APRIDS: A festive 20th Anniversary

(PV) - L’Association des propriétaires et résidants de L’Île-des-Sœurs (APRIDS) held its annual general meeting on Wednesday, November 14 at the Elgar Community Centre. It also celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Several questions and suggestions were made during the evening. Members said they were very concerned about security in the island; among others they mentioned problems relating to street lighting and traffic. They raised ongoing construction work, significant traffic jams on the 30th and 31st of October, arrival of 4500 Bell employees and future residential development on the northern tip. One member wondered whether APRIDS should not support the proposed bridge service connecting the Island to de l’ Église metro, which would facilitate public transit, pedestrian and cyclist traffic and also to serve as access or exit during an emergency. The members also expressed dissatisfaction about public transportation.

Members were disappointed that they did not see the famous three-dimensional mock-up of the entry and exit points to and from the island at Elgar Centre, as promised. They requested that a Borough official come as soon as possible to explain it and that an announcement be made about it the Magazine de L’Île-des-Sœurs.

Recruitment problems were raised and a member stated that what matters more is the quality of work to be done rather than a substantial number of members. This will ensure the credibility of APRIDS.

The assembly took a break in the middle of its agenda to celebrate its 20th birthday. The chairman, Juliette Barcelo, gave a brief history of the association by paying tribute to founding members Yvon Grant, André Poupard and Glenn Sylvain, to the various presidents who served and to the board members who agreed to devote time and energy to the cause. She noted that during 10 of those 20 years, it was either Doris LeDuc-Isabelle or Robert Isabelle who took over the presidency; and for six years it was Jacques F. Paquet who was president and who is still a member of the Board of Directors.

She took the opportunity to hand to Doris LeDuc-Isabelle and to Robert Isabelle their certificate of honorary membership, an honour conferred upon them in November 2005 for their outstanding service to the association.

In 1999, APIDS expanded its membership to include institutional members such as unions and business owners. In November 2004, APIDS became APRIDS to represent all island residents such as owners, tenants and other residents.

Madam Barcelo highlighted some achievements of the past twenty years, including improved public transport, briefs on the various urban plans, representations made to Borough Council that L’Île-des-Sœurs be assigned a Borough councilor, regular presence and interventions during Borough Council meetings, publication of a calendar beginning 1999 and distributed to residents, speeches on the 2008 budget and the training of first responders, etc.

She then thanked the various sponsors of the evening: IGA for the buffet and Gestion Immobilière Paquet for the wine as well as those who offered door prizes like Giorgio Restaurant, Jocelyn Lacroix of Unipharm, Jacques Gendron of Jean Coutu and Anna of Porte-Panier. A bottle of champagne was also offered by the association.

The assembly then held its elections for the four positions that needed to be filled. There were only three candidates. The following persons were declared elected by acclamation: Juliette Barcelo, Pierre G. Jobin and Elizabeth Chevrier. Pierre-G. Jobin is a Civil Law professor at McGill University and a valuable member of the Board. Members will share duties as follows: Juliette Barcelo, president, Pierre-G. Jobin, vice president, Jacques F. Paquet, treasurer and Elizabeth Chevrier, secretary.

The President thanked everyone who attended this festive evening and invited them to recruit new members.