FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DATE: November 29, 2004
MEDIA CONTACT: Gaetan Royer, City Manager
TEL: 604-469-4519
E-MAIL: gaetan.royer@cityofportmoody.com
Port Moody receives Fraser Basin Council sustainability award.
(left to right) Port Moody Environmental Technician Rick Saunier, Councillor Bob Elliott, City Manager Gaetan Royer, Mayor Joe Trasolini, Planning & Development Services Director Jim McIntyre, former councillor and Fraser Basin Council Manager Diana Dilworth, Environmental Services Manager Julie Pavey, and Burke Mountain Naturalists President Elaine Golds.
PORT MOODY - At a ceremony held on Saturday, November 27, the City of Port Moody was honoured with the Fraser Basin Council's (FBC) prestigious Improving Decision Making sustainability award.
"Sustainability has been a guiding principle for Port Moody's growth and development," said Port Moody mayor Joe Trasolini. "We're growing faster than other cities and we're doing it in a way that protects fragile lands for future generations. We're planning our growth by working with community partners such as stewardship groups and local hatcheries."
The award, presented biennially, recognizes processes that demonstrate collaborative decision-making, reach creative agreements and achieve common goals that reflect the diverse needs of a growing and mixed population.
In Port Moody, the vision of a sustainable community has been carried forward by the community itself through direct involvement in the decision-making by the city's 14 community-based committees.
Port Moody was nominated for this award as a result of its collaboration with residents, developers and community groups on the protection of environmentally sensitive lands, creation of new wetlands, development of environmental awareness among residents and a recent ban on the use of cosmetic pesticides. Through community consultation, park dedications and referendums, Port Moody established a connected series of parks that protect environmentally sensitive areas that preserve Port Moody's forested character. Since 1996, the city has dedicated 260 hectares of ravines, streamside riparian areas, tidal flats, wetlands and mature forests while focusing growth on higher density village-style centers where services already exist and developments have a smaller ecological footprint.
This is the fifth significant award for Port Moody in the past 18 months. In October, Port Moody was named third most liveable community in its population category at the UN-sponsored International Awards for Liveable Communities, and also placed first overall for Planning for the Future, ahead of cities such as Seattle, Honolulu, Prague and Westminster. Other awards include the B.C. Recreation & Parks Association Program Excellence award for Port Moody's outstanding leadership in youth programming; and the B.C. Medical Association Excellence in Health Promotion award for the city's innovative bike trials and skateboard parks, and the creation of a helmet bylaw directed at skateboarders.
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