WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT · 2– WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – February 20, 2018 Welcomme Brian Du tch &...

Aimed at increasing transparency

Council starts listing buildingpermit requests it refusesBy Laureen Sweeney

Along with the approval of buildingpermit applications for exterior work,those that are refused – and the reasons –will also form part of the public record asa “standard procedure,” according toMayor Christina Smith.

She said it is important for people to

know why their permit requests have beenrefused.

This is a step toward greater “trans-parency” she told the Independent lastweek after announcing the change at thecity council meeting February 5. It is ef-fective immediately and applies only to ex-terior work since councilapproval is not required

Indoor pool ‘a council priority,’Mayor Smith tells meetingBy Laureen Sweeney

How about a swim in February – inside in a new West-mount pool?

A statement by Mayor Christina Smith at the councilmeeting February 5 brought the issue of an indoor poolinto the realm of possibility. “It’s something that’s veryimportant to all of us on council,” she said, adding: “It’s apriority of this council.”

She was replying to Maureen Kiely of The Boulevardwho asked for an update on “the pool situation” based ona pool-needs survey of residents conducted last summer.

“We’ve just scratched the surface,” Smith said of mov-ing forward. “Give me two or three months for an up-date.”

She rhymed off a wish list of items people had askedfor on the survey including a diving end, splash pad andeven a gym (see story August 8, 2017, p. 1).

She also related an experience she had had recentlywhile swimming with her kids at an indoor pool up north

when “out jumps a resident of Westmount so excited” tohave recognized the mayor using the pool, too.

While location had been one of the issues surround-ing the possible construction of an indoor pool, Smithtold the council meeting she already had a site “in mind.”She later said she was not prepared to identify it at thistime, pending further study.

Emphasizing the importance of an indoor pool, shemade special reference to one of the councillors (ConradPeart) being an architect.

A summary of the survey results prepared by the cityshowed 80 percent of respondents to the 1,300 returnedsurveys were generally in favour of a pool. A total of some10,000 surveys had been distributed.

The city’s next steps were to include examining whatother indoor pools already exist in or around Westmountand possible partnership opportunities.

An indoor pool subsequently became an election issuefor many candidates.

WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENTWe are WestmountWeekly. Vol. 12 No. 2c February 20, 2018

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Boicel, Lord celebrate BlackHistory Month at Vic Hall

At a special event held for Black History Month by the cityof West mount’s Community Events division, former West -mount er Doudou Boicel, founder of Montreal’s now defunctRising Sun jazz club, recited his poetic work Le Jardin derêves, while accompanied by a trio of jazz musicians, atVictoria Hall on the evening of February 10. It was part of adouble-bill concert that also featured Haitian-born Canadiansoprano Marie-Josée Lord. Photo: Martin C. Barry.

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Wurteles look back to Olympics ’48

Former Westmounters and Trafalgar School for Girls graduates Rhoda and Rhona Wurtele, centre leftand right, cut an Olympic anniversary cake, baked by a Trafalgar mother, to share with visitingstudents from the school. Seventy years ago, the Wurtele twins were the only women on Canada’sOlympic alpine team in St. Moritz, Switzerland. They went on to found the Twinski Club for femaleskiers. From left, Leah Bernstein, Marianna Cardin, Westmounters Gabby Reim and Sarah Grahamand Olivia Wood, and future Traf student Camryn Knowlton. The Wurteles now live in Pointe Claire,where the event took place February 8. Photo courtesy of Trafalgar.

for interior renovations.While the public listing of permit re-

fusals is a practice that has been used bysome other municipalities, Westmounthas historically listed only projects ap-proved by the council based on afavourable recommendation from thePlanning Advisory Committee (PAC).

On occasion, however, the city has list-ed a separate resolution of refusal for aproject described by Smith as particularly“sensitive.”

One such project involved the designfor a new house on an empty lot next to482 Mount Pleasant (see story February 21,2017, p. 1). The owner has since launchedlegal action over the rejection.

This was described at the time as “anunusual case” where the council turned

down a favourable recommendation fromthe PAC for the issuance of a permit.

With the launch of the new procedureFebruary 5, the council approved thePAC’s recommendation to reject a revisedplan for 1235 Greene due to the thicknessof masonry (see list of permits, p. 13).

This is the building formerly occupiedby the Double Hook and Babar-en-Villebookstores.

