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Making music in the city Jennifer Moreau staff reporter
I
t all started with a story in the local newspaper. A few years back, longtime Burnaby resident Lindy McQueen had came across a news story about the plan to replace the Edmonds Value Village with more high rises. “And I thought: ‘No, no more isolation. We’ve got to start building community and connecting neighbours,’” she recalls. With all the schools in the area and the diverse demographics, McQueen saw the opportunity to create a really strong community – the neighbourhood just needed a little push. “I’m retired and I love organizing things, and my husband said run with it,” she says. So in spring, 2013, Lindy and her husband started EPIC – Edmonds People In
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Lindy and Jim McQueen and Jeff Neufeld are the creative minds behind Music in the Park, a new free, outdoor music series organized by EPIC, a residents’ association for Edmonds. Jennifer Moreau/ burnaby now
Music Page 8
Should new SkyTrain renos include washrooms? Mayor and councillors butt heads over having public washrooms on transit lines Jacob Zinn staff reporter
When it comes to the Metrotown SkyTrain expansion, Burnaby council can agree on most of TransLink’s plans – except public washrooms. On Monday, council authorized city staff to prepare a rezoning bylaw to permit the expansion, which is designed to “accommodate ridership demands over the next 30 years.” A report from TransLink noted provisions for bicycle storage, elevators and at-grade retail units, but the most
contentious provision was about giving the public a place to, um, go. Coun. Nick Volkow said he was happy to see public washrooms included in the provisions, but he disliked the transit authority’s condition that a third party agree to take on the operation and maintenance of the facilities. “I’ve been around long enough to know that when we started hearing things about finding agreements in regards with third parties, that sometimes means that we’re never going to find a third party that’s going to agree to deal with us on this,” he said. Coun. Sav Dhaliwal echoed Volkow’s comments, saying public washrooms should be necessary along major transit routes.
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Likewise, Coun. Pietro Calendino supported implementing washrooms but suggested putting them only at major stops like Commercial-Broadway and Surrey Central along the Expo Line. “Perhaps TransLink cannot afford to do washrooms at every single station, but this is going to be the second busiest SkyTrain station in the system,” said Calendino. “They don’t have to provide it at every station, but if it is every five or 10 minutes, I think seniors like me and others will be patient.” Calendino added that, given fare increases year after year, the transit authority should be able to afford running the washrooms without outside help. SkyTrain Page 8
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“It is part of the system – if you want to get people to start travelling, make it comfortable,” he said. “When we are adding more and more networks of transportation … (people) should have no difficulty in trying to find a place where they can relieve themselves.” Dhaliwal referenced the plan by the mayors’ council on regional transportation to inject $7.5 billion into Lower Mainland transit projects, which, if successful, would boost TransLink’s annual budget to $2.2 billion. He said even if they couldn’t find a third party, TransLink should be able to run the washrooms on its own. “Here’s a (plan) to become a $2.2-billion a year operation and how they can’t find a way to provide public washrooms, it’s just in my opinion, unheard of.”
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