An enhanced level of streetscaping be approved for the Downtown Infrastructure Renewal Program giving priority to improved tree canopy, flexible streets, public seating…

3:04:51recommendations that's downtown streetscape level of service and construction mitigation

3:04:56and we'll go right to uh questions from councillors and we'll give staff an opportunity to uh come

3:05:03forward and when we have miss Watson on the line we can proceed with her delegation okay

3:05:10so i'll start the speaker list on 10.1.3 the main event today yeah

3:05:15councillor Klassen you go ahead yes thank you i've got a few notes here so might be a couple

3:05:22of little comments in there um i just i want to say thank you to the staff um for all your work on

3:05:28this i've spent a lot of time with you and i know you've spent way more than i have on this

3:05:33particularly around the various types of public engagement that you've done um i've seen you out

3:05:38in the community i know others have too um so so thank you for that i think it means a lot to the

3:05:44community um so i i want to emphasize something that i think uh perhaps maybe some of the businesses

3:05:51downtown will will agree with as well which is the timeline like i really appreciate the shortening

3:05:58the timeline um it is a challenge and i appreciate the work you've done to connect with other communities

3:06:04to ensure that we have as little impact to to folks as possible um i do have a question with

3:06:13regard to the construction mitigation so i know that you've connected with a lot of people already

3:06:18but how can people continue to connect with you i'm sure that there's you know that you haven't

3:06:22talked to everyone quite yet and will there be more opportunities as we go forward through you

3:06:29uh madam chair um yes lots of opportunities we are i talked earlier about our diggable

3:06:37downtown campaign that that isn't going to be ongoing throughout the rest of the fall and

3:06:42through next year as well um with in there continually will be outreach opportunities and uh

3:06:49and uh uh chances for for folks to ask us questions or give us concerns and as you

3:06:57where we're doing the monthly construction cafes so uh we're at canoes in next the september the

3:07:0419th um so please uh anybody that's interested can come there and discuss in the morning and

3:07:11get a coffee and we'll have a chat so we're going to do those monthly cafes as an opportunity just

3:07:16a standing date for anybody to show up that wants to talk to us okay great and then on a related

3:07:24note just overall to this this renewal project so in the municipalities this is a general question

3:07:30how often do we have this type of renewal process in downtown's underground reconstruction

3:07:43underground works last you know in that 70 to 80 ours is over 100 years old um the last

3:07:51but the surface works often you get 20 25 30 years out of them uh the last time there was a

3:07:57significant work on wind them was in the 80s and we've got pictures the lovely pictures going back

3:08:02to the 80s looking at the cars and the and the hairdos of the day um the um but that was that was

3:08:10roadworks and a storm sewer we didn't do the majority of the underdown now we're doing the

3:08:15underground and it's time to do the the road surfaces again so all our infrastructure has

3:08:20slightly different life cycles uh where your your road surface and that needs a full rework every

3:08:2625 to 30 years okay great thank you for that um I just wanted to make one note as well just because

3:08:35I don't believe the the correspondence got put into the package but I know that the downtown

3:08:40golf business association um president chuck uh nash he put in a letter to us also supporting the

3:08:48staff recommendations and letting us know that they also appreciated the shortening of the timelines

3:08:53um and uh I just wanted to add that in there as well thank you thank you councillor goller

3:09:03through you chair arc no questions about our comments okay at this time actually uh councillor

3:09:09down first on my list for comments but I'll put you down for comments councillor boostill you had

3:09:13questions thank you very much to the staff for an excellent presentation um you talked about just

3:09:21now about life cycles of infrastructure and you know future focus and so on and at the open house

3:09:28there were questions about the electrification of downtown that us we're ripping up the streets is

3:09:35other plans where did we end up what's the outcome on electrification again thinking about life

3:09:42cycles and future focus is that part of this project is it incremental or are we going to be

3:09:47back at this place again in a couple of years to electrify downtown yet we are in

3:09:57throughout our all our engagement we've talked about what are what are people wanting regarding

3:10:02electrifications or other services throughout the downtown so that is on the list and we're also

3:10:07having discussions with electra right now too on on what we're doing for servicing downtown

3:10:13the and when you're talking about electrification I've seen you're talking about like EV charging

