PORT COQUITLAM, BC - Jan. 11, 2024... Port Coquitlam made notable progress on important community priorities in 2023, setting the stage for a busy and exciting 2024 for the City.
At this week's Council meeting, Mayor Brad West continued the City's new year tradition of reviewing the highlights of the past 12 months and offering the community a sneak peek at the coming year.
Some of the notable accomplishments of 2023 included the unveiling of the updated Veterans Park and start of Leigh Square upgrades downtown, Port Coquitlam's continuing development as a premier sports city with a new Pacific Junior Hockey League (PJHL) home team and progress on the Gates Park soccer and community hub, and enhancing the City's capacity and reputation as a festival destination with events like the May Days' centennial and Car Free Day that attracted thousands.
"Overall in 2023 we continued to advance our modern vision of Port Coquitlam, as a vibrant, caring community with spirit and great potential, and the resilience and flexibility to adjust to changing circumstances," West said. "Our annual highlights presentation is about celebrating our accomplishments and being accountable and transparent to the community we serve. It's also part of our commitment to continual improvement, because in order to do better tomorrow, you need to learn from the past."
Overarching all of the City's work in 2023 was the concept of getting the basics right - planning and providing the core municipal services residents and businesses rely on, such as roads, utilities and other infrastructure, safety and recreation.
Highlights from 2023 included:
- Continuing the transformation of the downtown with a new welcoming design for Veterans Park, kicking off upgrades to Leigh Square and Donald Pathway, new free underground parking and planning for strategic redevelopment.
- Unveiling the design concept for the fieldhouse, bleachers and field facilities at the future Gates Park soccer and community hub.
- Building community spirit with the new Trail Blazers PJHL home team and well-attended celebrations such as the May Days centennial, Canada Day, Car Free Day and Western Hockey League pre-season games.
- Community engagement including the Public Works Open House and Block Party program with 1,100 participating residents.
- Public art such as a mural crosswalk on McAllister Avenue, a new Donald Storywalk, a photo mural on Elgin Avenue and Lions Park artist-in-residence dance performances.
- Public safety enhancements including utility box art wraps, a new fire rescue truck, a mobile response unit for people in mental health crisis, and free sessions on emergency preparedness, co-existing with wildlife, senior safety and other topics.
- Progress on housing including applying for millions of dollars in provincial and federal grants, processing applications for 444 units, a new online portal for plumbing and sprinkler applications, and a new ePlans digital application process.
- Community support including recreation fee subsidies for over 1,200 residents, free swimming at outdoor pools, and assistance after the Hazel Trembath Elementary fire.
- Promoting accessibility and inclusion including a new Accessibility Action Plan, forming an Accessibility Committee and a family-friendly Pride in PoCo event at Lions Park.
- Business support including the eighth annual PoCo Best Biz Awards, a food trucks program and various shop local campaigns.
- Asset management including the $26-million capital program investing in a wide variety of infrastructure, a pothole blitz filling 158 potholes, and two City clean-up blitzes.
- Transportation progress including completing the draft Master Transportation Plan, a Skytrain submission to TransLink and continuing work on the Fremont Connector.
- Environmental and climate action such as flood mitigation, progress on the Climate Adaptation Plan, support for Hyde Creek Hatchery and a Golden Lawn contest.
A few of the activities planned for 2024 include:
- Leigh Square and Donald Pathway improvements, anticipated to wrap up by late summer or early fall.
- Start of construction for the Gates Park soccer and community hub.
- A new Terry Fox Inspiring Local Champions Exhibit and sculpture unveiled at Port Coquitlam Community Centre in the fall.
- Planning for the introduction of curbside glass recycling in 2024.
- Continuing work to facilitate new housing, including expanding ePlans online development applications.
- A $33-million capital program including improvements to Routley Pool and a new steep and challenging new 6.5-km loop trail in the Mary Hill area.
- A new City website, completion of the Master Transportation Plan and Climate Adaptation Plan, and more.
Residents are encouraged to stay up-to-date on City activities by connecting on social media, monitoring the City website at portcoquitlam.ca and signing up for e-Updates, and registering for the Let's Talk PoCo engagement portal at letstalkpoco.portcoquitlam.ca.
The 2023-2024 highlights presentation can be viewed at portcoquitlam.ca/mayor.
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Media Contact
Ximena Ibacache
Manager of Communications & Administrative Services
City of Port Coquitlam
Tel 604.927.5499
Email [email protected]