Author name: Brenda O'Farrell The 1019 Report

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The owner of the Sandy Beach area in Hudson has stepped forward with a new housing development plan for the waterfront site and is seeking to discuss the option with the town, The 1019 Report has learned.

“We’re at the infancy stage,” said councillor Peter Mate in an interview yesterday. “The ball is in play.”

“Nicanco has presented a new plan,” confirmed councillor Douglas Smith, describing it only as a “different configuration” from the original 214-unit housing project that had been approved by the previous municipal council in 2020. That plan was put on hold last October when Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette revoked a permit that would have allowed the developer to backfill part of the wetlands at the site.

Smith described the new development option presented to the town as having “more or less” the same densification as the 2020 project, meaning roughly the same number of housing units.

As of yesterday, there was no consensus as to how council will proceed with negotiations, Smith added. Elected officials are scheduled to meet to discuss the issue behind closed doors tomorrow.

Mayor Chloe Hutchison did not respond to The 1019 Report for comment yesterday.

Mate said it is the first time discussions with the property owner have been offered with the current council, describing this latest move as a “huge opportunity.” He refused to share any details of the plan, claiming making details public at this time would not “help the negotiations.”

Mate concurred that council has not reached a consensus on what level of development – if any – would be acceptable, however, he added that he would favour some development, including condo buildings that would be four storeys high. The previous plan limited multi-unit buildings to three storeys.

“It has to make financial sense for the developer,” Mate said. “Everyone will need to concede a little bit.”

This latest revelation comes as a provincial tribunal prepares to hear arguments in a challenge to the Quebec Environment minister’s decision to revoke Nicanco’s permit to backfill on the site.

Recently, the Tribunal Administratif du Québec postponed a hearing that had been set for May 14 until July 9.

Last week, the town of Hudson voted to close the Sandy Beach park area to all visitors and fine anyone who ignores the new rules.

That action was taken following the landowner’s move in March to no longer tolerate trespassing on its property, which feature walking trails that provide access to the beach.

According to the town, the restrictions on access to the area is temporary, as it has launched the process of establishing trails to access the beach from publicly-owned land. But that requires applying for a permit from the provincial Environment Ministry because the new trails would trace through sensitive wetlands. It is not known how long that process will take, or if permission to create new trails will ultimately be granted.

In announcing the beach would be off limits for the summer, Hutchison had said, the town’s aim was to work collaboratively with the landowner, rather than be confrontational, in order to “find a way forward.”

Earlier this month, an abandoned house on Beach Road near the wooded lots adjacent to the beach area that is owned by Nicanco was demolished. Smith said a request for a permit to tear down the building was never submitted to the town’s demolition committee, which he sits on. The permit, he said, was issued directly by the town’s urban planning department.

Councillor Mark Gray, who has advocated for the preservation of the wetlands in the area, could not be reached for comment.

Rob Horwood, a spokesman for the grassroots group Nature Hudson, said yesterday that his group maintains its opposition to any development in the forested wetlands at the site. The group also opposes the town’s plan to seek permission to install new walking trails along the water’s edge on town-owned land, saying: “It’s a bad idea to build on this sensitive habitat.”

Horwood said if the land owner and municipal officials should discuss reopening the trails that exist and “stop the nonsense.”

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The operator of the Hudson-Oka ferry has seen a marked uptick in the number of users seeking to find an alternative route that allows them to bypass the traffic backlog caused by ongoing repair work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge, but has confirmed there are no immediate plans to put another boat into service.

As the warm weather kicks into full gear, this could spell a long summer for residents living on Bellevue Street in Hudson, as commuters drive past their door on the north-south artery that provides direct access to the water-crossing.

“It’s tangible,” said Claude Desjardins, owner of the ferry service, describing the increase in the number of vehicles arriving to cross the Lake of Two Mountains by boat.

Although he could not provide exact figures, Desjardins said the jump in the number of users is noticeable during weekday rush-hour periods.

Desjardins said he was contacted about two weeks ago by an official with Soulanges MNA Marilyne Picard’s office inquiring about the prospect of eliminating the fee for motorists using the ferry while work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge continues. But has not heard back after he asked if the provincial government would cover the cost of the $14 fee per vehicle.

But deciding to build and put a third boat into service to increase the number of crossings across the lake is a costly investment that he is not going to make this year. Two years ago, his company spent about $100,000 to expand its parking area to permit more vehicles to queue as they wait to get on the ferry. The move was co-ordinated with the town of Hudson’s initiative to add an extra lane to the north end of Bellevue and along a short stretch of Main Road just east of the ferry yard entrance designed to alleviate congestion at the site.

“It works,” said Desjardins, explaining how the traffic backlog in the vicinity of the ferry has been diminished.

But it has done little to slow speeders travelling up and down Bellevue and along Main Road, said Hudson town councillor Douglas Smith.

Smith says he regularly hears from residents of Bellevue who complain about the speeding.

“They’ve got a legitimate complaint,” said Smith on Monday, explaining that the problem for residents is not just the volume of traffic, but the “excessive speed up and down the street.”

“The people living on Bellevue are being subjected to unfair amounts of speed and noise,” he said.

