$200,000 FOR WALLPAPER
Projet decries 375th excess
After granite tree stumps, the opposition at Montreal city hall is decrying a $200,000 project to put up temporary vinyl window decoration on five bus stops along Côte-des-Neiges Rd. for the city’s 375th anniversary.
The translucent, self-adhering wallpaper for each shelter, each of which will feature one of five themes relating to the history of Montreal, is to go up in May and stay up for eight months, a civil service report explaining the project says.
“It’s yet another waste of public funds for a project whose valueadded is really questionable,” Projet Montréal councillor Alexander Norris said.
“Over $200,000 to dress up a handful of bus shelters? ... It’s an awful lot of money for a temporary project.”
City council, which is to meet on Monday, will be asked to vote on a resolution to spend $206,999 on the project. The cost includes a $199,999 contract, including taxes, to Québecor Média for the window decoration, plus $7,000 for related expenses.
The contract, which was negotiated one-on-one between the city and the company, includes maintenance and replacement, as needed, of the vinyl panels over the eight months.
The contract also includes about $14,000 to advertise the initiative for two weeks on digital ad boards inside 25 bus stop shelters surrounding the mountain.
The island suburbs are to foot part of the costs.
The city defends the project, saying it’s part of plans that were already approved to recognize the historical significance of Côte-des-Neiges as a founding route.
The bus shelter project is a foreseen expense, Noémie Brière-Marquez, a spokesperson for the city executive committee, said.
Nevertheless, Norris said he’ll recommend to his party’s caucus that they vote against the resolution.
The bus stop window decoration is part of the “Escales découvertes” project that saw the city award a $3.45-million contract last May to install granite rest stops on Mount Royal. Projet Montréal panned them as “granite stumps.” Mayor Denis Coderre defended them as art.
A second phase of Éscales découvertes concerns Côte-des-Neiges. The city awarded a $993,754 contract last August to install signs and information panels on lampposts about the street’s history. The bus shelter panels are another element to mark the street’s history, Brière-Marquez said.
However, Norris said merchants in his Plateau-Mont-Royal borough paid $400 to $1,000 to put up similar vinyl translucent panels on windows of empty storefronts on St-Denis St. and St-Laurent Blvd. But the city is going to spend nearly $40,000 to decorate the windows of each bus shelter, he said.
“Why don’t they take that money and invest it in beautifying and greening Côte-des-Neiges Rd. instead of putting vinyl siding on five bus shelters?” Norris asked.
The city could plant hundreds of trees for the price of the contract, he said.
Québecor Média manages Montreal bus shelters, so the firm is the exclusive supplier with whom the
It’s yet another waste of public funds for a project whose value-added is really questionable.
city can contract to put up panels, the civil service report says.
“As a public body, it appears the city of Montreal is benefiting from advantageous conditions and prices, compared to commercial clients,” the report says.
It also says the city chose to decorate existing street furniture on Côte-des-Neiges rather than add more objects.