This Week at Council: Taxi Questions and More Tree Talk

Just when you thought that the debate about the Private Tree Bylaw was over, it’s not! Although there was a lot of discussion about that at Committee of the Whole earlier this month, some haggling about how big a tree needs to be to save it, there was some attempted re-calibration this week. In other news, council discussed a matter that forced them to reckon with the divide between city hall and Guelph’s disabled community. Here’s the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Taxi Questions and More Tree Talk”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the May 6, 2025 Meeting?

The May meeting of Committee of the Whole will bring you a variety of stuff to chew on, some of it you might have already chewed on this year if you’ve been following council business closely. A climate call to action, the year-end financials, new terms of reference for committee, an update to the update of the Code of Conduct, and much, much more is on the agenda for this first council meeting of the month. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the May 6, 2025 Meeting?”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for April 23, 2025

Back at it after a week off and a holiday weekend break! You can click here for the amended agenda 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 “RECAP: City Council Meeting for April 23, 2025”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 29, 2025 Meeting?

Get ready for another lesson in the use of council authority and discretion when they sit again as a tribunal for this meeting of city council. This one may have some long-term implications and may even establish a precedent as a developer is seeking relief from the DCs, they say, may hold up an important project. Did we mention that this project is a student residence? Let’s set up the meeting in this council preview… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 29, 2025 Meeting?”

GUELPH POLITICAST #466 – Remember The Alma? Oh.

We’re at the end of another school year, and while some students are looking forward to summer, they’re also looking forward to next fall. Or perhaps even stressing over it. Housing is a big issue in Guelph, and it’s somehow even bigger when it comes to student housing. Last summer, the largest first-year student enrolment ever weighed on students and the greater Guelph community, but relief may be coming if city council doesn’t get in the way(?). Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #466 – Remember The Alma? Oh.”

This Week at Council: Downtown is Getting Higher, While Stone Road is Getting a Plan

The planning meeting of council for the month of April involved getting high. Or, to put that another way, it involved re-establishing height limits. The ones downtown. Council considered how high buildings can go in the future, and then they moved their gaze to the south end with a new project on Clair Road, before looking at a new way to make housing happen faster in the area around Stone Road Mall. Let’s get into the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: Downtown is Getting Higher, While Stone Road is Getting a Plan”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 23, 2025 Meeting?

Since Committee of the Whole this month landed on April Food’s Day, we can think of the regular council meeting as a late Easter treat. The treat though is that the main focus of this meeting is on the consent agenda from the earlier Committee of the Whole meeting, but there is a new item in the form of administrative business on a grant from the provincial government. Looks like any controversy will have to be a surprise because this is the agenda! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the April 23, 2025 Meeting?”

RECAP: City Council Meeting for April 8, 2025

April showers with new planning concerns this week! You can click here for the amended agenda 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 “RECAP: City Council Meeting for April 8, 2025”

This Week at Council: More Drill Hall Drama, and Seeing Trees

Sparing you the April Fool’s joke (at least in the intro), we arrive at the first meeting of April. Naturally, here at the end of the first quarter, we get into some financial matters as financial staff reviewed debt and debentures. And speaking of drains on the spreadsheets, council once again dug into the question of what to do about the Drill Hall, plus there were also some questions about how many trees that council can save. Get all the details in the recap! Continue reading “This Week at Council: More Drill Hall Drama, and Seeing Trees”

GUELPH POLITICAST #464 – Guelph Politi-Chat (feat. Morgan Dandie)

These are some heady political times. We’ve already made it through one election this year, and we’re now in the midst of another. As we’re going to air, the consumer carbon tax is gone, the major parties are duelling to see who can be the most moderate, and it appears that things like environmental stewardship and compassion are just not affordable. Maybe it’s time to re-calibrate. Continue reading “GUELPH POLITICAST #464 – Guelph Politi-Chat (feat. Morgan Dandie)”