Mayor’s Message — November 2026: Centre-village moratorium extended, Architecture Guide consultation open until November 18, and Remembrance Day on November 11

I hope you had a chance to enjoy those wonderful October weekends. Those beautiful days reminded me how lucky we are to live in a place where nature plays such a big part.

Now that most of the leaves are now gone and the days are getting shorter, time to get our winter gear out and get ready for the snow.

Here is where things stand this month.

 

At a glance

• Tuesday, November 10, 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. — District 5 (Farm Point) meeting, Farm Point Community Centre, 331 Chemin de la Rivière.
• Wednesday, November 11, at 10:40 a.m. — Remembrance Day ceremony, Cimetière des Pionniers, 587 Route 105.
• Monday, November 16, 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m. — Open house on the Architecture and Design Guide, La Fab sur Mill, 8 Chemin Mill.
• Wednesday, November 18 — Online consultation on the Guide closes, at consultations.chelsea.ca.

 

Centre-village: moratorium on new construction extended by two years

The Municipality has no choice but to extend the moratorium on new construction in the Centre-village by two years. On November 3, Council gave notice of motion and tabled the draft bylaw, which will be submitted for adoption at an upcoming meeting.

The reason is simple. Our plants will not have the capacity to serve every project that could come forward in the Centre-village: neither the drinking water plant nor the wastewater treatment plant.

Other municipalities, such as La Pêche and Sainte-Adèle, are in the same situation. Approving construction that we could not serve tomorrow would mean making a promise we are not in a position to keep, to people with projects and to the whole community.

The moratorium is not a solution.

The solution is to bring the capacity of both plants in line with the projects ahead. To get there:

• The Municipality commissioned studies to identify the best option.
• Grant applications are being prepared. They will be submitted to the Québec government.

A municipality our size cannot carry an investment of this scale alone. That is why funding for our water infrastructure is one of the priorities we are taking to Québec City.

The draft bylaw sets out the scope of the extension: [link to the draft bylaw]. For questions about a specific project, contact the Urban Planning and Sustainable Development Department.

 

Architecture and Design Guide: share your views by November 18

The Centre-village has changed a great deal in recent years, and it will keep evolving. What should it look like in 20 years? We want you to have the first say, before the next projects come forward. That is the purpose of the Architecture and Design Guide the Municipality is now developing.

The first stage of the consultation continues until Wednesday, November 18. There are two ways to take part:

• Online: complete the questionnaire at consultations.chelsea.ca.
• In person: come talk with the project team at the open house on Monday, November 16, from 5:30 p.m. to 8 p.m., at La Fab sur Mill, 8 Chemin Mill.

We want the Centre-village to grow the way you want it to. No one knows it better than the people who live, work or spend time there: the places you care about, the views worth protecting, the details that make the village recognizable.

This Guide will not sit on a shelf.

It will serve as the basis for revising the Centre-village’s site planning and architectural integration program (PIIA), and it will guide Council’s decisions on the projects submitted. Its principles will become the criteria used to assess those projects. Which buildings, which landscapes, what kind of village do you want? Now is the time to say so.

Why work on design during a moratorium? Because this is the right time. When capacity is in place and projects come forward, the rules should already reflect what you want.

 

Remembrance Day: ceremony at the Cimetière des Pionniers

On Wednesday, November 11, at 10:40 a.m., the Municipality invites you to the Remembrance Day ceremony at the Cimetière des Pionniers, 587 Route 105.

We will honour those who have served our country in wartime, in military conflicts and in peacetime.

The Chorale Castenchel will sing several pieces. Students from Chelsea Elementary will take part in the ceremony: they are helping clean the cemetery, and they will sing as a small choir and recite a prayer.

Remembrance is something we pass on. I hope to see many of you there, with your families.

Thank you to the Chorale Castenchel, the students of Chelsea Elementary and Marché Richelieu.

Full details: Remembrance Day ceremony.

 

Centre Meredith: the report on the Centre’s management will go to the Foundation first, then be made public

The Municipality will soon receive the final report from Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton on the management of Centre Meredith. It will be made public at Council once the Chelsea Foundation has had a chance to review it.

The Chelsea Foundation is an invaluable partner for Centre Meredith. The Centre would not be what it is today without it. It is only right that the Foundation see the report first, review it and have its questions answered.

Once that step is complete, the report will be presented publicly at a Council meeting.

 

Library: Level 4 in the 2026 BiblioQUALITÉ assessment

With a score of 74 per cent for 2025, the Chelsea library has reached Level 4 out of 5 in the 2026 BiblioQUALITÉ assessment. That is four points higher than the previous year.

BiblioQUALITÉ, a program of the Association des bibliothèques publiques du Québec, assesses each year the efforts municipalities make for their libraries.

Behind that score is a library that is very much alive. In 2025:

• 7,052 members, close to eight in ten people in the population served;
• 82,844 loans, up 10 per cent;
• 27,456 visits, up 38 per cent;
• 217 activities, more than twice as many as the year before;
• 2,574 new print books added to the collection.

For both acquisitions and seating, Chelsea reached the highest level, Level 5.

Congratulations to our library team, and thank you to every volunteer who gives their time there. This result is yours.

 

District meetings: last meeting in Farm Point on November 10

The second round of district meetings is wrapping up. The District 5 (Farm Point) meeting is the last one, on Tuesday, November 10, from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., at the Farm Point Community Centre, 331 Chemin de la Rivière.

To everyone who came out this fall: thank you. You took an evening to tell us what matters in your part of Chelsea, and we heard you.

If you could not make it, your district councillor is there to listen all year round.

 

Hollow Glen: a new trail links Chemin Susan and Chemin des Rocheuses

On Sunday, October 25, I joined Councillor Donald Déry for the opening of the trail linking Chemin Susan and Chemin des Rocheuses, in the Hollow Glen sector.

It shows that when we work together, we get things done. This trail is the result of real collaboration:

• The Municipality of Chelsea
• The Nature Conservancy of Canada
• Sentiers Chelsea
• The Hollow Glen Residents’ Association

A trail like this one links two roads. More than that, it links neighbours, and brings the woods a little closer to everyone’s door. That is exactly why so many people have chosen Hollow Glen, and Chelsea.

Thank you to all the volunteers who gave their time and energy so their neighbours could walk in the woods.

 

That’s it for this month. Between now and our next meeting, two dates to keep: November 11, to remember together at the Cimetière des Pionniers, and November 18, the deadline to tell us what kind of Centre-village you want. And before the snow settles in for good, enjoy the last fine days on our trails. I hope to see you out there.

 

Brian Nolan

Mayor of Chelsea

 

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This page was last updated on November 4, 2026