Feedback and Taxes

Feedback Season on City Issues

So for those us out there who are still in need of a New Year’s Resolution, or have given up on getting in shape less than one month in to 2011, why not make increased civic engagement your goal for this year. There are, coming up, a few ways to get started.

First, the budget process gets rolling on Monday with the regular city council meeting. On the agenda that evening is an overview of the tax-supported operating and capital budgets. Think of it as a sneak preview of coming attractions; a little sample of things to come. No delegations will be heard on the budget this meeting and no decisions will be made, but for background, this is a good place to start.

And if you want to get deeper into the budget, the actual “meat and potatoes” of the process, you better cancel your Valentine’s Day plans (or move it to the lunch hour) because that night is the official presentation of the tax-supported operating and capital budgets from all City departments. As well, separate budget presentations from Guelph Police Services, Guelph Public Library, Guelph Museums, Social Services, Social Housing, Health Unit will continue the next night. Want to have your say? That’s the next week on February 22^nd. If you want to be heard as a delegation, you’ll have to book your spot in advance with the Clerk’s office. Keep your eyes peeled to the City Hall section of guelph.ca/

If Guelph’s historical heritage is more your speed, then you’ll want to get out to Harcourt Memorial United Church, 87 Dean Ave, at 7 pm tonight for an Open House about the Heritage District Brooklyn College Hill. The open house is being sponsored by Heritage Guelph and will provide information regarding the potential for a Heritage Conservation District Study Area to be established within the Brooklyn College Hill area. (Not sure where that is? It’s the Gordon St. corridor that covers areas south of Wellington St and north of College Ave.) Community members are being invited to learn about what’s required to study and conserve heritage and cultural resources in the area. Public input is being requested and the interest level of area residents in such a study will be gauged.

Guelph Tax Rate Debate Round 3

Following last fall’s election there was some question as where exactly the Royal City ranked amongst municipalities its size in terms of taxes. The assertion of many city officials is that Guelph is one of the lowest in the province, while a study last fall apparently showed that Guelph is third behind Toronto and Ottawa as the taxiest place in Ontario.

Last week, the City sent out a press release citing a recent study from BMA Management Consulting Inc, which compared municipal taxes, water and wastewater rates in Guelph with those in 10 similar cities across Ontario. The results, apparently, hold up the City’s version of this debate, concluding that the tax burden in Guelph is among the lowest in the survey. The findings were presented to the Corporate Administration, Finance and Emergency Services Committee last Tuesday.

"The full study compares over 80 municipalities in Ontario and is expected to be published later this month,” said City Treasurer Margaret Neubauer. “Today, BMA presented an in-depth comparison of Guelph, Barrie, Brantford, Burlington, Cambridge, Kingston, London, Oakville, St. Catharines and Waterloo. BMA uses this group of comparator cities based on growth patterns, location, size and governance structure."

The report also said that the average amount of property taxes paid by the City last year went up, but it was close to the average of the 10 cities, The average bungalow owner in Guelph paid the lowest property taxes, and the average senior executive owner paid the third lowest. Indeed, tax rates for multi-residential properties in Guelph are higher than the average, but Neubauer points out that the City has lowered the tax ratio on multi-residentials by 10.5 per cent the last two years, and that will continue over the next two years.

The study also suggested Guelph needs to spend more money to maintain capital assets, and that the City should increase its savings in order to help maintain its infrastructure. It also said that recent policies relating to debt management and long-term financial plans are making a positive difference in the City’s financial health. The financial dashboard and the presentation by BMA Management Consulting Inc can be seen on the City’s website at guelph.ca/finance.

No Quiet on the Western Front

Smell that? That repugnant aroma is the relations between city and citizen going sour in the summer heat. Not that the relationship between Joe Q. Public and the government he hates so very much has ever been a cozy one, but it certainly seems that tempers are flaring with more alarming frequency during these first few days of Summer 2010.

First there seemed to be an incident a couple of Saturdays ago on transit where afternoon shoppers at Stone Road Mall had to face the fact that maybe they weren’t going to get downtown in a timely manner as a supervisor arrived to pull the driver before departure. The supervisor told those gathered on the bus that they’ll have to wait for the next trip as that bus was going out of service, but the riders revolted and the bus took them downtown as planned. However, anyone wanting a transfer to the Number 23 or 24 was left, well, wanting, because both buses were delayed. Another transit supervisor came over to those waiting in front of the Bank of Montreal on Quebec St. and said that while the 24 will be arriving late, the 23 wouldn't be arriving at all.

So what was going on with the bus system on this particular sunny June Saturday? Certainly there’s been a cold war between management and drivers since the “summer schedule” got underway, which leaves transit users caught in the middle as usual. Between management’s clinical detachment and the drivers’ work-to-rule literalism, an average, everyday normal bus rider is left no quarter. Complain to a driver, go tell it to city hall; complain to city hall and they’ll “look into it.”

