This Week in Press Releases - August 25-September 1, 2017

Every week, the City of Guelph and other groups send out notices to announce new events, imperatives, and information that you need to know. Here is this week in press releases.

Top 10 Local/Provincial Stories of 2011

 10. Get on the GO

An event years in the making, the GO train finally returned to Guelph on December 19th, but it was not without some controversy. Still, 2011 demonstrated a dramatic leap forward in public transit for the City of Guelph. Guelph Transit announced new routes and schedules that will take effect on January 1st, summer cuts to service were repelled in budget deliberations and stat holiday service was restored for many holidays in 2011, and for the entire year in 2012. If some real progress could be made on finishing the transit hub, and if council could resist the urge to not increase transit prices on a yearly basis, we might be the closest we've ever been to a transit utopia. But perhaps true perfection is being left that one, small thing to complain about.

9. The Struggle to Balance Budgets

If you're feeling mathematically exhausted, it might be because this year had two budget processes in them. Whether the 2011 budget deliberations last winter or the 2012 discussions last month, the City struggled with balancing spending, maintaining services and keep tax increases, if tax increases were necessary, as low as possible. In the process some odd sorts of financial arrangements have been made or attempted. Among them the approval of borrowing from the City's savings in order to cover operational costs for the 2011 budget and the proposal to sell the City's street lamps to Guelph Hydro to cut costs in the 2012 budget. For both years, some trimming here and some new spending there has meant a rather steady increase of three per cent per year, and all the while the debate rages: do we pay too much in tax as compared to our municipal neighbours, or too little? I guess we will see what wonders awaits when we hit the ledgers for 2013.

Province Should Be In Legal Fight, Court

This news is a couple of days old, but in the tradition of completeness, here's the up-to-date, latest scoop about the legal battle between the City of Guelph and the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit.

Here's the city press release:

GUELPH, ON, August 10, 2011 – The Superior Court of Justice found that the Provincial Ministry of Health and Long Term Care should be a party to the court proceedings involving the City of Guelph, the Board of Health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph and the Counties of Wellington and Dufferin.

“Until now, the Province has not formally intervened in these legal proceedings,” says City Solicitor, Donna Jaques. “The City would certainly welcome the Province’s participation.”

Yesterday the City of Guelph asked the court to extend an existing injunction preventing the Board of Health from incurring further costs related to the acquisition or construction of capital facilities in Guelph to include the Board’s plans for a new facility in Orangeville. The court refused stating that the City would not suffer any irreparable harm between now and the court date set for September 12 when the City will be seeking an order to continue the injunction until trial.

The City of Guelph continues to believe the Board of Health does not have the authority to proceed with a capital project nor incur debt in the City’s name without the City’s consent or consultation with those who would be responsible for paying the bill—Guelph taxpayers.

Legal Battle with Health Unit Heats Up

The City of Guelph’s showdown with the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit appears to be getting uglier, with City Hall stepping up on legal action against the WDGHU. In a press release last Wednesday, the City said that it’s expanding its legal actions against the WDGHU Board beyond its court action in March to stop the health Unit from proceeding with the construction of two new facilities, here and in Orangeville. The total cost of the construction comes to about $17 million, with Guelph’s share cashing out at about $10 million. The court action in March was to also determine how much of a financial obligation the city has to the project as typically the Government of Ontario kicks in 75 per cent of the Health Unit’s costs.

"We are scheduled to be in court on July 11 to argue the City’s request for a temporary injunction," says City Solicitor, Donna Jaques. "Unfortunately, the Board served the City with additional court documents and is asking the court to make a final determination on the City’s claim on that date. As a result, the City has no choice but to seek an order adding the County of Wellington and the County of Dufferin to the litigation as they are, in the City’s opinion, necessary parties to any final resolution of the issues."

The City also wants to make sure that they have their ducks in row in order to follow up on their threat to withdraw from the WDGHU under the terms of the 1997 agreement with Wellington and Dufferin counties. And while their at it, the city wants to make sure that construction on the Orangeville facility doesn’t go forward while this thing’s still in court on our end.

“We are committed to continuing to work with the Province in the hopes of resolving this issue,” said Mayor Karen Farbridge. “In the meantime, the court process continues, and we are ensuring that all proper parties are included and all issues are before the court.”

The Mayor was finally able to have a conversation with Premiere Dalton McGuinty about the kafuffle with the Health Unit last month, and the Mayor called their talk “a very good discussion.” In a statement from his office, the Premier asked Farbridge to draft a letter expressing her concerns, which he would to Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews adding “his continuing desire” that the city, health unit and partner counties “find a positive way forward that works for all parties.”

I guess we’ll see what happens as summer rolls on.

The Local Wrap

So it's been a week since I last posted. Mostly, I've been playing catch-up with my other endeavours, but now I find myself having to play catch-up with local political issues, lest I sound like an idiot in a pre-tapped segment for the next edition of the "Beyond the Ballot Box" radio show on CFRU. So as the man said, let's see what's in the news...

