Unanswered questions on planned compost plant in St. Laurent

By Joel Goldenberg, October 17th, 2012

 The Montreal consultation office held an information session last week on a planned western sector organic waste recycling plant that would produce compost and be located in the borough of St. Laurent, north of Henri Bourassa near Highway 13.
The site, owned by Crest Realties, has been reserved by the City of Montreal but has not yet been purchased. The reserve prevents any other transactions involving the land. There is no projected completion date at this point.
A proposed site in Dorval was rejected by Aéroports de Montréal for fear it would attract birds too close to planes. A public consultation meeting on the project in St. Laurent, where the public can make proposals, will be held 7 p.m. Oct. 30 at St. Laurent's Centre des Loisirs on Grenet, the same location as last week's information meeting.
St. Laurent mayor Alan DeSousa, who is also in charge of sustainable development on the Montreal executive committee, told the information meeting that each sector of the Montreal area had to come up with waste management plan proposals, including infrastructures in their areas with suitable locations.
“By going to public consultation on this site, we'll be able to get a report that builds on a consensus we think is there, that will be able to be married to a northern site, then go to council for zoning changes and then the necessary steps - funding, governance, financing with a view to coming up with the specs and the ultimate construction.”
DeSousa says the reserve on the site lasts until the public consultation is completed and “until we get a report from the Office de Consultation Publique de Montréal (OCPM) with its recommendations,” he explained. “Further to the recommendations, we'll have to see how the file would be proposed to council, what might be our recommendations to council. After council's decision, at that time - if all of that is positive - the next step would be how the city can become the owner of the land. All we're doing is saying this is a potential site, we think it's got the potential, we've done the studies, but we wanted to put it out to the public domain.”
The Suburban has been told that while the proposed site has an existing building that would have to be demolished and replaced if the construction goes ahead, there is a neighbouring available lot with no buildings. DeSousa confirmed that there is a building on part of the designated lot. He was asked why the neighbouring empty lot was not considered.
“On a neighbouring lot that was suggested to us, I went myself last weekend and our staff checked it out,” DeSousa said. “It's too small, it doesn't meet the specs. And it's also close to homes - it's under the 500 metre distance [from residences].”
The Suburban was told that Crest Realties had other intentions for the land before the reserve was placed. Florin Paul, the property manager for the site, said the company, “before having any knowledge [about the reserve], had been working very, very hard on also doing a redevelopment project by tearing down the existing building. We even requested a demolition permit, with plans attached showing two options for the future redevelopment of the site, showing up to 540,000 square feet of new industrial buildings, creating a huge amount of jobs. It's a project that would amount to about $45 million, creating a new micro-industrial city with new modern buildings that are state of the art, something people are looking for these days.
“But we are here now to listen to what's happening [at the information meeting]. We'll see what the future will bring.”
Paul said the price the city would pay for the land has not yet been discussed.
“Are we going to get to the negotiating table - I have no idea. But we [could lose] a gorgeous project that would create so many jobs in the area. If the city doesn't expropriate, we'll go ahead with the project.”
Asked about this, DeSousa said it is still early in the process.
“The site in question is one that we think is appropriate for a composting centre,” he said. “That's why we've done the studies and submitted this for a public consultation. We have to wait and see what the public says and the report from the OPCM, and only then will we be in a position to judge or gauge the appropriateness of the site and make an ultimate decision on council.
“At this point in time, all the city has done is put a reserve on the site and we'll go through the process. In a public consultation, many things can happen.”
In terms of the potential jobs emanating from the original plan for the site, DeSousa said St. Laurent is a booming community in general “and has had record investments, record job creation and record development over the last 11 years I've been mayor, so I don't think St. Laurent's capacity to create jobs will diminish. We're always open to investment, job creation and development. In this case, we also have to balance out our responsibilities, being able to divert waste and do something that's good for the environment, which is creating compost from materials that would otherwise [be going] to landfills and which, if not done, could potentially cost us all a lot of money. We on council will have to make a decision.”n