Guelph of Tomorrow and Commuter Challenge

Envisioning the Guelph of Tomorrow

For three nights last week, members of the Guelph community were invited to city hall to get a frightening glimpse of the year 2031. Well, it wasn’t so much “frightening” as it was daunting. Several large maps covered the walls of Meeting Room C in City Hall, while several slide cards were on display at the front of the room giving the reader a bullet point breakdown of the plan. On each table were several copies of the revised Official Plan and always nearby was a City of Guelph employee ready to decode an aspect for you educational pleasure.

So what’s in store for the future? Well, to begin with, the fine art of balancing various mandates on all three levels of government. Ontario’s “Places to Grow” legislation says that we’ve got to cram 50,000 more people into our fair city in the next 21 years, but we can’t grow past our set borders. So in short there’s going to be a lot of intensification. In fact, the Official Plan identifies several areas in the City where intensification will be intensified. But what does “intensification” mean? For starters increased residential/employment density since the City is aiming for 57 jobs for every 100 residents. It also means a mix of office, institutional and commercial space with an array services like park land, rec and cultural centres.

By now you’re wondering if you are in a potential intensification corridor. Well, if you live along York Road (between Watson and Victoria), Silvercreek (between Willow and Speedvale), Stone (between Hanlon and Gordon), Elmira (between Delhi and Stevenson) or Gordon (between Stone and Clairfields), you do. Also, look for Silvercreek Junction, the so-called Lafarge site, to move ahead with its redevelopment plan, which includes commercial mixed, high density residential and significant natural areas.

Of course, in the age of great environmental sensitivity, great strains have been made to make the new plan more green conscience. From new bike lanes and trails to methods to decrease light and noise pollution to maximizing energy conservation efforts, the new Official plan pulls out all the stops so far as satisfying those with a slant towards Mother Earth. As well, efforts will be made to preserve the City’s architectural heritage while ensuring that new buildings blend well with the existing ones. Also, an official plan specific to downtown will be drawn up later.

If any of this has got you interested in seeing the official plan for yourself, you can at http://www.guelph.ca/OPupdate.

We accept your Challenge!

I wasn’t sure who challenged us and why, but arrived in my inbox was notice that the gauntlet was thrown down for Guelph to save mass quantities of energy this summer, and it has been picked up. Between now and August 11, the City of Guelph is asking residents to take the Power Pledge and reduce energy use as part of Ontario’s Community Conservation Challenge, said the city press release. “Guelph has participated in this Challenge since the first anniversary of the blackout in August 2003," says Mayor Karen Farbridge. "Guelph is committed to energy conservation and fighting climate change as part of our Community Energy Initiative. The Community Conservation Challenge reminds each of us that we have a role to play in building a sustainable energy future for Guelph."

The Community Conservation Challenge is province-wide. Challenge winners earn “green” awards and the chance to be named Ontario’s most conservation-conscious communities. Last year’s Community Challenge winners were Sioux Lookout for most participation and Kingston for total megawatt reduction. As for who’s putting this on, the Community Challenge is a collaboration of the Ontario Power Authority, the Independent Electricity System Operator, the Association of Municipalities of Ontario, the Electricity Distributors Association and the Ontario Chamber of Commerce and their associated members, according to the same release. Learn more at http://www.powerpledge.ca/cityofguelph.

Washington Bound, Commuters Bronzed, and City Hall Party

Mr. Valeriote Goes to Washington

If you’re anything like me then you were sitting around last week wondering just where the heck our Member of Parliament had gotten away to. The answer was Washington D.C., of course. Valeriote was in the US capital with colleagues on the Standing Committee on Agriculture and Agri-Food to participate in meetings on issues facing the agriculture industry on both sides of the border. He and the other members of the committee met with a number of Congressional leaders including Collin Peterson, Chairman of the House Agriculture Committee.

“It is basically a fact-finding mission to review the United States’ new Country of Origin Labelling regulations which require the segregation of Canadian and American livestock and meat,” said Valeriote in a press release.

The crux is that American processors are passing the cost of separating Canadian and American hogs and cattle on to Canadian farmers. The press release cited that Canadian farm families are disappearing at the rate of approximately 3,600 per year and that such additional costs, no matter how small could hasten that rate combined with already high production costs and low prices. “Clearly, such protectionist efforts hamper Canada-U.S. trade relations in the agriculture industry,” said Valeriote.

Among Valeriote’s stops were the National Meat Association, the American Meat Institute, the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the Food Marketing Institute. The Guelph MP added that he was keeping in mind what he considered the three “S”s of agriculture and agri-food, Sovereignty, Safety and Security. He also said that he wants to help ensure the viability of agriculture, not just in and around Guelph, but throughout Canada.

