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The town of Hudson, Quebec, its places, people and businesses online.
School Mess Continues, Seniors' Home Referendum, Late Ice Break-up
Lester B. Pearson School Board Buses Students All Over the Place
More complaints about the Lester B. Pearson School Board - while cutting back busing because there is not enough money, they are planning to bus kids from Les Cedres onto the island of Montreal while busing students around on the island as well. The school board says this is a strategy aimed at getting more schools built because busing kids around shows the Ministry of Education that a need exists.
Residents think that if this is a strategy, no wonder the school system is in a mess. But the real complaints are regarding how this is being planned and done. The usual hallmarks of a lack of openness, respect and consultation characterize the establishment of bus schedules and routes. More voices are being heard regarding the establishment of a separate off-island school board. The Quebec education act allows areas to break away from school boards and the off-island area is certainly a candidate.
Referendum Will Be Required For Most Senior Home Locations
The Town of Hudson will hold a referendum before seniors' housing can be built on the Thompson Park and the Cote St. Charles locations. Neither has the zoning required and the kind of changes that will be necessary will mean a referendum is compulsory before zoning changes can proceed. The Sandy Beach location could be used but there is no developer currently looking at that location for a seniors' residence.
The town has asked for more details to be submitted in the fall and any referendum will probably have to wait until after the municipal elections. The new council can then determine the basic orientation of the town towards seniors' residences and give either, both or even additional projects the green light.
Ice Cover on the Lake of Two Mountains Lingers
Over the last twenty years the ice on the lake has generally broken up during the first week of April except for the past two or three years when we have had warm winters and the ice broke up between mid and end of March. This year the ice still looks pretty solid and the ice road across the lake has only just closed. Already the ice break-up is cutting into the "flooding" season and water levels have been rising. That's important for lake-side properties because a sheet of ice coming down the lake can do all kinds of damage if it can ride well onto properties carried on flood waters. Luckily there has not been much snow so the annual flood should not rise very high this year.