My 2012 CSL District 2 Year in Review

As the city councillor for District 2 in Côte Saint-Luc, I am
pleased to deliver my annual highlight package for the year that was.

Your mayor
and city council work very hard. We meet face to face on a very regular basis,
attend numerous community functions and most importantly makes ourselves
readily available to respond to the concerns of our constituents. If someone
calls the City Councillor’s Office, we will get back to them right away. Most
constituents, though, contact us via email. On any given night, I will have
dozens of emails to respond to.  I urge
residents to stay tuned to my website (mikecohen.ca), where I publish frequent
updates on community activities. Interestingly, it is when I take my walkabouts
in District 2 or do my shopping at the local IGA, where constituents approach
me in any aisle they see fit.

Here is my
look back at 2012.

New Town Houses on Marc Chagall

The 21-unit
town house complex, Les Cours Marc Chagall, was completed on time and I am
pleased to welcome the new residents to the District. Located on Marc Chagall
Avenue, this project was many years in the making. History will note that the
land was originally zoned commercial. A few years ago a developer approached
council for a zoning change to residential. It was clear from dialogue I had
with residents in condo buildings in the immediate vicinity and through a
public information session, town houses were far more preferable than a
stripping shopping mall.

 When council initially refused the zoning
change, the developer began to promote a strip mall. Residents were concerned.
Once again I worked with council and the zoning change was granted. While the
first developer was not able to see the project through, a new consortium soon
arrived on the scene. They were very successfully, selling out within six
months.

The Snow dump

For years
residents of Marc Chagall, specifically at La Marquise, complained about the
large dirty hill of snow that remained in the snow dump into the early summer.
With the support of Mayor Housefather I was able to secure enough votes for a
special allocation to break the hill apart in early spring. I will endeavor to
do the same after this next winter.

Not only
is there is aesthetic problem with the snow dump, it is also dangerous. The
previous summer I saw people climbing over the fence and walking up the snow
dump hill. I had to call Public Security on several occasions to get these
people down. The snow also attracted different birds and wild animals, from racoons
to even coyotes.

I wish to
thank Mayor Housefather for his strong support on this matter. He agreed to put
the $10,000 in our 2012 budget. We needed five votes for this to pass. Besides
myself, Councillors Allan J. Levine, Sam Goldbloom and Mitchell Brownstein
supported the motion. It was a 4-4 tie, with the mayor casting the deciding
vote.

Beth Chabad Thrives

Last May I was thrilled to attend Beth Chabad CSL’s
26^th anniversary gala, which was highlighted by the debut of a
gorgeous new social hall. Officially known as Beth Chabad Hechal Menachem, the
building is home to the Maurice and Nicole Benisti Youth Centre. At the gala,
Max and Sigy Laredo received the Tree of Life Award; Jacob and Therese Attias,
the Builders Award; and Michel and Perline Amar, the Anshei Chesed Award.

The new social hall can accommodate close to 600
people. “This will fill a large void in the greater Montreal area where few
halls can boast the capacity to hold events of this magnitude,” Rabbi Raskin
told me “It will be equipped with state-of-the-art audio equipment and screens
to hold community wide Jewish educational conferences, community lectures,
symposiums and seminars throughout the year. This will be a place to hold
holiday celebrations, weddings, brit milot, bar/bat mitzvahs in addition to many
other occasions.

More Construction?

There may
be some more opportunity in 2013 to construct something else new on Marc
Chagall. Stay tuned.

Bialik High School

At Bialik
High School, across the street, efforts have been successful to improve
longstanding traffic congestion. A combination of working with the school
administration and local Police Station 9 has resulted in much better conduct
by parent motorists.

As the co-chair
of the Côte Saint-Luc Human Rights Walkway project, I was happy to organize an
event at Bialik to mark the 100^th anniversary of righteous gentile
Raoul Wallenberg`s birth. We invited students from a number of local public
schools, the Consul General of Israel, the mayor and some members of council,
community leaders and a gentleman whose family was saved by Wallenberg.   

VE  Day AND REMEMBRANCE DAY

District 2 is also home to Veteran’s Park, a piece
of land directly beside City Hall, which serves as a fitting venue for VE and
Remembrance Day activities specifically.

The annual Victory in Europe (V-E) Day commemoration
ceremony in Côte Saint-Luc took place in May. The City of Côte Saint-Luc and
the Brigadier Frederick Kisch Branch 97 of the Royal Canadian Legion organize
the V-E Day event, which commemorates the victory of the Allies over Nazi
Germany. We generally do not have a large Remembrance Day ceremony, especially
when it falls during the week. This year it fell on a Sunday. Weather
conditions were also quite nice. These two factors resulted in a larger than
usual turnout.

Kildare Road Parking

For many years parking on the southern side of Kildare
Road, between Rembrandt and Merrimac, had been prohibited on Tuesdays and
Thursdays. Residents                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     approached
me numerous times to try and get this changed and for various reasons approval
was not within reach. Last winter I worked with our head of engineering,
Charles Senekal to come up with a resolution to this problem. Many residents of
the condominium town houses on Kildare Road like to leave their cars on the
street when they come from work, rather than park in their garage. The city,
however, has always needed to allocate some time for street cleaning.

 The compromise I was able to reach, with Mayor Anthony
Housefather lending a helpful hand, was no parking on that strip between 7 a.m.
and Noon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Since most of the residents I spoke to
indicate that it was late afternoon when they generally wanted to park on the
street, I believe this is a winning solution. I would like to thank District 5
Councillor Glenn J. Nashen, who as head of the city's Transportation Committee,
set the wheels in motion for this development.

