Category: Council Post-view

This Week at Council: We Meet in August Over the New DC Plan from Queen’s Park

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the water… circumstances forced us all back to the council chambers, or the live-stream page of the City of Guelph website, for a midsummer council meeting. The topic? A new plan to supercharge housing by cutting DCs and funding housing enabling infrastructure courtesy of the federal and provincial governments, but with an election coming timelines are getting tricky. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: We Meet in August Over the New DC Plan from Queen’s Park” →

This Week at Council: Public Space Changes and the “Future” Reviewed

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was the last city council meeting… before summer break! There will be a couple of more meetings in September before the October 26 election, but will there be anything as controversial as the unscheduled return of the Public Space Use Bylaw? That one was put on the revised agenda, along with a matter of development changes being applied to a non-profit’s renovation project. We’ll get that, and the update about the City’s Strategic Plan in this last recap of the summer! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Public Space Changes and the “Future” Reviewed” →

This Week at Council: A Good Night of Planning

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was another long one at Guelph City Council in terms of the planning meeting, but it was not so divisive as it might have appeared at the beginning. It was a packed agenda including a couple of new residential projects, the next heritage conservation district, and the annual report about Guelph’s growth and its relative success. Also, a key piece of Guelph’s affordabile housing strategy was complete. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: A Good Night of Planning” →

This Week at Council: Risks, Assets and Community Well-being

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

The agenda was busy, but controversy seemed to take the week off at Guelph City Council. For the last Committee of the Whole meeting before the election, there were reports about the risks being faced by the corporation, the current state of the City’s assets, and the ways we need to better commit to community well-being. There were also rewards, but for the most parts its just some very normal regular reporting. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Risks, Assets and Community Well-being” →

This Week at Council: Trail Talk, and the Bridge Stays in the Picture

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was a long one this week at city council with three meetings and several potential issues of controversy. One shareholder meeting went by with zero controversy, but the other one literally packed the gallery with concern about trails along the railways. At the regular meeting, the Committee of the Whole ratification still had some juice, especially around a (for some reason) controversial bridge. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Trail Talk, and the Bridge Stays in the Picture” →

This Week at Council: Niska Lands Blocked, Renoviction Bylaw Unlocked!

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was a pretty big week for Guelph City Council in terms of both length and substance. The planning meeting also had scale, between the approval of a massive new project for the downtown area and the protection of a big piece of land in the south end. There were also big implications for supporting affordable housing in the city, as staff brought back three very in-demand new bylaws. So let’s get all the details from two mega meetings in this recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Niska Lands Blocked, Renoviction Bylaw Unlocked!” →

This Week at Council: A Bridge Too Far Gone?

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

It was a long one at June’s Committee of the Whole meeting, and it was mostly about a bridge. But there was something for everyone at this meeting from energy equity to community grants to outside water use. We covered a closed meeting investigation, a new procurement bylaw update, and there was even a semi-planning matter in regards to building fee changes. So let’s get into all that and more in this week’s council meeting recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: A Bridge Too Far Gone?” →

This Week at Council: Stephanie Drive Deal and Heritage Reprise Request

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

“Short” was the word that best summed up this week’s meeting of city council, the regular meeting for the month of May. There was nothing much on the agenda aside from matters already settled at Committee of the Whole, so the only thing left to debate was a motion to ask the provincial government to stay the erasure of the heritage list at the end of the year. The big news though, that came out of the closed meeting. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Stephanie Drive Deal and Heritage Reprise Request” →

This Week at Council: No to Five Units, Yes to More Grants

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Everyone was prepared for a long one at the planning meeting of city council this month, but in the end length was relative. One big item was deferred off the agenda, and we will see it again in September, but for this meeting, we focused on two other areas. Council once again had a look at doing five units as-of-right, and it turns out feelings about it haven’t changed, and then they looked at a new grant to get housing built. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: No to Five Units, Yes to More Grants” →

This Week at Council: Mixed Reviews for Fiscal 2025

Published on by Adam A. DonaldsonLeave a comment

Money matters were on the agenda for the May Committee of the Whole meeting! First up, the internal auditor returned with the results from the latest value-for-money audit, which this time focused on the building permits office. For the rest of the meeting, the City of Guelph’s finance staff officially closes the book on the 2025 fiscal year with the final report save for the outside auditor’s double check next month. For now, here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Mixed Reviews for Fiscal 2025” →