City to acquire energy efficient vehicles

 

The Free Press, May 8, 2012. Click to enlarge.

Residents question city’s cleanliness

Residents question city’s cleanliness

April 24, 2012

Isaac Olson, The Free Press

During the April 16 city council meeting, a young Côte St. Luc couple questioned the city’s cleanliness and skunk population while another resident challenged garbage collectors to carefully replace cans and clean-up fallen debris rather than carelessly blazing through their routes.

Lianne Barksi, while her husband Miki Harrar tended their 6-month-old baby, said their dog has been sprayed three times in two years. She said “we think it is a result of people putting their garbage out in bags the night before garbage pickup.” She asked if the city can insist people use bins the night before and bags out in the morning only.

“That’s exactly what our by-law says,” replied Mayor Anthony Housefather, noting trash can only be left out the night before if it’s after 10 pm and in a bin. “Obviously we need to do a better job of enforcement.” The mayor said Public Works would look into the issue. Though, he admitted, it is difficult to cover the entire city every week with only two security officials on duty.

When Barksi asked what the city is doing about skunks, Housefather said the city will continue its contract with the SPCA. There are, he said, provincial laws in place that do make it difficult to rid the city of pests such as skunks and raccoons. He recommended residents contact provincial authorities and complain about this issue.

Later, Harrar told the council “I find Côte St. Luc to be very messy in general and I often see litter strewn all over the place.” He went on to ask, “what is the city’s plan to clean up Côte St. Luc? I’m tired of living on such a messy street.”

Citing the city’s four-out-of-five flower rating with Les Fleurons du Québec program, which is intended to recognize municipalities that improve their environment, the mayor said CSL is, when compared to most cities, a tidy place to live. Eldridge Ave., where the couple lives, is prone to litter, the mayor added, because the parking situation makes it difficult to clean. While requiring residents switch parking spots from one side to the other on cleaning days is an option, he said there would also be many residents opposed to such a measure. The city, however, will look into the issue, the mayor concluded, to find ways to better clean the street.

Councillor Steven Erdelyi encouraged residents to participate in organic waste collection because, he said, once he began doing it at his home five years ago, he stopped getting crows. The organic waste, he said, goes in the brown bins and the trash no longer attracts animals.

Bernard Tonchin, a meeting regular, told the council part of the blame needs to be put on disrespectful garbage handlers who scatter trashcans, lids and even debris as they rush through their routes. Crews used to bring along a broom and shovel to sweep up spills but now, he argued, debris is just left on the street.

Housefather, noting he agrees the workers should be replacing the cans and lids in their proper place, agreed it’s an issue that the city will look into.

In my opinion:  The problem is not that difficult to resolve:  Use a plastic, sealed garbage bin so that animals cannot get in to make a mess.  Roll your bin back down your driveway, next to your home, at the end of the pickup day. Violators, unfortunately, will be fined.  There are far too many residents who simply leave their blue, brown and other bins at the curb all the time making the street look shoddy as Mr. Harrar indicated in this article.

What we learned about organic waste collection

Here’s an excellent piece by District 4 Councillor Steven Erdelyi.  Steven is responsible for the Public Works dossier.  He is an excellent Councillor, highly intelligent and devoted to his constituents, his portfolio and indeed all residents of the City.

Free Press, April 25, 2012. Click to enlarge.

City plans to knock down the snow dump hump

Click to enlarge

Housefather eyes Cavendish extension, local programming and much more in 2012

Road resurfacing and water pipe sleeving

District 6 will be getting its fair share of infrastructure investment in the coming weeks and months. 

First, pothole relief is near for residents of Mapleridge Ave (off of Caldwell).  The road will soon be resurfaced in its entirety.  The contract amounting to about $247,000 was approved by City Council this week as part of a $1,000,000 package of resurfacing sections of three streets including Sunnybrooke and McAlear.

Maintaining the structure of our roads is very important, said Councillor Steven Erdelyi, responsible for Public Works and Engineering.  Two-thirds of the cost are eligible for funding by the provincial gas tax.

Water pipe resleeving will also take place on Caldwell Ave, Guelph Road between Parkhaven and Jellicoe as well as on Parkhaven from Guelph to Chamberland Cr.  Pipe rehabilitation will also take place on the Western end of Cote Saint-Luc Rd. and on sections of Smart, Kingsley, Trent and Magnolia.

Sleeving of water pipes reduces the risk of water main breaks, water loss from aging pipes and pressure fluctuation.  Work will be completed by the end of October.  Mayor Housefather says that two-thirds of this cost is also eligible for provincial grants and this work will reduce our water costs by using, and losing, less water.

