City Council in its capacity as the Shareholder of the Guelph Junction Railway Limited receive the Guelph Junction Railway Limited 2024 Annual Report and Audited Financial…

25:56financial reporting for us as the shareholder from Guelph Junction Railway Limited. We are going to

26:03have a presentation here kicking us off already at the microphone. It's Jane Holmes. She is the

26:10Director and Chief Executive Officer for Guelph Junction Railway Limited and so I'll turn it over

26:16to you. Thank you very much. Great. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor and good afternoon, Mayor and

26:21Council. On behalf of Guelph Junction Railway Board of Directors, I'm honored to present the 2024

26:28annual report for Guelph Junction Railway Limited. In 2024, Guelph Junction Railway,

26:34GJR for short, maintained its commitment to safety, fiscal responsibility, service and community

26:40partnership and alignment with the city's strategic priorities. Our objective is to ensure the efficient,

26:47safe and accessible transportation of goods along almost 40 kilometers of track,

26:51connecting Guelph's economy with its neighboring regions. We achieved this through continuous

26:56innovation, exceptional customer service and supporting our community. I'd like to highlight

27:03some key moments from 2024. For a more comprehensive review, please refer to your annual report included

27:10in your agenda package. The GJR has achieved record breaking revenues and railcar volumes

27:16surpassing the previous record set last year. This growth is closely tied to the success of our

27:22diverse customer base, which ships a variety of essential goods for final production in and around

27:27Guelph such as corn, malt, recyclable oil and other agricultural goods. With effective management

27:34and strong communication, the GJR is posed to grow along with our city. GJR's ongoing

27:48reinvestment into capital infrastructure is essential for maintaining competitive service and

27:52ensuring legislative compliance and operating safely and efficiently. Some improvements include

27:58upgraded tracks at road crossings such as Imperial Road to South Crossing,

28:03cleaning up scrap railway ties and initiating replacements to maintain class 2 operations,

28:09continued ballasting and servicing to ensure safety, stability, performance and to extend the

28:15life of track components. And it is important to mention that GJR's efforts and commitment to our

28:21local environment. This includes the replacement of over 3,200 ties which were recycled in Quebec

28:27at one of two approved co-generation facilities in Canada and then used for energy production.

28:33This is one of the ways that demonstrates our commitment to a greener, sustainable and

28:37accountable future. Through expansion planning with CN, a land lease agreement was secured

28:44where GJR constructed an 1,100 foot siding on Edinburgh Road North that provides storage for

28:5016 railcars. These efforts are crucial for maintaining fluid and efficient operations

28:56benefiting all stakeholders. A 940 foot siding was also constructed at York Road to increase

29:02GJR's capacity to handle the increased rail traffic of our largest customers.

29:08GJR remains committed to be a collaborative community partner. We are excited to announce

29:13that the trail design for the Woolwich to Woodlawn Trail project is complete. This project is set to

29:20start construction this summer. This achievement was made possible through close collaboration with

29:25park staff whose expertise and dedication have been invaluable in ensuring this project's success.

29:33During 2024, GJR exceeded both the 2023 results and the expectations laid out in the 2024 budget.

29:41The railway earned a net comprehensive income of $2.56 million which is $452,000 more than in 2023.

29:49With higher than expected revenues, we are declaring a $250,000 dividend to the City of

29:55Guelph for 2024. We expect to continue to see an increase in economic value as GJR builds more

30:01track and reinvests in its infrastructure. Not only does this benefit the railway but it's also

30:06good news for Guelph businesses that can take on additional contracts and increase dividends back

30:12to the City. GJR supports City's people and economy strategic plans with a focus on helping

30:21businesses and adding value to the community. 2024 Genesee in Wyoming, Canada which includes

30:28GEXR was awarded the 2024 Rail Association of Canada Safety Award for their Fatigue Self Assessment

30:36Act which allows them to evaluate the level of fatigue in their employees at any time.