Things seemed to exacerbate with the arrival of the first of five so-called “Karen Days” last Monday. City facilities were closed, library books sat unborrowed, and garbage was not picked up and hauled to the dump. All this, apparently, was a genuine surprise to several people. Now I don’t typically expect the average citizen to be as informed as someone that writes about local politics for a living, but the outrage from the ill-informed surprised me. I offer this bit from a Guelph Mercury article last Tuesday about one man’s reaction to the lack of garbage pick-up:

“Well, that’s just great,” said Jim Stevenson, owner of a three-unit apartment building on Alma Street which had about a dozen blue and green bags sitting at the curb. “Whoever’s in council now, I’m not voting for them again, put it that way.”

Stevenson went on to say that he had “no idea” that this effort to stymie the need to increase taxes further was coming, and that the city “owed him” $20 for a trip to the dump. The article went on to tell other stories of people blocked from their city facility-related activities including a student looking to study at the library and a mother looking to take her child for a swim in a pool before an educational jaunt to the civic museum. Quote the mom: “I had no idea it was closed.”

The revelation on the Mayor’s blog that the five days of city closures were factored into the property tax hike for 2010 (hence no refund) drew Samuel L. Jackson-like furious anger from those reading about in on the Mercury’s City Hall blog. “I wonder how many spin doctors it took to come up with that!” exclaimed Cathy. “Oh come on, Karen. You either run a city or you don't. You don't partially run a city,” said D.C. What’s interesting is that in a political sphere run by partisan rancour at the other two levels of government, it’s nice that we can all agree to hate the government together on a local level.

The anger isn’t what strikes me, although the way things are going on a transit I doubt anyone’s going to want to ride anymore come the return of the 20-minute schedule in the fall. What strikes me is the anger combined with ignorance. Now the informed angry I give a pass, but the people I referenced from the Mercury article don’t have a leg to stand on in my opinion. Truly, it seems that that the only way some people can get informed is if a city employee comes to their house and explains things to them face-to-face. Forget newspapers, advertising, word-of-mouth, press releases and posted notices on city facilities. Of course, then they’d be complaining about the waste of taxpayer’s money. Again.

http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Skateboarding, Construction & Campaigning

Skater Boys and Girls Wanted

Do you like skateboarding? Sure, we all do. Even my younger sister with the law degree from Dalhousie is a reformed (reforming) skater punk. Anyway, it’s to you the City’s speaking now. A new working group is being assembled to tackle the question over where the skate park currently found in Deerpath Park should be relocated to. Last fall, council approved the $200,000 needed to move the park after residents complained that the noise exceeded the applicable Ministry of Environment noise guideline limit at nearby homes. (Never mind the notion that, perhaps, having young people outside doing physical activity is better than having them indoors playing on an electric box given modern obesity rates in children, but I digress.)

What can you do? Simple, “The group will have approximately six evening meetings over the next year to develop a recommendation to City Council,” says the post on the City’s website. “The working group will have about 10 members including residents from across the city, representatives from the Guelph Youth Council and Neighbourhood Coalition, facility users and City staff.” Don’t have time to contribute to a working group but still want your say? No worries, the group will be looking for public input. Keep your eyes open for such opportunities in the weeks and months to come. If you are interested in joining the working group however, let yourself be known by providing your name, address, contact information and reason for your interest to Helen White, Parks Planner with the Community Design and Development Services department by Monday, April 12. White can be reached by phone at 519-837-5616 x 2298 or by e-mail at helen.white@guelph.ca

It begins…

Like the warmer weather, don’t you? Well you know what that means… That’s right gang, with winter behind us it’s time for Canada’s other season, construction, to begin. "This is the start of an unprecedented construction season as we work to complete about five years of work in just one year in order to take advantage of federal and provincial infrastructure funding," says Guelph City Engineer, Rick Henry in a press release. "There are going to be inconveniences, but the City plans to be proactive in communicating with residents and businesses so that they can be prepared." It’s all part of the “Guelph: Remastered” plan that was put forward by the City earlier this year, which is a communications and publicity campaign with the dual purpose of keeping residents informed of construction and helping them cope with it through various promotions. In case you haven’t already noticed, Suffolk St. is the first contestant in this round of Guelph: Remasted. Starting tomorrow, April 2, Suffolk St will be closed to traffic between Norfolk St and Woolwich St.

