Adam A. Donaldson

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 26?

Published on Sep 15, 2023Sep 15, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It’s been a pretty busy September so far at Guelph City Council, a couple of long summer meetings after almost a month off, so perhaps it’s fitting then that this month will go out like a lamb with a lighter agenda. For the regular meeting this month, council will approve the consent agenda from Committee of the Whole, including the new version of the Territorial Acknowledgement, plus one bit of new business on the heritage file. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 26?” →

RECAP: Committee of Adjustment Gets Stuck on Accessory Units

Published on Sep 14, 2023Sep 14, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

In some recent Committee of Adjustment meetings, the most controversial files have been property severances, the act of taking one piece of land and making two (or more). There were a couple of those applications at this month’s committee meeting, but they weren’t the ones that got the most attention. So which files drew the most fire? You can see that for yourself in this recap of the most recent meeting… Continue reading “RECAP: Committee of Adjustment Gets Stuck on Accessory Units” →

GUELPH POLITICAST #388 – Book Sale: The Next Chapter

Published on Sep 13, 2023Sep 11, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It’s one week till the Big Book Sale, the annual event that the Friends of the Guelph Public Library was created to administer over 15 years ago. It was a fundraising project launched to show that Guelph had an appetite for a new main library building, and after years of banking all the funds raised, the endgame is finally in sight nearly 20 years later. So what happens when the Friends have achieved their goal? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #388 – Book Sale: The Next Chapter” →

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 12, 2023

Published on Sep 12, 2023Oct 16, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

This is a meting all about housing! You can click here for the amended agendas from City Hall, and you can click here for the Politico preview. For the complete blow-by-blow of today’s council meeting, you can follow along on Twitter, or follow the tweets below. You can also watch the City’s own live-stream of the meeting here. Continue reading “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 12, 2023” →

RECAP: Heritage Guelph Gets Unsuccessfully Waved Off from Designating Old Farm

Published on Sep 11, 2023Sep 11, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was a very busy day for the Heritage Guelph committee who had a slate of new designations for their consideration, plus the surprise destruction of a heritage feature on the OR Lands. As for those designations, one got deferred, and another was challenged by the property owner’s lawyer, who seemed to suggest that there could be further legal trouble ahead for a really old asset in need of some defending. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Gets Unsuccessfully Waved Off from Designating Old Farm” →

Library Friends Finally Get to Give Big Cheque to Library

Published on Sep 11, 2023Sep 11, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It took 16 years to get here. On Monday, a little over a week in advance of the 15th annual Big Book Sale, the Friends of the Guelph Public Library issued a large novelty cheque to Guelph Public Library staff members. While the massive cheque wasn’t legal tender, the amount was real. After 14 book sales, $1 million has been donated to the cause of building a new main library. Continue reading “Library Friends Finally Get to Give Big Cheque to Library” →

This Week in Council: Downtown Parking Gets Racked Out

Published on Sep 10, 2023Sep 9, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

This week, council came back to do the council’s business with an agenda that included Indigenous relations, but the Downtown Parking Master Plan that was the source of the most controversy. How much should maximums be minimized was the primary source of friction, but that might still have to be worked out at the end of the month. Meanwhile, there was a lengthy closed session we know nothing about. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week in Council: Downtown Parking Gets Racked Out” →

MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for September 18, 2023

Published on Sep 10, 2023Sep 9, 2023 by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Two Heritage Guelph meetings in the same month?! This might be Christmas for all the history nerds out there, but this second meeting of the month comes with a couple of very specific purposes. On the one hand, there’s a demolition to talk about in the city’s current heritage district, and on the other there’s going to be some initial goal setting to talk about for the city’s newest heritage district. Let’s get into the specifics… Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Heritage Guelph Meeting for September 18, 2023” →