Section 4.8 (b) of the City of Guelph Procedure Bylaw be suspended to allow delegates not previously registered to speak in relation to item 9.3…

3:59:10the parks and rec master plan we I think we we do have a possible delegation like I just pardon

3:59:30just I sent out an email earlier that somebody had missed the um the senior center

3:59:37had missed the deadline and wanted to speak and so uh I think it would be appropriate if

3:59:45do we want to hear them before the presentation if I put that to a vote first we have to suspend

3:59:49the bylaw because they didn't meet the deadline so I just sort of seeing some nods ahead do we want

3:59:55the presentation and then the delegate and then a vote for the delegation and then take the break

4:00:06then the delegation and then yes and then we'll have a break that's yeah okay so we're going to go

4:00:12to break to the presentation and then we're going to have a vote on whether to allow the

4:00:19delegations to speak or not um and which is patty gauge from the senior center are you okay to go

4:00:29ahead no no this isn't for the um the delegation the delegation would come after the presentation

4:00:54yeah that's yeah that's the way the meetings go so okay that's up that's up to you

4:01:15presentation's about five minutes my guess is five or ten minutes yeah okay thank you

4:01:33good evening mayor members of council and delegates my name is malary lemon and i'm the

4:01:36manager of park control development at the city i'm here today with my colleague eric pool who's

4:01:42the supervisor of programs and community development in recreation services together we were we will

4:01:48present the parks and recreation master plan afterwards we can answer any questions you may have

4:01:54the prmp is a multi department community driven document i would like to acknowledge all the staff

4:02:00and residents that have put their time thoughts and effort into crafting this plan

4:02:05i would also like to remind council that in 2022 council approved the city's park plan the park

4:02:10plan focuses specifically on land needs and was a legislative requirement under the ontario planning

4:02:16act in order for the city to have a parkland dedication bylaw in place the park plan was

4:02:21accelerated before the completion of the prmp to meet provincially mandated timelines the park

4:02:27plan remains a strategic document for guelph and together with the prmp is the foundation of a

4:02:32parks and recreation growth plan parks and recreation are vitally important to our residents

4:02:39city of guelph staff listened learned from our residents community partners and organizations

4:02:44to understand the needs and interests of the community building on public input and the

4:02:50values established in the community plan and strategic plan the prmp identifies a renewed vision

4:02:55and core values for a parks and recreation system that our citizens can take pride in

4:03:01the actions recommended as part of this plan will help guide the city over the next 10 years

4:03:05and beyond to achieve the vision for parks and recreation in guelph today we will describe some

4:03:14key findings of the plan and strategic directions for guelph's parks and recreation system this will

4:03:19include a brief overview of the needs of for a prmp and alignment to the city's strategic plan

4:03:24and the project processes and community engagement activities staff initiated to develop the plan

4:03:30we will also present a renewed vision and core values for parks and recreation

4:03:34and describe how the plan will be implemented it's important to understand how the prmp fits

4:03:41with other plans and strategies and how it relates to the services we provide to the community

4:03:47the prmp builds on what we learned through the community and strategic plans and applies a parks

4:03:52and recreation lens to shared objectives that information is used to guide how we plan design

4:03:58fund build and maintain our parks and recreation system the prmp builds on the strategic plan pillars

4:04:04of sustaining our future working together for our future and building our future and aligns with the

4:04:102024-2027 strategic plan themes of city building environment and people in the economy an update

4:04:21to the plan was initiated to set new priorities that align with community need the city's strategic

4:04:26plan and new approaches legislation and best practices in park and recreation planning the prmp

4:04:32addresses park and recreation system needs including land infrastructure indoor facilities

4:04:38outdoor facilities programs and services and operation it sets the direction for the next

4:04:4310 years and beyond the recommendations of the plan guide the planning design construction

4:04:49and operation of the parks and recreation network and help prioritize parks and recreation initiatives

4:04:55in future capital and operating budgets so the prmp was developed over four phases of work

4:05:04a detailed inventory of resources was compiled using data for many different sources including

4:05:09facility condition assessments asset management plans and booking system data to confirm parks

4:05:14and recreation assets a review of emerging trends in comparison of services and infrastructure to

4:05:21similar communities was undertaken to identify strengths and opportunities within Guelph's

4:05:26parks and recreation system an in-depth review of park needs was conducted which resulted in the

4:05:33development of the council approved park plan and finally the parks and recreation needs assessment

4:05:39and the prmp were developed the needs assessment used data and community engagement input gathered

4:05:44throughout the prmp project to identify gaps and opportunities among the city's indoor and outdoor

4:05:49recreation facilities the purpose of this assessment was to recommend evidence-based provisioning

4:05:55of parks and recreation assets to be carried forward into the prmp the final prmp builds on

4:06:01the needs established in the park plan and the needs assessment throughout the four phases of the

4:06:14prmp staff engaged with thousands of people through various platforms to ensure that the

4:06:19prmp reflects community opinions and priorities efforts were made to consult with a broad range

4:06:24of guelph residents and organizations across various geographic areas and demographic groups

4:06:31public consultations took the form of community surveys intercept polling and identified

4:06:35priority neighborhoods open houses public workshops focus groups community pop-ups meetings with local

4:06:41school boards meetings with representatives from indigenous nations and presentations to advisory

4:06:47committees of council in total over 40 different opportunities to share feedback were offered

4:06:53common themes identified throughout the engagement included accessibility and inclusion

4:06:57green spaces land supply amenity and program variety and investment in aging infrastructure

4:07:05these themes are woven throughout the master plan and recommendations the plan is guided by an

4:07:12overall vision that outlines a desired future for parks and recreation in guelph our renewed vision

4:07:18is parks and recreation are essential to everyday life in guelph to be future ready guelph needs

4:07:23parks facilities and programs that are sustainable inclusive adaptable and have built-in ability to

4:07:28respond to a growing and diverse community the city needs to connect people to each other healthy

4:07:34living and the environment six core values of the plan support the vision for parks and recreation

4:07:40these core values drive the outcomes for the PRMP and will be embedded in the work of the parks

4:07:44and recreation departments to ensure that our parks and recreation facilities are spaces where

4:07:49everyone belongs and can participate community health and well-being is at the forefront of our

4:07:54services and we prioritize stewardship of the natural environment the PRMP provides near 100

4:08:03recommendations relating to park planning park amenities indoor and outdoor recreation facilities

4:08:08departmental strategy documents recreation programming community development and aquatic

4:08:13service delivery key themes throughout the plan recommendations include strategies to improve

4:08:19equitable access to parks and recreation opportunities strategic investments in

4:08:24place making and animating parks and community spaces strategy stops to my sports field service

4:08:29levels and increased recreation opportunities in existing facilities a parkland acquisition and

4:08:35a parkland acquisition strategy the plan also provides a balance of recommendations with

4:08:41many actionable in the short term and others taking more time to make sure community engagement

4:08:45remains at the core the core driver behind parks and recreation planning a complete list of all

4:08:5097 recommendations can be found on page 114 of the plan the implementation of the plan's recommendations

4:09:00will require a balance of investing in new and existing infrastructure and services the capital

4:09:06investment for the PRMP initiatives over the life of the plan is approximately 17.25 million

4:09:10dollars based on the outcomes of recommended strategies within the PRMP such as the sports

4:09:16field strategy and the inclusion diversity equity and accessibility strategy further initiatives

4:09:21and capital investment may be required the funding requirements to implement the recommendations of

4:09:26the plan will be referred to future operating and capital budgets the proposed pace of implementation

4:09:31allows for flexibility and will be based on need resource capacity budget approval and in some

4:09:36cases timing of secondary plan development including the golf innovation district in clear malty

4:09:43updates to the master plan are recommended at five-year intervals to ensure that the plan

4:09:47recommendations continue to align with community need trends and best practices in parks and

4:09:51recreations for this delivery the PRMP is a true collaboration between two distinct departments

4:10:00staff community advocates and residents the outcomes of this plan are a reflection of what

4:10:04we've heard and what is needed to ensure that we continue the golf tradition of providing excellent

4:10:09parks and recreation spaces and services to our residents thank you so much for that presentation

4:10:17so we're going to wait and have questions after the break and what we're going to do now is we're

4:10:22going to do a vote and if the clerks could put it up to see if council was willing to allow a

4:10:29delegation to speak that did not register in time it's from the golf senior center but they'll be

4:10:36identifying themselves if we need a three-quarters approval for this oh sorry two-thirds approval

4:10:42for this so if I could have a motion that counselor alt and counselor classen thank you

4:10:50is anyone opposed to allowing the speakers okay thank you if the I believe it's miss pat gaige

4:11:00you'll have five minutes and if when you come up if you could clearly state your name and the

4:11:09organization you represent because that we need it reflected in the minutes because it's not there

4:11:15now because you didn't get your name into the agenda thank you very much I really appreciate

4:11:20you listening to us my name is pat gaige I'm president of the guelph wellington seniors

4:11:26association and Linda Jeffrey is our executive director in august we had sent out to all the

4:11:35counselors a copy of our requests and our proposals for the parks and rec

4:11:44I'll make this quick because my board meetings don't go this long

4:11:49in the our proposed recommendation for number 92 to continue work outlined in the older adult

4:11:55strategy and implement seniors driven initiatives to maintain guelph's designation as an age friendly

4:12:01community our proposal was to work and initiate and complete a needs assessment for older adults

4:12:0855 plus in the city of guelph to the research data and information collected through the needs