Permits, cont’d. from p.1

Letters p. 4

Hidden Talents p. 6

Real Estate p. 10

9 Lives p. 12

Classified p. 13

Permits p. 13

Social Notes p. 14


Cllr. Bostock responds:Survival of retail istop of mind for council

In response to “Parking key to retailsurvival” by Andrew Grove of BelmontAve. (February 21, p. 6), I write to say thatthe decision to harmonize the parking feesin all zones was made to create fairness inall areas, not to penalize shoppers. Wewent from a technology that dates backdecades to something innovative. Had weelected to go with a pay-by-space systemlike that in Montreal, the costs would havebeen higher as the pay stations would bethe same, but we would have had to in-stall/replace a post at every space. Ourrates are now standard across the city ofWestmount but also in line with the park-ing fees across the island of Montreal.

We (council) are very much aware thatturnover is the key to retail survival, it issomething that we are discussing regular-ly to try to help find solutions. The deci-sion to allow Car2Go and other car shar-ing services (CommunAuto) free access toretail-designated parking areas is a way tohelp create more turnover. A reminderthat this is not a drop-off spot where carswill be left until the next person borrowsthe car. It is for people who want to shop atstores on Greene Ave. or in the Victoriavillage, which will ultimately bring morepeople to the retail areas of Westmount.

Westmount is not the only city movingforward with this trend. Several citiesacross the country have initiated incen-tives for car sharing and, as this grows, wewill revisit and adapt parking initiatives asneeded. Car2Go has more than 500 mem-

bers in Westmount and thousands ofmembers across the island of Montreal.This is a trend that will only increase withtime.

Anitra Bostock, city councillor(District 1)

Thank you, JoeI wanted to give a huge shout-out and

thank-you to “Joe” for shovelling – withoutpayment – the sloppy and slushy streetcorners of Prince Albert and Sherbrooke,as well as Victoria and Sherbrooke lastweek, making it easier for the elderly andmothers with strollers to cross from oneend to the other. “Joe” has been a fixturein front of the former Gascogne in Vic -toria village for the past 10 years. He al-ways has a kind word to say and is an extrapair of eyes in case something isn’t right.

For example, he is the person whocalled Public Security a few weeks ago tonotify them of the falling ice and snowcoming down from the roof of the RoyalBank on Victoria (February 13, p. 7).

He deserves a word of recognition fromthe city of Westmount for his initiative andfor being a decent human being.

Nathalie Allard, Prince Albert Ave.

Turn off lights, pleaseIt is indeed a wasteful shame that close

to seven weeks after Christmas season haspassed, some of our friends and neigh-bours insist on still illuminating theirChristmas lights. This practice is wastefuland entirely selfish. It needlessly con-sumes electricity, which, in the long run,costs us all.

Drive up Edgehill Rd. and see the dis-

play.... house after house after house stillhas their Christmas decorations on. Notfair! Not right!

Joe Russo, Lexington Ave.

Merci and thank youfor publicity re:furniture donations

Je voudrais vous remercier sincèrement, aunom de tous les bénéficiaires, d’avoir envoyévotre reporter Martin Barry chez moi etd’avoir publié l’article sur l’aide aux nou-veaux arrivants au Canada, dans le numérodu 29 janvier (p. 8).

I am very happy to report that, as a re-sult of coverage in the Independent, I havereceived many calls from people wantingto donate all kinds of furniture.

Before we become overwhelmed byway of this letter, we are asking for anyonewho might be able to help with the load-ing of furniture into the truck being pro-vided by Westmount Rotary. Furnitureonly needs to be loaded at our end as thereceivers take care of unloading at theirend. Anyone willing to volunteer can con-tact me at [email protected].

This is turning out to be a very positiveand successful community-oriented ini-tiative. Your publication has certainly con-tributed to make it happen. I thank youkindly.

Viviane Agia, de Maisonneuve Blvd.

Parking app is freeand $1 isn’t that much

Indie reader Tim Carsley revisits theWestmount parking meter debate withsome familiar complaints (February 13, p.6). It’s true that using the pay stationsseems complicated, especially to first-timeusers.

However, I would hazard a guess thatthe great majority of people parking inWestmount have a smartphone, and theparking app is a breeze to use. You don’teven have to get out of the car, let alonewait in line in freezing temperatures whiletrying to remember your licence platenumber, fumbling for change or a creditcard and following hard-to-read instruc-tions.

Still, as easy as the app is to install anduse, many people are uncomfortable withtechnology and the city could no doubt doa better job of communicating that infor-mation, step by step, in plain English andFrench.

As for the [effect on retail of ] increasedcost [mentioned in Andrew Grove’s letteron the same page], obviously no one likesit when prices go up, but I doubt if a one-dollar hike that brings it into line withMontreal will have much of an effect on

the local retail economy.Matthew Cope, Somerville Ave.