Adding to the problem, Smith said, is the fact that more than a month after the ferry service opened for the season, the bollards that are usually installed on Bellevue that delineates the pedestrian and cycle path along the street and serve as visual cues to drivers to slow down have not yet been installed.

“It’s not being given the attention it needs and deserves,” he said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The municipal signs welcoming visitors to Sandy Beach in Hudson will soon be replaced, as the town’s council on Monday formally adopted a motion to close the park to all visitors – a move that will be reinforced with a commitment to fine anyone who ignores the new rules.

The action was taken following a decision in March by Nicanco Holdings, the owners of the land along the waterfront, to no longer tolerate trespassing on its property that features walking trails that provide access to the beach.

According to the town, the situation is temporary, as it has launched the process of establishing trails to access the beach from publicly-owned land. But that requires applying for a permit from the provincial Environment Ministry because the new trails would trace through sensitive wetlands. There is no timeline available on how long that process will take, but estimates extend well past the end of summer.

“It is currently impossible to put forward a date for the reopening of the beach, as the town does not control the deadlines for the stages that are the responsibility of other partners, including the Ministry of the Environment, which must approve the installation of a new pathway,” a message posted to the town’s website last week stated.

On Monday, Mayor Chloe Hutchison admitted the situation “is not ideal,” but steps have already been taken to begin the process. That includes hiring a consultant to provide a report that will characterize the site and make recommendations on how and exactly where the new trails can be created.

“Our commitment is to reopen the beach and to work alongside the owners,” Hutchison said when asked whether the town had obtained a legal opinion on whether Nicanco is adhering to the terms of the agreement signed in 2017 granting the town the beach servitude.

See SANDY BEACH, Page 11.

Page 1 Cutline:

The town of Hudson will soon replace these signs by the walking trails near Sandy Beach to make it clear that this is private land and trespassers will be fined.

Credit:

The 1019 Report

For Page 11:

SANDY BEACH: Trespassing fines start at $100

From Page 1

The aim at this stage, Hutchison responded, is to work collaboratively with the landowner, rather than be confrontational.

“Our goal is to work with the developer to find a way forward,” she said Monday, adding despite the apparent escalation of tensions since March when Nicanco blocked access to its land by posting signs and installing concrete barriers, relations with the developer in the last three weeks have been “good.” Hutchison pointed to the fact that the company granted the town permission to access its land in order to replace a footbridge on the town’s neighbouring lot.

Although Nicanco has not made any public statements to explain why it has decided to deny access to the walking trails, the move came shortly after a hearing before the Tribunal Administratif du Québec in late February. The tribunal is set to decide whether Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette’s move to revoke the land owners’ permit to backfill part of the area along the Lake of Two Mountains should stand. If the revocation is upheld, it would effectively block Nicanco’s proposed 214-unit housing project for the site.

In order to ensure that no one trespasses on the private walking trails, the town’s move to close the beach includes prohibiting anyone accessing the area from the lake, including by canoe or kayak. This is necessary, Hutchison said, because the town has no way of accessing the beach to maintain it.

Anyone who contravenes the beach or trespasses by using the privately owned trails will be liable for a $100 fine. Any subsequent violations carry a $200 fine.

The town also moved to prohibit parking along Beach Road, near the Sandy Beach area. Hutchison said these restrictions are being implemented to provide “coherence” with the town’s move to encourage residents to respect the private land owner’s wishes to eliminate trespassing on its land.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Two years after the island of Île Perrot celebrated its 350^th anniversary with events that marked the many phases of its long history, a group of residents is launching an initiative they hope will open a new chapter –  the fusion of the four municipalities on the island, creating the second-largest municipal entity in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges region.

“We are an island and we have a need to work on projects together,” said Lise Chartier, a Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot resident who is a founding member of Avenir Île Perrot – Becoming Île Perrot, a bilingual grassroots non-profit organization formed for the purpose of fostering support for the merger of the towns of Pincourt, Île Perrot, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot and Terrasse Vaudreuil.

The new municipality would have a population of about 40,600, only slightly smaller than Vaudreuil-Dorion, the largest municipality in the Vaudreuil-Soulanges area, which has a population of just under 43,300, according to the 2021 census. The new merged town would be the 35^th largest municipality in Quebec, the ninth largest among towns of populations between 25,000 and 50,000 residents and the fourth largest in the greater Suroît region, which includes Valleyfield, Châteauguay and Vaudreuil-Soulanges.

“We are citizens who want to improve our mileu,” said Chartier, a historian and author who has published three books on the history of the Île Perrot.

These improvements involve formulating a global vision to better provide existing services and expand that offering to encompass more sports and cultural facilities and events to the population who call the island home, the organization’s president, Francine St-Denis said an interview with The 1019 Report.

This includes joining forces to better afford to build venues like arenas and cultural event spaces, St-Denis explained. To do that a municipality needs to have geo-political heft, she explained. A merger would give the residents of the island more clout within the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the larger Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and with the provincial government, which provides a number of grants and subsidies for municipal projects, many of which are prioritized based, in part, on the number of residents these projects will benefit, St-Denis explained.

The population of the island is growing, but each town is still relatively small on its own, Chartier explained. This means community groups – from sports associations to local artist collectives and any number of organizations that make up the local artistic community – can share permanent facilities like sports venues, theatre spaces and meeting centres.