E-waste drop off in CSL today

The Waste & Environment Department in collaboration with the Cavendish Mall is organizing the Electronic Waste Collection Day on Thursday, July 28th at Cavendish Mall (4-8pm, outside between IGA and Bureau en Gros).

The drop off points for e-waste are an initiative of the Green Patrol Program that will take place for three days (July 28, 29, 30) in different specific points across the island of Montreal.

For the complete calendar, please click here.

In Côte Saint-Luc we collect electronic waste throughout the year but strictly during the working hours of the Public Works Yard. However, the idea is to offer an alternative drop-off of e-waste for residents after working hours.

 

 

Les 28, 29 et 30 juillet, les patrouilles vertes sensibiliseront la population à disposer adéquatement de ses matières issues des Technologies de l’information et de la Communication (TIC). Lors de ces 3 journées, 17 lieux seront mis à la disposition des citoyens de la métropole afin qu’ils puissent se départir, notamment de leurs vieux ordinateurs, jeux vidéo, cellulaires, en posant un geste environnemental. Ces produits de consommation, hautement polluants pour l’environnement, seront récupérés pour être reconditionnés ou recyclés.

Hump bridge to Montreal West closed for repair

For all who travel through Montreal West along Westminster, please be advised that the Hump Bridge on Westminster Ave in the town of Montreal West will be closed for construction from Tuesday, July 12 to Friday, July 15.

Veuillez être avisé que le pont “hump bridge” sur l’avenue Westminster à Montréal-Ouest sera fermé du 12 au 15 juillet 2011 pour réparations.

Avis de fermeture de rue Mackle Road closure advisory

Please take note that Mackle Road, at the corner of Stephen Leacock Avenue in Côte Saint-Luc will be closed from July 4 to 7 (inclusively) for construction work. 

Please take note so that you can plan an alternate route. The use of Kildare Road is recommended for access to the west.

Detour signs have been posted.  This work will connect Stephen Leacock Avenue to Kellert Avenue as part of the redevelopment of the Cavendish Mall.

***

Veuillez prendre note que la rue Mackle, au coin de l’avenue Stephen-Leacock à Côte Saint-Luc, sera fermé du 4 au 7 juillet (inclusivement) pour des travaux de construction.

SVP planifier une route alternative.

L’utilisation de la rue Kildare est favorisée pour un accès à l’ouest.

Is Montreal ready for emergencies?

Is Montreal ready for emergencies?

City deserves credit for getting ready to cope with weather extremes, but Chicago shows it might be wise to do even more

By HENRY AUBIN

The Gazette May 26, 2011

The Richelieu Valley’s freak flooding, causing mayhem for hundreds of homeowners, shows what can happen when municipalities don’t anticipate the sort of extreme weather events that climatologists say could become much more common.

Chicago, having learned its lesson from a 1995 heat wave that contributed to the deaths of about 500 people, has become a leader among North American cities in preparedness against various kinds of extreme weather. Is Montreal doing enough?

This city’s vulnerability to weather extremes is plain. Last July’s heat wave, according to public-health authorities, precipitated the deaths of 106 people. Also last summer, tornadoes – ultraweak and undestructive – were spotted in Ste. Anne de Bellevue and the northern suburb Mascouche. No one will forget the 1997 rainstorm and the 1998 ice storm. And lest anyone smugly assume that the city’s remoteness from the coast gives it immunity to those increasingly severe hurricanes, bear in mind that Hurricane Hazel in 1954 blasted a city far more inland than us, Toronto, drenching it with 11 inches of rain and causing 83 deaths.

To be sure, no single weather event, including the Richelieu River’s overflow, can be blamed on human-made greenhouse-gas emissions, but most scientists say increasing emissions contribute to the overall trend.

The Tremblay administration – in particular, the executive committee’s Alan DeSousa – deserves credit for taking various steps to adapt to changing weather conditions (as distinct from taking steps to reduce greenhousegas emissions). The city is:

–Building four water-retention basins to keep sewers from overflowing during storms. (The four are in Ahuntsic, Lachine, Griffintown and St. Laurent.)

–Banning construction of new buildings on Montreal Island within 10 metres of the St. Lawrence River and the Rivière des Milles Îles. (Time will tell if 10 metres is enough.)

–Extending water-intake pipes farther into the St. Lawrence River in anticipation of lower water levels.

–Repairing leaking under-ground pipes carrying drinking water. This will, among other things, help in the event of future water shortages. DeSousa estimates that leakage caused the loss of 40 per cent of water a decade ago, that this is now down to 30 per cent, and that it should be at about 20 per cent by 2015.

–Obliging all new-building and renovated basements to install backwater valves, according to a bylaw effective in July. At times of heavy rain, these devices prevent sewers from backing up.

–Planting more shade trees to cool the territory and absorb rainwater, and encouraging vegetation on roofs.

