Transcript: Special Council Meeting - 2026/05/12

Speaker A · It.

Speaker B · Good evening and welcome to today's special counsel meeting for Tuesday, May 12, 2026. On May 2, Lankford caught lost Councilor Lillian Spock. I want to begin by extending my heartfelt condolences to Lillian's family. Her husband Bob, her children Michael and Patrick, their partners, and her grandchildren Charlie and Dallas. I also want to acknowledge the many friends, colleagues and community members who are mourning her passing today. I've had the privilege of working alongside Lillian since 2022, and what stands out most is the how she always approached public service. She believed deeply that local government must listen, truly listen, to the people it serves, and she carried a lasting respect for the diversity of the community voice and the generations that will follow us.

Speaker B · Lillian cared deeply how council conducted itself. He valued respectful dialogue and thoughtful decision making. And often, before offering her own view, would pause, ask a question and ensure every perspective had been heard. Following the 2022 election, Lillian was a steady presence for a new council, offering guidance, perspective and support. She led by example, and many of us have benefited greatly from her wisdom. Lillian helped shape Langford not just through the role she held, but through the value she brought to the table. Every day her influence is woven into this community and her legacy will continue to guide us through the work ahead. Lillian will be deeply be missed by this council, by city staff, and by the community she cares so much for. We've lost the leader.

Speaker B · Lillian's family has reached out and offered their sincere thanks for the tremendous outpouring to them. They have set up a email. Lillian condolences mail. com if you wish to write the family to give them your perspective, your thoughts and your memories. And with that, I call this meeting to order. Councillor Gary, can I have our territorial acknowledgment please?

Speaker C · The City of Lankford honors and acknowledges the traditional territories of the Coast Salish peoples of the Kosapsum, Swanghees and Sheena nations and the Wisanich peoples represented by the Sertlip, Mocuchin, Seot Sachem and Malahat nations. We thank them for sharing this beautiful land.

Speaker B · Thank you very much.

Speaker D · My name is Melissa Miles and I will be the moderator for tonight's meeting. Attendance by the public is in person or via Zoom, either using the Zoom app or telephone. If you are joining us through the Zoom app and wish to ask a question or make a comment, please use the Raise hand function in the app. Keep in mind that you are able to both raise and lower your hand in the app. You will be called upon based on your username and you will need to unmute yourself when it is time for you to speak. If you are joining us via telephone, you must press star nine to raise your hand.

Speaker D · You should hear a recording that advises you. The moderator will be notified you wish to speak. You will be called upon using the last three digits of your phone number. Please press star6 to unmute your phone. If you are attending in person, please approach the podium one at a time. Once public participation begins, please begin by providing us your first initial, last name and municipality of residence. There is one opportunity to speak tonight during public participation period. When you speak to any item on the agenda, please state the item number of the matter on which the.

Speaker C · Excuse me.

Speaker D · On the agenda of which you will be speaking to members of the public may be permitted to speak more than once, but additional comments are limited to those not raised by the person previously and are subject to time limitations. Once everyone has had an opportunity to speak once, there may be an opportunity to speak again, depending on time. This time, we remind the public that the city does not tolerate bullying or harassment of city staff, elected officials or members of the public during council meetings. Please keep your comments respectful. For matters not appearing on tonight's agenda, please contact City hall by calling 250-478-7882. During regular business hours. If you experience technical difficulties in getting through this evening, please please contact City hall tomorrow.

Speaker D · The city also accepts written submissions or comments.

Speaker C · Thank you.

Speaker B · Thank you very much. Can I have an approval of the agenda, please?

Speaker C · Thanks, Mayor. I will move that council approve the agenda, as amended to include public participation, and renumber the remaining agenda items accordingly.

Speaker B · I'll second that. All those in favor, post that passes. We're on to item number five, public participation. I'd just like to say the outpouring for Councillor Spock has been tremendous and it's been inspiring, and everyone has written in left cards or dropped us on the street. I. I thank you from the bottom of my heart. Out of respect for staff and council who are still today grieving. Tonight's public participation is not a venue for. For those comments, please. Thank you. Is there anyone like to speak to an item on the agenda?