St-Denis said the group is not a political party, and she is not seeking to run for office.

“We are there to inform, to meet people, do research to bring about a consensus of bringing the four towns together – and the positive reasons to do that,” she explained.

The group has already reached out to the Quebec’s Municipal Affairs Ministry to seek its support and guidance to outline the necessary steps to merge the towns. It expects a date for a consultation meeting in the coming weeks or months, St-Denis said.

The founding group of about 30 residents have been meeting to discuss the issue of merger for about a year, obtaining its formal charter as a non-profit group last November. And they are welcoming new members every month, inviting more residents to get involved or merely listen to options that include the financial benefits over the long-term, explaining they have already done the initial research on what has happened in other regions of Quebec where similar merger initiatives are happening and the impact it has had on taxes.

The groups wants to share this information as it aims to generate greater public conversations on the subject.

The group is looking into a wide range of issues, including the protection of areas such as forests and wetlands, and maintaining the bilingual status that the town of Pincourt currently holds.

If the towns merge, the group says, residents would be represented by one municipal council – a single mayor and eight councillors.

“This is the vision we have at the moment,” said Chartier.

The group’s process aims to foster a sense that of listening to citizens, she added, explaining that the initial reaction from taxpayers has been: “It’s about time.”

“What is missing is a global development vision for the island,” St-Denis said. “It takes people with vision,” for what she describes as the long-term development of the island. “We have elected officials with short-term visions.”

She is hoping that residents who “are open to change and have a long-term vision” will step forward to run in the 2025 municipal elections to help support the movement.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudson is one step closer to lifting its development freeze imposed more than two years ago, as it approved the final amendments to its new urban planning bylaws Monday evening.

The new regulations, which were retooled following a comprehensive public consultation processes earlier this year that generated clear opposition to some of the proposals that had been outlined in the draft version of the bylaws in January, provide better protection measures of natural spaces and the town’s newly created list of remarkable trees.

Among the major changes to the final version of the planning regulations that were adopted was the elimination of a contribution to a parks fund that would have been imposed on  homeowners who planned to demolish a residential building and construct a new dwelling or renovate more than 33 per cent of their home; and restrictions that would have prohibited the cutting of a tree that was more than five centimetres in diameter without a permit.

The new regulations maintain current tree-cutting restrictions, which require a felling permit for a tree that is larger than 10 centimetres in diameter, while a park fund contribution of 10 per cent will only be imposed on the owner of a residential building who seeks to add two or more units to an existing building.

For commercial buildings, the imposition of a 10-per-cent park fund contribution proposed for owners who planned to expand their establishments by more than 25 per cent was eliminated, as was a 10-per-cent fee for owners who change the use of a building.

The ability for golf courses to obtain a permit to cut up to 10 per cent of the trees on their territory per year has also been eliminated from the final version of the regulations.

Now, the new bylaws will be submitted to the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges for review to make sure they conform to the larger region’s development guidelines. That process could take up to 120 days. Only then will the development freeze imposed by Hudson council in 2022 be lifted.

Mayor Chloe Hutchison said she is pleased with the result, explaining the new planning bylaws protect remarkable trees, safeguard buffer zones between residential and other zones, reduce the deforestation of setback strips in residential areas, eliminate the backfilling of wetlands with very few exemptions, increase fines for tree-cutting that align with minimums set by provincial authorities and increase the contributions demanded from developers who seek to subdivide the largest undeveloped areas in the municipality.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Almost 10 years to the day after the dam at Pine Lake in Hudson broke, draining the lake and reducing it to a swamp, and almost four years after making an offer to contribute to help cover the cost of replacing the crippled structure in an effort to restore the lake, the town of St. Lazare last week formally rescinded its bid of financial aid.

St. Lazare council unanimously voted to withdraw the offer at its meeting on April 9 after receiving confirmation from the town of Hudson that it had abandoned its plan to build a dam at Pine Lake, at least in the short and medium term, according to St. Lazare city clerk Nathaly Rayneault.

In May 2020, St. Lazare council had approved a plan that would make a maximum of $400,000 available to restore the once-iconic lake along Cameron Road as a fish habitat.

The offer was part of a compensation agreement the municipality reached with Fisheries and Oceans Canada for permission to conduct work to stabilize the banks of the Quinchien River in St. Lazare’s Chaline Valley. The project reprofiled the slopes along the river with the aim to reduce the risk of landslides in the area and allow the Vaudreuil-Soulanges MRC to remove the residential area from being designated as being in a landslide zone.

Part of the conditions to obtain authorization from Fisheries and Oceans Canada to conduct the work along the Quinchien River, which was deemed necessary but threatened the fish habitat in the waterway, included paying compensation to improve the fishing habitat in another area. St. Lazare at that time opted to help its neighbour, offering to direct the compensation payment to the Pine Lake project.

But with the town of Hudson having put that project on hold for now, and St. Lazare required to pay its compensation penalty by the end of 2024, St. Lazare council made the move last week. Rayneault said St. Lazare is awaiting a list of alternative options of possible recipients from Fisheries and Oceans Canada for the $400,000 in compensation owed.

Last April, Hudson council opted not to move forward with a plan to commission a new technical design and drawings for a new dam, siting increased costs, which were described simply at that time as “extremely high.”

