As part of the City's annual reconstruction of selected streets, Westmount Avenue from Belmont Avenue to The Boulevard is being rebuilt at a cost of more than $1 million.

As anyone who regularly heads downtown along Westmount Avenue and who passes King George Park can attest, that area for years has been notorious for what might best be described as "unintentional speed humps" — prominent upward surges in the asphalt, which are the result of "heaving" under the pavement during the winter months.

Calling the area Westmount Avenue's "worst part," Mayor Karin Marks says next year work on the rest of the street will be done. Councillor Tom Thompson, whose district includes that stretch, says he finds the street's refurbishment "encouraging," not only because it is "a very useful route through Westmount for residential users, but it has started to show some wear over the years."

In addition to the replacement of the road bed, pavement and sidewalks, new water mains are being put in. Regarding an especially noticeable heave in the eastbound lane just before the park, Thompson acknowledged, "That is an issue of concern because maybe there's a stream or something" under the surface, "some water that flows through that creates this.

"Hopefully by improving the sewage system and the water drainage system, we can eventually solve that problem … When you improve the water runoff, the drainage system on the streets, that helps."

Seeking a successor

In anticipation of the retirement of Westmount's long-serving director-general, Bruce St. Louis, in September, a recruiting firm is continuing to conduct an executive search. "We're not there yet, but we certainly are working on it," says Mayor Karin Marks. In March, city council hired the consultancy Kenniff & Racine for the task.

In an advertisement for the position the firm has posted on its web page, they say Westmount "faces some important challenges in the immediate future and the new Director General, as the Chief Administrative Officer of the City, working closely with City Council, will be expected to lead the implementation of policies and programs designed to meet these challenges."

The qualifications include a bachelor's degree or higher in a discipline relevant to the position, such as engineering or commerce, an MBA, and at least 5 years of progressive management experience in the public or private sector. Marks says city council hopes to have reached a decision by July.

Weddings in Westmount

Westmount's elected officials are developing some policies and guidelines before forging ahead to perform their first civil marriages. Under legislation for the province's cities and towns that has been in force for a few years, mayors and councillors in several cities and boroughs have been marrying couples for some time.

According to Marks, Westmount has been lagging behind the trend, largely because it had no established guidelines or policies to go by. "It wasn't the number one thing on our priority list," she says. The province has issued permits for some of Westmount's elected officials and some senior administrative staff to perform the task.

Licenses have been issued for four councillors and herself. Marks says city hall has received calls occasionally inquiring about the service, although no one so far has wanted to make an appointment. She says the feeling at city hall was that "if we could accommodate it once we became our own city, it would be nice to be able to offer that to people so they wouldn't have to go downtown to Montreal if they wanted to be married."