Michael V. Pratt

Yeah, thank you for the question, Cory And as a team, what we'd like to see is that the ratio between the industrial, the commercial mill rate, and the residential mill rate stays. As narrow as possible in the long term so that it's fair for businesses and operators to do business here in the Township. And one of the ways that we will make sure that we keep that industrial and commercial tax base and mill rate as low as possible is to, where appropriate, where makes sense, expand our employment base, expand our industrial base. And we do that along major truck routes, like along Fraser Highway. We do that along major infrastructure nodes, like in Brookswood on 28th Avenue there. We don't do it by paving over the Salmon River watershed. We don't do it by paving over the forest and wetlands like is in the platform of some folks on this stage So what we do is we make sure that we have the right employment base we have the jobs close to home we have these employment centers for people to be able to work and live and play close to home here in the Township and that's how we're going to make sure in the long term we are growing our tax base in a sustainable way because the slower rate of development that we have brought in here in the Township on purpose by phasing multiple acres hundreds of acres in Willoughby that growth rate is … still sufficient to make sure that the growth is paying for the amenities that we're all enjoying while bringing in more people to shop at your business.

It's a great question Cory and thank you and over the course of this term our team has been very dedicated to ensuring that we have an additional supply of light industrial and employment lands in multiple different neighborhoods across the Township so that no matter where people decide to live in the Township they could feasibly live and work close to home. So for example, on the Fraser Highway employment land, corridor. We undertook one of the most rigorous public engagement processes I've seen even as a Council watcher before I was on Council. It's reminiscent almost of the Brookswood-Fernridge days, if you can remember the OCP open houses that they had for those. So we have had extensive community engagement, multiple rounds of iterations of plans. We have gone into Brookswood-Fernridge adjacent to Campbell Heights in an area where eventually we can bring additional transit, additional road infrastructure to make sure that there are employment centers close to home. Of course, we have initiated infrastructure projects like road widening, like detention pond construction, where we can have commercial mixed-use neighborhoods as well. Because it's not just about the employment lands, because obviously we need the warehouses. We have further, even more employment lands west of 200th Street coming. So across the Township, we're making sure that each community has a center that people can work, and we're going to continue that over the next four years. Thank you,.

Michael Pratt with Progress for Langley. And the simple answer is yes. I support a redo of the Fort Langley community plan, starting with community consultation as the baseline. Every community plan that's created is created to the best and highest potential when it starts with consultation. Fort Langley obviously has very strong opinions about what they'd like to see in their community. And I think that we need to, as a council, start with a listening exercise. And I look forward to hearing from you all about what we'd like to see as the future of Fort Langley.

When I grew up in Murrayville, the W.C Blair pool was there from the very beginning. It was something that I got to take advantage of from a very early age. Unfortunately, for the 65,000 people who currently live in Willoughby and the soon-to-be 100,000 people who live in Willoughby by the end of this half decade, There is no community centre, And so our team has been very clear that the number one priority for the next term will be to build a community centre in Willoughby with an adequately-sized aquatic facility with a library, gymnasium, senior centre, basketball, gymnasiums, everything of the works so that Walnut Grove can get their community centre back and the W.C Blair Pool in Murrayville can have pressure relieved off of it as well. Now, obviously Brookswood is the next horizon for growth over the next 20, 30 years. And so the planning and the proactive approach to getting a community center built in Brookswood begins now. We want to make sure that whoever is on Council over the next decade and a half does not inherit the same problem that we had, which was there was not a single plan for a Willoughby Community Center We undertook two rounds of public engagement to determine that the site next to the tennis center was not sufficient, that is why on day one, if there is a Council and a school board that is united in vision and drive to get that community center built, we'll approve the land swap so we can get a community center built and a new school built for Willoughby as well.

So this council in the last four years has for the first time actually set up a fund to be able to make sure that the dredging occurs on an ongoing basis. Previously, council has done a one-off process with dredging and we as a team would like to take a long-term, more proactive approach. And so once we determine where the material will be going, ideally with the Kwantlen First Nation, we will be able to move forward with the plan. We have the whole structure set aside that we are waiting for final approval and we can initiate dredging as soon as we possibly can. And that's something our team is committed to because obviously every single user group in the channel across Fort Langley and across our community needs this project desperately done.