Open letter toMP Marc Garneaure The Current, Israel

You are my representative in parlia-ment. I write to draw your attention to thehostility of CBC Radio’s The Current to thestate of Israel.

“Alarmingly, on February 7, CBCRadio’s The Current news program aired alengthy 40+ minute segment which fun-damentally demonized Israel. The pro-gram interviewed four individuals, all ofwhom who hold extreme anti-Israel posi-tions and who effectively singled Israel outfor opprobrium and exclusive censure.”

– Honest Reporting Canada, February 9, 2018

There is no pretense that this is bal-anced journalism.

The Israel-Palestine conflict is ofcourse a legitimate topic for public affairsradio. On the other hand, the biased slantof The Current’s approach to the topic issomewhat disturbing.

I can provide you with an exchange Ihad with The Current’s producers a fewyears ago, which is to say the examplecited above is representative of a long-run-ning and determined Current anti-Israelcampaign, not an isolated case. The cor-poration ombudsperson is not of muchhelp.

I would be grateful if you would takethis matter up with corporation manage-ment. Many thanks.

David Levy, de Maisonneuve Ave.

Any tax increaseis unacceptable

It’s depressing that Westmount’s newcouncil didn’t follow through with its de-sire to freeze propertytaxes for what would have

Letters to the Editor

WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENTWe are Westmount

EditorDavid Price: 514.935.4537

[email protected]

Chief reporterLaureen Sweeney

GraphicsTed Sancton

Advertising salesArleen Candiotti: 514.223.3567

[email protected]

Classified adswww.westendclassifieds.com

AccountingBeth Hudson: 514.223.6138

[email protected]

Presstime: Monday at 10:30 amLetters & Comments: We welcome your letters but reserve the right to choose and editthem. Please limit to 300 words and submit before Friday 10 am to be considered forpublication the following week. Please check your letter carefully as we may be unable tomake subsequently submitted changes. Letter writers should not expect to be published inevery issue, or in back-to-back issues, or repeatedly in the same season or on the same topic.

14,500+ copies DWOwned and published by:

Sherbrooke-Valois Inc., 310 Victoria Ave., #105, Westmount, QC H3Z 2M9

Indie is #1Please advise your advertisers that I so

much enjoy reading my beloved Indiewhen it arrives in my inbox each week.The entire Indie staff deserves many ac-colades for sending it to me.

The Indie is informative and benefi-cial to me. I have read the PDF versionsof my Indie in the most remote regionsof Canada, from the tar sands in Fort Mc-Murray, Alberta to a hydroelectric powerplant under construction in MuskratFalls, Newfoundland.

I ask that you tell your advertisers thatmy Indie is # 1 and it should remain.

David Stern

Editor’s note: Thank you. Every letter helps– DP.

continued on p. 6

Former councillor, Finance commissioner returns

Drury to continue input on pension committeesBy Laureen Sweeney

He may have left city council after twoterms as commissioner of Finance, but theexperience and information Victor Drurygleaned is being put to continued use.

Drury, who did not run in the Novem-ber election, was appointed by city coun-cil February 5 to continue in his previousrole as one of the city’s four designatedmembers on the committees for each ofthe city’s two pension plans. One is for“the officers and employees of the city;”the other is a supplemental pension planfor former “police and firemen of the city.”

“He’s very well versed in these mattersand is carrying on,” Mayor ChristinaSmith told the council meeting.

In October, the outgoing council, ofwhich Drury was a member, ratified a ne-gotiated agreement on the controversialissue of allocating defined pension plandeficits between the city and its employeesas required by Quebec Bill 15 (see storyOctober 10, 2017, p. 10).

By virtue of the fact that Drury wascommissioner of Finance over that period,he brings to the table “a resource very fewother elected officials have,” he acknowl-edged last week.

As a result he continues on the com-mittees as one of the city’s four appointeesalong with city director general BenoitHurtubise, Human Resources director Jo-celyne Dragon and city treasurer JulieMandeville. Other committee membersrepresent the various labour groups.

Deficit set at $21.9M

At the time the pension deficits wererenegotiated, the actuarial deficit was setat $21.9 million, the level as at December31, 2013 and on which the agreements

were based. “This amount is locked in andwon’t change,” Drury explained last week.

Of the total $21.9 million, $8.3 millionis attributable to active members, who willbear some $3.7 million while the city as-sumes a share of $4.6 million. The re-maining $13.6 million is attributable to re-tirees, for which the city has complete re-sponsibility.

