Civic Alert: News by the numbers

1. Highlight was the opening presentation to the dozen personnel from the Public Safety Department – Officers, Parking Inspectors and the Dispatcher – who intervened in the Dawson shooting tragedy. It was not only a tribute to them, but a reminder of the City’s most appreciated service.



2. Personnel honoured were Sgt. John Everatt, PSOs Patrick Sheehan, Yook Wong, Kaushi Patel, Community Relations Officer James Novak, Parking Inspectors Peter Jay, Richard Lamer, Pierre Thibault, Lance Starnes, Victoria Bleskina, Carl Tassé and Dispatcher Claudette Gauthier. Mayor Marks also made reference to the participation of Director-General Bruce St Louis, PS Director Robert Blondin and Police Commandant Natalie Shuster.



Charest’s Government of Convenience





3. No! The big emerging crisis is not the renaming of Park Avenue. It is the growing fear that the Quebec government is proposing to take away the CMM’s responsibility for creating the overall regional plan (chemin d’aménagement). With regional mayors divided geographically – as well as being “against� Montreal, – they have not found a way to cooperate. The basis, broad-stroke urban plan is a key to a functioning CMM.



4. On the Island, updating the plan would devolve to the Agglom – which might not be nice for the Island suburbs. Besides, if it no longer makes the regional plan, is there a reason for the CMM to exist?



5. The CMM is modern Montreal. The Island is only half of it. Look at the maps on the web site, cmm.qc.ca, go to Aménagement du territoire. The region will be made to suffer if there is not coordination and planning! Will Jean Charest deliver another blow to Montreal by letting it slide into oblivion?



Local gun control advocated



6. A carefully prepared case for gun control in Westmount was presented by Municipal Association president Henry Olders. Mayor Marks welcomed his three-page brief that was a model of how to present ideas to Council. A short version is available on the WMA’s new web site, /wma-amw.org/wiki.



Confrontations over the park



7. Normally Mayor Marks avoids controversy, unless it is over the Agglom short-changing, but she went out of her way to refer to the protesters against artificial turf in Westmount Park as “aggressive.� More will be heard of it. I’ve received several approaches from the determined campaigners, who had had reasons to think that final decisions had been made. At the “public� meeting last month – which wasn’t public because it was for neighboring residents - they were shown only one option.



8. On the whole, the protesters were not following any other city government issues and illustrated their restricted focus by leaving Monday’s meeting when their big issue had been dealt with. Council has been debating the soccer field problems, which I have mentioned several times, for two or three years. What happens to Westmount Park is one of the city’s big issues. Moderation will find an acceptable solution, which must meet city-wide wishes and not just the local ones.



Mayor reveals $38 million debt



9. The mayor’s annual Financial Situation report, not necessary during the forced-merger years, was revived as part of the legally required budget preparation and it came with jolts! The debt was now $38 million and growing. The road reconstruction program was about eight years behind schedule. The Transition Committee has still not finalized the accounts on the separation from Mega-Montreal.



10. While closing the 2005 books is far from settled, the preliminary surplus of $206,000 – not much on an operating budget of $22 million – could be $336,000 more if disputed amounts are settled in Westmount’s favour.



11. The surplus for this year is also estimated to be about $200,000 on a $34 million operating budget. The wrong kind of snowfall could change it dramatically, as could establishing the closing balances with the megacity, warned Mayor Marks.



12. Transfer of the local water network to Westmount has added $9 million to the debt, and spending on it in 2007 is estimated to add a further $1.5 million.



13. Keeping local taxes in check while maintaining services was Council’s “single greatest priority,� said the mayor. “We intend to prevent any tax increases from being more than the rate of inflation. The Agglom has the responsibility of keeping its taxes in check as well.�



14. Now responsible for an “extraordinary amount of new debt, we intend to implement a very detailed strategy to deal with it,� Marks promised. No details were given, however, but the strategy would “ensure stability in the debt service costs for years to come.� There was the desire to return to pay-as-you-go financing for local capital works projects, “thus eliminating future new debt.�



15. Capital spending of about $4.4 million on local infrastructure was anticipated for 2007 – about the same as this year.



City projects



16. Westmount will again hold a Remembrance Day Service on Sunday (2 p.m.) at the Cenotaph, in front of City Hall.



17. On Monday, Council also marked the retirement of Public Safety Sgt. Mario Testa after 26 years’ service.



18. The city’s presentation on roofs attracted a sold-out attendance last Tuesday. The many questioners were looking for advice on roofing problems, rather than seeking any legislative changes. “People really want to take care of their homes,� reported a correspondent. Next Tuesday, the focus will be on Bricks and Stones. On November 16, Bruce Anderson will speak at the Historical Association on the Characteristics of Westmount’s Architecture.



19. The big diversion of garbage from landfills will come with composting of kitchen waste. One barrier has been the lack of processing facilities on the Island. But there are now several successful composting operations no further away than some of the mega-landfills. Simon Naylor, manager of the GSI plant in Lachute, will explain his composting operation at a public Healthy City Project breakfast meeting on November 22.



20. More immediately, Public Works reminds property owners that leaves infected with “tar spots� should be not be put in home composters, where the disease in not likely to be terminated. Instead, infected leaves should bagged and put out for collection. They will be sent to a plant where they will be composted at a higher temperature.



Agglom matters



21. Gerald Tremblay unbent to allow members of the Agglom council to receive stipends – everyone gets $10,000 a year, plus $5,000 for those with appointments to the five standing committees. Committee chairmen get $15,000 extra while vice-chairmen receive $10,000. Two suburban mayors, Bill McMurchie and John Meaney, sit on the CMM, but all reconstituted mayors – except Karin Marks – have committee seats, as do those Montreal councillors who are not members of the city executive.



22. Agglom council president and vice-president get no supplement – which means that Karin Marks, who spends much of her time on Agglom affairs, receives no remuneration beyond the basic $10,000. On the other hand, there is sweet justice, perhaps, for Montreal’s painful policies: as an Agglom charge, Tremblay’s city will pick up 80 per cent of the suburban mayors’ stipends!



23. There are union moves downtown to align parking inspectors with the police. As Montreal would like to acquire the suburbs’ meter revenues, the union might get its wish. Will Montreal balk at the salary inflation that would follow?



24. Emulating Westmount with its concern for automobile pollution, Montreal begins its first campaign against Idling Engines in the week of November 11. Eco-quartiers and community groups will be issuing Billets de courtoisie to motorists found with engines running unnecessarily (also an early feature of Westmount’s first anti-idling laws). Montreal will also produce bumper stickers proclaiming “Je ne roule pas ? J’éteins!� sponsored by Gaz Metro.



25. Beaconsfield, which begins its participatory budget process this week, already has a preliminary version on its website, .">www.beaconfield.ca>.">www.beaconfield.ca>.">www.beaconfield.ca>. The proposed operating budget of $21.3 million is an increase of three per cent over 2006. Mayor Bob Benedetti is proposing many service charge changes, and plans not to fill all vacancies.



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