November 18, 2022, Ward 2 Update

Good afternoon Neighbour,

I hope this email update finds you well and warm, on this wintery day! This past Tuesday, November 15 Guelph City Council held our inaugural meeting, and Councillors were sworn in for the 2022-2026 term.

I’m thrilled to be joined by Councillor Carly Klassen (see her LinkedIn profile here), the new Ward 2 City Councillor. You can find the official election results by clicking here.

Moving forward Carly and I will be working together to represent everyone in Ward 2, and we will also be sending a joint Ward 2 email update. That makes this my first update in this new term of Council, and also the last update that comes from my email address.

Future Ward 2 updates will be coming from a new email address ([email protected]).  This new email address redirects to both Carly and myself. We will aim to send monthly updates on the first Wednesday of the month, following Committee of the Whole meetings, which will be taking place on the first Tuesday of each month. 

In this update:

1) Consultations for the City’s Culture and Sports Tourism Strategy – Monday, November 21
2) Special Council Meeting to address Bill 109, More Homes for Everyone Act and Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act Consultation – Tuesday, November 22 at 10 am 
3) Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan &  Stormwater Management Master Plan Public Open Houses – Tuesday, November 29
4) Snow Angels Volunteer Opportunity
5) Santa Community Parade – Sunday, November 20



1) Consultations for the City’s Culture and Sports Tourism Strategy – Monday, November 21 

The City recently received funding through the Government of Canada’s Tourism Relief Fund. This funding will help the City make a new culture and sports tourism strategy called “Create, Play and Stay”.

You are invited to attend one of two engagement sessions to help inform this new strategy on November 21.

Date: November 21, 2022
Time: 2 to 4 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Registration: Please register online with Eventbrite.

Date: November 21, 2022
Time: 7 to 9 p.m.
Location: Online via Zoom
Registration: Please register online with Eventbrite.

Developing the Create, Play and Stay Culture and Tourism Strategy is an outcome of the 2022-2026 Economic Development and Tourism Strategy, and supports the goal of building a must-see visitor destination in Ontario. 

If you have any questions, you can reach out to Alex Jaworiwsky, Manager of Tourism and Destination Development at the City of Guelph. Her contact info is 519-822-1260 x 2533 and 
[email protected]

2) Special Council Meeting to address Bill 109, More Homes for Everyone Act and Bill 23, More Homes Built Faster Act Consultation – Tuesday, November 22 at 10 am

By now you have probably heard about the new legislation coming from the Province of Ontario, which will have significant impacts on all municipalities. These bills introduce major changes across a range of existing acts and will have a significant impact on municipal planning, citizen participation in planning applications, heritage designations, use of wetlands, merging all conservation authorities, municipal finance and more.

One of the concerning proposed changes is a reduction in the amount municipalities will be able to collect in development fees – which effectively transfers the costs of delivering new city services from developers and new homeowners, to existing tax-payers.

The staff report is not yet available, but you will find it here in advance of Tuesday’s meeting (guelph.ca/agenda) by clicking on the 10am meeting on Tuesday November 22nd.

Earlier this week Mayor Guthrie as Chair of the Ontario Big City Mayors was quoted in a Toronto Star article saying these changes will short municipalities $5 billion. 

If you would like to send comments to Guelph City Council in advance of Tuesday’s meeting, you can do so by sending an email to [email protected] You can watch this meeting by going to guelph.ca/live or joining us at Guelph Council Chambers on Tuesday, November 22 at 10 am.

 3) Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan &  Stormwater Management Master Plan Public Open Houses – Tuesday, November 29

The Storm Water Management Master Plan looks at how the City is currently managing stormwater and guides how we will continue to do so over the next 25 years. It has studied subwatershed health, erosion sites, the minor and major conveyance network, existing and new end-of-pipe treatment facilities, and provided criteria and policy direction based on new Provincial legislation – all to support the City’s growth to 2051.
The Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan began in January 2020 and has studied alternative solutions for the City’s existing water and wastewater distribution and collection system capacity constraints as well as required updates to infrastructure to support growth to 2051 as per the City’s Shaping Guelph project.

Both plans are being carried out according to the Municipal Engineers Association’s Municipal Class Environmental Assessment (October 2000, as amended in 2007, 2011, & 2015), which is an approved Class of Environmental Assessment under the Environmental Assessment Act. 

Drop in to learn about the project: November 29 any time between 5:30 – 7:30 p.m.

In person: Come to City Hall, 1 Carden Street, meeting rooms B and C

Virtually: Attend virtually through the links posted on the Have Your Say pages (see links below)

There is no formal presentation, just great conversation in person or virtually. City staff will be on hand to explain the project, answer your questions and discuss your thoughts and feedback.

Have your Say page for Stormwater Management Master Plan:
www.haveyoursay.guelph.ca/storm-water-master-plan-update

Have your Say page for the Water and Wastewater Servicing Master Plan:
www.haveyoursay.guelph.ca/water-and-waste-water-master-plan-update

4) Snow Angels Volunteer Opportunity 
The People Information Network (PIN) is looking for Snow Angels to shovel for people who can’t manage it or who can’t afford to pay for snow removal. Contact them if you can help or if you need help (pinnetwork.ca).

5) Santa Community Parade – Sunday, November 20

After two years hiatus, the Guelph Santa Parade is returning this Sunday. I’m excited to take my toddler to see the floats. You can find the route information here: www.guelphsantaparade.com/parade-route

I hope you can make it out to the parade!



That’s it for this update. Thank you for your support during the election. I look forward to serving you and the rest of our community over the next four years! 

As always, please let me know if you have questions, thoughts or feedback about any of the items in this update, or any other municipal issue. 


Sincerely,

Rodrigo

Rodrigo Goller 
City Councillor, Ward 2
City of Guelph
226-821-1146
[email protected]
 
ward2guelph.ca
twitter.com/ward2rodrigo
Newsletter Signup