I wish to provide an update about the large greenspace on Marc Chagall Avenue, across from both the Marquise and the snow dump.

History will note that this land was leased to the owners of the Equinoxe as a parking lot for three years in order to avoid having their   workers parking on the street. The developers had signed a written contract to return the land the way they found it. Regrettably that did not occur and litigation ensued. Attempts to properly beautify the area were unsuccessful, so in June council adopted a resolution allocating fund  to finally get this job done right.

Work was supposed to begin in June, but like everyone else across the globe we are victims of supply and demand. The delivery of the sod is on back order and will not arrive until August 8.

Work begins on the rehabilitation of the Marc Chagall lot.

Nonetheless, work has indeed started. Public Works  commenced some digging to install bollards along the west side of the paved walkway for new lighting.  A number of large diseased trees unfortunately had to be removed. We have also installed the beginning of  a pathway.

Our contractor  will remove all growing grass, seeds, and pebbles for the entire vacant lot. New benches and tables will be installed.  Fingers are crossed for the sod.  In September new trees will be planted. I am as frustrated as anyone with these delays, but we will have a beautiful greenspace when all is said and done at which time I will begin a consultation process to find a name for this parkette.

Thanks to our Public Works Department for their annual destruction of the large and ugly hill of muddy snow at the snow dump.

This is no easy feat. Our team We usually starts to break up the snow dump towards the end of June / beginning of July. The mountain is generally too hard and frozen to start operations, as the equipment (mechanical shovel) will likely break. This had happened in the past when the contractor started too early in the season. With several years of experience now, we work together with the contractor preparing the proper schedule for breaking down the hill.

It takes approximately 100 hours of work  to complete the project.  This year it was all finished earlier than scheduled.

I am pleased to report that City Council has approved special funds to properly beautify the empty lot on Marc Chagall Avenue across from the snow dump.

History will note that this land was leased to the developers of the Equinoxe apartment buildings for three summers as a parking lot for their workers. The goal here was to ensure that residents and their guests had  sufficient spots available on the street.

The developers were supposed to return the land back to the condition that they found it in. That did not occur.  Finally, last October the city took over the project and hired a sub-contractor. We promised to evaluate the work in May. We did so and clearly a redo was  necessary.

What the land looks like now.

Our Public Works Department will now work with the sub-contractor. In June work will begin on installing new lighting next to the pathway leading to Isadore Goldberg Park.

.We will create a new curved pea-stone pathway (going  midway from the existing paved pathway back towards the street where there is presently a temporary little sitting area. The latter will be removed while the picnic tables and benches repurposed in the space.  Twelve Benches, tables and cement pads will be installed all along the pathways. Finally, 20 to 30 trees will be planted along the pathways, along the side of the townhouses and throughout the lot.

The most important news is that we will lay down sod – also commonly referred to as turf grass. These are sections of grass that have already grown, which is bound together by a root system or a thin layer of other bio-degradable material. I had asked for this to be the original approach. 

These picnic tables will be repurposed in the park.

Young families living in the town houses and grandparents in the condos like bringing the kids to play here. And everyone loves the benches. The greenspace does not have an official name, so perhaps we can consider one?

L'embellissement  du terrain Marc Chagall aura lieu en juin

J'ai le plaisir d'annoncer que le conseil municipal a approuvé des fonds spéciaux pour embellir comme il se doit le terrain vide de l'avenue Marc Chagall, en face de la décharge à neige.

L'histoire retiendra que ce terrain a été loué aux promoteurs des immeubles d'habitation Equinoxe pendant trois étés comme aire de stationnement pour leurs ouvriers. L'objectif ici était de s'assurer que les résidents et leurs invités disposaient de suffisamment de places dans la rue.

Les promoteurs étaient censés remettre le terrain dans l'état dans lequel ils l'avaient trouvé. Cela ne s'est pas produit.  Finalement, en octobre dernier, la ville a repris le projet et a engagé un sous-traitant. Nous avons promis d'évaluer le travail en mai. Nous l'avons fait et il est clair qu'une reprise était nécessaire.