30:43GEXR's dedication to work-life balance and mental health instills great confidence in GJR

30:49as we prepare to renew our operating agreement in August 2025. The PNR Railworks continues to

30:56perform routine track and signal maintenance for GJR. In 2024 PNR achieved the Platinum Safety

31:02Award for Exceptional Safety Standards from the National Railroad Construction and Maintenance

31:07Association. This is the highest distinction that can be awarded. GJR's direct oversight of

31:13maintenance has continued to result in improved safety, increased efficiency and lower cost

31:19operations while continuing to grow in line with the City's standards of excellence. An example

31:24of this is the ongoing ultrasound rail-flaw testing where in 2014 we had detected 34 rail

31:31flaws. This has been improving annually where this year we have detected three rail flaws. GJR's

31:37improved maintenance and capital programs are starting to pay off in safer track conditions

31:42and longer life track components. Railway safety and awareness is important to GJR and GEXR as

31:49other railways such as CN, Via and Metrolinx also operate frequently within city limits. GJR takes

31:56part in emergency exercises which involve many key players in utilizing the Emergency Operations

32:03Center to prepare for any catastrophic events. GJR has also partnered with Guelph Storm to run a

32:09safety video during commercials for the 2024-2025 season. This initiative was highlighted by the

32:16National Headquarters of Operation Lifesaver where GJR was recognized as a trailblazer for

32:21bringing rail safety awareness to Southwestern Ontario. GJR supports Guelph businesses by providing

32:28excellent customer service to existing and future customers. 2025 GJR plans to add an additional

32:35siding in Corwin. This will allow storage for an additional 35 rail cars and will accommodate

32:41railcar growth with CP. Monitoring railcar traffic has always been a key priority and an upward

32:48trend in rail cars. Railcar numbers is good news for GJR and the economy it supports. GJR continues

32:55to monitor economic trends including the ongoing financial and tariff pressures which is and is

33:00able to adjust accordingly to help serve Guelph businesses. However we also understand that we

33:05need to consider how that growth can contribute to traffic congestion over GJR crossings as the

33:11population of our city grows and we continue to work towards striking that fine balance

33:16to meet the needs of both the businesses and the residents of the city of Guelph. GJR works cross

33:23functionally with other city departments and community stakeholders to reach strategic goals

33:27such as the community partner. GJR continues to work with engineering transportation,

33:34parks and trails, planning and private developers to facilitate and encourage a rail and with trail

33:39system including the trans counter to rail trail system and other multi-use pathways that run along

33:45the GJR right of way. There is ongoing discussions with the parks and trails staff regarding trail

33:51identification and safe possible connections near or along the railway. This is done while retaining

33:58land that is to be utilized for future GJR growth opportunities and a future and a possible future

34:04LRT while not precluding installation of trails along the corridor. As mentioned earlier the

34:10construction of a trail along the GJR corridor between Woodlawn and Woolwich will commence this

34:15year. The parks department and GJR meet regularly with other city staff to consult on this project's

34:20process progress. The GJR is also committed to supporting the community led city supported

34:27Woodlawn Road to Silver Creek Parkway Trail project working collaboratively with the G to G

34:32G to G Guelph trailway group alongside our parks and trails staff team. We had a productive meeting

34:38last week and look forward to meeting with the technical team in a few weeks to review the

34:42initial designs. Communication between GJR parks and trails and legal services is ongoing as the

34:49city plans for growth and possible expansion of our trail systems. It is important to recognize

34:57the work of other city teams that contribute to the good news story of GJR. Under the city

35:03under the city of Guelph and GJR's shared services agreement the legal and finance departments

35:08both contribute to the railway success. Economic development and tourism, parks and trails,

35:13engineering and transportation as well as planning all share in the success of GJR and on

35:18behalf of the Board of Directors I appreciate everybody's efforts. In conclusion GJR is a

35:25robust secure and resilient asset for the city of Guelph that supports our businesses in our community.

35:31Moving forward we will continue to explore safe and innovative methods to adapt to evolving market

35:36demands fostering new economic growth in Guelph and its surrounding communities as well as continue

35:42to partner with community groups. Without Mr. Mayor I'll turn it back to you.

35:48Great thank you very much for your presentation and we'll just hold back any questions that we

35:54have until perhaps after our delegations okay excuse me for saying how to get that cough out of the way.

36:07We have several delegations and I just I just want to set the stage here

36:14for my friends in the audience. I just want to remind everyone that we we are sitting as the

36:26shareholder for business called the Guelph Junction Railway here today. We are not sitting here as

36:36city council talking about budgetary issues with trail connections and such. I know that seems a

36:45little weird. We got different hats we got to wear and I remember God bless him John and I many

36:53times went out for dinner sorry for lunches and we had we had these discussions when he would come

36:59up to the to the microphone here as well and he understood that like he understood the different

37:04hats that we are wearing here and I would just ask that you don't put me because some of you I

37:12recognize very well some friends in the audience that you don't put me and my colleagues in a

37:17difficult position of of things sort of being out of order when it comes to some of the discussions

37:24that might be occurring and that just to set the stage for me to be clear I can only speak on my