Campaign Watch 2010

Can’t speak for the rest of you, but I’m a little antsy to get this municipal election cycle up and going. So in the hopes that sunnier and warmer weather may melt political aspirations of future Guelph Politicos (Hey, I have a blog by that name which can be found at http//guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/), I offer this update of the current candidate slate as of my Echo press time. Now you probably already know that Mayor Karen Farbridge has thrown her hat into the ring for re-election as have Ward 2’s Vicki Beard and Ward 3’s June Hofland. Ward 1, meanwhile, has two candidates in the person of Linda Murphy and Sean Farrelly. As for Ward 1’s current councillors, sharp readers will recall me mentioning Kathleen Farrelly (mother of Sean) in last week’s column and her intention to retire from council. Meanwhile, Bob Bell’s future in the horseshoe is, as of yet, unknown. Of course, updates, as always, can be found at The Politico. And if you’re planning to declare your candidacy, give me a heads up at adamadonaldson[at]gmail[dot]com

Earth Hour and Air Pollution

Guelph’s Going Dark, Again

If you notice the lights on your block going out for an hour on Saturday night, then fear not because it just means that your neighbours are supporting the 2010 edition of Earth Hour, as is the City of Guelph. Guelph will be one of 172 Canadian municipalities that will be participating in the annual observance/awareness campaign in support of promoting energy conservation and combating climate change. “Turning out the lights for Earth Hour is a symbolic gesture, but it is a good opportunity for us to reflect on how our quality of life is impacted by our use of energy and the importance of using energy wisely,” says Mayor Karen Farbridge. In every city facility, all but essential lighting will be turned off from 8:30 pm till 9:30 pm, and the city is encouraging residents to do the same and register their conservation efforts at guelph.ca/earthhour

Stop Coughing, it’s not air pollution (says study)

But why waste your time with Earth Hour, some may ask. Especially now that one University of Guelph professor has co-authored a study finding that previously held assertions about the correlation between air pollution and respiratory disease may not be as solid as previously though. U of G economics professor Ross McKitrick, long known as one of the ubiquitous fifth dentists when it comes to global climate change, analyzed a database of 11 Canadian cities over a 20 year period with the assistance of Gary Koop of the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow and Lise Tole of the University of Edinburgh. Their results, published in the journal Environmental Modelling and Software, showed that there was no evidence that air pollution affected hospital admission rate or time spent in the hospital, at least not as much as smoking and income levels. It’s worth pointing out though that Tole and Koop, like McKitrick, are economists, and that this is one study versus hundreds that have found, and continue to find, a link between the crummy air we breathe and the incidents of respiratory-related conditions like asthma. Meanwhile advanced researchers in the field of insultology, contend that air pollution is a prime factor in “that Hamilton smell.”

Bits and Bites

Looks like the lights at St. George’s Square won’t be altered anytime soon as per a vote by members of the city’s emergency services, community services and operations committee. As per a council vote last December, subtle changes were made to the lights in the square in an effort to make things more convenient for motorists. The initial request came from the Downtown Business Association who noted that traffic downtown had dropped in the last 20 years, and suggested a change to the stop lights might be an enticement. However, traffic and parking manager Alister McIlveen told council that there had been no comments, either for or against the changes, and thus the lights will stay the same for now. He added that when the transit hub opens on Carden St. in a few years, the city may want to revisit the issue.

In campaign news, it seems that Ward 1 Councillor Kathleen Farrelly will not be seeking re-election, however Ward 1 need not necessarily be left Farrelly-less come October. Instead, Kathleen’s son Sean Farrelly, himself a former city councillor that represented Ward 2 for nine years, will be running for his mother’s council seat in the fall. The current Councillor Farrelly, meanwhile, will settle down after she gets remarried this June. She intends to spend a lot of time travelling to visit her new husband’s relations on East Coast. Have you caught election fever yet? Then click on guelph.ca/vote/ to stay up to date and call me in the morning. (That was a joke, please don’t call me.)

Guelph Getting Remastered, But Not Without Difficulty

“It’ll be worth it.” That’s what the City of Guelph wants you to think this summer as you struggle to navigate through a minefield of road work that’s going to make last summer’s construction look like a simple road patch job. Hyperbole? Not quite. At a media briefing about the coming construction season last Wednesday, Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig said that 2010 will see four-times more road construction than 2009. Or to put it another way, that's five years worth of construction crammed into one calendar year. In all, 25 projects have already or will go under the shovel thanks to $48 million in stimulus from the Federal and Provincial governments, with another $24 million from the city. And all 25 of these projects have to be finished by March 2011.

In some opening remarks, Mayor Karen Farbridge said that Guelph did extremely well in getting stimulus money from upper levels of government and that “sometimes you’re a victim of your own success.” Meaning that now the city has to get down to work at doing $72 million worth of construction in 12 months, which will mean a lot of inconvenience and, potentially, a lot of anger from inconvenienced citizens. Knowing this though, Farbridge said that Guelph was “very fortunate” to be getting this funding saying that “a lot of our infrastructure is at the end of its life span.”

That goes especially for areas of the city that are oldest, like the downtown core, where some sewers and watermains are nearly a century old. Additionally, many cities are behind in the infrastructure construction. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities estimates that there’s a $123 billion deficit in infrastructure nationwide.

So there’s going to be a lot of construction between March and December, but the city wants to make residents and businesses an informed partner in the endeavour and not a hapless victim. “We want to make sure that this is a partnership throughout the community,” said Loewig, “they are stakeholders in the process.”