Notre département des travaux publics va maintenant travailler avec le sous-traitant. En juin, nous commencerons à installer un nouvel éclairage près du sentier menant au parc Isadore Goldberg.

 Nous allons créer un nouveau sentier incurvé en pierre de taille (allant à mi-chemin du sentier pavé existant vers la rue où se trouve actuellement un petit coin salon temporaire. Ce dernier sera enlevé tandis que les tables de pique-nique et les bancs seront réutilisés dans l'espace.  Douze bancs, tables et socles en ciment seront installés tout au long des sentiers. Enfin, 20 à 30 arbres seront plantés le long des allées, sur le côté des maisons de ville et sur l'ensemble du terrain.

La nouvelle la plus importante est que nous allons poser du gazon en plaques - aussi appelé communément gazon artificiel. Il s'agit de sections d'herbe qui ont déjà poussé et qui sont liées entre elles par un système de racines ou une fine couche d'un autre matériau biodégradable. J'avais demandé que ce soit l'approche initiale. 

Les jeunes familles qui vivent dans les maisons de ville et les grands-parents qui vivent dans les condos aiment amener leurs enfants jouer ici. Et tout le monde aime les bancs. L'espace vert n'a pas de nom officiel, alors peut-être pourrions-nous en envisager un ?

One of  my new portfolios on city council is Local Commerce, so I was very pleased to see the Équinoxe Marc Chagall present a Holiday Market  on December 12.

This was a clever initiative by the administration of the two large rental apartment buildings.The purpose of the event was to support local businesses. There were  12 exhibitors, many of whom reside at the Équinoxe.

Nathalie Pariente

“It was a very big success,” said Nathalie Pariente of The Équinoxe. “People found some wonderful gifts for the holidays.”

Sonia Ohayon

There was  nice variety of exhibitors.  Sonia Ohayon is a caterer who had plenty of samples to share, including her famous Moroccan cigars.  She is noted for her incredible soups, main dishes like sweet and sour meatballs, desserts and plenty of sides. She caters and does deliveries. You can reach her at 514-481-6207 and [email protected].

Robyn Goodman

Robyn Goodman, whose parents live in the building, was selling her beautiful paintings. You can reach her at [email protected].

Stephen  Orleans right and friends.

Stephen Orleans was helping a friend sell her impressive line of sunglasses.

Myriam Zagury

Myriam Zagury  showed her line of  merchandise from Arbonne, for whom she is an independent consultant and executive district manager. She had  a variety of nutrition, skincare, makeup and healthy living products for sale. Go to  https://www.arbonne.com/ca/en/arb/myriamzagury/

Elizabeth and her daughter.

Elizabeth Sebbag had beautiful pre-wrapped gift packages via Ethan’s Creation. She can be reached at [email protected] if you need something ready to go for someone.

The Équinoxe has a lot of pet owners who use this service.

As an animal lover I was pleased to see that a representative from Between Hands Paws, a pet sitting and animal walking company powered by educhateur  was on hand. Go to www.entrepattesetmains.com  or call 514-647-2428.

The two reps from Groupe  De Palma.

Groupe De Palma provides concierge services to the building and they could do the same for you. Check them out at www.groupedepalma.com.

These were just some of the vendors.

Bravo to all. I recommended to Nathalie that this type of sale be repeated in the spring or summer, perhaps even outdoors.

Here is an update on the greenspace on Marc Chagall.

Following two months of legal discussions between the city  and Jadco, the developers of the Equinoxe high rise towers, the vacant lot on Marc Chagall Avenue across from the Marquise and next to Les Cours Marc Chagall townhouses will finally be restored to its original condition.

History will note that the greenspace was originally leased to Jadco for three years in order to ensure that their workforce in the hundreds did not take up parking spots on street. Last November the company hired by Jadco to restore the land to greenspace got to work. When spring arrived it was clear the work was unsuccessful. Two more attempts were made, after which our legal counsel got involved. For one thing, they did not water the grass enough and they left too much debris and rocks. Grass did not grow satisfactorily.

