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…?

New Agreement Between City and Firefighters Approved

Both the City of Guelph and Guelph Professional Firefighters Association (GPFFA), who  represent Guelph’s firefighters, have voted to ratify a new four-year collective agreement and the agreement is now formally in effect. Guelph firefighters will receive annual wage increases over the four-year contract of 2.95 per cent in 2023, 2.95 per cent in 2024, 2.85 in 2025, and 2.75 per cent in 2026. The City accounted for the in-year financial impact of ythe new collective agreement within the approved 2022-2023 Multi-Year Budget and the have forecasted impacts for the 2024-2027 budget cycle.

“We’re pleased to have arrived at a freely negotiated deal with the Guelph Professional Firefighters Association that provides fair and equitable compensation to our Guelph firefighters,” said DCAO of Public Services Colleen Clack-Bush in a statement. “The health, safety, and well-being of our community is of utmost importance, something we must work to achieve while balancing affordability for taxpayers. Thank you to the GPFFA for working together with us to achieve this outcome.”

We’re happy we were able to negotiate a fair deal for Guelph firefighters,” added Colin Hunter, president of the GPFFA. “We want to thank the City’s bargaining team for working with GPFFA to reach a deal that recognizes the critical role firefighters have in upholding community safety.”

School Board Seeking Feedback About Vaping Policy

The Upper Grand District School Board is asking for feedback about Policy 208 – Smoke and Vape-Free Environment. It is the policy of the board to provide “a smoke-free and vape-free environment for its students, staff, and others while on school board property” with some notable exceptions for the use of tobacco or other sacred medicines for traditional Indigenous cultural practices. The new policy includes updated definitions and policy statement, and the deadline to provide feedback is September 29.

Last month at the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health meeting, Medical Officer of Health Dr. Nicola Mercer reported that vaping is a problem at 100 per cent of area schools. It happens largely in the bathrooms, which is why some bathrooms are closed at schools. There also also new disposal methods of vaping, which makes it easy to hide. She also noted that Canada has some of the most lax laws when it comes to e-cigarettes, and that we do not know the long-term effects of these products, so there’s no justification to say that vaping is safer.

Hospital Upgrades Translation Services

Guelph General Hospital has announced that they’ve upgraded their translation services to Voyce, software that uses medically-trained language interpreters to help connect patients and care teams in more than 240 languages. According to Melissa Skinner, VP of Patient Services and Chief Nursing Executive at the Hospital, the new service is easier to use and it allows both those that work and receive care at the Hospital to feel confident.

Translation services through Voyce are available across GGH using the Voyce app both on enabled iPads and with regular telephone access. If you or your loved one would like to access Voyce while at the hospital, simply ask a member of your care team and they will make sure the service is available for you.

Additional Notes

A special meeting of city council has been called for July 11 to discuss an Official Plan amendment to delegate authority to City staff to approve minor Zoning Bylaw Amendments. (This is the special meeting that Mayor Guthrie talked about earlier this week.)

A virtual public meeting about the Downtown Parking Master Plan will take place on Wednesday June 28 from 7 to 8:30 pm.

The Guelph Humane Society will be holding an adoption event at the Pet Valu location on Clair Road today from 11 am to 3 pm.

Sonic Sensation – a travelling exhibition from the Sciencenter in Ithaca, New York – is now at the Wellington County Museum and Archives until September 10.

Current “Have Your Say” Opportunities:

The Downtown Parking Master Plan, Culture Plan, Race to Zero, Silvercreek Parkway North Reconstruction, and Guelph’s Bicentennial.

Transit Detours

#99 Mainline will be detoured away from Woolwich between London and the Walmart Smart Centre from today to June 19.

The #4 York route will be skipping portions of York Road between Morris Street and Kingsmill Avenue starting on Monday June 19 till the end of the year.

New and Upcoming Construction

Hetek Solutions will be performing acoustic tests to find leaks in all 2,835 City-owned fire hydrants and all 4,325 City-owned water main valves. The work will continue till November.

There will be lane reductions on Starwood Drive at Lee Street starting on Monday June 19 for the installation of a new pedestrian crossing, which will take 10 days to complete.

Communications and Cabling Contractors will install underground conduit and fibre optic cable under Dunlop Drive starting on Tuesday June 20 and will take about one week to complete. There will be no road closure or lane closure because of this work.

Cityview Drive North will be closed between Lee and Cedarvale for two weeks starting on Wednesday June 21 for the installation of new sewer and water pipes.

Harts Lane West will be closed from Thursday June 22 until Friday June 30 for grading and resurfacing.

Communications and Cabling Contractors will install underground conduit and fibre optic cable under Watson Road between Watson Parkway and York Road for three weeks starting on Monday June 26. There will be no road closure or lane closure because of this work.

Repairs on the façade of 98 Macdonell Street next to the entrance of the West Parkade will close the sidewalk there for four weeks starting on Monday June 26.

There will officially be no more parking on Park Lane and Chapel Lane starting on June 26.

Crews will be flushing the sewers on Stevenson Street east of Eramosa starting on July 10 as part of the inspection process. The work, which will mostly take place overnight, will take 10 days to complete.