City Council Preview - What's on the Agenda for the September 25 Meeting?

This month's council meeting covers the library, downtown expansion, and this year's United Way campaign, as well as any lingering concerns from reports previously brought forward at this month's Committee-of-the-Whole meeting. 

CLOSED MEETING: C-CON-2017.17 Successor to Wellbeing Grants Panel Member

Guelph Public Library, New Main Library Business Plan Development - A project is underway to develop a new business plan for Guelph's Public Library system, and we're already at stage two. The first phase was no big deal, renowned auditors KPMG undated the charter for the project, and created a review methodology with the stakeholders. So we're off to stage two of five, which will be worked till the end of the month, and see the auditors analyze the library's current services and operations, both in the main and branch sections. In October, the auditors will move on to forecasting the demands of the library in the future, how much space those demands will need, and establishing design objectives. Stage four will be undertaken through to the end of the year as options are outlined, and risks are projected. The final phase is the presentation of the finished report to the library executive, and then the board and city council sometime in January.

2017 City of Guelph’s United Way Campaign - Every year, City Hall does its part to help raise funds for the United Way, and 2017 will be no exception. In 2016, Guelph's United Way campaign generated over $57,500, and this year the United Way will try and squeeze out a few thousand dollars more with a goal of $60,000. Events this year will include a coffee and bake sale on October 11, a trivia contest at City Hall on October 12, a euchre tournament on October 24, and an appreciation lunch at Sleeman Centre on November 3.

CON-2017.40 Downtown Guelph Business Association Boundary Expansion, Report on Objections and Next Steps - Back at the end of June, the Downtown Guelph Business Association asked to spend its summer vacation exploring the possibility of expanding its borders. The one thing standing in the way of the DGBA before expanding was the objection of one-third of the 240 owners and tenants that make up the existing and proposed business area. Ultimately, only 23, or 10 per cent, of those stakeholders objected, so staff is recommending that the expansion be approved.

Consent Items from September's Committee-of-the-Whole meeting:

COW-PS-2017.11 Corporate Security Update

COW-CS-2017.14 Reserve and Reserve Fund Review and Policy Update

COW-CS-2017.15 Capital Transfer Allocation Policy

COW-CS-2017.17 2017 Q2 Operating Variance Report

COW-AUD-2017.9 Internal Audit Work Plan Update – 2017