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.
Shareholder Meeting for GMHI – June 27
It was a pretty straightforward meeting for the shareholder of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc, but there was a surprise announcement.
After a closed meeting in-camera, it was announced that the downtown District Energy node had been sold to Cascara Energy, a Toronto-based company that specializes in clean tech and green power. GMHI CEO Scott Stewart said that the Cascara sale is good news, and the result of good guidance from council. See more details below.
The audited financial statements and the annual report were both received swiftly and smoothly.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Shareholder Meeting of Guelph Junction Railway – June 27
Starting 30 minutes after the end of the GHMI shareholder meeting, council sat as a shareholder again but for Guelph Junction Railway. The main thrust of the annual report, again presented by Scott Stewart, was that GJR has returned to profitability after a COVID-caused slump in 2020. Councillor Rodrigo Goller filled the role of chair as Mayor Cam Guthrie stepped out to attend his daughter’s high school graduation.
Two delegates had some concerns to share though. John Fisher of the Guelph Hiking Trail Club said that he wanted to see GJR take more of an active role in exploiting the rail line’s potential for trail development, while Ward 2 candidate Morgan Dandie was concerned about several points raised at a recent Breezy Breakfast meeting, including the apparent priority of GJR to maximize profits.
Among the shareholder there was some concern about potentially splitting the City’s trail development efforts between the Parks department and GJR, and Stewart noted that the focus on profits this year was because of the COVID dip last year (also it’s hard to re-invest in GJR’s capital without a healthy profit). Stewart and DCAO Jayne Holmes both admitted that there are perhaps more outreach opportunities between the public and GJR, and that includes the issue of discarded rail ties in Puslinch, which is being done, but disposing of the ties in a sustainable way takes time.
In an additional motion, Councillor Cathy Downer offered direction to have GJR staff collaborate with the Parks department on trail opportunities, to develop an annual report on those efforts, and to look at the earmarking GJR dividends as an investment into developing trail systems during the 2023 budget discussion. While the shareholder can’t decide how to allocate GJR’s dividend, it is transferred to the infrastructure reserve at which point council can decide how to spend it. Downer’s four-part motion was approved unanimously.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Regular Meeting of City Council – June 27
The regular council meeting, still being chaired by Councillor Goller, initially moved very quickly. New appointments to the Elliott Board of Trustees, much of the Committee of the Whole agenda, and the decision report on 12 Poole Street postponed from this month’s planning meeting were all passed swiftly.
Next, council revisited the 2021 Water Supply Master Plan Update as one delegate wished to express concern about how the report was lacking the words, “climate change.” Council expressed concern about the assumption that Guelph has enough water to cover growth out to 2051, but staff said that they were “quite conservative” in their assumptions about the potential future impact of drought and climate change. The report was eventually passed unanimously.
On the 2022 Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Management Master Plan Update, one delegate there spoke to concerns the intake and outtake flow rates, especially when Guelph’s rates are compared to cities in Waterloo Region. City Engineer Terry Gayman says those cities started reviewing their flow rates in 2008 and are now seeing big results, where as Guelph has just started that work here with the oldest infrastructure in the core. The recommendation was passed unanimously.
Up next, the decision report on the Emma-Earl Bridge brought two very enthusiastic responses and one very suspicious one. Dr. Hugh Whiteley suggested that the City should include a platform for a river view along the bridge as his only criticism, but Martin Collier from the Residents for a Safe Speedvale Avenue tried again to get council to scrap the whole thing as a matter of safety and the environment.
Council would find safety concerns unpersuasive, and a couple of councillors went further and said that they even found it offensive. Councillor Phil Allt was once of them and added that his concerns about the project have been answered, and that he doesn’t want to go backwards by starting again from scratch. Councillor Leanne Caron said design was going to be key for the project and got assurances that there would be opportunities for community input on what the bridge will look like. The recommendation was approved unanimously.
Next was a motion from Mayor Guthrie, who had rejoined the meeting via video, about the proposed Environmental Assessment for the rail crossing on Edinburgh Road at the Metrolinx tracks. There was some initial confusion when Guthrie said he had an updated motion from the one in the agenda after some additional consultation with area residents and the confusion persisted.
The two delegates expressed more than a little suspicion about the process, and a lot of concern about the area losing a sense of cohesion and connectivity. The council debate though focused on process, with Guthrie’s new motion directing staff to take specific measures on community engagement like making sure everyone in a 300-metre radius is included in the notification.
There was a lot of misunderstanding about which of the two motions council was debating, and there was also a question about how there was no direction in the motion for staff to start the EA. Point of fact: Staff don’t need council approval to start an EA, and they have no standards for how big the notification radius should be in an area where an EA is being developed.
Gayman said he appreciated that many residents were caught unawares about the initiation of the EA and that staff were looking for direction from council about how to “soften the blow” and proceed better in the future. The mayor’s new recommendation was passed unanimously as the preferred solution.
To wrap up, Councilor Goller put forward a motion to suspend the bylaw rules concerning the parking of recreational vehicles this summer, but the motion failed 4-7. After that, Councillor June Hofland’s requested update about the City’s Race-to-Zero climate change targets was received.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
The next meeting of city council is the July Committee of the Whole meeting on Monday. You can see the Politico preview here, and you have until Friday at 10 am if you want to register with the clerks office to be a delegate or to send a correspondence for any of these meetings.
For more information on Guelph City Council meetings, from agendas to live-tweets to recaps, you can visit that page on Guelph Politico here.
At the GMHI shareholder meeting, it was announced that the remaining District Energy node had been sold to a Toronto-company. Mayor Guthrie and CAO Stewart said this is a win for the environment, and a win for the City’s bottom line.
The University of Guelph announced they’re suspending their mask mandate on July 1. (Or you can keep voluntarily wearing a mask because…)
Public health officials are warning that a new Omicron variant is expected to become the dominant strain in Ontario, and our immunity might stand up much weaker against it.
A new study from the University of Toronto and Unity Health Team Toronto shows that Canada handled key public health aspects during the first two years of the pandemic better than most G10 countries.
Mike Schreiner was officially (re)sworn in as the MPP of Guelph on Tuesday.
Both Wellington, Dufferin, and Guelph Public Health and Public Health Ontario are now both updating local COVID-19 cases 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.
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:
A Guelph mother shared her experiences with long-COVID. The verdict: “It’s destroying me.”
A Raptor is now a Nighthawk! Brazilian baller, and former Toronto Raptor, Lucas “Bebê” Nogueira will now play for the Guelph CEBL team.
A new brew from Fixed Gear Brewery will help support local butterfly conservation efforts.
A recent meeting of the Wellington County Library Board focused on whether or not staff should be interfering with turtle nests on library property, or allowing others to interfere.
The OHL Hamilton Bulldogs will play the Saint John Sea Dogs in the Memorial Cup final tonight!
B.C. Premier John Horgan announced that he will step down as leader of the NDP once they’ve chosen a new leader at a TBD date later this year.
Jeffrey Epstein’s co-conspirator Ghislaine Maxwell was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
In what one person called the “worst human-smuggling event in the United States,” 51 migrants were found dead in a swelter transport trailer near San Antonio, TX on Monday.
This week on Open Sources Guelph, Scotty Hertz and I will talk about the implications for the end of Roe V. Wade in the United States, and the grand unveiling of Doug Ford’s all-new, slightly different cabinet. In the back half of the show, we will discuss the emerging players in the United Conservative Party leadership race in Alberta, and the return of the Freedom Convoy to Ottawa this Canada Day weekend.
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!