Special City Council
Revised Meeting Agenda

Monday, May 11, 2020 at 1:00 P.m. - 6:00 P.m.

Remote meeting live streamed

on guelph.ca/live

Changes to the original agenda are noted with an asterisk "*". 

City facilities are closed to the public in response to COVID-19. City Council meetings are being held electronically and can be live streamed at guelph.ca/live.

For alternate meeting formats, please contact the City Clerk's Office at or 519-822-1260 extension 5603.

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1.

Notice - Electronic Participation

1.1

City Council

This meeting will be held by Electronic Participation in accordance with the City of Guelph Procedural By-law (2020)-20490. 

1.2

Delegations to Items 6.1, 7.1 and 7.2

Members of the public who have an interest in delegating to item 6.1 Managing the Impacts of COVID-19: Update #2; item 7.1 Motion from Councillor Downer; and/or item 7.2 Motion from Councillor Gordon may register up until 10:00 a.m. on Monday, May 11, 2020. 

You can register as a delegation or  by contacting the City Clerk’s office by email or phone:

519-837-5603
TTY 519-826-9771
 (attachments must not exceed 20 MB)

When we receive your registration or written comments, we will send you a confirmation message and instructions for participating in the meeting.

2.

Call to Order

2.1

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof

3.

Authority to move into closed meeting

• Recommendation:

  That the Council of the City of Guelph now hold a meeting that is closed to the public, pursuant to the Municipal Act, to consider:

3.1

Disclosure of Pecuniary Interest and General Nature Thereof 

3.2

Baker District Redevelopment Project - Update - 2020-43

Section 239 (2)(c) and (f) of the Municipal Act relating to a proposed or pending acquisition or disposition of land by the municipality or local board; and advice that is subject to solicitor-client privilege, including communications necessary for that purpose.

4.

Open Meeting – 2:00 p.m.

4.1

Closed Meeting Summary

4.2

O Canada

4.3

Silent Reflection

4.4

First Nations Acknowledgement

5.

Council Consent Agenda

The following resolutions have been prepared to facilitate Council's consideration of various matters and are suggested for consideration. If Council wishes to address a specific report in isolation of the Consent Agenda, please identify the item. It will be extracted and dealt with separately as part of the Items for Discussion.

5.1

2020 Property Tax Policy Report - 2020-02, 2020-45

(Referred from the April 16, 2020 Emergency City Council Meeting. Further information provided in Council Memo.) 

• Recommendation:

  That the 2020 City of Guelph property tax ratios, subclass discounts and corresponding tax rates, as set out in Attachment-1 to the report titled 2020 Property Tax Policy dated April 16, 2020, be approved.

6.

Items for Discussion

The following items have been extracted from the Committee of the Whole Consent Report and the Council Consent Agenda and will be considered separately. These items have been extracted either at the request of a member of Council or because they include a presentation and/or delegations.

6.1

Managing the Impacts of COVID-19: Update #2 - 2020-47

Presentation:
Mayor Guthrie
Scott Stewart, Chief Administrative Officer
Colleen Clack, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Public Services
Kealy Dedman, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Infrastructure, Development and Enterprise Services
Trevor Lee, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer, Corporate Services
Christopher Beveridge, Director, Health Protection, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public Health