In total, this amounts to a city share of$18 million, which the city has 15 years to“pay off” and for which the city has alreadyset aside $2 million from surplus, Drury

confirmed last week.There are two separate components to

the city’s pension expenses, he pointedout. One is “paying off” this deficit, likelyfrom accumulated surplus. The other isthe amount budgeted annually in the cityoperating budget for its pension contribu-tions to meet future considerations.

This amount in the 2018 budget is$2,107,800 (excluding Hydro Westmount),according to the Finance department. It isincluded in an overall budget line listed as“remuneration.”


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Let’s talk opera

Baritone Max van Wyck and mezzo-saprano Katie Miller sing a duet with host and musicologist Pierre Vachon (left), pianist Carol-Anne Fraser and tenor Sebastian Haboczki (seated).

By Ralph Thompson

An audience of over 100 attended “Let’sTalk Opera” January 21 at 10:30 am in Vic-

toria Hall. Musicologist Pierre Vachonhosted the event with interesting storiesand background to the opera JFK, whichrecounts the night before American pres-

ident John F. Kennedy was assassinated.Interviews with Greg Robinson, professorof American History at UQAM, and ac-companist Carol-Anne Fraser were fol-

lowed by short recitals by members of theAtelier lyrique de l’Opéra de Montréal,mezzo-saprano Katie Miller, baritone Maxvan Wyck and tenor Sebastian Haboczki.

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been – miracles of miracles! – the thirdyear in a row. Now, of course, freezingproperty taxes became a bother when big,spend-crazy Montreal slammed everyonewith increases not seen for 20 years.

But isn’t it funny – okay, not funny, butcertainly interesting – how after cryingfoul, many demerged cities went into theirbudgets, shuffled things about (maybe cutsome fluff, too), and absorbed most of theincreases dumped on them by Montreal,and kudos to our council for doing someof the same.

However, being able to do that is a clearindication (at least to me) that there’s toomuch money in all these municipal bud-gets already, and that’s why most of thehorrible increases of 9.8, or 7, or 6.7, or 5percent that were announced were madeto go “pfttt” and shrink.

Well, I bet there’s even more budgetshrink ing that can occur so that we inWestmount stop paying among the high-est property taxes in North America, be-cause, really, with the amount we alreadypay, any increase is unacceptable.

When I bought my house in 1994, therewas always talk of how “efficiencies”should, could and would absorb inflation.

We don’t hear that anymore, ever. Now, allwe hear, always, is that property tax in-creases are a fait accompli.

Anyway, thanks, Westmount, for thetwo-year break in gouging. Guess I’ll bewriting some more letters to the Indepen-dent – and Montreal mayor Plante – in thefuture.

Sincerely, and now a bit poorer (yetagain).

Thomas LaPierre,Chesterfield Ave.

Letters, cont’d. from p.4


Hidden Talents: Artistic photo project

Looking north

Nania Sergi of Metcalfe Ave. wrote to say, “I took this photo on January 16. It was a clear and beautifulday out and it pleased me that it appeared as if I could touch the cross from the roof of my apartmentbuilding!’ When asked about the finger in the lens, she wrote again, “Yes, artistic choice.”

Looking south

Cary Kitner of Forden Ave. wrote, “Sunrise, January 26, from King George Park after the freezingrain, and taking our dear Mady for a walk. Nature’s Blaze of Glory.”

Please submit your artistic photos to [email protected], includingwhat struck you about the scene, the date you took the photo and your street name.We’ll run the best ones. We hope you’ve been enjoying the series so far.

‘Minority’ report cites missing data, ‘backward’ timing

Demerged cities vote againstagglo’s capital budgetBy Laureen Sweeney

Mayor Christina Smith and the othermayors of the 15 demerged municipalitiesvoted against the $6.4-billion three-yearcapital works budget presented February14 by the Montreal agglomeration for 2018-2020.

The main reasons, she told the Inde-pendent, were “excessive” increases, adop-tion of the capital works program after theoperating one, a lack of completion ratesfor many projects or their rates of returnon investment, and a failure to fund any ofthe five priority projects requested by sub-urbs. Four of these, including an exten-sion to Cavendish Blvd., date back to 2008.

These are among details provided in aminority report by Smith and Beacons-field mayor Georges Bourelle. Both repre-sent the Association of Suburban Munici-palities (ASM) on the agglo’s Finance andAdministration (F&A) committee.

“Yes, the suburban city mayors arecommitted to be Montreal partners,” thereport states, “but it’s very difficult to builda partnership where we are seen but not

heard when it comes to preparation ofagglo budgets.”

