Spring thaw reveals litter-strewn parks, citizen cleanup initiatives coming

Sylwia Bielec posted this photo of Confederation Park on April 20 to
the popular Facebook group Parents NDG.

By Isaac Olson
While there is plenty of rejoicing when the spring thaw comes, there's also plenty of cleaning up needing to be done as the melting snow reveals months of uncollected litter in yards, parks and streets.

There are at least four city sponsored cleanups of parks, bike paths and streets scheduled for NDG in the coming weeks and dozens more throughout the city.

On April 19, Sylwia Bielec posted a photo of litter in Confederation Park to the popular Parents NDG Facebook group. The photo shows a split garbage bag and plenty of clutter pushed up against a fence with playground equipment in the background.

"Do parks get cleaned, or do citizens have to clean them?" She wrote. "This is Park Confederation, just now. I'm just posting one pic, but it's representative. It's gross and I feel as though it gets worse every year."

Gayle Laird notes the park is busy with St-Luc High School students that eat their lunch there and then "leave their garbage behind. I often pick up what I can while I'm there with my kids."

French school board commissioner Marie-José Mastromonaco states that she will speak with the student council about the issue  and, she adds, " I am sure they will be ready to find a way to help."

There are other parks in NDG, like Trenholme, in similar condition. Antonio da Mota says the garbage cans are overflowing there.

Marlo Turner Ritchie notes that the Éco-Quartier NDG does support citizen cleanup initiatives. The organization will get community groups and schools involved with cleanups.

By the morning of Apirl 20, a Facebook post by Karen Martin was circulating, touting a city sponsored cleanup of Confederation Park scheduled for April 30. The plan is to assemble at the Dug Harvey Arena at 10 am and break up into groups to target. For more information and to register, click here.

A cleanup is also coming soon to NDG Park and Sherbrooke St. Scheduled for April 29 from 11:30 am to 2:30 pm, the cleanup will begin in NDG Park and head west on Sherbrooke St. To learn more about this initiative, visit the Facebook event page here and, most importantly, don't forget to register here through this city page.

It's important to register with the city, writes Melissa Fuller, "So the city can send us a shirt and materials for you."

The annual cleanup of the de Maisonneuve bike path is taking place on May 6. Click here for details. For a list of upcoming cleanups in the NDG area, click here.

The city's annual cleanup day, dubbed Grande OpérationMontréal.net, brought  politicians
and residents out to places like Royal Vale School to clear all the litter on April 30, 2011.
Photo: Isaac Olson

In case you missed it in the Montreal Gazette

In case you missed my recent articles in the Montreal Gazette, here is a run down.

Of course, all these stories can be found on my author profile page here.

1. Emergency repair fund: The borough has established a $250,000 emergency repair fund that will be used to repair neglected issues in rental housing. It is a rolling fund that will be replenished when the borough bills the landlord for the work. Now housing groups are asking what the criteria will be to qualify as an "emergency." To read more, click here.

2. Searle paints potholes: Councillor Jeremy Searle has been painting potholes white in protest of the current administration's spending priorities. He says he will paint the potholes white to warn drivers of the danger and protest centre city's lack of investment in roads until the potholes are repaired. To read more, click here. 

3. NDG fights Bill 122: On April 3, with an uneven vote, the borough council officially voiced opposition to the proposed provincial Bill 122 which would, as written, take away the citizen's right to a referendum when it comes to municipal zoning changes. As it stands, borough and city council's can approve zoning changes and citizens have the option to collect petition and registry signatures to oppose projects. That may change in May. To read more, click here.

4. St-Luc rail yards on valuable land:  It looks as though Canadian Pacific could earn a half-billion dollars by moving the St-Luc rail yards. According to a study done by McGill University urban planning graduate students, the rail company would profit even after the costs of moving and decontamination are factored in. To read more, click here.

Searle's pothole painting story gets plenty of attention

Loyola district councillor Jeremy Searle after painting a Fielding Ave. pothole
on  April 13. Photo: Isaac Olson

Loyola district councillor Jeremy Searle has been getting plenty of media attention since the Montreal Gazette ran my article and photo on his plan to paint potholes white until they are fixed.

My story was published on April 13 after Searle phoned with his plan to paint potholes white in protest of the current administration's inattention to road repairs. The story was picked up by other media in the coming days, including CTV and TVA Nouvelles.