–Bracing for the latest in-vasive species, the ash borer beetle, by ceasing as of last spring to plant its favourite food, ash trees, along Montreal streets. The insect has already killed tens of millions of such trees in the U.S., and warmer weather has brought it to southern Quebec. Ash trees are second only to maples as the most common tree on streets and in parks.

–Imposing new rules for off-street parking spaces in St. Laurent, where DeSousa is borough mayor. Asphalt parking lots absorb heat and don’t absorb rainwater, contributing to flooding. A 2009 borough bylaw reduces the number of parking spots required per building (thus also encouraging use of public transit), shrinks the size of each spot by five per cent, requires shade trees to cover 40 per cent of new spots and authorizes the use of permeable paving to replace asphalt.

Chicago is doing some of the same things as Montreal, such as building underground storage tanks for rainwater. But, as the New York Times reports, it is also doing a lot of other things.

In anticipation of a hotter future, it has stopped planting native Illinois species of trees and is replacing them with varieties from the southern U.S. It is planting those trees a foot or so below the surface sidewalks so that rainwater can readily drain into them. It is also seeding these sunken areas with special weeds that resist drought, absorb water and filter de-icing salts.

Most ambitiously, Chicago is also redesigning its streets. When it builds bike lanes and parking lanes, it introduces light-reflecting surfaces that reduce heat. Fragments of recycled tires are in this asphalt, allowing the pavement to contract in winter without cracking, and expand in summer without buckling.

Chicago gets a lot hotter than Montreal, which helps explain its being in the vanguard. But if the climatologists are right, Montreal can expect to get much, much hotter, too. Getting more prepared is a sound investment; Millions spent today can save billions down the road.

CSL PW employees aid flood victims

The solidarity between blue collars around the province will be very evident today as Côte Saint-Luc Public Works blue collars will join their counterparts from across the province to provide clean up services for the flood victims affected in the Montèrègie region.

The union has organized buses to arrive at Côte Saint-Luc Public Works to pick up our employees this morning for a full day of work assisting residents of the Richelieu Valley. Our employees will be volunteering their services which will surely be greatly appreciated by those who have endured the devastation of the overflowing waters of the Richelieu River for the past two months.

Two CSL Public Works crews. An example of our dedicated peronnel.

This is a wonderful gesture on the part of our Public Works employees. On behalf of my constituents I applaud these generous efforts to assist our fellow Quebecers at this most difficult time.  I am sure that you join me in congratulating them too so when you see them pass by your house in the coming days be sure to say thank you and give them an encouraging thumbs up!

CSL Public Works Day

The annual Côte Saint-Luc Public Works Week Carnival took place on May 22 and hundreds turned out to this event which combines education and a whole lot of fun.  Also known as Eco-Action Day, booths were set up for young and older to learn about the environment while the Public Works fleet of shiny white vehicles was on display. 

Councillors Dida Berku, Glenn J. Nashen, Allan Levine and Steven Erdelyi aboard a vintage carriage on display at Public Works Day 2011 with mascots from the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation

Councillor Mike Cohen and I even pitched in by shovelling some compost material into one of the many yellow bags being given out to the public.  

A donation to the Montreal Children’s Hospital Foundation gave kids access to real vehicles, inflatable games, face painting/tattoos, flower planting, arts and crafts, fun and games.

Councillor Mike Cohen shovels the... compost as Glenn J. Nashen fills the bag

There were balloons, TCBY. hot dogs, cotton candy and snow-cones, face painting and tattoos, flower planting, arts and crafts, demonstrations and Eco-Action Day. Everyone on hand got to learn more about recycling and organic waste collection and received free garden compost.  Used bikes were accepted on behalf of SOS Vélo. (With reporting by Cllr. Mike Cohen.  Photos by Bebe Newman.).

Annual Côte Saint-Luc Spring Fair on Sunday POSTPONED

Please note that this event has been postponed due to weather – Check back here or www.cotesaintluc.org for the new date

The fourth annual Côte Saint-Luc Spring Fair will take place on Sunday, May 15, 2011 from 10 am to 3 pm between Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park and the Public Works Building on Mackle Rd.

“Our Spring Fair is a kid-friendly event with many games and activities, plus a community garage sale to keep the adults busy too,” Mayor Anthony Housefather said. “But there is also an education aspect to the Spring Fair, with information about environmental matters, safety issues, and public works initiatives.”

The Côte Saint-Luc Spring Fair includes the Mega Garage Sale, Public Safety Day, the Public Works Carnival, Eco-Action Day, and—new this year—Côte Saint-Luc Clean Up Day, where residents can pitch in to help pick up refuse at one of four green spaces.