Hudson had issued a tender for the new design in November of 2022 after it scrapped the plans approved by the previous council in May of 2021, which had originally pegged the estimated cost of rebuilding the dam at $1.05 million. However, when the final drawings were revealed, they showed a much-larger-than-anticipated concrete structure for the waterway and were accompanied by updated cost projections that put its price tag at about $1.9 million.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In response to objections raised by Hudson residents to the town’s proposed planning bylaws that aim to limit how and where development can be carried out in the municipality, the town’s council will be going back to the drawing board to rewrite some provisions.

“You have been heard,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison at Monday evening’s council meeting, referring to the hundreds of residents who participated in the information meetings and consultation sessions organized by the town.

The public consultation process launched last month – and which continues until Feb. 14 – has generated a mountain of feedback, including more than 400 survey forms as of Monday that were filled out online.

“We continue to hear you,” Hutchison said, adding: “We expect to return to the drawing board.”

“If we weren’t genuinely interested in getting your input, we wouldn’t have gone to such an extensive process,” the mayor explained. “We will get there.”

See HUDSON CONSULTATIONS, Page 4

HUDSON CONSULTATIONS:

Feedback from residents

has been loud and clear

From Page 1

Hutchison admitted that the feedback – in some instances couched in outrage and delivered with pointed criticism and accusations of purposely aiming to penalize residents – has been harsh.

“It’s not an easy time right now,” Hutchison said at the end of Monday’s council meeting.

But, she admitted in an interview after the meeting, that it is all part of the process that council designed to determine what residents are willing to accept and where there is pushback.

About 140 residents participated in a consultation session last Wednesday where the two proposed bylaws were discussed and residents had the opportunity to both ask questions and provide their comments. Much of the attention was focused on two provisions: One that would impose a fee on homeowners who would undertake major renovations of their homes. And another that would require property owners to request a permit to cut a tree with a trunk that is as small as five centimetres in diameter.

According to one of the proposed bylaws, the fee that is currently imposed on landowners who subdivide their property would be extended to property owners who want to build on a vacant lot, build a replacement building after a house has been demolished, add two or more residential units to an existing building, undertake a renovation that touches on 33 per cent or more of a building, expand a commercial building by more than 25 per cent of its existing footprint or change the use of a building, such as converting it from commercial to residential use. The money generated by this measure would go into a dedicated fund to finance parks, playgrounds and the acquisition of natural areas.

The example of renovating a home that would include a third of the building drew the most criticism during the consultation meeting.

“It’s not the right way to raise funds,” said resident Chantal Perreault, who called the measure “discriminatory,” and “unfair.”

Another resident suggested undesirable actions should be targeted and assessed a fee as a means to disincentivize the practice, instead of forcing homeowners looking to improve their homes or renovate to make space for adult children to live to pay a fee that could total into the tens of thousands of dollars.

One resident highlighted that the fee being triggered by a renovation that touches on 33 per cent of a home discriminates against the owners of smaller homes who often have modest means.

When it came to the plan to require a tree-cutting permit for a tree as small as having a trunk of five centimetres in diameter, the move was almost unanimously condemned. Described as “unreasonable” and “restrictive,” residents questioned whether they would be prohibited from cutting back a lilac bush. They scoffed when they were told that if the stems of the lilac were bigger than five centimetres, they would have to apply for a permit.

Other provision that sparked criticism included the increase in the buffer zone around wetlands that would restrict activity within a 15-metre band, increased from the existing 10-metre zone, and the town’s lack of a detailed plan that shows how much money the proposed renovation fees and reconstruction fees would generate and how it would use the park and natural spaces fund.

On Monday, Hutchison said council will take all the feedback into consideration before bringing forward a final version of the bylaws, adding she hopes that other aspects of the planning bylaws, which propose a framework for landscape development and site plans, that aim to ensure the town maintains and enhances a certain esthetic, not get lost in the public conversation.

The town will continue to accept feedback via an online survey until next week. A consultant hired by the municipality will then compile the responses in a report to council. Council will then begin the process of amending the proposed bylaw.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The town of Hudson will host a series of public consultations sessions beginning tomorrow as it gets set to adopt its long-awaited planning bylaws that aim to limit how and where development can be carried out in the municipality.

The two bylaws put forward by Hudson council earlier this month comprise a major planning reform that seeks to protect the town’s existing tree canopy and limit construction throughout the municipality, but most specifically in four of its the largest undeveloped areas, including the Sandy Beach area and the zone that is slated for Phase 2 of the Willowbrook residential development in the east-end Como district along Main Road.

“This is a huge step for all of us,” said Hudson Mayor Chloe Hutchison in officially unveiling the proposed overhaul of the town’s planning guidelines.

“The purpose of the consultation is to explain the content (of the draft bylaws) and the changes that are involved,” Hutchison said.

“We want to do this with the buy-in of the population,” she added.

In the works for a little more than two years, the proposed bylaws, once formally approved, will trigger the lifting of the second of two building freezes that has been in place since 2022.

See HUDSON, Page 8.

HUDSON: Development not
banned in Sandy Beach area

From Page 1

As the drafts outline, development will not be banned outright in undeveloped areas, including in the Sandy Beach area, where a previously proposed 214-unit housing project has sparked major opposition in the town. The developer behind that project is currently awaiting a ruling from the Tribunal Administratif du Québec on whether a move by Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette to withdraw a permit to allow backfilling of wetlands on the site will stand.

