59 Carden St.

$108 million?

Posted by Magda
I was surprised to see today that Skyline has bought 18 apartment buildings around the province for $108 million, so soon after all but stopping work on the downtown Gummer building on account of the economic slowdown.

Councillor explains sidewalk plowing vote

Posted by Magda
Leanne Piper was the only councillor to vote against continuing sidewalk plowing Monday night. Today on her blog she explains her rationale.

• Sidewalks are for walking, Ward 5 blog, Nov. 28

I've been asked by several constituents about my lone vote against residential sidewalk clearing last Monday evening.
I support the city clearing arterial road sidewalks, bus stops, central business district sidewalks and public facilities. However, I believe residential side streets should be eliminated from the 2010 budget (not this year). I also support an assistance program for residents who are not physically able to clear sidewalks...
Read more.

Cash for cleanup, townhouses

Posted by Magda
The city is recommending giving up to $200,000 over 10 years to the company that is proposing to build 10 townhouses on the contaminated former gas station at Woolwich Street and London Road. A council committee will vote on that Wednesday. Stay tuned.

• Developer turns eyes to empty lot, Jan. 7
  

Pileup

Posted by Magda
The City of Toronto is worrying about having to stockpile recyclables if the economic turndown forces recycling plants to close. We hadn't heard that from our recycling folks, who said the big effect on Guelph is likely to be the decrease in revenue from selling recyclables.

• Economic crisis puts Toronto in recycling crunch, Globe and Mail, Nov. 28
• Glass selling better than aluminum, cardboard, Nov. 26

Downtown GO station recommended

posted by Nicole

City staff are recommending the downtown Via Rail station also be the location for GO Transit service when it begins, possibly in 2011.

That location was one of three recommended by the GO Transit environmental assessment team at a presentation this September. The other two are the former-Lafarge property and at Watson Road.

Staff says this site will cost the least and cause the least amount of environmental disruption.

But parking is the biggest issue. The report says downtown parking will be available, offset by the public Wilson Street garage when it opens.

Hans here to end of 2012

On the city's website:

The City of Guelph is pleased to announce that Hans Loewig will remain in the position of Chief Administrative Officer until December 2012.

"Mr. Loewig has shown exemplary leadership, integrity, and commitment to public service during his tenure at the City," said Mayor Karen Farbridge. "I am thrilled that he will continue to serve as our Chief Administrative Officer for the next four years."

Mr. Loewig has spent 37 years in the municipal sector and served as the CAO for the City of Brantford from 1999 to 2004. Upon his retirement from Brantford, he provided consulting services in the municipal sector. He was hired by the City of Guelph in June 2007 to serve as Interim CAO. That initial contract was extended, and will now be replaced by a four-year contract that runs from January 2009 to December 2012.

update

posted by Nicole

Part of the deal, voted by city council, was that the Loewig's salary would be public.

Based on a market review earlier this year he will be paid $195,268.84 each year, minus eight weeks of unpaid leave. The salary is fixed and will only be adjusted for inflation.

Are you on the list?

Posted by Magda
Judging by some posts here, there seems to be appetite to discuss the municipal heritage register. City staff proposed adding more than 1,900 homes to the register, which would give the city 60 days to consider applications to demolish or move the homes. All the properties are on the Burcher-Stokes registry, created in the 1970s.

Discussion at council Monday was heated, and focused on the lack of a process for homeowners to get themselves off the register. Council voted to defer the decision until February, by which time city staff will have developed that process.

Go here to check whether your property is on the register.

• Heritage register one step closer, Nov. 7
• A cultural heritage resource, Oct. 22

Glass selling better than aluminum, cardboard

posted by Nicole

An overall drop in commodity prices over the last few months, has forced down the value of recycled items overall by about 50 per cent, depending on the buyer.

But NexCycle, the glass recycler south of Guelph that not only handles the city's glass, but all liquor bottles recycled by the province, says it is doing okay.

General manager Scott van Rooy, said glass is safer because regardless of a slumping economy people still need to drink. And because it is heavy, it wasn't being shipped to China anyways.

Business has changed, including one of NexCycle's major buyers in Illinois calling it quits. But van Rooy says the slumping U.S. economy means that glass producers are closing and therefore there is more demand for recycled glass. This means new business for NexCyle.

The price of snow

posted by Nicole

The city is anticipating spending more than $600,000 over its 2008 budget to clear snow until the new year, because of last year's killer winter. But the city also added bus shelter plowing and underestimated fuel costs. Read the full story here

Now, I've learned that the County of Wellington was a little more conservative. Paul Johnson, operations manager for the county, says Wellington is entering this winter $1.2 million underspent.

And so long as snow isn't really heavy before the new year, Johnson said he doesn't anticipate a negative variance.

Library coming first

View Larger Map

Posted by Magda
The library will come to Watson and Starwood before anything else, meaning it won't get bogged down as council and the developer deliberate over what else should go on the northwest corner, said Chris DeVriendt, a city planner. A September opening is still a possibility, he added.

I'm including a map above, courtesy of Google maps, because I'm not sure many people actually know that intersection. I very rarely head that way -- in fact, the only time I really spent any time there was when I wrote a story about the popsicle test and discovered, much to my surprise, that there isn't a shred of commercial space in the east.

Read more about the library in the paper tomorrow.