37:32behalf here but that you know these these are relevant discussions I'm not trying to I'm not

37:37in any way saying that they're not relevant at all but there's sort of the arena where the

37:42discussions need to be held and so depending I don't I don't know what everyone's going to say

37:48so depending on what is said the arena might be more better suited for those discussions

37:55when we have the city councillor hats on during budget during public services discussions that

38:02have to do with the trails and the trail connections in in our in our city there is some overlap don't

38:08get me wrong I'm not trying to say that it's out of completely out there absolutely but I just want

38:12us to remember that city council is sitting here as a shareholder of a business that we are here

38:20to make sure that we are running appropriately and that's sort of the the blinders and the lens that

38:25we have on for this discussion as we move forward and I just want to make sure I kind of set that

38:30stage so maybe if you are coming up to delegate you can just sort of maybe just process that a little

38:34bit to be like okay I get that a bit a bit better before before you come down to the microphone

38:40before you say what you have to say maybe just process it a little bit differently than maybe

38:44what you walked in the room on to discuss okay with that we have several as I said you have just

38:51here's the ground rules I forgot to say that there's five minutes no more than five minutes

38:55you'll hear a chime at the four minutes and 30 second mark which is your warning you have 30

39:01seconds you got to wrap it up if you get to the five minutes your microphones just turned off

39:06so don't don't get there make sure that you're done before the five minutes okay and then once

39:11you're done just stick around just for a moment just in case myself or any members of council

39:17sitting as the shareholder have a follow-up question for you if we don't have any follow-up

39:22questions again doesn't mean that we're not interested it might be that we're just holding

39:24some of that information back and we might dialogue with staff either now or later on okay so I hope

39:30everyone follows me on that with a bouncing ball a little bit and you can as I said just be ready

39:35for your delegations as they come forward to try to make them pertinent to why we are sitting here

39:41today as a shareholder Greg Allen is there a Greg Allen in the room thank you sir come on down

39:49hiding behind the monitor I didn't see you there

39:54all right so thanks for coming and the time will start whenever you start talking okay go

39:59right ahead first of all thank you very much for allowing me to delegate today a little bit of

40:03background our family resides in our current home in Pusling which we've been there since 1989

40:10we purchased the property full of wearing that there was a railway operation going on

40:16but it was good our boys learned mathematics skills accounting train cars etc and then there was a

40:24few changes and I think the first one was we challenged the wealth junction railway to clean

40:31up some old railway ties and it took a long time we heard the budgetary constraints etc

40:37and then there was the fires that were lit by the train engines which were exciting at the first

40:43time because we had fire trucks and police cars etc less fun as they grew more and more severe

40:50and then the last part but the most one most important that changed our relationship with the

40:55railway is that they placed a siding in arkel that sits 18 cars with no consultation at least as a

41:06neighbor and then we got the second when they installed another 18 car siding in the same scenario

41:14so our current concerns with the wealth junction railway is the shunting of cars at the siding

41:21so it results in shunting cars back and forth to get them out of the siding and into the main line

41:27each shunt requires the train whistle to be blown as it has to go over the railway because the siding

41:32is too short but most annoying is the brake squealing which is a very high decibel sound

41:40as the train is stopping and pushing backwards and I apologize I brought one with me but I

41:46did I don't have it loaded and I'll bring it if the council wants it. Second is storage of cars

41:53with hazardous material we're concerned about our water and we're concerned about if the materials

41:59are flammable if there's a derailment or a leak and that does happen at railway wealth junction

42:04railway had one lap in 2023 the cost of a little over 300,000 in cleanup. Third is fire

42:13climate is changing as evidence today to date we've been very lucky no major damage of fires

42:20a real result of the engines and the water along the totes is much needed but it wouldn't do much

42:26good if we had a westerly wind blowing those in a remote area. The fourth concern is lack of

42:33engagement the AGM does a great job of telling what the wealth junction railway has done in the

42:40city of wealth and I applaud you for doing that unfortunately engagement outside the city is

42:45non-existent so we didn't have any about the arkle siding and we found out reading the AGM

42:52material that Corwin which is in the township as well at county road 34 is up for expansion of

43:01another 35 cars so I have my asks one is eliminate of the elimination of the brake high decibel

43:09squealing noise at the sidings two is a limited elimination of storage of rail cars with hazardous

43:16material at the arkle siding three in partnership with pusslings fire and rescue develop a

43:23comprehensive plan for a major fire leak or derailment in pusslings township and four is create

