59 Carden St.

Oops, missed that bit of good news

It seems city council got together last night and finalized its 2009 budget.

This had been on the incredibly busy agenda Monday night and was one of several items not reached after lengthy discussions about the organics plant and Hanlon improvements. There was some discussion at the meeting about when the rest of the agenda would be completed, and when I left at 11 p.m. to meet my deadline I thought council was going to adjourn the not-reached items to a scheduled planning session next Monday.

(Mostly I thought this because two people there to speak about one of those items were asked to come back next Monday to address the issue.)

It seems I was wrong, and at least a portion of the not-reached agenda -- including finalizing the budget -- was discussed last night.

The good news is the property tax increase passed -- 3.41 per cent -- was lower than previously anticipated.

I'm looking into it today and we'll have a story in tomorrow's paper.

Hanlon upgrades approved, but changes a long way away

City council approved a provincial plan last night to make the Hanlon Expressway stoplight-free from Maltby Road to the Speed River.

But drivers should expect to keep seeing red -- lights, that is -- for a long time to come.

An official from the transport ministry said once an environmental study on the project has been published and gone through the review period, the Hanlon will be considered for funding "among all the other provincial projects."

Later in the meeting, when Councillor Gloria Kovach observed it's unlikely the work would be undertaken within the next decade, the project manager replied simply, "True."

We'll have more in the paper tomorrow.

New organics plant gets, appropriately enough, a green light

It will come as a surprise to nobody, but city council tonight voted 11-2 to award the contract to build and operate a new organics plant to Maple Reinders, as recommended by staff.

Several residents living near the site urged councillors not to locate the plant there, but to no avail.

We'll have a full story in the paper tomorrow.

City council was also tonight to vote on the province's preferred plan for the Hanlon Expressway. I've missed the deadline to get that in tomorrow's paper, but will be following it tomorrow for a story in Wednesday's paper.

What's the future of the old jail?

During Saturday's Doors Open tour of the former Guelph Correctional Centre, one of the most frequently-asked questions was, "What's going to become of this place?"

That question is still very much up in the air, but it seems the thousands of visitors touring the old jail on the weekend were not the only ones putting the property under some closer scrutiny in recent days.

The city issued a press release late Friday announcing that the mayor and CAO had taken provincial Energy and Infrastructure Minister George Smitherman on a tour of the so-called Guelph Innovation Lands -- also sometimes known as the York District Lands for those following along at home.

The city has been speaking to the province, which owns the 1,053-acre parcel, since last year about the city's vision for the lands as a centre to focus on green jobs and the development of a live/work community which would include innovative industry and a residential component.

"The city is keen to work with the province to make the Guelph Innovation District one of the greenest and most innovative developments in Ontario," Karen Farbridge said in the press release.

City Hall is on the tour, too

The former Guelph Correctional Centre will no doubt be packed today with those curious about what the inside of the old jail looks like, but there are other sites on the Doors Open Guelph agenda as well.

Guelph's new civic administration centre, which has been open for a couple of weeks, is another facility offering free guided tours during the event, which runs today from 10 to 4.

Other notable sites include the Armoury, St. Mary's Ukrainian Catholic Church on York Road and the Tiger Boys Museum at the Guelph Airpark.

It's a beautiful day -- or at least was supposed to be when I wrote this yesterday -- so get out and enjoy some of the city's sites.

For more on Doors Open Guelph click here.

Looks nice from the front ...

I got an email the other day from a longtime reader suggesting I have a look at the back of the new city hall, to which I admit I have not paid much attention.

"We should have saved on the architect fees and have a blank south wall," the reader wrote. "The inhabitants have filled their offices with junk and furniture. While the city hall has the lived-in appearance I wonder if that is what the architect had in mind. You can't change human behaviour but we did not see these views in the old building."

I took the above photo, I think amply displaying that "lived-in appearance" despite being slightly out of focus, about 10 p.m. Wednesday night.

Maybe if they turned off the lights at night the clutter would be less obvious. It was Earth Day, after all.

Sleepless in the east end

We've received several bits of correspondence from east-end resident Pat McGinnis, who has been getting up earlier than she would like lately and fears the issue is going to get worse as we move into summer.

It seems McGinnis for years has been bothered by what she calls "a low, oscillating annoying drone" which routinely disturbs her slumber about 5:30 a.m. She has gone so far as to leave her home, in her PJs, and drive around her neighbourhood in hopes of identifying the source of the noise pollution.

McGinnis thought she may have hit on something when we published a story last weekend about one east-end company -- ABS Friction -- seeking an exemption from the city's noise bylaw so it can operate through the night.

To be clear, McGinnis also sent along emails indicating Coun. Kathleen Farrelly and city staff are aware of noise complaints in that bit of the city, but have not been able to pinpoint the source.

ABS was granted the noise bylaw exemption at Monday's meeting of the emergency services, community services and operations committee.

The exemption now goes to council next Monday for ratification.

Stay tuned.

A sort of homecoming

Photo by Tony Saxon, Guelph Mercury

It was nice to see so many former council members and a couple of mayors come out tonight to officially close the old council chambers at 59 Carden St. and open the new chambers down the road at 1 Carden.

Mayors Norm Jary and John Counsell were in attendance.

Here is a list of the councillors recognized at the meeting, by decade elected:

1960s: Ken Hammill

1970s: Anne Godfrey, David Kendrick, Margaret MacKinnon, Clara Marett

1980s: Rick Ferraro, Jim Whitechurch

1990s: Walter Bilanski, Cathy Downer, Sean Farrelly, Frank Maine, Lynda Prior, Marilyn Shapka, Gary Walton

2000s: Ray Ferraro, Peter Hamtak

We'll have a full report on the meeting in the paper tomorrow.

Out of the old and into the new

A special council meeting will be held tonight to formally close the old council chambers and open the new one just down the road.

Former mayors and councillors have been invited to attend the event, which begins at the old chambers at 7 p.m.

The meeting is, of course, open to the public, but seating is limited particularly in the old chambers.

I'm curious to see which former elected officials show up for the ceremony.

We'll have more on the blog later tonight and in the paper tomorrow.

Professional noses and other body parts

Members of the community development and environmental services committee got quite an anatomy lesson at their meeting this afternoon.

During a lengthy discussion about the proposed new organics plant, the committee was told about "professional noses;" essentially paid smellers whose job it is to determine whether odours are at a detectable level.

Later, Coun. Ian Findlay noted residents will assume the worst when they see an exhaust stack to be built on the site. Findlay asked if it would be possible to reclaim the water vapour and carbon dioxide which would otherwise come from the stack "so you don't have this big penis-looking thing hanging out the side of the building?"

After some snickering, Findlay was assured there was not.

The committee approved a series of staff recommendations to proceed with the $26.5-million project. It will go before council for final approval next Monday.

We'll have a more family-friendly account of the meeting in the paper tomorrow.