This week. city council came back from an inexplicable two-week break and sat again as Committee of the Whole. For this edition, there were two main focuses, one had to do with billing for water and wastewater servicing, and the other concerned more downtown construction work! Read on to learn how a very busy intersection at the eastern end of downtown is going to get a facelift in the years to come in this week’s recap!
Committee of the Whole Meeting – October 7, 2025
Appropriate for October, there was a spooky start to the meeting after the council closed session when the hydro blipped off for a couple of seconds. The resulting tech hiccups prompted a late start to the open meeting, but it did begin and there was a surprise to start.
Coming out of the closed session on “Advancing Affordable Housing on City-Owned Properties”, Mayor Cam Guthrie said that he had been given permission to share a small statement. He said that city council had received information from staff about a new financial model that could enable the City to develop affordable housing on city-owned lands. More details will be coming in a report to council next month, which will include the first two potential properties that could leverage this new approach.
As for the other business, two relatively simple items on consent were complicated with additional motions. Councillor Leanne Caron asked committee to approve an additional motion for the Municipal Property and Building Commemorative Naming Report file asking staff to come up with a review process to finally give a name to the park at Albert, Water, and Martin Streets.
That one was approved fairly easily. On the Baker Library Facility Lease Approval, Councillor Rodrigo Goller asked for a 40-year lease with two optional 15-year renewals as opposed to the staff recommended 30-year lease with two five-year renewals. There was more disagreement on this matter though with staff noting that the lease is meant to be tied to the typical lifecycle of the building, meaning the point where it will need further investment to maintain the building’s condition. Goller was asked if he was bringing this request on behalf of the Library Board, of which he is a member, and while it wasn’t formalized in a motion, the Library’s CEO is seeking a longer lease. Committee ended up referring the motion to the regular meeting at the end of the month for further discussion.
The big-ticket item, quite literally, was the report about the finished Macdonell and Allan’s Structures Environmental Assessment. The “too long; didn’t read” of it is that the Macdonell Bridge will be replaced with a wider one to accommodate active transportation, the Allan’s Bridge will be torn down and commemorated, the sluiceway and spillway will be rehabilitated, and the new Ward-to-Downtown Bridge will be placed on the southern side of the GJR bridge with a new, sleeker design. Construction is scheduled to begin sometime in 2028 once work on Upper Wyndham is complete.
There was one delegate, Mike Darmon from the Guelph Community for Active Transportation, who sought what might be considered the maximalist concept of the project including a new dam upstream with an active transportation underpass and re-naturalization of the pond down river. Staff noted that these moves come with a pretty heft price tag, but they are part of the late-Bob Bell’s original vision for the area when he was city councillor.
Committee had similar concerns about the project and its potential. Some wondered about the demolition of the dam and how much it might cost, but all staff could confirm is that it would be $2 million alone for just the demolition, and it would require more negotiation with Metrolinx and the Grand River Conservation Authority, which could pushback the timeline. There were also some questions about exactly what kind of commemoration there would be for the Allan’s Bridge, why the Macdonell Bridge needs a full-scale replacement, and whether or not they need the added expense of the Ward-to-Downtown Bridge.
Before getting too far into questions about approving certain aspects of the plan, committee was reminded that they were only there to approve the broad strokes and to formalize the completion of the EA. Ultimately, committee approved the three recommendations to approve the assessment, look at potential for salvageable materials for the Allan’s Bridge, and to engage with the Arts and Culture and Heritage Advisory Committees about historical commemorations and placemaking.
Finally, committee heard a report about the Utility Billing Project Status and Customer Accounts By-law Update. The City is in the process of taking over water billing from Alectra, but the move to property owners holding the account is causing issues with some people who are now being served with water arrears on rental properties worth thousand of dollars. Staff noted that this is a common issue across Ontario, and they are doing their best to work with property owners to go through proper processes and the Landlord Tenant Board to reclaim funds.
The transition will be complete next June, but Guelph customers will be able to sign up for e-billing come January. Staff noted again that the biggest cost for billing is the postage to send everyone their paper bill.
Click here to see the complete recap of the meeting.
Guelph Politico 