4:12:14assessment will be shared collectively with us in the city of guelph and to move forward to an

4:12:22age friendly community and we've committed and we have committed uh $60,000 towards this initiative

4:12:31we'll share the data with the city and we would like your help in distribution and awareness for

4:12:37the best participation rate rate and we want to work with you number 93 improved geographic

4:12:46distribution of older adult programs to ensure programs are offered throughout the whole city

4:12:51we're proposing that possibly the community guide uh be reinstated a printed copy will ensure that

4:12:59residents lacking access to consistent technology and internet are not left behind and better promotion

4:13:06of the fair program our comments proposed gws a recommendations to work with the staff to explore

4:13:19opportunities to acquire grants that benefit all residents in guelph we received a trillion grant

4:13:25for our acoustic tiles in the evergreen auditorium uh for $27,000 we received that grant and those

4:13:34tiles are now up in our auditorium the company was absolutely wonderful to update the city's older

4:13:43adult strategy reframing as an age friendly strategy to better align with current industry

4:13:50language and terminology to understand and support the evolving needs of older adults and ensure

4:13:56the city remains a great place to live and age well support a recently proposed community benefit

4:14:04benefit modeling this five-year renewal would be strategic investment by the city which would

4:14:09allow the gws a and our partners to continue to provide diverse programs activities and services

4:14:16the age friendly action plan could guide the language and future community benefits agreements

4:14:21with actionable deliverables as well as a blueprint to guide the city with future future budgets and

4:14:28planning none of these were put into this proposed program i ask you to consider these

4:14:38you're all going to be seniors some of you are darn close and uh we we really do have fun over

4:14:46there at the evergreen and the west end community center um so we we just need your assistance on

4:14:53this and please consider some of our recommendations thank you thank you are there any questions of

4:14:59miss gauge councillor oh it's uh i'm sorry um councillor downer it's a bit awkward in terms of

4:15:05process but um the delegates have raised an important concern from their perspective that

4:15:12issues were not put in and i was wondering as i say this is procedurally awkward but i was wondering

4:15:17if we could hear from staff on that if that's appropriate because i know the delegates want

4:15:21to get on with their day and i as a senior at 67 i appreciate that well actually if you don't have a

4:15:29question of the delegate then i think they could leave the podium if you don't have a question

4:15:33directly of them no i don't but i was hoping that i could hear from staff while they're still

4:15:37present i think because while they're still present if they want to sit down and wait for you to ask

4:15:41jev but does anybody have a question of the delegate councillor work uh thank you chair downer

4:15:47through you to miss gauge and miss jeffrey um so i'm just uh we did receive your email i'm just

4:15:53looking at what the recommendations are so on 92 and 95 both of them refer to updating the older

4:16:00adult strategy reframing it as an age-friendly strategy um so i'm just wondering and then

4:16:09there's there's going back to see how do we maintain our designation as an age-friendly

4:16:13city which i think would create a lot of work there um so i'm just wondering why these are

4:16:19insufficient or why you would modify the wording or is the concern elsewhere like those are those

4:16:26two okay uh through through you um uh chair to the councillor uh what we were trying to do was uh

4:16:38update what language is here it's it's pretty broad you're using a plan that is in year eight of a

4:16:4610-year plan and we're trying to um provide some money because our board just approved $60,000 to

4:16:54do this uh assessment and we are prepared to do in wealth as well as wellington and uh almost every

4:17:02one of these points is very specific as to how uh we want to work with the city and how we could

4:17:08use the city's help in moving forward or an older adult strategy and an age-friendly um plan going

4:17:14forward we wanted to make sure that it wasn't approved today that you had time to look over the

4:17:20recommendations that we made so that those suggestions could be incorporated and knowing

4:17:26what we've already done to demonstrate our willingness to be a good partner is are you

4:17:38finished councillor okay are there any other questions okay you can sit down now if you want

4:17:44to hear any more thank you for your time but if if go yes please sit down um i i just i'm going to

4:17:52allow for um councillor ought to ask a question of staff while the delegates are still here

4:18:01and then we'll take a break so councillor thank you i believe probably staff has heard of just

4:18:07a comment on the concerns presented by the uh guava uh wellington seniors association with regards to

4:18:15what was omitted or not included uh thank you through the chair to uh the councillors and

4:18:20certainly to our partners in the room um we feel these items are captured in the plan and we

4:18:24absolutely um value the importance of our partner um guava wellington seniors association is

4:18:31essentially a major tenant at the evergreen senior center and yes has absolutely invested in the

4:18:36building alongside of the city um and we're very glad and couldn't do that work specifically at

4:18:42evergreen but in the community without them we just recognize that there are other community

4:18:46partners that are also advocating for both an age-friendly community as well as for seniors in

4:18:51our community and so um look to partner heavily with the seniors association but certainly with

4:18:57others in the community and and want to be strong advocates in this lead um of some of the work both

4:19:03in reactivating the older adult strategy and certainly making it right for 2023 and beyond

4:19:10thank you very much so what i hear you saying is you have captured what was presented and

4:19:15we'll be moving forward with that uh through the chair certainly um from what we're hearing that

4:19:21we're in we're in a bit of conflict um if we're hearing that uh that our colleagues are talking

4:19:26about it not being right and not being right in a timing plan um we did hear um council received a

4:19:33letter at the same time as we heard some feedback through our have your say portal um and we hope

4:19:38that we captured some of those pieces um we recognize i would suggest that the neighborhood

4:19:43or the senior association wants it to say that they will do this work or that they will do it in

4:19:49partnership with us and we are being more broad to capture um all services and all others that

4:19:55are doing some of the similar work in the community um we will continue to talk to them um and make

4:20:00sure that we can do this in lockstep thank you very much i hope that that would help uh both of

4:20:06you communicate to the gws a with staff's intent okay uh melgothry thank you councillor Allt i think

4:20:15actually wrapped it up very very well just to make sure that as the delegates leave the room

4:20:20there's that that intent is is clarified so i think that's important um but through you to

4:20:25staff like when i look at our strategic plan and um you know it sits of course with you danon and

4:20:33park staff but sits really a lot under colleen and our deputy ceo's uh uh portfolio like on page 18

4:20:43number seven says grow and care for our community spaces and places and then there's 7.1 0.2 and 0.3

4:20:507.1 is build the south end community center check point two is build the library at the baker

4:20:57street check and number three is attract more people to our parks and programs by making them

4:21:02easier to access and enjoy and specifically under the supporting actions of our approved strategic

4:21:08plan it says implement the parks and rec master plan including the creation of an outdoor sport

4:21:12field and surface strategy and recreational service delivery strategy and leverage actions from

4:21:19an older adult strategy and youth strategy so i'm under the impression that you're we're about

4:21:27at the end of this month if we approve this we're about to do another check because this is exactly

4:21:31what we're talking about um here that that their council was you know pre-firm on our strategic plan

4:21:39it was a unanimous decision for having this older adult strategy embedded in this you're saying that

4:21:45you did you did hear that and it you're just fulfilling what our strategic plan is is in front

4:21:51of us am i correct uh through the chair to the mayor yes okay are there any other questions

4:22:00it just in regards to the to the delegation that we just said okay thank you we are going to take a

4:22:09break now and then come back for any further questions of staff half an hour um we'll come back at

4:22:31540 warning okay council i think we're 541 do we have enough okay we are good to go

4:52:32and we've had uh the great presentation by malarie and eric we've heard from a seniors association

4:52:44answered those questions now we're going to resume the meeting with um if i could ask somebody to

4:52:52put the motion on the floor first and then we'll go to questions mayor Guthrie seconded by councillor

4:52:57thank you um are there any questions of staff on the report

4:53:04so over work and then council gibson okay council gibson well that was fast

4:53:18well i will say this i i have a feeling just because i did i did spend some time with staff

4:53:22today on the phone thank you very much mr matthews um answering questions and i have a feeling that

4:53:28for the most part a lot of my questions and probably council of my council college questions

4:53:33will be focused primarily on um implementation of this plan there's a lot of questions stemming from

4:53:39the finalization of this plan and what comes next similar to the cultural plan so i i have

4:53:45primarily comments but i just i had a few items that i wanted to just cover off in the public

4:53:50forum to ensure that uh we're not precluding things as i'm going through my checklist of the plan i

4:53:56just look for make to ensure that the things that i were looking for were in the plan and that

4:54:00we weren't going to be precluding anything following um approval of the plan so the biggest one that i

4:54:07looked at was um to staff was the idea around partnerships and other communities that are

4:54:13partnering with i know that there's comments about public sector so schools and and g rca and

4:54:18things like that partnering with other organizations to accelerate the plan and so um and mr mathews is

4:54:26forwarded as actually been kind enough to forward me a response to that today but i just wanted to

4:54:30give staff an opportunity to just voice it in public that you know this plan is robust and it

4:54:37allows for partnerships and conversations to happen with organizations throughout our community

4:54:43as well as not just publicly owned but actually privately owned as well to help accelerate the

4:54:48aspects of this plan including the field sports um the strategic plan around an open field strategy

4:54:55and things like that so i just want to give staff the floor for a minute or two if they if they care

4:55:00to to help answer that question for the public thank you for the question and through the chair

4:55:08to the counselor uh yes we have built in opportunities um to work with the private sector

4:55:14if you take a look at recommendation number nine uh it says explore partnership opportunities with

4:55:18the private sector for project funding sponsorships as part of this work ensure equitable prioritization