Speaker E · How to do that? Thank you. Mike Wignall, 2375 Selwyn Road. I missed a ground rule comment there, but I'll be respectful. Yeah, I was going to come last, I guess, Monday night and again express my concerns for the financial plan, but you know where I stand and I don't think that's a good use of time to go over old ground. I will say that I was shocked. If I may venture into here. This. I was very shocked. No, not talking about. Okay. May I then just say live for today, for tomorrow is not promised. And this is more important than any political discussions we have or budget issues or whatever. This is about life and family. And I'm sorry I'm not offered.

Speaker E · Able to say more, but your heart is with you guys and family and friends. Thank you.

Speaker B · Is there anyone else that would like to speak? I see no hands online. Okay. I'm going to close public participation. Thank you. So we are going on to item number six. Reports 6. 1, 2025, Consolidated Financial Statement. Staff, do you have anything in the beginning or you're just leaving it for us? Through you. The financial statements are before council as regular process. They must be approved before May 15 and submitted to the province. And so they are before council for approval this evening. And staff are here to answer any questions you may have. Thank you very much, Councilor. Harder.

Speaker F · Thank you. I'll just move that council approve the 2025 audited consolidated financial statements as presented.

Speaker B · We have a second.

Speaker F · I'll second.

Speaker B · Okay. Any comments?

Speaker F · Just briefly, my thanks to staff for all of the work that goes into these. I know it's every year a lot of man hours that get put towards making sure that the city is in good financial standing and adhering to all of the practices and standards that we must as a public body. So my gratitude for that work and for the clean audit. Thank you.

Speaker A · Sorry, I have one comment.

Speaker B · Yes, you can. I was just about to announce that you were online, Councillor Wagner. So go ahead.

Speaker A · Thank you. I'm having trouble finding a place to put up my hand on this. Sorry for the technical difficulties. I just wanted to understand where we were in the process. Was it first and seconded?

Speaker B · Yes, it has been.

Speaker A · Okay. Yeah. I. I don't have much to add. I just wanted to let the public know that I was participating in this and just to be here online. So I think. I think. I think our budget process was fairly robust. And so I just. Yeah, I'll just leave it there.

Speaker B · Any other comments? All right, I'll call the question. All those in favor? Opposed? All right, that passes. We're on to item number 7. 7. 1, bylaw number 2281 and 2282.

Speaker F · Thank you. I'll move that council adopt City of Lankford 2026, 2030 financial plan bylaw number 2281 and City of Langford tax rates bylaw number 2282. 2026.

Speaker C · We have a second I'll second

Speaker B · comments.

Speaker F · I think it would not serve the community to not comment on this item because it is a significant one for our community for adopting the budget. And while I can recognize the challenges that have been laid out by the tax increase this term, I am very proud of what this council has achieved and what the City hall is achieving through this budget. Admittedly, I struggle sometimes with our budget process because we spend a lot of time talking about very small items that we whittle down to find small savings for plank for residents. And while I value those conversations, I find that they often don't put a lot of light on the significant investments that the budget is providing for our community.

Speaker F · And so I do want to spend just a moment touching on some of those. I'm so excited to see all of the sidewalks that have been built over this term and I'm so excited to see that this budget continues on that trend because public safety is something that I hear about commonly from Langford residents. But when we talk about public safety, I find that we tend to talk about policing and bylaw and fire and we don't talk about what it means to feel safe and included in our community as much as we should. And I just see the sidelock the sidewalk item being something that our community is really, really benefiting from and appreciation.

Speaker F · A few weeks ago we had the honor to gather as a council to celebrate the groundbreaking of a wonderful new community building that is highlighted in this budget as well, which is the Arts and Culture Center. It's going to replace a very hard working building for our community, the Centennial Building over on Carlow, and provide significant childcare spaces for our community as well. I really wish I had prepared some more eloquent comments to say tonight, but I'm going to leave it there and just express my gratitude for staff for putting all of the work in this year for this budget. Thank you.

