Budget, Snow Days and Baseball

There Will Be Budget

Opening arguments were made for the 2011 capital and operating budgets last Monday night at City Council. First the good news: revenues are bouncing back and signs point to a recovery in the local economy following the last, great worldwide recession. Because of that, the City’s looking to loosen the purse strings and get hiring. Additionally, there will be no five-day layoffs or shutdowns in 2011, with the City of Guelph being open all 52 weeks this year. Most of the new hiring has to do with the plethora of new city facilities coming on line this year – the transit hub, Market Square, the new Civic Museum and Organic Waste Plant. Additionally, there are new city facilities that were opened in 2010, that will now have to be covered for a full year of operating expenses.

But you can’t have good news without some bad news, and though a lot of the pre-recession spending was returned, not all of it was. There’ll be no 20-minute service for Guelph Transit this summer, and indeed, there may even be a cash fare increase of 10 cents, which could be integrated as early as May. But Transit may not be the only fee increase coming to a city service near you in 2011; parking fees in particular will increase with the additional revenue being put towards transit. As for the number we’ve all been waiting for, the bump in the property tax, which will see an increase by 5.67 per cent. City Staff wanted to make particular note that they were trying to balance sustainability and affordability in going in to this year’s budget.

To learn more about this year’s budget and to follow the process along in the coming month, go to my blog at http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

In Reverse

Was everybody else underwhelmed by the “snow-pocalypse” that hit us last week? Certainly, there were a lot of people unpleased initially by the sheer tonnage of snow being forecast, and then later by the fact that we only got a percentage of what was promised. Apparently, there’s no pleasing some people. Too much snow, not enough snow, and on top it, the whole thing went down on Groundhog Day. Cosmic coincidence, or was Mother Nature flipping us the bird for all the whining despite the fact that this was the worst winter storm to hit us in over two years?

But out of that contradiction came an even more interesting phenomenon. For only when the weather threatens to make the Hoth system look like a tropical vacation does the University of Guelph pre-emptively shut its doors. To all our U of G readers, I hope you enjoyed your snow day, because God knows there’s a better chance of a rich man passing through the eye of a needle than the administration of the University deciding to put the kibosh on a day of classes. I went to school at the U of G for four years and worked there for another three, and I can count on one hand the number of times that place was closed. It’s not often that the phrase “Once in a Blue Moon” gets taken so literally.

No Joy in Royal City Ville

The outlook wasn't brilliant for Guelph baseball fans last Wednesday; time had run out and the City’s Intercounty Baseball League team, The Royals, had no more innings to play. The last hope for a lease at Hastings Stadium died first, and the patience of the IBL did the same. A sickly silence fell upon the patrons of the game. It was a silence that seemed to extend to Royal’s president and managing partner Jim Rooney, who emailed a short news release last Wednesday afternoon to the Guelph Mercury. It said that his team “has not reached an agreement for a long-term lease agreement with the City of Guelph. As a result, the Team will ask the IBL to suspend operations for the 2011 season.”

Big deal, you may scoff, it’s just small town baseball. Well the situation is this: The Royals are one of the IBL’s founding members, now benched for the 2011 season. The difficulty isn’t just in the fact that an agreement on the stadium wasn’t quite able to be reached, but because the matter ate additional time needed to shore up the team’s financials for this coming season. The shame of it is that The Royals are a solid team. They’ve made the playoffs the last 11 seasons in a row, won back-to-back championships in 2003 and 2004, and have made it so far as the semi-finals the last three years in a row. Strange that this winning team shall be forced to stay home for a year, while the Blue Jays continue to fumble all the way to the bottom of the standings… C’est la vie.

Ward 5: The “Sandwich” Effect

Nearing the completion of its cross-city tour, this week’s penultimate edition of “Better Know a Ward” brings us to Ward 5. The uniqueness of this particular area, according to its representatives Councillors Leanne Piper and Lise Burcher, is that Ward 5 is sandwiched between two different cultures: downtown and the south end. As well, there’s a “vibrancy that comes from having a high student population,” says Piper, as Ward 5 is home to the University of Guelph and numerous students, staff and faculty that have settled nearby. As well, the HQ of The Ontario Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs (OMAFRA) and the largest commercial zone in the city in and around Stone Road Mall dwell within Ward 5.

