Council returns in person to discuss borough cleanliness and traffic measures
The borough held its regularly scheduled monthly borough council meeting last Tuesday evening, where elected officials met to answer questions from citizens and vote on borough initiatives.
Sitting in front of a full house, elected officials welcomed residents who came in person and highlighted several key initiatives in the borough. Mayor Laurence Lavigne Lalonde spoke of a new youth violence reduction program while city councillor Josué Corvil wished Eid Mubarak to Muslim citizens.
The meeting takes place on the first Tuesday of each month where citizens can attend in person or virtually. Citizens can also send in their questions to be answered by the mayor and city councillors.
Present were borough mayor Laurence Lavigne Lalonde and city councillors Mary Deros, Sylvain Ouellet, Josué Corvil and Martine Musau Muele, along with city employees.
Camille-Laurin modular classrooms
The borough administration approved the installation of modular classrooms at École Camille-Laurin to make way for students of Camille-Laurin Annexe who will be forced to move due to renovations on their school.
Although part of the schoolyard at Camille-Laurin is located on borough property at Parc de Lestre, the borough allowed a derogation to let the schoolboard install the classrooms on a part of this property.
“In the urban plan, the “park and green space” allocation begins where the paved schoolyard ends,” wrote the borough in its decision, underlining that the modular classes would be confined to the paved section and not affect park space.
Initially, these modular classrooms were meant to be installed in the schoolyard at École Barclay but after citizen mobilization, the CSSDM announced they would be installed at Camille-Laurin.
More trees planted
During her introduction speech, Mayor Laurence Lavigne Lalonde highlighted the borough’s newly commenced tree-planting efforts. “We started planting trees last week,” said Lavigne Lalonde excitedly.
“We need to invest more money to make our neighbourhoods more enjoyable to live in,” she said, adding that 600 trees would be planted by borough teams with the ultimate objective of 2000 trees total to be planted with the help of other partners.
The mayor stated that trees would be planted both in the spring and summer, but added that they would not plant them in the summer as it was not optimal for the vitality of the trees.
“When our streets are beautiful it allows our youngsters to have access to more enjoyable outdoor space” the mayor added.
Funding to prevent violence
A financial contribution totalling $509,250 was accorded to 9 organizations as part of the Youth Violence Prevention Program in the borough. Although the mayor highlighted that this prevention work would occur across the borough, councillor Deros said she would have liked to see more investment in Park Extension.
“There is not a lot of investment in Park Extension,” said Deros, remarking that “maybe it’s because we haven’t had as much violence.”
The borough council also granted a financial contribution of $40,000 including $24,250 from the borough’s surplus to Loisirs du Parc for 2022.
The contribution was included within the framework of the Diversity and Social Inclusion Fund for Vulnerable Children and Families and the Youth Violence Prevention Program.
Cleanliness plan
The question of borough cleanliness and illegal garbage dumping was once again front and centre at this month’s council meeting. “3 out of 5 calls I get is about cleanliness,” said city councillor Mary Deros.
“Park Extension is not a garbage dump, keep your trash at home,” she continued, highlighting the boroughs’ new cleanliness plan which will put more emphasis on enforcement and the fining of repeat offenders.
“It’s ridiculous, we collect trash on Friday and by Saturday there’s garbage in front of houses,” added Deros, explaining that although “education is still central to the approach, intervention is becoming more important.”
“We are continuing our war to make Park Extension clean,” she said during the question period. The borough is also currently distributing free signs that read “I like my neighbourhood clean,” which can be picked up from the Bureau Accès Montréal.
The borough said the signs were “an original way to remind people of the pleasure of living in a well-maintained environment.”
The cleanliness plan for Park Ex will start as of Jun. 1 on Hutchison and Jean-Talon streets, between du Parc and Stuart.
Other decisions
Among other decisions, the borough council approved a demolish permit for 6923 to 6945, Parc avenue at the corner of Beaumont.
This will make way for a new 8-story building housing the second phase of Ressource du Parc, an seniors care facility.
The next borough council meeting will be held on Tuesday, June 7, 2022. Residents can tune in virtually or in-person and send in their questions to be answered by borough officials.