43:32a plan to inform stakeholders outside the city of wealth about train safety about future activities

43:40and about sidings that affect us all we want to be good neighbors thank you very much thank you

43:47very much great we appreciate you coming and giving us your presentation is there a follow-up

43:53right now for this delegation or some that could be kept to staff okay boost it till and then goer

44:00thank you very much for your delegation I read your letter as well just a quick question of

44:04whether or not you shared your concerns with the township at all whether you communicated with

44:10the town they're responsible for land use planning and so on and what the response was

44:16so the answer is yes so I had a consult with our mayor on the track when the sidings went through

44:23and then we had a follow-up meetings relative to the ties but we did not go as far as what the

44:29land use was so we talked about it but I didn't go that far great thank you I think that was

44:38the same question oh no okay go ahead thank you worship along the same lines Mr Allen have you

44:44spoken with uh wealth junction railway about these four requests before coming here today

44:51have not and the only reason I haven't is we just I just found out about the AGM today this past week

44:59that's here okay thank you very much thank you great thank you and yes you did have correspondence so

45:06oh I see our staff nodding their heads so you know we can expect some sort of a follow-up on

45:11on the points you've raised yes I'm seeing a follow-up thank you so thank you very much

45:16all right willow willow hall from the gg rail trail is in the front row as well eager

45:24thank you for waiting and your time will start whenever you're ready okay go ahead

45:30good afternoon ggr shareholders staff and members of the public thank you for the opportunity to

45:42speak today my name is willow hall the executive director for godridge to gulf rail trail Inc a

45:47registered charity that stewards Ontario's largest community recreation and active transportation

45:53corridor we've built the gdg rail trail through strong municipal and cross agency partnerships

46:00but one 2.7 kilometer section remains incomplete the connection to gulf for years this project sat

46:07dormant despite appearing in the 2005 and 2021 gulf master plans and having strong public support

46:14that changed in 2023 when these became a community-led city-supported project initiated by john fischer

46:20on behalf of gdg backed by trans canada trail in advance with gulf city parks trail staff

46:27since then gdg has led and completed a full technical survey advanced preliminary engineering

46:33and cost estimates and begun stakeholder engagement excuse me just through the mayor if I might

46:38mayor and clerks sorry I'm a little bit confused here I thought we were focusing on the annual report

46:45and the financials rather than talking about g2g if you could just help me understand a little bit

46:51better sure we'll make sure that your time is not being taken from me okay um the issue that we have

47:01at hand and I don't know I can't remember uh councillor Busuttil if you were here or not it was a

47:07couple of years ago as as a shareholder sitting as the shareholder that we actually unanimously

47:14approved I think it was councillor downer's motion if I recall of exactly what the delegate just

47:21discussed which was a community-led city-supported uh position working alongside if I could say that

47:31through gjr was that a budget meeting oh maybe can we can you just refresh my I'm just trying to go

47:38by memory you can have the floor but out of meeting I did I did move a motion that was supported

47:44saying that we would like the gjr to report more on their partnerships with the community on

47:50trail development so then you started to see more information within the reports on um on the trail

47:59on that partnership and and the work and the collaboration that was happening so that made

48:05that's obviously why people around but at a budget meeting subsequently a couple of years ago I did

48:10move a motion that council supported for a community-led um and uh city-supported uh

48:20work for the g to g trail yeah so the other thing that that thank you for that that correction I just

48:31had the wrong placement of that motion but thank you the other thing too is is that the report does

48:38speak um to this work um included in um even the presentation that was put up on the on the screen

48:45as well so I feel like um I feel like that there is a connection to the delegates to be able to

48:51speak to the matter but I think I saw lots of heads nodding when I was also giving the context

48:56at the beginning that we are respectful to understand the why we're here so I don't blame me

49:00for asking um and I would hope that like if if willows if willow captures 85 of what everyone

49:11else was going to say that maybe the other delegates would come up and go hey ditto ditto to what willow

49:16said as well um and so so that we kind of hear that so um I understand your question but I'm

49:21going to allow it to continue but I I if I feel it gets really veering off what the presentation

49:26or what was embedded in the report is I too will call it out of order but I think what we're going

49:31to do is did you capture the time frame for willow like could he only get like 30 seconds in or something

49:37or Mr. Mary's used one one minute so he'll still a minute remaining should have gone by what I said

49:43willow only 30 seconds okay so you've used a minute uh please uh please just continue and your your

49:49time will continue okay still on here yeah you're still uh your microphone's on but the timing will

