Category Archives: City operations

Guelph, Ont., February 13, 2019—The City appointed Jeremy Laur as Guelph’s chief building official at the February 11 Council Planning Meeting. Laur has over 20 years of progressively senior experience in the building industry, including 16 years with the City. “Jeremy has excellent relationships with the local building and development industry,” said Todd Salter, the City’s general manager of Planning and Building Services. “With his strong focus on customer service and continuous improvement, Jeremy is well-positioned for his new role as Guelph’s chief building official.” Media contact Todd Salter General Manager, Planning and Building Services 519-822-1260 extension 2395 todd.salter@guelph.ca

A residential plow out has started to clear roads, bike lanes, sidewalks and trails of snow. Please move parked cars off of the streets. Continue reading Residential plow out scheduled for Guelph February 13 at 1 a.m.

Guelph, Ont.,  June 26, 2018 – Last night, City Council approved staff recommendations from the Boulevard Maintenance business service review final report keeping boulevard maintenance service levels at current standards, and implementing new processes for efficiencies. The report recommended no changes to the types or frequency of boulevard maintenance. Improvements will be made to gain efficiencies in maintaining City boulevards. The impacts of those recommendations include: Improved process and data consistency Enhanced processes to help staff forecast Increased collaboration of staff from different departments in the planning, development and inspection of boulevards Improved data collection and performance reporting Homeowners will continue to maintain the cul-de-sacs, front boulevards and side boulevards on their streets. What is a boulevard? Resources About the business service reviews Media contact… Continue reading Council approves Boulevard Maintenance business service review

Guelph, Ont., June 6, 2018 – After a distinguished 29-year career with the City of Guelph, General Manager of Court Services, Brad Coutts, will retire on June 22. “It’s always with mixed feelings that we say good-bye to such a dedicated employee,” said Trevor Lee, Deputy CAO, Corporate Services. “Brad was instrumental in the transfer of Provincial Offences Court Administration and Prosecutions to the City of Guelph from the Province in 2000, and led the design and renovation of Guelph’s historic former City Hall into its current use as the Provincial Offences Court serving Guelph-Wellington. We wish him well in his retirement.” Brad, a graduate of Dalhousie University, is a licensed paralegal by the Law Society of Ontario and was a founding member of the… Continue reading City’s GM of Court Services retires after 29 years

Council approves City’s continuing partnership with task force Guelph, Ont., May 29, 2018—Last night, Guelph City Council acknowledged, in principle, the role of Our Energy Guelph as the implementer of the Community Energy Initiative going forward, and approved the City of Guelph’s continued association with Our Energy Guelph as a primary stakeholder and partner. Council also approved Our Energy Guelph’s recommendations for the community as outlined in the updated community energy plan, including a target for Guelph to become a net zero carbon community by 2050. The 2007 Guelph Community Energy Plan, now the Community Energy Initiative, was the first of its kind in North America. In 2016, Council directed staff to initiate an update. A community-based task force was recruited to lead the update… Continue reading Council unanimously accepts Our Energy Guelph’s community energy recommendations

Join City staff on May 24 to celebrate Public Works Week Guelph, Ont., May 18, 2018 – In celebration of Public Works Week, we’re hosting an open house at 45 Municipal Street on Thursday, May 24. The family-friendly event will run from 3–7 p.m. featuring: City equipment and vehicles including an ambulance, Guelph Transit bus, zamboni and collections flusher City bylaw display including demonstrations of license plate recognition Construction and forestry teams explaining their work Traffic signal displays Food trucks providing food and drinks Please bring a non-perishable food item to be donated to the Guelph Food Bank. About National Public Works Week Since 1960, the American Public Works Association (APWA) has sponsored Public Works Week across Canada and the United States. This year’s theme… Continue reading Come see what we do!

The City of Guelph is conducting a telephone survey about the City’s boulevard maintenance. Oraclepoll Research Limited will conduct the survey between Friday, December 15, 2017 and Friday, December 22, 2017. As part of this survey, the research firm will contact 400 households and 200 cul-de-sac households within Guelph. Results of the survey will help City staff to inform the Boulevard Maintenance business service review. Participation is voluntary. All individual responses will be kept confidential and will be used to inform options and opportunities for improvement as it relates to boulevard maintenance. Personal information, as defined by Section 2 of the Municipal Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy (MFIPPA) is collected under the authority of the Municipal Act, 2001, and in accordance with the… Continue reading Notice of collection: Household telephone survey about boulevard maintenance

