2014-06-10 minutes(draft) - Westmount Municipal Association

Westmount Municipal Association
Monthly General Meeting
Monday June 10th 2014
Board Room, Westmount Library
Meeting chaired by Peter Starr
Minutes taken by Patricia Dumais
Action items in bold.
1. MEETING CALL TO ORDER
Present
Matthew Cope MC, Patricia Dumais PD, John Fretz JF, Mehdi Ghafouri MG,
Marilynn Gillies MJG, Nigel Goddard NG, Margaret Lefebvre ML, Jerry Miller JM,
Jean-Pierre Picard JPP, Jean-François Prénovost FP, Peter Starr PS, Brigitte Stock BS,
Marilynn Vanderstaay MV
Absent
Maureen Kiely MK, Chloe Landry CL, Paul Marriott PM, Mavis Young MY
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Approved by ML, seconded by FP.
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF APRIL 14TH
Approved by MJG, seconded by MG with one minor correction: under “Action items from
last minutes” William Tau should read William Ta.
4. OPENING REMARKS FROM CHAIR
PS welcomed new Board members. He deemed the AGM successful with approximately 70
members present despite hockey finals on TV. He thought Peter Howlett was an interesting
speaker, talking very generally about Mount-Royal Park, including briefly Summit Woods.
MJG thought the sandwiches were not so great — PD suggested simple party sandwiches for
next time.
5. COUNCIL REPORT
PS asked Councillor Martin about infrastructure of which Martin then gave a detailed report
of work to be done. There was much approving of budgets, also talk about a new pizza
restaurant opening in the Southeast part of the City. The Fauteux report on green spaces is
soon to be released. JF mentioned that Joan Hagerman had asked about the plan for the front
drive of Westmount Park Church. A Summit Woods preliminary maintenance plan was
presented. The City is waiting for funding from the agglomeration to start Phase 1 of the
maintenance plan, which will take time.
6. PORTFOLIO REPORTS
JM met with Councillor Samiotis twice and reported that she is very keen on keeping the
WMA up to date on her portfolio. She shared various items of interest: the PAC is bringing
its Master Urban Plan up to date; its makeup will change as some of its members are stepping
down — Julia Gersovitch is coming back, Andrea Wolfe will stay on — the PAC is now
allowed to look beyond Westmount for new members; and interiors in Class 1 heritage
buildings will now be taken into consideration.
Councillor Samiotis also said that permit streamlining is under way, part of a general
administration streamlining; that a series of proposals for the Southwest were a disaster and a
landscaping study was also weak. JM had suggested to Mayor Trent that the Master Traffic
Plan and Master Urban Plan should be integrated. The Southeast sector is being examined for
re-development and there is an online poll on the City web site — Councillor Samiotis
requests WMA input. In some areas there is a freeze to prevent businesses from becoming
residences.
They also discussed Victoria Village and JM’s letter to PAC about the Southwest area
(available on the WMA web site), as well as the vacant lot East of the MUHC. JM feels the
area needs to be examined now to prepare for the future. He suggested that the old train
station’s tunnel could be an access point to the MUHC and the future development on the
vacant lot.
BS mentioned plans for a South-Centre doctor’s office freeze on Ste.Catherine Street between
Lansdowne and Clarke — she feels citizens from the area are not being consulted. MV
reported that the Hillside armory is closed and the City is looking for a developer to purchase
the building. MG said that it is a federal heritage building. MV said that the building is in
poor shape - mold, deteriorated brickwork etc. The Cabot Square redesign will impact the
Southeast, as well as the closure of the Montreal Children's Hospital. MG will forward a
report from the Quebec government on what is to be done with empty hospital buildings.
JF spoke with Councillor Lullham - no definite news about the Southwest dog run yet.
MJG emailed Councillor Davis with the following questions:
When will the work start on the tennis courts next to the WRC?
Councillor Davis answered that she had no definite date as of yet because Mike Deegan had
not gotten back to her but the courts will be rebuilt this summer. She promised to get back to
MJG as soon as she gets word.
Will groups such as the WMA be able to use rooms at the WRC for meetings?
Councillor Davis answered that the place is not really set up for that, as it does not have tables
and chairs for this purpose and there is no sound system. Many active sports programs have
been moved there from Vic Hall, which means the latter would be more available for other
activities.