The new guidelines focus on strict rules governing the protection of trees, restrictions on cutting a detailed list of 191 specifically identified “remarkable trees,” the banning of filling in wetlands for residential development projects and the protection of wetland buffer zones. The bylaws also introduce a series of financial contributions to a parks and natural areas fund by landowners seeking to construct and renovate buildings or subdivide lots.

To explain all the details and implications and solicit feedback, the town has engaged professional consultants to carry out a series of public information sessions. These sessions will also provide an opportunity for residents to voice their opinions that will be considered with the aim of possibly amending the proposed bylaws.

The feedback from residents, Hutchison said, will serve as a barometer on “how well we’ve done and whether we should be doing more.”

After the consultation sessions council will consider amendments to the proposal.

Councillor Mark Gray, who has been active in the grassroots group to save the wetlands in the Sandy Beach area from development, said he would have been more aggressive in imposing stricter restrictions, but qualified the draft as “a good balance that will be accepted.” He would be open to hearing if residents want restrictions to go further.

When questioned about how the new rules do not totally restrict residential development in the Sandy Beach area, Gray said: “If we can’t buy it, at least we have a framework in place to limit the damage (to the environment).”

The first two of three public information sessions on the proposed changes are scheduled for tomorrow, Jan. 25, from 7 to 9 p.m., and Saturday, Jan. 27, from 9 a.m. to noon, at the community centre.

On Wednesday, Jan. 31, at 7 p.m., the town will host what is being touted as a public feedback session, where residents are invited to discuss and ask questions about the proposed bylaws.

The next day, Feb. 1, marks the beginning of a two-week public consultation period, which includes an online questionnaire for residents to provide feedback. This input will be submitted to council and will be taken into consideration, Hutchison said.

In March, Hudson council will make another presentation highlighting the feedback received. A final version of the bylaws will be presented for adoption by council in April. The next step will be to send the approved legislation to the MRC Vaudreuil-Soulanges for its approval before the bylaws will be put in force.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé made it clear again that he intends to stick to his decision to build a 5.7-hectare parking lot on the site of the new hospital in Vaudreuil-Dorion during a visit to the construction zone Monday, according to Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols.

“On the hospital parking issue, the minister provided a clear and definitive response,” Nichols said in a statement after meeting with Dubé. “He indicated that his government has no intention of returning to tiered parking.”

The move will create the largest heat island in the region, Nichols added, referring to the paved parking area designed to accommodate almost 1,900 vehicles and stretch over an area of just more than 14 acres.

Dubé announced his decision to scrap the plans for either an underground or multi-tiered parking plaza in favour of a surface parking lot last June as a measure to save $50 million on the $2.6-billion hospital project.

The move has come under widespread criticism from local elected officials and environmental groups, including Mères au Front, a local grassroots organization that launched a petition last fall. The petition, calling on the government to abandon its plan for the surface lot and signed by 2,632 residents of the region, was presented to members of the National Assembly in November.

A number of municipalities in the region, including the city of Vaudreuil-Dorion, as well as the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, have also called on the province to reconsider the plan for a surface lot, arguing the Legault government broke its commitment to build the hospital with a focus on environmental sustainability.

“The Quebec government’s decision to build a surface parking lot runs counter to municipal, regional and provincial environmental policies and objectives,” Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon said when the move was first announced.

“I also stressed (to Dubé) that we have already suffered significant consequences from climate change, particularly during the floods of 2017 and 2019,” Nichols said. “He told me that nothing would make him reverse this decision.”

The Vaudreuil-Soulanges hospital will feature 404 beds, employ about 3,200 people and contribute $407.5 million to Quebec’s annual gross domestic product, according to a report commissioned by the CISSS and Développement Vaudreuil-Soulanges in 2022.

Construction of the main pavilions of the hospital continues at the intersection of Cité des Jeunes Blvd., near the junction of Highway 40 and Highway 30. It is slated to open at the end of 2026.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The news that Walmart Canada has decided to pull out of its plan to operate a $100-million fulfillment centre in Vaudreuil-Dorion – a facility touted to be “the first of its kind” in Quebec for the retail giant when it was announced in the fall of 2022 – has been widely reported in the past few weeks. But the reasons for the decision continue to be the subject of several unanswered questions.

“I was surprised for sure,” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon last week.

Pilon has not received any confirmation as to why the retailer abruptly pulled out of the project in late December. He speculated that it could simply be a case of a corporate shakeup at Walmart Canada that prompted the change in plans.

“This is what I think,” Pilon said, but later added he did not speak to anyone at Walmart.

In an email statement to The 1019 Report, Walmart Canada spokesperson Sarah Kennedy, senior director for internal and external communications, confirmed the company plans to sub-lease the facility.

“(Walmart) made the decision to sub-lease the previously-announced Vaudreuil-Dorion facility because we believe we can better serve and fulfill online orders for our Quebec customers by accelerating upgrades to our existing network, including our Quebec stores,” Kennedy said.

She refused to answer any other questions about the lease.

See WALMART, Page 4.

