The borough of Verdun held two important meetings in October—their regular council meeting and a general committee meeting that included councillors and borough managers.
Mayor Jean-François Parenteau outlined the final report into borough finances at both meetings. The council also awarded contracts for work at the Guy Gagnon building, for new jeeps and for the removal of docks.
Collusion
The 11-page report into borough finances begins with a report about potential construction collusion that may have affected construction permits and snow removal residential waste contracts. It then outlines Verdun’s financial health based on 2013.
Construction permits
A committee has been set up to examine all the permits given out to Nun’s Island projects to search for anomalies and determine whether corrective measures might be warranted. In a later part of the same report, the borough estimates that it lost $325,000 in expected permit fees.
Snow removal and residential waste contracts
Montreal’s General Manager has transferred the portion of the file that concerns collusion in the contracting of snow removal and residential waste companies the file about to the Office of the Inspector General for study. Verdun’s contracts for snow and waste expire in April 2017 and October 2018 respectively.
Financial report
In 2013, Verdun’s 41-million-dollar operating budget included five million dollars in local revenue, 29 million dollars from centre city transfers, two million dollars in local taxes, four million dollars in fiscal space tax and $269,000 from its surplus. It finished the year with a $2 million surplus.
The borough planned to spend $11 million to improve parks, roads and buildings in 2013, but spent only two million. The other $9 million will be spent in 2014. It also set aside a corporate capital spending budget of nine million dollars, but some seven million dollars in improvements to the Guy Gagnon building didn’t occur.
Verdun’s budget in 2014 was also 41 million dollars. It also spent an additional twelve million dollars for park, road and building improvements and another nine million dollars for improvements to corporate structures such as the Guy Gagnon building.
A budget for 2015 of $41 million has been established under new rules. This budget includes two millon dollars from local sources, 32 million dollars from the city centre, six million dollars in local taxes and the use of half a million dollars in surplus funds. It will set aside another four million dollars for capital cost expenditures.
Since staffing costs more than half of Montreal’s budget, Verdun will comply with city centre requests by eliminating 29 jobs in the next five years.
Contracts
The borough of Verdun awarded another $429,310.82 for compost and recycling pick-up to Services Environnementaux Richelieu Inc., a Beloeil-based company owned by Laval-based 9199-5290 Québec Inc. and BFI Canada Inc. The total contract is now worth more than 30 million dollars.
More than $134,000 went to Montréal Chrysler Dodge Jeep in LaSalle to purchase four Ram cargo 2015 trucks.
The borough awarded more than 200,000 dollars in contracts to five different companies involved in the Guy Gagnon building project.
Three different companies—Sauver Remorquage Ludos Autos Inc., Remorquage Mobile and Auto Cam 2000—got $117,734.40 for the rental of six trailers.
Les Constructions Argozy Inc. received almost $46,000 to remove and insert the quays in three different locations (Natatorium, de la Tortue and the Marina) during the fall of 2014 and the spring of 2015.
Grants
Three organizations received big grants this month:
- The Société de développement commercial (SDC) Wellington received $50,000;
- Corporation l’Espoir (Caroline Langevin) received $8,592.17; and
- Groupe Animaction received $1,097.87.
The next borough meeting takes place on Tuesday, November 4.
