Civic Alert: What happens when it is “nothing very big”

Some items aren’t mentioned in Council at all. Like Westmount’s delegation the next day, Tuesday, to Kimburn, west of Ottawa to see the new arena, famed for its green credentials. Mayor Marks, Cllrs. Duncan, Forbes and Lulham, Director-General St. Louis and Directors Poirier (Planning) and Deegan (Recreation) made the day-long trip. Cllr. Bowser, in Ottawa to meet professional commitments, also inspected the facility, which is in its first year of use.

Other council work is done in committee and gets very little comment. For instance, Council decided behind closed doors on June 18 not to renew the Dessau-Soprin contract for water pipe maintenance, but did not announce it at that evening’s public session.

Committee reports also reveal that there is continuing work on the possibility of adding audible signals to pedestrian crossing lights, and that the Committee for Safety, Utilities and the Environment (SUE) is interested in extending the recycling arrangements made on Family Day in the Park to other events.

City Engineer Jacques Lahaie reported near the end of a three-hour SUE meeting on June 27 that the water main serving the north part of Wood Ave. had deteriorated, and he was given immediate authorization to reline the pipe and replace water entrances.

But the monthly public meeting is where most of Council’s actions are on display — and most of those come in the earlier parts of the assembly: the reports of the mayor and councillors and questions raised by citizens.

Council reports

Here are, in sequence, as many as I can remember from Monday’s “nothing very big” session”:

Missing: Unusually, three councillors were unable to attend — George Bowser, Guy Charette and Tom Thompson.

Honoured: PSO Dispatcher Claudette Gauthier, who was on duty during the Dawson shooting, received a scroll marking her participation. She retired from her long service to Westmount immediately afterwards and missed the presentation to the other participants, but was called back for the anniversary.

Marked: Mayor Karin Marks paid tribute to the late Jim Wright, her colleague on Council for eight years. She recalled his leading role in wording a response to the Partitionist movement of years ago, written at his kitchen table, as well as the life-long support of the young from their shared interest in Weston School to his last job with the Sauvé Scholars at McGill.

Recovering: Nancy Wright, badly hurt in the same tragic incident, was now home and walking around the house, the Mayor reported. “She knows she has the support of the community”, said Marks.

Observance: The Mayor had been at Dawson College last week for the memorial observance of the anniversary of the shooting. She was also at an evening event to thank the “myriad” of people involved in the incident, which included members of Westmount Public Security. She responded to a later questioner that it was appropriate Montreal Mayor Gerald Tremblay, as well as Premier Jean Charest, had played a leading part in the ceremony. It involved more than Westmount or Montreal,” she said, “including a new gun law.”

Monitor: Westmount is introducing a new service for users of the city’s web site this week. Questions and comments to departments will be circulated and answering monitored to ensure follow-up. It will be available at assistance@westmount.org.



Turf answers

Grass: The review of various sites available for soccer that staff prepared for Council in June after the artificial turf consultation will be published on the city web site by tomorrow (Friday), the Mayor said. A committee responsible for pitch-siting will meet next Friday with a view to having a decision ready for Council at the October 22 session.

Traffic: Problems around the Park that were aired at the turf consultation were followed up by the Traffic Advisory Committee. Recommendations will go to the SUE next Wednesday as a prelude to a council decision.

Demerger: Marks had met with mayoral colleagues to prepare a response to the Charest government’s Bill 22, which contains more reforms. They will press for a return to the system where Montreal taxes the linked cities rather than individual property owners for central services. “That way we can decide the proportions paid by residential and non-residential owners”, said Marks. Because of Quebec’s delays there is little chance of change before next year’s taxes have been determined.

Car Free: Council employees are being challenged to find non-car methods of getting to work today with prizes for creative solutions, said Cllr. John De Castell.

Hazards: The fall Household Hazardous Waste collection will take place at the Library parking lot on Saturday, October 20, reminded Cllr. De Castell.

Haunted House

Spooks: New this October 31 — the Bowling Green Club House will be turned into a Haunted House for Halloween. Public Security Officers and SEAC volunteers will be providing treats for young visitors. The annual contest for best decorated house will continue as well, and Cllr De Castell asked for early entries.

Recognition: A letter was read in which PSO Ketty Pelletier was thanked by a Metcalfe Ave. resident whose father she helped after he fell off a ladder. The officer called 411, took care of and fed the victim’s dog, ensured his car didn’t get ticketed and informed relatives, as well as checking on him after he left hospital.



Budget 2008: This is targeted for early December. Meantime, an article detailing the processes envisaged this year will be added to the City web site tomorrow (Friday). Departments are finalizing operating costs and capital requirements with a view to presentation to their standing committees at their meetings next month.

Planning: Cllr. Cynthia Lulham noted next Monday evening’s public consultation on the Urban Plan. The previous plan, adopted while annexed to Montreal, has to remain in force for five years, but Council is able to modify it, she said. This made the new plan possible. The councillor drew attention to a new City leaflet that sets out the requirements and procedures for building permits. She also spoke of the restriction on use of concrete imitation rock in landscaping. “It is still concrete and not allowed for retaining walls,” Lulham said.

Consultation

Questions 1: The form of the public consultation on the Urban Plan was one concern raised by a citizen. She probably thought the recent consultation on the artificial turf was the City’s routine method of consultation. Another citizen seemed disappointed to learn that the report concerning the soccer fields was not presented as a “scientific” study.

Questions 2: A resident spoke of the need to preserve Summit Park and was told that the intention was to maintain its role as an urban forest. Another had witnessed in Sunnyside Park parts of a recently felled large tree rolling down the hill damaging bushes. He also questioned the use of what he thought was concrete for the edges of the paths in the park, but was assured that cut stone was used.

Questions 3: A citizen wanted to know if tickets had been issued following the parks’ new curfew bylaw. There had been many, he was told, and Council would be supplied with weekly statistics. An alert was given of stones falling from the retaining wall at the north end of Stanton Street; this would be investigated, but it was said that some of the walls were private and not City property. Problems with noise near the Fire Station are reported elsewhere in this issue.

Questions 4: The need for lights on bicycles was raised; the mayor thought that this would be better dealt with on an Island-wide basis and undertook to raise it at the Agglom. Ever-recurring concerns over cyclists not observing traffic rules prompted the mayor to speak of the lack of ‘well-trained bike habits”. As bike paths were developed, it was essential that respect for the rules of the road be shown, she added.

Questions 5: New interests in the parks caused Mayor Marks to remark that there could not be a guarantee that they would never change. “A community is not a static thing,” she reminded questioners. “The arena, tennis courts and Library are all located on what was once regarded as park land.”



Community activist Don Wedge can be reached at calert@web.net. His columns are archived at www.westmountexaminer.com, go to Opinion.