4:55:24of departmental work is maintained that's great thank you and again i think it's just an important

4:55:32point that uh the it's a very robust plan with lots of opportunities and an opportunity to

4:55:38accelerate our our field strategy would be great i only have comments after this chair so i'll i'll

4:55:44see the floor uh thank you chair downer through you to staff um i just have some specific questions

4:55:58just so i'm comfortable with the recommendations i'm just looking at number 19 about shade so

4:56:02i appreciate we're looking at more splash pads given you know we know that with global warming

4:56:09people are going to need places to cool off so so i like the 2.5 kilometers to the splash pads

4:56:17um and on 19 we're saying we're going to install those shade structures at water play facilities

4:56:22playgrounds with rubber surfacing specialized facilities like skateboard parks bike parks

4:56:26amusement rides and dog parks so what happens in a park that is built in what was a farmers field

4:56:34right i'm thinking of 90 of the parks in the south end where there's a big group from a cultural

4:56:40community them and go and they sit around in the park after dinner and there's literally there's no

4:56:46shade and the trees that we did have we lost two in the windstorm last summer so when we are

4:56:54are is this a going forward proposal or are we looking at in existing parks where there's really

4:57:00no shade can we install shade sale shade sales retroactively can we be looking at how we create

4:57:07shade in some existing parks uh yes so through the chair to the counselor um yes we can

4:57:15retroactively install shade structures we actually have a recommendation in here um to

4:57:21to intensify parks in existing areas those would be typically smaller projects

4:57:28that would include potentially adding seating potentially adding a shade structure that type

4:57:32of work um through your chair downer looking at uh number 21 i'm really pleased to see we're

4:57:39going to develop a memorial program i'm wondering when people will do a plaque for a bench or a

4:57:48plaque for a tree currently they have to buy like a new tree or a new bench and it's in the

4:57:54neighborhood of about 1500 will this new plan have a lower price point where people can put a

4:58:01plaque on an existing tree or bench because we have those and then again i'm thinking about revenue

4:58:08generation and a more accessible price point um so are we looking at not just an equity piece but

4:58:16increasing the revenue by bringing that price point down through the chair to council yes um maybe

4:58:22not in that exact form but staff are we we've seen ideas um engaged in other park settings

4:58:28it's just out London uh last week for a conference they've done a memorial tree um plaque area um

4:58:35in a beautiful area where they're putting plaques on stone walls um in parts that are planting a

4:58:40lot of trees so there are a lot of ideas that are out there um that can work uh for us um and

4:58:45press uh price points so more people can engage very much um beyond our list i would like to note

4:58:51because this has been some time for this program to relaunch staff are looking to relaunch

4:58:56the memorial bench program and we will um look before this is complete because there's some

4:59:02community um needs um out there um so it will look very similar to what we have engaged in the past

4:59:11that would include the price point um though this program will very much take price point

4:59:15into account that the new one councillor rock great thank you um my next question is sort of a

4:59:21group of recommendations that are on page 116 and so the plan is primarily very high level around

4:59:28we're going to you know implement these general policies but then there's some really specific

4:59:33recommendations and i'm not familiar with drew cart drew park basketball court but i'm just wondering

4:59:39this one's very specific if there are others in our wards that we know are coming up and they're

4:59:44not there right or our constituents are looking at the plan and they're like well what happened to

4:59:50or in reed or whoever else can you just give us some comfort around the fact that all the things

4:59:55that are in the pipeline will continue to happen and this is just an ad

5:00:00yeah so through the chair to the councillor that's correct everything that we've talked about through

5:00:05budget process previously um it's still in there this is an ad and it's not a bump for other projects

5:00:12through engagement we did get some particular correspondence on this area being in need in

5:00:20many ways um and the park is reflective of that and needing some upgrades so that's why this particular

5:00:26one sort of made it into the parks and rec master plan it was something we heard very much about

5:00:30thank you so people should know though that all the other things in the priorities list they

5:00:36continue they're still in the capital budget that's all still good that's correct thank you um i had a

5:00:43question around 38 in terms of park signage there's a park on uh what's it called pinch park

5:00:51i forget the street so pinch park has a lovely story about dr pinch and you know why the park is

5:00:56named after him and i i'm still not sure if there's a plaque like that at uh the park on daland drive

5:01:04for the number two construction battalion which is too bad because i mean it's such a compelling

5:01:10story so will we be doing something to cancer karan's earlier point will we be doing something

5:01:15with a qr code or something that tells the story of why that park was named after that person

5:01:21because we have it in some places and then not in others so through the chair to the counselor

5:01:30yes we are working through some signage strategies internally currently um alongside the active

5:01:36transportation network studies some outcomes from that so we're working collaboratively internally

5:01:41with other city departments to come up with a signage strategy um if you drive around the city

5:01:47we we acknowledge that we've got many different types of signs that came from different areas of

5:01:51park planning or eras of park planning i should say um so yes we do have plans to update our

5:01:58strategy our signage strategy okay super and uh chair downer just a couple more i had a meeting

5:02:04with a large group from um the arab women's society of guelph and you know engage with young

5:02:10people and about different things that they like to see in the city and one of the things they

5:02:14identified was could there be a quiet room or a multi-faith prayer room in recreational facilities

5:02:22the reason being that either if they they're staff members or if they're there for an extended

5:02:27period of time and they need a place to go pray or a place to just sort of relax could be you know

5:02:32because i saw the reference to the snowsland room going forward or can we retrofit or can we create a

5:02:39space that is accessible for people um if they need to pray and then you know go back to their mom

5:02:47and taught swim lesson or whatnot um or just have a quiet space is that in the cards yeah thank you

5:02:58for the question uh through the chair to the counselor um we haven't noted that specifically

5:03:04in the plan but i think what we've talked about more generally is um the idea of allowing or

5:03:11creating plate like we've heard the term place making a lot tonight um but uh how do recreation

5:03:17centers factor into everyday life for for residents and they factor in many different ways so um

5:03:23we saw things through the pandemic like the digital divide so what role could um recreation

5:03:28centers play in filling those needs like access to to wi-fi which is being seen as a basic need

5:03:34yeah the snooze in room is a great example of sensory space and how we can

5:03:38dedicate some of our spaces so this as we talk about um sort of the equity diversity and inclusion

5:03:44piece and and those strategies and some of those strategic investments that we're talking about

5:03:48we talk about places to gather um and places to ceremony within the the master plan we haven't

5:03:54made a specific recommendation around that specifically but i think that's that that's really

5:03:58the intention in there is is how do we look at the role that our recreation centers are going to

5:04:02play going forward um in terms of not just being physically active but how they play a role in kind

5:04:08of everyone's day-to-day life and being sort of hubs of community rather than just a place that people

5:04:14come do an activity and then leave okay great and my last question chair downer it pertains to the

5:04:21delegation from the girl fallington seniors association um they raise a good point around

5:04:28can we continue to print some of the copies like i myself will circle stuff show it to my kids

5:04:34or whatnot right so do we have it in the budget for maybe you know not not at every household

5:04:41copy of it um but do we have plans continue to provide some print copies at a minimum on on demand

5:04:50through the chair to the counselor certainly very much supported um

5:04:53um uh mr. pool's just identified uh action number 61 uh in the plan but certainly in this even in

5:04:59this current year um we're working with it to have a more interactive online uh guide community

5:05:06guide so not just your registration platform but an opportunity to almost like turn pages um with

5:05:13that we recognize that then specific sort of sectors or the lists or partnerships um need to be in

5:05:19print um we had a resident at the front desk at west end this week who was trying to understand

5:05:25the leadership cycle to get through um to get their youth through into being a lifeguard and so

5:05:30there is already a sort of card that shows that path um and it doesn't it doesn't time out it isn't

5:05:36just for this year's session but it helps show that path so they can circle and check off and so

5:05:42just trying to find um the balance between the old community guide that actually printed some and

5:05:48they ended up in the back of a rec center's dumpster or recycling bin um because they were

5:05:53just stale dated so quickly um so definitely seeing that we need some printed hand-holded

5:05:59pieces yes absolutely and some of that work is happening now but also supported through this plan

5:06:04great thank you okay thank you uh counselor busatil thank you very much for the presentation

5:06:14and for the report um i'm going to start with placemaking so it's on page four of the memo page

5:06:21four of seven uh it refers to placemaking investments can you just help me understand

5:06:27what does this mean to you in parks and recreation thank you for the question and through the chair

5:06:36to the counselor um it means a lot of things and and maybe nothing at all at this point because

5:06:43i think that that's what makes place placemaking so exciting is that it is a sort of generation of

5:06:48ideas and it's it's it's built collaboratively so um from a strategic investment perspective

5:06:53really what we were looking at um was how can we do more with the recreation assets that we

5:06:58already own so instead of looking at large investments um obviously we have the south end rec

5:07:02center coming on board we're not going to build 17 more south end community centers in the next 10

5:07:07years but how can we take the spaces that we already have make small investments in them and

5:07:11increase uh recreational opportunities for others um how can we create new opportunities um through

5:07:18through placemaking through those small investments so i think this is where community engagement

5:07:22and going back to the presentation and some of the uh some of the items being very actionable now

5:07:27whereas others are going to take uh more time that more time is really to make sure that we

5:07:32engage the community and that we um understand in very different spaces you know appreciating

5:07:38that someone at the west end might want something very different at the west end community center

5:07:42compared to say victoria road compared to south end so how are we engaging with the community to

