DELTA - Mayor Lois Jackson touched on a range of topics during a "state of the community address" at the Delta Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting Wednesday (March 18).
A number of priority capital projects have been identified, she told the crowd at the Delta Town and Country Inn. They include major improvements to Delta Street and Arthur Drive in Ladner and 112th Street in North Delta, rehabilitation work at the Delta Museum along with the construction of a new emergency operations centre and fire hall and training facility at the Boundary Bay Airport.
In addition, council is committed to continuing its investment in the neighbourhood road improvement program, she said, noting this year the engineering department is gearing up to undertake 18 new road projects.
The municipality will be undertaking a facility condition assessment on all of its 80 civic buildings, she added, noting the results of the assessment will be used to prioritize a rehabilitation program that Delta can plan and budget for over the next four years.
"Our challenge will be finding a way to fund all of these capital projects while staying committed to our no new borrowing philosophy," she said, adding Delta, which had a $58-million debt in 2000, should be debt free "very shortly."
The mayor said staff continue to leverage Delta's project dollars by seeking grant funding opportunities and that between 2009 to 2015 the corporation successfully completed 16 large capital projects with a construction value of over $66.8 million. Of that dollar figure she said Delta was successful in acquiring $38 million in grants and other funding.
This week the mayor, along with Coun. Ian Paton, CAO George Harvie and fire chief Dan Copeland, will travel to Ottawa to meet with federal ministers and senior bureaucrats to further Delta's interests.
"These trips have proven to be invaluable in the past and a wise investment for our future," she said.
This year's property tax increase is targeted at 2.99 per cent with about half a per cent targeted for municipal operations. The rest will go towards Delta's capital infrastructure programs.
The mayor went on to say that perhaps the most significant challenge from a corporate perspective for this term of Delta council will be the proposed Terminal 2 expansion at Roberts Bank. In addition to port related truck congestion, she is concerned about land speculation around the port, Jackson said.
"Delta's agricultural land is under pressure, ladies and gentlemen."
She said moving a small percentage of containers, for instance to an inland terminal in Ashcroft, could mean less congestion on local roads, fewer environmental impacts and less demand to develop agricultural land for container storage.
Jackson said she is pleased the province has committed to start working on a bridge to replace the George Massey Tunnel. She noted Delta is working with the province to ensure the new bridge meets the connectivity needs of local residents and businesses. Delta is seeking a redesign of the Highway 99 and Highway 17A interchange, enhanced cycling improvements across the bridge and provision of transit-only lanes that can be converted in the future to "rapid transit opportunities."
She said she has directed staff to investigate the possibility of expanding a seniors bus program, launched in North Delta in 2013, to South Delta.