CBPOA - Directors Report - April 21, 2025

 Directors’ Report 21 April 2025

The pressures of a growing city on the only beach community in Surrey are challenging all

Crescent Beach residents. What was once a quiet beach community is now the destination for

many other Surrey residents.

It is understandable that some residents of Crescent Beach are upset and troubled by current

construction projects in the village necessitated by the change in Surrey’s demographics.

The purpose of this report is to inform CBPOA members of what the Directors have done

regarding the projects.

 Arranged a meeting of the CBPOA and residents in January and March of 2024 so that

City staff could share information on planned and potential projects. This included the

drainage upgrades, increased parking availability by removing resident signage and

obstructions to parking, walking enhancements and related issues regarding

encroachments on Surrey property. Corporate Report CR2024-R075 was circulated to

members.

 Updates were shared at CBPOA General Meetings.

 At the February 10 th 2025 Council Meeting, Council gave staff direction to proceed with

the requirements to have Whistle Cessation, construct the roundabout at 128 th and

Crescent Road, and to develop alternate plans for walking and parking enhancements

on the northern section of McBride Avenue. The corporate reports and related

information were circulated to residents.

 A few days after the Feb 10 th 2025 Council meeting, we were advised that there would

be a meeting with the residents before any work would proceed, including the

suspended drainage project. This meeting would have been similar to those held in

early 2024.

When no meeting was scheduled, requests continued to be made by email and phone

calls to the engineering department to suspend construction activity until the

community had the opportunity to meet with Engineering staff. However, the plan to

have a meeting was reversed by the City and no meeting would be held.

 Emails and phone calls followed in an effort to have a meeting. Plans were questioned

in relation to the potential benefits to be gained by the significant construction projects

within the village, especially those related to walking enhancements.

 Met with, and exchanged emails, with Councillor Linda Annis, to share the community’s

concerns and to seek guidance on how to proceed.

 All project updates provided by the City were circulated to the CBPOA members.

 Circulated names and contact information of the mayor, councillors and engineering

staff so that CBPOA members could contact them directly with individual concerns and

frustrations.

 City staff responded to emails and phone calls from Directors; some communication was

initiated by City staff. The staff were forthcoming, as much as they could, to clarify

plans underway.

Some back ground:

 Whistle Cessation: In response to members’ requests, the CBPOA has been working with

the City since at least 2008 towards whistle cessation. Surrey took the CBPOA request

through the City’s approval process and, after consulting with the railway and Transport

Canada, a plan of action was established. Two surveys were carried out by the City and

the results were that a majority wanted the city to pursue whistle cessation. All parties

have come to some agreement, which has resulted in fencing.

**Please open the link at the end of this report for further clarification from Transport

Canada.

 Storm sewer upgrades: The current work on McBride is part of storm sewer upgrades

for the whole village. Each phase has presented challenges with the common theme

being that the open ‘ditch’ method is very time consuming and expensive. Problems

with this project have required engineers to go ‘back to the drawing board’ in order to

design a solution for specific water situations. Because we live on an archeologically

sensitive area, any form of ground disturbance is very expensive. No updates regarding

future phases have been provided.

 Parking and Walking Enhancements: The City is responding to direction from Council to

create parking availability, and walking corridors to allow residents and the public to

move safely within the village. With the increased use of Crescent Beach by all Surrey

residents, parking availability and safe pathways have become more of a necessity.

Future parking and walking enhancements could result in more encroached-upon City-

owned property being reclaimed.

 Based upon the CBPOA Bylaws, before any action can be implemented, financial or

otherwise, on behalf of the CBPOA, a member or members must present the proposal

for approval at a CBPOA General Meeting.

**To read the guidelines from Transport Canada, please open the following link:

https://tc.canada.ca/en/rail-transportation/grade-crossings/apply-stop-train-whistling-public-