5:07:47understand what we're looking for and how we can make the most of those opportunities through

5:07:51those small investments to existing recreation spaces thank you um again i hope my pages match

5:08:00yours page 30 and page 35 this introduces a new language for me on um co-loc sorry let me back

5:08:08up first the question is a data one when uh city park co-locates next to a school is the cumulative

5:08:16green space park space school plus city included in the data or is it just the city space

5:08:24so through the chair to the counselor we only count parkland that is owned by the city of

5:08:28gulf or under maintenance agreement with other public bodies like the g rca thank you now my

5:08:35second question is that page 30 and 35 a new language of multifunctional land um and so i

5:08:44understand bill 23 has negative consequences for the addition you know acquisition of parkland

5:08:51but it feels like a double slap to the taxpayer you're getting a less parkland and now by the way

5:08:56we're taking the parkland that you have and we're going to put infrastructure underneath it and so

5:09:02my question is uh does this multifunctional land new classification space in a park um does it get

5:09:11factored out of the parkland total and does it get compensated in the parkland balance sheet

5:09:19we've taken it out here we've got a storm water water feature whatever it is full of ducks um

5:09:24and we're going to compensate and purchase parkland somewhere else can you just say animate that for

5:09:30me please that's sure so through the chair to the counselor um i think you may be referring to

5:09:36through the storm water master plan there was infrastructure proposed mainly under parks we

5:09:44worked closely with other departments on that and determined that there could be other city of

5:09:51infrastructure within parks without compromising recreational infrastructure and so it's about

5:09:58communicating with our with our partners and making sure that recognizing that yes there could be a

5:10:05dual use of land without compromising the actual parkland itself so i would say no once we have

5:10:11underground storm water facilities beneath sports fields most people won't even know they're there

5:10:17we will still count that as parkland thank you and i i guess i wasn't referring so much to the

5:10:22underground uh storm water which i i have been told is phenomenally expensive i'm talking about the

5:10:28surface so changing a green grassy space where you know spontaneous recreation takes place into

5:10:37a surface different use storm water does for me transform that green space now into not use the

5:10:44same um so you're saying to me that that now transform space still is considered parkland

5:10:52although the spontaneous use is not possible to continue

5:10:57so through the chair to the counselor we have not worked through any design details yet on any of

5:11:03those surface ponds within parks but there's very much understanding between all departments that

5:11:08there needs to be a recreational component built into that storm water management plan so we do not

5:11:15expect it to be a fenced off location where people cannot enjoy nature and cannot enjoy recreation

5:11:20we expect that there may be trails potentially signage and other recreational opportunities

5:11:27built in with that so we are hoping not to silo we are hoping to blend them so that it serves two

5:11:32functions thank you it still feels like a reduction in green park space regardless of how you you

5:11:39quantify it it is a reduction and it's due to you know bill 23 and infrastructure needs and so on

5:11:46which which build I didn't see in here is some kind of a plan that is comprehensive I'm ward

5:11:52four so deer path park where the infrastructure has collapsed and in ward four there's no longer

5:12:01a basketball full court and the redirection of young people to the other side of the handlin

5:12:09is is a huge concern so you know when we get to developing these plans

5:12:13um and and referring them to the shelledale area that already has very limited facilities and a lot

5:12:19of pressure some kind of plan around what if you know it you know the the roof of whatever it is

5:12:28it's uh I can't remember it's uh I can't remember what it's called anyway when that falls in what

5:12:33happens to the recreation where is the second place for these youth to go plan and I didn't see that

5:12:39in your plan I saw the idea of putting together the infrastructure looking at a decision matrix

5:12:47around where and where it does and it doesn't go but I didn't see contingency plans around

5:12:52what happens if um it's in my notes here somewhere I can't read it but what happens when that roof

5:12:59collapses and that recreation opportunity is no longer there so can you speak to kind of that

5:13:05bigger vision of the what if so through the chair to council that's an example where we do need to

5:13:12look at our park system as a whole so with the closing of that facility with the shelledale

5:13:18and norm jerry basketball park refurbishment in that area which has been highly highly successful

5:13:24that would be an example where obviously the city has a lot of demands on our infrastructure a lot of

5:13:30priorities um facing us where we just couldn't put the courts back over that structure or in that area

5:13:40which again is why investment in facilities like norm jerry is important not just the local community

5:13:48but for others that are relatively close to travel to so we would take that continuum approach in

5:13:53that scenario with the services that we offer in our parks thank you very much and again I appreciate

5:13:59the response however the handland is a huge barrier and the metro links underpass did I mention I'm

5:14:04going to be advocating for that for the next four years um is is an essential part of creating that

5:14:10and and in terms of budget you know it's great to say infrastructure is going to be you know underneath

5:14:15our parks but it's that contingency plan of what if what happens because it is not accessible to our

5:14:22youth and having those conversations whether it is and why I ask the question of if in the

5:14:28balance sheet we're taking it out for infrastructure there is an inherent cost and potential loss

5:14:33that needs to be built into that budget for future basketball courts or or or things like that so

5:14:40that's the reason I ask that in that kind of language of the balance sheet um the next question

5:14:47I had is about it's on page 41 recommendation number 20 about park stewardship and I apologize

5:14:53my understanding of stewards is lord of the rings so you know so you know there is a decision

5:15:00making function there is a stewardship you are in charge of this and I didn't quite understand

5:15:07if there is a stewardship policy is this essentially just volunteer labor for the city's

5:15:13objectives is there dialogue between the stewards and the city of gualaf in terms of

5:15:21like an advisory committee on activities that are happening so I'm just and it is is it the same

5:15:27model as the community gardens that there is some kind of convening of the stewards if you can

5:15:31animate that for me please sure so through the chair to the councillor there is an existing

5:15:37park stewardship program and we get all kinds of volunteers who are happy to help out in our parks

5:15:44particularly there's some orchards that I know that the park stewards help with

5:15:50some of the community gardens some other tasks that they can can participate in volunteer in

5:15:56in city parks and we're sort of advocating that that continue through this plan thank you so I've

5:16:01seen stewards used in forestry I've seen them in parks you know the park cleanup and so on

5:16:06I guess I will be looking for at some point some kind of consolidation of where this fits in and

5:16:12this also for me you know looking at the clerks around our governance what is the role of the

5:16:17stewards are they part of an advisory structure in terms of our governance and consultation

5:16:22and engagement I don't know I don't have all the information but that's what I was looking for

5:16:28the next one and you heard a little bit of this in the culture side and you you too I see the two

5:16:34departments are two halves of the walnut is on page 41 43 and page 44 around the inventory of the

5:16:42gap in infrastructure in our parks I didn't see anything about concession booths and this is

5:16:48something that I did here as you know a citizen not a counselor in the community consultation

5:16:53around the parks master plan mainly around the seniors saying I want to be able to walk

5:16:58someplace I'm going to sit down I want to have a cup of tea and I want my you know to meet my

5:17:02friends there what I did see is food trucks and so I have a concern about that if we're

5:17:08placemaking to me a food truck is not placemaking that is you know kind of an extension kind of

5:17:15thing so my question is about and I raised this during the presentation from the economic

5:17:20development department as well is about community economic development and neighborhood economic

5:17:24development creating spaces where young people can get jobs where they can be there and also the

5:17:30cultural side of that I'm European you know I live and breathe you know the food the sense the

5:17:35congregation and I think this is a missed opportunity and for me food trucks just doesn't do that so

5:17:41I'm looking for a comment on when I looked at the list of infrastructure gaps I didn't see concession

5:17:49concession stands specifically to a regional park is what I'm speaking to not every park

5:17:55but a regional park so through the chair to council not in the PRMP I'm at length because we didn't

5:18:02hear a lot about that topic specifically through our engagement processes I would say though there

5:18:09are a variety of examples where that's working in our park system so the boathouse as an example

5:18:15ice cream is working smaller concessions and vendors in our parks also works we have seen

5:18:23though where we've added that larger infrastructure at Eastview at Qualcomm sports fields and the

5:18:28uptake just isn't where we thought it was going to be there's a lot of factors that play into that

5:18:34infrastructure changes and expectations in our parks changes in volunteerism so council

5:18:40boosted so that's maybe something staff can take away for further consideration again not

5:18:45in our PMP documents at length because through our engagement processes we just didn't hear a lot

5:18:51about that thank you and and again I I know I did and the ones that I said that I participated

5:18:58and heard that and I guess what I'm looking for is some kind of a feasibility around that when I

5:19:03think of Margaret Green Park with the activities that are happening there and what I see in the

5:19:07garbage from you know the tournaments that are happening in the food that's coming there

5:19:11and as a priority neighborhood recently identified by social services at the county economically

5:19:17there's a perfect opportunity to kind of layer a job opportunity for youth and bring someone into

5:19:24an understanding of city operations and so on so it's a missed opportunity I think and you know I

5:19:30would advocate for something there and again you know we're not going to get beaver tails but maybe

5:19:37you might get squirrel squares you know we can go and enjoy there as part of a cultural you know

5:19:42let's go there and the families that I speak to that that are at Margaret Green talk about a

5:19:47destination place making going someplace for an ice cream where they can meet as a group so food

5:19:53is part of culture and should be a part of this so that's all I'm going to say on that one. The next

5:20:00comment that I have or question is recommendation number 37 again when we speak to our diverse

5:20:09community and like Councillor O'Rourke you know there are 35 women doing exercise class right now

