59 Carden St.

And you think three streams are tough

The next time you're feeling miffed about having to sort your trash into three different bags, think of the poor residents of Kamikatsu, Tokushima, Japan.

The small town -- population about 2,100 -- has declared itself a "zero waste" town, with all household waste separated into 34 different categories and then sent for recycling.

A few years ago the town recycled about 55 per cent of its waste. Today that number is above 80 per cent.

While the town is environmentally motivated, its current system of recycling has also helped it avoid purchasing a costly incinerator.

In this photo, a member of the Zero Waste committee stands by some of the makeshift recycling bins.

Site of washroom death turned over to city

The Ministry of Labour has completed its investigation in the city-owned washroom structure where 14-year-old Isabel Warren was killed when a wall collapsed last week.

The city will now begin its own investigation in the facility at Southend Community Park, behind Bishop Macdonell high school where Warren was about to complete Grade 9.

The washroom will remain closed while the city conducts its investigation, according to a news release issued this morning.

A funeral for Warren was held today in Burlington. We'll have full coverage in the paper tomorrow.

The city's curious position on Tim's cups

You might have been surprised at the story on the front page of today's paper about recycling Tim Hortons cups.

In particular, you might have been surprised at comments from city officials that the cups are not recyclable, particularly in light of some fairly convincing evidence this is already being done.

It seems Toronto's Turtle Island Recycling is already recycling the plastic-lined cups and even the plastic lids.

But the city's Tara Sprigg told my colleague, Greg Layson, that hot beverage cups "are currently not recyclable."

"If technologies evolve (or) improve and there becomes a way to recycle post-consumer hot beverage/polycot cups, the City of Guelph will work toward recycling them," Sprigg wrote in an email to Greg.

Perhaps someone at Environmental Services might want to get on the phone.

Tim Hortons officials say Guelph customers will be able to recycle their cups and lids -- as well as chili bowls and carry-out trays -- within city limits by the end of this year.

The photo attached shows a poster inside a North Vancouver Tims location.

The ghosts of city councils past

There were shades at last night's council meeting of the Kate Quarrie/Maggie Laidlaw battles of the last term, but this time the terse words were being flung by Karen Farbridge and Gloria Kovach.

While discussing the contentious issue of whether staff should be given responsibility for doling out more than $60 million in infrastructure cash, Kovach suggested it would be "irresponsible" of councillors not to hold special meetings during the summer to award tenders.

That raised the ire of Farbridge, who made a point of order to remind Kovach this term of council is supposed to be a giant love-fest where nobody says anything remotely disparaging about anyone else.

Kovach, clearly miffed at being cut off mid-rant, countered that she was only expressing her opinion and should be allowed to do so.

After a couple of rounds of "Are you done?" back and forth, the discussion continued.

To tell the truth, after such a sanitized term of council so far I kind of enjoyed the spirited exchange.

Look for more on the infrastructure spending issue in tomorrow's paper.

Latest on the urinals front

City councillors tonight approved open-air urinals to handle the downtown weekend bar rush, but only if downtown businesses are willing to pony-up the dough to cover the cost of the pilot project.

Staff had suggested the operations department pay for the controversial test run. Operations boss Derek McCaughan said his department would commit $5,000 to the piliot, which he figured would be enough to instal, remove and clean the units for four to six weeks.

If the pilot was to be extended beyond that, McCaughan told council, it would require financial support from those businesses open during the bar rush.

But councillors had another idea, suggesting business owners put their money where their ... well, you see where I'm going.

Given how willing downtown bar owners have been in the past to contribute to the cost of dealing with problems related to the bar rush -- read: extra policing, early morning clean-ups -- don't expect to see urinals any time soon.

We'll have more in the paper tomorrow, and I'll be trying for business reaction for a follow-up story for Wednesday's paper.

To see what we reported earlier on the issue, click here or here

Someone needs some extra time with the teacher

As the school year winds down this week, it's not only our kids who will be receiving their report cards this week.

The Guelph Civic League will release, this evening, its 2008 Council Voting Record, on which it ranks councillors by how well their performance aligns with the Civic League's values.

Each member of council was assigned points based on how they voted on 15 issues identified by GCL members and supporters as the most significant.

Most of the councillors scored fairly well, which is really not at all surprising. But a couple -- you know who you are Gloria and Christine -- will need to do some cramming over the summer if they want to please the Civic League, which they likely don't.

To see the complete scord cards, click here Download GCL VR-2009

 

Too few hands on the purse strings?

This might be more a matter of bad timing than anything else, with the stench of eHealth Ontario's $5 million in untendered contracts still lingering in the air.

Guelph CAO Hans Loewig has floated a proposal which would essentially see him solely responsible for doling out more than $66 million in city, provincial and federal money under the Infrastructure Stimulus Fund.

The report, to go before council Monday, notes the urgency with which the city needs to get the 21 approved projects underway in order to not miss the 2009 construction season and make sure all the work gets done by the end of March 2011; a requirement for getting the bag of cash in the first place.

Still, the optics of one person having control over that much money cause concern. I'm hoping for more than a rubber-stamping of the proposal on Monday night.

Sawed Off

Some clear-cutting of trees on the Paris-Galt Moraine in south Guelph has been the subject of much heated discussion in the city this week.

We'll have a full story about the issue tomorrow, but in the interim here are three photos of the cutting done over the last couple of weeks.

Two park washrooms closed "as a precaution"

The city has temporarily shut down two park washrooms with design features similar to those at the Larry Pearson Baseball complex, where a 14-year-old girl was killed this week when a wall collapsed on her.

We're told the affected washrooms are at St. George's Park, on Metcalfe Street, and Hanlon Creek Park on Kortright Road. They were closed after the city inspected a number of municipally-owned facilities in light of Tuesday's tragedy.

The city will also commission an independent structural engineer to examine all washroom structures, the city announced in a statement issued this morning.

City statement re: Isabel Warren's death

The city issued this press release this morning:

Guelph mourns Bishop Macdonell student; City postpones City Hall

grand opening celebration

GUELPH, ON, June 17, 2009 – The City of Guelph joins the Wellington Catholic District School Board

and the community in its mourning of a student who was fatally injured after a partial wall in a public

washroom in Southend Community Park collapsed yesterday.

"This is a terrible tragedy for the family, Bishop Macdonell High School, and our entire community," said

Guelph's mayor, Karen Farbridge. "The City of Guelph extends its heartfelt condolences to the family,

who are undoubtedly suffering at this time."

In respect for the family, the City will postpone its City Hall grand opening celebration, originally

scheduled for this Saturday, June 20. The City is in the process of contacting everyone involved in

Saturday's event.

At this time, the cause of the collapse is unknown. The washroom building has been secured by the

Guelph Police Service, who are investigating along with the Ministry of Labour. The City is working with

Guelph Police Services to assist in any and every way possible. The washroom building will remain

closed until a structural review is conducted.

The City wishes to reassure the public that City facilities are inspected regularly, and that it is

committed to safe, healthy public spaces. The City awaits the results of the investigation so as to

understand what happened.

The City is also working closely with the Wellington Catholic District School Board. The City and the

School Board were in touch with various ministries yesterday, including the Ministry of Labour and the

Ministry of Education, to inform them of the incident.