| Metro Vancouver’s 2015 Operating Budget | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/33/Metro Vancouver’s 2015 Operating Budget | Metro Vancouver’s 2015 Operating Budget | <div class="ExternalClass9D55A8F7CD4F4321918ABB4D5B577DE6">
<p>Metro Vancouver’s operating budget will increase by 0.5 percent in 2015 for a total budget of $657.1 million. Average household utility fees and property taxes will increase by $5 to $427.</p>
<p>This budget increase is less than half the rate of inflation in our region. Households will pay on average an extra $3 per year for drinking water and $3 for sewerage services and $1 less for solid waste services because less garbage is being generated in the region. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/Budget.jpg | Read More About Metro Vancouver’s 2015 Operating Budget | Operating Budget | Full | |
| Earl and Countess of Wessex Visit Capilano River Regional Park | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/34/Earl and Countess of Wessex Visit Capilano River Regional Park | Earl and Countess of Wessex Visit Capilano River Regional Park | <div class="ExternalClass20DEFBE086AC4F1C92C0B7E79D45EAFD"><p>On a beautiful mid-September Sunday afternoon, Their Royal Highnesses the Earl and Countess of Wessex experienced <a href="/services/parks/parks-greenways-reserves/capilano-river-regional-park" target="_blank">Capilano River Regional Park</a>, one of Metro Vancouver’s 22 regional parks. Hereditary Chief Ian Campbell of the Squamish Nation offered TRH a traditional welcome, and Lieutenant Governor, Hon. Judith Guichon, and Greg Moore, Chair of Metro Vancouver’s Board of Directors, offered words of welcome. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/royalVisit.jpg | Read More About The Royal Visit | Parks | Full | |
| Heritage Barn Protected | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/43/Heritage Barn Protected | Heritage Barn Protected | <div class="ExternalClassE371133181E9458C8FF0BCE219222A70">
<p>The heritage Gerow Barn, located in Metro Vancouver’s <a href="/services/parks/parks-greenways-reserves/tynehead-regional-park" target="_blank">Tynehead Regional Park</a>, will be protected thanks to a grant from the provincial Heritage Legacy Fund. The Gerow Barn is the only agricultural outbuilding on the City of Surrey’s heritage register in the Anniedale and Tynehead communities, two of the area’s earliest settlements.</p>
<p>The $10,000 grant will be used on a stabilization project to protect the barn. Stabilization work includes repairing some of the foundation, removing rotting wood, and closing gaps in the walls with a mesh screen through which visitors will be able to see the inside of the barn. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/GerowBarn.jpg | Read More About Protecting the Gerow Barn | Parks | Full | |
| New Sapperton Pump Station | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/35/New Sapperton Pump Station | New Sapperton Pump Station | <div class="ExternalClass5C366D6D03E748E8B031CCAD4B05B5C6">
<p>The 38-year-old Sapperton Pump Station in New Westminster will be replaced with a new liquid waste pump station on the 1.9-acre site adjacent to Metro Vancouver’s Sapperton Landing property. The new facility is expected to be finished in 2018.</p>
<p>Replacement of the existing pump station is required because of continued growth in the service area, which includes Burnaby, New Westminster, Coquitlam, Port Coquitlam and Port Moody. The facility is Metro Vancouver’s largest sewage pump station and a critical component of the liquid waste system, handling about a third of the incoming flow at the Annacis Island Wastewater Treatment Plant. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/Pump.jpg | Read More About the New Sapperton Pump Station | Liquid Waste | Full | |
| 2013 Recycling and Solid Waste Management Statistics - Regional Recycling Rate Reaches 60 % | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/37/2013 Recycling and Solid Waste Management Statistics - Regional Recycling Rate Reaches 60 % | 2013 Recycling and Solid Waste Management Statistics - Regional Recycling Rate Reaches 60 % | <div class="ExternalClass358DEE3A86494F20A1AAA8B22630C98D">
<p>Metro Vancouver’s <a href="/services/solid-waste/SolidWastePublications/ISWRMP.pdf" target="_blank">Integrated Solid Waste and Resource Management Plan</a> includes a recycling target of 70 percent in 2015 and an ambitious 80 percent target by 2020. Metro Vancouver monitors the quantities of materials recycled and waste disposed by sector and reports on its findings annually.</p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/recycle.jpg | Read the Highlights About Achievements in 2013 | Solid Waste | Full | |
| Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/36/Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel | Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel | <div class="ExternalClassFF9353BE6C974D4E9D414633EB984AA8">
<p>As of late October, approximately 80 percent of tunnel boring at the <a href="/services/water/engagement/construction-projects/port-mann-water-supply-tunnel" target="_blank">Port Mann Water Supply Tunnel</a> was completed, utilizing an 80-metre-long tunnel boring machine named Squirrel.</p>
<p>This new water supply tunnel under the Fraser River, west of the new Port Mann Bridge, will help ensure the reliable delivery of <a href="/media-room/video-gallery//903208003001" target="_blank">drinking water</a> to municipalities south of the Fraser. Once tunnelling is complete, a 2.1m (84 inch)-diameter water main will be installed within the tunnel located deep underneath the riverbed.</p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/PortMann.jpg | Read More About This Complex Water Services Project | Water | Full | |
| Remote Alpine Weather Station Upgrade | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/41/Remote Alpine Weather Station Upgrade | Remote Alpine Weather Station Upgrade | <div class="ExternalClassDD6F060C2FC94450A449840E923B307F">
<p>Metro Vancouver has three remote weather stations that provide vital real-time weather data that are essential to a number of water services programs. Recently, a team of Metro Vancouver staff travelled by helicopter to the Orchid Lake station to replace a 7.6-metre tower at almost 1200 metres above sea level.</p>
<p>The tower houses the weather station and after 14 years of harsh winter conditions - when the tower was sometimes completely covered in snow - the metal structure was in a weakened and unsafe condition. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/AlpineStation.jpg | Read More About the Remote Weather Station Upgrade | Water | Full | |
| Rebate Available for Replacing Wood-Burning Fireplaces & Appliances | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/38/Rebate Available for Replacing Wood-Burning Fireplaces & Appliances | Rebate Available for Replacing Wood-Burning Fireplaces & Appliances | <div class="ExternalClass01B62D41BBF548C1AA2B7736AD65F6E0">
<p>Metro Vancouver’s <a href="/services/air-quality/projects-initiatives/Pages/wood-stove-exchange.aspx" target="_blank">Wood Stove Exchange Program</a> offers a rebate towards replacement of an uncertified wood-burning fireplace, stove or appliance with a new, low-emission unit because residential wood smoke is responsible for about 25 percent of emissions in the region that contribute to respiratory illnesses.</p>
<p>Health threats from wood smoke are largely due to fine particulate matter, which in the respiratory system can cause short-term effects like coughing, runny nose, and asthma symptoms or can lead to chronic heart and lung diseases like bronchitis and emphysema. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/WoodStove.jpg | Read More About Metro Vancouver’s Wood Stove Exchange Program | Air Quality | Full | |
| Metro Vancouver Provides Economic & Planning Data | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/39/Metro Vancouver Provides Economic & Planning Data | Metro Vancouver Provides Economic & Planning Data | <div class="ExternalClass93F53F4C45E548EFA71BF6887B74F294">
<p>Metro Vancouver provides a range of services that supports the economic development mandate of our 21 member municipalities. Economic and planning data can be extremely useful for businesses already operating in our region as well as for those interested in locating here.</p>
<p>Data on our <a href="/services/regional-economy/Pages/default.aspx" target="_blank">Regional Economy </a>webpage may also be helpful for municipal staff, researchers and residents.</p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/RegionalPlanning.jpg | Read More About Metro Vancouver’s Online Data Resources | Regional Planning | Full | |
| Regional Food System Strategy | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/issue-3/40/Regional Food System Strategy | Regional Food System Strategy | <div class="ExternalClass63E949F882244599B54AF77B1B073B62">
<p>In 2011, Metro Vancouver’s Board of Directors adopted a Regional Food System Strategy. In October, a third and final roundtable was held to develop a Strategy Action Plan where participants heard from experts and took part in discussions about food in urban planning. </p>
<p>Director Harold Steves, Vice-Chair of Metro Vancouver’s Regional Planning & Agriculture Committee, explained that the roundtables were designed to engage regional food system stakeholders in a process to identify opportunities and priorities for the Action Plan. </p></div> | http://www.metrovancouver.org/metroupdate/PublishingImages/RoundTable.jpg | Read More About Metro Vancouver’s Food System Strategy | Regional Planning | Full | |