5:20:16at St. Peter's school the Muslim community said that when it comes to park benches keeping in

5:20:22mind congregate settings so many of our families are large and our benches are small or too few

5:20:30and that there's you know that sense of community coming together so when we are looking at developing

5:20:37our parks just that congregate that need for congregate settings and so if you can you know

5:20:43kind of speak to that how how that is done ensuring that you know there is that diversity kind of

5:20:49reflected. Sure so through the chair of the Councillor as you mentioned there is a recommendation

5:20:56in the master plan that basically acknowledges that within our existing parks we may need to add

5:21:02some more benches and seating areas this would be part of a park intensive education project

5:21:08and we would be doing engagement on any of those projects to make sure that you hear what the

5:21:14community needs. We also recognize that a simple heavier say is not necessarily going to reach all

5:21:20the people that may have an opinion on this so I think through through that process a good solid

5:21:27engagement plan to make sure we're reaching all the right people will will ensure that the parks

5:21:32are actually useful to to the people that use them. Thank you and you know the range of comments I

5:21:37hear about you know an outdoor bread oven and you know many other things that families would like to

5:21:41see we'll get there we'll get there. Two last questions are is around what Councillor O'Rourke

5:21:47I had it down as well the community guide and I refer a lot of people to the west end community

5:21:52groups struggle with the cost of printing color the burden is on them to do this and so my question

5:22:00is in the old days community groups used to receive you know bunches of guides is it possible to have

5:22:07a network of you know where they have one in the office they can sit down with something because

5:22:11from my experience families miss opportunities if you're savvy with a computer you got your credit

5:22:17card handy and everything else you're right there in swimming lessons but if you have to come to a

5:22:22community agency to see a computer with the information to have it explained you you miss those

5:22:28opportunities so having some kind of a paper guide to sit down or to send home with someone and have

5:22:34them bring back the next time they're at the community center it is really is really helpful so

5:22:40just you know some some feedback or some comments back on you know the access to the information

5:22:46in terms of equity of opportunity through the chair to the councillor yes we've heard this before

5:22:53we've heard it currently we've heard it through the engagement of some sort of print material

5:22:57we we went sort of probably too far in the pendulum through COVID and we need to bring

5:23:02ourselves back that full the full guide with all of our offerings per season is never going to come

5:23:08back in that form it still dates too quickly it has the the opportunity for error is is too great

5:23:15in human behavior but yes we are committed we're starting that now and it is shown in the plan

5:23:21that there still needs to be something printed and so maybe there is programs talking about just

5:23:27the preschool programming or just the tennis programming that's offered and so yes we recognize

5:23:32that not everybody is going to be savvy to be able to flip pages on a fancy pdf online so absolutely

5:23:41in in pilots and trials coming in sort of multiple micro pieces that we can control the content

5:23:49and both volume content and accuracy of information much better thank you very much

5:23:56the last two i'll combine them because i said i only had one more left ice rinks i think it's

5:24:00recommendation number 27 thank you for that my question is is this just for city ice rinks or

5:24:07will there be a collaboration with school boards that also have ice rinks and combining my last

5:24:13question is on page 79 recommendation number 68 states that to investigate indoor pools

5:24:22and you know as a former school board trustee in the conversation with centennial and so my

5:24:26question is is there a location for the need that has been identified in that statement of an

5:24:33expression to explore this thank you through the chair to counsel so for the outdoor part of that

5:24:39conversation first we'll recall in our park plan it calls for that continuum approach to find space

5:24:46for us to do park things as we add more community ice rinks as we add other features like pickleball

5:24:55engaging conversations with other property owners including school boards which historically has

5:25:00happened that's been lost a little bit through time for circumstances on both ends of that

5:25:05conversation we very much again through that park plan as malory noted earlier which is a backbone

5:25:12for this prmp document will be something that we pick up for those park needs and through the

5:25:21chair to the counselor for the the indoor pool inventory from that perspective this would be

5:25:27one of our sort of longer term goals and really what when we look back at the needs assessment

5:25:32really what we're seeing is the growth in swimming in general sort of the leisure based swimming

5:25:38and appreciating that south end is still yet to come online so that's obviously going to bring

5:25:43us into like a really healthy provisioning state but if we if we forecast out population growth

5:25:49pools above all other sort of recreational amenities is is going to kind of come out of that

5:25:55that healthy state quicker than others so I think what we're talking about is once south ends online

5:26:00and we've seen what the trends in data like is that is that growth consistent like I think that's

5:26:06the thing is as we look one of the things I think this plan does really well is suggest that we

5:26:10need to continue monitoring these these trends because they are changing so much especially along

5:26:14with population growth in 10 years do we need to look at a feasibility study for another

5:26:20municipal indoor pool or are we still in a healthy supply at that particular point in time but

5:26:25as we look at this sort of forecasting and the trends now the need for pools seems to be growing

5:26:30at a much faster rate than other sort of larger recreation infrastructure thank you and if I might

5:26:34offer I know in conversations with community members townhouse pools apartment pools seem to be

5:26:39being filled in I don't know if that's data that's captured through planning but that might

5:26:44also be beneficial as part of the data data point thank you okay thank you so I now have

5:26:54Councillor Richardson Mayor Guthrie and Councillor Chew okay so we have Councillor

5:27:01thank you through your chair downer to staff my question is around community gardens we all

5:27:07know the benefit of community gardens for food security but also for community engagements

5:27:11and opportunity for socialization and I'm hearing that a number of our maybe smaller parks

5:27:17and neighborhoods that would really like to do a community garden but one of the deterrents is

5:27:21that they don't have access to water so I'm wondering if that's something that's built in or if there's

5:27:25an opportunity to request a refillable water tank or something so that they could participate in that

5:27:32thank you for the question so through the chair to the Councillor yes our community garden program

5:27:39is very popular and I understand that there are wait lists to be able to participate in a community

5:27:44garden so we very much understand the need there so we have a couple of recommendations in the

5:27:49parks and rec master plan that we think will alleviate some of the pressure there on that

5:27:53community gardens are facing so one being during the design process for individual parks assess the

5:28:00man and available space for community gardens so right off the bat when we're when we're designing

5:28:05new parks it's much easier to implement the infrastructure that's needed at the beginning

5:28:11versus in an older park where we don't necessarily know where all the services are the other

5:28:18recommendation is to survey and put into GIS where all the underground infrastructure is in parks

5:28:25we have data we have as built drawings we have some infrastructure mapping in our GIS system but

5:28:34we know that that there is a gap there from what we are aware of in some of the older parks that

5:28:38have been through three four five redesigns at this point in time so our community garden group

5:28:47was very much supportive of making sure we understand where we have water in parks or close by two

5:28:53parks so that we can start strategically locating those community gardens in a in a more efficient way

5:29:00great thank you okay thank you councillor Chew

5:29:07thank you through you madam chair first of all this is a very excellent plan so

5:29:12thank you for all your hard work i do have a question on the classification of the park spaces and

5:29:18i understand you you kind of rifted off of the official plan and their current classification

5:29:25but i was just wondering if there may be opportunity to further disseminate the different types of

5:29:31open spaces and i think there's you definitely acknowledge uh pop spaces and uh co-location

5:29:38just as a i guess a vocabulary mechanism when engaging with developers and different stakeholders

5:29:45so i know there's like a bit of agility and opportunity to kind of work through a pre-con site

5:29:53plan to make the expectation clear but i was just wondering even in this plan because it is a storytelling

5:29:59piece as well if there are opportunities to further disseminate open spaces particularly for urban

5:30:05areas because these days we're talking more about intensification and i think the nature of intensification

5:30:11how needs in how do i how do i say this there needs to be a mental shift in how we

5:30:20have basic expectations up front especially when we're communicating with our

5:30:26business proponents i think just from my experience if you make the the communication clear up and

5:30:31up front not only will that help inform the official plan update in the in the future but also

5:30:38uh it could help set public expectations very up front so when we do have stakeholders come in

5:30:44and delegations come in uh there's a policy piece that we can attribute just right up front so i was

5:30:51just wondering if you've maybe looked at different municipalities and uh if this is something that

5:30:56you guys are thinking about and it's something you can take away as well so yeah thank you

5:31:02yeah thank you sure so through the chair to the councillor um agreed that parks are changing

5:31:10there's a number of factors for that the city's becoming more intense in some of the already

5:31:15developed areas where there isn't a lot of land availability to get parks so the parks in those

5:31:20areas there's still a need for parks in those areas we're getting more more people that need to still

5:31:24recreate um so what are those parks going to look like in the future they could be a pops for example

5:31:31as you mentioned um an urban square versus you know a large a vast community park we need a range

5:31:38of parks and and it's going to be important to um have everything from our urban squares or

5:31:44neighborhood parks community parks and regional parks in the city um and very much through the

5:31:49development application process we are we're communicating with the um development community

5:31:55what is needed in our park so we're taking more of approach now um to do a facility fit so what are

5:32:03the actual recreational components that are needed in this particular area that you're developing

5:32:09and how are you going to fit that into a park and we're willing to kind of look at that creatively

5:32:13versus just a simple give us a piece of land and we'll figure out what to do with it later

5:32:19yeah just a quick follow-up I appreciate that comment and I appreciate as well that you mentioned

5:32:24you know working collaboratively uh when you're doing a facility fit for example I think

5:32:29if you make the expectation clear upfront uh even though this isn't necessarily non-binding

5:32:35it just makes the conversation go a lot smoother especially to our folks from the outside that

