The City of Guelph puts out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…?

Guthrie Retires as Chair of Big City Mayors Group

Mayor Cam Guthrie’s two-year term as the Chair of the Ontario Big City Mayors group (formally the Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario) has come to end. Guthrie’s Vice-Chair, Barrie Mayor Jeff Lehman will take over as the new Chair of the group, while Mississauga Mayor Bonnie Crombie steps up as the new Vice-Chair.

“I want to thank our federal and provincial government partners, who have showed a tremendous willingness to engage with Ontario’s big city mayors. I also want to thank Ontario’s big city mayors, who have an unwavering commitment to serving their communities and are dedicated to advancing the public good in every city in the province,” said Guthrie in a statement. “I am proud to welcome Mayor Lehman as Chair, and Mayor Crombie as Vice Chair, and I look forward to working with them in the term ahead.”

ServiceOntario Taking Appointments Again at Select Locations

In another return to pre-COVID normalcy, the Government of Ontario has announced that 42 of their ServiceOntario locations around the province will be returning to online booking in an effort to reduce wait times at some of their busiest locations, including the Guelph location on the bottom floor of the OMAFRA building. You can make an appointment up to two weeks in the future by going to the ServiceOntario website.

Feedback Wanted on Parks and Trails

The City of Guelph is looking for a little pre-holiday input on couple of Park matters. First, what kind of playground would you like to see built in the south end’s W.E. Hamilton Park? You can give the City your feedback on that until December 14! If playground equipment isn’t your thing, you might have some recommendations about the City’s trail system. Currently the City is working on an update of the Guelph Trails Master Plan, and they’re currently at the public feedback collection stage. If you have anything to offer, you have until December 15 to share it.

New EV Charges Coming Soon to Old Quebec Street

The City of Guelph has announced that they will begin the installation of eight Level 2 EV chargers spread out between the East and West Parkade downtown starting on December 14. The work will take a week to complete.

Community Grant Applications Now Open

The City of Guelph is now collecting applications for Community Grant funding for 2021. As much as $124,900 pending approval in the 2021 budget will be available for any non-profit group that can provd they’re of benefit to the lives of Guelph residents, have sustainability and a need for funding, and have community support for its programs, projects or events. The application deadline is December 18 at midnight, and for all guidelines and applications, you can visit the City’s website here.

Our Food Future is a Top 100 Recovery Project

The City of Guelph and County of Wellington project that came out of the successful Smart Cities Challenge has been recognized as one of Canada’s Top 100 Recovery Projects at the Future of Good Summit. Our Food Future puts forth a number of projects with the goals of reducing food waste, creating sustainability in the production of food, and making sure low income people have access to healthy and nutritious food, and one of those projects, The SEED’s Emergency Food Delivery project, was also named a Top 100 Recovery project.

“Issues around food insecurity and food access are not new, and they are complex,” executive director of the Smart Cities Office Barbara Swartzentruber said in a statement. “Solving them takes innovative thinking and a willingness to try something new. That’s what our community is doing, together. On behalf of the Smart Cities team, I want to thank our collaborators, champions and partners for their continued dedication to our common vision, the creation of Canada’s first circular food economy.”

To see the full list of Top 100 Recovery Projects click here.

Overnight Parking Restrictions Begin December 1

A reminder that the usual winter overnight on-street parking restrictions go into effect on December 1 and will not be lifted until April 1. There’s no overnight parking on any City street, including the downtown core, from 2 am until 6 am every night. Tickets violating this policy are $35 a piece, and a vehicle can be towed at the owner’s expense. For more information about on-street parking restrictions can be found here.