Martin C. Barry
Who takes responsibility for stray cats in Chomedey? What’s being done about traffic and speeding on some of the district’s streets? And what changes are in store for the City of Laval’s alternate-side street parking regulations? These were some of the issues that came up during a district meeting held by city councillor Aglaia Revelakis at Centre de Sablon on Sept. 26.
‘Tempo’ shelter changes
Before dealing with the issues, Revelakis informed the 25 or so people attending that Laval city council made some changes to the “tempo” car shelter by-law recently and now residents are allowed to put up the protective winter-time structures beginning on Oct. 15 until April 30.
The previous rule prevented the shelters from being erected before November. The new regulations add 15 days at the beginning of the shelter period and 15 days in the spring before the period ends. While structure and tarpaulin can also now be erected simultaneously, a rule that remains obliges tempo owners to maintain a two-foot distance from the sidewalk so that snow ploughs don’t encounter obstructions during the winter.
Parking consultation
Revelakis said a consultation on the alternate parking issue will be taking place at 7 pm on Wednesday Oct. 24 at the Centre communautaire Saint-Joseph on Pie-X Blvd. near the corner of Souvenir Blvd. The meeting will be for residents of four districts: Chomedey, Abord-à-Plouffe, Saint-Martin and Souvenir-Labelle.
Under the current rules, cars are forbidden from parking on certain sides of streets so that street cleaning or snow removal operations can take place. Revelakis said any changes made to the alternate parking rules following the consultation will only take effect next year.
Street repair complications
Tom Mouhteros noted that street reconstruction projects on Clarendon Ave. that began this past summer are still underway, while the existing alternate parking rules were set to kick in Oct. 1. “The street is getting done, it’s not even done yet, and people from Clarendon are coming all the way down and parking,” he said, maintaining that he didn’t expect the street work to be completed on time.
Mouhteros also complained that Clarendon, which runs parallel at one point to Autoroute 13, has become a shortcut for drivers from outside the immediate area. “If anything goes wrong, everybody’s on Clarendon – and believe me it’s become a highway,” he said.
New dog and cat regulations
Revelakis pointed out that beginning in January 2019, it will be mandatory for all dogs and cats in Laval to be “microchipped” with a miniature implant that contains information identifying the owner. She also revealed that according to the City of Laval’s latest animal control regulations, anyone who feeds a stray cat or dog will be regarded as its owner. “The city could go after you and request that you go get a permit for these stray cats or dogs,” she said.
“If the city is expecting all this from us for stray cats, shouldn’t they also have responsibility if I call that there are lots of stray cats in my area and they should send somebody to deal with them? The city can’t have it both ways,” said Nick Furfaro. “Don’t feed them,” Revelakis responded.
Stray cats on Clarendon
“There are so many cats on Clarendon it’s unbelievable,” said Mouhteros, noting that when he recently found an injured cat he called Berger Blanc which is mandated to deal with stray animals by the city. While insisting that he loves animals, he said the overpopulation of cats in Chomedey “is getting ridiculous. I’m not putting in a garden next year. They’ve eaten half my garden – the cats, the squirrels.”
Anna Georgopoulos, who lives on a crescent along Notre Dame Blvd. near Elizabeth Blvd., asked Revelakis for a speed bump to be installed on her street. Revelakis said the city on the verge of a campaign to install a good number more speed bumps. “We are for the speed bumps,” said Georgopoulos. “Because first and foremost there’s a lot of children in that crescent.”
