City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for Next Monday's Meeting?

The full city council will meet for the first time publicly in 2016 next Monday. It looks like there will be nothing nearly as contentious as the annual city budget, but there are still two major pieces of business on the docket including a pending application for provincial funds to improve a section of Guelph road. 

First up is the appointment of an auditor for Guelph Junction Railroad. City council, which is a shareholder of Guelph Junction Railway Ltd., must approve the GJR Board of Directors' choice of KPMG LLP as auditor for the corporation. KPMG has the auditor last year, but GJR wants to use them through 2019 with an annual review of their performance. 

Also on the agenda is a staff report for an application to the Ministry of Transportation Ontario to get infrastructure money from the Connecting Link Program. The provincial program allows for cities to apply for funds to improve municipal roads that connect two ends of a provincial highway for up to 90 per cent of the total eligible project costs of $3 million or less. 

York Rd. between Wyndham St. and Ontario St. would be the beneficiary of the Connecting Link money if Guelph is successful in its application. The $4 million project will include watermain and sewer replacement, as well as the construction of new bike lanes and upgrades to the pavement structure to support truck and transit routes. The application is due on January 29, and if approved, construction on York Rd. could begin later this year. 

The council meeting begins next Monday at 7 pm. The full agenda can be found here.