Mayor Derek Corrigan delivered the 2015 state of the city address Tuesday to a full house at the Delta Burnaby Hotel and Conference Centre.
Hosted by the Burnaby Board of Trade, the event attracted the largest crowd to date (more than 300 people), according to CEO Paul Holden.
The speech itself was jam-packed with details that showcased the city's accomplishments and future plans - everything from the new developments at Metrotown to the ongoing work being done to create an environmental sustainability strategy.
"You want to give them enough meat on the bone that they get something interesting out of it," Corrigan told the NOW. "It's kind of a mix of giving people the overall picture, and at the same time, drilling deep enough that they're able to find something new."
The mayor, with the help of a photo slideshow, talked about how 2014 was another year of growth and achievements, dedicating a significant amount of time to describing what's going on in each of the city's four town centres - Metrotown, Edmonds, Lougheed and Brentwood - in terms of development.
He mentioned last October's launch of phase 2 of the Station Square development, and how it will be an urban neighbourhood with 1,800 homes in five condo towers.
"People are also now benefitting from Metrotown's new community resource centre ... The centre provides space for local community groups and non-profit organizations," Corrigan said.
In regards to Brentwood, the mayor mentioned the town centre's continuous transformation, with a new civic plaza in the works, as well as phase 2 and 3 of Solo Development underway. A new community centre and a new greenway, slated to run along Willingdon Avenue, were other highlights.
Corrigan went on to say how the Edmonds area will see construction in the not-too-distant future, with a new building going up on the current Value Village site, at the northeast corner of Kingsway and Edmonds.
City staff, meanwhile, are working to maximize the benefits of the new SkyTrain line at Lougheed Town Centre. Council has already committed to replacing the Cameron Recreation Centre, including a pool, and the replacement of the Cameron library.
The audience also found out members of the Burnaby Firefighters Charitable Society volunteered 10,000 hours to community events last year, while auxiliary constables volunteered 2,900.
The number of break-and-enters, arsons, robberies and mischief incidents were all down from the previous year, Corrigan noted. Special thanks was given to Chief Supt. Dave Critchley and his team for "keeping the peace in sometimes challenging circumstances" during the Kinder Morgan protests on Burnaby Mountain.
Looking at the fiscal portfolio, Burnaby had the largest year of investment ever for the city with an income of $42.6 million, he said.
Corrigan boasted this is a time when all the planning that was done 25 years ago is now taking shape.
"These centres, along with our long-established single-family neighbourhoods, our urban villages, and the parks and open spaces that serve everyone, are now interacting just as we hoped they would when we started planning them more than 25 years ago," he said.
Other highlights:
-The construction value for building permits for 2014 was $699 million, the second-highest value ever. Already this year, Burnaby’s building permit values are in the range of $300 million.
-The city will be opening the Still Creek Works Yard across the street from the Eco-Centre. Together, these facilities will significantly increase diversion from the waste stream and contribute to achieving the city's regional target of 70 per cent waste diversion by the end of this year.
-City staff are drafting an environmental sustainability report that will be unveiled later this year.
-The city's finance department won the Government Finance Officers Association Canadian Award for financial reporting, for its annual financial report.
