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 Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday mornings.
Special Meeting of City Council – September 22
In a special Wednesday meeting, staff presented the draft secondary plan for Clair-Maltby, a highly consequential 1,300-page document that will determine how at least 16,000 people will make this new area home over the next 30 years.
After the staff presentation, there were five delegations that presented an even mix of opinions about the plan as presented. A couple of the delegates thought that there were still some big concerns about public space and the protection of the sensitive environment. Others thought that the plan took reasonable pro-active steps to protect cultural heritage. Even the one representative of an area developer said that with a few notable exceptions, she liked what the plan had laid out.
Councillors had many esoteric concerns including the costs of establishing the infrastructure in the area, the potential impact on the City’s tax base, the cost of buying the requisite parkland and open space, including the moraine ribbon, and the role of development charges, the community benefit charges, and the parkland dedication bylaw. Even more specifically than that, some councillors were concerned about details around the management of Hall’s Pond and a proposed transit hub for the urban village.
In the final analysis, at least once councillor, Ward 6’s Dominique O’Rourke, was concerned about putting too much pressure in terms of density and height along the four-kilometre stretch of Gordon in Clair-Maltby, and that perhaps the City was expecting too much from this one stretch of town. Some of her council colleagues though disagreed and suggested that there might even be some room to go higher and create more density. There was also praise for staff on the comprehensive report and for the way that they managed public feedback and let it help guide the process over the last several years.
The report was received unanimously before last night’s storm had too much of an effect in knocking councillors off line.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
The next meeting of city council is next Monday’s regular, end of month meeting. You can see the Politico preview here, and you have until this Friday 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.
ICYMI: Here are the local Federal Election results.
Elections Canada confirmed that the long lines at the Delta Hotel Monday had to do with processing University of Guelph students who weren’t registered to vote in Guelph.
Two men were arrested by Guelph Police Service on Saturday morning at a large gathering at the University of Guelph after one man broke the other out of a police cruiser, and interestingly, neither of the men arrested were U of G students. The cruiser also had its windshield smashed and its side mirror torn off by unknown persons.
In a rare media availability, and on the first day of mandatory vaccine certification, Premier Doug Ford said that this is the best way to avoid another lockdown (even though he still wishes he hadn’t had to do it.)
The Mercury Tribune crunched the numbers to reveal just how big Guelph classrooms are during this fourth wave.
Things have eased off in the last few days in terms of the local active case count. On Wednesday, there were 163 active cases of COVID-19 in Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, which is down from 201 on Monday, while there were only 11 new cases including five in Guelph alone. There have now been 9,008 total cases of COVID-19 in our region since the start of the pandemic, and 127 total fatalities.
On the first day of vaccine certification, now 81.7 per cent eligible people in the region have been fully vaccinated while 86.5 per cent have gotten one shot. In Guelph alone, those numbers are 87.2 per cent and 92.1 per cent respectively.
Things have also seemed to cool off somewhat in the rest of Ontario according to provincial public health authorities. There were 574 new cases of COVID-19 in all of Ontario on Tuesday, and 463 new cases on Wednesday. The number of active cases is now sitting at 6,400, but more concerningly is the fact that nearly 20 per cent of all active cases right now are in school students and staff.
The Politico Tip Sheet is open for anyone to subscribe, so if you know a friend or associate that might like to receive this newsletter, send it to them, and get them to click on the button below:
If high school students in Guelph, Cambridge, and Kitchener South-Hespeler had their way, then the NDP candidates in those three ridings would have won the election.
Trent University is studying fish in Ontario rivers to look for trace amounts of opioids, and there seems to be enough pain killers in the Grand River to have an noticeable effect on fish reproduction.
Despite an attempt to take the decision back, Fergus is proceeding with the construction of bike lanes on the busy St. David Street North downtown.
Two men set a record driving from one end of Canada to the other, driving an EV car from coast-to-coast in five days, and only stopping for a charge.
A U of G study says 80 per cent of kids eat too much sugar.
Don’t worry, the election signs should all be gone by Friday.
This week on Open Sources Guelph, Scotty Hertz and I will wrap up the 2021 Federal Election in our way by talking about the outstanding results and where the parties (and party leaders) will go next. We will also talk about the politics of Alberta’s COVID response, the first day of vaccine certification in Ontario, and the latest antics of everyone’s favourite Florida man (and former U.S. President).
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.
REMINDER #1: You have until this Friday at 10 am to register with the clerks office as a delegate or send a correspondence for the regular meeting of city council on Monday September 27. See the Politico preview of the meeting here.
REMINDER #2: The City of Guelph is looking for people to join the about a dozen different advisory committees and local boards. Get the list and learn how to apply here. Deadline is TODAY!!!
Guelph Museums has announced a slate of activities to mark the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation next week.
A virtual open house for the Baker Street construction and redesign will be posted for feedback on Monday September 27.
The Guelph Public Library has produced a four-part series that highlights some of their various services and collections. The videos will be released weekly, and the first one drops this Friday.
The deadline for Guelph Arts Council’s Jane Graham Memorial Award, which goes to a Guelph-based artist every year to assist with professional development, is October 18.
The City of Guelph is hosting a live, virtual open house to get feedback about the Water Supply Master Plan update on Wednesday September 29 at 6:30 pm.
Upcoming Road Construction:
The first phase of reconstruction on Speedvale Avenue between Glenwood and Marlborough has been deferred due to tender costs being more than the approved budget.
York Road between Ontario and Brockville will remain closed now until December, and so will Stevenson Street at Alice.
There will be lane reductions on Verney Street, Earl Street and Stevenson Street North starting on September 28 so that geotechnical work can take place to investigate subsurface soil conditions.
Louisa Drive will be closed between Palmer and Grange Streets from October 5-7 for repair and repaving.
Alma Street South between Inkerman and Crimea will be closed for two weeks starting on October 12 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.
From last weekend, a Guelph biker gang sighting:
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!