Starting a week late following the Christmas holidays, council will meet for the first Committee of the Whole of 2025 and there will be a lot of place setting for what staff are working on for the next 12 months. In this agenda, the new CAO will lay out her agenda and then intergovernmental staff will lay out theirs when it comes to advocacy. Surprises? There may be a few! Let’s check out the preview!
NOTE #1: Delegates will be able to appear at this meeting in-person or via tele-presense but you do have to registerwith the clerks office before 10 am on Friday January 10. 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.
CLOSED MEETING:
Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Performance Objectives Review – There will be a public presentation on this topic (see below), but first council gets an unedited preview under Section 239(2)(d) of the Municipal Act “regarding labour relations or employee negotiations.” Technically, this is a Human Resources matter.
STAFF RECOGNITIONS:
Economic Development Officer Allison Nap will be recognised for getting their Certificate in Municipal Administration.
PRESENTATIONS:
Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Performance Objectives – Tara Baker’s first objectives report as CAO outlines four main goals for this new year: affordability, housing, culture and customer service, and strengthening relationships. Specifically, the list of tasks includes the Community Benefit Agreement review, service rationalisation actions, twice yearly corporate reports about housing, and improving business relations.
Solid Waste Management By-law Update – On January 1, the City of Guelph – like all municipalities in Ontario – is no longer responsible for the collection of blue bins and the recyclables there in. This requires some changes to Guelph’s Waste Management Bylaw like new and revised definitions for recyclables and clarification of the City’s responsibilities now when it comes to the recycling system.
City Council Expense Policy – This policy has been tweaked to allow for new types of eligible expenses for councillors, specifically town halls, public meetings, public consultations and general communications. On that last point, there are some criteria that communications need to comply with like no violence or hatred, nothing offensive, no inappropriate language, and nothing misleading or false. There’s no increase to the $12,000 council communications budget because of these changes either.
Future in Focus: Guelph’s Advocacy Plan – There are four objectives with this file: maximise advocacy efforts, create a united voice, provide transparency, and prioritise advocacy efforts while also being proactive. In terms of the specific advocacy areas, City staff are looking at community safety and wellbeing, supporting the local economy, climate change, transportation connectivity, increased housing supply and fiscal sustainability. Next steps including developing profiles for each issue and reaching out to stakeholders.
Guelph Politico 