This Week at Council: The Private Lives of Trees

This month’s Committee of the Whole meeting was a pretty usual affair, reports that were not really going to get anyone’s blood up unless they’re especially concerned about bylaws half finished or the scintillating world of auditing. What it will say on your property tax bill, what the City is planning to do to take care of trees on private property, and the workings of the Internal Audit team were all game for this meeting. Here’s the recap… Continue reading “This Week at Council: The Private Lives of Trees”

LIVE BLOG: Committee of the Whole Meeting for March 5, 2024

Let’s start a new month in the council chambers! 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 March 5, 2024”

Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 5, 2024 Meeting?

March comes in like a lamb at city council. There’s nothing terrible controversial in this month’s Committee of the Whole agenda, assuming, of course, that no one wants to start a fight about trees. But this is Guelph, so always assume there will be a fight about trees, and along with that there will also be matters of audit and tax policy for the horseshoe to chew on. Let’s dive in to the agenda…! Continue reading “Committee of the Whole Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the March 5, 2024 Meeting?”

This Week at Council: Planning, Tribunal and Encampments Form the Trifecta

There are busy weeks at council, and then there’s spending nearly half of a 28-hour period in the council chambers. That was the time frame this week at 1 Carden Street, and in that period there was a planning meeting, a meeting where council sat as tribunal on a matter of misapplied Development Charges, and, the big one, a marathon meeting about a Public Spaces Use bylaw. To see how it all turned out, consult this week’s recap below… Continue reading “This Week at Council: Planning, Tribunal and Encampments Form the Trifecta”

LIVE BLOG: Second City Council Meeting for February 14, 2024

Tonight, council sits as tribunal. 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: Second City Council Meeting for February 14, 2024”

LIVE BLOG: First City Council Meeting for February 14, 2024

In what’s sure to be one of the most controversial meeting of the year, the public spaces use bylaw. 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: First City Council Meeting for February 14, 2024”

LIVE BLOG: City Council Meeting for February 13, 2024

Let’s get into some planning matters. 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 February 13, 2024”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the First February 14 Meeting?

Just a day after a two-day meeting between representatives from Guelph and Wellington County, and about two weeks after it was first proposed in closed session at city council, staff have generated what’s sure to be the most controversial policy of the year. The growing visibility of encampments, especially in downtown Guelph, prompted the creation of a new bylaw, and it will be debated at this meeting! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the First February 14 Meeting?”

City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Second February 14 Meeting?

Here’s something interesting! In what looks to be a very busy week and month for city council, it’s a chance for them to sit as a tribunal to hear a complaint, in this case a complaint concerning a development charge. Council will hear the complaint, hear the response, and then hear the counter-response from both sides before rendering a decision. It’s all the fun of a civil trial live from the council chambers!! Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the Second February 14 Meeting?”

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

Planning matters return on schedule for the second Tuesday of February, and there’s going to be some unusual business for this planning meeting just to keep things interesting. Council will be asked to make some decisions regarding some recent applications, they will be asked to made a decision about a new Official Plan Amendment, and then they will make a decision to keep to a previous decision. Continue reading “City Council Preview – What’s on the Agenda for the February 13 Meeting?”