WALMART: Traffic caused by bridge chaos not a factor, retailer says

From Page 1

Pilon said he had previously been informed that Walmart had a 15-year lease with renewal options on the facility – a sprawling building with about 70 truck loading bays, making it one of the largest logistical hubs in the region.

When pressed about whether traffic chaos in the region caused by work on the Île aux Tourtes Bridge played a role in the decision to back out of the shipping hub it planned to open later this year, Kennedy said: “I can tell you that traffic was not a factor in this decision at all.”

Contacted earlier this week, a spokesperson for Chris and Tyler Harden, co-CEOs of the Harden Group, the owners of new industrial park near the junction of Harwood and Henry Ford roads in Vaudreuil-Dorion where the Walmart facility is located, said the company would not comment on Walmart’s decision.

A spokesperson for DEV Vaudreuil-Soulanges, the regional business development agency, confirmed a subletter is being sought.

In an interview Monday, Guy Boyer, the director of territorial development and industrial commission with DEV Vaudreuil-Soulanges, said he is hoping to meet with Walmart representatives as well as officials with the Harden Group to discuss the situation later this week.

Boyer, too, admits he was surprised to hear of Walmart’s abrupt change of plans, adding, however, that he does not believe it will be too difficult to find a new tenant.

Adding to the list of officials who were surprised by the news is Vaudreuil MNA Marie-Claude Nichols. In an interview earlier this week, she said she had worked closely with officials with the Harden Group to obtain the needed ministerial approval for Hydro-Québec hookups for the facility in the first half of 2023. According to Nichols, the CAQ government passed a law earlier in 2023 that required large projects that required more than 50 megawatts of power to obtain government approval before Hydro could provide services. Nichols said she was solicited to help obtain the approvals, which were subsequently granted.

Walmart’s change of plans, she added “was a surprise for me.”

CAQ MNA Marilyne Picard was not available for comment.

Kennedy said Walmart plans to invest about $100 million to upgrade eight stores in the province “by the end of our next fiscal year,” but ignored questions inquiring about which stores the company will focus on.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

In the last month, all municipalities in the region adopted their budgets for the current year. And just about all recorded increases in expenses for 2024. Among those hikes is a substantial increase is the price of police services provided by the Sûreté du Québec. But there is one thing that the financial documents do not show: As the costs for police services continue to go up, the amount of service is about to go down.

A total of 131 SQ officers are assigned to this region. How many are on duty at any given time, including the number who patrol the streets of the region, varies according to an internal schedule. That overall number, however, is about to drop by seven to 124, according to Patrick Bousez, prefect of the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges. And that means only one thing, the amount of police coverage in this region is going to be less – but the bill will not be lowered.

“This angers me,” said a frustrated Guy Pilon, mayor of Vaudreuil-Dorion, the largest municipality in the territory that pays the biggest slice of the MRC’s policing bill. “It’s illogical.”

“We control nothing,” Pilon said, referring to the towns that shoulder the costs. “We just get the bill.”

See SQ COSTS, Page 2.

SQ COSTS: Bill for policing keeps rising year after year

From Page 1.

Municipalities have no control on the policing cost, Pilon explained. “All we have to do is shut up and pay.”

He was informed of the pending cuts by MRC officials.

Bousez said the new arrangement is part of a 10-year agreement signed with Quebec’s Public Security Ministry, which negotiated the deal with the SQ administration and the Union des municipalités du Québec. It was based on a study of a number of factors, including crime rates in the various regions.

What is the most difficult to accept, Bousez said, is that while Vaudreuil-Soulanges will see its police force trimmed, the neighbouring MRC of Beauharnois-Salaberry will see its numbers of officers increase without seeing its cost go up.

“We are not happy,” Bousez said. “No one in the region is happy.”

It’s a situation that all the region’s municipalities are struggling with, Pilon said, as costs for the provincial police service continue to rise year after year.

In Vaudrueil-Dorion, the bill for the SQ in 2024 will hit $7.25 million, up almost nine per cent from the $6.6 million in 2023. In St. Lazare, SQ costs are up 6.55 per cent this year. In Hudson, policing costs are up 5.5 per cent, hitting $1.93 million this year.

In 2022, Vaudreuil-Soulanges was charged $30.2 million for SQ services, according to data obtained by The 1019 Report from the Ministry of Public Security.

Pilon said cities and towns across the province who had their own municipal forces were sold a bill of goods when they were forced to disband their local policing services in favour of SQ services in 2003.

“They sold us smoke, saying it would cost us less,” Pilon said, recalling how the transition was presented two decades ago.

Municipalities were told they would receive the same level of service at a lesser cost, he said. Today, most towns have seen a steady rise in the cost of the SQ and have had to hire public security contractors to provide a presence in parks and to make sure everything from dog bylaws to parking restrictions are enforced – services the SQ does not provide.

The cost of the SQ assessed the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges is set by the provincial government. It is determined by a formula based on property valuations, which provides for the so-called richest regions to pay more. As such, MRCs like Vaudreuil-Soulanges end up footing more of the provincial bill to reduce the financial burden of the SQ on other, less affluent regions.

This formula also includes a provision whereby MRCs that pay the most receive a partial reimbursement. This calculation, however, has been the focus of legal action of late. In 2021, the MRC passed a resolution to change this calculation method. In response, four towns in the region – Vaudreuil-Dorion, Pincourt, St. Zotique and Les Coteaux – challenged this new approach. Last year, the court upheld the new method.

