Notes on the Council Meeting held July 14th, 2026 – The meeting was called to order at 19h30.
Questions from the public (for issues not on the agenda)
Mayor Ektvedt took the opportunity to explain to the audience the bylaw No 1059 respecting the governing of the council meetings adopted in 2018, particularly question periods.
Gaetano Tortolano: where are we with the pickleball project, is there a budget? DG: there is a 2026 budget as per the PTI for this year, a location has been selected for evaluation, a government subsidy was submitted, and the acoustic study will provide data and a report based on which next steps will be taken. Tortolano: why can it not be behind the Red Barn where they already play? DG: behind the Red Barn is an infrastructure that was paid for with government subsidy and you cannot modify it for 10 years or you need to make a special request to the government plus there is an impact on the ice in winter for skating.
Kevin McMullen: submitted a petition on behalf of the signing residents to state the selected place for the pickleball courts next to the tennis club is not a good location including impact on drainage, hedges, noise to residents, parking. Will we have access to the data from the acoustic study? Can other locations be considered?
Stefan Kurylovicz: demolitions were approved in the demolition meeting and 1 property was stopped, is there an issue? Answer: it is on the agenda this evening.
SPVM Report none
Councillors’ Reports
Councillor Caron: An Environment committee presentation was held on the natural predators to work with nature and not pesticides. It was interesting and well attended. There will be more events this year so watch out for them.
Councillor Brown: the emergency measures committee will do another simulation test on the 2nd October to validate the town response plan and verify the skills required. Baie-D’Urfé Rescue Squad contributed 324 volunteer hours as well as participating in a missing person search for 2 days (the person was found). They also assisted in help for the flooding that occurred in Pointe-Claire and DDO. VCops: 209 volunteer hours.
Mayor’s Report
Mayor Ektvedt commented that our town was lucky during the Baie-D’Urfé day parade not to be hit by the same flooding as the others town in the West Island. She also thanked DG and his Public Works blue collar teams to the assistance they provided to other towns during the post-flooding clean-up.
Correspondence
There were 4 items of correspondence received.
Letter by K. Gebert regarding the future nuisance bylaw missing items on light-pollution and harassment that were in the old zoning bylaw, pool equipment noise pollution and enclosure (see Beaconsfield requirements and protection of citizens), noise criteria (mor than just decibels).
Janet Ryan: previous zoning bylaws included Industrial Park noise pollution and decibel limits whereas as current bylaws totally omit any mention or protection of citizens.
Ralph Allison: Nuisance bylaws do not include any consideration for the type of noise pollution affecting health resulting from things like pickleball (e.g. impulsive acoustic sound).
Ella Peplowski: raised the issue of pickleball noise impact (although supports the sport) and asked if an option was considered to move the playground behind the Red Barn and install 3 courts as an alternate option.
Councillor Lowensteyn and Councillor Thompson will be reviewing all the points (plus the results of the acoustic study) and then reviewing with the rest of council.
Administration
Council members participate in the 10th annual race for compassion on 19th September. Approved.
Temporary hiring of blue-collar motor equipment operator (staff injured and on leave) – approved.
Appointment of Town Clerk Ms. Dana Chevalier: approved and starting on 20 July.
School Crossing guard support to Montreal West: approved to support.
Finance
Expenses in the amount of $1,155,307
Public Security and Traffic
Mandate to study the possible installation of four over-sized speed limit signs at the entrances of the town as well as painted speed limits on the road.
Public Works and Town Infrastructures
Contract for asphalt crack sealing: approved $50K maximum.
Contract for resurfacing on Morgan Road between Victoria and highway 20. Approved. $394,955.
Town Planning
Applications to the TPAC based on SPAIP bylaws for 15 Maughan extension, 294 Winters expansion, 2100 Transcanadienne sign modification, 63 Saint Andrews new detached garage, 85 Devon swimming pool and equipment. All approved.
Request for revision 20095 Lakeshore. DG presented the process summary whereby a demolition was submitted to the committee and had been reviewed and approved by the committee. After this any citizen can make a contestation within 30 days and provide relevant reasons. The person submitting the contestation presents themselves at council meeting and has 5 minutes to make their case, the owner of the property also has 5 minutes to present their information.
Margaret Kingsland presented the objections to the demolition. The house could be renovated and expanded and her friend had rented the house for a period of time therefore she questioned the statements about mold and the state of the house. The town is losing a large number of affordable housings for younger families and being replaced by a huge monument and not a home. She also questioned the purpose of the moratorium on demolition since it appears to be business as usual. Her friend who rented the house had indicated that it was the intention from the beginning to demolish the house. She also raised the question of conflict of interest when the investor owner is also a councillor.
Mathieu Crevier (owner and representative) statement: he invited council to base their decision on all the documents that had been prepared by professional services and opinions. Both parties answered the few questions that council asked. Council then left to discuss and render the decision. DG read the Resolution to maintain the approval of the demolition which council then proceeded to approve.
Mayor Ektvedt then presented some of the procedural elements and restated that it was not easy to come forward and that some of the more general points could be discussed in the future, and that the submission followed the democratic process. The mayor also informed the public in the name of transparency that a request received in the case of a positive council decision; to waive the mayor’s veto and statutory powers was not executed (and had not been in the past in her tenure) and the process would follow council decision.
Contract for Professional Urban Planning assistance for 2026: contract approved for Helene Doyon $10,695.
Citizen Services and Community Affairs
Grants in the amount of $300 each were given under the Excellence Support Program as follows:
Mason Knup Team Festival, Section #2, Provincial, Swimming, Bluefins June 5th to 7th, 2026
Sherbrooke, Québec 300 $
Sophie Lu CDT Quebec Tennis Cup-U12 (Provincial) May 15th to 18th, 2026 Mont-Tremblant, 300 $
Evandra Zlobec Canadian Artistic Gymnastic Championships, National, Senior High-Performance May 28th to 30th, 2026 Oshawa, Ontario 300 $
Question Period (for items on the agenda)
Karin Gebert: question referring to Nuisance bylaw correspondence item. Baie-D’Urfé’s current bylaws allow construction (and noise) Monday – Saturday until 8pm. The issue is mainly Saturday 8pm which means that citizens no longer have any peace on Saturday evenings in summer outside. Beaconsfield and Pointe-Claire is 5pm on Saturday and Saint-Lazare is 4pm on Saturdays. Can council try to align the new bylaws with other municipalities when the nuisance bylaws are reviewed? Answer: it will be added to the review.
Margaret Kingsland: similar point on noise for leaf blowers. Beaconsfield forbids leaf blowers between Junea and September. Answer: it was considered in the past but there was a lot of push-back also given the size of lots and trees in this town.
Ralph Allison: Is there a timeline for the completion and submission of the new nuisance bylaws? Answer: Councillors Lowensteyn and Thompson are reviewing them and will then submit to the rest of council and once agree the wording will be completed professionally. There is no official timeline.
The meeting was adjourned.