During the last few days of August, City of Laval work crews were wrapping up the last of a series of coordinated trash and waste pickups on streets throughout the city, after the devastating floods that washed through several neighbourhoods of Laval on Aug. 9.
Over the previous three weeks, a coordinated effort by several key municipal departments focused on the massive task, with assistance from a few contracted outside service providers.
According to the city, more than 25,000 hours of work went into the cleanup, and city teams were resuming their day-to-day operations, as students in schools across Laval were adjusting to back-to-school routines and settling down to classes.
“Planning and coordination efforts as well as the exceptional mobilization of several hundred people made it possible to conduct this never-before-seen cleanup operation on Laval’s soil,” said Patrick Taillefer, director of the Laval Fire Dept. and principal coordinator for emergency measures.
“For every residence affected, our teams had to pick up the equivalent of nearly a year’s worth of trash,” he added. “They managed to do it with success, after a second and then a final sweep over all the territory.”
“Since August 12, the City of Laval’s teams worked incessantly to support our community,” said Mayor Stéphane Boyer.
“This cleanup operation, which quickly became our absolute priority, showed one more time the solidarity and resilience of all the people in Laval. Thanks to the commitment of our staff and the collaboration of everyone concerned, we were able to surmount this challenge together and reestablish order in our neighbourhoods to the best of our abilities.”
Just what was done
- Work crews passed twice on all Laval’s territory, for a total of 2,900 streets
- 15,363 addresses visited
- More than 8,000 tons of debris gathered
- 4,170 10-wheel truck trips
- 12,455 visits to the écocentres
- Around 1,000 tons of debris dumped
- More than 25,000 hours of work
- Estimated cost $4 million
Other options still available
Laval’s écocentres continue to be an excellent option for those still needing to rid themselves of trash and debris left from the flooding. Because of the exceptional nature of the situation, the city is allowing a much greater volume of materials per resident to be accepted.
They are also reminding residents who were impacted that some insurance policies include rental charges for steel containers to gather debris and its pickup by a specialized contractor.
Giant mural completed at Chomedey high-rise
On Aug. 29, representatives of the City of Laval were on hand for the official unveiling of a large mural created over two exterior walls on a high-rise building at the corner of Saint-Martin and Daniel Johnson boulevards in Chomedey.
The work, titled Inner Child Healing, was created by multidisciplinary artist Jacquie Comrie, on the outside of the 14-storey Tours Saint-Martin.
“Adding to the City of Laval’s already impressive collection of public art, this impressionist and brilliant work will be embellishing the sector to make it even more lively, while at the same time adding to the experiences of those using the sector,” said Laval city councillor for Sainte-Rose Flavia Alexandra Novac, who is responsible for cultural dossiers on city council.
“The building’s architecture was perfectly suited for such a large project in an area where its visibility over a wide and well-trafficked area will ensure it is seen by a maximum of passersby,” she added.
The artist who created the work explained how she went about it. “In my artistic efforts, I use color as a tool for social transformation in order to create a positive impact and beneficial effects on mental health,” Comrie said.
“Color is a universal language for transmitting emotions, in addition to being a powerful tool to embellish spaces. It has healing properties and also the capacity to influence our thoughts, our behaviors and our well-being.”
The mural was created with the assistance of MU, an organization that has been behind the creation of many other exterior murals in the Montreal region since 2007. The City of Laval undertook to sponsor the mural as part of an existing cultural policy to promote public art in open outdoor spaces in strategic locations.
Around 60 other murals and other works of art are part of a growing collection on Laval’s territory. They can be found on many municipal buildings including libraries, sports and community centres, as well as in green spaces and public parks.
Marius-Barbeau library branch in Saint-François moves
Since Sept. 7, the City of Laval library network’s Marius-Barbeau branch in Saint-François has been closed while a move is undertaken to a new location at the Espace citoyen des Confluents (ECC) at 1000 Marie-Uguay St.
According to Laval city councillor Flavia Alexandra Novac, in charge of library services on city council, the new locale will give the branch more space and convenience for its users who are mostly in Duvernay-Est and Saint-François.
“They will have access to a collection of more than 55,000 documents, several new pieces of digital equipment, a terrace, a reading room, a special section especially set aside for teenagers, meeting rooms and much more,” said Novac.
“This will be a place very simply that is exceptional where you will be able to find places for gatherings, exchanges and for culture, which is sure to become an important focal point for the community,” she added.
Until Nov. 2 when the ECC is schedule to open, library users from the area are invited to use the Germaine-Guèvremont library branch located at 2900 boulevard de la Concorde Est in Duvernay, or any of the eight other Laval public library branches.
At the same time, library users are reminded that many of the City of Laval’s services are not available online, making it unnecessary to go in person to a library branch. For example, books and documents can be reserved online, while other resources can be consulted directly in databases of information. Book and document loans can also be renewed online.