It begins this week with an information insert will be sent out to Guelph homes via the Mercury and the Tribune newspapers. That will be followed up with regular print, radio and web updates as the city will try to keep citizens informed about changes through local media. Once construction starts there will be rush hour updates on local radio stations CJOY and MAGIC while the City's website will be the main hub for updated information. Along with getting information, people will be able to report a construction problem or submit a question, while affected businesses will be invited to regular meetings to promote information sharing and to get updates. “We’re going to do everything possible to avoid disruption but it’s going to look like we’re not,” resigned Loewig.

So where is it going to be hardest hit in terms of construction? It seems that Carden Street is going to be the focal point as improvements are made in preparation for the possible transit hub to be developed there with the arrival of GO trains next year. The Wyndham St bridge will also be improved necessitating further disruption there come spring. As well the corner of Wilson and Carden will feel the “most impact” according to Loewig, even necessitating the short term use of the civic square as a parking lot. Considering all this, city officials say that the goal of their public relations effort will be to keep things light while still being informational. All the construction in the coming months may represent a short term inconvenience, but these improvements will make Guelph better in the long term. In other words: no pain, no gain.

Fighting Over Budgets and Climate Change

Budget fight begins

With all the deep cuts potentially on the table in regards to the 2010 city budget, it came as no surprise that council’s first look at the document would come with some apprehension. The major areas that got air last Monday night were transit and downtown parking, but considering the variety of cuts proposed, there isn’t a single area under city management that isn’t saved from belt-tightening. The debate should get much more interesting in the next week as public debate is opened up on the matter. It was expected that as many as 26 delegations had requested time to speak to council at the meeting this past Tuesday. But public forums are seeing their share of debates as well.

The Guelph Arts Council was quick to react to potential cuts, sending out a mass e-mail last week asking all its members to speak out in defense of arts funding in the City of Guelph. “We are not at the top of the list but we are on the list – in other word, we are threatened, and we do need to make our case,” said the e-mail. The GAC further asked its members to send letters and e-mails to Guelph city councillors and local media as part of a co-ordinated effort to make it known that the arts matter in the Royal City.

Meanwhile, University of Guelph students are rallying to save the universal bus pass, after it was suggested in the budget proposal that it be eliminated and replaced with a cost per month plan like the one high school students have to pay for. Comparatively, the U of G universal bus pass costs roughly the same per semester what it costs for a high school student to get one student pass for a month. The city feels that that there’s a pretty big gap there where a few extra dollars can be made. “It’s sad that a program that Guelph Transit has won awards for, for innovative ways of getting people out of cars and into buses, is being dismissed without any discussion,” said Brenda Whiteside, the university’s associate vice-president (students affairs) to the Guelph Tribune. The universal bus pass has been part of the student experience at the U of G since 1994, and it won’t go quietly. As of Sunday, the “Save the Bus Pass” Facebook group has over 6,400 members.

For up-to-date blow-by-blows go to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

McKitrick feels “vindicated”

The recent “Climategate” mess where thousands of e-mails and documents from the Climatic Research Unit of the University of East Anglia in Norwich, England were hacked and then leaked has cultivated a Guelph connection. No, no one from Guelph was involved in either being hacked or doing the hacking, but a University of Guelph professor has gotten a shot of renewed notoriety out of the fallout. “My phone’s been absolutely ringing off the hook,” economics prof Ross McKitrick told the Guelph Mercury last week. McKitrick has for a long time been a climate change skeptic (or denier depending upon your slant), believing that all the talk about end of the world consequences from global warming was much ado about nothing. “There’s a sense of vindication there,” he added in response to the allegations that the e-mails prove climate change scientists were cooking the books to make the problem seem much worse than it is. But perhaps the real conspiracy here is that all this came out just days before the UN Climate Change conference began in Copenhagen.

Another hurdle for HCBP quietly leapt

Posted quietly on the City of Guelph website Friday was news that funding assistance from Industry Canada for the watermain and utility highway crossing construction for the Hanlon Creek Business Park project had been approved. The city submitted an Environmental Assessment to the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency, and from that report and the “implementation of appropriate mitigation measures,” the Feds decided to grant the request for funding. According to the city press release, appropriate implementations of mitigation measures included in the Environmental Assessment include: fauna at risk; human health and safety; structure, site or thing of historic, archaeological, paleontological or architectural significance; air quality; noise levels; soil quality; vegetation; and water quality. "We are pleased that this project has cleared this level of environmental review with the Canadian Environmental Assessment Agency," said Peter Cartwright, General Manager for Economic Development and Tourism.

Budget Details Released and Reaction Will be Mixed

Last Wednesday, officials from the City of Guelph including Mayor Karen Farbridge, Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig and Treasurer Margaret Neubauer, outlined to the media budget proposals that were being brought to council this past Monday. The good news first: the City did not send our banking information to the lawyer holding $100 million in trust for the Nubian prince that needs access to foreign banking institutions in order to get his inheritance. The band news is that the 2010 is looking at quite a substantial shortfall of available funds, and its going to take some serious cuts to make up the difference.

