It was this week three years ago when the City of Guelph announced that they were closing all their public facilities, when the University of Guelph started sending all students in residents home, when all Guelph students started online learning, and every business in town, except for the most essential, closed their doors. It was start of the first COVID-19 pandemic lockdown, and three years later we still have questions. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #364 – COVID Questions Remain”
This month’s Heritage Guelph meeting gained some forward momentum on the heritage planning work plan in the City’s 1,700 designation eligible properties now paired down to an opening line-up of 10 for staff to start with. In other news, the committee sent the heritage designation for 65 Delhi Street to council while also looking at a designation for the Albion, which, during the meeting, was given an all-new nickname it’s apparently had all this time. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “RECAP: Heritage Guelph Chooses What Heritage Properties They Want to Save (First?)”
If you liked trees and tax policy, then this was the Committee of the Whole meeting for you! The packed agenda saw just about every service areas get some time in the spotlight from the internal audit plan, to potential new rules for short-term rentals, to a new plan to finally get the South End Community Centre built. The big item though, naturally, was the plan to increase the city’s tree canopy. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Trees, Short-Term Rentals, and Rec Centre Back On”
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: Snow Crashes, Man Found, and Indecent Act Arrest”
How do we strengthen Guelph’s economy and bring back some of those sweet tourism dollars? This is a question that’s preoccupied the economic development offices at City Hall lately, and now city council will be brought up to speed on the progress to re-commit to the expansion of Guelph’s economy and how best we might be able to attract visitors to the city in this very special council workshop. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 22 Meeting?”
After March Break, council will sit down for this month’s relatively thin planning meeting with two items on the agenda. One is about approving a plan for a seniors’ residence in the south end, but the major one concerns a pretty big piece of land. What are council’s thoughts about the work done so far on the Heritage Conservation District plan for the Ontario Reformatory Lands? We’re going to find out! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 21 Meeting?”
Everything at this month’s Committee of Adjustment meeting was proceeding relatively smoothly until we landed at the matter of 26 Forest Street. This project would see one house torn down and the lot it sits on split into three portions for three new homes, but that was easier said that done. How did it all turn out? Well, you will have to scroll down and consult the recap to find out… Continue reading “RECAP: Committee of Adjustment Split on Turning One Property into Three”
There was no Social Services Committee at Wellington County in February, so there was quite a bit to catch up on for March. Almost all matters of the committee got a moment in the spotlight from the ongoing issues with offload delays the hospital to the ongoing efforts to keep up with the County’s social services demands. There was a lot of information, so let’s recap what happened at the meeting with the links provided below… Continue reading “RECAP: Social Services Catches Up on Various Files After Missing Feb. Meeting”
It was about this time back in 2019 that Guelph and Wellington County were announced as the winners of the Smart Cities Challenge. The challenge was to develop a circular food economy that was going to reduce food waste, promote sustainable food development, and increase access to nutritious food and produce. By many metrics, the project has been a success, so what happens when the funds run out this year? Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #363 – The Future of Our Food Future”
Hopefully there will be no March Break for the Transit Advisory Committee. Unfortunately, the committee was unable to reach quorum at the February meeting out at the Watson Road Transit office, but back at City Hall it might be easier to bring everyone in to catch up on the work missed in February and take care of business for March. This is what’s on the agenda for the March TAC meeting… Continue reading “MEETING PREVIEW: Transit Advisory Committee Meeting for March 16, 2023”
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