5:32:40aren't very aware with the culture the development culture here in Guelph that way you can bring

5:32:45in new stakeholders as well that are more willing to work collaboratively uh and share the same set

5:32:51of principles that we do here at the city of Guelph um yeah I think this is just more of a messaging

5:32:56on there's an opportunity to set very clear basic expectations and really shift the way in which we

5:33:02think about how we go about open space because I think times now require us to be more creative and

5:33:10yeah like I appreciate this uh this is a great start that you guys have put forward so thank you so

5:33:15much thank you councillor classon yes thank you through you chair downer to staff um I thank you

5:33:25for the the plan it's great I have some comments about it too but I have one question which is

5:33:30kind of similar to a question that I asked about the culture plan um so I appreciate that our parks

5:33:37and recreation plan is centered around uh city-owned municipally owned facilities when we do our needs

5:33:43assessment for the community do we look at um other other recreation assets within the city

5:33:50including schools the university uh non-profits and even for-profit businesses like gyms for example

5:33:58when we're kind of looking at the entire kind of mapping exercise of what's what's happening in the

5:34:05city so through the chair to the councillor we specifically noted in our needs assessment that

5:34:12we did not um look at privately owned types of recreation so the Guelph Grotto for example

5:34:19that was just out of scope for for this plan but in cases where we know that schools for example

5:34:26have facilities that are serving the community or the GRCA they were noted in those specific instances

5:34:34okay thank you are there any more questions

5:34:40councillor work oh and councillor Billings too sorry sorry chair downer I just thought of a

5:34:48new question because I was looking at what is there and I wasn't focused on what isn't there

5:34:53there's references periodically to dog parks um but there's nothing specified but there's a specific

5:35:00reference to skateboard park or other things right so one of the this is a hot hot debate

5:35:06when I was first on council in 2018 2019 so I'm just wondering at the time I think the city

5:35:11undertook to look at where we could potentially add a dog park is that still part of the parks

5:35:19planning but just not specifically included here so I'm just I'm trying to close the loop on the

5:35:24conversation from about three years ago is that still part of the conversation through the chair

5:35:31to council so the supply and operation of our dog parks remains an ongoing conversation

5:35:38with our parks planning team and our operational team based on those conversations

5:35:46conversations with the community we are right now not exploring additional

5:35:51fenced off leash dog parks and then we are continuing with the two that we have obviously

5:35:56there are some operational improvements that we can make that may make the experience better

5:36:01and our off leash areas on sports fields will remain as well there may be an expansion or

5:36:08contraction of a park here and there just based on specific site needs but largely will remain

5:36:14status quo for now with dog parks okay thanks thank you okay I have councillor Billings and

5:36:21councillor Katelyn and councillor Chew again go ahead sorry through you madam chair I just

5:36:31wanted to ask about part of the report identifies under bill 23 the lack of parkland dedication

5:36:40and cash and loo and so then it refers to I believe maybe in the next one to four year timeframe

5:36:49we'll get a report back but it would deal with the amount of hectares per population and

5:36:56size minimums of parkland so I was wondering is is staff thinking that we need to change our target

5:37:05in the official plan or keep the same target and just use these you call them options or

5:37:14tools in order to get to the 3.3 hectares per 1000 thank you for the question so through the

5:37:22chair to the councillor yes we will be doing a parkland acquisition strategy that would come back

5:37:29to council and that would describe the challenges that we are facing through bill 23 frankly

5:37:38sufficient parkland was a problem before bill 23 came in and it's just exacerbated now

5:37:44so yes we will be reporting back to to council on that okay and then also through you madam chair

5:37:51this was a report that came and I can't remember but I'll say a while ago and it was a comparison

5:37:56of other municipalities and in their official plan what their targets were we know ours was the 3.3

5:38:02what I can't remember though was golf coming in high for the number of hectares per per 1000

5:38:09people or were we sitting around the average so through the chair to the councillor I believe

5:38:19Guelph is actually doing quite well for what our targets are we're fairly close we do through the

5:38:26parks and rec master plan although we're not suggesting a change to our official plan targets

5:38:31now we are acknowledging that there could be better metrics to measure ourselves again so for

5:38:37example access to parkland could be a good metric for us to consider in the future for council to

5:38:43consider in the future so rather than the quantity of parkland perhaps we look at can you access a

5:38:49park within a reasonable walk from your home so that there is some language in the PRMP about that

5:38:56and we will and then we could count that then through you madam chair so then we could count

5:39:02that other land that you're referring to as part of our target like so for example

5:39:12there's a school built so we're going to use or we're going to maintain maybe a larger area

5:39:18so it's not our land it's not city land but do we get to count that in our target

5:39:26so through the chair to the councillor I don't believe there's any

5:39:30legislation that requires the city to inventory their land in one way or another it would be

5:39:36I think a direction from council to say yes we want you to count it one way versus another

5:39:42currently we only count the land that we own or facilities that are maintained by the city of

5:39:48Guelph so if we were to take on additional maintenance of other properties that could be a

5:39:56conversation that that we could have currently we only count the land that we own okay thank you

5:40:05okay thank you so councillor kaitlyn and then we have councillor chur again

5:40:13for you to park staff so first off I was just wondering I have a number of different comments

5:40:19on different objectives and I was wondering if I wanted an edit of something would that have to

5:40:25be a motion or is it something that you can discuss and take back and then come back at the

5:40:31end of the month and say hey we change this or how would that work through the chair to council and

5:40:40I'll look to our friends at clerks we can take comments back and if we need to add a just change

5:40:48we can explore that for council in in two or three weeks yes so I think if you've made your

5:40:55comments tonight councillor kaitlyn and then have maybe an offline discussion between now and then

5:41:02and then staff can come back with a memo about changes possible changes or possible not changes

5:41:08and then work with you to prepare any motions that you need for the end of the month does that

5:41:12sound reasonable pardon may I jump in madam chair the only the only thing I would add to that at

5:41:17mr math is quite right but I'll I'll go what dco clock bush said in that we've got a shortened

5:41:23window between tonight's meeting and the end of the meeting at the end of the month so it

5:41:27just be mindful to be fast acting on that if you're engaging with staff that would be my

5:41:31recommendation to council okay all right so do you have comments or questions i have questions

5:41:39okay go ahead so thank you through new chair to staff with objective 59

5:41:51um for healthy food options in the city recreation facilities uh I was wondering are we also looking

5:41:57at culturally diverse and allergy aware foods as a part of that category yeah thank you for the

5:42:06question and through the chair to the councillor I yes I think would be the short answer um we

5:42:12haven't investigated anything I think what we're we're seeing is uh public health playing a much

5:42:16larger role in in recreation facilities and creating healthy environments and seeing you know

5:42:22we're promoting come come have a healthy active lifestyle and then if a vending machine is

5:42:28selling unhealthy products like there's kind of a bit of mixed messaging so really what I think is

5:42:32let's start the conversation and engage the community about what they'd like to see work with

5:42:36some of our health partners on what that might look like and also work with some of our community

5:42:40members and equity deserving groups around um what what that could look like again going back to

5:42:45trying to to transform recreation centers into more sort of hubs for the community rather than

5:42:50specific activities um so I would say it's it's more of we're at we're at the start of the conversation

5:42:56rather than full intention at this point great thank you um and through the chair I was wondering

5:43:03about I know that you had mentioned a lot about trying to increase the amount of public washrooms

5:43:09in parks and the accessibility to them and having them be open all year round are we looking to do

5:43:15some more gender neutral options as well in the outdoor public spaces so through the chair to the

5:43:25councillor we have not um directly said that within the PRMP but certainly I believe that that would

5:43:31be a consideration through our our process great thank you so much um also so one of the the big

5:43:41things that I kind of noticed was in objective 33 so for rubber services I was a little bit

5:43:51surprised at the 2.5 kilometer recommendation in between rubber services and I think it's a

5:43:57matter of interpretation in the document what you see there I looked at the AAC meeting where that

5:44:03was approved and it seems like they're considering this a jumping off point based on that meeting

5:44:10um they seemed like 2.5 to start to make sure that we're bridging gaps within that amount

5:44:17but that didn't seem like what they wanted is the final amount based on what I saw in that meeting

5:44:24um and I was wondering uh if you could speak that a little bit and if there was the ability to have

5:44:30the chair of the ACB president at the meeting at the end of the month so that she can clarify

5:44:36their intent with that so through the chair to the councillor um I was I presenting at that AAC

5:44:46meeting that you're speaking about and we did clarify that the 2.5 meter service radius would

5:44:52apply as the city grows so throughout Claremont B and throughout GID and potentially Dolheim as well

5:44:58so what we noticed within the city boundary as it is we noticed two service gaps once we did that

5:45:06that mapping um but we would be applying this 2.5 kilometer service radius to the entire city as it

5:45:13grows so that means we will get additional rubber surface playgrounds if that's what you're asking

5:45:20yes so through the chair would that preclude anything less than 2.5 kilometers apart from

5:45:27happening because we've got a metric of 500 to 800 meters for people who are in neighborhoods who

5:45:34potentially are more able to get to different locations um so while I'm I can see it as like

5:45:42the starting point of a gap analysis I would imagine that a ratio of how many accessible

5:45:48versus non-accessible playgrounds would also be a part of deciding where more rubberized

5:45:54surfaces would go through the chair um councillor kate I'm not sure if we're entirely

5:46:07understanding the question if we can just ask for maybe a rephrase or some clarity yeah absolutely