Speaker B · Thank you very much. Anyone else?

Speaker C · Thank you. I acknowledge that you know perhaps just how incredibly challenging it is we have an obligation to pass this bylaw by a certain date. And so I'm grateful that my colleagues were willing to open up for public participation so we could have that commitment hearing from the public, even though we might not have been able to action feedback at this time. I While I don't agree with every aspect of the budget, I do support the thorough, thorough debate and conversation this council has had about what each tax seller means to the community. Low taxes aren't magic, they have a cost and we've done everything we can in order to Be as transparent as possible with what every cost would mean to the community.

Speaker C · I know watching tax conversations isn't everybody's Friday night activity, but if you ever have questions about what the cut has meant to the community, they're all available on our meetings and you can see how they've been thoroughly debated. I'm happy with how this council has kept a lens on the future the city and not been afraid to do the work necessary today in order for to have more stable tax conversations in the future. I've said this at every point of our conversation with council, but I'm incredibly proud of the investment that this council has agreed to for youth in the city. From West Shore Parks and Recreation, youth funding for the youth nights, to supporting increase to the Pacific Family Services for a community outreach prevention education program, to as counselor Carter mentioned, to continue investment for sidewalk infill, for the safe routes to school.

Speaker C · This is a broad investment in our community that not only saves us investment later, but it's an investment in the future of the city. And I think it shows the intention and the long vision that council has had on the success and well being of everyone in the city, taxpayers and non taxpayers alike. So I will be supporting. I'm happy and I'm grateful for staff for setting up this meeting so we can meet our deadline and I am very grateful for the thorough debates that we have had around this council table in order to get us to where we are today.

Speaker B · Is there anyone else?

Speaker A · I'd like to have a comment and I'm sorry, I can't find the hand raised function. Once again, I'll be brief. I think the other comments were just something I would support that we, we don't spend a lot of time talking about the capital projects, but there are a lot of great things that are benefiting the community that you can see in the budget report. So I just wanted to highlight just the amount of information that is available about where these talk tax dollars are going, how they're supporting the community. There's, you know, trail networks, there's recreation opportunities, you know, we're all supporting youth sports and mental health services. There's reconciliation funding.

Speaker A · There's so many things in the budget that you could miss if you weren't really looking at it or following the meetings. So I think the budget report is actually a really useful document for our transparency and accountability. And I refer to it at times to say, you know, where how many firefighters are rehiring, what's happening with the fire truck? What about RCMP officers? There's so much detail that is provided by staff and I think sometimes we lose sight of that when we're talking about the percentage. And so I'll just say briefly too, that we went down about 5%, we started over 15% and we got to about 10% on our tax increase.

Speaker A · So we did find significant cuts that were, you know, debated thoroughly and we wanted to. To be able to say. We've did. We've done a really good process here and debated each item for looking for those savings for the community, but also supporting crossing guards and, you know, cleaning. We. We talked about, you know, cleaning up of the. The city hall. So there's just so many items there that I think the budget is so large that the little things can get missed. So just commenting on how we're. We're really responding to the rapid growth in Langford. There's increased demands on our services, increased demands on recreation, green space, everything in the community that is going to make us livable and really support the quality of life for our residents and support our businesses as well.

Speaker A · So we, we want to have this growing, thriving Lankford, not just growth pressures. And. And so I think this budget is. Is finding that balance of how do we support our community? Thanks.

Speaker B · Thank you. Anyone else? Okay, I'll call the question. All those in favor, post. That passes. All right, can I have a motion to go in camera, please? Remove that council close the meeting to public to the public pursuant to section 91E of the Community charter to consider the acquisition, disposition and expropriation of land or improvements. If the council considers that disclosure would

Speaker E · be reasonably expected to harm the interests of the municipality.

Speaker B · Do we have a second? All those in favor, post. Thank you. For those still in the gallery and online, thank you for coming out tonight, albeit briefly. Have a good night.