The Rembrandt splash pad was installed in 2008, as part of the park project at that time.

This pad is in great need of repainting and I received some requests for this to be done. We have issued a contract for the washing of the current surface, to remove the dirt that's encrusted in the surface, sanding, repairs and painting This will permit new materials to adhere. You will see in the new design four to five circles of different sizes.

I originally pushed for a splash pad at Rembrandt because there were so many young families in the area. It has been well utilized by residents. Grandparents residing on Rembrandt constantly tell me this is a big incentive for their grandchildren to visit in the summer.

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A noted community activist called me last week to share this story. A few weeks ago he went to the bank at the Côte St. Luc Shopping Centre with an elderly client . The nature of the visit was such that they were there for perhaps five minutes. After that he dropped off an envelope to an office in the Centre and had a sandwich. He carried a purse containing  credit and debit cards and others for car rentals, airlines, etc. There was also a leather portfolio with a few documents and his client’s bank book and debit card. He left by the entrance closest to the bank and got into his car to return to his  office downtown.  

At the first red light, after exiting the parking lot,  he was stopped and a fellow pointed to his right rear tire, indicating he had a flat. “I kept driving slowly for a number of blocks and decided I better stop and check for myself and not ruin my tire,” the activist said. “I did so further down the street. and sure enough my tire was very flat. I got in the car and called CAA and waited. After several minutes, I believe the same fellow, appeared and I rolled the window down enough to hear him and he indicated that if I had a pump in my  trunk he could fill the tire and get to a garage. I refused,  indicating I had called CAA. He persisted and like a fool I got out of the car, went to the trunk, which I had opened, and with him looked  for a pump which I really knew I didn’t have. I closed the trunk, got back in the car, he left and then waited for CAA.  I  then realized both my purse and portfolio were gone. I reported this to the police by calling 911 and then filed a police report later that day. Naturally I proceeded to deal with my cards.

“The main thing is that I was duped very convincingly by a professional. I understand that this is happening quite often at the CSL,  Van Horne and Galerie St. Laurent  shopping centre and I’m sure others. They seem to target seniors and use different ploys. One of my associates, who no longer drives, accompanied his wife to Van Horne Shopping Centre, was in the car while she was in the bank. A fellow stood in front of his car pointing to the front of the hood. My buddy got out of the car, saw there was nothing, got back in the car and his purse with all his cards  were gone.One of the tellers at the RBC CSL told me one of her customers had her purse taken twice."

In recent months I have heard from residents concerned about the safety of their children on Marc Chagall Avenue and Park Place due to cars driving at excessive speeds.

I asked our traffic engineer to carry out speed tests on both streets. The results from Marc Chagall showed that speeding is a problem. The 85th percentile showed 58 km/hr,  which is very high. In response to this we have installed temporary speed cushions on this stretch. We will re-evaluate their effectiveness in the fall. Already, we see a clear improvement in cars slowing down. That is good news with classes about to begin at JPPS/Bialik and with more vehicles using the street due to the construction of the new highrise. Thanks to my colleague, Councillor Glenn J. Nashen, who as head of our Traffic Committee worked closely with our Traffic Engineer Spyro Yotis to look into the situation.

"It seems to be slowing down most cars,"  commented Marc Chagall resident Jason  Ullmann.  "Some still fly over it,  but I would still  say it's a success."

While no traffic calming was called for on Park Place, it was determined that those cars driving too fast represented people actually residing on the street or visitors. We have therefore decided to follow a route we took a number of years ago on Ilan Ramon Crescent and placed two signs warning vehicles to drive carefully and containing a pictogram of children playing. It has served as an excellent wake up call on Ilan Ramon and I hope it will be the same on Park Place. Thanks to Ralph  Rimokh for his work on this file with me,