5:46:14is are there going to be any other playgrounds put in because you've only got two in a 10-year plan

5:46:21and it expands when the city expands but there's still all of this space within the city where

5:46:27there's inaccessible playgrounds so is that a starting off point of 2.5 and we're sticking to

5:46:33that for 10 years and we're not going to build less than 2.5 away or is that just the first gap

5:46:39that we're filling in the first five years through the chair uh the councillor kate and that's the

5:46:44gap right now as the city grows as the city intensifies um that's a number and a metric that

5:46:50we will need to revisit um to make sure that we're providing um many other services but uh

5:46:56specifically your convert your question about um rubberized surfaces in in our playgrounds which

5:47:01are accessible um that would be something that we would explore with ACC um moving forward so again

5:47:08as our city intensifies um that would be a number that we would need to revisit but for right now

5:47:15that's the number that we are working towards okay um so through the chair the objective 77 the

5:47:27idea strategy so is that something that would result in more objectives but just specific to

5:47:34accessibility yeah thank you for the question uh through the chair to the councillor uh yes

5:47:46I would imagine that it would likely result in more recommendations I think what we've noticed

5:47:51through the whole process of both the needs assessment and the parks and recreation master plan is that

5:47:57we do have a lot of gaps in terms of our service and and how we're reaching equity

5:48:02deserving groups how are how we're building services how are ensuring that we're being

5:48:06culturally competent um in the delivery of those services so I think that this would be a strategy

5:48:11to help guide the department in ensuring that our services going forward over the next 10 years and

5:48:15beyond um are driven by equity diversity inclusion and accessibility thank you um and I had one last

5:48:27thing on uh objective 19 similar to councillor or work um I was just wondering why not install

5:48:34shade structures in all parks if possible but prioritize those with accessible services as

5:48:39your first targets so through the chair to the councillor um we are prioritizing some of the

5:48:48parks that receive um more visitors um so some of the specialized facilities like splash pads

5:48:55playgrounds with rubber surface they tend to attract um a lot more people than a typical

5:49:00neighborhood park so that's why you're seeing those called out specifically for um shade structures

5:49:07however having said that we we are also saying through the PRMP that the best long-term solution

5:49:14and economical solution for shade in parks is trees so we will with all of our parks consider

5:49:20shade in fact it was the number one most mentioned comment throughout all of our community

5:49:25engagement that we did is that people want shade in parks so that's not lost on us but we do recognize

5:49:31that uh it takes a while for trees to grow so where there's a need for immediate shade we're

5:49:36suggesting installing shade structures at these specialized facilities and then of course trees

5:49:42trees in in all of our park developments I am super glad to hear that and I just have sorry

5:49:47one final question um through the chair I was just wondering is it possible to expand the

5:49:54number of accessible play options um in the non-rubberized surface parks to more than one

5:50:02because some of the things that were mentioned in the list like accessible swings if they're not on

5:50:07an accessible surface become inaccessible right so it requires someone who could like

5:50:12actually physically get the person who needs that swing to that swing and then I know that

5:50:17sometimes we consider those little talk tubes as an accessible option in parks and if that's all

5:50:24like kid has is a talk tube on the corner like that's that doesn't count for me as an accessible

5:50:30option so I think um I would wondering if it's possible to bring it up to two that were specifically

5:50:39independently accessible on the side surfaces like you know there's those xylophone things even

5:50:45I wouldn't play with those but um anything else basically sure so through the chair of the counselor

5:50:55we typically do consult with the AAC on all of our playground projects so we will receive that

5:51:00that feedback what the AAC is looking for also community engagement through our typical processes

5:51:07where we will no doubt hear from people that face barriers so we are happy to kind of work at the

5:51:14programming for each park with the AAC and through community engagement so there's no way

5:51:20to like just up our minimum so that we again I think that we could be open to that but I think

5:51:29it would be a conversation with the AAC to make sure that our park our basic park programming

5:51:35is aligned with what the AAC is looking for and sorry if I just jump in for a moment

5:51:42thank you chair downer I just to maybe elevate us a little bit above some of the specifics which

5:51:47are all really good and I know our staff are going to take this away I think the other thing just

5:51:52to keep in mind this parks and rec master plan similar to the culture plan in the public art

5:51:57policy they're before you tonight to set the the lofty goals for the next five seven ten years in

5:52:04each case ultimately as our board of governors you ultimately set the pace of how fast we implement

5:52:11and that's the budget and that's to quote CAO steward who isn't able maybe he's listening

5:52:18you're that the budget is a gas pedal so to all of the things that councillor

5:52:22caten is mentioning I don't think that as staff you know if you want us to put that gas pedal

5:52:27to the floor and go faster and do things quicker we're here to do that on your behalf but that

5:52:33comes through the multi-year budget process as you look at what it costs to actually implement

5:52:38these things so I just kind of wanted to jump in and take that moment to say we'll take all of

5:52:42the very specifics away and we'll look at them but the actual pace and if you're looking at us

5:52:48speeding things up that you need to direct us to do during that multi-year budget process because

5:52:55that's the gas pedal for how fast we go and that's probably an overarching comment to all of the last

5:53:00three agenda items thanks and I totally agree with that and I'm glad that we have that ability to

5:53:09kind of prioritize I was just being specifically the standards and the processes that we have in

5:53:14place so if we set a goal saying you know two per accessible two accessible pieces per playground

5:53:22versus five playgrounds a year that's a different thing right this like setting

5:53:26accessibility standards versus targets of how many we can implement but thank you very much

5:53:35okay uh Councillor Chew and then I believe we will go to comments

5:53:42thank you Madam Chair just a quick question to

5:53:45rift off of my colleague Councillor Ork on uh dog parks I'm just wondering I really appreciate the

5:53:54section on community requests and just the the candidness up front just to help people understand

5:54:00that we have a process in place and this is and there are priorities that need to be met

5:54:07I'm just wondering uh I we get a lot of requests from folks that frequent with Linglend for example

5:54:15and some people like the fact that it's an awfully stock park some people don't some people would

5:54:21love a fence how do we prioritize that um within the framework that you guys are planning to develop

5:54:27within that five nine-year period um just like we talk about accessibility but is there a safety

5:54:34component that we can add as well as part of the um verbiage so for example we come here with you

5:54:43with a budget ask there's some kind of a justification that we can uh link through a paper trail if that

5:54:49makes sense so through the chair to council um as we look develop that process we we do need to

5:54:57keep them in mind that the process needs to work for the community needs to work with us not us

5:55:02for the process right so um as we work through that things like dog parks and requests for those new

5:55:09facilities we've obviously learned that there needs to be a robust process robust engagement for those

5:55:15things councillor busatel I would agree it should not take a decade to add electrical infrastructure

5:55:21to a park um but we're at this moment in time now but it does need some consideration right we've

5:55:27had requests in the past to put um in water infrastructure at silver creek park the public

5:55:32doesn't know nor should be expected to know that getting water to that asset is a significant

5:55:37challenge based on the infrastructure that's there but we do need to have that process so the

5:55:42community knows that we're evaluating their thoughts their thoughts are on the books they're

5:55:46they're formalized they're going to outlive staff sometimes that are here and when we can get to

5:55:51yes we can but when we can't get to yes it's done timely um and an informed way so long story to say

5:55:58that that process needs to take into a lot of factors but one of those factors being time and

5:56:04making sure that we're being responsive okay uh last one councillor guffrey and if anybody has

5:56:11more questions i'd ask you to take the time between now and the end of the month to do those

5:56:15and we'll go to comments after this one more question councillor gov mayor Guthrie sorry it's

5:56:21okay i i found my i found my old card that says councillor Guthrie so you're not you're not wrong

5:56:28you're not wrong i just emoted you i hey i i i'm just not going to say anything back to that um

5:56:37uh through you uh madam chair uh i i just want to i want a response to what was just stated there

5:56:46from a perspective of the question being what type of filters are you going to be using as you move

5:56:52forward through this plan to make sure that things like plugs aren't missed if they're necessary

5:57:00or like when we build a silver creek um sorry um yeah was it silver creek the skateboard park

5:57:07okay like look let's just be let's just be a friend we should we should have probably had a

5:57:12we should probably had water there like we really we should have had water available to that park

5:57:18right um we should have had shade built into that park but it's it's in fact i remember um one of

5:57:28the first complaints that i got after the skateboard park opened up was all the parents had nowhere to

5:57:34sit so it feels like when we do these buildings of these assets it's like we're missing this filter

5:57:43of like the things that that should also be included as we build these things out like electrical like

5:57:52water fountain like benches like shades so how can we have um how can we have some certainty

5:58:00that this plan is going to have those filters in place so you know we get less complaints number

5:58:07one but that it's done once and it's done right and it's done probably the most economical way

5:58:15possible then to try to go back and retrofit things that the community would have wanted from the

5:58:20from the get go anyways through the chair to council a few things um i think one of the bigger

5:58:27ones is community engagement so we have some examples that do work and our playgrounds there's

5:58:33of course some accessibility things to work through but we engage um in that program with

5:58:39neighborhoods and communities as we all know recently as today um very very regularly and of the

5:58:47of the 20 or so um upgraded in the last few years we receive very little um negative feedback or

5:58:56would have could have should have type feedback because we have engaged the community and we

5:59:02listen um maybe in the past for you know process reasons budget reasons um we don't know in the

5:59:09moment we haven't taken the opportunity to listen to the community engage in the community on what