Guelph, Ont., November 15, 2017– If after a major snowfall, you’re asking where’s the plow, you can now check online. The City of Guelph has launched two new services — Plow Tracker, that will show snow plow locations, and one to advise residents of plow outs. The online Plow Tracker map will show residents the location of both City and contracted snow plows on primary, secondary and residential streets, as well as the location of the City sidewalk snow plows. Icons on the Plow Tracker map will distinguish between City-operated snow plows (in blue), contractor plows (in green) and sidewalk plows (in orange). “Our plow operators are ready for this winter season,” said Doug Godfrey, manager of operations for the City. “The Plow Tracker map… Continue reading Where’s the plow? City of Guelph launches Plow Tracker map and plow out alerts

Guelph, Ont., October 6, 2017 – Guelph Transit’s boarding and ridership numbers for September show an overall increase of 44 per cent over 2016. Last month, 759,053 trips were taken compared to 524,694 during the same time last year. There was also a 15 per cent increase in fare paying riders. “The numbers clearly show that last month’s route realignment is off to an impressive start and that we’re meeting our goal to put buses where and when people need them the most,” says Mike Spicer, Guelph Transit general manager. “This is great news for Guelph Transit and the entire city,” adds Mayor Cam Guthrie. “I’m thankful for the leadership at Guelph Transit, being able to achieve these results within the existing 2017 budget. I’m… Continue reading Guelph Transit ridership up 44 per cent in September

Five of six Guelph waste services meet or exceed financial benchmarks Guelph, Ont., September 7, 2017– A special Council meeting will be held on Monday, September 18 at 7 p.m. at which staff will present initial findings of the Solid Waste Resources (SWR) business service review in an interim report. Council won’t be asked to make any decisions at the meeting; there are no staff recommendations in the report, merely an overview of findings to date. The report details that, while service review work is ongoing, initial findings show that five of six City of Guelph waste services are in line and cost competitive with comparator municipalities. The SWR business service review examines waste services in six service groups: Curbside waste collection including leaf and… Continue reading City shares early findings from Solid Waste Resources business service review

Guelph, Ont., September 1, 2017—More roads around schools will now have reduced speed limits in place for the beginning of the new school year. The City is adding 16 reduced speed school zones across the City, including along roads with direct school activity, such as roads behind or beside schools. The new reduced speed school zones were approved by Guelph City Council in May and will all be in place for the start of the new school year next week. “We’re almost finished installing all the signs for the new reduced speed school zones, and they’ll all be in place by Tuesday morning,” said Steve Anderson, Supervisor of Traffic Engineering for the City. “The reduced speed limits take effect as soon as the signs are… Continue reading Sixteen new reduced speed school zones in effect for start of school year

Guelph among select municipalities to oversee and apply greater rigour to development in vulnerable source water areas Guelph, Ont., August 1, 2017 –The City of Guelph has improved its review process for sanitary sewer infrastructure projects to better protect our community’s vulnerable source water. The revised process allows the City of Guelph to complete the review process for the Ministry of the Environment and Climate Change’s (MOECC) environmental compliance approval (ECA) applications internally. The MOECC makes the decision to grant the ECAs based on the City’s review. “We’re pleased to take this work on at the local level to provide faster service to our development community,” said Peter Rider, the City’s Risk Management Official. “This also allows us to participate more directly in the oversight… Continue reading City to play greater role in protecting Guelph’s source water

The purpose of the business service reviews is to assess what services the City should be delivering, at what level or standard, and how best to provide those services. Continue reading City initiates business service reviews

Guelph, Ont., May 27, 2016—The City has drafted a new bylaw to clarify its customer service processes for billing of water and wastewater services including account creation, water meter protocols, the handling of unpaid accounts and  billing dispute resolution. The bylaw will be presented to the Infrastructure, Development and Engineering (IDE) Committee on June 7. If recommended by the IDE Committee, the proposed bylaw will be presented to Council for approval on June 27. If approved, the bylaw would come into effect immediately. “Guelph has grown a lot since we introduced the City’s Water Bylaw in 2001—we’ve seen a large increase in both residential and business water and wastewater customers—and today’s customers want detailed information about billing processes,” said Wayne Galliher, Manager of Technical Services… Continue reading Proposed bylaw to ensure transparent water and wastewater billing

Guelph, Ont., March 23, 2016—Guelph City Council approved a staff recommendation for a dedicated stormwater user fee by a vote of 11 to 2 at Monday night’s Council meeting. The introduction of a user fee is a shift from funding Guelph’s stormwater management system through property taxes. The fee model proposed was selected to provide a balance between fairness, equity and ease of administration. The recommendation from staff was made following more than two years of study and community consultation. “Like many other municipalities, Guelph is faced with the problem of aging infrastructure and our stormwater management system needs upgrades, especially as we face more severe storm events,”  said Arun Hindupur, Infrastructure Planning Engineer for the City. “Many cities, including Mississauga, Richmond Hill, Waterloo and… Continue reading Council approves user fees to fund stormwater management