Youthful haven in off-island

More and more, young families are trading a few more kilometres of highway driving for brand-new homes a fraction of the cost of an older home in the West Island. “St. Lazare rented a certain amount of ice time before we even got started on construction, which is what allowed us to secure financing from the bank,�? Laventure said. The privately-owned sports facility has filled enough time that Laventure said he’s thinking about Phase 2 of the arena now that the dust form Phase 1 is beginning to settle. “It’s a beautiful building, the restaurant (a Momesso’s sub franchise occupies space in the facility) is great, we have a health club, a pro shop and everything else you might need,�? he said. Before the facility opened, Hudson and St. Lazare residents who played hockey, ringette or trained as a figure skater had to do so either in Vaudreuil-Dorion or Rigaud — an inconvenience at best, and occasionally unreachable in bad winter weather at worst. “Now, my daughter can figure-skate right here, near where she lives,�? Laventure said. St. Lazare Mayor Paul Carzoli said his municipality doesn’t have a family policy per se, but more of a philosophy. “Basically, we take the position that we are doing everything we can to make things easier on young families, and if we can’t offer them the infrastructures that we need, we’ll pay for them. We are setting priorities for young families. Before we had the arena, we would subsidize the ice time that our residents used at other places, where we would offer to offset part of the costs,�? he said. The private arena is a blessing for Carzoli because St. Lazare’s sports associations get use of the facility, and Carzoli’s administration gets none of the headaches. “For us, we don’t have to take care of the complex, run it, sell advertisements for it or worry about whether or not it’s going to run a deficit. In that sense, it is a partnership,�? he said. Dollard des Ormeaux Mayor Ed Janiszewski said on-island residents concerned about their house values crashing in 20 years should not worry. According to Janiszewski, younger couples who once spent the first part of their domestic lives together in apartments are now opting for the relative security of purchasing a small home in the off-island. “Those same families are going to be moving back to the West Island when their buying power increases and their families get older,�? said Janiszewski, who acknowledged the off-island’s infrastructure potential outweighs that of island municipalities. “A lot of these couples and young families are from the West Island and grew up here and plan on moving back when they can,�? he said. Pointe Claire has always been able to attract families and will continue to do so because of the quality of life and services enjoyed by its families. Access to two municipal libraries, an Olympic aquatic centre equipped with a weight room, multipurpose room and gymnasium along with a commitment to green space are not even the best advertisements the city has to offer, its mayor said. “The best ads we have are people who live here and when young people get in a position to make what is arguably the biggest investment of their lifetime, they look around. They’re comparative shoppers, said Mayor Bill McMurchie. “Municipalities get reputations based on the people that live there, and Pointe Claire has sufficient programs to accommodate all age groups; from the very young to senior citizens. We have a number of active sports programs, seven outdoor community pools, installed by the city and run by volunteers. The quality of programs is determined by the people involved in them, and Pointe Claire is certainly the better for it.�? McMurchie said his city’s recreation budget is almost all under the city’s control, so the recreation budget is annually adopted in December independent of the agglomeration budget, which controls much of a city’s revenues. “Our budget was adopted prior to the agglo budget, and our budget reflects what our citizens need. We don’t want to be influenced by the agglo budget. There has been, and I don’t foresee any change to this, no change in our policy that there is no charge for use of our public parks and fields,�? he said. Contrast that with Beaconsfield, which Mayor Bob Benedetti said had to begin charging user fees for fields to its sports associations in order to make up lost revenue after being stung by consecutive annual agglomeration-tax increases in 2005 and 2006. “The residents and sports associations didn’t want user fees for the fields, but with a gradual application of the fees over five years we were able to lessen the impact on taxpayers. We’ll be instituting 20 per cent of the cost this year and adding 20 per cent each year for five years,�? he said. Benedetti said his administration was looking into ways to cut costs, but noted that off-island municipalities and the provincial government need to take into account Montreal Island’s economic impact when dangling goodies in front of voters off-island. “What is the purpose of St. Jerôme, of St. Lazare, except to run the motor, which is Montreal? Those residents are contributing to wear and tear on our roads, but (the island suburbs) have to pay for it all and keep supporting the city of Montreal at the same time. Our MNAs need to wise up and see that we are being gored, and it’s undemocratic,�? he said. Benedetti said it’s easy to attract young families and invest heavily in projects when you’re not being taxed to pay for an entire island’s worth of activities. He said the Montreal Metropolitain Community (MMC), formed as an administrative body to manage the entire Greater Montreal area on and around the island in 2001, must finally begin to well, do anything. “It’s an idea whose time has come, but they really haven’t done anything of note in five years. Off-island suburbs should be dragged, kicking and screaming into the discussions of roads, infrastructure and other issues that are rightfully their responsibility as well,�? Benedetti said.