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.

The Good News

Here at Guelph Beat, we like to take a few knocks at the City from time to time. (Of course, by “we” I say mean “I” since as far as Guelph Beat’s concerned there’s only me, myself, to blame.) So for a change of pace this week, I decided to take a time out and give the city a pat on the back.

City wins Silver for going Green

With oil still gushing out of the Gulf of Mexico like a tapped keg at a frat party (at least at press time), it does us all good to know that the City’s fleet of vehicles are not a huge part of the problem, environmentally speaking. The City of Guelph is one of only two municipalities in Ontario to receive an E3 silver rating for sustainable fleet management, said a city press release. The Royal City is also the only municipality in Ontario to receive a silver rating for its transit fleet. “Guelph can take pride in being the first municipality in Ontario to achieve a silver rating for our transit fleet,” said Mayor Karen Farbridge. “The E3 Fleet rating is proof of Guelph's commitment to reducing our environmental impact, including greenhouse gas emissions.”

So what is E3? Well, it stands for Environment, Energy and Excellence. It’s a rating system that public and private sector fleets can seek based on staff training, idle reduction practices, vehicle purchasing practices, fleet operations and maintenance, trip and route planning, fuel efficiency and greenhouse gas performance. Guelph began the fleet review process under the E3 system starting back in 2008. “We are pleased to be the second municipality in Ontario to be awarded with a silver rating. Earning the E3 rating has been a two year process and involved several departments of our organization,” said Bill Barr, the City’s Manager of Fleet and Equipment.

Burcher doing fourth term on FCM

Ward 5 City Councillor (and recent “Better Know a Ward” profilee) Lise Burcher was re-elected for a fourth term to the Federation of Canadian Municipalities (FCM) Board of Directors last month at the group’s annual general meeting in Toronto. For those that don’t know, the membership constitutes 1,775 community members representing over 90 per cent of the Canadian population. The FCM Board is composed of sixteen elected municipal officials in Ontario and a total of seventy one directors across Canada. “It is an honour to be supported by my colleagues throughout Ontario in my bid for re-election to the Board,” said Burcher in a press release. “I look forward to contributing further to the valuable work of this outstanding organization.” Burcher will also continue her role as a Green Municipal Fund Council (GMF) member. This committee administers $550 million in funds to support municipalities to undertake projects and plans that demonstrate innovations in sustainability.

Book Sale need somewhere to sell from

Let’s end this week’s Guelph Beat with some community service. It seems that The Friends of the Guelph Public Library are in a bit of a jam: they can’t find a space to hold their annual giant fall book sale. The Guelph Mercury did a story on the issue last week, and although the book sale was able to secure a sorting and storage space, they were (at press time) still in need of a sale space.

In the past, sales were held at empty shops in Old Quebec Street and the vacant storefront of former Wyndham Arts location. Virginia Gillham, chair of the FGPL, is hoping to secure a space somewhere in the core for the sale, and to give you an idea of the size of space needed, last year’s sale had over 40,000 books donated. The proceeds from this year’s sale will be combined with the cash collected over the last four years of the sale and will be donated to pay for books and amenities to serve children and young adults in the new and improved central branch of the public library. If you’ve got a lead on an appropriate space you can get in touch with the FGPL at friendsguelphlibrary@gmail.com.

Mitchell's Back, Project Chilled, and Communications Breakdown

Ray Mitchell’s Back in Business

Ray Mitchell, formally the owner and operator of the Family Thrift Store, is back in business downtown with a new store on Wyndham St. The store, called Dis-A-Ray Antiques and Collectibles, is located next to The Cornerstone and opened in a low key fashion on October 17th with cake, and the news of the move has quickly spread to Mitchell’s loyal clientele. “It’s ostensibly an antique store, but it’s an antique store for kids,” says Mitchell who adds that by his reckoning roughly half of his customers are under the age of 30. “It’s going to be all the best of the Thrift Store with none of the bad.”

There are a couple of big differences though. First, due to space restrictions, the new store won’t be carrying much in the way furniture (although today, you can get a pair of old roller coaster cars that are sitting in the window). Mitchell’s also disappointed that that he won’t be able to help students and people on welfare in the same way he used to, and while he can’t be the patron of the arts he was by offering a venue, Mitchell says that he’ll continue to be a supporter in whatever way he can. “I’ll let them use the window, and may be the occasion acoustical concert, that kind of thing […] But you’re going to see me somewhere down the road with some kind of musical component.” In the meantime, Mitchell invites all his old customers, from far and wide, to come by his new store and say hi.

