Happy long weekend, Langley! Friday is bringing clear skies and a high near 28°C, so make the most of the sunshine because the weekend forecast is calling for rain both Saturday and Sunday.
There is plenty to catch up on today. Langley City council is getting a rare bit of good news on capital costs, with the fire hall repair coming in about $500,000 under budget and several paving contracts landing below estimates too. Council also approved just under $6.8 million in road and multi-use path work, most of it along the City-controlled section of the Langley Bypass, and almost all of it funded through TransLink.
Over in the Township, council gave initial approval to a 12-lot small-scale multi-unit housing project in Brookswood that could bring up to 48 homes to the neighbourhood. It's one of the first SSMUH developments of its size to reach the council table. The Township also adopted a new policy governing staff and council use of AI tools, as pilot projects with GovAi, Microsoft Copilot, and a new agentic AI meeting research tool move forward.
Further afield, the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain guideway is now half built, with the Langley Launcher gantry making its way east toward Langley City Centre Station.
On the community side, hundreds turned out to Philip Jackman Park in Aldergrove for the first Family Fun Night and Water Fight of the season, with two more nights coming in August and September.
In national news, an investigation by The Breach has revealed that Canadian universities operated two secret coordination networks to surveil and clear student Palestine solidarity encampments in 2024, with the Alberta government quietly involved. And in sports, the B.C. Lions rolled up 377 rushing yards to beat the Winnipeg Blue Bombers 35-19 on Thursday night.
Langley City fire hall repairs come in $500K under budget
Repairs to the Langley City fire hall will cost around $500,000 less than expected, after the winning bid came in a third below the budgeted estimate.
Council approved a $1.25 million contract at its July 27 meeting to replace the roof and add cladding to some exterior walls, well under the $1.75 million council set aside in October 2025. Several paving projects approved the same night also came in under budget.
Rachel Ollenberger, the City's manager of engineering services, told Councillor Leith White that a competitive construction market is producing lower bids across the region, with companies putting forward their best offers to win work.
Mayor Nathan Pachal said the savings could be used to complete additional repairs beyond the original scope, including roof access, electrical work, and lighting. Built in 2006, the fire hall has suffered several major water events over the past eight years, with leaks reaching the apparatus bay and workshop storage area.
Pachal added that the broader downward trend in construction bids makes it a good time for the City to move ahead on capital projects.
Township greenlights fourplexes for Brookswood subdivision
Langley Township council gave initial approval on July 27 to a rezoning and development permit that will bring small-scale multi-unit housing to Brookswood.
Unibuild Construction Management plans to subdivide two single-family lots at 19642 32 Avenue and 3170 196 Street into 12 lots, allowing up to 48 units of housing across duplexes, triplexes, or fourplexes.
Small-scale multi-unit housing, or SSMUH, was mandated by the province a few years ago to add gentle density to single-family neighbourhoods, and Brookswood's official community plan was revamped to accommodate it. This is one of the first SSMUH projects of its size to come forward in the Township, with most others being single-lot infill.
Councillor Kim Richter voted against the rezoning, citing concerns about tree retention, though 92 replacement trees are planned. Councillor Margaret Kunst questioned the location's proximity to Surrey's Campbell Heights industrial area but acknowledged the decision was not council's to make.
Council approved the rezoning 7-1.Read More
Surrey Langley SkyTrain guideway hits halfway mark
Construction of the guideway for the Surrey-Langley SkyTrain extension passed the halfway mark in July, the province announced on Thursday.
Half of the pre-cast concrete segments that will form the 16-kilometre elevated track between King George Station and the future Langley City Centre Station are now in place.
Most of the work is being done by four launching gantries, giant mobile cranes that sit atop the concrete pillars and hoist segments into position. Three gantries are moving east to west toward King George, while the Langley Launcher is heading east toward the end of the line and has recently passed 64 Avenue.
Track installation has also started, with rail and trackwork under way at six locations, most recently between 159 and 166 Streets.
When complete, the $6 billion extension will add eight stations and cut travel time from Langley to Waterfront Station to just over an hour. The line is scheduled to open in late 2029.
Township adopts new policy governing staff use of AI tools
Langley Township council approved a new policy governing the use of artificial intelligence tools at its July 27 meeting.
The policy was recommended in a report from IT director Jim Makela, which acknowledged both the productivity gains AI can offer and the privacy, cybersecurity, legal, and cost risks it introduces.
Township staff are already using GovAi and Microsoft Copilot Chat, with limited testing of M365 Copilot Premium underway. The Township is also piloting its first agentic AI tool, the Open Meeting Researcher Agent, which helps staff search a database of public council meeting records.