The ruling did not, however, outline how the redistribution of the reimbursements be applied. Now, the town of Hudson is taking issue with the MRCs latest approach. In response, the MRC has launched an internal review of its billing practices.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

The owners of an average single-family home in St. Lazare will see their property taxes increase by 4.45 per cent this year, according to the town’s new $43.1-million budget adopted last month.

The value of an average single-family home in the municipality is pegged at $467,600. The owners of this property will see a tax bill of $3,672 in 2024, which represents an increase of $156 compared with 2023. Last year, the taxes on that same home jumped $141, or 4.19 per cent, bringing the overall hike in taxes on that property since the end of 2022 to $297, or 8.8 per cent.

The residential property tax rate for 2024 has been set at $0.6262 per $100 of valuation, up from the 2023 rate of $0.6034.

Included in the calculation of each tax bill is a $275 annual water tax, up from $250 last year; a $180 garbage tax, up from $165 last year; a $165 sewer treatment charge, which is the same as in 2023 and a $50 potable water treatment plant fee, which is also the same as last year.

The property tax increase “represents less than $13 per month for the average single-family home, which council considers reasonable under the circumstances,” city officials stated in a prepared statement. The increase, in fact, represents exactly $13 a month for an average home.

There are other itemized charges that are assessed based on specific tax rates per $100 of valuation, meaning those properties with higher valuations will pay more, while lesser valued properties will pay less. For the average valued home of $467,600, they include a $25 charge for the construction of municipal buildings, which is up about $3 from last year; a $14 fee for the construction of the new fire hall, which is the same as last year; a $13 fee for the extension of the bicycle path network, up from the $5.61 assessed last year; a $9.82 charge for the reconstruction of Ste. Elizabeth Street; a $7 charge for the expansion of the La Pinière nature park and a $4.68 contribution to the building of the synthetic playing field next to Westwood High School’s junior campus.

Spending is up

Overall, the city will be spending about $5.5 million more this year as compared with 2023. Among the biggest increases are services the municipality has no direct control over. Among those charges is the city’s contribution to the MRC of Vaudreuil-Soulanges, which jumps 18.71-per-cent in 2024 compared with 2023, bringing the total handed over to the regional authority to just over $2.4 million this year. Other increases assessed to the town are charges from the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal, which jumps 17.53 per cent this year compared with last year; and fees for policing services from the Sûreté du Québec, which increase by 6.55 per cent this year. The city’s contribution to the regional transit authority, or Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain, increases 4 per cent from 2023.

These charges represent about 85 per cent of St. Lazare’s overall spending.

The city also adopted its three-year capital expenditure program on Dec. 19. It includes $25 million in projects in 2024, $28.2 million in spending in 2025 and $13.3 million in plans for 2026.

This year, among the projects planned are $14.7 million to improve and expand potable water services; $6.5 million in recreational upgrades, including refurbishing certain parks, replacing the surface of the synthetic field near Westwood High School and about $1.6 million for the construction of a youth centre, which will be financed in part by an expected $980,000 grant. Another $3.14 million will be spent on road improvements, the installation of electric vehicle charging stations at the community centre and the replacement of certain municipal vehicles.

Most of these items will be financed through a combination of provincial government grants, long-term borrowing and the municipality’s reserved funds.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Vaudreuil-Soulanges commuters sitting in rush-hour traffic as they attempt to travel across the Île aux Tourtes Bridge will have plenty of time to contemplate the irony behind a new tax they will be slapped with this year: A $59 charge that will be added to their vehicle registrations for 2024 courtesy of the Communauté métropolitaine de Montréal and the regional public transit authority.

Beginning this month, all personal vehicles registered in the 11 municipalities in this region that are part of the CMM will be hit with the new charge that aims to help finance public transit in the greater Montreal region.

More specifically, as explained by the CMM, the regional authority that includes 82 municipalities on and around the island of Montreal, “this measure aims to diversify the sources of funding for the public transportation network in the metropolitan Montreal region to meet the population’s needs in terms of sustainable mobility, while contributing to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions and road congestion.”

The charge is expected to generate about $125 million to $128 million in revenue for the transport authority across the CMM in 2024.

The 11 of the 23 municipalities in Vaudreuil-Soulanges that are part of the CMM include Vaudreuil-Dorion, St. Lazare, Hudson, Pincourt, L’Île Perrot, Notre Dame de l’Île Perrot, Terrasse Vaudreuil, Vaudreuil sur le Lac, Les Cèdres, Île Cadieux and Pointe des Cascades.

The fee will be collected by the Société de l’assurance automobile du Québec on behalf of the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), and is in addition to the $30 annual fee dubbed a “public transit contribution” already charged to most residents in the region who are included in the CMM, bringing the total public transit tariff on each vehicle registrations to $89 a year.

Motorists living in Les Cèdres, Île Cadieux, Pointe des Cascades and Vaudreuil sur le Lac are exempt from paying the $30 fee. They will have to pay the new $59 tax, however.

Since 2011, motorists living on the island of Montreal have been paying a $45 annual public transit fee plus the $30 annual “public transit contribution.” Starting this year, the public transit fee they are assessed will be increased to $59, bringing their total public transit annual surcharges to $89.

