New Urban Parc

[Doc_Avid]

Hi,

I guess many of you saw the announcement made by our mayor yesterday about the creation of an huge parc here in the west island. Here's a link to an article from radio-canada: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1252871/montreal-parc-urbain-espace-vert-canada: https://ici.radio-canada.ca/nouvelle/1252871/montreal-parc-urbain-espace-vert-canada

This new parc will encompass the Wimac club; the mayor hinted that negotiations will start for the city to acquire lands that are presently privately owned (such as Wimac's). As you know, parcs are usually off limits to RC controlled airplanes and drones. I think the club will have to lobby actively to retain it's advantages and rights to remain where it is. Anyway, I do not yet have much info about this project and I wanted to start a thread so that everyone can participate in the discussion.

Best,

[Sempai-mj]

Thanks for the info, I did see the announcement.
Let's not jump the gun, WIMAC is located on private land owned by Grilli
Let's see what conspires in the next couple of months.

[pauldaigle]

Ya, this is still just a pipe dream and will take some time to negociate with the land onwners to transfer property titles. Depends how much they want to spend.
Meanwhile I think WIMAC is going to have a say one day as a organization if and when the land changes hands and becomes a municipal park. Then we all go to park flyers hehehehe…..

[ImFM]

There was news yesterday that Grilli sold more development land to the city :

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/montreal-purchases-140-hectares-in-western-pierrefonds-from-grilli

Montreal purchases 140 hectares in western Pierrefonds from Grilli

[Michael O'Bree]

There was news yesterday that Grilli sold more development land to the city :

https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/west-island-gazette/montreal-purchases-140-hectares-in-western-pierrefonds-from-grilli

Montreal purchases 140 hectares in western Pierrefonds from Grilli

Thanks Frank.

As you will see from the text in red on our Home page (https://www.wimac.ca/) that was updated in November, we have been aware of this sale of the land we use for a while. The executives and members of our club have been actively working on this situation since that time and we provide members of our Club regular updates regarding our initiatives and progress on the Members Only section of our website.

[Doc_Avid]

Have you met with the city officials to check if the club could stay where it is?

[Michael O'Bree]

Have you met with the city officials to check if the club could stay where it is?

In progress - as mentioned earlier, details of our progress on this situation is available to members. As we are all volunteers we are too busy right now to answer all questions from non-members.

[Doc_Avid]

In progress - as mentioned earlier, details of our progress on this situation is available to members. As we are all volunteers we are too busy right now to answer all questions from non-members.

Hi Michael, This member might want to join, but according to the home page, you are looking for a new place... I might want to help with this situation if you guys want to stay at the present place. Feel free to contact me privately: 514-516-5451.

[ImFM]

I understand you're keeping the discussion open to members, makes sense. I just felt an update here was useful for those who are not members yet, just like myself and the news about the agreement between Grilli and the city was news a few days ago (before the developers were intend on suing the city instead). I was hoping to join in the new year and am still hoping to start flying again.

Many many years ago, when I was flying in Germany, the club I was part of there actually faced a similar situation. It was located in a protected natural habitat of fields and there were also "sewage fields" (?) in the area that were used to bring back already cleaned water into the ground water. There were mostly gasoline planes flown there back then and also a number of protected birds were in the area. I remember always biking there, a lot of it along the wall that divided Berlin (West-Berlin) and Brandenburg back then.

We collected signatures to keep the field back then, and also had a media outreach for local coverage. I remember actually doing a radio report with interviewing people on the street about the issue and submitted it to a youth reporter contest with one of the local radio stations. It looks like they ultimately moved outside Berlin after the wall came down, but I remember we were allowed to keep the field for many more additional years.

Please let me know if there's a way I can help.

[Michael O'Bree]

Steps taken so far:
- 14 Nov.: Emergency meeting of WIMAC Directors and a few members, two days after we heard from Grilli they were in the process of selling the land- the buyer was not disclosed.
- 15 Nov.: Directors shared their strategy and action plan with members which had been agreed at the emergency meeting. All agreed to continue to operate the Club going forward as normal, even though we may have to face the possibility of moving to a new location. All memberships for 2020 would be accepted, and the Indoor activities at College Charlemagne would proceed as planned Jan to March. If the Club lacked an outdoor Field for part of 2020, 2020 members would be entitled to an appropriate refund or future year credit based on reduced expenses.
- 15 Nov. to 12 Dec. - WIMAC Directors and a number of members work on implementing the strategy, which, until we learned who the land was being sold to, focused on searching for a new field. Various sites were being considered and some pursued from St. Eustache to St. Zotique.
- 12 Dec.: City of Montreal announces they have purchased the land.
- 12 Dec. - 17 Dec. Directors refocus their effort on extending our stay on the current Field. A document is developed to present our case to the City to stay where we are. Communication strategy developed to present case.
- 18 Dec. First contact made with Pierrefonds official. As expected, our next stop is with representatives of City of Montreal who are responsible for Grands Parcs Montreal.

[Doc_Avid]

Thank you Michael for the heads up. I am pretty sure city's officials will not object the clubs stays there for the years coming because this parc project will take lots of time to take form. Also, the club could be integrated in the parc's activities or attraction; it could be a win-win project. The only danger would be coming from the ecologists who could argue the activities of the club put some species in danger. But many arguments could be used to counter this, for example the noise of the airplanes from Montreal-Trudeau and human activity in the parc. Lastly, the club could probably get some help from the city to improve and maintain its premises.

Best wishes to all,

Jacques.

[Dan@Kucer.com]

If its of any use, at least three of us members are also members in South Florida in two great clubs that reside and live harmoniously within very large Nature Parks, both happen to be with pave runways.

https://www.palmbeachrc.com

http://www.mppapilots.com

Good luck and thanks for all your efforts!