City Chills on Big Projects

In irony news, just as Mitchell’s getting his retail life back in order, the City is shelving certain capital projects from the five year capital budget forecast, including the new public library that was to be built at the north end of Wyndham. Avid fans of The G-Beat will remember Echo’s cover story this past spring about the project, which would effectively shut down every business between Cowboy Bar and the old post office. Unless they moved somewhere else to do business like Wyndham Arts last fall.

But tough times, economically speaking, have meant that certain big ticket capital projects are getting mothballed until the city can see its way out of recession footing. Chief among those projects is the new Main Branch of the public library, which was to be the linchpin of the entire Baker Street redevelopment project. Other projects on that list include a new south end rec centre and the Wilson Street parking garage, which, if remaining in a state of development limbo, will have a pronounced negative impact on business development downtown. With a second Co-operators office moving downtown and the arrival of Go trains next year, those parking spaces are seriously needed.

All hope is not lost though. Treasurer Margaret Neubauer told he Guelph Mercury that “There probably is some capacity later in the forecast to get started” later on, but still the city is looking at being unable to fulfill on promised parking needs and leaving several buildings vacant in a development limbo for, potentially, years.

Communication Dysfunction

In more irony news, a city initiative to answer a note of concern in 2008’s Citizen Satisfaction Survey identifying 'communication with residents' as a key issue, three community communication sessions on October 22nd and 26th were cancelled due to lack of interest. The City cancelled the sessions last week due to low registration, and will instead issue a survey, both online and by hard copy, for area residents to comment on pertinent issues facing the city. The City of Guelph's Corporate Communications Plan is intended to foster effective, two-way communications that encourage public involvement for the purposes of government decision-making, and professional, consistent, open communications between the City and its stakeholders, according to a City press release.

The Arts & Culture Issues

For this specially-themed edition of Guelph Beat, we (and by we, I mean me) will look at a few of the recent arts-related stories in the Royal City.

Red Shoes Tour arrives to help Women in Crisis

The New Red Shoes Tour pulls into Guelph this Sunday. The multi-Ontario city tour will benefit women's shelters/foundations across Ontario and promote positive up and coming female artists. The beneficiary of the show at the Albion is Guelph Women and Crisis and every single last penny in profit from ticket sales is going to the group according to tour organizer and headliner Lynzie Kent, a born and raised Guelphite and former lead singer of the band God Made Me Funky.

The name of the tour, Red Shoes, comes from a new single written by Kent specifically for the purpose of raising awareness of issues surround violence against women. Her goal with the song and the tour, she says, is help give women the encouragement and confidence that they can walk away from a bad situation and, with the help of resources like Women in Crisis, learn how to overcome it. “I want people to take with them an awareness of the issues of homelessness and abuse both verbal and physical, and I want women to take away a great feeling about themselves and their role in society, and mostly to have a great show.”

Other performers at the Guelph show will include Natasha Pasternak, Ambre McLean and Danielle Todd. Tickets will be $12 at the door. For more information on Kent and her music go to her website http://www.lynziekent.com/ and for more information about Guelph Women In Crisis and the work that they do, you can go to their website at http://www.gwwomenincrisis.org/

Sandals raises the roof (and replaces it) for GLT

We don’t report much news with our MPP Liz Sandals, and since I’m the only one that works for me, I guess I’m to blame. But this piece of news fit my Arts & Culture idea nicely. Last week, Sandals was on hand at the Guelph Little Theatre to announce a $54,000 Trillium Grant bestowed upon the GLT with the intention that they get a new roof put on their 73-year-old building. As it stands now, the GLT has been spending between $4,000 and $5,000 yearly just to maintain the roof, so this money should be a load off, no pun intended. "These renovations will continue to present the wonderful live theatre that people have become accustomed to," said Catharine Collins of the Ontario Trillium Foundation.

Library going solo in east end

Instead of a fully-developed intersection including office and retail space, it seems that the corner of Watson Parkway and Starwood Drive will have to make due with a standalone library as the new 7,500 sq-foot branch is the only thing getting built for right now. Toronto-based developer Metrus Properties informed the city of the change to their plan last week. The new branch of the Guelph Library was meant to jumpstart development in the growing east end, which is under-serviced by retail options, including, but not limited to, grocery stores and other shopping amenities. "They still will (go ahead with other developments), but it's just a matter of timing," said City of Guelph senior development planner Chris DeVriendt. "Right now, the library can proceed with site planning only." Construction could start as early as this summer.

