Mayor Lois Jackson covered a range of topics as the guest speaker at the Delta Chamber of Commerce's annual general meeting Wednesday.
Jackson acknowledged ongoing concerns from businesses in the Tilbury area regarding traffic congestion but added that with construction of the South Fraser Perimeter Road "wrapping up at the end of the year, we are anticipating improvements in vehicle volume and traffic flow."
She also announced Delta is constructing six bus shelters along River Road this year.
Jackson touched on the improvements currently underway at Ladner Trunk Road and Arthur Drive, saying the work will facilitate better traffic flow in and out of Ladner Village and include decorative components that will provide a "welcoming facelift" to the village's major entrance.
She said staff is currently working with Port Metro Vancouver and the province to develop a dredging schedule and that work will begin this summer.
A $10 million program to dredge the secondary channels of the Fraser River in Ladner and Steveston was announced last December.
The new Delta Community Animal Shelter, located in Tilbury, is nearing completion, Jackson noted. The facility will be operation next month while a grand opening event will be held in June.
The mayor also mentioned the historic Harris Barn, which had been scheduled for demolition but is being refurbished and will serve as a new community venue capable of holding up to 400 people. It is scheduled for completion in May and has been booked solid for the next year.
It is now located next to Kirkland House in Ladner.
Kirkland House in Ladner. Plans are getting underway for a 25,000-squarefoot expansion of the North Delta Recreation Centre, she noted.
Jackson also said the general debt in Delta will be down to $2.6 million by the end of this year.
"With our continued commitment to pay as you go project funding, in just a few more years the general debt will be entirely eliminated," she said.
Orv Nickel, the president of a strategic planning, business planning and risk management business in Delta, is the chamber's new chair.
"The world is knocking at the doors of Delta businesses and the opportunities that lie before us are significant," he said.
He said Deltaport is a significant economic driver for Delta businesses and the South Fraser Perimeter Road will be important to take containers from Deltaport to distribution centres and off into the marketplace.
Nickel also said it doesn't make sense to ship containers bound for the Lower Mainland through the Port of Prince Rupert, saying that would be too expensive.
Dave Hamilton was elected as the chamber's vice chair while Les Voros was elected to second vice chair. Phil Posehn will be the group's treasurer. Kelly Guichon is the immediate past chair.
Yvonne Anderson, John Dymond, Patricia Fleming, Hugh Reynolds, William Rajalingham, Marty Byron, Barry Hartman, Jaspal Singh Mundy, Sandeep Pandher, Leo Wilson and Marci Chimich will serve as directors.