“President Barack Obama’s successful visit to Ottawa demonstrates the importance of in-person meetings,” said Valeriote. “They help to create the foundations for a successful working relationship vital to tackling the biggest challenges facing our two countries and the world. “They also underscore a key theme to Mr. Obama's presidency – multilateralism – working together.”

Guelph gets bronze in commuter challenge

In Guelph, 230 participants used carpools, transit, bicycles or their own two feet to travel during Environment Week May 31 to June 6 and compared to other communities of the same size, the city took third place in the National Commuter Challenge. Commuter Challenge participants in Guelph travelled more than 20,000 kilometres using more sustainable transportation methods, and prevented 3,391 kilograms of carbon emissions by choosing not to drive to work that week. Employers that saved the biggest included Compusense Inc. with 186 kg of carbon emissions spared, Neil Consumer Healthcare with 1,045 kg and the City of Guelph with 547 kg of carbon spared from the air.

Party Hard at City Hall

This Saturday marks the official grand opening of the New City Hall at 1 Carden Street. The celebration will include local artists, performers and community groups and everybody coming out will be able to take a tour of the building, enjoy a barbecue lunch and listen to some great music featuring Funky Mamas, the Suzuki String School, the Royal City Ambassadors and The Over Tones. Activities will include Paint the blue boards in front of old City Hall; sidewalk chalk drawing on Carden and a Guelph Photography Guild exhibition called "What makes Guelph, Guelph." For more information log on to http://guelph.ca/grandopening

Pride, Commuters and a Real River Runs

No such thing as a free meal (anymore)

Nearly two years after in was unceremoniously closed, the last vestiges of Change Now seem to have been swept away with the discontinuation of the Youth Supper program. The youth supper program, held at Norfolk United Church, is being closed down completely in June, even after is was already scaled back from seven nights to five. Between Monday and Friday, Norfolk has been providing the food, working with other churches to handle prep and using volunteer servers while Wyndham House has been providing the supervisors required by Norfolk. “United Way funding for the supervisors apparently ended in January and Wyndham House will not be providing supervisors once its new shelter opens in late June,” said activist Edward Pickersgill in a Facebook post. “I've been informed of this by Norfolk United Church and asked not to mention it until the official announcement is made.”

Come out for Pride Week

Guelph Pride is currently in full swing starting the past Sunday with a potluck dinner at Harcourt United Church and followed up on Monday with the raising of the rainbow flag over City Hall. Festivities continue tonight with "Pinch This Pride: An Eclectic Queer Circus," a fund-raiser for the AIDS Committee of Guelph and Wellington County at ebar. Friday there’s a "Sex Positivity" Workshop at Incarnate Clothing and on Saturday the Rainbow Chorus sings songs of "Peace Love, Rock n' Roll" back at Harcourt United Church. Pride Week wraps up Sunday with "Human Like Me" featuring trans speaker j wallace at the Guelph Unitarian Congregation and Guelph Pride Brunch at the Red Brick Café. "We want to bring together Guelph's community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, two-spirited, intersex, queer and questioning people - together with our friends, families and allies in a safe and welcoming environment," says Jerome Chang, a Guelph Pride organizer. "We have many exciting events planned during the week and we welcome everyone to join in our celebration." For more information go to http:// www.guelphpride.outontheshelf.ca

A River Runs through it

Holiday hangover had a whole new meaning for the staff of the River Run Centre following Victoria Day last week when the main stage took water damage after a flood. The main stage was closed for the week as RRC administrators feared for public and performers’ safety and wanted to take enough time to survey the damage and set a repair schedule. As a result, two big shows featuring Cynthia Dale and Jesse Stewart respectively had to be postponed. New dates for last week’s Main Stage shows should be announced shortly, if they haven’t already. The actual cause is still being investigated, but the facts are that on Monday morning, the building's fire suppression system dispersed between 6,000 and 8,000 gallons of water over the front of the Main Stage. Most of the water was removed on Monday by two tanker trucks.

Commuter Challenge accepted

Environment Week begins May 31st and part of the festivities is the Commuter Challenge, a national, annual event that promotes the benefits of sharing rides, taking transit, cycling, walking or working at home instead of driving to work alone. Once again this year, Guelph Transit is opening their doors on Clean Air Day, Wednesday June 3rd, to offer free rides to the people of Guelph in the hours between 5:30 am and 9:15 pm. “The Commuter Challenge encourages people to find and try different, more sustainable, ways to get to work for a week,” says Jennifer McDowell, Guelph’s Transportation Demand Management Coordinator. "Leaving the car at home helps people save money, reduce stress, get active and reduce air pollution in the city." The Commuter Challenge is a friendly competition between workplaces and communities across Canada for the highest participation percentage throughout the week. Individuals, employers and cities register online, and the Commuter Challenge website calculates the greenhouse gas emission reductions for each community. In 2008, 362 participants in Guelph collectively prevented 5.2 tonnes of CO2 gas emissions.