RECAP: Transit Committee Looks to the Future at March Meeting

After being one shy of quorum in February, it was an almost full house for March as the Transit Advisory Committee threw themselves into some catch-up work and then looked ahead. From the pending presentation of the new fare strategy, to the coming changes from the Future Ready Plan, and yes, to an update about the roll out of the electric buses, there was a lot of ground to cover, so let’s start covering it with the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Transit Committee Looks to the Future at March Meeting”

RECAP: Police Board Endorses Motion to Promote Bail Reform

This month’s Guelph Police Services Board meeting was brief, but still relatively consequential. The board marked the sad news in policing today coming out of Edmonton, added their voice to the call for bail reform, and appointed a committee to secure a new member of the board. In other news, the board may be going back to in-person meetings after the next meeting in April. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Police Board Endorses Motion to Promote Bail Reform”

MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for March 1-15, 2023

Every month, Guelph Politico posts the latest inspection results from the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health Unit inspection of local restaurants, hotels, cafes, grocery stores and other businesses that handle food. We call it “Mangez!”, and this column highlights the latest inspections done by WDGPH, and the results they’ve posted. Continue reading “MANGEZ! Dine Safe Guide for March 1-15, 2023”

MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for March 16, 2023

This month’s Guelph Police Board meeting will have a lot of information for you, which is something that was promised back in that first meeting of the year, but unless someone on the board wants to discuss things further this may be the only way you learn more about it without actually reading the agenda. For the meeting itself though, we will hear from the Chief as usual and the board will talk about endorsing national bail reform. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Guelph Police Services Board for March 16, 2023”

GUELPH POLITICAST #364 – COVID Questions Remain

It was this week three years ago when the City of Guelph announced that they were closing all their public facilities, when the University of Guelph started sending all students in residents home, when all Guelph students started online learning, and every business in town, except for the most essential, closed their doors. It was start of the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and three years later we still have questions. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #364 – COVID Questions Remain”

RECAP: Heritage Guelph Chooses What Heritage Properties They Want to Save (First?)

This month’s Heritage Guelph meeting gained some forward momentum on the heritage planning work plan in the City’s 1,700 designation eligible properties now paired down to an opening line-up of 10 for staff to start with. In other news, the committee sent the heritage designation for 65 Delhi Street to council while also looking at a designation for the Albion, which, during the meeting, was given an all-new nickname it’s apparently had all this time. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Chooses What Heritage Properties They Want to Save (First?)”

This Week at Council: Trees, Short-Term Rentals, and Rec Centre Back On

If you liked trees and tax policy, then this was the Committee of the Whole meeting for you! The packed agenda saw just about every service areas get some time in the spotlight from the internal audit plan, to potential new rules for short-term rentals, to a new plan to finally get the South End Community Centre built. The big item though, naturally, was the plan to increase the city’s tree canopy. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Trees, Short-Term Rentals, and Rec Centre Back On”

POLICE NOTES: Snow Crashes, Man Found, and Indecent Act Arrest

There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: Snow Crashes, Man Found, and Indecent Act Arrest”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 22 Meeting?

How do we strengthen Guelph’s economy and bring back some of those sweet tourism dollars? This is a question that’s preoccupied the economic development offices at City Hall lately, and now city council will be brought up to speed on the progress to re-commit to the expansion of Guelph’s economy and how best we might be able to attract visitors to the city in this very special council workshop. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 22 Meeting?”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 21 Meeting?

After March Break, council will sit down for this month’s relatively thin planning meeting with two items on the agenda. One is about approving a plan for a seniors’ residence in the south end, but the major one concerns a pretty big piece of land. What are council’s thoughts about the work done so far on the Heritage Conservation District plan for the Ontario Reformatory Lands? We’re going to find out! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 21 Meeting?”