Martin C. Barry

Starting off the Town of Rosemère’s monthly public meeting last Monday evening with a short item of positive news, Mayor Eric Westram announced that town council has decided to create a new “green committee” that will work on environmental issues affecting Rosemère.

According to the mayor, council received a good number of applications from residents with impressive credentials who expressed willingness to sit on the committee.

New committee

“I would like to thank all the candidates who applied, whether they were retained or not, for their commitment to their community,” said Westram, while noting that those not chosen for the central committee may be able to sit on several sub-committees that will assist the main one.

On the same environmental note, the mayor pointed out that on May 25 from 8 am to 2 pm in the parking lot outside town hall town employees will be distributing tree seedlings, special bags for the disposal of leaves and other similar items.

Leaf composting

During the same event, residents will be able to take part in a presentation on the composting of leaves which will take place at 11:30 am and at 1 pm. in Rosemère town hall in the council chamber.

At the same time, Westram made a statement on the impact of the recent ice-storm followed by flooding that impacted the North Shore region, as well as other areas of Quebec.

“Mother Nature showed a little bit of everything over the past few weeks,” he said. He thanked the many town employees, including police, fire department and public works, for their dedication during both weather crises.

According to a report on the Town of Rosemère’s financial situation up to last Dec. 31 (the first year of the Westram administration’s mandate), Rosemère recorded a surplus of $836,124, representing 2.7 per cent of the operating budget.

Annual finance report

“As a city council, we constantly aim to preserve Rosemère’s enviable position in terms of debt,” he continued, maintaining that during the current council’s first full year since the election they had stabilized the town’s debt.

Westram said 2019 will be a key year for Rosemère’s future. He said a consultation will be taking place in June on investments to be made in the town’s infrastructures. As well, the town will be holding consultations next fall on orientations for urban planning, he added, with the goal of presenting a new urban plan reflecting the aspirations of Rosemère residents.

Anti-flood measures

During the first question period, a resident who submitted a petition earlier in the evening signed by 92 residents of Maurice St. asking for improvements along the banks of the Rivière des Mille Îles, asked the mayor for his reaction.

Mayor Westram said he had mandated the town’s administration to examine the state of Rosemère’s four dikes, including the one near Maurice St. “We want to know when those dikes were built, how they were built, what sorts of materials were used,” he said.

Dikes to be tested

“And once we have received the report from the engineers specialized in this issue, we will perhaps have decisions to make then regarding consolidation, restructuring or reconstruction depending on what we find out.”

While Westram said there were initial concerns over whether the dikes could withstand additional weight placed on them by sandbags and gravel for reinforcement, he added that things ended up working out and there was no flooding around Maurice St.

All the same, he said the town will be conducting additional testing on the dikes, considering the impact of climate change on the weather and the fact Rosemère has had to contend with limited amounts of flooding in recent years.

It is with pleasure that Mrs. Lapointe, Member of Parliament for Rivière-des-Mille-Îles, has announced financial assistance of $ 14,300 for the 2019 Canada Day Deux-Montagnes.

Part of this amount will be allocated to the pilot project which aims to encourage young people to take part in the activities and get involved in the organization. Since the 15 to 24 age group is under-represented at this event, the organizing committee wishes to take steps to remedy the situation.

“I would like to congratulate the city of Deux-Montagnes and the organizing committee for exemplary work in organizing this great event. I am delighted that our government is providing financial assistance for the Canada Day festivities in Deux-Montagnes, this unique event in the Laurentians! Says MP Lapointe.

(NSN) Although the worst of the 2019 spring flooding crisis appears to have passed, the Town of Rosemère is asking its residents to remain vigilant while ensuring that their property is protected.

“We learned from our experience in 2017, and the town has already taken a number of preventive actions and is ready to intervene,” says Mayor Eric Westram.

Firefighters, police and city staff continue their ongoing surveillance to ensure the safety of citizens, noted Westram. Two sand dikes were erected, one on Bélair Island and the other on David-Morris Street. A team is actually working to raise them as needed.

Courtesy called for

The town is asking citizens not to walk on the sand dikes so as not to lower them. Town officials are also requiring boaters to be civic and not to circulate by boat near zones between land and river to avoid waves.

While the spring 2019 crisis may be over, Rosemère is thinking ahead and is currently building a volunteer bank that will be contacted if needed in the future.

Those interested can write an email to cguerin@ville.rosemere.qc.ca. Citizens can contact the Public Works Department (450 621-3500 ext. 3300) directly for any questions regarding flooding or to obtain sandbags.

In case of emergencies

For emergency calls, please call 9-1-1. Also, pallets of sandbags are available for the following key sectors:

• Ducharme Square (near the bridge)
• Val Chenaie
• Thorncliff West
• Bélair Island East
• Earlscourt
• Skelton (Alexandre and Béland wedges)
• Cadieux Terrace.

If necessary, arrange sandbags where water may seep (garage, doors, windows) or around the residence.