The minority report was compiled afterSmith and Bourelle spent many days atmeetings of the F&A committee in a line-by-line review of the budget.

14% hike over 3 years

The 2018 capital works projects are tocost $2 billion (divided into some Montre-al expenses and some agglo ones). Thetotal three-year program is projected to in-crease some 14 percent over 2017, accord-ing to an accompanying table.

The suburban mayors call this increase“excessive” and the long-term impact onthe projected new debt “difficult to accept.”(By comparison, Westmount’s $16 millioncapital program is being funded withoutthe need to borrow and incur debt, as re-ported January 16, p. 13.)

Despite the lack of support from the de-merged municipalities, the capital worksbudget was approved overwhelmingly atthe agglo meeting because the demergedmunicipalities have only 13 percent of thevote.

Onion rings, explainedIn the Overheard column of Febru-

ary 13 (p. 7), a Westmounter was heardto say that there were “not enough”onions in some offered onion rings,which seemed like a funny comment.The Independent caught up with himagain on February 15 and he explainedthat better onion rings can be had bymaking the batter more viscous, whichmakes the coating less thick.

So was he really saying “too muchbatter” and not too little onion?

Both, it turns out. He would havepreferred less batter and more onionsper ring. “You can get a 50-lb bag ofonions for very little,” he concluded.


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Snow loaded up last weekafter storm #7, and countingBy Laureen Sweeney

The city last week completed its sev-enth snow-loading operation of the winter,confirmed by Public Works directorRobert Talarico as “very unusual” espe-cially by this time of the year.

After two storms in December that re-quired loading followed by five more inJanuary and early February, the city hadyet to receive tallies of all the costs in-curred but “we have exceeded the budgetfor sure,” he said.

Budget $1.9M

The budget for the entire year of 2018 is$1,939,800, according to the Finance de-partment. In 2017, it was $1,771,700. Theseamounts, however, have to be split be-tween the winter months at both the startand end of the respective years. Anotherway of looking at the costs can be by snow-loading operation.

The city has previously used an esti-mate of $500,000 per loading operation,city director general Benoit Hurtubise saidlast month (see story January 23, p. 1).

This calculation, he explained last

week, includes manpower costs (includingovertime). In the case of this winter, hesaid, the city’s blue collar workers havebeen putting in close to 70 hours a weekinstead of their usual 36-hour schedule.“They need a rest.”

Dump full

The Montreal dump sites aroundLaSalle used by the city had become sodangerously high, “like mountains,” thatWestmount was now having to use the re-cently opened Hippodrome one, Talariosaid. This is accessed off Decarie and JeanTalon.

“While it’s actually closer than otherdumps, traffic is still slow during themorning and afternoon rush hours andthere’s quite a line-up,” he explained.

The city pays truckers by the hour andis billed by Montreal for dumping by thetruckload.

With a long-range weather forecast in-dicating a string of good weather afterFebruary 14, however, “hopefully we’restarting to see the light at the end of thetunnel,” Talarico said.

Let there be(less) light

Barrie Wilson of Lansdowne Ave. returned to thecouncil chamber February 5 to report his year-long efforts to obtain an effective shield fromHydro Westmount on the street light shining intohis bedroom had still not been effectively address -ed (see original story January 29, p. 6). But then,last week, came his good news: “They installed ashield on February 13. It’s a good big one. So thejob is done!” Photo courtesy of B. Wilson


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The following article relates to offers to purchase West-mount residential dwellings that were reported by localreal estate agents as having been accepted in January2018. Because they are not final registered sales, the ad-dresses cannot be made public, but give a good idea of cur-rent trends in local real estate activity. The graph at rightoffers a picture of these trends over time.

The low volume we reported in December waseven lower in January, largely because of the lack ofinventory now on the Westmount real estate market,though some agents suggest that we might havereached a saturation level, thus that prices are notgoing any higher in the coming sales season and mayeven come down a bit.

Only two single-family sales were posted as havingbeen transacted in January, and one more sale in lateDecember brings the total for that month to five. Theaverage for the two-month period is $1,877,286, andthe total sale price is about 15 percent over valuation,down from the 20- to 22-percent average mark-upsrecorded in each of the previous three months. Nonesold in either month for less than valuation, but mark-

ups rang ed from 0.65 percent to 58.62 percent. Threeof the seven sales involved prices over $2 million, withonly one – in December – under the $1-million mark.

In fact, more condos sold in January than single-family dwellings, with three apartments going forprices between $400,000 and $840,000, and an aver-age mark-up just under 11 percent. The final tally forlast year was 56 Westmount condominium sales,which is the most since we started keeping records in1999. Four more co-op apartments – including oneflat in a triplex – also sold in January, for prices be-tween $392,000 and $550,000, two of these actuallyselling above their asking prices.