One of the new permanent picnic tables on the Marc Chagall greenspace.

We had retained a damage deposit from Jadco of $30,000. Our staff at City Hall, Public Works and Urban Planning got to work and it was agreed that we would take charge of the project. At the September 13 Council meeting we   requested quotes and negotiated with three suppliers who
provide this type of service. The contract was awarded to Construction Morival Ltd.   for a total amount of $34,320.00 plus applicable taxes.

Work will begin soon. This type of work is most successful at this time of the year and should any problems arise we will be able to take charge immediately rather than chasing Jadco’s subcontractors.

I would also like to thank Public Works for installing two brand new picnic tables at the edge of the greenspace. They are outfitted with chairs that have backs to them, something that many seniors had requested. Public Works is maintaining the land nicely. It does look a lot more presentable, but I am excited to see it back to a condition where kids can run around and kick a soccer ball.

Here is an update on the greenspace on Marc Chagall Avenue.

The owners of the Equinoxe apartment buildings have failed to live up to the terms of the lease they signed to use a large greenspace on Marc Chagall Avenue as a parking lot for construction workers for a period of three years.

Mayor Brownstein and staff join me on site.

The understanding was that the company would return that land in the precise form that they found it. Regrettably this has not occurred.

 Last fall  the company cleared the sand and gravel, but when spring came the grass was not growing. Our legal team had them come do the work a second time and  once again it did not take.  They made two more tries, including having an employee spend a few days literally picking up every rock he could find and placing them in buckets.

A larger look at the site.

Mayor Mitchell Brownstein and I met with our senior city management on the site on July 13 and we agreed that  we must complete the job ourselves. While there is definitely an improvement, it is far from acceptable.

It is too warm to proceed now with removing the  entire existing top layer of space, adding a new layer of proper soil and then hydro seeding, adding new sod  and watering for two weeks.   We will hire our own contractor towards the very end of August or start of September when the weather is most condusive to planting. Our legal team has done an excellent job taking the bull by the horn.

In the interim public Works will cut the existing grass. They have created a small pathway closer to the street with benches. The Mayor and I  have asked  them to pave the pathway and replace the benches with new ones, as well as add picnic tables like the model we have behind the library with backs on the seats. As well, new trees will be planted on the grounds.

New flowers have been planted on the other small pathway facing the snow dump.

New flowers have been planted.

It is regrettable that the original contractors hired by the company did not complete this job properly last fall. We are now taking all legal means available to rectify the situation.

 There is good news to report on the  greenspace on Marc Chagall Avenue, across from the Marquise.

For the last three years this land was used as a parking lot for workers at the Equinoxe towers in order to ensure there were enough spots on the street for residences.

Jadco,  developers of The Equinoxe, had signed a lease with the city and committed to restoring the land to the way they found it.

The preparation work done last summer was not successful, nor was the follow up in May. Grass did started to grow again in most sections, but there were too many rocks and debris left on the property.

Our legal team took over the dossier two weeks ago and I am pleased to share that Jadco has reacted positively,

Starting on Monday, July 5, the grass will be cut in two stages. The first step is to shorten the grass and simultaneously pick up all the rocks/stones while the second is to cut the grass evenly.

The grass is growing.

This procedure should be concluded by the end of next week.

I will keep you posted.

Once that is done, our Public Works Department will create a pathway, install some benches and picnic tables and new trees.

I wish to thank our Urban Development and Public Works Department, as well as City Manager Jonathan Shecter and Legal Counsel Andrea Charon.

There is a lot of activity to take note of on Marc Chagall Avenue.

For starters, I advocated strongly for more safety measures to be taken by our Traffic Committee. We have lowered the speed limit to 30 km/h. New signs will be installed soon.  A seasonal speed bump will be installed  closer  to the snow dump. At the turnaround,  work began this week on a bump out sidewalk aimed at slowing motorists down near the  cross walk. This was closely studied by traffic engineers before implementation.