49:54start when you start okay perfect last Friday we met with ggr board of directors and staff to provide

50:01a project update and confirm alignment between our organizations we were encouraged to hear confirmation

50:06that ggr hasn't agreed to work directly with gdg as a partner and committed that no further

50:11track movements will occur on lands identified for the future trail without collaboration with gdg

50:17this clarity is particularly important given that the city owns both ggr and the majority of the land

50:23required for this trail coordination between ggr and gdg is crucial to advancing this project

50:29effectively that said we were surprised to learn both last august and again this month

50:36that this trail connection is not currently considered a priority by ggr or economic development

50:41while both departments express general support for the idea of a trail that kind of support falls

50:46short of the needed of what's needed to realize a project of this scale it also doesn't align with

50:52a clear direction from the shareholder in 2022 when a motion raised by councillor down or pass

50:57unanimously declaring ggr to work on the enhancement and expansion of the trail network in line with

51:03the trails master plan priorities of which this trail is the number one priority gdg has invested

51:09significant donor resources in good faith trusting that former what former ceo scott steward stated in

51:152021 that the wealth junction railway will never be a drawback to completing the trail however as

51:21this project progresses we've encountered challenges navigating ggr's other priorities in the corridor

51:27specifically for sorry specifically from active ggr clients like flash freight and agatina who are

51:33exploring expanding rail infrastructure including sidings crossings and new access points while ggr

51:38is clients expansion plans are likely a priority for the railway their stated opposition to the

51:43trail for example saying there will never be a trail here and that rails and trails don't mix

51:49does raise concerns about whether the broader public interest is being given significant prioritization

51:55we understand that balancing competing uses can be complex but from our perspective the

51:59time and nature of recent decisions such as the delay in track realignment seem to overlap with

52:04the challenges that these clients are facing in obtaining permits to operate in the area

52:09we believe greater transparency around long-term plans would help build trust and alignment

52:15other municipalities are moving forward with similar projects and guap has an opportunity

52:20to do the same and we believe it's still possible if we act now as the late john fischer expressed

52:25at last year's shareholder meeting there was already concerned that momentum could stall

52:29due to competing interests that concern remains but so does the opportunity to get this right

52:35to advance this council approved community-led project and to ensure alignment with the shareholders

52:39directives we respectfully request ggr's sole shareholder consider and adopt the following

52:44three motions the first is in consideration of councillor downer's 2022 motion that ggr management

52:50and staff adopt the completion of the gdg connection as a priority project as identified in the gtmp

52:57the second is in keeping with scott steward's 2021 statement that the ggr work in collaboration

53:03with gdg to proactively resolve issues share information and resources that support the

53:08trails completion and the third is that ggr work with gdg to identify and initiate the transfer of

53:14the necessary lands for the gdg rail trail connection to the city of guelph within the next

53:18six months thank you for your time and consideration i'd be happy to answer any questions

53:24okay thank you and for uh any questions for this delicate councillor downer

53:31would you repeat what the second one was again i was

53:35yeah for sure so um the second motion here is in is in spirit with scott steward's 2021 statement

53:42that ggr work in collaboration with gdg to proactively resolve issues and share information

53:48and resources that support the trails completion is there anything else for the follow-up or save it

53:57for staff okay we'll save it for staff willow thank you very much we appreciate you uh doug

54:04searson i hope i'm saying that right is doug here front row as well how you doing doug good thank you

54:14for being here thank you yeah start whenever you're ready okay certainly uh thank you shareholders

54:20and staff and uh chair i guess in this case i'm here obviously to support gdg rail trail as well

54:27as someone who's been there since day one and uh day one of the gdg experience as far as trying to

54:34get the collaboration amongst the various stakeholders so i am a stakeholder i'm also a donor i'm also

54:41volunteer i've done all of the roles within the organization and i i've said this before and and

54:47your honor we've had this conversation before too um i don't live in the city but i have support

54:52at many other city projects that have done i think significant uh economic impact and that's

54:57why i want to correlate today if the shareholders are in the room then i think it's important that

55:01we also connect not just the grievance that we think that the trail should be there but the

55:06economic case that the trail should be there and that's the bigger picture that has been missed over

55:12the last probably 20 years it was in 2005 when we first introduced a conversation it was in 2009

55:19or 10 when i sat with nobody in this room because i don't think anybody was here in 2010 and had the

55:25discussions back in those days of what is the economic impact of developing the land of which

55:31would be shared with gjr and the trailway so one of the examples i want to focus on today

55:37is to kind of take away from it's not just about cyclists not just about recreational use there's

