Driving and Taxes

Improved Hanlon gets approved

Despite continued public dissension over the proposed plan to upgrade the Hanlon Expressway between Wellington Street and Maltby Road, City Council voted in favour of the province’s preferred plan at last Monday’s meeting. The marathon session went until 1 am with councillors voting twice to extend the meeting so that the issue could be dealt with till its conclusion.

The timetable for the completion of the project is still to be determined, but project manager Rob Bakalarczyk of the Ministry of Transportation confirmed to council that some of the interchange upgrades on the $60 million project may take a decade to complete. Top priority will be given to the Laird Road intersection so that greater access to the future site of the Hanlon Creek Business Park can be offered. Money for this part of the project, budgeted for $17 million, will likely come out of development charges.

The Ministry of Transportation Ontario (MTO) will complete and publish the Hanlon Expressway Transportation Environmental Study Report make it available on for a 30-day public review period in May. You’ll be able to view the details for yourself at http://hanlonimprovements.ca/

Guelphites taxed a little less

It looks like the tax increase for home owners in the city is going to be a little less than predicted thanks to “changes in Guelph’s property value assessments, a decrease in the Province’s education tax rate, and adjustments to the City’s multi-residential tax ratio and its operating budget,” according to a city press release.

“Despite the current economic challenges facing municipalities, Guelph’s financial position remains strong,” says the City’s Treasurer, Margaret Neubauer. “The City continues to provide high quality public services and ensure good value for people’s tax dollars.”

When the budget was passed in December, it called for a 3.74 per cent increase to cover the costs associated with protecting services and responding to changing community needs. Now the increase will stand at 3.41 per cent over 2008 rates. At the same time, the Province reduced Ontario's residential education tax rate by 4.76 per cent, which made property value assessments higher than expected. Finally, the City is changing the way it taxes multi-residential properties in order to spread the tax burden more fairly across property categories and as a result is lowering the multi-residential tax ratio from 2.74 to 2.5965 this year.

So what does the tab come to? Well, for the 2009 tax year, if you consider the average residential property value is $257,000, then you will have a tax bill of $3,433, which amounts to an increase of $113. "We have approved the lowest tax increase of the past six years, while investing in priority services and infrastructure," says Mayor Karen Farbridge. "I want to thank our City management team for its diligence and hard work throughout this year’s budget process."

  

This ain’t over

Since the beginning of the year, Guelph Beat has covered the renewed activism to block the development of the Hanlon Creek Business Park in the City’s south end, and now a new voice has joined the call to stop development in this area. Residences and businesses in Guelph may have received a pamphlet from the Victoria, BC-based Wilderness Committee calling for action to “Save Guelph’s last old-growth forest.” The Wilderness Committee is working with Land Is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS), who is continuing to hold meetings, events and nature walks in the affected area to raise awareness. Visit there new website at http://www.landismoreimportantthansprawl.com/

Downtown Troubles, Union Issues & Hanlon Headaches

Downtown redevelopment brings out crowd

Last Tuesday, it was a full house at a City Council meeting as councillors approved the new variation of the C2 plan to build the new main branch of the public library at a site at the north end of Wyndham. Good news for fans of a new library, but really bad news for the business owners and patrons of the current occupants of the four properties that’ll need to be demolished to make it happen. In fact many of the people in the gallery, along with six delegations that spoke at the meeting, were there to support Ray Mitchell and his business, the Family Thrift Store, which Mitchell has owned and operated for the last 16 years.

Despite the interest and the speakers, the motion passed by a vote of 10-2 with only Gloria Kovach and Christine Billings voting against. The vote seemed to come down to more a matter of supporting the new library that’s been in the works for years, rather than being against the businesses on that corner. In s city press release, the Mayor touted the vote as a measure to help rejuvenate the city’s core. "I am delighted that after years of work and study, we are moving forward with a design concept for our much-needed new central library. This design concept is the best choice for the library, and the best choice for the revitalization of the north end of our downtown," said Karen Farbridge.

The property between the Family Thrift Store and Cowboy Bar has been in limbo for the last few years as debate over library plans raged. One of the block’s biggest tenants, Wyndham Arts, moved to another location on Wyndham last fall, seemingly in anticipation of this decision. As for Mitchell and other business owners, the Guelph Downtown Business Association says that they’re going to assist displaced business owners and tenants, but that won’t do much for the artists and musicians renting studio space above the Family Thrift Store, or those living in about 30 affordable apartments in the same buildings. We’ll be covering this story as it develops.

Feel like a municipal strike?

It could be in the cards as the City of Guelph continues its collective agreement negotiations with Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) locals 241, 973 and 1946. The unions’ previous contracts expired on January 31. A provincial conciliator has been requested and appointed to provide mediation services to both parties in an attempt to reach a settlement. The next meeting is set to take place on March 2; a tentative strike deadline of Friday March 6 at 12:01 am has been arranged. CUPE locals 241, 973 and 1946 represent approximately 550 outside, inside and library employees.

