It you were hoping for a lazy July at city council you’re bound to be disappointed because there’s a lot going before summer vacation officially arrives in a few weeks. Much of the action his week was centred on downtown, the massive construction that’s coming to Wyndham Street starting next year, plus a potential Memorial Cup bid, and there was also a discussion about the placement of temporary ramps around town. Here’s the recap….
Committee of the Whole Meeting – July 8, 2025
There was a stacked agenda for this month’s Committee of the Whole meeting, and almost all of it centred on the affairs of downtown Guelph both now and in the future.
The first major point of discussion was a recommendation brought forward by Councillor Carly Klassen – who was not in attendance at the meeting – to approach a Toronto non-profit called the StopGap Foundation to install temporary ramps where they’re needed to increase accessibility across Guelph. Two delegates, who both live with disabilities, spoke to the positive benefits of the motion, but they had concerns about putting the onus on business owners and not landlords to affect changes in accessibility and doing more viability work instead of starting to fix the problems.
Klassen’s wardmate Councillor Rodrigo Goller put the recommendations on the floor with the exception of the one asking the mayor to consider funding for the 2026 budget confirmation process. Goller said that he felt this was a lay up and couldn’t imagine why his colleagues wouldn’t direct staff to start working the Accessibility Advisory Committee to look at a new pilot program with StopGap. Councillor Phil Allt asked for a referral motion till the end of the month so that Klassen might be able to take part in the debate, and to get some feedback about the potential legal implications. Staff said that the timing would be tight, but they would try to have a memo ready for the amended agenda to the regular meeting on July 22. Committee voted in favour of the referral.
Next, committee tackled downtown renewal with the first phase of reconstruction on Wyndham North and St. George’s Square. They reviewed the timetable for construction, the plan to support businesses in the area as construction is happening, the incentives for finishing ahead of schedule where possible, and the concept plan for St. George’s Square.
There were three delegates who had concerns about those concepts though. Barb Minett from the Bookshelf, Kevin Polach from Capistrano, and Chuck Nash from the Downtown Guelph Business Association all expressed their hesitation about moving the family fountain to the front of Old Quebec Street, the placement of the self-cleaning washroom nearby, and the plan to include some kind of play structure in the Square. More broadly, the delegates were looking for more flexibility in how the space was arranged and wanted to ensure that businesses in the core were still able use outdoor areas for their patio spaces.
In committee’s hands there was an in-camera discussion that lasted nearly 45 minutes about the disposition and acquisition of land, but nothing came from it in the open session.
In terms of what was discussed in the open, committee explored the limits of just how conceptual the concept was; like if council had concerns about the placement of the washroom then that was something they had to make a decision about now because the underground infrastructure supporting it has to be done first, and staff has to have its duck in a row so that this can go out to tender as scheduled in the fall. The washroom itself was a previous direction of council to have a facility that could be available for 24 hours a day and seven days, which requires that it be easily visible for people to find and easy to surveil in case people try to use it for (ahem) other purposes.
And while the owners of downtown businesses didn’t think a playground like feature was needed, this was apparently the suggestion of many members of the public when staff were gathering feedback. As for the fountain’s new home, it was decided that it should have a more prominent setting at the end of Quebec Street, but it’s current location might be a little tight next to the reworked road once construction is complete. Deputy CAO Colleen Clack-Bush also reminded committee that the fountain and the sculpture were a gift to the city and thus there’s some rather prescriptive requirements for its display.
Another question: Might the big crown that used to hang over St. George’s Square make a comeback? Downtown Revitalization Advisor Stacey Laughlin said that it was considered but putting a big crown in the centre of town might conflict with the City of Guelph’s stated goals with Indigenous truth and reconciliation. (Mayor Cam Guthrie said that that “There’s some differences of opinion on that.”)
Goller then introduced “a few” amendments, and by that he meant four big amendments including some with multiple parts. (Allt called it the “One Big Beautiful Bill”.)
The new recommendations directed staff to include more modular parts to make the space flexible, the use of more natural materials, the creation of more heritage inspired features, design update reports and future information about any necessary budget changes. Many on council took exception to the use of the word “direct” as it implied expectations for the final design when the City still intends to get public input, but Goller wanted to ensure that staff took the insights seriously since the detailed design will not come to council for approval. Staff affirmed that they would take all feedback about the concept, including these motions, seriously and council approved the slate with the word “encourage” replacing “direct”.
Council then approved the amended recommendation, plus an additional motion from Councillor Erin Caton to increase accessibility to building entrances by raising the sidewalk wherever possible.
The final item concerned a request to the City of Guelph to back an attempt by the Guelph Storm to secure and host the Memorial Cup in 2027, which would require draining the Municipal Accommodation Tax Reserve till 2030 for the $600,000 need, plus an additional $100,000 worth of in-kind support. Now, the city will not have to pay anything unless we get the Cup, but Guthrie said this was an opportunity too good to pass up.
There were some concerns from councillors, chief among them is that fact that most of that construction work mentioned above will be taking place throughout 2027; the entire area in front of the main venue at Old Quebec Street would be dug up and closed to traffic. Staff said that they could work around it, and they could also work around the fact that Guelph doesn’t have the requisite number of hotel rooms that the CHL wants from a host city. There were also some concerns about all the events that the city wouldn’t get to fund if they spent the MAT on this one big event, but all of that is theoretical until Guelph actually wins the Cup hosting gig, which won’t be announced till sometime later this fall.
Allt, who was leading this part of the meeting as the chair of Public Services, said that it was hope that reps from the Guelph Storm organization might come to the regular meeting and make themselves available to answer questions about the bid. Committee approved the recommendation to back the bid 7-3.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 