested in forming a delegation/committee to go to City Hall about this issue (important in this election year). If you are interested in participating in this, please email Frank Russell or the directors of the Fraser Heights Community Association

Rec Centre expansion update

• Construction has started on the addition to the Rec Centre
• Gymnasium will be moved to 2^nd floor
• Weight room and cardio will be slightly larger than that at Guildford

Next Meeting:

7 p.m. Thursday, May 26, 2011 in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School.

Fraser Heights Community Association Minutes
Jan 20 2011

President’s report

• There will be 2 or 3 speakers presenting at the March meeting. Sheila Hui and Alicia Richards will be coming from TI to talk about the 156^th Street and the onramp access to Hwy 1. They will welcome questions and comments from the residents about this project
• There will be a presentation from Parks and Rec Surrey about the Fraser Height’s Community Centre’s expansion
• Hopefully, there will be a speaker to talk about the Transit plan for South of Fraser River – e.g., Guildford etc.

Treasurer’s report

• Financial statement – account balance is $4842.96

Police and safety update – Constable Dibblee

• There is currently a “rooming” house on 108^th around 158^th (15818 108^th Ave – on the south side of 108^th). It has housed anywhere from 15 to 19 adults. Several of the residents are known to police or are on parole. If you have any issues about goings-on in regards to this house, let the police know so they can keep track of the issues. The owners of this house have similar types of houses in other cities. This is one of the better ones of these houses. The Police are currently looking into the legality of this house. Please make reports if there are problems – police can only act if they get information. Parking has not been a problem as most of the residents do not have driver’s licenses.
• Constable Dibblee can be reached at: 604-839-6971, 778-593-3559 or at christopher.dibblee@rcmp-grc.gc.ca
• There was a spike in mail theft in Fraser Heights over Christmas. Advice was to make sure you pick up your mail nightly as this is still an ongoing problem.
• The Post office at Nester’s will be revamping their post office and will be putting in 60 new post boxes (they currently have 60 so this will give them a total of 120). (Note: Postage just went up 2 cents for regular mail.)
• Please note: Some areas are not receiving mail daily so there could be a lot of mail delivered at one time. Please make sure you check your boxes daily to clear mail from them.
• 2 vehicles were stolen last week. The first, a Dodge sedan, was stolen from 112^th Street between 163 and 164^th Streets. That vehicle was found abandoned by 107^th Ave and the 164B cul-de-sac where the second vehicle, an Audi, was stolen.

Traffic issues update

• 104^th Ave/160^th St – the south side intersection has a really high accident rate. TI will be looking at this intersection once 104^th has been rerouted under the 160^th overpass. They will then monitor the intersection and see what changes should or can be made. There have been over 225 accidents at that one intersection/ year so in 2 years that would make 450 more accidents. They don’t want to do interim measures because the whole intersection will be revamped when the new overpass and on/off ramps are built.
• There is signage that states there is no access to or from Fraser Heights via 152^nd and 110^th Ave (from the onramp to the #1 Hwy – it closed this past summer) are posted at:

a) 108^th Ave and 151^st Street

b) the corner of 108^th Ave and 160^th Street beside Quiznos/Scotia Bank

Rec Centre expansion update

• Tom Gill sent a letter/email saying the Fraser Heights Rec Centre expansion was passed.
• There is a model of this expansion in the lobby of the Rec Centre
• The weight room will be closing Feb 2011 (probably Feb 1) during the construction which is expected to be completed by the end of 2011. There will be a new 6500 sq ft gym, 800 sq ft for storage, 40 new parking spaces etc.
• The Rec Centre will remain open during construction and the downtime for programs is expected to be minimal.

Gateway noise abatement plan update

• Noise abatement walls – FHCA is in the process of finding out who got the contract to put in the walls. The contractor Kiewit hired is most likely the one who was at the open house that displayed the thin, frail wall. The wall is under construction on the Birdland side of the #1 if residents want to see what it looks like (you can view it from inside their community). It is not known how deep the posts will be into the ground, how stable the wall will be or what type of a finish will be used (a non-peeling one would be best). Mainroad Maintenance has 30 yr. contract to maintain the walls.
• The feedback collected from the Open house for the eastern part of Fraser Hts. should be available to us in a month or so – we want to review the input.

Next Meeting:

7 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, 2011 in the theatre at Fraser Heights Secondary School. This should be an interesting meeting – with 2 or 3 guest speakers!