59 Carden St.

The face of growth

Posted by Magda
I don't envy councillors when discussion turns to infill developments. On one hand they've been told by the province how dense the city needs to be and how many new people need to move here in the next 25 years. On the other hand, I've yet to see an established neighbourhood accept extra development with open arms.

There was lots of anger tonight among residents who came to talk about the three buildings of condos for seniors that St. Joseph's plans to build.

Lisa Sharp, who lives on nearby Kimberley Drive, told council she understands the city needs to grow to the degree dictated by the province. "But I don't believe this is the place to start. And anyway, who runs our city -- council or the province? There's plenty of opportuntiy to create new subdivisions."

But staff explained they were requiring the developer to build at least 300 units to make sure they contribute to the city's density requirements under the provincial Places to Grow act.

And Councillor Maggie Laidlaw explained the city, in some ways, can't control its own destiny because of provincial requirements. "Although we would like to be able to control our grown, we can't do that," she said.

She explained the city can't limit buildings to one or two stories near residential neighbourhoods. "If we use that rule throughout the city, then we will never be able to infill anywhere. We have to start to get used to new urban design."

Conflict on the radar, again

Posted by Magda

The issue of conflict of interest seems a hot one on council lately. It came up again today, less than a week after a conflict seminar for councillors.

During discussion of seniors condos to be built by St. Joseph's, a resident of that area accused Councillor Kathleen Farrelly of being in a position of conflict because she sits on the board of St. Joseph's. Farrelly asked for legal advice from staff, but Mayor Karen Farbridge told her she can't get any -- when it comes to conflict, it's up to a councillor to decide for him or herself, perhaps with help from a privately retained lawyer.

Council later recessed for a few minutes while Farbridge talked to Farrelly. When the meeting resumed, Farrelly explained that she is council's representative on the board of St. Joe's, and does not stand to benefit from any discussion about the buildings.

"Therefore it would be quite obvious to me that I don't have a pecuniary interest," she concluded.

$194,694.36

Posted by Magda
Police chief Rob Davis is the highest paid city employee, bringing home $194,694.36 last year. Actually police folk occupy the top three spots, with the deputy chief earning $154,030.50 and the police service director of corporate services for police making $154,027.92.

You can see the whole list online here.

How far should the greenbelt go?

Posted by Magda
The province is investigating whether the greenbelt should extend further west to encompass all of the Paris-Galt moraine, which is Guelph's water recharge area. The investigation was requested by Mayor Karen Farbridge, MPP Liz Sandals, and Puslinch Mayor Brad Whitcombe.

The Ministry of Municipal Affairs turned down the request for the investigation, environmental commissioner Gord Miller said today. But the Ministry of the Environment said it would look into it.

I'll try to find out more sometime this week.

They're everywhere

Posted by Magda
Residents of the area around the wet/dry plant on Dunlop Road have been popping up everywhere recently, concerned about the plan to rebuild the composter.

At today's discussion of the city's water supply, Stone Road resident Shirley Newell asked Mayor Karen Farbridge how the water supply in her area will be protected when the composter is rebuilt, referring to an elevated level of organic nitrogen in at least one well in the area.

"The entire community is going to be a groundwater protection area," Farbridge responded. "No area will be more or less protected."

An emotional topic

Posted by Magda
Emotions were high at a discussion about Guelph's water this afternoon. Environmental commissioner Gord Miller spared little when he laid into the development industry.

That didn't surprise me too much. But I was surprised by the emotion expressed by Mayor Karen Farbridge in response to comments by local developer Andrew Lambden. Lambden said he was disappointed there wasn't more talk of cooperation, and suggested safeguards be put in at construction sites like the current one on Victoria near the Eramosa River to prevent sediments from flowing into the river.

Farbridge responded that the city has a long list of priorities, and can't deal with everything at once.

"I could be provocative and say if the developers association didn't spend so much time fighting our natural heritage strategy, we'd have more resources to put into this."

Read more in the paper tomorrow.

How Earth hour went

Posted by Magda
Here's one take on how Earth Hour went in Guelph, captured by local photog Ben Benvie. (For the record, the Mercury was hardly dark, either.)

Who's parking where?

Posted by Magda
Parking staff keep detailed stats on how full parking garages and lots get. Here's a snapshot (in pdf form) of one week last January: Baker lot, Macdonell lot, Wilson lot, East parkade, West parkade. The busiest lot is the East parkade, which was on average 81 per cent occupied during the period checked by staff (10am-4pm). The least busy was the Wilson Street lot, which was 65 per cent occupied, on average.

Will we or won't we?

Posted by Magda
Liz Sandals is in town to announce whether Guelph is getting the $5 million it applied for to move the civic museum to the Loretto Convent. It was an all-or-nothing application. The city already got $1 million from the feds. The announcement is at 4:15. Watch this space, and tomorrow's paper, for more.

Who're you going to call?

Posted by Magda
Dan Moziar just told me he's gotten a call or two from a former constituent who thought he was still a councillor. The reason? Bell apparently hasn't realized there's been an election in Guelph. Even the most recent phone book, for 2008-09, lists Kate Quarrie's council in the municipal pages. All the other city councils in the book have been updated. Apparently we're off the radar.