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Guelph Politico is locally sourced and dedicated to covering the political and cultural scene in the City of Guelph. Est. 2008.

Wednesday, October 19, 2016

City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the October 24 Meeting?


Before council dives wholeheartedly into the 2017 budget, October's last city council meeting will cover provincial planning, federal money for transit and the always contentious subject of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc.
Council as Shareholder of Guelph Municipal Holdings Inc. - Chief Administrative Officer Derrick Thomson, who will also be representing GMHI as CEO, will deliver two reports: “Rationalization of GMHI Corporate Structure” and “Strategies and Options Committee Communications and Engagement”. For the rationalization part, Thomson will recommend the transfer of functional control of Guelph Hydro Electric Systems to the City, deferring active business operations until a clear and compelling business case can be presented to council, and that oversight for Envida Community Energy Inc. be transferred to the Strategies and Options Committee of City management.
CON-2016.57 Woodside Road – Proposed Permanent Closure of an Unused Portion of Woodside Road - In 2007, Woodside Rd in front of 66 and 67 was widened when a condominium project called the Wellington Common Elements was approved. Staff is now recommending that the unused portion of Woodside's road allowence be "stopped up" and closed, and that Realty Services will explore opportunities to declare it surplus land and sell it at fair market value.
CON-2016.58 Proposed Demolition of 156 Niska Road, Ward 6 - Presently on the property sits a lone single detached dwelling, the owner wants to replace it with three.
CON-2016.56 Public Transit Infrastructure Fund Update - You want new buses? You're going to get them, apparently. The City of Guelph is applying for $10.2 million under the federal government's Public Transit Infrastructure Fund (PTIF) for 24 new buses to replace aging vehicles in the fleet. The purchase of the new buses has to happen in short order because the federal funding expires on March 31, 2017, but the accelerated replacement will allow Transit to experience operational and maintenance cost savings starting in 2019.
CON-2016.60 2016 Provincial Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review Comments on the Proposed Growth Plan for the Greater Golden Horseshoe - This is staff's response to the 2016 Provincial Co-ordinated Land Use Planning Review, which they are preparing before the deadline for comments is closed on October 31. While staff does support the vision and principles of the review, there are some concerns. According to the report, the review's targets to tune up intensification from 40 to 60 per cent represents "significant challenges" in planning for Guelph's future, and the City will have to revisit its growth management strategy if they're evern going to try and make it work. The density goal of 80 residents and jobs per hectare for greenfield areas will mean that the densest neightbourhoods will be along the fringe of the city, meaning an inefficient distribution of services and infrastructure, and Guelph's currently been working at a target of 50 residents and jobs per hectare. There are also some problems with the timeline as the Province wants all this to go into effect by 2018, but the City is saying that technical materials will need to be made available well in advance if that goal is to be met. The results of a public meeting in September on this subject are also included in the meeting materials
Haiti Emergency Fund (Memo) - A correspondence from James Gordon was circulated to council, along with supplementary information originating from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, for the City of Guelph to consider a donation to the Haiti Emergency Fund. The island nation has been suffering the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew, and is desperate need for aid.
Committee of the Whole Consent Reports (See the CotW Preview for Oct 3 for details):
COW-CS-2016.3 Advertising Acceptability Policy
COW-CS-2016.4 Business/Service Review Framework
COW-PS-2016.1 Optimal Resource Deployment of Emergency Services
COW-PS-2016.2 Land Ambulance Response Time Performance Plan for 2017
COW-PS-2016.3 Taxi, Limousine and Second Hand Goods Licensing (Transfer from Guelph Police Services
COW-PS-2016.4 Business Licensing By-law Review – Food Vehicle Schedule and Temporary Food Sales
COW-IDE-2016.9 Municipal Support for Local Renewable Energy Projects: Independent System Operator Feed-In-Tariff 5.0

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