Correspondence:
*Bonnie Smith

• Recommendation:
  1. That report “Managing the impacts of COVID-19: Update #2” dated May 11, 2020 be forwarded to the local MP and MPP, FCM, AMO, LUMCO and the Federal Minister of Finance and the Ministers of Municipal Affairs and Housing and Minister of Finance for the Province of Ontario.
  2. That Council endorse staff exploration of financial, economic development and culture and tourism considerations raised by the Mayor’s Task Force for Economic Recovery and report back through the next COVID-19 update with recommendations.
  3. That Council endorse the Grow Back Better: Our Food Future’s 10-point COVID-19 Recovery Plan that refocuses $1.6 million in Federal Smart Cities funding over the next 18 months to support social and economic recovery efforts in Guelph-Wellington.
  4. That due to the on-going revenue losses resulting from COIVD-19, the limited access to revenue tools to manage through these impacts, concerns with property tax and user rate affordability and the forecasted need to rely upon reserve and reserve funds for a long-term period of uncertainty, the City of Guelph support the call for emergency municipal funding by the Federation of Canadian Municipalities and the Large Urban Mayors’ Caucus of Ontario.
  5. That Guelph call on other levels of government to arm municipal governments with more diversified revenue streams, inclusive of both income and consumption based taxes, as a way to mitigate municipal financial vulnerability, support the sector’s recovery and improve financial independence through longer-term reforms.
  6. That Guelph Council endorse the April 28th motion from the Large Urban Mayor’s Caucus of Ontario (LUMCO) which states that running deficits as a way to manage municipal financial challenges as a result of the pandemic is not in the public interest.
  7. That the revised May to August 2020 City Council Meeting Schedule, included as Attachment-1 to report titled “Managing the impacts of COVID-19: Update #2”, dated May 11, 2020, be approved.

7.

Councillor Motions in Response to COVID-19

The following motions have been brought forward by members of Council for consideration in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

7.1

Motion from Councillor Downer

Correspondence:
*Mike Darmon

• Recommendation:

  That staff be directed to prepare a plan and associated funding sources for physical distancing in outdoor public spaces, where possible, that is informed by public health safety guidelines and advice in order to ready the community for a phased return to pre-COVID-19 activities and that staff report back to Council via the monthly COVID-19 update meetings. 

7.2

Motion from Councillor Gordon

(Amended for issuance of revised agenda.)

Delegations:
*Laura Brown, Guelph Coalition for Active Transportation
*Mike Darmon (presentation)
*Marty Williams, Downtown Guelph Business Association
*Luke Weiler
*Mandy Hiscocks, OPIRG-Guelph
*Martin Collier

Correspondence:
*Frederique Aroryas
*Robert Case
*Brad Johnston
*Linda O'Neill
*Sidney Sproule
*Brandi Matheson
*Christopher Beveridge, Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Public
Health
*Laura Brown
*Abhilash Kantamneni
*Mike Darmon
*Bryan Munn

• Recommendation:

  That staff be directed to examine methods to adhere to physical distancing guidelines and public health advice through the implementation of active transportation options to support the health and wellbeing of our citizens during our collective fight against COVID-19. And that the identified funding source be reallocated as one-time use from the 2020 approved Mayor and Council training and conference budget - account 702-0000-24 and account 701-0000-34 up to $45,000. And that staff prioritize existing owned city infrastructure or materials to accomplish the separation of vehicular and pedestrian/cyclists. And that any changes to areas be clearly communicated in advance to the public. And that Council acknowledge that these actions will be temporary and on a trial basis where staff will monitor and make adjustments as necessary. And that such initiatives will be implemented as soon as possible.

8.

By-laws

Resolution to adopt the By-laws (Councillor Billings). 

• Recommendation:

  That By-laws Numbered (2020)-20491 to (2020)-20494, inclusive, and (2020)-20496, are hereby passed. 

8.1

By-Law Number (2020)-20491

A by-law to set tax ratios and tax rate reductions for prescribed property subclasses for the Corporation of the City of Guelph for the year 2020.

8.2

By-law Number (2020)-20492

A by-law to levy education tax rates for the year 2020.

8.3

By-Law Number (2020)-20493

A by-law to impose and levy a rate of taxation for the Board of Management for the Downtown Business Improvement Area of the City of Guelph for the 2020 taxation Year.

8.4

By-Law Number (2020)-20494

A by-law to set the tax rates for City purposes for the year 2020 and to provide for a final tax levy and the payment of taxes.

8.5

By-law Number (2020)-20496

A by-law to confirm the proceedings of a meeting of Guelph City Council held May 11, 2020.

9.

Adjournment