The Last Stand of a Family Thrift Store

Along the aisles of this store is a veritable haberdashery of knick-knacks and articles. A certain Echo columnist once completed his set of McDonalds collectable Batman Returns cups here.

But on this Thursday, you can walk past tiki heads, Buddha statues, convenience store candy racks, old sports jerseys, and stacks of VHS tapes and books. There’s no shortage to the treasures and oddities you’ll find at the Family Thrift Store on Wyndham; be it a valued record or some random guy’s head x-ray.

And that’s to say nothing of all the hundreds of people of limited means that have been assisted by the store since Ray Mitchell took it over 16 years ago. But now it seems increasingly likely that future generations will not have this resource to draw upon.

A council meeting on February 17th seems to have sealed Mitchell’s fate, and that of his store. The city approved the concept calling for the construction of a new 90,000 square-foot building face, the centrepiece of which is the new main branch of the Guelph Public Library. Open space, new parking and a re-development of Baker Street to include new commercial and residential space is also part of the plan.

“This concept for the Baker St. site offers upwards of 20,000 square feet of commercial space, mixed residential development a minimum of 400 public parking spaces,” said Peter Cartwright, Guelph’s General Manager of Economic Development and Tourism Services in a press release. “More details about the types of housing and the distribution of parking spaces will become clearer as we develop our project plan.”

Another aspect that isn’t clear is the timetable. For development to move forward, the four buildings currently sitting on the block – from the Cowboy Bar to the Old Post Office – will have to be torn down. But when? “Somebody should have been here Wednesday morning to give me a time frame, even if the time frame is ‘we don’t know for sure,’” says Mitchell. “At least I’d know, do I have a month? Do I have a year? There’s no common courtesy at all.”

What bothers Mitchell is not so much the city’s slow reaction to giving him firm deadlines to move out, but that they’ve know it’s been coming for a while now. “They spent a million dollars on a search process when they already knew where it was going to be,” says Mitchell. “They pretended that they were going through the process. […] Two years ago, they put a chill on this whole block and that’s why all the buildings are empty.”

Mitchell does have support on council though, despite the overwhelming vote of 10 to 2 for approval of the plan. The two were Ward 6 Councillor Christine Billings and Ward 4 Councillor Gloria Kovach. Amongst their concerns is the loss of commercial space and affordable housing units, as well as taking on the huge cost for construction in the midst of the global economic recession.

“Finance has not conveyed how we are going to pay for it,” explains Billings, who adds that she also has questions about the full extent of the downtown’s parking needs. “The downtown has on numerous occasions requested more parking than they have in the Baker St lot. This current proposal, with the number of residential units identified would not achieve this. When I asked staff at Council if there was enough parking, the response was that they didn’t know.”

“I fully support branch libraries and feel the main branch could use some upgrades, however we don't need to spend $55 million, which will be over $70 million by the time their done for this project,” adds Kovach. “Council needs to be realistic when it comes to spending and realize what is happening economically and to our City.”

Economics are foremost on Mitchell’s mind, both the economics of losing the store that provides his livelihood, and the optics of the city’s desire to remould downtown into something more appealing to a certain type of resident. “What you’re going to get is a downtown full of rich people and the first thing they’re going to do is complain about the noise at night, and then there’s no more night life,” he explains.

“They want it to be ‘family-friendly,’ but my store’s the Family Thrift Store. How much more family-friendly can you get?”

Further, Mitchell accuses city staff of playing a shell game with the announcement of this important vote. “They weren’t even going to let us know about the meeting. They sent out the notice the Friday before the long weekend and we had about three hours to respond on Tuesday morning; we should have had at least two week. They’re really trying to keep opposition to a minimum.”

And the opposition is quite substantial. Mitchell not only donates furniture and other items to local charities, but he donates cheap studio space to local artists and musicians. Even the store itself has become an impromptu musical venue.

Right now, five University of Guelph arts students are using Mitchell’s space, and he considers it a worthy investment because every successful artist needs helping starting out. A fact that the bands Magic and the D’Urbervilles know all too well having owed a degree of their success to Mitchell’s graces.

“I’m only one person, so I won’t be the big loser in the whole thing,” says Mitchell. “It’s going to be my thousands of customers and the kids that come to the concerts and the artists that paint next door. They’re going to be missing me more than I’m missing them.”

Mitchell’s sanguine about his fate. On an above average busy day at the Thrift store the one thing on many of the customers’ minds is “What’s next?” The Guelph Downtown Business Association has said that they will assist businesses and tenants in finding a new location and moving costs, but looking out at the expanse of curios and furniture that stretch across two floors, one’s forced to wonder where such a space downtown can be found. The truth is, and Mitchell agrees, that it probably won’t.

