LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 12, 2023

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

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

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

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

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”

MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for September 13, 2023

Wellington County’s Social Services Committee are meeting again, and they’re meeting again in the Guthrie Room of the Administrative Centre. Good thing because there’s a packed agenda that includes the Paramedic Service, childcare, and yes, housing too. Money matters, quarterly metrics, and future programming in many of the areas is also on the docket so let’s dig into the agenda and see what’s coming up. Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: County Social Services Meeting for September 13, 2023”

POLICE NOTES: Remains Found, Big Drug Busts, and Engagement Party Violence

There are 145,000 stories in the Royal City, and this is some of them. Looking at a week’s worth of media releases from the Guelph Police Service, there’s a lot going on in our little city crime-wise speaking, so let’s run down some of the charges, issues, and requests for information from the Guelph Police Service over the last seven days. Continue reading “POLICE NOTES: Remains Found, Big Drug Busts, and Engagement Party Violence”

500-Plus (Including Guelphites) Form Unwelcome Wagon For Doug Ford in Kitchener

It started with one Waterloo Regional Police officer. Then two. It wasn’t too long before 10 officers were standing at the west entrance to Bingeman’s, the site of FordFest in Kitchener on Friday night. The detail was traffic control of a sort. On the roadside in front of the amusement park and conference centre complex were well over 500 people representing labour, environmental, and education groups who had come to (un)welcome the premier and his supporters to Waterloo Region. Continue reading “500-Plus (Including Guelphites) Form Unwelcome Wagon For Doug Ford in Kitchener”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 19 Meeting?

Planning looks light for this first meeting of the fall. A trio of files are on the docket for this one including a decision on a previously announced project, a request for a sign variance at a York Road area institution, and a brand new application for a business that will invite people to get their putt on. Nothing terribly controversial, but City planning business has to get done all the same. Here’s the preview… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 19 Meeting?”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 20?

In September we count down to the end of the month and the newest national holiday, the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. On September 30, we’re meant to stop and think about the impacts of five centuries of colonialism on Canada’s First Nations, Inuit and Metis people, and take steps to make a better future we all share equally. Council is getting a early start with a highly educational workshop meeting. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 20?”