Adjacent-Westmount had more sales than West-mount proper, as well, with two sales in the Circle Rd.area, two on Northcliffe Ave. in eastern NDG, and oneeach in the Trafalgar-Daulac (Tradau) area and SquareMile downtown.

Four of the six sales went for more than $1 million,but none above $2 million.

Last year, those areas (including Shaughnessy village) reported 83 sales, down from 93 in 2016; similarly, Westmount proper logged 182 sales in 2017,compared to 198 in 2016; those two years were thehighest sales volumes in the previous decade.

New listings are beginning to pick up for the com-ing season, but only 60 houses are on the market inWestmount as of mid-January, up 15 in the space ofa month; there are only three asking less than $1 million, compared to 17 asking more than $4 million.

Real Estate

Andy Dodge, CRA (Ret.)

January Sales: Volume even weaker Average adjusted price for ‘typical’Westmount house, by month, Jan 2011

to Jan 2018, based on accepted offer dates

Adventures in parking

One resident asked, “What does a yellow no-parking sign mean?” (They are more often orange.)Regard less, these cars seen on Sherbrooke at Grosvenor on February 13 at 9:30 am were not heeding it.

This car (or car-like snowbank) was spotted in a driveway off Côte St. Antoine February 15.Photos: Ralph Thompson.


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At the annual general meeting of the Westmount Soccer Club on February 15, Mark Roper, right,stepped down as its founding president and was presented with an engraved tankard by Alex Leslie, itsincoming one. Roper had the idea of starting a competitive soccer club in 2010. In 2012, after twoseasons playing exhibition games, the club was incorporated and admitted to the Lac St. Louis league.Roper commented at the meeting, “Everyone told me at the time that the idea was crazy. The myth wasthat Westmount kids all went off to the cottage or camp for the summer and had no interest incompeting in a soccer league after St. Jean Baptiste. This has proven not to be the case.” The club nowhas 11 teams and 230 players. Photo courtesy of Doug Hamilton.

Roper retires asfounding president

of Westmount Soccer

Too cute, this kitty!

I had planned to present another pho-tograph of Kitty, a beautiful portrait of hissweet face, then I saw this informal one,with the funny pose, and I laughed at himand with him for being so cute and chub-by.

Yes, Kitty is a delightful fellow that anyfamily would be lucky to have join them. Atrue character, he has a great disposition,always social and affectionate. He loves at-tention and greets everyone with interest.Kitty has recently been taken in by Gerdy’s

Rescues and Adoptions as his owners hadto move to a nursing home. He is an or-ange and white tabby domestic short hair,with exquisite green eyes and a preciouspink nose to go with his pink toes. He isfour years old, a very healthy big-boned fel-low. He is neutered and up to date with hisinoculations.

If you would like more information onKitty, please contact Gerdy at Gerdy’s Res-cue and Adoptions on her pager at514.203.9180 or email them at [email protected]. You can also find outmore about this grass-roots volunteer an-imal rescue group at their websitewww.gerdysrescue.org (where Kitty hashis page and you can see the other portraitpic of him!).

Your neighbour,Lysanne


Vendôme/MUHC tunnel work: dig, cut, dig

Workers were cutting through the concrete median at York St. and St. Catherine February 15 at 8:30am. The work on Westmount’s western border was to aid access to the entrance to the work site, justwest of the border, for McGill University Health Centre’s new pedestrian tunnel from de Maisonneuveto its super-hospital.

On February 16, the work seemed complete and the concrete barriers seemed loose from each other andthe road surface. Photos: Independent.

Sound barrier decisioncould come in MarchBy Laureen Sweeney

The city’s court case against TransportQuebec and the KPH-Turcot constructionconsortium wrapped up February 14 onthe third day in Quebec Superior Court,according to Martin St-Jean, city clerk anddirector of Legal Services. “We should ex-pect a decision at some point in March,”he said.

The lead lawyer for Westmount,

Raphaël Lescop, was accompanied by Ed-ward Bechard-Torres, both of the law firmIMK (formerly Irving Mitchell Kalich-man), St-Jean said.

The city launched its legal action lastMay seeking construction of a sound bar-rier at the government’s expense along awestbound portion of the new Highway136.

It argued the government failed tolower the new span as much as previous-ly indicated resulting in sound projectionsat or exceeding environmental levels.These would contravene a government de-cree in 2010 to protect Westmount resi-dents from sound pollution (see storyFebruary 13, p. 1).

