The file consists of scrapbooks created by Don Cunnings.

Series consists of Clerk's correspondence arranged alphabetically by subject. Subjects range from permit applications, auctions, air pollution, budgets, electrical and water service, elections, finance, garbage disposal, the Historical Society, insurance claims, the library, parks, public hearings, schools, recreation, superannuation, voters? lists, tax assessment and zoning. Alphabetic miscellaneous files proceed each letter block and in some years as a block of "miscellaneous A-Z" files are located together at the beginning of annual block.

Earliest material was filmed in 1961 and subsequent filming was done roughly on an annual basis. Filming was done in batches, with closed files pulled for filming and active ones carried forward to the next year. Specific titles of filmed files are listed along with
notes regarding their annual status (i.e. pulled or brought forward), in a series of annual indexes. An index to the individual microfilm reels was created in the 1990s.

Series consists of Council meeting minutes, the official record of the discussion and decision-making activities of the governing body of the City of Coquitlam and its predecessors (The District of Coquitlam and the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam). The minutes address all aspects of local municipal government, including municipal taxation, land and building regulation, public health, safety, culture and recreation, and public works. Confidential or sensitive issues are addressed in Executive (Closed) Council meetings, the minutes of which are maintained as a separate series.

Series consists of Council resolutions indexed alphabetically by subject with pertinent resolutions numbers listed after each topic. Resolutions that arise from regular and executive council meetings are numbered consecutively on an annual basis. For the year 1952, the Council resolutions are arranged according to name, place and department; in subsequent years, they are alphabetized by subject. The indexes were made by the Clerk's office contemporaneously with the minutes using their own indexing vocabulary.

The indexes take the form of bound volumes until 1962, 3x5 index cards for the years 1963 to1982 and small thee ring binders for 1983-1994.

Series consists of the minutes of public hearings that usually concern zoning law changes. Public hearings are open to the public and are attended by the Mayor and Council and appropriate staff including the Planning Director, Municipal Engineer, Municipal Clerk and their deputies. Arrangement of the records is chronological. Prior to 1978, public hearing minutes were kept as part of Committee and Commission minutes, and began in 1959.

Zoning and land use legislation cannot be adopted without a public hearing to address their possible effects on property owners. The minutes are the legally required reports on these hearings.

The fonds consists of records made or received in the course of conducting the operational business of the City of Coquitlam and its various departments as well its predecessor bodies the District of Coquitlam and the Corporation of the District of Coquitlam.

Series consists of municipal manager's reports written for each meeting of the Council and providing both summaries and recommendations regarding various municipal administrative matters of the day. The position of City Manager was created by bylaw 1410 in 1966, when Ray LeClair was promoted from City Clerk to City Manager.

Topics of the manager?s report range from internal administrative memos on personnel matters to bylaw development. The manager?s reports refer to and comment upon nearly every topic that would concern a municipal administration.

Series consists of annual file lists used in conjunction with the Clerk's Office files series, arranged chronologically. Also includes a list of microfilm contents for the correspondence filmed between 1962 and 1986. The first several reels contents are specifically listed reel by reel; after 1974, reel numbers are simply annotated on copies of the file indexes.

Index to the microfilm was created in the 1990s.

Series consists of the minutes of meetings of the Executive Committee of Council. The meetings deal with confidential issues and, as such, are in camera or closed to the public. The issues addressed include those related to personnel, labour relations, property security, law enforcement, litigation affecting the municipality, and land acquisition or disposal. Meetings are attended by Council members and required staff, including City Manager, Municipal Solicitor, and departmental directors or general managers.

The series consists of Columbian Newspaper clippings, B&W photographs, press releases, and other assorted records arranged by subject. The files were created by Columbian staff members for reference purposes.

The series consists of photographs, slides, and scrapbooks created or collected by Don Cunnings throughout the course of his life and work.

Series consists of all bylaws passed, signed and sealed by Municipal Council, the governing body of the City of Coquitlam. Includes some bylaws that did not get past the final reading. Bylaws are pertinent to all aspects of municipal government including taxation, land and building regulation, public health and safety, culture and recreation, licensing and public works. Series includes appendices such as maps and engineering drawings. Arranged chronologically.

Early bylaws are bound in volumes; later ones are filed individually. The bylaws are numbered sequentially, but numbering begins again at #1 in 1971 when the District of Fraser Mills amalgamated with the District of Coquitlam. In some references the original bylaw numbers are preceded by the letter "A" to distinguish them from the more recent bylaws

Series consists of the minutes of Council committees including the Board of Variance, Parks and Recreation Committee (by the mid-1990s the Leisure and Parks Services Committee), Land Use Committee (originally the Town Planning Commission), Bargaining Commission, Burke Mountain Commission, Civil Defence Commission, Committee of the Whole, Court of Revision, Financial Commission, Historical Society Commission, Joint Council for Three Municipalities Committee, Land Sale Commission, Library Commission, Safety Committee, Sanitation Committee, Street Lighting Commission, Public Hearings from 1959 to 1978, Public Works Committee, Water Commission and the Zoning Board of Appeal.

Series consists of legal documents sent to the Clerk's Office or signed and sealed by Council and registered under the Clerk's docket system. Such records include public works contracts, service agreements, deeds, development permits, development variance permits, subdivision permits, zoning and rezoning permits, grant documents and insurance policies, as well as some supporting correspondence. Each docket was given a unique docket number by the Clerk's Office and filed numerically. Generally speaking, the dockets are the original records corresponding to Council resolutions dealing with the acceptance of agreements or approval of permits. The first two dockets contain records relating to the District's incorporation.