Here is a quick guide to finding the record of decision-making and, in the case of Public Hearings, resident input on issues brought before Council. Also listed are key Council and Staff contacts.

WHAT HAPPENS AT COUNCIL MEETINGS?

Briefly the two main types of Council meetings deal with the following:

1. Land-use (Mondays, 5:45 pm)

– Commercial/Industrial/ agricultural land use applications by town center {First reading to introduce the development application, Second reading to take the application to Third reading/ Public hearing as well as Development Variance Permit approvals.

– Residential land use applications by Town center {First reading to introduce the development application, Second reading to take the application to Third reading/ Public hearing as well as Development Variance Permit approvals.

– Items referred back { Development Applications which were heard at Third reading/Public Hearing but were referred back to planning staff for further work}

– Corporate reports

– Delegations { presentations regarding land-use other than those presented in Council-in-committee}

–  Correspondence

–  Notices of motion
– Bylaw readings and permit approvals { including the granting of Fourth reading/ Final approval/ building permit}
2. Regular council/ Public Hearing (Mondays, 7 pm)
– Adoption of minutes from past meetings
– Public hearing delegations {members of the public speaking for or against applications which are to be granted Third reading/ Final approval}
– Committee reports
– Board/ Commission reports
– Mayor’s report/ Proclamations
– Governmental reports
– Corporate reports
– Bylaws and Permits: business arising out of the Public Hearing {where Council deliberates and votes on third reading of the applications just discussed during the public hearing… Do not leave after the public hearing section because this is where you find out if the application has passed or not! Many do…}
– Development Variance Permit Approvals { often the last step between third and fourth reading/final adoption of an application)
–  Fourth reading/Final adoptions
– Clerk’s report
– Notice of motion/ other business

HOW TO GET INFORMATION ON UPCOMING COUNCIL MEETINGS :

Want to find out the agenda or dates of upcoming Monday night regular Council Meetings with their three components?(Council-in-Committee, Regular Land Use, Public Hearing). Please refer to the right hand flyout menu or click here for the Council Calendar which has links to the upcoming adgenda of the next meeting (and within the agenda, links to pertinent Planning or Corporate reports to Council).  To find out more about what types of items are dealt with during the different kinds of Council minutes (at least with respect to land-use issues such as rezoning application and development) click here.

 

HOW TO REVIEW PAST COUNCIL MEETINGS:

All Minutes of Council meetings and its various committees, including Public Hearings, are published online on the City of Surrey website.  As of January 2015, the GHSA will post links in the left fly-out menu for Regular Council/Public Hearing meetings (or here)  so you don’t have to go to the City website first.  It takes about two to four weeks for meeting minutes to be posted online.

Official Minutes: Land Use/ Regular Council Public Hearing/ Council -in-Committee. Select by year then by type of meeting.

Action items of above:   Minutes of course cannot be posted instantly, so if you want decisions/action items from a recently-held meeting and don’t want to refer to the video, check Action items.

Video feed of  Land-Use Committee, Finance Commitee, Council in Committee, Regular Council, Public Hearings (Monday night Council meetings) http://civic.neulion.com/cityofsurrey/  The video feed is organized by meeting (Land Use/Public Hearing/Special [Regular] Council), but you have to fast-forward to the particular section you are interested in.  A calendar on the “Neulion” page is shown so you can access past meetings.

Minutes of Committees, Commissions and Boards: click here to find out what the various C/C/ and B’s are, then select the body you are interested in. Minutes will be posted in that section.

Planning Reports to Council: these are the reports Council reads in order to pass applications through the required readings and which are the most important aspect of an application. They include everything from arborist’s reports to site plans and are necessary reading for taxpayers and residents interested in speaking before or against an application at a Public Hearing or just in general to see how a passed application was proposed. They are accessed by year and date. Click here to view Planning Reports to Council.

Most often requested documents, according to Legislative Services.  From Councillors expense accounts to by-laws, click here for a collection of documents you may or may not ever need to read depending on your interests.

CITY CONTACTS

COUNCIL EMAIL ADDRESSES

Mayor Linda Hepner  Office Phone: 604-591-4126        mayor@surrey.ca

Councillor Tom Gill      Office Phone: (604) 591-4634     Email: TSGill@Surrey.ca

Councillor Bruce Hayne   Office phone: (604) 591-4025    Email: BruceHayne@Surrey.ca

Councillor Vera LeFranc — Email:  Vera.LeFranc@surrey.ca

Councillor Mary Martin Office Phone: (604) 591-4622     Email: MMartin@surrey.ca
Councillor Mike Starchuk — Email: Mike.Starchuk@surrey.ca
Councillor Judy Villeneuve    Office Phone: (604) 591-4625    Email: JAVilleneuve@Surrey.ca
Councillor Dave Woods – Email: Dave.Woods@surrey.ca
DEPARTMENTS
Below are a few key names phone numbers and email addresses that Grandview Heights residents might use while researching community/ land-use issues.
Vincent Lalonde,  City Manager  604-591-4122
Jean Lamontagne, GM Planning and Development  jllamontagne@surrey.ca
Nicholas Lai, South Surrey Planning Manager NOLai@surrey.ca
Clerks department/ Legislative services 604-591-4132  clerks@surrey.ca