At the same time, Ward 5 hosts a very active community. Not only socially-conscious U of G students, but also several well established neighbourhood groups like the Hanlon Creek Neighbourhood Group and the Old University Neighbourhood Residents' Association. In fact, the OUNRA is where many city councillors, including former Ward 5 rep Cathy Downer and Burcher, got their political start. “They’re a really good training ground for citizen engagement,” says Burcher. “The good thing is that it was very much about community mobilization, and very much focused on engagement and bringing people to the table.”

As for the issues, Piper and Burcher face the usual things associated with a heavy student populated area, but not so much the usual development issues being discussed throughout the rest of the city. One on the duo’s radar though is the ongoing concern from the Guelph Limestone Inc (formally Dolime) property just adjacent to the Ward along Arkell Rd, east of Victoria St. S. “It has become an issue, not just in terms of noise, but blasting, migration, and water quality,” says Piper. “The city has taken a very strong position that the pit needs to be decommissioned to protect our surface water.”

“What we want to do is encourage Carson-Reid (the owner’s of the quarry) to get to the end use plan and stop the blasting and stop the excavation,” adds Burcher. “The really serious risk from a water quality perspective is that recently there was a geological survey conducted and the City of Guelph was told that they could see the top half of the aquifer, had actually been removed in one portion.”

City requests for operations to cease seem to have been ignored and the concern is that there might be contamination of the aquifer from surface water. The result is that the water would have to be treated at the cost of millions of dollars. Sadly, this is provincial jurisdiction and the city can’t seem to get the traction it needs from the Ministry of the Environment. But there are hopes that there’ll be a break on that soon with help from community pressure and groups like Wellington Water Watchers.

Another issue that generated some heat in Ward 5 early this year was the removal of older, dying trees in Royal City Park. “It had to be done in my opinion, however unfortunate that is,” said Piper. “It’s a very significant move on the city’s part to go from just managing trees on an ad hoc basis to doing a very comprehensive urban forestry master plan for the whole city,” adds Burcher. Although the removal of trees is sad, they say, it’s necessary in order to keep the city’s urban forests healthy. As well, they add, it’s part of the city’s new commitment to the health of these trees, which is now being only limited by budget restraints.

Having said that and considering re-election plans, both councillors affirm that they are interested in pursuing political life after this fall’s election. “Many of the initiatives that you begin in 2006, you can't see through in four years,” said Piper in response to being asked about re-election. “Two terms of council, I think, are a minimum in order to feel satisfied that you've made a difference and you've seen through your vision into action. So yes, I'm running again.”

“Absolutely, I plan on running again,” responded Burcher. “And having been there another term I have to say that several of the large initiatives we've talked about started two terms ago. But I think the exciting thing now is that there have been so many initiatives in the last two terms, I would venture that it's a 10, 12 year outcome for a lot of those larger things to even get to the starting stage.”

In any event, Burcher considers it important that every citizen be part of the process at all levels, and not just at the voting booth on Election Day. “I believe it’s critical that we engage citizens very intentionally and very effectively, early and often as it goes, to contribute to and be the creators of these plans moving forward. And I think effective citizen engagement really draws that community value. It’s not about doing it for people, but doing it with them.”

For “Better Know a Ward” segments past and present go to http://guelphpolitico.blogspot.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.)

Flood Cheque, Hearing Delayed and Free Rides

Receipt for River Run Flood

Damage to the River Run Centre after a flood this past Victoria Day long weekend, including repair to the stage and lost revenue, is estimated to come out to about $300,000. Won’t insurance cover that, you’re probably asking. Well yes, the insurance will cover much of that 300 grand price tag, but there’s still the small matter of the $50,000 deductible and the $10,000 temporary set up of lights and stage that allowed the Centre to continue its pre-booked program for the two weeks during the clean-up. On the bright side though, the next time the River Run has a false fire alarm it won’t require the clean-up from the flood damage of 8,000 gallons of water. "We're replacing the water wall system with a fire curtain," general manager Colleen Clack told the Guelph Mercury. "That will come out of the $2.2-million infrastructure money we received.''
 

