Notes on the Council Meeting held 9 December, 2025
These notes are an overview. The meeting and agenda, in its entirety, can be found on the Town website.
Questions from the public (for issues not on the agenda)
Merryl Hammond: question related to following up the citizens’ request to invest in a permanent pickleball court since there is a big community practicing this sport and is used throughout the year. Mayor Ektvedt responded that it had been discussed with council as part of next year’s budget and PTI, however until the budget is approved, no information can be shared. The budget this year will be approved in January instead of December as it is an election year and the Montreal Agglomeration budget and contribution will only be available in January and is a substantial part of the Baie-D’Urfé budget.
Wilfred Classen also picked on the pickleball question (with same answer).
Aria Campbell-Kelly raised the issues and observations relating to the Surrey Forest where extensive cutting had been done, as well as root compression due to heavy equipment passing over or parking on root areas. Question also raised about healthy trees, buckthorn not removed and lack of communication to citizens about this project as well as lack of answers to questions. Mayor Ektvedt responded that a very detailed presentation was going to be made during this session by a forest engineer that should answer most of the questions. Director General noted that the felling work has been completed on the west side.
SPVM Report – Commandant Gosselin talked about the SPVM media announcement relating to a high number of break-ins across the west island and what steps to take in order to keep houses safe as well as communicating with the police in order to help the investigations. He mentioned that investigations had progressed substantially due to the input from citizens from calls, videos, pictures and other information. This was essential to help police investigation.
He also noted that our area had not been hit by the same number of break-ins as other areas and that most of the cases were around the autoroute 40 area and less in the south area.
He reiterated that people should not be shy to call 911 (there is a triage) and that often small things can lead to information that puts pieces of the puzzle together.
Councillor Pagé asked about creating a registry of private video cameras. Commander Gosselin mentioned that video input is already being used, some companies also provide access to the police and with the help of AI software it reduces the time to analyze the video content and pick out important data.
Mayor Ektvedt also referred to a very sad event involving a homeless person where all had worked together as a team to resolve this. She requested that people contact the town sooner so that action can be taken to help someone in need (specially during the cold winter).
Councillors’ Reports
Councillor Brown: gave the report for Baie-D’Urfé Rescue Squad/Sauvetage: 748 volunteer hours this month. Four new members trained in 1st responders Red Cross training. Power outage assistance on Oakridge due to sump pump failure. Support during various community events. Oyster Party raised funds and was a success. Morgan Arboretum rescue practice with multiple organizations including K9 Unit with dogs that were totally amazing. Nova received the donation made from the Vintage Car Show.
Mayor’s Report
Mayor Ektvedt Meeting with the Montreal Agglomeration with many new mayors. Meeting at the Chamber of Commerce including the STM, ARTM and the REM given that the REM will arrive in the l’Anse-à-l’Orme station. The message was submitted and heard that the citizens in the South areas like Baie-D’Urfé, Beaconsfield etc. still require the existing train and bus system to travel as the REM is not close by. The mayor reiterated about acting quickly when we find people in need (like the homeless person recently) and also that the food drive was a success (and it would be nice to have an on-going flow to help people in need).
Finally, the Mayor shared her sadness and condolences for the loss of our ex-councillor Stephen Gruber who will be missed by all.
Director General – none
Correspondence
Letters (3) regarding the felling of trees in the Surrey West and East wooded areas. The points included the ones raised in question period namely: previous dense woodland provided a certain sound barrier that is now lost and the noise level has increased. Biodiversity has decreased. Communication severely failed during the whole process and no plan was communicated to citizens. Emails to council were not answered.
Mayor Ektvedt responded that when correspondence is sent to council that council must first discuss it and agree on a response, which takes more time than a one-on-one communication. However, communication could and should have been better and more proactive. The presentation should hopefully answer many of the questions and points. IT should also be noted that the approach for a single or few dead ash trees is not the same as when you have a large number like 300 ash trees that die and where nature and forest will not regenerate itself naturally.
Administration
Presentation by forestry engineer regarding ash groves safety and restoration program (tabled). The full presentation is worth reading and listening to. The presentation can be found on the Development page of the Town’s website (below link to pdf and video):
Town of Baie-D’Urfé – Development projects
Présentation_BaiedUrfé_conseil_municipal_20251209_(1).pdf
2025-12-09_Présentation_BaiedUrfé – Baie-D’Urfé – Chaînes – WEBTV.COOP
Guillaume Sainte-Marie is a forest engineer with a PhD who has been involved in many similar projects. Some points to consider in the case of large areas where all ash trees die (or other species like Dutch Elm): the normal 120-year death rate in forests are around 4% whereas in such cases the 7-year rate is 72%! When an entire forest is largely wiped out, it provides more sun and invasive species take over. This means that the forest will not recover naturally on its own and a reforestation and maintenance program needs to take place.
The plan after cleaning up (felling and taking out as much invasive species as possible) is to plant a variety of trees (not all will survive). They will include conifers, 19 native trees and 18 species of shrubs. Trees will be around 1 meter tall and shrubs 50cms tall to optimize survival rates. 50% will be fast-growing species. Most will be around 7 meters after 7 years. Planting will start in spring and a maintenance program will be implemented. Snags will be left in some cases for wildlife. Work will be done outside nesting period. Habitats need to be biodiverse (otherwise wildlife just passes and does not use as places to nest).
“Once degraded, forests cannot restore themselves, once they are past a tipping point”.
The forest will require regular maintenance every 3-4 years. Status quo is not an option. Buckthorn is not nutritious for wildlife and is invasive taking over the forest area.
We encourage all citizens to take the time and listen to the presentation.
Reaffirmation of the Town’s bilingual status.
Approval of the WebTV contract for 2026 $27,364
Awarding of supply services for communications support: Agence Caza $49,295
Redesign the town website: $60,729
Tabling of register of disclosure statements regarding gifts, hospitalities and benefits for the year 2025.
Finance
Approval of expenses of $641,997.
Parks Recreation and Environment– none
Public Security and Traffic – none
Public Works and Town Infrastructures – none
Town Planning
Adoption of bylaw 1117 constituting the TPAC. Approved.
Citizen Services and Community Affairs
Excellence support program approved:
Zi Han Peng 200 $
Donation in memory of Stephen Gruber – $150 Doctors without borders.
Question Period (for items on the agenda)
Stefan Kufylowicz: communication is key and the example of Hydro who arrives with no notice and starts cutting big trees drastically, without consideration of tree survival, is a huge problem. The reason they give is that they won’t come back before 4-5 years for their “annual maintenance” and excessive butchering with no communication or discussion is preformed. It would be important that the town ask Hydro to come annually and take a different approach.
Aria Campell Kelly reiterated the need to communicate better. Sending a letter to citizens a few hours on a Friday before the Town Administration is closed, with no chance of asking questions or obtaining more information, is not acceptable or realistic. She also raised the question about drainage that may exist under this area closer to the highway and if the plans and locations were known so as to avoid damage or root intrusion. She also asked about past communication during ice-storm where a dangerous tree fell and she was told that the approach was to let nature take care of itself. Answer: generally, the protocol between wild green areas and parks is different and the former is normally left more to itself except for safety issues. In this case, the number of dead ash trees is too significant to leave it alone and hope it will regenerate. Given the extent of dead trees and buckthorn taking over, it is not realistic to just replace the wild area by a buckthorn forest. DG also added that at the time of the ice storm 2023 our staff was not a certified arborist (which she has since become) and therefore a different approach is being taken now.
Mayor Ektvedt also added that indeed the communication strategy had not been optimal and that this would be corrected and considered in the future for such projects.
The meeting was adjourned.