Planning for this year’s budget actually started in May with city managers looking towards the fact this was probably going to be a year for cuts rather than spending. Mayor Farbridge said that in a time when families and employers are having to make some tough decisions in regard to their own finances, then the municipality should do its part. She added that although their have been signs of some recovery from the current economic downturn, it will still take about two to three years for Guelph to feel the effects of any recovery. So with a mind on lean times ahead, city staff is presenting a number of options for city council to consider for the 2010 budget.

To begin with the city is trying to mitigate a loss of $8.1 million in revenues as much as possible. What this means is that even without any new spending, and using the numbers from the 2009 budget, there's already a 5.2 per cent increase in the 2010 budget that needs to be covered. Contractual obligations, collective agreements and compensation account for another 4 per cent increase. So when it's all said and done, the City of Guelph basically needs to find another $14.4 million for 2010. So where is much of that money going to come from? Cuts mostly, hope city officials, and their proposed cuts are divided into two categories: Department Reduction Proposals" and "Other Considerations." With the options presented in the "Department Reduction Proposals" the city can save 4.48 per cent or $7.4 million. If all the items under "Other Considerations" are enacted then a further $2.5 million can be shaved off the deficit, bringing the increase down to a more manageable 3 per cent.

If those sound like serious numbers, they are, and the impact will be felt by just about everyone in the city. Biggest of all considerations is the delay of capital projects previously discussed. Basically, anything that hasn’t had started being built is on the back-burner until 2011 at least. As for projects in various phase of completion, their openings will be pushed back by months in order to save money. For example, the east end branch of the library will not open until June 2010. Also, City staff might be asked to take up to 5 unpaid days off and 29 full-time positions could be eliminated, hopefully through attrition such as retirements and resignations. Transit may be hit worst of all with the proposed elimination of stat holidays schedules, a reduced service summer schedule and a 7 per cent fare increase. There could also be a general increase on fees for rentals of city facilities.

Things get worse under the “Other Considerations” category. If councillors decide to accept these further measures to tighten up the deficit then it could mean the closing of the Centennial and Lyon's pools, the closing Centennial rink, eliminating John Galt Day activities, ending two hour free parking downtown, no longer having any special waste collection (like for Christmas trees), shuttering the household hazardous waste facility and adjusting the Industrial and Perimeter transit routes (Note: this does not mean cancelling them). Contingencies if these options should be adopted are being worked out, but it was stressed repeatedly in the briefing that these are merely options and don’t necessarily represent the shape of things to come.

Don’t like what you just read, well you can let your voice be heard by council starting with the meeting on Tuesday December 8 at 6 pm in the council chamber. For more information, check out the meeting schedule on the City’s website here: http://www.guelph.ca/newsroom_display.cfm?itemID=78256 or pay a visit to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

A Week in the Life of a Protest

I got the call at 6:30 am on Monday morning; I was half asleep as I answered the phone. Typically people don’t call me in the “wee hours,” so it surely must have been important, right? Well, while I didn’t remember the details of the conversation, I did remember the context: a small group of about two dozen protestors had taken to occupying the grounds of the future home of the Hanlon Creek Business Park. But this story isn’t just about occupied land it was about occupied time, as the story garnered province-wide attention all last week.

The story started back in January, when new, grassroots opposition to the HCBP started to get louder in the town. The property located in the city’s south end between the Hanlon Expressway and Downey Rd. has been on the books to be the place for new business development for sometime. Concerns have been growing though amongst the Green-minded as the site is home to an old growth forest, which coupled with the possible presence of the endangered Jefferson Salamander makes the HCBP site highly sensitive.

The occupation began at 7 am on Monday. The protestors made camp and proceeded to disrupt workers from Drexler Construction who were hired by the city to construct a four-lane road. The workers were sent home and their equipment moved to avoid damage. Meanwhile, the protesters prepared for the long haul. Their intention, as I was told later on Monday, is to stay on the site until forcibly removed or the date of September 15^th, when it would be too late in the season for construction to begin. It wouldn’t be until Wednesday afternoon when the city responded officially to the protest.

I first visited the protest site on Monday afternoon and I was greeted by two individuals who identified themselves as "Faren Carbridge" and "Keter Partwright." The talked about how they weren’t surprised that the “bureaucratic process” had failed, meaning the pursuit of stopping construction on the site through direct interaction with stakeholders and advocacy through awareness. “Faren” added that she was disgusted by the City’s promotion of its green roof and other environmental initiatives at the new city hall even as they planned to plough over such a huge tract of land for development. While the number of people on-site increased to anywhere between 40 and 60 at any given time, “Faren” and “Keter” said that many more are with them through letter writers to demonstrations put on in the city.

