An Important Message from the Mayors and Councils of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead

September 17, 2010

Dear Residents of Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead,

On Wednesday, October 6 at 7:30pm the English Montreal School Board (EMSB) will be hosting a public information meeting at Côte Saint-Luc City Hall (5801 Cavendish Blvd.) about the possibility of re-establishing an English-language public high school at the former Wagar facility on Parkhaven Avenue in Côte Saint-Luc. As you may be aware, the city council of Côte Saint-Luc and the town council of Hampstead have both supported the possibility of re-establishing a mainstream public high school at the former Wagar facility, thus allowing our residents and future residents the option of a public school education for their children at the high school level at a nearby facility.

While we have excellent private schools in the area, residents of our municipalities pay significant school taxes every year to support our public school boards and we should have a quality English-language high school to which residents can choose to send their children should they so desire.

We strongly urge as many residents as possible to attend this meeting. The more people that attend expressing support for a quality public high school on our territory, the more likely it is that the EMSB will choose to establish one.

Moreover the meeting will also provide an opportunity for parents of future high school students in Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead to provide their input into what kind of high school they would like to see. Initial feedback has indicated there is interest in a school with a heritage–academic program (for example Judaic and Italian studies), as well as interest in a school with a sports concentration program.

The former Wagar facility is modern and spacious, featuring a double gymnasium, an auditorium, library, science labs, two large fields and tennis courts. It is also in an ideal location for a school with sports concentration. Across the street is the Côte Saint-Luc outdoor pool and an indoor gymnasium. Construction will start soon on an $18 million multi-purpose centre attached to the gymnasium, which will contain two indoor pools, including one for competitive swimming. Two blocks away is the Samuel Moskovitch hockey arena and Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park, which has three baseball fields and a walking path.Both the Côte Saint-Luc and Hampstead councils join the EMSB in calling upon residents to attend this meeting and provide their thoughts of the type of public high school they would like to see available in the community. The EMSB Long Range Planning Committee is expected to make recommendations in March 2011 and we very much want them to recommend the re-establishment of a quality high school in our community.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Sincerely yours,

Anthony Housefather (Mayor, City of Côte Saint-Luc)

Bill Steinberg (Mayor, Town of Hampstead)

http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=158365390849145&ref=mf

Parking tolerance for Simchat Torah

Holiday parking tolerance will remain in effect during Simchat Torah until Saturday October 2nd. Parking restrictions will resume at 2 a.m. on Sunday, October 3rd.

For more information about parking restrictions, please call Town Hall at 514-369-8200 or Public Security at 514-369-8250 (24 hour dispatch).

By-law 690 concerning nuisance amended

Please take note that By-law 690 concerning nuisance has been recently amended to create By-law 690-5. The new amendments now specify on which Statutory holidays and on which Jewish holidays noise is not permitted. Statutory holidays include “January 1st and 2nd, Good Friday, Easter Monday, June 24th, July 1st, the first Monday of September, the second Monday of October, December 25th and 26th and the Monday preceding May 25th (National Patriots day) or any other day fixed by government proclamation.” Jewish holidays are defined as Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Furthermore, “nighttime” has been defined as “the period of time from 21h00 of one day to 07h00 of the next day.”

Therefore, as stipulated in Article 4.3, “it is forbidden to engage in construction work, of nay nature whatsoever that has the effect of emitting noise outdoors:

• Before 07h00 and after 21h00 Monday to Friday inclusive;
• Before 09h00 and after 18h00 on Saturdays and Sundays;
• On Statutory holidays and Jewish holidays.”
  

To view the full By-law with amendments, please click here. To view its Annex, please click here.

Still some spots left for Hampstead's free Compost Lecture on September 27 at 7pm. Call 514-369-8220 before Monday at noon to reserve.

Hampstead Harvest Day & Green Fest postponed to October 3rd due to rainy weather.

Hampstead Harvest Day and Green Fest tomorrow at 1:30 (Rain date Oct. 3) in Hampstead Park.
http://ping.fm/nOopX

Don't forget that there will be a special garbage collection tomorrow, Friday September 24th (2nd day of Sukkoth).

Please take note that you must not put out your green waste for the green collection on that Friday. Please keep it for the following Friday.

Sombre Farewell to Irving Adessky

Hampstead's former Mayor, Irving Adessky, passed away peacefully yesterday morning. He was the mayor of Hampstead for an incredible 27 years from 1974 to 2001 and before that he was a councillor for six years. He was one of the longest serving mayors on the island of Montreal.

The Adessky era was marked by fiscal prudence and sound management. Among many achievements was the moving of the old Cleve pool to Hampstead park and the redevelopment of the entire park.

After the creation of the Montreal Urban Community, he served on the Public Security Commission and it was during his time that the Police moved to community policing with neighbourhood stations.

Internationally, Hampstead was twinned with Kiryat Shmona in Israel. Just last year we welcomed a delegation from Kiryat Shmona including Mayor Nissim to our 95th anniversary celebrations.

All Hampstead residents owe a debt of gratitude to a truly dedicated individual who served the Town so well for so many years.

For more information please read the articles:
in the Gazette: http://ping.fm/mpah9

in the Gazette Opinion: http://www.montrealgazette.com/opinion/letters/Hampstead+mayor+battled+Parizeau+Hydro+Qu%C3%A9bec/3549688/story.html

in the Suburban: http://www.thesuburbannews.ca/content/en/5420

and on CTV news: http://montreal.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20100920/mtl_adessky_100920/20100920/?hub=MontrealHome

Tonight in Hampstead: Council Meeting 9pm
http://ping.fm/j7ohy

Hampstead GreenFest & Harvest Day this Sunday!
http://ping.fm/QQeN5

Hanpstead Taxes and Evaluations

Montreal released the tax roll for 2011-2012-2013 today. The news is good for Hampstead. Our overall increase is 16.2%, the second lowest on the island. The average increase for the Agglomeration is 22.4%. This means that Hampstead’s share of the Agglomeration tax burden will decrease relative to most other suburbs and Montreal. In other words, our Agglomeration tax increase will be less than all other island municipalities other than CSL which had the lowest increase.



That is not the only good news. The overall tax increase is affected by the mix of properties in a municipality. Those with more condos had the larger increases as condos are increasing in value faster than other types of property. Hampstead has very few condos. Looking at only single family homes, Hampstead had the second largest increase of the seven wealthiest suburbs compared to the 2007 evaluations. We have the second most expensive homes on the island and we are narrowing the gap with Westmount (most expensive homes) and increasing our lead over TMR (third most expensive). This is an indication that more and more people want to live in our beautiful town. It also means that homeowners are wealthier, at least on paper.