5:59:14they want to see the bike skills facility is an example of um we haven't built one of those

5:59:20at the city of quels before we have great staff competent staff they're going to lead that project

5:59:25but we have and we'll continue to engage the community as to what they want to see with that

5:59:29facility so that we do so that we do get it right we also need to look at things like our formal

5:59:36processes like our asset management plan to make sure that we're replacing infrastructure

5:59:41in a timely manner as well so that doesn't become too outdated that we're trying to um you know put

5:59:48a band-aid uh where a cast is needed and not meet any community expectation so good process good

5:59:55design and community feedback along the way input and that's being true to that and listening to that

6:00:01and engaging that which we do I think will be a way to avoid um those circumstances yeah thank you

6:00:08Madam Chair I appreciate what you just said there about um I would I would echo that you know

6:00:14recently I think that engagement and stuff that processes have been a lot better um so my last

6:00:20question is the engagement up front is obviously important when you're answering in regards to the

6:00:25kind of examples I gave uh to move forward on but are we going to make sure that there's also

6:00:32coordination with other departments in the city so that when you know something is being ripped up

6:00:39because of an infrastructure issue you know that's the time to go oh you're you're ripping up that

6:00:44area because you're you're doing something we could from a parks perspective we can add a pipe

6:00:50to that and we can get a water fountain in there like so is there are we going to make sure there's

6:00:55integration between all the departments and it's not an afterthought that oh I wish I had known that

6:01:01I could have done this in the parks how is that integration going to be confirmed

6:01:07sure so I can start so through the chair to the mayor um we we there is a recommendation in the

6:01:13PRMP to to coordinate projects with each other um timing wise um also efficiency um from a

6:01:23uh a financial perspective um where we can um integrate dc funded projects with tax funded

6:01:30projects we mobilize once um and we don't you know we save some some funds there and hopefully

6:01:36use pressure on the tax base so there is a recommendation in there in in the parks and rec master plan

6:01:41great through the chair if I may add um that expectation prior um to this recommendation the

6:01:47plan uh for that interdepartmental collaboration has been made crystal clear from the executive

6:01:53team and for public services specifically um dc al uh clock wash great thank you madam chair

6:02:02okay we're going to go to comments now counselor to counselor our work

6:02:08counselor gibson counselor karan counselor to yeah through you madam chair just a quick question

6:02:21if I may not no no just comments I'm going to cut off the questions now okay but I would encourage

6:02:28you between now and the end of the month to call up staff and I said before we're cutting up we've

6:02:33gone around in circles like quite a few times okay yeah no that's okay but if you'd like have a comment

6:02:38that's great yeah sure I'll phrase my question into a comment great that could be taken away if

6:02:43that's okay yes I don't I don't need a response from them okay great I think just to go off of mayor

6:02:50guthrie's comments on uh expectations and prioritization and just making it clear if there's

6:02:57a way in which we can make that asset management process uh which is and just develop it in a way

6:03:04that's accessible front facing maybe through story maps or something just to show like our citizens

6:03:11what parks are being prioritized and if there's like a technical piece that isn't that that can be

6:03:16more transparent uh and non-confidential if that can be uh included as like a takeaway I think that

6:03:23would be fantastic so we can just point people to hey this is the park that is that needs fixing and

6:03:29this is these are the reasons why I think a lot of people are very rational and very understanding

6:03:34so we just set it the expectation clear it even makes a conf eliminates a lot of the confusion

6:03:40amongst us as counselors who are going to be tabling things on behalf of our constituents

6:03:46during budget time so that's my comment great thank you and feel free to call follow up with them

6:03:55council work thank you chair downer so as happens with every master plan right we dig deep into the

6:04:01what about this particular line and the timing on that and the budget for this but I want to say

6:04:07then in the last five years in this city there's been massive progress on trails with the trails

6:04:13master plan on the south end rec center that is coming soon for real this time that's going to

6:04:20change recreation for everybody across the city because it's going to really increase the supply

6:04:27and the availability of recreation um you know and and also this parks and rec master plan that we've

6:04:33been waiting for for quite some time so I want to say thank you and acknowledge the massive

6:04:38policy and also infrastructure and programming progress that we've seen in the city in the

6:04:45last five years I appreciate that and I appreciate all the little details that are in here so from

6:04:50the big policy the big capital programs uh the big plans all the way down to the micro grants so the

6:04:58folks at rickson ridge neighborhood group can finally get a bulletin board I just really appreciate

6:05:04and thank you for your work great ditto thank you councillor gibson thank you through you chair

6:05:12downer um so acknowledge this represents a lot of work staff so thank you very much for the the

6:05:18work that's gone into it thank you very much for making yourself available um to questions from

6:05:23councillors I would encourage all councillors to to utilize that opportunity to get some of these

6:05:28questions answered um I really enjoyed the the piece in the document about the changing demographics

6:05:33of our city and how um migration into the city is really driving population growth um that's going

6:05:39to be that's that's acknowledged and and how those demographics are changing but while at the same time

6:05:45enrollment in our in our programs is still increasing so um to that point I thought the

6:05:51the knot to the senior strategy was important uh the youth strategy was important as well as um even

6:05:58some of the smaller pieces like an elite like the elite sports and trying to encourage their um

6:06:03participation involvement in the city sport tourism was acknowledged uh all this is you really

6:06:08did cover a really strong breadth of the of the task in this document and it's um it doesn't go

6:06:16without noticing um I was looking for things that weren't mentioned because everything seemed to be

6:06:21mentioned so uh good job to staff I think you were listening I think you did a really great job to

6:06:27this point um similarly to what's been mentioned uh the the priorities and the tasks like there was

6:06:34some really tangible items in here that um even the drainage on uh the gulf lakes road up into the

6:06:40gulf lake uh soccer fields like those are some really small minutia tasks that are getting

6:06:45accomplished through this that I know are important to people so um again a really good document um

6:06:51nothing but kudos for me and uh no more questions so thanks very much great thank you council karon

6:07:02all of my colleagues have expressed what I'm feeling I wanted to add on to that parks as

6:07:07placemaking uh when I think of what we've discussed here this evening public art and culture uh

6:07:13parks are much more than just playground equipment places to play they're more than places to read a

6:07:19book they're more than places to uh for groundwater recharge they are more than places to have a

6:07:25picnic they are landmarks they are where memories are made think of us all back to our childhood

6:07:31where do we have you know where do we what do we say to our friends we'll meet at the park um so

6:07:35access to park um being able to walk to a park uh for kids uh of young ages being able to get to a

6:07:42park to play with their friends um that is where memories are made so I really feel like this is

6:07:46legacy work we're doing here moving our parks uh forward uh and making sure that all of our new

6:07:54areas and uh and older areas of town um have parks that are um are fully functional in every way

6:08:01and accessible to all okay thank you uh councillor altman and councillor Keith thank you very much

6:08:12chair downer I do want to thank staff and I do agree with the council caron that this is legacy

6:08:17work particularly I'd like to thank mr mathews because you reminded me of something that I

6:08:23think is very important in this and that is the need to uh replace in a timely matter and

6:08:30upgrade as appropriate standards we need to recognize uh do change and we must be on top

6:08:37of the current new standards and and the expectations of the public and respond appropriately and I

6:08:42think I've heard that we're doing this I want to commend councillor Caton's remarks and advocacy

6:08:46for accessibility um it's uh something that is more than commendable it speaks to the need to adapt

6:08:52to the standards and changes as we address issues of of the public having greater and different

6:08:59expectations I think for example that trails were virtually non-existent 20 years ago we didn't hear

6:09:05frisbee golf and riverside park in fact riverside park was where people learned how to swim when I

6:09:11was a kid I wouldn't suggest anybody swim in there today splash pads have replaced waiting pools

6:09:18which were installed originally by community groups like kinsman and they're replacing them

6:09:22because they are in many respects the sensible hygienic way to go sands replace more expensive

6:09:28surfaces because they have to and we have to pay for it and recognize that this is the responsibility

6:09:33of council to to adapt to the new fiscal financial realities and so with this I think what we're doing

6:09:39is we are just scratching the surface and we will need to continue adapting and that's what this is

6:09:44all about so today it's pickleball maybe tomorrow it's bocce or laser tag or something else we're

6:09:51going to see in the parks but we're never going to know we're always going to be playing catch up on

6:09:55these things and thanks staff for doing the best thank you uh council kate thank you through you

6:10:04chair um I really love this document I I feel like I don't really sound critical but that's just

6:10:12because I really want us to be the best um it's really hard when you do comparators to communities

6:10:19for things like accessibility because it's kind of abysmal in a lot of places so in order to to

6:10:27find a comparator you're looking through standards that are based on low provincial standards that

6:10:35have not been updated in terms of the aod a for like you know our words of six years so we're always

6:10:42going to seem like we're doing more if we're doing a really good job with equity and I really applaud

6:10:49all of the work that has gone into this we've got amazing core values objective 16 through 18 are

6:10:54fire all of 63 to 72 are great we've got sensory rooms hardly anywhere has that we've done such a

6:11:02good job and I know that we can do even better thank you are there any more comments on this

6:11:12and I have to say ditto to all the comments we just heard yeah I think that was a lot of work

6:11:19and I'd like to thank my colleagues here for the lots of great questions and a lot of discussions on

6:11:26all three of these master plans today actually it was been a good day for us so but no further

6:11:34ado is there anyone opposed seeing none that passes so three we got done tonight so that's a major