Hanlon improvements mean headaches for some

The Ministry of Transportation of Ontario unveiled its latest plan for upgrading the Hanlon Expressway for the consideration of city council in March. So you can only image what happened next. If you said, somebody’s against the plan, you’d be either a lucky guesser or a long-time resident of Guelph. Yes, residents on Old Colony Trail are quite displeased with the plan which calls for a service road on the west side of the Expressway connecting Kortright/Downey to Stone Roads, to be built right behind their homes. The MTO says that the plans, if initiated, would not encroach on the properties on Old Colony Trail, with the exception of three at the south end near Woodland Glen Drive. Further, the MTO has pledged to work with affected residents on a one-to-one basis, but they are firm in their contention that this is the best of all options following public consultation and feedback last Fall.

Meanwhile…

The LIMITS (Land Is More Important Than Sprawl) press conference scheduled for last Thursday (February 19) was postponed until Friday because the group didn’t want to compete with U.S. President Barack Obama’s official visit to Canada. But due to the move, the conference was held a day too late for Echo’s deadline, so for details head to “Guelph Politico” at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com for more information.

Hanlon Drag and Mayor Blogging

The Hanlon becomes mainly a drag

The Hanlon Expressway made the news a couple of times this week, neither necessarily in a good way.

First, a number of by-invitation-only workshops began last week to discuss concerns about the Ministry of Transportation Ontario’s plans to upgrade the Hanlon. Basically, the current MTO proposal says that all traffic lights are to be removed from the Hanlon so that they can turn it into a high-speed connection to the Highway 7 expansion to Kitchener-Waterloo.

Now, this may come as something of a shock to the hundreds of people that use the crosswalks at the Hanlon everyday, all over Guelph, from north to south. Well, you haven’t been forgotten in the plan. The original version unveiled in December called for the development of a whole new interchange at Stone Rd., a partial redo at Kortright/Downey and an underpass at College St.

But aside from access for pedestrians and cyclists, residents’ concerns also include questions over how these changes will affect business and services at several intersections and general concerns about noise impact and property values. Questions of necessity have also been raised in council. Ward 3 Councillor Maggie Laidlaw, for one, has been very vocal about her opposition to expanding the Hanlon.

The MTO has said that if it’s deemed necessary from the workshops that significant changes need to be made in order to address residents’ concerns, then a new public consultation process will be struck.

Meanwhile, the Hanlon was at the centre of another protest on Monday April 29 when a group of 20 people blocked the southbound lanes near Paisley to show camaraderie with the Tyendinaga Mohawks who are involved in a land dispute near Deseronto, Ont. The group placed branches on the road and set them on fire while displaying a banner declaring “Solidarity with Tyendinaga.” Both the Guelph Police and the OPP attended the scene, but no arrests were made.

This was the second protest in Guelph that was committed in the name of the Tyendinaga. The Friday before, three Bell Canada vans on Cork St. had their tires slashed. A post written anonymously on the website anarchistnews.org stated “SOLIDARITY FOR TYENDINAGA! 2 BELL TIRES FOR EVERY PRISONER TAKEN!"

Brant Bardy of the Bay of Quinte Mohawks told the Guelph Mercury that when it comes to this kind of solidarity it’s, thanks, but no thanks. “We're a peaceful people . . . and conflict and violence do not move our claim forward. The issue is a lawful obligation owed by the Crown to the Mohawk people. It's not about protests and blockades."

Blog with the Mayor

Last Friday, the City of Guelph officially launched Mayor Karen Farbridge’s blog, which the Mayor herself believes is a “great way to boost the accessibility and transparency of the Mayor’s office.”

The Mayor’s blog can be found at http://mayorsblog.guelph.ca, and so far it’s covered about a week’s worth of activities for Farbridge including last Friday’s trip to Queen’s Park with members of the Guelph community. The delegation met with several Ministers and attended Question Period in the Assembly. Readers are invited to leave comments in order for the Mayor to “engage citizens in a positive dialogue about the issues and opportunities in our city,” said Farbridge

But Guelph’s Mayor needs to be careful. The New York Times reported last week that blogging might be dangerous to your health after three well known bloggers suffered heart attacks, two fatal, citing crushing deadlines and competition pressure as stress factors. Many bloggers have spoken out though saying that there’s no evidence that blogging directly leads to death, so the Mayor is safe… for now.

But what about Park Place?

As water once again makes it back into the headlines (see last week’s Guelph Beat), the Guelph Waterworks is opening its doors to the public this Saturday. The City invites everyone to come out to the facility at 29 Waterworks Pl. (off York Rd.) to learn how Waterworks, well, works and get handy tips on conservation. There’ll be refreshments, door prizes and fun stuff for the kiddies.