Hearing Delayed

The Ontario Municipal Board hearing in regards to the disputed Lafarge lands in the city’s west end has been postponed a week due to “member availability.” The hearing was scheduled for July 27th, but has instead been moved to a week later for August 4th. Because I’m sure we’ve all forgotten, let’s reminisce a little about what the deal is with that triangular tract of land just off the Hanlon Parkway. Last January, the neighbourhood group Howitt Park Neighbourhood Residents' Association opposed a plan brought forward to council three years ago which would see heavy commercial develop on the site. Through mediation, the HPNRA, the City of Guelph and Silvercreek (Guelph) Developments Ltd reached a deal which would see the commercial space reduced by half with more residential areas worked into the compromised plan. The so-called fifth dentist in this matter is Armel, who don’t like any commercial space in the area because they’re worried about losing traffic on their own developing shopping centre at Imperial and Paisley. The hearing will take place in the council chambers at 1 Carden Street.
 

No More Free Rides

The University of Guelph and the City of the same are looking at upgrading student bus passes to something more high tech after a 26-year-old student was caught using a counterfeit bus pass a few weeks back. "It's not a huge problem, but it's a problem. We get some each year,'' says interim manager of transit services Rudy Stehle. "But we don't really know how many are out there. There may be more than we even know of.'' It’s particularly a problem during the summer months when the Central Student Association gives out only a limited number of bus pass stickers going mostly to students taking summer courses. The problem of fakes, says Guelph Transit, has become particularly pronounced in the last few years. So much so that a $50 fine was instituted last school year in an attempt to stymie the number of fakes being made. Stehle told the Guelph Mercury that there is money currently in the budget to eventually change the passes to something more like a smart card, akin to the TTC Metro passes in Toronto. "Next year, we're going to take the first steps (toward change),'' Stehle said. “But as soon as you come up with something new, someone comes up with a method to fool it.''

New City Hall Opened, and OPIRG Coup?

At Last…

The new City Hall finally, and officially, opened for business last Tuesday April 7; that is if you don’t count that big brown patch of land where the landscaping has yet to be done. Regardless of the aesthetics and the trim, the important thing is that all city services are now under one roof rather than spread out across five buildings downtown. "It’s the first stop for anyone visiting City Hall," says ServiceGuelph Supervisor, Markham Wismer. "People can purchase transit passes, sign up for recreation programs, buy dog licenses, pay parking tickets and property taxes and more." ServiceGuelph is now open Monday to Friday, 8:30 am to 4:30 pm.

And along with convenience comes some impressive Green credentials for the new building: a green roof, living wall, eco-friendly building materials and fixtures that use 30 per cent less water than a typical office building. Guelph’s City Hall is built to the LEED Silver Standard set out by the Canadian Green Building Council. Also a first, the City Hall is the first building in Guelph to be bottled-water free. For a closer look visit the City of Guelph website at http://guelph.ca/cityhall.

No-PIRG, they didn’t. Did they?

Who would have guessed that a simple Board of Directors election for a small community activism group out of the University of Guelph would generate the kind of electoral fervour not seen since Bush V. Gore. Here’s the skinny: recently the Guelph-branch of the Ontario Public Interest Research Group (OPIRG) held elections to fill vacancies on its Board of Directors. Controversy erupted after OPIRG extended the nomination deadline after it had passed. According to OPIRG, the deadline was extended because they had not received enough nominations to fill two community member seats on the Board. However, some are accusing of OPIRG of playing partisan politics in order to keep four members of Guelph Campus Conservatives from being elected.