Noah Sidel, who is quoted in my article, approached Searle about his pothole painting and made a video that can be found on his blog here.

The story, posted to the Montreal Gazette Facebook page and circulated heavily on social media, garnered loads of feedback.

For example, Cassi Evelyne writes, "At least he is doing something. He is thinking of the citizens. Which I can totally appreciate. I have one car that now has a broken rim and the other car got a flat tire. The roads are out of control. The only way you get compensated from the city is if you can prove the city knew about the pot hole and then they didn't fix in a timely manner. How do you prove such a thing, I have no idea."

Another commenter, Soui Chan states, "This is a man who feels for his citizens."

However, not everybody is on board with Searle's pothole-painting protest.

"Searle will accomplish nothing by this stunt," comments Andrew Ross, a 2013 borough mayor candidate. "It is simply electioneering, giving the impression of doing something while actually doing a whole lot of nothing. He should instead be working with city officials to improve funding for road repair, but that would require him taking the coveralls off and showing up for work. A disgrace."

Again, to read more about this, read my story in the Montreal Gazette. 

Loyola district councillor painting a pothole on Westmore Ave. on April 13.
Photo: Isaac Olson

Livre-service coming back to the borough at the start of summer

Examples of NDG-based Livre-service boxes in May 2015. Photos: Isaac Olson

By Isaac Olson
The borough's  self-service book-exchange boxes have vanished from borough streets, but director Stéphane Plante says they will be back by the beginning of summer.

Started under the guiding hand of then borough mayor Lionel Perez in December 2012, Côte des Nieges—NDG installed a dozen retrofitted newspaper-dispensers on busy neighbourhood streets throughout the borough. The boxes once belonged to the Montreal Gazette.

Calling it “Livre-service” in French, it is a free resident-to-resident book exchange program that allows citizens to take or leave a book at will. There’s no charge, no registration and no obligations. When these boxes were installed, it was stated that the success of these boxes would be determined by citizen participation.

Former city councillor Sharon Leslie went before the borough council on April 3 to say she brought a "whole bunch of books" down to the box in front of the Co-op la maison verte on Sherbrooke St. over the weekend only discover that it had disappeared. Noting it was a popular service and that people were distressed to learn the boxes had gone missing, Leslie asked if the borough would be replacing the boxes and how long it would take.

Borough mayor Russell Copeman said the borough made two missteps in pulling the boxes for refurbishing. The public should have been better informed of the plan, he said, and he suggested the borough could have, instead, not taken all the boxes away at the same time. Copeman suggested the borough put up signs letting people know that the boxes will be back soon.

"I think we could have done better," said Copeman.

"We were very surprised by the strong reaction," Plante admitted. "We are very pleased by that reaction because it means that they are used."

He said the plan is to refurbish the boxes that are damaged and buy new ones where needed. Notifications did go out via the borough's social media, he said, but, when prompted by the mayor, he agreed that more notification was needed.

“Hopefully by the beginning of summer they will be back because some of them were badly damaged,” Plante said. "But we need at least two months."

Sharon Leslie asks the borough council about Livre-service during
the April 3 borough council meeting. Photo: Screenshot of video archive.

Quality of Life conference coming May 13

NDG is changing fast. Photo: Isaac Olson

By Isaac Olson
The NDG Community Council’s Quality of Life conference is slated for May 13 from 9 am to 3 pm in the St. Raymond Community Centre and everybody is invited, assuming you pre-register through this link here.

“We are aiming to have a diversity of people and issues represented,” states the event’s Facebook page.

The aim of the bilingual event is to gather groups, institutions and citizens together to learn more about what the needs are in the neighbourhood.

Ideas and resources will be pooled while various themes related to quality of life, such as housing, food and security, will be discussed.

There will be an effort to accommodate people with whatever they may need so as to “maximize your involvement in this event.”

To read more about this event and how it is part of the triennial NDG Strategic Plan, please read my article in the Montreal Gazette. 

As the NDG Community Council's executive director Halah Al-Ubaidi says in that article, “The portrait of the neighbourhood is changing so fast, and we need to cope with that. There are big changes in N.D.G.”

April 3 borough meeting highlights

CDN-NDG borough council meeting gets underway April 3 Photo: Isaac Olson

Borough council approves $250,000 emergency housing repair fund

On April 3, the borough council authorized a fund of $250,000, established with management surpluses, that will go toward the emergency repairs of poorly maintained rental housing.