Wyndham Arts Supplies used to be sandwiched between the Cowboy Bar and Family Thrift Store, but it moved across the road and down the street last Fall. Other store fronts on the block have been empty for over a year, with no new renters because of the perception that any store wouldn’t be operating on that site for very long.

Mitchell, and the other tenants that have stayed, now feel the pinch especially. “If I had a lease, they’d by me out of the lease,” explains Mitchell. “But because the fix was in two years ago, my landlord hasn’t given me a lease in two years and now he wants to put my rent up because if it goes to expropriation he gets more money.”

Despite his steady business, and a grassroots effort for a reprieve, Mitchell sees the writing on the wall. “I’m completely screwed,” he says flatly, adding that the only compensation he could get is in the seemingly unlikely event he could find a new location for his store. In the meantime though, “My sales go down, my rent goes up and if I leave then he gets rent relief from the city because he lost his tenant. So at the end of the day he can end up with no tenants and more money.”

But what happens to the vast array of items in the actual store? “It goes to the dump or maybe a big free sale,” says Mitchell. “Or maybe we’ll get a chain gang together and take it all down to city hall and dump it out front. I’m not really sure.”

Budget, Input and LIMITS

Guelph’s Got Budget

Just before Christmas, in what was comparatively a quite session over last year’s ruckus council meeting, Guelph now has a budget for the 2009 fiscal year. The good news is that the tax increase is coming in at 3.7 per cent, the lowest rate increase yet in the last five years. The bad news though is that just hours prior to the meeting, the Provincial government said that Guelph would not be receiving Ontario Municipal Partnership Funding for 2009, leaving a $1.45 million shortfall. But overall, staff was pleased with the result. “Our goal with this budget is to continue to provide high quality public services and ensure good value for people’s tax dollars,” says the City’s Treasurer, Margaret Neubauer in a press release. “It’s a matter of balancing the quality of service people expect from the City, with the cost of providing those services.”

But aside from keeping up present services, including making permanent seasonal overnight parking and free two-hour parking downtown, as well as the 20 minute bus service, there are some other new additions. Money has been promised to the completion of the east-end library and an additional $25,000 will be earmarked for the Neighbourhood Support Coalition. As for new city hires, additions to staff will include a new staffer for corporate communications, a supervisor of arts and culture and the hiring of one new police officer and four full-time and one part-time staffer for the police station. The Guelph Police force had originally asked that four more officers be hired for the new year.

City Council also directed city staff to investigate the impact of the OMPF cuts, be it in the form of service cuts or looking for new revenue. At the very least, the city will be appealing the Province’s decision, but other money issues did arise. Council was given notice the Friday before that Wellington County Health and Social Services revised its funding requirements and is asking for an additional $625,000 from the City. “While Council has approved the 2009 budget, the tax rate will be set early next year after further discussion with the Province and the County. We still have some time to consider our financial alternatives,” says Neubauer.

The vote passed unanimously and in a relatively reasonable amount of time for a budget meeting. Last year, the vote was disrupted by protestors that heckled council throughout the meeting before a fire alarm was pulled just prior to the taking of the vote.

Council wants your input

The City is inviting input from residents and delegations on the Development Charges Act, which is the proposed new development charges by-law. The background study and proposed by-law will be available for viewing on the City of Guelph’s website on January 12th while the meeting itself will take place in the Main Council Chamber on January 26th at 7 pm. To register as a delegation and speak to Council at this meeting contact Joyce Sweeney, Council Committee Co-ordinator at 519-822-1260 x 2440 or joyce.sweeney@guelph.ca or Dolores Black Assistant Council Committee Co-ordinator at 519-822-1260 x 2269 or dolores.black@guelph.ca by Wednesday January 21st.

New Group looking to set LIMITS

Speaking of development, a new group called Land Is More Important Than Sprawl (LIMITS) is getting a jump on the new year to organize against the planned creation of the Hanlon Creek Business Park in the south end. Saying that the City of Guelph is looking to start development of the 675-acre site this spring, LIMITS is looking to light a fire under current or potential city activists to take up the cause. They’re holding a meeting on Monday January 12th at 7 pm at Fresh Start, 40 Baker Street downtown. “Currently we are only a few people, and we would love to diversify and be part of a strong community opposition to such reckless development,” said an e-mail. If your interested in joining up, helping out, or otherwise learning more about LIMITS and its cause, e-mail guelphlimits@gmail.com.