Now why would OPIRG, granted a left-leaning organization, want to keep out four eager and community-minded youngsters from joining their esteemed group? Well, it apparently has something to do with a Conservative conspiracy and some audio recordings, photographs and documents that were leaked from a recent Conservative Party student workshop at the University of Waterloo. Among those present at the workshop were Member of Parliament for Kitchener-Waterloo, Peter Braid and his campaign manager, Aaron Lee-Wudrick. Reportedly Lee-Wudrick can be heard on the recording saying, "If it's possible if, in one fell swoop, to take over the Board of Directors [of OPIRG], I think that it would be pretty impressive, and you'd be a hero to the Conservative movement if you can pull that off."

Two executives of the Central Student Association, External Affairs Commissioner Cailey Campbell and Local Affairs Commissioner Arden Hagedorn, believed that the four members of GCC were taking those words to heart and sent out e-mails accusing them of trying to usurp OPIRG mandate. The four young men though say that there was no hanky-panky with their decision to run for OPIRG’s Board, and that they didn’t even know about the content of the U of W workshop; they simply wanted to make OPIRG-Guelph more transparent and less partisan.

Needless to say though, that’s not the end of it. On his blog, the Christian Conservative posted a letter received through his anonymous source of the Request for Discovery filled by the four Conservative to the OPIRG-Guelph Appeals Board. Amongst the papers being requested by the appeal are minutes and notes of all Board of Directors meetings from March 19^th to 31^st; all resolutions made by the BoD both in and outside Board meetings during the same time period; and e-mails between OPIRG staff, Board, Campbell and Hagedorn. The response to this appeal was not known by deadline. For more information as it develops head to my blog at guelphpolitico.blogspot.com/

Ward 1: The Centre of it All

After an unpredictably lengthy hiatus, it’s time to return to my award-eligible series (hint), “Better Know a Ward.” For the third part of this six part series, we go to St. Patrick’s; Ward 1 – the Fightin’ First. The borders of Ward 1 extend from downtown to the south-eastern border of Guelph; everything east of Victoria Road, and south of Eramosa and Eastview Roads. The two people charged with representing this diverse area are first-term Councillor’s Kathleen Farrelly and Bob Bell. I sat down with Farrelly and Bell last week, in the parlour of Farrelly’s home, to talk about issues in the Ward.

Bell and Farrelly make no qualms, they both consider Downtown Guelph to be the most important part of the city and there are some big changes coming in the next couple of years. The next step comes in January, when council will vote on whether or not to make the downtown train station the official Go Train terminal in Guelph. Bell calls it “the single biggest thing that will happen to downtown Guelph this decade,” and is part of an overall plan to revolutionize transit in, and out of, town.

The target date right now is to bring the GO Train back to Guelph by 2011, but before that, Bell and Farrelly have their eyes set on 2010, the date to create a new transit hub along Carden Street, bringing together out of town buses, trains and Guelph Transit into a single strip in the downtown. “That would enable someone to get from downtown Toronto to the University [of Guelph], on public transit, in about 70 minutes,” explains Bell. “That’s when you can really get people hauled out of their cars, if you can provide a faster service.” Adds Farrelly, “And to be as convenient as possible, which it would.”

This plan has not come without some controversy however. “Some people are very much against the relocation of the transit hub and some people seem to love it,” says Farrelly. “What was explained to us is that while the hub is being moved, the buses will still go through downtown, we’re not losing that bus stop downtown.” What might be lost though is the number of buses going through downtown. In order to create more efficiency, and to expedite travel from points A to B, Bell particularly wants to see Guelph Transit move to a grid system with express and cross-town routes that don’t have to stop downtown.

In the meantime, there are concerns in the Ward beyond transit, but are nonetheless of practical importance: the grocery store and retail deficit in the East End. “What the East Enders want is fair city investment, and the provision of services there to be at a par with other areas of the city,” says Bell. “There’s no dispute right now that they’re being treated unfairly.” Farrelly adds that the delay is not the fault of the city, but the fact that the corporations that own the land, Loblaws and Metro, have yet to capitalize. “What they’re saying is that they’re rethinking the size of the store, with the view of not having the huge stores they presented.”