(NSN) Combining reading with physical activity. Now there’s an idea. That’s why the ‘Ride, walk, run’ library program is back again this year in Rosemère.

Rosemère officials say the program has proven itself to be a huge success, judging by the number of youngsters and grown-ups who took part last year.

Lifestyle awareness

Running from May 2 (National Sports and Physical Activity Day) to October 26, the program raises awareness among library users about healthy, easy-to-follow lifestyles.

“I am encouraging Rosemerites to go now and get their loyalty card for this new program,” says Mayor Eric Westram. “It’s for the whole family. Take the opportunity to challenge your body and brain at the same time.”

To be able to register, all you need is a resident’s card. And, as the name of the program suggests, you have to leave your car behind to ride, walk or run to visit the library.

Chance to win the draw

Participants receive a loyalty card to be stamped by an employee at the circulation desk each time they come to the library. Every fully-stamped card (9 punches) gives the participant a chance to win the draw that will be held next October.

The town is inviting residents to register now, without delay, in order to optimize their chances to win a $500 bike, compliments of Sports Experts Rosemère and the Town of Rosemère.

Martin C. Barry

Provincial, municipal and public safety officials on the North Shore remained on high alert this week as spring flooding – bringing together melted snow runoff from the Laurentians with days of steady rain – combined to create one of the biggest weather-related crises ever seen in Quebec and eastern Canada.

In undoubtedly the hardest hit area of the North Shore – Saint-Marthe-sur-le-Lac on the edge of the Lake of Two Mountains – public works crews, police and homeowners fought back against a rising surge of water that had been held back until then by a 43-year-old dike that municipal officials had planned to repair.

Massive water surges

It all could be blamed on melting snow in mountainous regions north of the Outaouais, Laurentian, Lanaudière and Mauricie regions that created unprecedented flooding south of there. There were also massive surges on several of the province’s waterways leading into an already waterlogged corridor between the cities of Gatineau and Trois-Rivières.

Last week and this week, North Shore public safety and public works employees were on alert, keeping a steady eye on the situation on a 24-hour basis, in order to catch potentially unforeseen developments before they happened.

Shelter offered at DM’s arena

As early as last weekend, meteorologists and experts in river and watershed flows were predicting that levels in the water bodies surrounding the Laval, Montreal and North Shore regions would grow higher than what they were in 2017 when flooding problems last assailed the area. As many as 10,000 Quebecers are believed to have been forced out of their homes by this year’s flooding.

According to reports, more than half of those were in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac. More than 6,600 homes across Quebec were flooded, while the owners of more than 3,400 homes were unable to return to their houses because flood waters cut them off. Flood victims from Sainte-Marthe were offered shelter at the City of Deux-Montagnes’ municipal arena as well as at the Deux-Montagnes branch of the Royal Canadian Legion.

Unanswered questions

In the meantime, serious questions are being raised about the state of the four-decade-old dike in Sainte-Marthe-sur-le-Lac leading up to its rupture. Although the town had been advised last year by expert consultants to undertake a program of improvements to the structure, there is disagreement as to whether Sainte-Marthe officials applied soon enough to the Quebec Environment Ministry for a permit, which was pending at the time the dike broke.

Although Sainte-Marthe’s permit was still pending, Quebec Environment Minister Benoit Charette (who is the Coalition Avenir Québec MNA for Deux-Montagnes) announced this past February that following a fairly long delay (much of it during the term of the previous Liberal government), his ministry finally decided to issue a permit to the City of Deux-Montagnes to build a new dike along parts of its waterfront to prevent a recurrence of the floods in Deux-Montagnes in 2017.

Deux-Montagnes learned from 2017

That project had yet to be completed when the 2019 floods struck. However, as a preventive measure taken following the 2017 floods, the City of Deux-Montagnes stocked up on materials, including hundreds of concrete blocks as well as waterproof rubber sheeting, in order to build a temporary dike along key areas of its waterfront. The strategy appears to have worked, as there have been no reports of serious flooding in Deux-Montagnes which is located immediately next to Sainte-Marthe.

In Deux-Montagnes, the city reported on its web site earlier this week that the level of Lake of Two Mountains was down to 24.73 metres since the previous morning. The precipitation forecasts were revised downward and a slight decrease in the water level to 24.68 metres was anticipated for Thursday.

Flood warning status

In the Town of Rosemère, officials maintained on their web site this week that a flood risk warning was still in effect. While reporting that there was a slight decrease in the level of the Mille Îles River, it was still considered very high, which was why Rosemère was maintaining a state of alert as to the risks of floods in certain sectors of its territory.

That being said, a Sainte-Marthe resident is hoping to find others who are willing to consider launching a class-action negligence lawsuit against their municipality. “This is a big injustice towards the residents. This is unacceptable,” Patrick Hardy of 23^rd Ave. in Sainte-Marthe told a Montreal daily. The lifelong resident of Sainte-Marthe maintains there were signs the dike was weak long before it broke and let in the floodwaters.