Some committees take the summer off, but Committee of the Whole is still in session, at least for July anyway. Committee this month dealt with a number of complex issues including the new version of the City’s Strategic Plan, the new version of the Seasonal Patio program, new bylaw reviews that need to be conducted, and a new bylaw for the use of e-scooters. So what final decisions were made? Let’s check out the recap…
Committee of the Whole Meeting – July 5
Things started simply enough at July’s Committee of the Whole meeting with the presentation of “Future Guelph”, the update City of Guelph Strategic Plan. There are now four themes instead of four pillars, and an all-star team of senior staffers guided committee through each new theme step-by-step. For those following the process over these last several months, there was nothing terrible surprising in the final product, and once ratified at the end of the month, staff will start working on key performance indicators (KPIs) and the multi-year budget.
Before final questions, three delegates appeared with a very specific request: That the City of Guelph should make it a priority to complete the Guelph end of the Goderich-to-Guelph (G2G) Trail. The point was made that Guelph is missing out on a lot of potential tourism money since cyclists pretty much have to skip the Guelph portion of the trail, but there was some pushback from councillors like Ward 4’s Linda Busuttil who said that the priority should be improving trail connections in under-serviced areas before moving the focus to attracting cycling tourists.
In terms of comment on the new Strategic Plan, there was mostly praise although some on committee wanted assurances about an improved budget process this year (budget binders!), assurances about the City reaching its AODA goals by 2025 (it will!) and balancing affordability with ambition (we’ll see?). The new plan was approved unanimously.
Next, committee looked at making the seasonal patio program permanent, and the only potential sign of controversy was the implementation of the new fee structure; Richard Overland of NV Kitchen and Bar said that the fees might dissuade some of the smaller patios from opening, and Dario Direnzo from Frank N Steins said that the 1,600 per cent increase in fees will definitely be a deal breaker for his establishment.
Questions about whether the rapid increase in fees from $3 per square metre now to $10 per square metre per month for next year were asked by committee, and there was also some concern about losing public space to private patios and how the program will be impacted through all the proposed construction downtown in the next decade. A number of councillors proposed amendments to the recommended plan, including a phase-in plan for the new fees over three years, consideration for a three-season patio program, and a reconsideration of using money from the Municipal Accommodation Tax to cover the balance of the cost for the program after fees.
Rather than considering all the different, and sometimes conflicting, financial motions, committee simply asked staff to review their funding concerns and bring options back to council for the regular meeting at the end of the month. This was also the fate on a different patio matter, questions about downtown parking brought by Councillor Carly Klassen who was told that her motions asking about short-term parking spaces and potential free parking in the parkades are among the considerations in the Downtown Parking Master Plan coming back to committee in September.
Committee passed the original staff recommendation to approve the permanent patio program, and the meeting moved on to the Public Services agenda. The quickest item of the day, the Paramedic Services Response Time 2022 and Performance Plan 2024, was passed before dinner and then after dinner things got complicated again.
Pulling a report about the review of City bylaws from information items released last month, Councillor Rodrigo Goller asked for committee support to direct staff on three particular matters: an update to the noise bylaw to allow vehicle noise cameras, changes to the bylaw to allow contained smokeless recreational wood-burning fires, and the creation of a new bylaw to ban the use and sale of fireworks. One delegation was heard about noisy cars, and then Mayor Cam Guthrie suggested that the committee take each item one at a time.
On the noisy cars, this motion was the easiest to pass with some wordsmithing to expand the scope to a more general review of issues related to the noise bylaw and not just the proposed use of vehicle noise cameras. Before even talking about the rest there was some debate among committee that the language in those two motions presumed a conclusion before staff even had a chance to review the matter. On fires, no matter how smoke-free, there’s still heat and flames to consider, so if the fire chief put the kibosh on changing the bylaw, then that’s the end of that.
In terms of fireworks, Goller said that he’s heard from constituents about how fireworks trigger PTSD, or cause stress and fear in family pets. There were some concerns about whether or not you could even ban the sale of fireworks since they’re a legal product, but Goller pointed out that nearby communities like Brampton and Caledon have taken that same course recently. Staff repeatedly said that it was tough to answer specific questions, especially since the first motion basically asked them to merely review their work plan and find the time to do it, but eventually the motion was broadened to look at a number of options on fireworks.
All four of Goller’s recommendations were passed.
The last item concerned the draft bylaw for e-scooter use on Guelph roads. There was one delegation from the Guelph Coalition for Transportation, and Adrian Salvatore suggested that the bylaw needed to be expanded to allow e-scooters on multiuse paths in the name of safety, and not just on roadways. Essentially, he said that anywhere a bike is allowed to operate, so should an e-scooter. Staff asked for more time to collect information before committee made a motion to include multiuse paths, but Vice Chair Ken Yee Chew also brought up a question of liability for the City, which CAO Scott Stewart said should require some commentary from the City of Guelph’s legal staff before the end of the month.
The staff recommendation for the draft bylaw was approved unanimously, and that was the end of the last Committee of the Whole before summer vacation.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 