Me Arthur Younanian&

Me Marianne BedrossianNotaires – Notaries

4635 Sherbrooke WestWestmount, QC H3Z 1G2Tel.: (514) [email protected]

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9 LivesLysanne Fowler

New council approves 18 permit requests, refuses oneThe following permits for demolition,

exterior construction, alteration and reno-vation were approved at the city councilmeeting January 15.3193 The Boulevard: to replace two win-dows, provided the divisions are SDL type;76 Arlington: to install a storage space un-derneath the rear deck provided it is locat-ed fully beneath and that the footprint ofthe privacy screen to hide the underneathof the deck does not extend beyond thedeck posts;4872 St. Catherine: at a Category I house,to replace doors and windows on condi-tion the windows are wood on both the ex-terior and interior and are guillotine type;and that the front door is wood. It is notedthat only the basement windows may beof aluminum-clad wood;422 Mount Stephen: to replace windowsand a rear door;603 Lansdowne: to replace two windows;77 Holton: to build a rear deck, modifysome windows and doors and install a pri-vacy screen.

* * *The following permits for demolition,

exterior construction, alteration and reno-vation were approved or refused at the citycouncil meeting February 5 (see separatestory p. 1).

Approved

466 Mount Stephen: to replace two

kitchen windows and a patio door;135 Clandeboye: at a Category I house, toreplace two windows on condition they arewood on the interior and exterior;4895 de Maisonneuve: to modify the sec-ond floor bay window on the Prince-Albertfaçade, on condition the metal panelsabove and below the small adjacent win-dow are preserved;634 Murray Hill: to replace five windowsand a rear door;4951 de Maisonneuve: to replace windows;72 Summit Circle: at a Category I house,to replace the doors and windows;53 Belvedere Rd.: to replace the front door;67 Clandeboye: at a Category I house, toreplace a basement window;50 de Lavigne: to replace windows provid-ed the SDLs include spacer bars within thethermal glass.4874 Westmount: to replace windows anddoors;334 Olivier: to modify the front porch, toclose the side entrance and modify theback veranda;4258 Dorchester: at a Category I house, toreplace windows.

Refused

1235 Greene: at a Category 1 building, torevise the project approved by city councilNovember 21, 2016 in order to makechanges to the front façade veneer.

The Planning Advisory Committee rec-

ommended that the council give the revi-sion unfavourable consideration. The pro-posed atypically half-inch thick masonryunit, in the context of this Category Ibuilding of important heritage value, doesnot provide appropriate authenticity andoffers unproven longevity, which are char-acteristics incompatible with the West-mount approach to conservation of build-ings. As stated in the PIIA Guideline #5(5.4.1), if brick or stone is proposed, itmust be “of standard or traditional di-mensions.”


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Classifieds in the IndependentWhy list your goods (or services) on fly-by-night,who-knows-who-is-replying websites when you

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Buy a classified in the Westmount Independent at:.

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O NURTURE ITVE A SCHOOL T WE HAWNOR EVERY GIRL WHO HAS A MIND OF HER OF

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One had to pity the Bob Perras valetteam at Le Windsor for The Just for Kids(JFK) Foundation’s 12th annual Dancingwith the Stars. Commuters honked impa-tiently as guests waited for the parkers,whose sprinting was positively Olympianas they effortlessly whisked Mercs andBeamers away.

Arriving guests quickly stepped out ofslush-soiled boots and into Cinderella slip-pers for the glamorous night. The theme,Viva Las Vegas, brought out the glitz: ev-eryone sparkled, including gala co-chairs– both in jumpsuits – Arabella Deckervery-Vegas in gold lamé and AllysonKassie Goldberg in black.

Partygoers were greeted by an Elvis im-personator and sexy showgirls in sequinsand feathers. The evening paired Mon-trealers with professionals. And boy, whatdancing!

Emcees were Lee Haberkorn (whostarted on stage wearing a runway-readycamouflage blazer but changed to a paleblue jacket) and Goldberg (first in a trail-ing tartan skirt, then a shorter cocktaildress).

This year’s event boasted 20 dancers in-cluding Westmounters Joseph Montanaro(with Zachary Dopson), Elana BacklerMinzberg (dancing with Mathieu Casa-vant) and Yves Jean Lacasse (StephanieTam) as well as Jeff Kovac (Jessie Mineau),Chris Papp (Maya Kolesnikova), RabbiReuben Poupko (Mindy Shear), MarkCapombassis (N’Gone Gueye), and doc-tors Polymnia Galiatsatos (Pavel Lebedev)and Lianne Kopel (Zev Kopel and AlexSharov).

