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A new addition to the Pointe-Claire council meeting agendas will be the reading of responses by the city manager to questions posed by residents raised at prior council meetings. These responses will also be made available on the city’s website.

Mayor John Belvedere opened the January 13th council meeting by addressing the issues about refuse collection. Impacting services throughout the West Island, the delays, cancellations, and disruptions to the collection of organic waste, recyclable materials, and garbage collections are due in part to staffing shortages and transit times to dump sites. The mayor said the city is working closely with the provider to restore normal service and is looking to find solutions to communicate with residents when delays occur.

Question period

The first resident had two questions, the first being a concern about how much money had been spent on legal fees from 2022 to 2025 for employee grievances and expressing concern over cost overruns on major projects. With the answer about legal fees deferred to the February meeting, the mayor was able to clarify that overruns are sent to council for approval, since contingencies are not included in contracts, allowing for more transparency in budgeting for projects.

Another question was posed relating to the BIXI bicycle sharing service, due to Dollard-des-Ormeaux’s recent approval of the construction of several stations on its territory. Belvedere responded that Pointe-Claire will be getting a quote for the installation of Bixi stations once the territory is analyzed. The feasibility of the stations is dependent on their proximity to others in the network. A network that would include Dorval and Lachine would increase the value of such a project for residents of Pointe-Claire.

In response to a question of when the study on Pointe-Claire’s greenspaces would be completed and the results of the urban planning consultation carried out by BC2, it was announced that the preliminary results of the studies on greenspaces will be released in the spring. Results of the consultation on urban planning by BC2 will only be released after a new urban plan is created, with the format of the study results still to be determined.

Addressing the concerns of a resident regarding pollutants affecting the health of Pointe-Claire citizens, the resident was informed that a suggestion was made by Councillor Eric Stork (District 7 – Northview) to create a committee to study the regulations and improvements regarding wood-burning stoves.

Appointing members to the Planning Advisory Committee

On the regular agenda, both Councillors Bruno Tremblay (District 6 – Seignory) and Mike Potvin (District 8 - Oneida) voted against a resolution to appoint members to the Planning Advisory

Committee (PAC), but declined to comment further, desiring to respect caucus confidentiality.

Improvements coming to the Highway 40 service road

Approval was given to award a contract for the resurfacing of the south service road of Highway 40 and Saint-Jean Blvd. for a total amount of just under $4.8 million.

You scream, I scream, we all scream for ice cream

In response to a favourable recommendation by the PAC, approval was given for Wild Willy’s in Valois Village to carry out improvements to their business, including the addition of picnic tables, additional seating, flower boxes, a bicycle rack, and string lighting.