3:10:18in that so we are having those conversations with uh we're getting into that now we're at that stage

3:10:24of the of the works we're going to start talking more details about what do we actually want to

3:10:29put in the in the final design um so this definitely on our list but we have to understand

3:10:39the want for that right now it's not in our program of works per se and we're having those

3:10:45discussions with electra to see if there's a demand or driver for it thank you and and just

3:10:54a supplemental so what you're saying is that it's it's not actionable right now uh in your work plan

3:11:01and what i'm not clear on is i mean we're talking about future and and infrastructure digging up

3:11:07the roads and so on what i'm not clear on is um is this something that electra is a partner on and

3:11:14saying yes we see the future this is you know something that we want to do downtown and we

3:11:19do not want to be digging up downtown again in five years or is it dovetailing or is it yeah so

3:11:25so i maybe wasn't that clear but we were in our conversations with electra we're at we're talking

3:11:31about putting extra ductworks in the ground that maybe not erecting the you know the charging

3:11:38stations or whatever that would be but we're going to have the ductwork there ready to go

3:11:42when somebody or there's some driver to install the charging stations on the roads we're having

3:11:49those conversations it's it's it's it's easy it's cheap relatively to put lots of ducts in the ground

3:11:55to fish wires in the future um the but we we haven't had a driver for a designer like what do we

3:12:06want for ev charging stations for an example along the the corridor yet mr game i would like to add

3:12:15something yeah yeah and maybe just a few other general things for for council's awareness with

3:12:20respect to all of our utility partners we're having those conversations with them now so that

3:12:25they understand that their needs to service qualms populations think about downtown and the

3:12:29growth that we have coming what do they need to have installed now what do they need us to install

3:12:33so that they can come later what are those elements is all part of the ongoing discussion so that

3:12:38exactly what you're getting at council we're not ripping up brand new infrastructure we'll

3:12:42have those same conversations as it relates to development and growth for anything that we know

3:12:47at the time that we can design so we're going to maximize and optimize as much of that as we possibly

3:12:53can thank you okay i have a couple questions and we'll go to comments um

3:13:02can staff confirm for me that the 17.1 is both the upgrade and expediting the work on both

3:13:10windham and mcdonnell to you uh madam chair the 17.1 is the enhanced streetscaping for all the

3:13:21future downtown projects within within the within the 10-year capital budget so and to

3:13:29specifically to your question yes so what we are proposing within the 10-year capital budget

3:13:36is expedited construction on windham mcdonnell and i'm going to draw a blank on what the next

3:13:44phase is but all the way through our 10 years

3:13:49yeah so that is yeah yeah okay my other question is i'm i'm curious uh why we have the same level

3:13:59of service on the secondary streets as well so it's not clear to me are we saying we've got the

3:14:05same level of service on baker and you know some of the smaller streets than we have on windham

3:14:13and mcdonnell which are sort of the showcase streets and why would that be uh to you madam

3:14:19chair what we've done when we say we extrapolated the level of service um that is sort of designed

3:14:25for windham street is to do that generally in accordance with the direction provided by the

3:14:282014 streetscape manual so you'll see it's sort of our signature streets are windham mcdonnell

3:14:34you'll see streets like cobec and douglas because they're smaller have a slightly different level

3:14:40of service but it's sort of generally in the same tone and keeping there but you won't see

3:14:45like the separated cycle lanes and all of that so we've used the guidance provided by the 2014

3:14:50streetscape manual to help extrapolate what you see for windham street and apply it to those other

3:14:54streets okay um my next question is uh i heard mr resworm say um what was best originally now

3:15:04we're sort of at the upper end of better so the motion on good better best was mine it was a reaction

3:15:08to the cost of the uh streetscaping in a budget a couple years ago so have we refined a little

3:15:14bit what that's going to be like if we have we come down a little bit from what that original

3:15:19estimate was you madam chair uh yes since even since the workshop we've been continually working

3:15:28on the cost estimates and and uh and in refining the cost of that work and and digging into those

3:15:37details so we're very confident in the numbers we're putting forward right now we were probably

3:15:43a little conservative at the workshop but the the probably the single biggest thing we're not seeing

3:15:50in the proposal today that was in the best is paving stones throughout the all the street all the