City Buildings Unsafe

In a rare and almost improbable move, the city closed seven "high risk" structures last Friday out of safety concerns. They include the standalone washroom buildings at Silvercreek Park, Margaret Greene Park, Hanlon Creek Park and Norm Jary Park, as well as the combination washroom/concession buildings at Exhibition Park and Riverside Park and the Riverside Bandshell. This is after the grandstand at Hastings Stadium was closed for safety concerns as well. What's the problem? Mario Petricevic, the city’s general manager of corporate building maintenance, says that the issue is the buildings' roofs, or rather the anchors that keep those roofs fastened to the walls of the buildings in sever wind. There are 34 buildings in the City that are deemed "high risk" and although the engineer didn't order the closure of those seven facilities, the City felt it necessary to act with an abundance of caution. In this year's budget, the City put aside $1.3 million for building repair. Some of the buildings will be able to be fixed right away, others have such extensive damage they'll need to be sent out for tenure.

Civic Square Conundrum

Impatience about the complete closure of Carden Street was compounded this week when word came down that, surprise, the finishing of the Civic Square in front of City Hall would be delayed by a month. The culprit? A particular brick made in New York "made using a special, highly durable kind of clay that’s not available in Canada," according to the Guelph Tribune. The end result is that the Square won't be finished till sometime in July, and that's discounting the ice rink, which actually won't be finished until sometime later this year, probably December. Merchants along Carden remain unimpressed. “Collectively, these businesses (along Carden Street) have probably lost several hundred thousand dollars in sales,” said Marc Black, owner of Hempire to the Guelph Mercury. But even when July comes and goes, Carden Street will still be in a half shamble because of the construction of the transit hub.

Premier Posits Problematic

Not sure if that sentence made sense, but oh well, I'm not sure this whole Health Unit issue does either. The Guelph Tribune reported Tuesday that Premier Dalton McGuinty will indeed endorse the idea of a meeting between Mayor Karen Farbridge and the Ontario government about the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit. “What we have agreed to is that somebody will meet with the mayor, so that we can talk a little bit more about this issue and get a better understanding from the city’s perspective about the challenges that present themselves here,” McGuinty said when he returned to the Royal City for the second time in two weeks on Monday. Guelph MPP Liz Sandals said previously that it was unlikely that the health minister would dissolve the WDG-Health Unit, but I believe the fact that the confirmation that two sides in this struggle will be sitting down together is a new development. Whether or not anything's going to come of it is another matter altogether. There's little appetite for Guelph to take on its own Health Unit bureaucracy from scratch, but at the same time, there's little appetite for Guelph to swallow the whole $10 million price tag for the new Health Unit as well. No date has been set for the tête-à-tête between the Mayor and health minister, but I suspect waves will be made when it's done.

Special Meeting of Council to Talk Health Facility

GUELPH, ON, April 7, 2011 – The City of Guelph will hold a special meeting of City Council on April 13 to bring forward information regarding the new public health facility that was announced by the Board of Health on February 2, 2011.

Senior City staff will provide Council with information about the proposed facility, including legal and governance issues; the proposed agreement between the Board of Health and the University of Guelph to lease and build; financial implications should the Board of Health proceed with its proposed location; and concerns about community engagement and integrated community health service delivery.

This meeting is an information-sharing meeting. City Council will receive information but will not make decisions. Community members may contact the City Clerk's Office at 519-822-1260 x 2269 for more information about the meeting.

• WHAT - Special meeting of Guelph City Council
• WHO - Guelph City Council, Senior City staff, Registered public delegations
• WHERE - Council Chambers, City Hall, 1 Carden St, Guelph.
• WHEN - Wednesday, April 13, 2011,6-8 p.m.

Resolutions and Depositions Over Health Unit

From the City today comes word of more court action, this time against the Board of Health to prevent them from moving forward with the construction of a new headquarters for the Health Unit, the funding for which would be entirely on the back of the City of Guelph. Typically, the province is responsible for 75 per cent of the costs incurred by the Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph Health Unit (reducing the City's share of the cost from $10 million to $2.5 million), but for some strange the province has refused to spend new money on infrastructure, leaving Guelph (and Orangeville) in a precarious position. Here's the press release:

GUELPH, ON, March 8, 2011 – The City of Guelph has started a court action requesting an injunction to stop the Board of Health from incurring costs related to the acquisition or construction of capital facilities or from entering into agreements to this end until the legal authority for the Board to do so is determined. The court action follows the City of Guelph's resolution to not support the Board of Health in its plans to proceed unilaterally with the construction or acquisition of a new headquarters.

The City of Guelph continues to believe the Board of Health does not have the authority to incur debt in the City's name without its consent. The cost to Guelph taxpayers, should the Board of Health proceed as planned, is $10 million. The impact on the City of Guelph's ability to fund other projects could be significant.

"Guelph City Council has agreed it will urge the Counties of Dufferin and Wellington to not support the Board of Health in proceeding with direct ownership of property," says Guelph's mayor Karen Farbridge. "We will be requesting the counties participate, along with the City, in meetings with the Ministry of Health and Long Term Care to discuss alternatives that would not jeopardize Provincial participation in funding accommodation costs or add to the City's debt."

The City has been clear about its opposition to funding $10 million in capital costs for the construction of a new building in Guelph without participation from the Province in funding a portion. The City has been working with the Board to assess other proposals since 2007.

Capital funds for new facilities were not part of Guelph's 2011 budget approved last week. The Board of Health withdrew from its scheduled opportunity to present its budget on February 15, thereby eliminating Guelph City Council's ability to ask questions and comment on the Board's capital plans.

While the City of Guelph acknowledges a new location is needed, it hopes an injunction will afford the chance to determine its legal obligations to fund these types of projects. The City is committed to exploring alternatives, and remains hopeful an alternative can be found.