The first to two back-t0-back council meetings will be short. Bringing forward items from Committee of the Whole, plus a couple of appointments and a motion for action, council should move quickly through the regular meeting before moving on to the planning meeting in the epic conclusion to this year’s council calendar. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 14 Regular Meeting?”
At Monday’s Committee of the Whole meeting, members of city council will get their first holistic update about the City of Guelph’s corporate response to the pandemic since the last special meeting on the subject in August. Special attention will be paid to the financial bottom line, and there will indeed be a negative budget variance for the City by the end of fiscal 2020, but the good news is that it will be covered by the Safe Restart funding from upper levels of government. Continue reading “So There’ll Be a $3.6 Million Deficit for 2020, But We’re Covered”
Budget day is here! 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 “LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for December 1, 2020”
On Friday, Guelph and its public health affiliated neighbours managed to avoid going into level Red-Control, the final condition before being forced to return to lockdown. But the numbers are not in our favour, and the City of Guelph announced Monday that they do not intend to be caught off-guard if its announced that we’re being moved into red. In other words, enjoy some indoor recreation and fitness facilities while you can. Continue reading “The City of Guelph is Preparing to Enter Red Level”
On Tuesday, Guelph City Council will meet to pass the 2021 budget and the multi-year budget forecast, or they will try and be forced to meet again on Thursday to see if they can pass a budget then. Not much has changed since the initial budget presentation on November 17, but there has been some tweaking in the last few weeks, and some significant requests made by local groups. Here are some things to be aware of before Tuesday’s meeting. Continue reading “New Numbers and Asks: Some Notes Before Budget Day”
The final Committee of the Whole meeting of 2020 appropriately deals with matters of the future. Waste collection, government priorities for the new year, and the City’s real estates assets are three of the four areas of discussions along with the latest on Guelph’s COVID-19 response. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the December 7 Meeting?”
The City of Guelph puts out a lot of information on a weekly basis, and while it all ends up on the City’s website somewhere, wouldn’t it be easier to just scroll through it all on one easy-to-read article on Guelph Politico here…? Continue reading “CITY PAGES: Awards, Community Grants, and Feedback Wanted”
This second half of a very busy month at council mostly focused on budget business, with the day-long presentation of the 2021 City of Guelph budget, and the evening-long presentation from various public delegates. Along with the budget there was some discussion about eliminating systemic racism, some new board appointments, and the conundrum about provincial changes to conservation authorities. Continue reading “This Month at Council PART 2: Budget, New Committee Assignments, and Fighting Systemic Racism”
The next part of public engagement on the City of Guelph’s growth strategy unfolded on Thursday night as staff and their appointed consultants talked about what kind of growth scenarios there might be in the Royal City’s future. Can we grow fast? Should we grow slow? Should we try and squeeze more people in select areas of town, or spread out that growth? If you’re looking for answers, consult the recap below. Continue reading “RECAP: The City of Guelph Shares Growth Scenarios at Town Hall”
The Christmas season is approaching, but given current events people are going to have to concede that they won’t be able to celebrate the season in a way that’s normal or traditional. On Wednesday, the Government of Ontario outlined its best advice for how people should spend the holidays, while the City of Guelph also announced some measures on how they will work locally to make sure everyone has a safe and COVID-free holiday. Continue reading “City and Province Release Advice for COVID Christmas Celebrations and Shopping”
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