This Week at Council: Master Plans and Bells

The October Committee of the Whole meeting was, in part, about a bell, and the bell tolled for more participation around Guelph’s cultural and recreation activities. There was also a real bell, the old city hall bell that now has a home in the courtyard of the present city hall (pictured above). A lot of plans and master plans came home for committee approval this month, and here’s how it all went down. Continue reading “This Week at Council: Master Plans and Bells”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for October 3, 2023

The month at council begins with – Surprise! – a Committee of the Whole meeting. 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: Committee of the Whole Meeting for October 3, 2023”

This Week at Council: The Wall and the Race to Zero

This month’s regular meeting of city council brought to an end the great zero parking minimums debate for new residential developments downtown. That was the big item of the meeting, but there was one item of new business to take care of first, the matter of a certain wall that’s been making getting a lot of press in the last several weeks. So there’s all that, plus a new Indigenous territorial acknowledgement on this week’s council recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Wall and the Race to Zero”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for September 26, 2023

It’s the last council meeting of the month! 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 September 26, 2023”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 3 Meeting?

There shouldn’t be anything terribly spooky on the agenda for October’s Committee of the Whole meeting. Not that many tricks either, but there are treats if you’ve been looking forward to the long-simmering Parks and Recreation Master Plan coming back to council for approval. There will be much thanksgiving for the completion of other City plans too, but it remains to seen if those initiatives will be easily digested by committee. Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the October 3 Meeting?”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 26?

It’s been a pretty busy September so far at Guelph City Council, a couple of long summer meetings after almost a month off, so perhaps it’s fitting then that this month will go out like a lamb with a lighter agenda. For the regular meeting this month, council will approve the consent agenda from Committee of the Whole, including the new version of the Territorial Acknowledgement, plus one bit of new business on the heritage file. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Meeting on September 26?”

This Week in Council: Downtown Parking Gets Racked Out

This week, council came back to do the council’s business with an agenda that included Indigenous relations, but the Downtown Parking Master Plan that was the source of the most controversy. How much should maximums be minimized was the primary source of friction, but that might still have to be worked out at the end of the month. Meanwhile, there was a lengthy closed session we know nothing about. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week in Council: Downtown Parking Gets Racked Out”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for September 6, 2023

We’re back! For real this time. 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: Committee of the Whole Meeting for September 6, 2023”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 6 Meeting?

We’re back! Well, technically we were back a few weeks ago, but now city council is officially back, returning from summer vacation and returning to the council chambers. The agenda for this first Committee of the Whole meeting of the (nearly) fall has some straightforward stuff, but it also will have some controversy including the presentation of the Downtown Parking Master Plan and everyone’s three favourite words: “Strong Mayor Powers.” Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the September 6 Meeting?”

This Week at Council: Housing Request Opens Door to August Meeting

It was supposed to be the last council meeting before the usual August break, but the events of this week’s regular meeting of council did something unusual: It ended with a cliffhanger. The door was opened to a potential August meeting for a matter involving supportive housing and the raising the money to cover it. It terms of the business settled at the meeting itself, but there were also a few complications there too. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Housing Request Opens Door to August Meeting”