3:15:55traveled area that's very expensive because essentially you got to build a concrete road

3:16:00underneath and then put paving stones on top so otherwise you'll have the movement like we have

3:16:04out in cardin street so that's the single biggest item so once you pull that out it drops significantly

3:16:11and the other thing is we've done is we backed off on the numbers trees within soil cells and we're

3:16:17you making better use of a mix of the of the uh the planters but those were probably the two biggest

3:16:24items where we could pull back on the level of service quote unquote but yet achieve the priorities

3:16:32council voiced okay thank you and then my last one is with respect to those trees so everybody in

3:16:37the council consultation loved the trees when are we going to see what the allowed building

3:16:45heights are downtown because when i'm sitting in downtown toronto or walking there where they're

3:16:51all tall buildings it's unpleasant it's shady the trees don't grow and it's windy so are we going

3:16:58to invest in this beautiful downtown and then have building heights that don't you know that don't

3:17:04match what these beautiful images are so how does the building height work with the enough sunlight

3:17:10for those trees to to grow and to create the streetscape that we want uh thank you for that

3:17:16question so first of all the downtown building height study we do expect some recommendations

3:17:21early in 2025 as we're working through that process um there are several things that differentiate our

3:17:28downtown streets um from toronto first of all our streets are relatively short and wide compared

3:17:34to toronto's which are sort of longer more narrow corridors so with that it allows that access to

3:17:40sunlight for trees and people um also balancing out you know future building heights with the

3:17:46downtown heritage conservation district um study recommendations we wouldn't expect to see sort of

3:17:51like big giant rows of new towers built we do want to protect that downtown heritage character

3:17:58that we have so those are two sort of significant inputs into our downtown that would still allow

3:18:05for those trees to grow even if we do have some additional building height moving forward excellent

3:18:10thank you and good segue to one of our next okay councillor billings question through you

3:18:18madam chair in the recommendation like improved tree canopy flexible streets public seating

3:18:23paving stones and uh and a design that optimizes public space for the most efficient operating

3:18:29budget so we heard the operating budget would be around um a four percent now that's a four percent

3:18:36increase what we currently have in the budget that's the way i'm reading it is that correct

3:18:42yes councillor billings that is correct okay so and that's quite that's quite an operating increase

3:18:51so what's driving most of that increase is it actually the paving stones the when we went

3:19:05through that exercise around c o and m costs um markably everything came out to around four percent

3:19:12be it street trees or paving stones or or i guess those are probably the two biggest line

3:19:19items on that list but we're right around that four percent mark so it's it's very linear when it

3:19:27comes to the capital budget with respect to what the o and m costs will be the so if we wish to

3:19:34uh remove bring down the o and m costs we bring down the capital cost remember we're only talking

3:19:41about capital costs it's not four percent on the entire operating budget it's it's on the piece we add

3:19:47which is when you look at the overall operating budget i'm sure that number can be produced but

3:19:51it's it's it's much smaller but isn't it around like what you're asking four percent of the 17 no

3:19:59yes it's four percent of the 17 so it's four percent of the capital of the capital budget

3:20:05should be allocated annually within the operating budget to take care of the streetscape okay so

3:20:11through you madam chair then i'm i'm still not clear then because the four percent and then in

3:20:15the presentation it was 18.1 mil so four percent still isn't a mil so so where's the 18 what's the

3:20:24difference in the 18 to the 17.1 so when you look at the overall when you include the the solid waste

3:20:33and the streetscaping together it becomes 18 okay the solid waste has their own o and m cost associated

3:20:39with it and then operating on top of that then right so then the operating is on top of that

3:20:46the four percent

3:20:47okay well for the streetscaping it's at four percent i don't want to quote the uh

3:20:53the the the solid waste report but there's a number in there as well that talks to the operating costs

3:20:59okay thanks for the clarity okay i'm going to go to comments and i've got councillor downer

3:21:07councillor Goller margothry other comments council class okay okay thank you through you

3:21:19madam chair so yes i want to echo councillor class and say about appreciating the work that

3:21:25staff have done i'm a board member of the downtown the dgba and i know they have appreciated the work

3:21:33and engagement that they've had on this project and there's a letter of support for the the

3:21:39streetcape i also want to appreciate how our staff have reflected what i thought from the workshop

