Langley chamber gets new lease agreement with city

The Langley City Council unanimously approved a new lease agreement with the Langley Chamber of Commerce at the council’s last meeting for use of the city’s building on Anthes Avenue.

The building, built by the city in 1996 as a visitor information center, has been leased by the Langley Chamber of Commerce since 1997. The previous contract expired in December 2008, and the chamber and city have continued to operate as if a lease was in place.

Negotiations on a new lease started in November.

“Our discussions were amicable,” said Marc Esterly, executive director of the Langley chamber, who said the new contract was a reasonable agreement between the city and the chamber.

Public Works Director Challis Stringer said the new lease will go through the end of 2015.

The chamber will take over the opening and the cleaning of the adjoining public restrooms on the weekends, and the city will contract out for restroom maintenance on weekdays. The chamber will pay $575 per month to rent the building, which city officials said represents a

moderate discount from local market rental rates in exchange for the chamber’s maintenance of the restrooms on Saturdays and Sundays.

“The city is still responsible for any repairs or any issues that come up,” Stringer said.

The lease also gives the new Main Street enterprise access to the building.

The city will also make flooring and cabinet improvements to the building, and will also improve the visibility of the chamber’s sign in front of the building.

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