Photo Émilie Russo
	Tensions rose between Marvin Rotrand, councillor of Snowdon, and Peter McQueen, councillor of NDG and the sole Projet Montreal councillor on the borough council.

The first borough council meeting of the new decade took place on Jan. 11 where councillors and citizens alike praised the well-organized snow removal that took place over the holidays. It was, however, a quiet evening with few questions to the councillors.

With winter in full swing, snow removal was a popular topic at the meeting. Susan Clarke, councillor for Loyola, praised the clearance done after the Dec. 9 storm.

“I got so much feedback from people around my district,” she said. “The clearance was done expeditiously, effectively, and I received more congratulations than complaints, which were negligible.”

Michael Applebaum, mayor of the borough, noted that changes in the administrative level of the snow removal were forthcoming. As of now, around 70 per cent of the snow removal is done by private companies while 30 per cent is public. The city of Montreal is looking at making changes in March 2010 and the borough of CDN-NDG will be one of the first to make modifications.
Henry Manester, a resident of Lennox Ave., brought up his concerns with the possible development of a high rise on his residential street. He spoke on behalf of several residents, some of whom attended the meeting. They were concerned with several changes in parking, garbage pick-up, and circulation on their small street.

“It has come to our attention in the last few days that the developer plans to go ahead with the development,” he said. “We’re here to urge the council to see to it that the impact on our neighbourhood is as minimal as possible given the rights of the developer.”

While Applebaum noted that the developer does have an acquired right to build on that land, “we’ll do everything that we can to make sure that he respects the law. He will not get any preferential treatment whatsoever.”

Despite the relatively quiet question period, tensions rose between Marvin Rotrand, councillor of Snowdon, and Peter McQueen, councillor of NDG and the sole Projet Montreal councillor on the borough council. When it came time to authorize a request for financial support for the Benny Cultural Centre, Rotrand spoke about his approval of Applebaum’s hard work in getting the project off the ground despite harsh opposition. He mentioned that McQueen’s fellow party member, Cym Gomery, was the leader of this opposition and that the backlash affected the vote in NDG. McQueen replied that he had not taken part in any opposition against the Benny Centre. Applebaum also came to his defence by saying McQueen had never signed the petition and was always in favour of the project.

The next council meeting will not be held on Feb. 1 as scheduled but is postponed to Feb. 3.