Editor: I was amazed to read in The Times that Langley City council went behind closed doors to do their vote to finalize our participation in the 196 Street overpass. They voted to support Roberts Bank Terminal, TransLink, the City of Surrey, the Township of Langley, the City of Delta, Transport Canada and B.C.’s ministry of transportation, against the people of Langley City.
Then councillors had the nerve to chastise Councillors Dave Hall and Jack Arnold for voting against it. We, the people of Langley City, thank them both for their strength to stand up for their beliefs.
To the rest of council, we will remember you in November, when you seek to be re-elected. It is obvious council learned nothing from Gordon Campbell and the HST. The people will speak in November elections.
At the last open house, I told Mayor Peter Fassbender that Langley City will become what the Whalley area of Surrey was — drugs, homeless people and transients. Business will move to areas where they do not have to contend with this environment and train traffic.
Langley City engineer Gary Vlieg advised there will be warning signals to warn us of a train coming well in advance, so we can take another route. The route they have provided is the route to Surrey.
With no overpasses on Fraser Highway, the Langley Bypass and 200 Street, you can bet your last dollar that business in Langley City are going to suffer. Thanks to our mayor and council, we will have another Whalley District in the middle of Langley City.
The mayor of Surrey is revitalizing the Whalley district and moving city hall to Whalley. She does not want the homeless in her back yard. Wasn’t it neighbourly of our mayor and council to offer Langley City as their new home?
I have lived in both Langleys for the last 50 years. I have raised my kids here and they were educated in our Langley schools. I never in all the 50 years that I have lived here felt that I would like to move to another town or city until now.
I have always felt previous mayors and councils listened to the people and they were our voice against outside influences. I have been to every open house and council meeting over this, and I felt that it was a waste of my time and the people’s money, because they had made up their minds behind closed doors with outside influences.
The only reason they had the open houses was oops — the people found out. They have the nerve to tell us that the public was consulted. Not one of our residents was contacted and we are affected the most.
I live in Huntsfield Green and 196 Street will come alongside our complex. We have approximately 35 residents who live along that corridor and will be directly affected.
They promise us it will not be a truck route. Who is going to police it? They can promise us the moon. Once they have their road, who is going to care about us? We have 117 units in our complex, and we all feel that our mayor and council have sold us out. We will do our best to make sure there is a change in November.
Myrt Lemky,
Langley
