The City of Guelph, and it’s various partners and agencies, put 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…?

Victoria Day Weekend Hours

As you may know, this is a holiday long weekend. Here are the hours for local government services and facilities:

• City of Guelph
• Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health
• Guelph Public Library
• Guelph Transit will be on regular schedule Saturday and Sunday, and then on-demand only on Monday except for 30-minute service on the #99 Mainline.

City Measuring Results From Community Plan

You’ve probably heard about the City of Guelph’s Community Plan, but now they’ve introduced a way to track the progress of the goals in the plan while making it easy to understand and literally seeing where the gaps are. It’s called the Story Map, and it was developed with TCG using existing data, and the establishment of advisory committees and indicators to come up with baseline that will be further refined in 2023 with the collection of more data.

“More than 10,000 people in our community contributed to the creation of Guelph’s Community Plan. This measurement framework marks an important milestone in our ongoing commitment to transparency, accountability, and community-driven progress,” said Jodie Sales, General Manager of Strategy, Innovation, and Intergovernmental Services in a statement. “By tracking our achievements and identifying areas for improvement, we can work together to shape an inclusive, prosperous and thriving community.”

Upper Grand Board Looking at Future Expansion

The Upper Grand District School Board received this week the draft report of the Long Term Accommodation Plan. This report is key because the final plan will guide future capital investment and faculty and programming decisions by looking at where populations changes are coming, what projected enrollment might look like, and how school buildings and properties are being used.

From now until September, the board will be doing public engagement on the plan with the expectation that a final version of the report will come back to the trustees for final passage in October. Information about ways to give your feedback will be shared on school websites, public newsletters and social media, but if you want to skip all that, you can read the draft report here, and then send your feedback via email to planning.info [at] ugdsb.on.ca.

City Gives Out First Community Micro Grants

The City of Guelph, Guelph Arts Council, and Guelph Neighbourhood Support Coalition have announced the successful recipients of the first-ever Activating Community Micro-grant program.

Thirty-three projects out of 150 applications will get a share of $25,000 for projects that foster creativity, inclusion, and connection split between two categories, the arts and neighbourhoods. For example, $600 will go to the creation of a fantasy chapbook featuring queer characters, and $500 will be used for a free skill-development workshop for bike repairs and maintenance at the Guelph Multicultural Festival.

“This micro-grant program was created to support local artists and people working to build community connections,” said Amal Musa, special program advisor in Community Investment in a statement. “Each application was a testament to the strength of our local arts community and Guelph’s community-building spirit.”

You can see the full list of arts projects here, and the full list of neighbourhood projects here.

Emergency Sewer Fix Gets Award

Emergency construction work on a sewer pipe built across Howitt Creek between Wellington Street and the Speed River won the City of Guelph the award for Disaster or Emergency Construction/Repair under $2 million at the Ontario Public Works Association awards on May 16. Repair work was done earlier last year after crews noticed that the pipe had been eroded by natural creek flow. It was on the brink of catastrophic pipe failure which would have resulted in the release of wastewater into the creek.

“I congratulate our staff, consultants and contractors who worked together to repair the sewer and ensure the continued protection of the local environment,” said Kyle Gibson, manager of Technical Services in a statement. “We’re honoured to be recognized for such a creative solution that protected the nearby trees, park and trails, and Howitt Creek and the Speed River.”

Chair of Alectra Gets Honour in Mississauga

Norm Loberg, Chair of Alectra Inc. Board, will be named the 2023 Gordon Shipp Citizen of the Year a ceremony at Mississauga City Hall on May 25. The award recognizes outstanding citizens who commit their time, energy, skills, and passion to enhancing the quality of life and philanthropy in Mississauga. Along with his current role, Loberg’s civic work includes Board and fundraising positions at the CNIB and Sheridan College, being past Director of the Greater Toronto Airports Authority and former Director and Chair of Credit Valley Hospital.

“This recognition is well-deserved, and we are thrilled to see Norm Loberg named ‘Citizen of the Year’ by the City of Mississauga”, said Brian Bentz, President and CEO, Alectra in a statement. “In addition to his community service, Norm is a strong supporter of Alectra’s commitment to front-line social service agencies across our service territory, and he is a champion of sustainability, diversity and community well-being.”

Additional Notes

Paramedic Services Week is May 21-27. People are being encouraged to show their appreciation on social media by tagging @gwparamedic on Twitter and Instagram.

A community focus group about the Complete Street Design Guide will take place at Guelph City Hall on Thursday May 25 from 6-8 pm.

Three high school music programs come together for one night of music to raise funds for Egale Canada. The Celebration of Pride & Inclusion Concert is May 27 at 7 pm at Ross’ E.L. Fox Auditorium.

The Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy is hosting two free screenings of Love in the Time of Fentanyl at the Bookshelf on May 30.

National Indigenous History Month kicks off at the Civic Museum on June 3 with an outdoor workshop held by the Moccasin Identifier Project.

The Friends of the Guelph Public Library have set the date for their next big book sale, which this year will be September 20-24.

Current “Have Your Say” Opportunities:

Race to Zero, Silvercreek Parkway North Reconstruction, and Guelph’s Bicentennial.

Transit Detours

Routes 3 Westmount and 11 Silvercreek have returned to their regular maps after a construction project requiring a detour finished early.

New and Upcoming Construction

There will be lane reductions on Woolwich Street between Powell and Tiffany for the next few days as Bell repairs a blocked conduit from a manhole.

The basketball courts at Deerpath Park will be closed starting on Tuesday May 23 in order to access underground infrastructure to perform upgrades to the Paisley Water Pumping Station.

Weed control will be done along the Guelph Junction Railway tracks between Woodlawn and Victoria excluding a section of tracks from Norwich to just past Macdonell Street on May 29-30, or May 30-31 depending on the weather. The Downtown Trail will be closed between Speedvale and Marcon during the control activities.