"The debris is a sight to see — broken saplings, snapped branches and no sign of any concern from Westmount," he told city council on May 26. "The point is very little snow was blown onto the capacious upper Westmount lawns. It was dumped here. Either this is a sanctuary or it is not … Westmount has introduced a number of laudatory green initiatives, but this picture shows a blatant disregard for the summit woods."

Councillor George Bowser, reading from an official document he said defined the policy for protecting Westmount's woodlands, responded, "There is a policy, but what we're seeing here is a conflict, right, between this one act of nature, which was this huge amount of snow, and some way of dealing with it. And I think we have to visit this and decide what's permissible under any circumstances and what isn't."

New security measures have been put in place at Westmount city hall during city council meetings. According to Mayor Karin Marks, the doors to the councillors' and the mayor's offices will be remaining closed from now on during council meetings. If residents attending meetings need to use the washroom, they can obtain a key from the security person on duty for a facility located a floor below the council chamber. Marks did not elaborate on why the change was necessary.

Even though construction of the McGill University Health Centre won't be taking place on territory inside Westmount, officials with the City continue to closely monitor the project's progress.

Mayor Marks is a member of a group known as the Glen Yards Comité de direction, which also includes representatives from the City of Montreal and the MUHC. According to Marks, the MUHC is in the process of issuing tenders for the mega-hospital`s main entrance, which will be located on the Glen Yards' south side along St. Jacques Street.

"There's a lot of work that will be done on the Decarie side," she said. "Some of it has already been done and it will continue to be done, and that really is the first area to be worked on."

During question period, Marks confirmed that the Quebec Transport Ministry, which is undertaking a massive reconstruction of the Turcot highway interchange below Westmount, has approached the City with regards to the possible expropriation of a small part of its Public Works yard. Noting that Public Works has very little space as it is at the Bethune Avenue yard, Marks said the department can't afford to lose any more of its territory.

While the proposed MUHC hospital, straddling Westmount's western border, remains a focus of attention, developments to the east are also becoming a preoccupation. Mayor Marks recently took part in a public consultation held by the Borough of Ville Marie, leading towards the redevelopment of the area stretching between Atwater and Guy St. Marks discovered that the organizers had included in their proposed redevelopment plans an area up to Greene Avenue in Westmount.

"I felt it was essential to remind them that we had actually demerged and that it was not something that would be done under the banner of the Ville Marie borough," she said, adding that any relevant issues coming up would be referred to Westmount's Planning Advisory Committee. Marks said Ville Marie wants to deal with specific problem areas, such as Cabot Square, which is just east of the Westmount border, as well as the deterioration of the area between Atwater and Guy, and an increase of the homeless population.