Wednesday afternoon saw delivery of an eviction notice by Peter Cartwright, the city’s Manager of Economic Development Services. It ordered that all protestors must vacate the land by 4 pm Thursday or be charged with criminal trespass. Come Thursday afternoon, the group had become literally entrenched on the site; blockades were put up along the farm path to the protesters camp and roads in and out of the area had ditches dug in front of them to prevent vehicle entry. Numbers at the camp had also swelled, as the protesters were prepared to stand their ground. "Everybody's decided what their own response is going to be," is all "Keter Partwright" would say in terms of the group’s plans in the event of forced eviction by police. Mostly though, he said that they were trying to focus on the positive experiences.

By 5:30 pm it seemed that the police weren’t coming, at least not that day. No further communication from the city was received until Friday when the protesters were served with notice that the city was seeking an injunction in court on Tuesday to force their removal. By that point though the occupation will have been eight days, and already a powerful point’s been made by a small group of dedicated local citizens. It should be noted for those occupying the HCBP land are not affiliated with the group Land Is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS) or other groups. They are individuals acting on their own in common purpose. For updates on these and other stories go to Guelph Politico at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com

Lafarge, Valeriote and Heritage

Lafarge deal good, but not for all

A deal reached between the City, the Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association (HPNRA) and Silvercreek Developments was formally approved by council last Monday allowing development at the Lafarge site to proceed, and shorten the hearing process at the Ontario Municipal Board. Only Armel Corp, the fourth party involved in the mediation process, has refused to endorse the deal, which was reached after nearly half-a-year of negotiating. Mayor Karen Farbridge was pleased, saying that this will save taxpayers money at the OMB. “At the very least we’ll be able to reduce the length of the hearing, which will reduce the cost of the hearing to taxpayers,” Farbridge said Monday.

The key components of the deal include: A main street area for restaurants and other services along Silvercreek Parkway between Paisley and Wellington streets; a business park, residential community and park on the east side of Silvercreek Parkway; and retail/commercial uses on the west side of Silvercreek on lands bounded by the Hanlon Expressway. Farbridge said that she was grateful that an agreement could be reached given the fact that this brownfield is a “difficult site for development.” She added, “I think we’re really impressed with how hard everybody worked on it, and there was a lot of give on all sides,” she said. She also commended representatives of the Howitt Park Residents’ Association, whose members voted 61 to three in favour of the deal at the end of January, according to HPNRA president Ron Foley.

Valeriote to represent farmers and foodies

Our local MP, Frank Valeriote, has been appointed to the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food in the House of Commons. This Committee focuses on bills, expenditures and activities of the organizations that are part of the Agriculture and Agri-Food portfolio, including issues such as farm income, food safety, pesticides and the wheat board, says a Valeriote office press release. The position’s a natural fit for Valeriote who advocated heavily during the campaign in favour of expanding the opportunities in investment of the Agriculture sector and how it relates to creating a greener economy. “It’s an exciting opportunity for me to focus on Canada’s agriculture industry and our nation’s food supply,” said Valeriote. “There’s no doubt that Canada’s farming industry is facing enormous challenges but is also presented with an exciting range of opportunity with constantly evolving advances and innovation in technology.”

City Hall on Doors Open tour

If you’ve been sitting around, waiting with bated breath to see the inside of the new City Administration Building (AKA: City Hall), fear not because you’ll get your chance on Saturday April 25. The building was announced last week as one of the stops on the eighth annual Doors Open Guelph Tour sponsored the Guelph Arts Council, Heritage Guelph and the city’s tourism office. This will be the first time that the new City Hall will be open to the public before its official grand opening which will hopefully be held in May once the exterior portion is complete. Currently, the interior is expected to be done in March for staff move-ins at the end of the month. The Doors Open event is considered a celebration of the city’s architectural heritage and was started in 2002 as part of Guelph’s 175 anniversary.

More Heritage to celebrate

Stone Road Mall is ready to welcome the pillars of local heritage with its annual Heritage Day celebrations. The main corridor of the mall will contain displays from such groups as Guelph Historical Society, Wellington County Historical Society, Heritage Guelph, Heritage Guelph/Eramosa, Architectural Conservancy – Guelph and Wellington, Guelph Public Library, Hammond Museum of Radio, Guelph Historical Railway Association, Locomotive 6167 Restoration Committee, Guelph Arts Council, Norfolk Street United Church Archives, St. George’s Church Archives, Wellington County Museum and Archives, and Guelph Museums. This year’s celebration is called Spotlight on Heritage, and the exhibits, which are all organized by Guelph Museums, will be on display from 9:30 am to 5 pm. And just so you know, about 30 years before it became known as “Family Day,” the third Tuesday of February was known in Canada as Heritage Day.