And that’s not likely to change given current economic conditions and in a new age of fiscal restraint given the global recession. Like all city employees and representatives, Bell and Farrelly say they’re looking for ways to keep costs down and are re-evaluating certain purchases. Bell says he took a suggestion that the city could put off the purchase of replacement computers, which has a price tag of $1 million. “You have to be very conscious of where your discretionary funding goes,” he says. Buying new computers won’t necessarily help Guelph because they’re manufactured overseas.

All-in-all, and given the seemingly enormous nature of some of the issues facing the ward, Farrelly and Bell say that the job has been more or less what they expected. But Farrelly knew advanced what her duties might entail; her son was on the council from 1993 to 2003. And if there’s one thing these two Ward 1 representatives have in common, it’s a dislike for the trappings of government. “I’m very impatient with red tap and bureaucracy,” says Farrelly, who adds that she’s learning patience. But if she and Bell are proud of one thing, it’s maintaining a campaign promise to keep council functional and communicative. “Even though we disagree on issues, we still maintain our civility and friendliness, we don’t harbour ill-will,” she adds, “We’ve made a point of that.”

A King Ready to Serve the People

Tom King is standing outside his home, getting his picture taken by a Macleans photographer. Caught between a busy campaigning schedule and a healthy lunch of a sandwich and fruit, I sat with King at his kitchen table to talk shop. “I’m happy that we finally have a by-election at last,” he says between bites. And after a year a half of solid, “unofficial” campaigning, who could blame him.

This is King’s first go at elected office; the latest in a long line of odd jobs and careers that started with working as a stock boy at J.C. Penny at the age of 17 and went on to include selling shoes, working on a tramp steamer, being an ambulance driver, a photojournalist, a bank teller, even a door-to-door encyclopaedia salesman. “I know what the ‘McJobs’ of the world are like, I’ve done them,” he explains. “I [also] know what being poor is like and that there’s no romance in being poor.”

Lately, King is best known as renowned author, radio host and community activist. He’s a member of the Order of Canada, a Massey Lecturer and a University of Guelph professor. He says that he’s been a “political animal” for most his life and that running for office now represents a change from doing “nightshift politics” to doing the “dayshift.” “You’re never sure how much a change you’ve actually make and the question I’ve always had is ‘Are there other areas I can get engaged in where I can be more effective?’”

One of the places where King is already effective is his role as a satirist. He says that having humour is an important character trait when dealing with politics. That and a “decent brain” along with a willingness to back anyone with a good idea, King says, makes him a good candidate. “I’ve gotten to an age where I’m reasonably fearless,” he adds. “I want to do it because I think it should be done well.”

When King was asked by an Ottawa reporter about why he wanted to run, he said, “It was high time we elected someone to Parliament that’s trying to be funny,” adding that “the poor guy looked at me and said, ‘That’s a joke, right?’” Great lines like that are characteristic of King’s wit, but it represents what he’s serious about: changing the tone in Parliament specifically and the people’s views of politics generally.

“We live in an era where politics has a dirty name, something that’s to be practiced in the shadows,” he says. “One of the things I believe in is that politicians cannot make the kinds of changes we need to make until you get the community energized and up and looking at politics as a community activity and making it fun again. […] We can’t lead you anywhere unless you want to go.”

And leadership hasn’t been a problem with King’s campaign. It’s been a source of some humour at just how often NDP leader Jack Layton rolls into the Royal City in order to support his party’s nominee. King says he’s been thrilled by that support and the backing of other prominent members of the party. “[Layton] went door-to-door with me last night, and that’s fairly unusual for a national leader, but he makes the time to do that. I think it says to the electorate that I have the respect of the NDP and the NDP caucus.”

As for his stand on the issues, King says that they’re not hard to figure out because he’s been articulating them for years. “The good thing is that if you want to know what I think about on any of these issues, you can go down and get a book of mine and look it up,” he explains “You don’t have to guess, you don’t have to believe my promises or what I say in speeches, I’ve actually put that into print and I’ve done that for years.”