Hydro Project

I have met
with senior officials from Hydro-Québec and we are in discussions to undertake
a project which will improve the power grid on Rembrandt. Hydro plans to
install a new underground infrastructure system. Work could begin by spring or
summer. They promise minimum power disruptions and a comprehensive
communications plan. This will be done over two years. During year one, they
will install the underground infrastructure. During year two, they will pull
the new cabling in and get the new system started. We are told Hydro will cover
the costs of any damages made to property (roads, sidewalks, lawns). Plans also
call for Merrimac Road to be repaved and we want this to be done after Hydro
has conducted its initial work.

Stay tuned
for more to come on this.

Cavendish Mall∕ Quartier Development

The new
Cavendish Mall development is beginning to take shape. Many of the homes are
already occupied. The new streets of The Avenue, Park Place, Jubilee and an
extended version of Kellert are part of District 2 at the present time. We have
come so far in the last seven years. When I was first elected in 2005, we began
meeting with the Mall administration over their desires to demolish at least
half of the shopping centre and have housing built. We were very diligent in
dealing with their proposals, refusing options which would have resulted in
unreasonable traffic congestion.  I
believe we agreed on a win-win project for everyone concerned. It has been
wonderful to see the new streets take shape and the Mall lot reconfigured. When
this is all completed, we will have a beautiful look.

It should
be noted that the Mall is now known as Quartier Cavendish. Instead of having a
shopping centre with a 40 percent vacancy rate, the facility is now full.  Valet parking is available on certain days.
The CLSC René-Cassin offers blood tests that are sent directly to the Jewish
General Hospital. We will be having a ceremony in the spring for Jubilee Avenue
to mark the Diamond Jubilee
of Queen Elizabeth II.

Oakridge Tenants

In August, I was pleased to attend a barbeque held behind City
Hal organized by the Oakridge Tenants Association. This is the apartment
building located at the very end of Sir Walter Scott Avenue. It is a well
established facility, with a pretty steady clientele.

Rembrandt Park

Rembrandt Park continues to be a well used facility in the
spring, summer and fall seasons, from the tennis courts, the water spray section
and the play areas. People enjoy taking leisurely walks there and sitting on the
benches. We continually consult with residents regarding any changes to the
park.  I am excited to announce that the
long awaited upgrade of the tennis courts at Rembrandt, including the lighting,
is expected to be done in 2013. I will know early in the new year what exactly
we can expect and the proposed timing. Last summer the courts behind the former
Wagar High School were refurbished. Because of that Rembrandt was placed on the
waiting list.

District Meetings

I continue to hold at least one District meeting a year,
bringing constituents together at City Hall to talk specifically about issues
of a very local nature. There is always a good turnout. This year I had City
Manager Tanya Abramovitch on hand to talk about a number of issues. City
Engineer Charles Senekal and Public Works Director Patrick Raggo also added
their expertise.

We always hear from people about traffic concerns, especially
at the corner of Cavendish and Kildare. Our traffic experts continue to look at
ways to make the traffic and pedestrian flow to move at a better pace.  I will announce a new mode of consultation
sometime in 2013.

Volunteer of the Year

District 2 resident Sidney Margles, who has done an outstanding
job as president of the CSL Senior Men’s Club, was named the 2012 Volunteer of
the Year at a Sunday Brunch we held in September at the Aquatic and Community
Centre.  It was a well deserved honour.

Community at Large

Portfolio Report

Each member
of city council has specific portfolios to deal with. I am responsible for communications,
sponsorship, naming opportunities, intercommunity relations and the CSL Cats
Committee. I chaired the Human Rights Walkway Initiative (The Raoul Wallenberg
centennial mentioned earlier) and the annual Seniors Golf Outing.

CSL  Website

In 2012 we
continued to upgrade the CSL website at cotesaintluc.org. It has a lot more
interesting content, is updated frequently and remains the  “go to” place for instant information. We
have a facebook page, locally produced videos and an e-newsletter. The Côte
Saint-Luc Courier Newspaper and district newsletter continue to be produced. We
began publishing a monthly calendar of events in The Suburban Newspaper while
councillor columns run in the Free Press Paper.

Cats Committee

The CSL
Cats Committee continues to be a labour of love for me.  I cannot say enough about my loyal crew of
volunteers. We continue to trap, neuter and release or seek the adoption or
fostering of  homeless cats. Every effort
is made to have them adopted, especially the many baby kittens we rescue.
During the year we held our first big fundraiser, a concert in August with the
Musician of the World Symphony Orchestra where we honoured the CSL Hospital for
Animals. 

In addition, after many months
of work on the part of staff and some committee members, we adopted our first
ever cat licensing by-law. Outdoor cats now require licenses in Côte Saint-Luc.
We still need more volunteers to come aboard. You can check out our special
section on the CSL website at www.cotesaintluc.org∕cats.

Red Fisher and Gary Carter

In terms of
naming opportunities, I was pleased to oversee the naming of the Red Fisher
Sports Section in the Eleanor London Public Library. Red, the legendary sports
writer, has lived in CSL for 56 years and is a devoted member of the library.
We also named the main field at Pierre Elliott Trudeau Park after former
Montreal Expos star Gary Carter, who lost his battle with cancer in 2012. A
beautiful ceremony was held during our Canada Day celebrations, with former
Expo Warren Cromartie on hand.