Work is underway with the sidewalks.

The broken sidewalk near the Equinoxe is finally being replaced. We also expect the Equinoxe owners to complete the landscaping in front of their buildings. And yes, still with the Equinoxe, it was their responsibility to return the lot across from the Marquise, which was used for parking the past three summers, to greenspace.  Equinoxe contractors  levelled and hydroseeded the land in the fall and it clearly failed to take. They have  now started   another cleanup and seeding. If all goes well, we should see grass by the end of May

We hope to see new grass on this lot very soon.

Once the grass appears, Public Works will be installing some benches, tables, bushes and flowers. Last fall we installed a paved road to the entrance of Isadore Goldberg Park so that all residents on Marc Chagall have access. Goldberg Park is furnished with some new play equipment, benches, tables and beautiful tree. New sand was added in 2020. Lighting and fencing will be installed over the summer/fall.

“So the community at Marc Chagall will enjoy a place to stroll through, a park with toys for children and grandchildren and a small parkette towards City Hall and the library,” reports Public Works Director Beatrice Newman. “The people who live on this street will finally enjoy beautiful days in beautiful areas throughout the summer in their neighbourhood.”

Some people have asked me about the snow dump and when the filthy mountain of solid snow will be chopped up. We hire a contractor for the snow dump and we have basically one shot. We need several weeks of warm weather before  it can be broken up so that might not be until June.

I think we are all thrilled that this will mark the first time four years that we will not have to face  summer of construction at the Equinoxe as  the two towers are completed. Just a reminder to anyone who is not aware, but that land was zoned for two high rises more than 30 years ago.

Finally, Videotron recently did some work on the street and they left   three sets of rock-filled holes in the ground. We are now after them to put those surfaces (see above) back to their original position.

The Côte Saint-Luc Traffic Committee met recently, at which time I made the case for something to be done to increase safety on Marc Chagall Avenue

With the addition of two Equinoxe high rises,  and if you take into account Le Rothchild I, which borders on the street, there are  close to 1,000 residents spread across six buildings and one town house complex. Add to that JPPS Elementary/Bialik High School,  Beth Chabad at Kildare Road and the snow dump, then we are talking about a lot of traffic.

A look at Marc Chagall Avenue.

Following two recent accidents at the curve on Marc Chagall, the committee discussed what can be done. Engineering presented  traffic counts taken from the previous week.

They showed low volume and low speeds at the curve. Simply looking at the data would not suggest a problem in the area. The  local Police Station 9 commander  agreed that there is likely no speeding on the curve and that they would not be able to issue tickets based on the speeds of the tests. The committee did agree  that these values would be amplified if it were trucks and not cars.

Personally I do not feel that these speed tests tell the true story. There have been many spring, summer and fall nights where have seen cars whizzing by well above the speed limit.

So our plans now call for a significant reduction in speed allowed:   30km/hr along the entire Marc Chagall stretch. For residents who have been asking for such a measure  you need to understand that once signs are installed the police will be monitoring it and tickets issued.

Keep in mind that the main entrance for Isadore Goldberg Park is now on Marc Chagall, qualifying  certain portion of the street as a park area for the purposes of speed. Then, of  course, as we approach JPPS/Bialik we enter a school zone.

I walk or drive down Marc Chagall almost every day. When I am in my vehicle I do so very slowly, cognizant of the traffic and - notably during COVID-  the fact that there has been more pedestrian activity.

The addition of more speed bumps was not accepted as the noise caused by trucks  would be very disruptive to the surrounding buildings.  

Before the signs are installed and we complete the necessary steps to make this a reality, I welcome comments from constituents at [email protected].

Work is well underway  to  break down the accumulated snow and ice at the snow dump.

During this period, residents have been hearing the sounds from  heavy equipment, including two mechanical shovels and one bulldozer.

Their work is essentially complete. Now we  must wait a few weeks for the newly exposed snow and ice to melt. We will then return for another break down session.

Chopping up the thick snow.