The policy emphasizes human oversight, privacy protection, and information security, and requires suspected misuse or privacy breaches to be reported immediately.
In response to a question from Councillor Michael Pratt, CAO Chan Kooner confirmed the policy applies to council members as well as staff.
Langley City approves $6.8 million in road and multi-use path work
Langley City council has approved tenders worth just under $6.8 million for a round of road repaving and new active transportation infrastructure, most of it concentrated along the City-controlled portion of the Langley Bypass.
The largest tender, awarded to BA Blacktop Infrastructure Inc. for just over $5 million, will fund repaving the Bypass between Fraser Highway and 57 Avenue, traffic signal upgrades, and new multi-use paths on both sides of the Bypass between Fraser Highway and 56 Avenue, plus a new multi-use path connecting to Twin Rinks.
Pedestrian safety improvements are also included for students walking to and from Langley Secondary School.
Two smaller tenders, totalling roughly $1.76 million, will cover repaving on stretches of 198 Street, 208 Street, Fraser Highway, Brydon Crescent, 199A Street, Logan Avenue, and 204 Street, including a long-overdue repair to the dip near the overpass.
The Bypass project is funded almost entirely through TransLink, which supports major road network work on the condition that road expansions include sidewalks and separated bike lanes.
Aside from the traffic signal upgrades, no Langley City property tax dollars are going toward the Bypass rebuild.
There is a broader lesson tucked inside this announcement. Under TransLink's funding rules, expanding a major road means building for people who walk and bike too, not just for people driving through. That is exactly how a regional transportation funder should operate, and it is the kind of policy lever that turns a routine paving contract into a meaningful step toward a safer, more connected street network. It also shows what becomes possible when senior governments tie infrastructure dollars to complete-streets outcomes rather than leaving them optional.
Council also moved its budget approval process earlier this cycle, which means repaving work can now happen in the same year it is budgeted rather than slipping by up to a year. Construction on all of these projects is set to begin in August.
Aldergrove water fight kicks off Family Fun Night season
Between 500 and 600 people turned out for the Township of Langley's Family Fun Night and Water Fight at Philip Jackman Park in Aldergrove.
Families enjoyed face painting, inflatables, a foam party, games, and a chance to meet local firefighters and RCMP officers before the main event, a community-wide water fight.
The evening also featured live music for the first time, with young performers from School of Rock, a newly opened Langley music school. Kevin Muirhead, the Township's manager of parks services and events, said the addition reflected feedback from previous years and a push to spotlight new local businesses.
Muirhead said the Family Fun Nights are designed to be free, walkable neighbourhood events that give families an easy way to spend time together close to home. The community response has been strong, with one attendee telling organizers they had traded their usual Friday movie night to come.
Two more Family Fun Nights are planned this summer.
Upcoming Family Fun Nights:
- Friday, August 21, 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. at Josette Dandurand Northeast Latimer Park
- Sunday, September 6, starting at 5:30 p.m. at James Hill Park, with a screening of Minecraft at 8 p.m.
Secret university network targeted Palestine solidarity camps
Canadian universities operated two secret coordination networks to surveil and shut down student Palestine solidarity encampments in 2024, according to an investigation by The Breach.
Documents obtained through access-to-information requests show that emergency managers at 30 institutions shared intelligence, police risk assessments, and response tactics through a national SharePoint hub hosted by the University of Toronto, alongside a parallel Alberta network run out of MacEwan University.
The records also reveal that a director from Alberta's Ministry of Advanced Education attended a secret network meeting on May 3, 2024, one week before militarized police raids on encampments at the University of Calgary and University of Alberta, contradicting Premier Danielle Smith's public claim that the province was merely on standby.
Universities repeatedly delayed, denied, and in some cases destroyed records requested by reporters, with MacEwan and the University of Toronto both citing deletion protocols to explain the disappearance of network communications.
Nine demonstrators injured in the Calgary raid have since filed a civil lawsuit against the city, police, and university, alleging Charter violations and excessive use of force. No university leaders have resigned or faced public consequences for the raids.
Lions ground game buries Blue Bombers 35-19
The B.C. Lions rolled up an eye-watering 377 rushing yards to hand the Winnipeg Blue Bombers a 35-19 loss on Thursday night at Princess Auto Stadium.
The ground-and-pound approach kept Winnipeg's offence off the field and let B.C. dictate tempo throughout.
The win is a welcome result for Lions fans across the Lower Mainland, including plenty in Langley.
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