3:21:47that we had in may that from all the comments it looks like you know i was a little concerned

3:21:52about that but i'm glad how you've incorporated it and come out somewhere between better and

3:21:58best and found ways to to say funds as well while still looking quite uh quite spectacular i think

3:22:07and i i'm quite happy around the trees i always want to talk about trees you know i know the

3:22:12modular soil cells i actually prefer more open planters to those anyway i think the more

3:22:19downtowns i've been through that have been me done dug bell bill and all kinds of other places

3:22:24wiring recently those i think they look better um than than many others so i'm quite happy with that

3:22:33i also want to say that you know in our downtown is a gem and it's recognized as that outside of

3:22:40guelph by when i was on the destination destination next committee the tourism committee um a couple

3:22:47years ago and the the consultants on the work they did you know finding guelph's reputation that's

3:22:55the way it's viewed outside of guelph we've got one of the best platforms and stages in our

3:23:00downtown for cultural events and for tourism and you only get an opportunity like this um we've heard

3:23:08anywhere from 30 to 50 years to to redo that stage and redo that platform to enhance tourism

3:23:15to enhance not just people coming in but people in the city using the downtown more and and wanting to

3:23:23you know attend cultural events there we saw the potential of that success for our own community

3:23:28with the spirit of the season santa claus parade and how that excited the community to show up

3:23:35downtown by the thousands and so you know i just i want to encourage my colleagues to support this i

3:23:42want to encourage the mayor to keep this um work in the budget um because you know over 10 years when

3:23:49you actually take that as as the letter says you extrapolate that over the lifetime of this work it's

3:23:55it's um it's good work that's what i'll say so thanks okay councillor gollard

3:24:02uh thank you and through you chair work i wanted to echo the sentiments presented by

3:24:10councillor downer and councillor Klassen i i i want to thank staff for all the hard work it

3:24:17really shows and i and i appreciate that it's difficult to make these shifts going from the

3:24:23the status quo the the good level to this enhanced level but i'm hearing from my constituents and

3:24:30we saw the letter from the dgba that supports it so i'm really appreciative in particular to the

3:24:36to the increased tree canopy that we're going to see uh and to the increased pedestrian

3:24:42look and feel of the downtown that is very much appreciated i also wanted to to acknowledge that

3:24:48now that the budget deliberation process has changed a lot of this rests on on the will of

3:24:55mayor guthrie and i wanted to thank the mayor for making sure that this will go ahead as staff

3:25:01mentioned so that we can have a downtown that we are going to be proud of thank you okay mayor guthrie

3:25:13thank you madam chair i just first of all wanted to say that this was probably one of the best

3:25:21laid out agenda items in sequence and rolling out the presentation today that i think i've ever seen

3:25:27honestly this is like one of the best the way it's been presented the way the reports are written

3:25:34the visuals i mean it's just perfect so i can't thank you enough for the work i terry you said

3:25:40this at the beginning with your comments the all the staff work and i i just i really want to

3:25:45recognize staff for putting this all together because there are so many pieces to this and

3:25:51so just a big time thank you um i have as tara indicated during her presentation

3:26:01staff have already talked to me about this item and i've been in favor of it so let's just get that

3:26:05out of the way right away um just a couple few further comments madam chairs just uh

3:26:13let's not forget about place making opportunities and art opportunities as we do this as well

3:26:19because that that can really beautify and make our downtown a beautiful place

3:26:25i'm so thankful that we're doing it in an expedited way i think it was you reg that said hey if you

3:26:30got one little section of the downtown closed everyone's going to think the whole thing's closed

3:26:34or they're just not going to come and so let's uh let's do an expedited get it done once get it

3:26:40done right and be done with it and then at this moment i'll just take a moment to say um you know

3:26:47please support gulf our our business is downtown now but start scrolling some money away that we

3:26:55can really support them uh during this time even under an expedited uh pathway so uh please please

3:27:02do that i want to just echo councillor downer's comments about tourism and once in a generation

3:27:09once in several generations opportunity we have in front of us here we're going to put put it back

3:27:14together let's do it let's do it in the most beautiful possible way that we can because this

3:27:19downtown core generates some of the most economic impact and benefits to our entire city and we

