June is usually a busy month at city council as staff look to hand in their important works before summer vacation arrives. This month at Committee of the Whole, we will see at least two big assignments coming back for the protection of Guelph’s water resources, and they will also see the City’s audited financial statements from last year, and a potential increase in your taxi fare.
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting via telephone, but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday June 3. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: The meeting will be the open to the public, but if you would like to follow it from home, you will still be able to live-stream the meeting on the City of Guelph’s website here.
NOTE #3: The posted date for this meeting is on Tuesday instead of the usual Monday time slot for committee/council meetings.
STAFF RECOGNITIONS:
1) Project Engineer Andrew Miller, Infrastructure Planning Engineer Colleen Gammie, Project Engineer Jackie Kay, and Environmental Engineer Kyle VanderMeer have all received their Project Management Professional (PMP) Designation.
2) Ken VanderWal, Manager of Engineering Technical Services, received the Ontario Public Works’ Association Project of the Year Award ($2M-$10M) – Niska Road and Bridge Reconstruction.
3) Project Engineer David DiPietro, Construction Engineering Technologist David Phan, Construction Inspector Brennan Walker, General Manager of Culture and Recreation Danna Evans, and Guelph Museums Manager Tammy Adkin all recognized for the Ontario Public Works’ Association Project of the Year Award (less than $2M) for the Locomotive 6167 Relocation, Historical Restoration/Preservation.
4) Manager, Technical Services of Water Services Emily Stahl, Project Manager of Water Services Robin Puskas, Water Operations Technician of Water Services Angela VanderGugten, and Project Manager of Facilities and Energy Management Jean Starchuk received the Ontario Public Works’ Association Project of the Year Award ($2M-$10M) for the F.M. Woods Waterworks Building.
5) Alison Springate, Supervisor of Digital and Operational Communications, received her Accreditation in Public Relations Designation.
2021 Consolidated Financial Statements and External Audit Findings Report – KMPG has looked at the City of Guelph’s books from 2021, and they’ve decided that they are complete and correct. A representative from KPMG will be on hand to present their findings and answer council questions about the audit.
Bird City Designation – Guelph is already a Bee City, but now City staff want to pursue a Bird Friendly City designation. To become officially Bird Friendly, the City must mitigate local threats to bird populations, monitor bird populations, work towards the preservation and restoration of habitat, organize awareness events, and come up with policies to protect bird populations. Guelph has already taken the most important step by overwhelmingly choosing the Black-capped Chickadee as the city’s Official Bird.
2021 Water Supply Master Plan Update – It’s been 20 years since the last update of the Water Supply Master Plan, which reviews current water supply sources, and identifies priorities for developing a sustainable water supply out until 2051. On that part there is some concern that without intervention Guelph might be at a water deficit as the population balloons past 200,000 people. Much of the plan will continue to see conservation and demand management be the first tools in protecting the water supply, but staff will monitor and update as appropriate.
The other big part of this is well interference, which was a concern expressed by the County of Wellington, Township of Puslinch and Guelph/Eramosa Township over these last few months. One of the recommendations from the report is to delegate authority to the Deputy CAO of Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise to enter into a cost sharing agreement with those municipalities for Source Water Protection Services.
2022 Wastewater Treatment and Biosolids Management Master Plan Update – Two master plans are now combined into one, and like the Water Supply Master Plan it’s looking at a time horizon of 2051 with projects separated into 0-5 years, and 6-15 years. The plan lays out how the newly rebranded Water Resource Recovery Centre will be enhanced to handle the treatment requirements of more than 200,000 people in future Guelph, and how wastewater need not only be about treatment, but also an opportunity for some circular economy action like recovering nitrogen and phosphorus, which can be used in fertilizer.
Taxicab Rate Increase – Guelph’s two main cab companies – Canadian and Red Top – have come together to petition the City for an increase to fare rates of approximately 6.7 per cent. In practical terms, that means an increase of 20 cents; the drop fee will go from $3 to $3.20, the fee per distance will go from $2.40 to $2.60, and the wait time per hour will go from $32 to $34. The reason for the increase is due to the usual economic pressures of inflation and fuel costs.
Guelph Politico 