59 Carden St.

Christmas trees getting mulched

Remember last October when Operations boss Derek McCaughan promised quicker removal of Christmas trees from curbs this time around?

We were out playing with the kids Sunday when two city workers in a pick-up rolled along our street, scooping up our trees.

On Monday, my colleague Rob O'Flanagan took the photo below of workers feeding trees into the chipper at Hanlon Creek Park.

Planning meeting cancelled

There was to be a council planning meeting tonight, however it has been cancelled.

There are no other council or committee meetings slated for this week, though there are several committee meetings next week before the next regular council meeting on Jan. 30, when agenda items will include the city's future membership on the Public Health board.

Council to revisit Health Board representation

The mayor tells me a decision on whether to resume sending members to sit on the Board of Health could be made at the next council meeting on Jan. 30.

Coincidental to our editorial on the topic this week, Health Minister Deb Matthews wrote to Karen Farbridge expressing concern the citizens of Guelph are not being represented and reminding the mayor of the city's obligations under the Health Protection and Promotion Act.

At least one councillor pulled from the board is saying it's time to accept the city is not going to get its way and get back to the table.

More in the paper tomorrow.

Six councillors crossing the floor

I'm told half of city councillors will have new seats at the next council meeting on Jan. 30.

The mayor reportedly sent an email recently asking if any members were interested in changing their seating locations. Three from each side of the horseshoe will now be checking out the view from the other side.

I understand the new seating plan is as follows, clockwise beginning with Cam Guthrie, who will not be one of those on the move. The names in bold are the ones who are moving:

Guthrie, Jim Furfaro, June Hofland, Bob Bell, Maggie Laidlaw, Lise Burcher, Mayor Farbridge, Gloria Kovach, Ian Findlay, Karl Wettstein, Leanne Piper, Todd Dennis and Andy Van Hellemond.

Here come the green bags

The city issued a press release this afternoon suggesting it hopes to resume processing organics at the new wet plant next week, following a meeting this Thursday evening of the public liaison committee.

While the release indicates the plant could be back to full operation by mid-March, the attached recommissioning plan suggests operations will be ramped up over a four- to six-month time period.

We'll have more in tomorrow's paper.

Unemployment up half a point, still among lowest in Canada

The latest Stats Can monthly report suggests Guelph's unemployment rate increased by half a percentage point last month, from 4.6 to 5.1 per cent.

The good news is we still have the lowest unemployment rate of any Ontario city and are third in the country behind only Regina (at 3.8 per cent) and Quebec City, at 4.7 per cent.

Read the whole story here.

Will that be cash or Guelph?

The city has launched a new cash card, which can be reloaded and used at several facilities to purchase city products or services.

I'm not a fan of the reloadable cash card phenomenon -- call me old school, but debit cards and actual cash work fine for me. That said, I can see the benefit of sending the kids off to, say, public swimming or skating -- you know, the indoor kind you still have to pay for -- with one of these cards instead of cash.

We'll have more in the paper tomorrow.

Best Western developer seeks help from higher power

The developer who would like to turn the Best Western hotel site into two high-rise towers aimed at University of Guelph students is tired of waiting for the city to decide the issue.

A planning consultant for Mississauga's Abode Varsity Living confirmed this morning the developer has asked the Ontario Municipal Board to decide whether it should be granted the zoning bylaw and Official Plan amendments required for the project.

The Planning Act requires such decisions to be made within 180 days of an application being submitted. It has been more than twice that since Abode put in the ask.

We'll have more in tomorrow's paper.