Tree maintenance: Outremont requests financial assistance from the City
A month after the ice storm that devastated Outremont – borough with a high concentration of canopies – the mayor, Laurent Desbois, sends a cry from the heart to the City so that the latter contributes financially to the maintenance of the trees.
The streets of Outremont are famous for their greenery and walking there in summer guarantees shade and freshness. “Outremont is like an extension of Mount Royal Park,” says Mr. Desbois, “and that benefits all Montrealers.” Outremont is the only central borough to have so many trees, but this comes with a significant maintenance cost.
About 3.5% of the Outremont budget, or $627,000, is allocated to tree maintenance. A situation that will not improve, because the trees will be increasingly weakened by climate change, and the mayor of the borough fears the explosion of pruning costs, while inflation affects everyone sectors.
Since Outremont is wooded and this benefits Montrealers in general, “responsibility for tree maintenance should be shared with the downtown core,” Desbois believes. An opinion that he is not the only one to share. Indeed, the entire Borough Council voted for a motion asking for City support for trees, including the municipal councilors of Projet Montréal, party of Valérie Plante, the Mayor of Montreal.
If Mr. Desbois does not decide on a possible participation of the City, he wishes that Montreal finances them or supports the regular maintenance of the trees. This would lighten the borough’s tax burden, according to the mayor.
Even after a month, the consequences of the ice storm are still being felt in Outremont.
Photos: Matéo Gaurrand-Paradot, Metro
This request is not very recent. In 2018, Ensemble Montréal submitted a motion to the city council of Montreal for the city center to maintain the trees. It was then rejected by the Plante administration. It remains to be seen whether the Mayor's position has changed five years later. “We're just asking for help,” argues Laurent Desbois.
These $672,000, used for the maintenance of the vegetation of the borough, will not be used to provide services to citizens, argues the mayor of Outremont. An unequal situation, because Mr. Desbois judges that the neighboring boroughs, with fewer canopies, would have a much lower cost of tree maintenance. The budget of each borough unfortunately does not give the details of this expenditure.
