City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 16, 2025 Meeting?

Merry Christmas! City council’s present to you is a new vision for St. George’s Square assuming that they want to pursue it. That’s one of the items in what looks to be a fairly straightforward final meeting of the year, which will feature any final thoughts about the items from Committee of the Whole, a busy (and mysterious) closed meeting agenda, and some new appointments to the advisory committees.

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 December 12. 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.

NOTE #3: This meeting will take place at the special time of 10 am.

NOTE #4: This is the last council meeting until January 13.

CLOSED MEETING:

Chief Administrative Officer 2025 Year-End Performance Review – CAO Tara Baker will be judged for her first full-year in that role, but as a human resources matter it will be discussed in closed session under Section 239(2)(b) and d) of the Municipal Act.

Closed December 2025 Public Appointments to Advisory Committees of Council – As usual, before council formally passes the new appointments in the open session they will look at the options behind closed doors. This under Section 239(2)(b) of the Municipal Act, “regarding personal matters about an identifiable individual, including municipal or local board employees.”

Expression of Interest: 170 Stephanie Drive – Presently this is an empty plot of land owned by the Upper Grand District School Board but home to a community farm for the West Village Co-op. The new plans for this property are publicly unknown, but they will be discussed in-camera under Section 239(2)(c) of the Municipal Act for a “proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board.”

Affordable Housing Property Acquisition – Again, another unknown project that will be discussed under Section 239(2)(c) of the Municipal Act.

St. George’s Square: Final Design – Back in July, council asked staff to bring back the design for the upgraded St. George’s Square one more time. What’s changed? They’ve tried to up the “Wow Factor” with a new widened promenade of between six and eight metres, a wood-framed overhead and catenary lighting with a heritage-inspired design, and more flexibility in terms of how the Square can be configured for events. The Family Fountain will be moved a little eastward to maintain emergency access to Old Quebec Street, but the play structure has been removed, and so has the public washroom although the underground infrastructure will be installed just in case the City changes its mind in the future.

December 2025 Public Appointments to Advisory Committees of Council – Council will vote to fill some vacancies on various committees, specifically the Accessibility Advisory Committee, Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee, and the Transportation Advisory Committee. Once they make up their mind in closed, council will formally approved the appointments in the open session.

Consent Agenda items from the Committee of the Whole meetings on December 2. (Items can be pulled by a councillor seeking additional information, otherwise all items will be voted on as a slate without further debate.)