October begins with Committee of the Whole, and this meeting might mark some big changes when it comes to some specific areas of city life. If you pay your water bill, have a personal security camera (or cameras) at home, or if you occasionally like setting off some fireworks on special occasions, this might be a meeting for you! Load up on the pumpkin spice, trick or treat and give thanksgiving for another month of council business!!
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to register with the clerks office before 10 am on Friday September 27. You can also submit written delegations and correspondences for agenda items.
NOTE #2: In addition to meeting in-person, this meeting will also be live-streamed on the City of Guelph’s website here.
STAFF RECOGNITIONS:
Members of the financial staff will be honoured for receiving the GFOA Distinguished Budget Presentation Award.
Water, Wastewater and Stormwater Billing Transition – Last year, Alectra announced that they would no long provide services for water meter reading, billing, or revenue collection. Staff looked at three possible options for how to handle these matters starting in January 2026, and it was determined that the best one is to bring utility billing completely in house and use new cloud-based software to do it. Work on the transition is ongoing, and part of that will be revisions to by-laws so that utility billing can be properly aligned with City procedures on billing, user fees, and processing charges. Those updates will comeback sometime mid-2025. For now, committee just has to approve receipt of this report.
Residential Security Cameras By-law Review – This is a relatively new area of regulation, but one that’s going to be more and more important as the use of personal security systems like Ring cameras continue to grow. It’s worth noting that Guelph Police is presently taking advantage of that proliferation with their SCANinGuelph program, while lets property owners register the location of their security cameras with them and then voluntarily give the police their footage upon request.
Now, while the City would be well within their rights to develop a bylaw that would regulate the placement and use of residential security cameras, they might still be taken to court if such a bylaw is challenged under the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. So far there’s only ever been one court case challenging a bylaw like this, and it was in Oshawa where the court upheld their bylaw as constitutional. Having said that, staff are recommending that it might be preferable for now to recommend a series of guidelines to govern the use of residential cameras like they have in London and Barrie.
Fireworks By-law Review – After proposing the idea last summer to develop a new bylaw to govern the use of fireworks in the city, staff have come back with a proposal. Noise pollution, fire risks, the impact on pets and wildlife, and triggering people with PTSD are some of the reasons why people want the city to seize more control over fireworks. To do that, staff looking at four options: keep the limited number of days and improve safety, increase the number of allowed days and improve safety, totally ban them, or create a permitting system.
Although 56 per cent of respondents said that they were supportive, or very supportive, of a ban, staff are recommending a permit system for large fireworks displays such as community and special events. The bylaw will also establish a minimum safe distance from residences and “vulnerable occupancies” like schools and nursing homes, and it will also establish acceptable times and locations for fireworks. Organizers will also have to have liability insurance, animal safety management, safety inspections, and the displays will need to be discharged by a licensed supervisor. Staff would recommend a permit fee of $100 per event.
Guelph Politico 