The fund was established so the borough director can have the ability to carry out “certain urgent, one-time” repairs on borough housing that requires immediate attention for “reasons of health and safety and the building owner has failed to do so.”

Read about this fund on CBC’s website here.

Jennifer Auchinleck told the council,  “We are very happy to see this proposition.”

Auchinleck is a community organizer with the Community Development Corporation of Côte-des-Neiges. She asked the borough council if there will be “concrete criteria” in place that defines an “emergency situation” requiring intervention.

Copeman said there will be a collaborative effort with borough officials, committees and organizations to establish criteria. He said he wants that criteria to be in place by the time moving season gets underway.

Urban Planning Advisory Committee won’t have citizen question period

The council has nixed a proposal to authorize public questions and discussion periods during Urban Planning Advisory Committee (CCU) meetings.

The motion was proposed by Darlington district councillor Lionel Perez. In 2013, while he was the interim borough mayor, Perez proposed making the meetings public and he pushed that proposal through to fruition, but citizens are still disallowed from participating as the CCU reviews and discusses housing and commercial projects in the borough.

Having no decision-making authority, the committee's mandate is to consider applications for minor exemptions from zoning and subdivision by-laws. The CCU,when in session about seven times a year, may discuss a range of municipal concerns related to land use planning be it urban development, zoning modification, location of equipment, urban planning guidelines, etc.

Perez, who gave an impassioned speech on the topic, said he was pushing for citizen participation in the interest of governmental transparency. It is not unheard of to allow citizen participation in CCU meeting as, for example, the borough of St. Laurent already does it this way.

Councillor Magda Popeanu, president of the committee, noted it is hard to find members as the hope is to attract experienced people, often architects, that are willing to volunteer their time. As it is, she said, the meetings “end very late” and she is “not very comfortable” to have volunteers confronted by questions from the public.

“As far as I am concerned, I am uncomfortable with this motion,” said Loyola district councillor Jeremy Searle. The volunteers, he added, “Are not in a position to be asked questions.”

Searle said, the public has the option to come to the borough council meetings to make observations and ask questions of the council.

Snowdon councillor Marvin Rotrand said he supports open CCU meetings, but allowing a question period would make committee membership a “full-time job” and members would need salaries. He said the reason he is “really voting against it” is because the members have not been consulted on this.

Copeman and Perez are the only two members of Équipe Denis Coderre on the council. After Copeman spoke in favour of the motion, McQueen called on his colleagues to withdraw the motion.

With Popeanu, McQueen, Rotrand and Searle voting against, the motion did not pass.

Motion to protect churches in NDG nixed

McQueen’s motion to protect NDG churches was voted down by the council, with Perez, Copeman, Rotrand and Searle all voting against the proposal.

Read more about the motion here.

McQueen and Popeanu, both members of Projet Montreal, continued to voice support for the measure as a starting point when it comes to the issue of protecting churches from development. McQueen said there is concern brewing among residents in the borough as community organizations like the NDG Food Depot need space and people want to protect historic churches from development. This motion, he said, is an effort to do something about those growing concerns. It is an effort, he said, to take action rather than sitting idly by while churches are sold to developers.

Copeman, among his arguments against, questioned why the motion does not include all houses of worship and why it is limited to NDG rather the rest of the borough.

In the audience, several members of the Anglican Diocese, including Executive Archbishop Bill Gray, sat until the vote was cast after 10 pm.

No right on red

The council approved a motion to inform the Quebec government that Côte-des-Neiges―NDG borough wishes to maintain the ban prohibiting drivers from turning right at red lights on the island of Montreal. The motion was moved by Rotrand to express opposition to a collaborated effort by suburban mayors to lift the ban.

Searle said he chaired the committee meetings in 2002 on this issue before the right-turn was outlawed. Searle said,”If you think it is safe to have right-turns on red, just take away the traffic light.”

Copeman said he is against right turns on red as a driver, pedestrian and cyclist.

The motion was approved without a nay vote.

One-time financial contributions

Each of the five councillors and mayor have a discretionary budget which they can dip into and contribute to community organizations and initiatives. On April 3, the council approved a total of $4,300 in contributions. Below are some NDG or close-to-NDG organizations that benefited.

Just north of the NDG border in Snowdon, the Black Coalition of Quebec received $750 ($250 from Copeman, $250 from Councillor Marvin Rotrand and $250 from Popeanu) to help the non-profit organization continue its mission of defending the rights of the black community against racial profiling and discrimination especially in terms of justice and employment.