But King says above all, he hears the call for a change in direction from the average citizen on the street. “I talk with people, sometimes desperate people, who all they want is a fair share of the wealth of the nation. So in some ways, I’ve listened to the voices that I’m going to hear as an MP.” As for his own voice, King says he’s had over 20 years on the national stage to hone it and he’s ready to use to represent Guelph. “I think I have that voice and the willingness to use that voice.”

Stay tuned next week for another candidate profile. And for ongoing developments and commentary of the by-election, check out my by-election blog at http://guelphbyelectionbeat.blogspot.com/

Amazing Possibilities; Potential Realities

To a nearly packed house in the University of Guelph’s MacNaughton Building, a distinguished panel discussed ways in which the Royal City can implement a responsible development strategy.

The Guelph Civic League and the U of G’s School of Environmental Design and Rural Development co-sponsored the Amazing Possibilities III conference. The series, which was started in 2005, has been a progression from discussing better ways to address change, to how the city can implement that change to how everyone can be brought together and engage the community.

The keynote speaker was Larry Beasley, a proverbial rock god of urban development not just in Canada, but around the world. Beasley popularized the “Vancouver Model,” the revitalization of the city’s downtown core by transforming it into a vibrant and liveable residential community.

Beasley’s methodology is the primary reason for Vancouver’s rapid growth over the past 25 years and as such he’s been asked to consult with cities across Canada, the US, China and Australia.

Two of the key points to Beasley’s address were that cities need to be creative, using what they have and actually designing the city rather than letting it be “the result of random economic activity.” He quoted Brazilian urbanist Jaime Lerner, “Every city has to have a design; a city without a design doesn’t know where it’s going; doesn’t know how to grow.”

One of the things that Beasley wanted to emphasize was that what worked for Vancouver will not necessarily translate to other municipalities; “no tried and true formula,” he observed. But the underline theme is always the same: a city should always look to “a policy of residents-based growth.”

It’s called a living first strategy, you’re not just buying a home, you’re buying a neighbourhood as well. So within the same relative area you should have parks, schools, libraries, day cares, community centres, walkways, bikeways and places for public art. You also make the street aesthetically appealing, thereby toning down “harshness of modern architecture.”

“Density is our friend,” said Beasley, who added the need to also create a vibrant social mix through intense development and increased diversity. On the one hand, this means creating an economic mix through including social housing in a development and on the other creating a place that’s appealing accessible to seniors and children. In other words: “A place that works well for children works well for everybody.”

Finally, Beasley re-enforced the fact that this kind of development can happen quickly so long as all parties can agree on the direction. The recipe is strong planning policies, architectural guidelines and community involvement, with the city, citizens and developers working in tandem with common goal.

Following Beasley’s address, Mark Reid of Urban Strategies discussed some of the consultation his firm has done in working with the city as it looks to revitalize Guelph’s downtown core.

Reid began by saying that Guelph was ideally located. Our sprawl can be controlled thanks to our relative location to the protected Green belt and that by keeping surrounding farmland we maintain a tight urban boundary. According to Reid, the main potential of Guelph is to reinvent the things that aren’t working within the current city borders.

For Reid, one area of “significant potential” is around the area between Wellington St. E. and the Speed River. In place of the plazas and fast food eateries that currently stand in this locale, Reid proposes that downtown be “lowered” and the river view be opened up to be seen from the street.

He made a similar suggestion for Guelph’s other riverfront along Woolwich St. and the Eramosa Rover. But another more interesting concept by Reid is to bring a piece of the University of Guelph onto downtown in order to bring “youth, energy and tolerance” into the heart of the city.

On display outside the lecture hall was a model of Guelph’s downtown Reid’s group made in consultation with citizens during a 2-day visioning in Old Quebec Street Mall. The first stage in what will be an ongoing consultation process with citizens, according to Reid.