We need to be more responsible with drawing from aquifers for urban use, to ensure that farmers and rural properties have a healthier aquifer to draw from. Using Metro water for urban use, while encouraging metering to reduce use and eliminate leaks. Could use Local Area Service process to facilitate municipal water use for larger water users.

Michael Pratt, progress for Langley. Our team this term has made sure that the detailed design for the new truck route out of Fort Langley is actually ready to go, so that as soon as the TransLink final approval and the ALC approvals before that are granted, we will be able to fund it immediately. We're the only team that's actually committed to funding it. We know how to fund it. We will get it done, and we will get it out of Fort Langley after so many years of waiting.

Good evening, everyone. My name is Michael Pratt. I'm a first-term councillor a lifelong resident of the Township of Langley with an urban planning degree and a very, very deep love of this place that I've called home for my entire life. When I first ran for Council, I ran because I wanted to help play a small part in fixing what I thought was broken about our Township's planning. And in my time on Council, what I realized is that the crisis and the problem was even worse than I thought. There were too many roads left unfinished. There were too many parks left unplanned. And there were too many facilities left unbuilt. And in my time on Council, I've worked with everybody. And I realized and I came to the conclusion that there was one group of people, there was one team that was actually committed to the long term, to fixing these systemic issues and to addressing them head-on And my fiance and I, we want to raise our future kids here. And that's why I'm running. Is for the future, for the Township that we're all going to live in, not just next year, but decades from now. Because that's how far in advance we need to start planning. We need to keep the progress going. We need to make sure that we're not continuously playing catch up and that we're not just making excuses about how something might not be feasible now. We need to find a way to do it. And that's what our team has been doing over the last four years. And that's what we'll continue to do. And I look forward to sharing more of that vision with you tonight. Thank you.

Yeah, Thank you very much, everyone. My name is Michael Pratt, and I'm proud to be running with Progress for Langley this time. As an independent councillor, I got to work with everybody on Council over the last four years, and I'm pleased and I'm so proud to be on the team that I am today. I believe that Langley's best days are ahead of it. I've lived here my whole life. I'll spend the rest of my life here. Every single decision that comes across our desk, I look at through the frame of how this is going to benefit the future of our Township, And I ask for your support on October 17th alongside all of my colleagues on Progress for Langley. Thank you for coming out today, and thank you to the Chamber.

Hello everyone. My name is Michael Pratt and I'm a first-term councillor, lifelong resident with an urban planning degree and a very deep love of this place that I call home. When I ran for council in the first place, I ran because I wanted to fix what I thought was broken with our community planning. And as a councillor, I came to realize that there was even more to catch up on than I was afraid of. There were too many roads left unfinished. There were too many parks left unplanned. There were too many facilities left unbuilt. And as a councillor, I worked with everybody. And I came to a realization that I actually didn't expect to make, that there was only one team that was actually going to deliver, that could deliver, and that had the thoughts to deliver on what our community needed for the next 30 years. My fiancé and I, we want to raise our kids here one day. And we want to leave behind a community where people have nature parks closer to home. Where people have options on how to get around. And I can't wait to share that message with you tonight.

Thank you, everyone. My name is Michael Pratt, and I'm running with Progress for Langley. And as somebody who was born and raised in this community, as somebody who's been able to deliver results for this community since I was 13 years old, with the Walk to Remember project at the Arboretum, to my time on council, whether it was advocating for the new strategic plan for the airport, a new Aldergrove library, advancing bus rapid transit for our community, I can work with whomever is on council. And I look forward to working with our Progress for Langley team to continue delivering because the community, our best days are still ahead of it. I firmly believe that as somebody whose roots are very deeply planted here, who will be spending the rest of my life here. And I look forward to earning your support alongside my colleagues. Thank you so much. Let's keep making progress because we can still do so much more together. Thank you.