[Krish]

Hello Dan,

Suspect I do not know you. But I have properties in Boca Raton, where I am also a member of https://www.palmbeachrc.com.
I am yet to meet any Montrealer's at the club, but it is closed until Jan. 6th, I suspect due to Airforce One traffic. A very welcoming Club, even accepting my MAAC at par with AMA. I will be back in Montreal around the 16th January. Maybe I see you there.

[bobc482]

I became a member of Brossair shortly before a provincial commission CPTAQ decided to close the property to Brossair. The CPTAQ held a meeting in Sept. 2019 where about 25 members of Brossair were in attendance and the interim report has been sent and the CPTAQ has decided that we cannot return to the field. They said they don’t have to expla

[Michael O'Bree]

In January, after a long holiday break, WIMAC contact continued with officials at City of Pierrefonds and they have been supportive and sympathetic to our situation. However, they have finally said that they are unable to deal further with the fate of our existing outdoor field and have committed to put us in touch directly with the appropriate officials at the City of Montreal.

We will post further developments as they arise.














https://www.wimac.ca/forum/attachment.php?attachmentid=13046&stc=1&d=1611427167

[LucT]

Merci pour vos efforts!

Peut-être que les médias aimeraient faire un petit reportage sur notre situation ?

[Stephan]

I have a friend who is a reporter at Global. His name is Phil Carpenter. You see him almost every night on Global. He and I were in the Black Watch together. He is a nice guy and I think he would be interested in our story. It would take some preparation on our part though. Mike and others would have to be prepared with what message they want viewers to take away form the experience. I am up for the challenge of getting the media involved if others in the club would like to join. I am sure Phil would be interested in our story.

[Sempai-mj]

We would only take route if the city isn't positive with what we are proposing.

[Michael O'Bree]

Vous trouverez ci-joint les communications les plus récentes avec la Ville de Montréal.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Attached are the most recent communications with the City of Montreal.

[dr_wogz]

Anymore news on this?

[Michael O'Bree]

No change - we still have no response from the City and we continue to operate. When we have any news to share, it will be posted.

[Michael O'Bree]

See latest development / Voir le dernier développement :

https://www.wimac.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=60962&postcount=1

[LucT]

Merci de tout votre travail. Une petite nuance: je comprends que le terrain ferme définitivement.

[JimmyG]

It's too bad that we are finaly shutting down. But I'm optimistic that the club will servive! "Some Where"

[GeorgeU]

Has anyone seen / read this final report on grand parc de l'ouest consultations?
Page 14 GRANDES IDEES reference to preserving WIMAC
Page 28 List of activities currently offered (club d'aeromodelisme) that the respondents wish to keep

French
https://portail-m4s.s3.montreal.ca/pdf/c7da7361455ce11a0dd8c982a8fc7424_rapport_final_fr_ complet.pdf

English
https://ehq-production-canada.s3.ca-central-1.amazonaws.com/40a7869bd8a02899fdefdefe4202b845c4b15e59/original/1624886590/51324f1dbe05a321bc391eb5c31ae470_Rapport_final_EN_ Complet.pdf?X-Amz-Algorithm=AWS4-HMAC-SHA256&X-Amz-Credential=AKIA4KKNQAKIOR7VAOP4%2F20230605%2Fca-central-1%2Fs3%2Faws4_request&X-Amz-Date=20230605T200812Z&X-Amz-Expires=300&X-Amz-SignedHeaders=host&X-Amz-Signature=ce9ceeef49fbddec0b59d8ce938e6152beb835ef e82c3efd7217a9efe1cc4a40

[LucT]

Il y a un très grand contraste entre ce document et le ton de la lettre envoyée par la Ville et je peux comprendre combien tout ça est frustrant pour les bénévoles qui travaillent fort pour administrer le club.

Deux réalités sont incontournables : 1) La ville est propriétaire du terrain et 2) Le territoire est maintenant un Parc, sous la juridiction et les lois qui s'y appliquent.

Voyons voir ce que les avis légaux nous fourniront.

[vracan]

Hi everyone
I am new to rc hobby, been flying umx plane for few weeks in local parks and now recently purchased a larger 1300mm plane(bigfoot), which of course cannot fly in normal parks.So looking to join a club/
So I tried to go visit the site last week but there is a locked gate.
Is this site officially permananetly closed??

[Florin]

Hi everyone
I am new to rc hobby, been flying umx plane for few weeks in local parks and now recently purchased a larger 1300mm plane(bigfoot), which of course cannot fly in normal parks.So looking to join a club/
So I tried to go visit the site last week but there is a locked gate.
Is this site officially permananetly closed??

The gate is locked to prevent dumping and reduce the risk of vandalism. The city is holding the school responsible for any junk in their backyard.
Unfortunately, the lock had the combination changed not by WIMAC. Access by car to the field is therefore no possible, as now. We continue to fly but we have to take into account the size of the plane. It's about a 5-6 minute walk. By the way, we fly electric only.

Now to answer your question, officially, this site is safe and legal to operate RPAS (Remotely Piloted Aircraft System),
according to Transport Canada rules.
All our pilots are basic RPAS certified (at least) and aircraft models are registered.
We have officially met all the regulatory provisions of the Transport Canada (https://tc.canada.ca/en/aviation/drone-safety)
- The site is safe for RPAS flight according to NRC Canada (https://nrc.canada.ca/en/drone-tool/).

So we keep flying (Field Roll Call (https://www.wimac.ca/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6))

see also this post (https://www.wimac.ca/forum/showpost.php?p=61169&postcount=2)

Cheers & Happy flying!

[Michael O'Bree]

Voir la dernière mise à jour /
See latest update (https://www.wimac.ca)