News From City Hall

City goes DIY with stalled Hall

Urbacon may have put a lien on the City of Guelph saying that they haven’t been paid $12.1 million for work they done on the new City Hall, but that hasn’t stopped administrative offices and staffers from facing a matter of homelessness. Many city offices that were scheduled to move out of their current tenements this month have had to find temporary shelter or otherwise negotiate for a stay-of-moving-out like in the case of offices at 2 Wyndham St., the lease for which was set to expire at the end of the year.

The City is moving forward with finishing the new HQ after insurance company Aviva denied the City’s claim that they were responsible for completing the project following the firing of Urbacon in September. It was a move Guelph's chief administrative officer Hans Loewig called "certainly not unexpected." Regardless the city’s submitted a claim to Aviva for the extension of office leases, the hiring of a new project manager and other related expenses. Right now, city staff is looking at a move in date of mid-to-late January. "There probably won't be anything visibly happening on the site for a bit. But we are looking forward to getting on with the project as soon as we can," says Loewing.

DGBA says keep those letters coming

The Downtown Guelph Business Association has announced that they’ve extended their deadline for letters in support for the two-hour free parking downtown. Executive director Jacquelyn Garrard told the Guelph Tribune that the deadline for the letters, which was formally October 17, has been extended indefinitely "due to the sheer volume of letters" coming in. The DGBA is currently deciding the fate of the pilot-project, which has been in place for the last year. A report from city staff was expected last Thursday. "We've had a wonderful response from the membership," said Garrard adding that 30 letters have come in so far, and more are coming in everyday. "They feel this is something we cannot lose in the downtown. […] Some of the (letter writers) are saying 'please, please keep it.'"

Budget Presentations Continue

All this week there have been budget meetings at City Hall as city departments present their financial plans for the next fiscal year. Today the Governance and Economic Development committee will be meeting to discuss Police, Library, Museum, Tourism, Social Services and Health Unit funding at 5:15 pm. And tomorrow, the Community Development and Environmental Services Committee will gather to look at Construction Projects, as well as Recycling and Solid Waste. Finance, Administration and Corporate Services and Emergency Services, Community Services and Operations met yesterday. Citizens and community groups are invited to participate, but delegations have to contact the City Clerk’s office in advanced if they wish to speak. Call Joyce Sweeney, the Council Committee Co-ordinator at 519-837-5603 ext. 2440.

For if you own a piece of history…

Heritage Guelph is having an open house on November 7 in City Hall, followed by a meeting of the Community Development and Environmental Services Committee where the expansion of Guelph’s Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties will be considered. Guelph is planning to add 1,900 non-designated properties to the Municipal Register of Cultural Heritage Properties. If your property is included in the proposed expansion, you would have received a letter from Heritage Guelph. Individuals, groups and delegations are welcome to participate in the committee meeting and must contact the City Clerk’s Office to register. Call 519-837-5603 or e-mail clerks@guelph.ca.

Bye-bye Bottle

It was announced that the City of Guelph intends to join the increasing chorus of municipalities by eliminating bottled water and water coolers from offices, meetings and facilities and replacing it with greater access to pure Guelph tap water. “The City wants to lead by example by making municipal water easily accessible in its facilities,” says Janet Laird, Director of Environmental Services. “The City of Guelph does an excellent job managing our drinking water system and we are confident that our municipal drinking water is of the highest quality.”

Back to Basics

For the last 12 weeks or so, the Guelph Beat has been preoccupied with the by-election and the immediately following federal election. But as of this past Tuesday, all that is over and we can get back to business as usual. (For an election wrap visit my blog at http://guelphbyelectionbeat.blogspot.com, and that’s going to be the last mention of it. Honest to blog… D’oh!)

So now it’s back to… whatever it is we did in this space before the extended edition election began. So I decided to revisit some of the press releases from the City that I only had opportunity to glance over in the midst of all the Federal action in our town. It’s actually been a fairly busy time in municipal politics, with a decision coming down on a couple of really big issues.

First, there was the September 19 announcement that the City was terminating its contract with Urbacon Buildings Group, the construction crew that was building the new city hall. With another deadline on the horizon, as well as yet another announcement of delay, the city’s solicitor suggested the move to terminate the contract on grounds of the numerous breaches committed and instead approach a bonding company to oversee completion. “I believe this will allow us to complete the project sooner and be more cost-effective,” said Guelph Chief Administrative Officer Hans Loewig. “The City is now in a better position to direct the completion of the project and firm up the move-in date.”

In meantime some city offices are in limbo because they expected to have been moved into their new digs by now. Some are currently living out of boxes, others are in need of temporary quarters. On Urbacon’s end, they’ve had a lien put on city hall, demanding that they be paid the some $12 million they say that they’re still owed for construction costs and subcontractors from July on. As for the building itself, Loewing told the Guelph Mercury on October 7 that if construction resumes by the middle of the month than it should be finished by the end of the year.

The other big issue was the proposed merger between Guelph Hydro and Horizon Utilities. The matter’s been debated for months as the pros offered by the city and Hydro met the cons of concerned Guelph residents who worried that this was back door privatization. The argument came to a close on September 28 when in a special council session, the motion to approve the merger was defeated by a vote of 8 to 5.