MJG also asked for clarification on the issue that Westmount residents and schools may rent
the soccer fields if there is space available. She asked What would be the reason for no
space? The Sports and Rec soccer programs? Councillor Davis had not answered this
question as she is awaiting news from Mike Deegan.
Councillor Davis added that Family Day was a big success with over three thousand
participants having a great day. The pool opened last week and the new splash pad is a big
hit with the under 5 crowd. The pool is running on the Spring schedule that will switch over
when school finishes around St. Jean Baptiste.
Councillor Davis also announced that on Saturday June 21st the Aquafest is happening to
celebrate the new pool and she hoped the WMA would be putting a relay team together.
Each member would swim 25 meters, with a noodle, so the playing field is level for all
participants. The fee for registering a team is $60 and all monies raised go to support the
extras needed for the pool such as lounge chairs and picnic tables. The City is hoping many
community groups will compete. As there are not many WMA Board members keen on
participating PD suggested donating $60 as a “virtual team”. MV suggested sponsoring a
team and the Board gave her the OK to look into it.
7. MEMBERSHIP REPORT
There were some renewals at AGM. Family Day effort brought no new members, perhaps
because the CIQ-CURA petition signing was happening at the same time. PS mentioned that
the new communications plan that will look at strategies to attract new members.
8. BUSINESS ARISING FROM LAST MINUTES
- ACTION ITEMS FROM LAST MINUTES
All action items have been accomplished or are in the works. PS had asked Mayor Trent
about getting a list of new residents to forward our WMA information to. Trent said it was
not a problem with him but that he would have to get the OK from DG Duncan Campbell.
- BOARD GOVERNANCE MEETINGS
JPP briefed the Board Members on the latest version of the Governance Report with the goal
of reaching consensus on the various statements. ML told us she was a certified governance
expert and that we had policies mixed in with the governance statements. After discussion it
was decided that JPP will redo the document and separate the policy from the governance
and send it out for everyone’s comment. He stressed that it was how important it is to have
everyone’s feedback. The board agreed to give the necessary feedback needed. He will send
out the revised document soon and will incorporate the feedback into the document that
he hopes to finalize at the August meeting.
- COMMUNICATIONS MEETINGS
BS briefly explained the goals and steps of the Communications Plan being put together by
herself, PD, PS and PM. She is aiming for a Powerpoint presentation to the Board in August.
As a communications effort, JM suggested setting an agenda of items to be tackled in the
year and publishing it to incite interest from the community.
MUHC/CURA
A motion put forth by MK, of WMA support for the CIQ-CURA petition “Vendôme for all/
pour tous", was unanimously accepted by the Board.
9. NEW BUSINESS
- AD IN ARTS WESTMOUNT
PM suggested we advertise in Arts Westmount Programme. BS supported the idea —
approved unanimously by the Board.
- CITY’S SOUTHWEST SECTOR DEVELOPMENT
See under “Portfolio Reports”.
- RECENT BUSINESS CLOSURES ON SHERBROOKE/ VICTORIA VILLAGE
A very brief discussion about Cromwell taking over much of the real-estate of the area and
raising rents substantially forcing many businesses to move or close. The City unfortunately
has no control over this trend.
- AUDIO FROM COUNCIL MEETINGS
MJG shared her concern of how Council meeting audio is of poor quality and very difficult
to navigate.
- BUDGET ITEMS FOR WMA TO WATCH
MJG brought up this item: Mayor Trent reported on the proposed out-of-court settlement in
the matter of the City of Westmount versus Ville de Montreal following demerger. In
conclusion, even if the City was asking for 21 million dollars, he is of the opinion that settling
the matter is a wise course of action. He recommended that Council accept the offer in the
amount of $500,000 payable to Westmount. In his view, it is politically advantageous to settle
at this time, after spending over 1 million $ in legal fees.
- WMA QUESTIONS
In relation to our current examination of Board Governance, MJG pointed out this item from
the General Committee of Council Jan 27, 2014: Mayor Trent reported on the Westmount
Municipal Association request for a portfolio reporting from Council to allow the WMA to
operate in a more efficient way, instead of having to ask questions. The WMA have decided
that, prior to be asked to Council, all questions should be vetted. She then asked whether
Board members do indeed need to have their questions vetted before asking them at Council.
She was told no by both PS and JPP.
10. NEXT MEETING
Monday August 11th at 7 pm in the Westmount Room of the Library
11. ADJOURNMENT
Meeting adjourned at 9pm.
Patricia Dumais
Recording Secretary
WMA

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