Vaudreuil-Dorion delays plan for city hall

Vaudreuil-Dorion has suspended plans to build a new city hall on the shoreline of Vaudreuil Bay until the Quebec government updates flood zone maps and clarifies regulations on construction near floodplains.

“We’re waiting until the government decides a few things about flood zones, and after that we will make our decisions,” said Mayor Guy Pilon.

The municipality announced plans in April to build a new city hall on a waterfront property at 405 St-Charles Avenue.

Flood maps show the land borders on a low-risk flood area.

The mayor, however, maintains that the exact spot the city has in mind for the new city hall was not affected by the exceptional flooding throughout the region last month.

“It was never our intention to put city hall in a flood zone. That would be stupid,” Pilon said. “The part of the land where we’re going to put the building has never been under water.”

The city’s plans call for construction of a three-storey facility. Until the city gets clear direction from the provincial government, it will conduct business out of its offices on Dutrisac St.

The city estimates the total cost to build the new facility will be $8 million to $10 million in total, the mayor said. Plans called for construction to begin in 2018.

Vaudreuil-Dorion-based lawyer and mayoral candidate Pierre Séguin, who is running against Pilon in the Nov. 5 municipal election, opposes the project on St-Charles, pointing out that the city can’t risk building its most important facility anywhere near lands that are at risk of flooding.

“It doesn’t make any sense,” he said.