The issue was complex. Horizon’s current shareholders are the Cities of Hamilton and St. Catherines, Guelph would have been the third partner in the utility. The deal was endorsed by the hydro board and the Chamber of Commerce, but many community groups and private citizens were concerned about rate increases, loss of regulatory authority and possibility that Guelph customers could be paying for repairs and service in the other two municipalities. Despite assurances from hydro, the city and the Ontario Energy Board, many remained unconvinced. In fact, Councillor Kathleen Farrelly said that her negative vote was in response to “overwhelming public opinion.”

In happier news, it was announced that Ward 5 Councillor Lise Burcher would be joining the Green Municipal Funds Council - the group responsible for administering Canada's Green Municipal Fund - by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities' (FCM) Board of Directors. The GMF, according to the press release, “provides loans and grants, builds capacity, and shares knowledge to support municipal governments and their partners in developing communities that are more environmentally, socially and economically sustainable.”

"In my role on the Council, I plan to serve Guelph and the rest of the province by showcasing Guelph’s innovative projects to the rest of Canada, and exploring other ground-breaking opportunities for all Canadian municipalities," said Burcher about her new duties.

The Past and the Future Meet in Ward 3

Welcome to the first part of my six part series “Better Know a Ward.” (Any relation between this column and a sketch done on a popular late night comedy show is purely coincidental.)

This week’s ward: St. John’s, the fightin’ third. Located in the centre of the city, it’s home to both some of the wealthiest and poorest neighbourhoods in Guelph and counts the Library and Exhibition Park amongst its landmarks, as well as a number of heritage homes and buildings. Diversity is also a feature with many new immigrants settling into the Willow area, speaking 26 languages. The councillors representing this diverse sector are the thrice-elected Maggie Laidlaw and freshman June Hofland. I talked to both of them following a Ward meeting in the main council chamber at City Hall.

Amongst the concerns of Ward 3 residents is the usual: property taxes, transit, city services and termites? Yes, it seems that the wood eating insects are something of a nuisance, coming into the ward following the rail line and moving up Woolwich Street.

“One of the issues that was contentious, but its died away because it keeps getting put off, is to have a skateboard park in Exhibition Park,” adds Laidlaw. “Some people are vehemently opposed to it. We’re one of the only cities of our size that doesn’t have a skateboard park.”

Another issue is the placement of an expanded main branch of the library. Last Tuesday, a number of scenarios were presented for appraisal by the public during a library hosted open house. The original building was designed to hold about 40,000 books, a number that it’s since exceeded by a factor of three. Still, there is division about investing in an expanded library, especially after the city lost the preferred location of the old post office on Wyndham.

“There’s still a lot of bad feelings around losing that sale,” says Hofland. “The thing that I find most difficult is that the downtown is everybody’s neighbourhood. That’s why public spaces - libraries, skating rinks - all of those things are important to the health of a city, I really feel strongly about that.”

Of course, the two big elephants in Ward 3 are development related: the Lafarge site and Wal-Mart. As reported here a couple of weeks ago, council voted down the developers’ proposal on Lafarge and now the matter is before the Ontario Municipal Board, where mediation will start in September as all sides try to reach an accord.

Hofland, who refuses to comment on her feeling of the development due to a conflict of interest, says that, “People are not opposed to the development necessarily, but what they’d like to see is a ‘complete community;’ places for people to live, work, shop, public space, as opposed to 400,000 square feet of big box commercial.”

On the other side of the ward is Wal-Mart, and this month a motion will come to council to authorize an expansion of the store and create new shopping space on the surrounding land. After the furious 10 year debate, the fight against Wal-Mart seems oddly stayed as the expansion option has arisen.

“I think people are tired,” said Laidlaw, who was one of council’s staunchest anti-Wal-Mart voices. “One thing I have heard from a couple of people that live on Woodlawn, is that they want a grocery store. And yet there used to be a Zehr’s store where the Staples store is now, so go figure.”

“I don’t think we’ll have input as to what goes into the extension, but I think we’ll have input into the urban design, maybe we’ll be able to suggest a smaller scale but I don’t know if that’ll be the case,” added a hopeful Hofland.

As reflected in their comments, Laidlaw and Hofland share more than a ward in common, but a set of values, as Hofland says; a strong commitment to protecting Guelph’s environment and heritage, while promoting the communication and accountability of city hall. Clearly the people of Ward 3 like what their about as they both won their seats with over 3,000 votes a piece.

“People in my ward want the same things that I want, that’s why they elected me,” observed Laidlaw. “I’m not doing anything I didn’t say in my [campaign] brochure, I’m doing all the things that people expect of me, and I’ve had the same platform for eight years, people know me.”

Hofland agreed, adding, “I still hope that I’m here because I reflect other people’s values and that we mirror each others values.”