Chelsey St. Pierre – The Suburban LJI Reporter
The new draft agreement proposed to the Archdiocese by the City of Pointe-Claire, modified by a committee of councillors, was presented at the recent council meeting. Pointe-Claire mayor Tim Thomas and city councillor Bruno Tremblay voted against the adoption with modifications of a by-law concerning the creation of a financial assistance program for the protection and enhancement of a built cultural heritage — Pointe-Claire windmill — with a maximum amount of contribution of $967,761.00.
In August 2023, a committee was formed to address the negotiations between the Archdiocese and the City of Pointe-Claire. “We created the committee following a proposed draft agreement that was presented to us in June 2023 which was completely one-sided to the full benefit of the Archdiocese but not the taxpayer. Under that agreement, we would be paying for the complete maintenance of the structure, electrical lines and there was no guarantee for public access,” Councillor Eric Stork told The Suburban.
“From September 2022, when this file was opened, to June 2023, we had no communications from the Archdiocese. We sent an e-mail in July of 2023 stating that we did not agree with the draft agreement presented to us in June and again received no response.”
According to Stork, the Archdiocese maintained contact with Mayor Thomas and the agreement was treated like a “done deal” when it was not, as council’s concerns were not addressed in the file leading to the formation of the committee. “He (the mayor) keeps saying we reneged, but we had no agreement to begin with, just discussions.”
“This is not a perfect deal but it is the best deal for Pointe-Claire citizens and their tax dollars. The ball is going to be in the diocese court. We have done and our staff has done a magnificent job.”
Thomas said that the original deal was viable and acceptable to the Archdiocese, but that he is not so sure that this new deal modified by the committee will pass. “The deal was rejected by council in 2023 who put themselves in charge of renegotiation. They proposed a by-law which will force us to start all over with a new process which could potentially add years of delays.”
“This by-law will make it harder for the Archdiocese and heritage society to fund the project as they will have to apply tens of thousands of dollars on architects’ plans, then front the entire cost before they can be reimbursed instead of progressive disbursements. This is much stricter than the Quebec ministry’s uses for these types of projects. We had a deal and now we don’t, so we will see what the future holds,” Thomas said.
Stork says that he does not and will not blindly support the demands of the church at any cost. “We are not going to give them a million dollars of taxpayer dollars while they set the tone for the agreement, with demands for maintenance, etcetera. That is unusual. We are in the midst of a housing crisis and inflation affecting families. We drafted a fair agreement. A million, in my opinion, for their private property, is much more than fair.” n