3:27:27often talk about investments here in this city and or sorry this corner of the city in that corner

3:27:31of the city and they're all important but um this is an investment in our downtown to make it so

3:27:38beautiful and inviting that actually i can see investors private sector wise wanting to then

3:27:43continue to see what we're doing and what our plans are and that they're solidified that they're

3:27:48going to say okay you know what i am going to build a building down there for uh for people to live

3:27:54in i am going to invest in that downtown because i see what the city is committing to invest in

3:28:00as well so there's a huge economic factor here not just on the business side but for housing as well

3:28:07um and so uh with that uh madam chair i just want to thank thank you as well for your leadership

3:28:15on this file as the chair i thought you've done an excellent job on this too steering it through

3:28:20to this moment so thank you to you this is a once in a lifetime opportunity let's just do it once

3:28:26and do it right and i think we'll be very very proud of it and uh and thank you thank you for

3:28:32thank you for allowing me to have those comments certainly uh councillor classon great thank you um

3:28:39i don't want to repeat any of the things that my my council colleagues and the mayor have said because

3:28:45i think you've wrapped up a lot of my thoughts really beautifully and i and i won't repeat them

3:28:49however um i i do have a couple of little things as a as a kid who grew up downtown gualph um and

3:28:57who has evolved into this role as city councillor and as the you know official downtown champion

3:29:03i'm i'm really excited about this project and i'm excited about all of the hard work that has

3:29:08gone into it and what it can mean for gualph uh and all of the resident residents here and i just

3:29:13want to echo something that went was said earlier regarding um our strategy and what we set out for

3:29:19this term of council which is creating a downtown for everyone and i think the plans here really

3:29:24integrate you know something for everyone and i know that's a really difficult balance to achieve

3:29:30and you know this is an opportunity to refresh vital infrastructure but it's also this moment for us

3:29:37this special once in a lifetime opportunity um for us to come together and create something special

3:29:43and so i think that that little gal in me is pretty nerding nerding out and pretty excited about

3:29:50what's to come and i i have crossed out all of the things that i have said and what other people

3:29:55have said but i will just add that i have a note that says removable ballards exclamation mark

3:30:01exclamation mark which i think is a really a nerdy thing to say um but i think that will help with

3:30:08what cam and with with maric cam said about um placemaking and having more events downtown

3:30:15and drawing people downtown so when i when i meet with people and when i bring people to gualph and

3:30:19when i talk to newcomers to gualph i bring them downtown and they always liken it to you know

3:30:25characteristic small towns in television shows like stars hollow and things like that and i'm

3:30:30and i'm looking forward to bringing more people downtown and drawing more people downtown um and

3:30:36and having more more more great times together there um so thank you thank you councillor Klassen

3:30:44oh councillor Allt thank you very much chair work um i too would echo many of the sentiments but i

3:30:52think i want to reinforce a couple of things with with some things that have been done in the past

3:30:56i think we need to recognize that what we are talking about is providing a a foundation for

3:31:03institutions that are there already our library the riverrun center the sleam and center uh market

3:31:08square and thank you to to former councillors um bircher and um solsbury for their idea on the

3:31:16reflecting pond uh at market square for that vision otherwise we'd have a parking lot there um

3:31:24in the conversation with mr chuck nash of the downtown board we both agree that the potential

3:31:29for downtown is a tourist um a tourist area is very important but it is not there unless we

3:31:36enhance it uh it provides us also with a tremendous windfall uh because uh the jazz fest art on the

3:31:43street draw people from not just out of town but from where you are councillor or work from the

3:31:48south end and from where uh councillor Busuttil is from the west end we draw people in the city

3:31:54into the core and remember that the core as a as a living dynamic center of life is one of the greatest

3:32:02contributors to the tax base that the city has and as we build more uh accommodations in the

3:32:08downtown in baker street and elsewhere um we need a vital dynamic place for people to live

3:32:15and for people to celebrate with bikes pedestrians with uh with um uh streetside cafes um we have

3:32:24a place that is going to attract people from all over and this uh is nothing more than a compliment

3:32:31everything that has done being done in the past and is still being done including uh two-way all-day

3:32:36go thank you councillor oh councillor Caron followed by councillor chou my colleagues have