Lunar New Year celebrations on February 4. Photo: Isaac Olson

The NDG Community Council was awarded $150 from Copeman and $250 from McQueen for a total of $400 to support the celebration of the 2017 Lunar New Year held on February 4 at the St. Philip’s Anglican Church.

A total of $750 was awarded to the NDG Parish to support its summer program for children ages six to 16. In this case, McQueen’s contribution accounted for $500 and Copeman’s for $250.

The NDG YMCA was awarded $400 (Copeman for $150 and McQueen for $250) to help maintain the community service program delivered by teens for purposes of socio-economic integration.

Zerf Productions, based on Harvard Ave., was awarded $300, $200 from Copeman and $100 from McQueen, to support activities for celebrating the 150th anniversary of the community in NDG.

New soccer field coming to Loyola Park

Comeau Expert-Conseils was awarded the contract for professional services in the amount of $115,722.34 (including taxes) to construct a new soccer field in Loyola Park. A total of nearly $140,000 was approved for this expenditure.

Bocce court to get a new roof

The popular, well-used bocce court in Georges St. Pierre Park (commonly called Oxford Park) will be getting a new roof to protect players from the rain and sun. A total expenditure of near $58,000 was approved.

Other spending

An agreement between LogisAction NDG was approved along with a $20,000 payment to the organization.

Eleven grant agreements with nine organizations to hold summer day camps in summer 2017 as approved. Financial contributions in this case will total $258,301.92.

A 10-month memorandum of agreement between the borough and the Jewish Public Library was approved, allowing the institution to carry out community awareness-building activities from May 1, 2017 to April 30, 2018. This agreement comes with a $28,000 contribution.

A total of $86,000 was authorized to go to various organizations for events to be held in 2017 as part of activities celebration Montreal’s 375th anniversary. It was adopted with discussion, but no nay votes.

-Isaac Olson

Bust a Move Moving shovels out cars for charity

By Isaac Olson
Bust a Move Moving co-owners Jonathan Painchaud and Brad Clarke were driving home on February 13th
when they noticed plenty of people struggling to get their street-parked cars out of the snow.

After stopping to help two people, they came up with an idea — shovel people out of their parking spots for charity. So, they put out an announcement on their Facebook page and shared it in a couple of groups on Valentine’s Day, offering to shovel people out for $10 with all the proceeds going to the NDG Food Depot.

The offer was shared widely and, sure enough, they started getting messages and calls. The partners eventually helped eight cars out in about two hours, earning $96 and a couple bags of food for the depot.

“It was something we want to think about doing again in the future,” said Clarke in a phone interview.

Michele Goldman, a resident of De la Savanne St. in Côte des Neiges was one of those eight people that took advantage of the service. When contacted, she said she was grateful that they shovelled her car out.

On Facebook, she published a photo of the two men and wrote, “OMG, the guys from Bust a Move Moving—Déménagement drove around NDG doing snow removal to raise money for charity! They saved me. I had no idea how I was going to get my car out.”

Bust a Move Moving co-owners Jonathan Painchaud (right) and Brad Clarke
 shovel out a car on De la Savanne St. on February 14. 
Photo courtesy of Michel Goldman. 

DIY Easter egg hunt planned for April 16 in NDG Park

The fourth annual do-it-yourself Easter egg hunt is planned for April 16 at 1 pm in the historic NDG Park, corner of Girouard Ave. and Côte St-Antoine Rd.

According to the Facebook event page, “One group of parents will stay with the kids in the playground area and try to distract them while the other group hides the eggs in the sloping area down to the statue. After all the eggs are hidden we let the kids go chase them — we give the little ones a head start.”

Once a child has found six eggs, parents will ask them to help to help others.

Parents are asked to bring eight plastic easter eggs per child, stuffed full of small prizes such as erasers, stickers etc.  Candy is acceptable also, but no nuts due to potential allergies. Kids are limited to finding six eggs because nobody is excluded, notes the event page. If park-going families weren’t aware of the event but want to participate, they are welcome. The hope is to have extra eggs on hand for the extra kids that may particiapte.

Weather-appropriate clothing is recommended as is monitoring the event page because, if rain is predicted, the event may be preponed to April 15 instead. Either way, the hunt will be over by 2 pm, so make sure to get there on time. Happy hunting!

For ideas on egg stuffing, click here.