The CMM council approved the new tax back in April, after the ARTM revealed a substantial operating deficit. In the months that followed, negotiations between the provincial Transport Ministry, the CMM and the transit authority explored ways to address the shortfall. These talks looked at alternative funding schemes. But the mayors who sit on the CMM council were adamant that contributions from the municipalities should remain capped at a 4-per-cent increase.

The provincial government then announced it would pitch in $346 million, which represents about 75 per cent of the expected $461-million operating deficit for 2024. The $346 million includes $218 million from Quebec, as outlined in the CAQ government’s fall economic update announced Nov. 7 and $128 million from transit fees collected through the vehicle registration charges approved in April that come into effect starting this month. The formula still leaves the transit authority with a shortfall, which will still have to be managed, according to the CMM.

“I am completely against increasing the cost of licensing (a vehicle),” said Vaudreuil-Dorion Mayor Guy Pilon last week.

The original contribution motorists were forced to pay, Pilon explained, was designated to improve services. Now, the transit authority is using these funds and charging more to cover its operating shortfall.

“I am completely against that,” Pilon reiterated, adding that the current financing scheme still does not cover the entire operating deficit, which means the transit authority might have to now cut services. “Everything is on the table,” he said.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

Last Sunday’s snowfall put an end to the speculation over whether winter was actually going to show up this year, and it got skiers excited about hitting the slopes. But now, the question for the operator of the Mont Rigaud ski hill is: Will the rest of the winter make up for the slow start?

Although skiers were on the slopes at Mont Rigaud on Sunday as the snow fell at a gentle and steady pace, it was a different story just the day before. On Saturday, Jan. 6, there were a few skiers, but it was far from a busy Saturday.

“The weather is a major influencer,” said Luc Elie, the owner and general manager of Mont Rigaud. It has a major impact on the centre’s monetary performance, he explained.

Up until last Saturday, traffic on the 15 runs at Mont Rigaud was down substantially since the centre opened this season on Dec. 1, Elie said.

Although he did not have exact figures, he estimated the volume of skiers at the centre in each week throughout December and the first week of January was roughly the same as what the centre saw per day last season.

The number of season passes sold at the hill are down, too – by about 10 per cent, he said.

Elie said the centre has three key periods each winter season – the Christmas holidays, the eight weekends in January and February, and March break. So far, the Christmas holiday period has been a financial bust. But he is optimistic things will turn around.

“It’s part of the game,” he said. “March break might be excellent.”

Last year, the centre invested about $1 million in snow-making equipment, a move that has allowed Elie to ensure that just about all runs have a solid snow cover regardless of the amount of natural snow. All 15 trails down the mountain have been open since Jan. 1, he said, explaining that whenever there was a short cold snap, his crews were making snow and grooming the trails.

In December, however, the unseasonably mild temperatures meant the man-made snow kept melting. 

But with the return of below-zero temperatures in January, the groomers have been able to keep a solid base on the hill. The only run that had not yet opened as of last week is the one that winds its way through a wooded area.

“We have had excellent conditions,” Elie said, referring to the performance of his new snow-making capabilities. But he concedes, when people do not have snow at home, they are not as inclined to think of heading to the slopes. He’s hoping that those worries are behind him now that the winter seems to be back on track.

BRENDA O’FARRELL
The 1019 Report

A final decision on the fate of the proposed 214-unit Sandy Beach housing development in Hudson will be rendered in spring, as legal proceedings to hear an appeal contesting the Quebec Environment minister’s revocation of the permit to backfill part of the wetlands at the waterfront site are set to move forward in the coming weeks.

“The tribunal will render its decision within three months of the case being taken under advisement,” stated Julie Baril, the director of legal affairs with the Tribunal Administratif du Québec, in an email to The 1019 Report last week. The tribunal will hear the appeal.

According to documents obtained from the province’s administrative tribunal, Quebec Environment Ministry officials filed the required documents with the tribunal on Dec. 15 and Dec. 18 following an appearance by Justice Department officials on Nov. 23. But to date, “no jurisdictional activity has been held,” Baril said.

Nicanco Holdings, the owner of the waterfront site, and its partner in the proposed housing project, a numbered Quebec-based company, filed a notice of appeal with the tribunal on Oct. 18. On Nov. 15, the companies outlined the basis for its appeal with the tribunal.

The next step is expected to include a management conference, where the parties will receive an overview of the appeal process and deadlines set.

Tribunal officials said this meeting could lead to a conciliation session, which could also lead to

an agreement between the parties or a withdrawal of the appeal.

If there is no agreement or withdrawal, and the appeal proceeds to a hearing. The date for this process will be determined by the parties, the officials said. Once the appeal is heard, the tribunal would then have up to three months to render its decision. On Oct. 4, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette revoked the certificate of authorization to backfill part of the wetlands along the waterfront in Hudson’s Sandy Beach area that had been issued in March 2014. The minister made the move, citing a provision of a new law that came into force in May 2022, the Loi sur certaines mesures permettant d’appliquer les lois en matière d’environement et de la sécurité des barrages. This law gives the provincial environment minister sweeping powers to ensure consistency in the application of environmental laws within an updated framework.