It was the city’s deputy general manager, Geneviève Girard, who informed elected officials of this decision which stems from the difficulties in identifying suitable land. The choice of the northern sector, in the Cap Saint-François district, was abandoned due to soil problems on the land identified near Tadoussac Boulevard. The ground did not allow for the construction of a building of this size.
After the northern sector, checks were carried out in the southern sector of Chicoutimi.
Land has been proposed in the area of the Joseph-Nio building. This land also presented certain problems, including the need to have sufficient parking to meet the needs of the apartment building.
The project was not brought back to council. It was only towards the end of last week, on the eve of the long Saint-Jean-Baptiste Day holiday, that the email from the Deputy Director General began to circulate. The elected officials of the Chicoutimi borough were taken by surprise by this decision which never received the approval of the entire municipal council.
“I met with OMH on Wednesday morning. In light of the mayor’s direction and the two choices discussed Monday at the meeting and following the evaluation, it was the Saint-Marc land that was selected, to arrive on time and benefit from funding in the parameters submitted by the OMH,” writes the Deputy Director General in the email.
She understands that this choice will not suit the elected officials of Chicoutimi and assures that the land of Saint-Joachim with the setting up of the project, does not allow it to arrive within the deadlines set by the OMH. She therefore maintains in the same email that the La Baie land is the optimal choice in the circumstances.
This project was possibly discussed during the weekly executive committee, but the Chicoutimi borough does not have an official representative on the executive. The chairman of the finance committee, Michel Potvin, attends these sessions.
According to the latest information collected by The Daily, the OMH board of directors meets Thursday. He will have to look into this question since a new site has been identified due to the anger raised among elected officials in the Chicoutimi borough.
There is now talk of building this building on the land of Saint-Joachim church.
The Daily tried to obtain details from Mayor Julie Dufour on Wednesday. The mayor left without providing a response. The deputy general director did not send the email about moving the building to La Baie without obtaining permission from Mayor Julie Dufour. His email specifies that the orientation is in fact the mayor’s choice.
The Daily contacted elected officials in the Chicoutimi district. The latter are waiting for the meeting of the board of directors to take place before making a decision. However, they are greatly disappointed to see that it is ultimately the influence of general management which allows a choice already made by elected officials to be called into question.