Highlights of the Côte Saint-Luc Spring Fair include inflatable games, face painting, arts and crafts, bike rodeo, colouring stations, environmental trivia game, child-seat verification, compost distribution, and the 60-table garage sale.

For more information about all the activities, visit www.CoteSaintLuc.org/en/SpringFair2011.

Municipal merger: It only makes sense

Suburban columnist David Lisbona published the following column in last week’s paper.  I’ll take the time to respond to his assertions that municipal mergers make sense in the coming days.  You can already guess what my response will be.  Check back and let me know what you think by clicking on the comment button.

 

 

Municipal merger: It only makes sense

The Suburban, March 30, 2011

By David Lisbona

There is a street fight going on in Hampstead and truthfully, I want no part of it. Who’s right who’s wrong, I’ll leave that to the voters of the town, who are more than capable of deciphering this for themselves. While The Suburban has become newspaper non-grata in the town, which is scary unto itself for a whole variety of reasons, I am more interested in the business case for the Town of Hampstead merging with its neighbor, Côte St. Luc.

Allow me to suggest right off the bat that the impetus for such a merger will not come from the provincial government as was the case of the failed mergers imposed upon the municipalities in 2002, nor will it be decided in either council chambers. No, such a move can only be spearheaded by the citizens of the municipalities involved through referenda and will not be decided by the elected members of either council.

There are compelling reasons why CSL and Hampstead should get together and here are some of them:

Geography: If you look at a map, the Town of Hampstead looks as if it has been carved out of CSL by a five-year-old who didn’t want to eat the crusts or by a gerrymandering politician, it simply makes little sense. Every time a CSL public vehicle services either MacDonald Avenue or the area known as “North of Hampstead” (which ironically is in CSL), it has to drive the entire length of Hampstead to do so. While I have no doubt that there are sharing arrangements between the municipalities, why place that impediment there in the first place? One geographic entity, one planning department and all of the economies of scale to be derived from that.

Representation: Between the two municipalities, there are two mayors and 14 councillors representing approximately 38,000 people. While I have no doubt that many of them perform yeoman’s work, the business reality is that no organization needs that much middle management. A combined municipality would surely need no more than 10 councillors between them, while I would argue that a mere six or 6,333 citizens per councillor in this technologically advanced day and age, where “meeting” your constituents consists of a text or e-mail as much as face-to-face encounter, is more than sufficient.

Public Services: Without its own library and arena, the Town of Hampstead has always had to rely on the facilities of others to ensure that its citizens had access to similar public services as those in other municipalities. With a merger, the citizens of Hampstead would no longer be guests at the Montreal West Arena or the CSL Library, they would have facilities of which they could take ownership and have some input. More importantly, the combined municipality could explore the possibility to construct a second rink at the site of the Samuel Moskovitch arena, something that each municipality alone could not do. The marginal cost to the library facility would surely exist but once again the scale economies to be derived would be significant as well. Further, a joint municipality would be better able to regulate traffic flow toward Decarie, instead of having two separate councils with differing interests creating confusing and inconsistent rules for drivers.

Inter-city Competition; Let’s not forget the increased competitiveness of their intercity teams. Both municipalities have had to rely on neighboring municipalities, namely LaSalle and Montreal West. A larger combined municipality will increase the pool of players and ensure more competitive hockey and baseball inter-city teams.

As I said, I am not interested in wading into the battle that is being waged right now in Hampstead, I am simply trying to present the business case and what I see here is a compelling one for combining these two municipalities. However, this time, unlike the forced mergers, the impetus has to come from the bottom up — the citizens — or else any merger idea will prove as unlikely as a left turn off Fleet during the morning rush hour.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the author and are provided for informational purposes only. They are meant to stimulate and challenge your financial advisor/ broker/lawyer and/or accountant to examine the issues raised and to determine whether they can be used in your best interest.

via Municipal merger: It only makes sense.

Found a pothole in CSL? Report it!

I received many emails and comments from my recent blog post on potholes in the Montreal area.  The vast majority agreed with me saying this is the worst year they could remember.  The situation is so bad that it has gone from an infrastructure and maintenance issue to a public safety issue.

Cote Saint-Lucers were nearly unanimous in agreeing with my view that our city has, by far, the best road maintenance across the region.  Potholes are relatively rare in CSL.

Unfortunately, the conditions on MacDonald Avenue are not at the level our city finds acceptable.  As you may know, CSL owns 50% of the road, the other half belonging to Montreal (Borough of Cote-des-Neiges-NDG), north of Dupuis.  CSL is anxious to repair the road and is trying to convince Montreal to partner with us in this work.

Meanwhile, if you do find a pothole in our city, an online reporting form is available.  Your advisory is dispatched to the Public Works team who will attend to the repair as quickly as possible.

What do you think? Are you pleased with the state of our roads in CSL?  Click comment.