In their 24th annual campaign, retired City of Laval employees raised and donated more than $400,000 for Centraide of Greater Montreal.
The money was gathered from employees, retirees and current City of Laval elected officials, as well as from corporate donations.
More than 25 Laval-based charitable groups will be receiving financial assistance from Centraide. According to the city, nearly $3 million was given by Centraide to groups in Laval in 2021-2022.
“The City of Laval and Centraide have a history of productive collaboration since 1998,” says Laval executive-committee member and city councillor for Duvernay-Pont-Viau Christine Poirier. “I am proud of the commitment of our teams towards the neediest. Such generosity will almost certainly make a difference for a great many organizations in Laval.”
City unveils list of projects chosen after budget consultation
After initiating the City of Laval’s first consultative budget, municipal officials have announced 10 projects that were chosen and will be implemented over the coming years.
In a departure from the city’s usual budget allocation procedures, residents of Laval were invited in the past year to take part in the selection of community projects that would receive funding from the annual budget.
The selected projects involve sports, culture, as well as social support and development. In all, according to the city, more than 5,200 residents voted from Aug. 22 until Sept. 30 for their favourite projects either online or at branches of the municipal library network.
“Our administration is proud to see this initiative in participative democracy become a reality, and we would like to thank everybody who took part,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer.
The 10 projects chosen were those which received the largest number of votes out of 21 project proposals. The projects’ themes involve landscaping to help deal with urban heat islands, the development of public marketplaces, refurbishment of certain streets, additional lighting in parks, mini-public libraries, green alleyways and other ideas.
The 10 projects will be receiving a total of $576,000, with an additional $24,000 set aside for any cost overruns. According to the city, 4,444 votes were made online, while an additional 777 votes were received at library branches. It is estimated that 1.18 per cent of the city’s population voted, with 1 per cent considered an acceptable rate by international best practice standards.
City’s snow clearance crews ready for winter
With the winter season now well underway, the City of Laval says its public works department is prepared for whatever Mother Nature sends this way.
Crews are standing ready with snow plows and snow removal trucks, as well as sidewalk tractors. Here’s what you can do to help make snow removal as easy and efficient as possible when storms blow through:
- When possible, park in your driveway on snow removal days. If you must park on the street, park your car at least 30 centimetres from the sidewalk so snow plows have clearance, while making sure there’s also room on the passenger side for police or emergency vehicles to pass by.
- Always shovel snow onto your own property, rather than onto the sidewalk or street.
- On recycling or trash pickup days, always place your bins on your property, rather than on the sidewalk or street.
- Always obey the instructions on parking signage.
Laval signs with Quebec for historic and heritage studies
Members of the city’s executive-committee last week approved the signing of an agreement with Quebec’s Culture and Communications Ministry, which will allow the city to conduct studies on the historic roots of some neighbourhoods where documentation has been lacking.
Since the end of the 1950s, several inventories of buildings of potential heritage and historic interest were conducted. The city has gradually been enlarging its knowledge of its historic past, including architectural development, over the past few decades.
“We are pleased to have reached this agreement with the government of Quebec, which will allow the City of Laval to find on its territory the significant traces of heritage and history and land management in some of its neighbourhoods,” says Pierre Brabant, the city councillor for Vimont who is responsible for dossiers involving heritage and history.
