LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 13, 2021

It’s the last planning meeting of the year, and it should be a bit laid back. 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 December 13, 2021”

Top 10 Guelph News Stories of 2021

If it’s December, then it’s time for end of the year lists, and what a year it was in the Royal City! We had a not-surprising surprise election, and we had to get ready for two more. Housing was a major issue, but so was the environment, and the year saw a lot of people get back into the habit of protesting. Transit made some news, so did downtown disgruntlement, and the Dolime Quarry, but what ended up number one? Let’s find out. Continue reading “Top 10 Guelph News Stories of 2021”

Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan

Last week, most political concerns locally were about the council decision on the 2022-2023 budget. While council was debating, Ward 2 Councillor James Gordon was appearing on CFRU’s Open Sources Guelph through the power of pre-recording an interview in advance, and while he did talk about the budget, he was just as interested in talking about a personal political initiative of his own: the Race to Zero action on climate change. Continue reading “Gordon Tells Open Sources He Hopes Council Buys New Climate Action Plan”

BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made

Eight-and-a-half hours comes out to a 4.21 per cent increase in 2022 and then a 5.17 per cent levy increase for 2023. Those are top level results from this year’s budget deliberations, the first time that council tackled a multiyear budget. The City of Guelph seems satisfied with the results, but reading between the lines, there were some deep divides on council as some members feel that the City lost the fight for affordability. Continue reading “BUDGET MEETING RECAP: How The First Multiyear Budget Was Made”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 13 Meeting?

The last planning meeting of the year offers a veritable potpourri of planning matter for council consideration. There are a couple of decision reports ready for ratification, a new request to designate a heritage property, and a brand new statutory meeting on a transformative project in the south end. All that, plus council will deal with a referral from an earlier meeting. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 13 Meeting?”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 2, 2021

It’s decision day for the 2022-2023 Guelph Budget! 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 December 2, 2021”

This Month at Council – THE BUDGET: The Presentation and the Delegations.

November was always the month we handle the next year’s budget, except this time it’s the budget for the next two years. Once again, council sat down for a day-long budget presentation, and a few nights later, they heard from members of community about their own ideas about what should, or should not, go into the budget. So how did all that work out? Let’s recap this month’s action around the budget. Continue reading “This Month at Council – THE BUDGET: The Presentation and the Delegations.”

This Month at Council: Voting Methods, Route Review, and Zoning Bylaw Changes

November was a busy month around the virtual horseshoe, and that’s even before you factor in the business of the 2022-2023 Guelph budgets. We’ll deal with that in another recap post, but for now, you can re-live the debates around having a more accessible vote for next year’s election, some of the proposed changes to the comprehensive zoning bylaw, and some planned changes for Guelph Transit over the next 10 years. Continue reading “This Month at Council: Voting Methods, Route Review, and Zoning Bylaw Changes”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for November 22, 2021

There’s some unfinished business on trailers and voting methods. 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 November 22, 2021”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 2 Meeting?

This is the moment council’s either been waiting for or dreading depending on their priorities. December begins with the final decision for the 2022-2023 Guelph budget, the first multiyear budget and the last budget before the next election. There’s a lot of hard work ahead, and it’s probably going to be a long meeting for council as they try to add everything up. Here’s what they’re up against… Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 2 Meeting?”