A teen performance with Ryan Mendel

and Leah Benabou received cheers as didthe Juste Danse Troupe of charming girlsin white lace, initially dancing decorouslyto “Chapel of Love” before breaking bold-ly into Beyoncé’s “Single Ladies.” Judgeswere the ever-witty renowned dance afi-cionado Jean-Marc Généreux, danceschool owner Giulia Tripoli and award-winning dancer Mireille Veuilleux.

Special guest Denis Antonelli was amarvelous Michael Bublé sing-alike.

The large ballroom offered food for oneand all. Hungry guests slurped the per-fectly al dente pasta while others sampledthe sushi. Along with the open bar a funstation suggested colourful cocktailsserved in Vegas-neon bright glasses.

A tall Jeff Koons-style balloon palm treeadded to the cool factor. Noted amidst thechic crowd were Westmounters NancyRahal and Chris Kalogeropoulos, JoeyButz, Lenore Harris, Susan Doherty andHal Hannaford (whose bright red shoesmatched his jacket), Etty and Ralph Bien-stock, Philip Hazan, Martha Franco,Charles Robinson, Linda Smith, RosalieJunkier and Lewis Dobrin, Lillian Simp-son, Andrew Hops, Josée Kaine and Cyn-thia Télio.

Other paragons of style included JFKFoundation pres Rochelle Lerner Silver-

man and v-p Mara Greenstone Agulnik.Money raised supports the purchase oflife-saving medical equipment for neo -natal units at the Montreal Children’s Hos-pital.

The event raised $239,000. Dance win-ners were Dr. Lianne Kopel and her dadZev Kopel. Westmounter Joseph Monta-naro won an award for raising the mostfunds.

Dancing with the pros, for the kids

Social Notes

Veronica Redgrave

Allyson Kassie Goldberg and Arabella Decker. Joseph Montanaro and his mum Anne.

Yves Jean Lacasse and Jessie Mineau.

Philip Hazan, Linda Smith,Jean-Marc Généreux.

Chris Kalogeropoulos andNancy Rahal.

Hal Hannaford andSusan Doherty.

Charles Robinson andMartha Franco.


THE ITALIANSENSEOF BEAUTY

5525 Upper Lachine Road Montreal514.483.1376 | www.cuisinesmodena.com

KITCHENS,LIVING andBATHROOMS

Tuesday, February 20Women’s Canadian Club of Montreal

presents Professor Alain Tapp of the Uni-versity of Montreal on “The Revolution ofArtificial Intelligence.” Guests $10. Victo-ria Hall, 4626 Sherbrooke St W. 12:30 pm.(11:15 am lunch).

The Atwater Library Alzheimer Caféfeatures occupational therapist SusanSofer on driving and Alzheimer’s disease.Free, donations requested. Atwater Li-brary, 1200 Atwater Ave. 1 to 3 pm.

Thursday, February 22Atwater Library Lunchtime Series: his-

torian Rod MacLeod discusses making atrilingual graphic novel on Montreal’s 1913Aberdeen School strike protesting anti-Semitism. Free, donations requested. At-

water Library, 1200 Atwater Ave. 12:30 to1:30 pm.

Monday, February 26Demolition meeting, 2307 Dorchester(MCH), Westmount city hall, 5:05 pm.

Thursday, March 1Atwater Library Lunchtime Series:

Academy Award-winning filmmaker TorillKove presents her short, Threads. Free, do-nations requested. Atwater Library, 1200Atwater Ave. 12:30 to 1:30 pm.

Tuesday, March 13Westmount Horticultural Society, West-mount Public Library, 7 pm. Guests $5.

Monday, March 19City council meeting, Westmount city hall,7:30 pm.

Comin’ Up

To be listed in Comin’ UpPlease send your Westmount event,

to: [email protected]:Day, Date, Event. Price. Place, address. Time of day.

Be sure to write by Friday at 10 am for inclusion the next week.

A murder of crows holds possible funeral

Residents of Prince Albert and York were awakened sometime in the last two weeks by a cacophony ofcrows at about 5 am. One resident’s daughter told him it was likely a crow funeral. He thought nothingmore about it until he noticed a dead crow in a tree on the southwest corner of the two streets, picturedhere on February 16. One theory is that the group of crows, called a “murder,” were warning each otherthat this location is dangerous. Photo: Independent


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WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT · 2– WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – February 20, 2018 Welcomme Brian Du tch &...

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Transcript of WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT · 2– WESTMOUNT INDEPENDENT – February 20, 2018 Welcomme Brian Du tch &...