3:32:45articulated pretty much everything i wanted to say but i'll just add two quick things this has

3:32:51been an evolution that has been a long time coming from the very first downtown secondary plan to

3:32:57uh you know the modeling of heights i mean this has been decades to get to this point every time

3:33:05a tree gets cut down or something gets moved downtown we all say oh don't don't worry we're

3:33:11going to be ripping up windows street it'll be replanted when we do this when we do that and

3:33:16so this is this is a lot of work that is coming to fruition this evening for our approval um the

3:33:23only other thing i wanted to say is that i have always um and many of my mentors in this role have

3:33:28said lienne don't always think of everything as an expense it's an investment and there's no greater

3:33:34roi than our downtown in terms of not just assessment value but quality of life and culture

3:33:40and tourism and all kinds of other indicators of of our success and and who among us uh in this

3:33:48horseshoe has not visited a downtown elsewhere and picked something like oh i i like that or

3:33:55oh that i noticed something in our travels um that we could implement in downtown gulf we bring

3:34:03that back with us this table so i'm seeing a lot of that in in the plan that we're moving forward

3:34:09with um and and and i think that our citizens all citizens uh who um who live downtown

3:34:18shop downtown play downtown um will benefit from the decisions that we're making tonight

3:34:25thanks councillor chou thank you chair rark um i think just a quick comment i had a friend that

3:34:37came to visit me for a few days um he's from freshman bc and he does a bunch of neighborhood

3:34:44block watch with the city there and um it's just more of a side comment he was very impressed with

3:34:49the downtown uh when we went to take him out for a visit and like it does we like we do have a very

3:34:56historic downtown that leaves an impression on a lot of folks that are outside of the city

3:35:01and i just can't help but think about my constituency in the south end as well um i think

3:35:06geographically speaking like ward six and the other words are quite far from downtown in particular

3:35:13and uh sometimes it's hard for folks to make the connection uh with the vestments that we're making

3:35:19in our core um i'm certainly an advocate for all the downtown renewal work that's taking place but

3:35:25i can't help but think if staff has opportunities to set up um one of those infrastructure cafes

3:35:31outside of this the downtown core when there's opportunities that would be really great um

3:35:36and just i just want to have that comment on the record like i can see opportunities where

3:35:41you have some staff maybe carve out two three hours of the time set shop at cabin coffee or

3:35:46centurion and have have people be more educated and aware of what's actually taking place so they

3:35:53know where their tax dollars are going so i would really love that opportunity if we could have that

3:35:59collaboration and i think a lot of folks in the south end would appreciate it a lot so thank you

3:36:07thank you council shoo okay uh before i call vote i just want to say i i moved to gulf in 1997

3:36:15and probably by 2027 our downtown will have been almost completely transformed when we think about

3:36:25you know the investment in the library the private investment that's going to come to

3:36:30build more residential towers uh this in terms of infrastructure and streetscapes is a $123

3:36:36million investment in the downtown we are seeing a really historic rejuvenation of downtown um

3:36:44i appreciate staff's efforts to be communicating citywide about why people should come downtown

3:36:50i would encourage people citywide as counter choose said uh to engage in all the consultations

3:36:56the downtown is not a ward two or a ward one thing the downtown is a citywide thing and we all have a

3:37:03say in how we like to use the downtown and what attracts us here so please do that and please be

3:37:09sure now during the construction and definitely afterwards to support a vibrant downtown we will

3:37:16all be the richer for it so with that i'll call a vote on 10.1.3 downtown streetscape level of

3:37:24service and construction mitigation is anyone opposed okay i see none that is passed unanimously

3:37:32just great all right it is 5 o 3 p.m and folks have been in meetings now since one o'clock so i'm

3:37:40going to call a 20 minute dinner break it's a 20 minute dinner break because i think when we come

3:37:46back we'll be able to get through the next items rather quickly but i do want to give people a chance

3:37:50to uh uh rejuvenate okay so 20 minutes thanks okay for our folks at home if you can turn off your

4:02:46cameras please gold star for calendar counselors katin and alt yeah like from the first agenda

4:02:58item with the gold stars two gold stars for counselor class then okay all right so i'm going

4:03:09to call us back to order um we're all refreshed the next agenda item is 10.1.4 improving access to