www.thesuburban.com<\/a><\/p>\nMontreal\u2019s demerged cities are questioning the agglomeration council\u2019s decision to spend $4.2 million to buy 1.1 hectares of land adjacent to Montreal city hall. <\/p>\n
The amount is about four times the city\u2019s official evaluation of what the land is worth, according to Association of Suburban Mayors executive director Bruce St. Louis. <\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s part of Montreal\u2019s plans to create a very large green space surrounding the Champ de mars Metro station,\u201d he told The Suburban.<\/i> \u201cTaxpayers who live in the agglomeration will have to pay for that.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt seems incomprehensible that the sale price would be four times the evaluation,\u201d St. Louis said in an interview, \u201cespecially when it\u2019s for green space, not development land. As a result, the [suburban] mayors were left with no choice but to vote against the proposal.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere was no response as to why and no explanation has been offered since,\u201d he added. \u201cI don\u2019t think anyone is against acquiring the land for the green space, but it can\u2019t be at any cost.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cIt defies comprehension,\u201d Beaconsfield Mayor Georges Bourelle told The Suburban.<\/i> \u201cIt\u2019s exorbitant to pay that kind of money. Normally, one would expect such land to be sold for a lot less. It makes one wonder why such a high price is being paid.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe made our voice heard,\u201d he emphasized, \u201cbut even if all the suburban mayors vote en bloc, we can\u2019t stop anything from being passed at the agglomeration council, even if we all vote against it.\u201d <\/p>\n
An agglomeration council document obtained by The Suburban<\/i> shows that the aggomeration council has set aside the $4.2 million to acquire the land from James and Dimitrios Essaris. <\/p>\n
\u201cThe 2014 municipal evaluation assesses its worth at an average of $1,013 per square metre,\u201d St. Louis explained. \u201cOnce you add taxes, the purchase price comes to $4.8 million. That\u2019s $4,430 per square metre. That seems to be an extraordinary markup. \u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cThe city has to ensure swiftly that it is the owner of this real estate (land) in order to adhere to the timetable for Montreal\u2019s 375th Anniversary festivities,\u201d (www.375mtl.com\/en) the document stated. \u201cThe acquisition is needed to create a new public space as a legacy for Montreal\u2019s 375th, as well as to cover over the Ville Marie Expressway.\u201d<\/p>\n
The agglo suggested that some of the of the festivities will be subsidized by the provincial government, but did not specify whether Quebec City would offset part of the land acquisition. <\/p>\n
Westmount Mayor Peter Trent credited Montreal Mayor Denis Coderre for having made the agglomeration council much more responsive since he was elected last year. <\/p>\n
\u201cCoderre has done his best to improve relations with suburban municipalities and this case is an exception,\u201d Trent told The Suburban.<\/i> \u201cCoderre himself knew nothing about it.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201c[Montreal] is generally forthright, comes up with information extremely quickly and sometimes withdraws items until we\u2019re given the answers that we\u2019ve asked for,\u201d he said in an interview. \u201cIn the days of [former Montreal Mayor G\u00e9rald] Tremblay, we could scream, yell, jump up and down and could never get any info. The whole mood has changed.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cNot the uselessness of the agglo,\u201d he added. \u201cThe whole agglo has been a huge rubber stamping mechanism. Everyone who votes there is tied to whatever mandate has been given to them by their city council. Coderre and his group have done the best that they can under the circumstances, but we have to recognize that [the agglomeration council] is a bit of a sham.\u201d <\/p>\n
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Agglo forks out 4x evaluation for downtown land By Robert Frank www.thesuburban.com Montreal\u2019s demerged cities are questioning the agglomeration council\u2019s decision to spend $4.2 million to buy 1.1 hectares of land adjacent to Montreal city hall. The amount is about four times the city\u2019s official evaluation of what the land is worth, according to Association of Suburban<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-526","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n
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