Welcome to the Guelph Politico Tip Sheet, a thrice-a-week newsletter meant to “tip” you off about some of the important stuff going on in the Royal City. It arrives directly in your inbox on Monday, Wednesday and Friday mornings.
Committee of the Whole Meeting – June 7
It was a very technocratic June meeting for Committee of the Whole with the presentation of the external audit, the presentation of two updates to water-based master plans, and the designation of Guelph as bird city. There was also a marathon staff recognition, which got to happen in-person, in the council chambers, for the first time in 26 months.
Matthew Betink from KMPG presented the external audit, and "KPMG did not find any issues through our audit procedures on the above noted areas of focus," is a statement frequently used in this report.
Shanna O’Dwyer from the City of Guelph reported that when it comes to the long-term finances of the City, the health of the administration’s reserves is coming at the expense of the difficulty getting capital projects started, but that’s a long-term issue. As for short-term, Betik said that inflation will likely be the most immediate financial pressure with fuel and infrastructure being especially impacted by recent global economic trends.
After a short break, council unanimously passed a motion to become a bird city, and formally inducting the Black-capped Chickadee as Guelph’s official bird. There was some concern about municipal autonomy when it comes to some of the conditions that Guelph needs to meet in order to be a bird city, but Planner II Environmental Planner Leah Lefler assured committee that Nature Canada’s points system gave council lots of flexibility.
Next, General Manager of Environmental Services Jennifer Rose presented the 2021 Water Supply Master Plan Update, and the 2022 Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Management Master Plan Update. Both covered aspects of water management over the next 30 years, and both presented the need for a lot of capital investment over the next three decades.
The presentation was fairly straightforward, but committee wanted to know about the cost impact of capital water projects, specifically the projects meant to accommodate growth in Guelph. A utility rate study should be commencing later this year, and these master plans will also feed into the Development Charge Study. There was also some public concern about how the expansion of the water treatment plant might affect nearby trails, but there will a lot of public engagement on that when the time comes.
The last item was the request by Guelph’s two licensed cab companies to increase their fare rates by approximately 6.7 per cent, which translates to an increase of 20 cents to the base rate when the cabbie first turns on the metre. Mayor Cam Guthrie asked about the antiquated motion and staff said it was because this is the process laid out in current bylaw. GM of Operations Doug Godfrey added that they are in the early stages of looking at de-regulation for cab fees.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
The next meeting of city council is the planning meeting on Monday. You can see the Politico preview here, and you have until this Friday morning at 10 am to register with the clerks office as a delegate or to send a correspondence.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
The jury didn’t deliberate very long in the case of two brothers charged in the death of Nick Tanti in February 2020. Aidan Kee was found guilty of manslaughter Tuesday evening while his younger brother Angus was acquitted.
The credit rating agency S&P has revised their framework for judging municipalities, and if Guelph holds up in its annual review, we could be looking at a AAA credit rating.
Pride decorations were vandalized in Minto, and while the community is offering support, the local Pride committee says they’ve been warned about further acts of vandalism.
Ward 3 Councillor June Hofland brings the total number of city councillors not running for re-election this fall up to four. Lame duck rules now apply in August.
Wellington, Dufferin, and Guelph Public Health is now updating local COVID-19 case numbers on a weekly basis. You can get the latest statistics in Friday’s newsletter. You can also check the Public Health site for the latest vaccination rates.
Across Ontario on Tuesday there were 537 new cases of COVID-19 and four new fatalities, but on Monday there were 468 new cases and zero deaths from the virus. There was also progress in hospital cases, with now just 808 COVID patients in Ontario hospitals, including 140 people who are in intensive care. There are still 74 active outbreaks in long-term care homes though, plus 39 in retirement homes, and 25 in hospitals.
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Guelph Transit rides are free today so leave your car at home!
Speaking of roads, three of the worst ones in southwestern Ontario are in Guelph according to the CAA. Guelph roads didn’t make the national top 10, but Speedvale Avenue West, York Road, Speedvale Avenue East made the regional Top 5.
Newly re-election Wellington-Halton Hills MPP Ted Arnott has already submitted his wish list to Premier Doug Ford.
The University of Guelph will be holding convocation events for graduates from 2020 and 2021 who didn’t have a chance to cross the stage and get handed their degree in-person. New chancellor Dr. Mary Anne Chambers will also be installed during convocation week on June 14.
Waterloo District School Board trustee Mike Ramsay has been found in violation of the board’s code of conduct and can’t take part in committee of the whole meetings till September. The nature of the complaints against Ramsay is not public known, but the accused himself said it was a "political vendetta."
The Sagkeeng First Nation in Manitoba has identified 190 anomalies that might be unmarked graves in a study of the grounds at the site of the Fort Alexander Residential School.
The Village Media fiefdom has expanded again to include Halton Hills Today.
This week on Open Sources Guelph, Scotty Hertz and I will talk about the fallout from last week’s Ontario election and what comes next at Queen’s Park, plus we will talk about what’s been happening with the war in Ukraine over the last few weeks. In the second half of the show, in his first official OSG interview post-re-election, we’ll talk to Guelph MPP and Green Party leader Mike Schreiner.
Tune in to Open Sources Guelph later today at 5 pm on CFRU 93.3 fm!
Listen to Open Sources Guelph, as well as the Guelph Politicast and End Credits, any time by subscribing to the Guelph Politicast channel on your favourite podcast app at Apple, Stitcher, Google, and Spotify.
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And finally, feel free to reach out to me by email at adamadonaldson [at] gmail [dot] com, or find me on Facebook, Twitter, and, of course, GuelphPolitico.ca!