55:41800 000 trips happening on the trail a lot of the people originate by starting an eras so they are

55:48skipping from downtown guelph to eras 800 000 trips i had the pleasure last year in the privilege of

55:57going over to ireland to visit what was the inspiration of what i thought was a great economic

56:03model of how they took existing landowners existing communities and existing rail lines and developed

56:11the trail alongside that was in west port ireland they invested about five million dollars and now

56:18their annual payback is just short of two million dollars a year which isn't much different than the

56:26operational income of gjr there are obviously many other examples and important examples that are taking

56:36trail users tourism dollars other economic spin-off opportunities away from our community here

56:44and sending it to other communities so this connection is not just about the need there's

56:50a huge safety need we all know this one i hopefully everybody in this room knows how unsafe it is to

56:54go around that's a separate issue has to be dealt with i think it's a counselor issue

56:59but sharing is some kind of a solution a collaborative public facing community message

57:06that tells people yes we're all on the same page because it's in the best interest for our economic

57:11development it's the best interest for both parties to be able to get this to to work together and to

57:17echo the point that i think was raised by willow to see a more active and more transparent message

57:23come out as much as possible so the public is focused on what the success could be instead of

57:29what hasn't happened over the last 20 years um i go my time thank you very much is there any follow-up

57:38there is not thank you very much uh and davis david collin here david's coming down

57:47cindy i think i saw cindy here yes okay you're in the wings okay thank you for coming dave

57:56i'll over to you okay whenever you're ready thank you for letting me speak to the annual

58:01general meeting counselors your honor and uh employees of gjr um i've been a citizen of the

58:08city of gualph for 42 years i'm very proud to live here i see gualph is a great place to raise kids

58:14and to be involved in the community and i have used the trails from preservation park all the way

58:20to riverside park walking with my kids and riding my bike um i do or i have discovered the gdg trail

58:28in my last year is being retired and there's one thing that i have been accused by my kids is being

58:34too risky my son claims that i ski too fast and yes i have bungee jumped off a railway trestle in

58:41new zealand um i've skyed uh skydived off of flamborough and i've canoeed on the marge of lake

58:49labarge where they cremated sammel g but i will not ride up silva creek i drive my car up silva

58:57creek to meet the trailhead up there because it's not safe so i would like to find a solution to that

59:04and i see a solution as being right beside the gjr railway and i would like city council to support

59:10that issue and to make that happen in whatever way possible i understand the gjr is a company

59:19and that they have money that they have to make but i'd like to see that that becomes a city asset

59:26that's something else we can be proud of here working in golf um i'm not going to raise any

59:32more issues but the city of golf gave 175 geese a safe and a one-way trip out of town i'm just

59:40asking for a trail out of town i will promise that i'll return on that trail pay my taxes and not crap

59:47on anybody's lawn or sidewalk so please consider this as an option as an asset for the city of

59:53golf thank you thank you yeah please don't do that or we'll have to remove you with the geese

1:00:00it's just before you go away just before is there any follow-up there is not thank you very much

1:00:07you seemed fun to be around by the way your adventures all right cindy you're coming forward

1:00:13thank you for being here is lee here as well lee is lee next oh hi lee i'm sorry i didn't see it okay

1:00:19you're in the wings okay i'm having a little bit of it's okay there's a button james uh there's a

1:00:26button there a white one we're gonna hit that button and we're gonna get that down for you there you go

1:00:29thank you first thank you that's a got the high speed model i think that's it sounds like a 20 yeah

1:00:50thank you all right thanks cindy and whenever you're ready okay okay thanks so much um i'm going to be

1:00:57very respectful of all of your instructions um i'm going to say ditto to willow ditto to dug ditto

1:01:05to dave um but i'm also going to say good afternoon shareholders ggr ceo and board of directors city

1:01:12staff in the public i'm here today because of the critical role that ggr plays in completing the

1:01:19remaining 2.7 kilometer gap that is essential to connect our city trails to the beautiful 132

1:01:26kilometer g to g until that trail is completed users are directed to an on-road detour along

1:01:33silver creek parkway i want to give you my experience as a hand cyclist a hand cycle is a three wheel

1:01:42device it's it's low to the ground it's propelled exclusively with my arms silver creek is narrow

1:01:49particularly near wood lawn so you immediately feel the intimidating presence of traffic at your side

1:01:57a very specific and exhausting strategy is required to navigate the cross slope of the road

1:02:03and the broken pavement and potholes there are sections that have a narrow shoulder

1:02:09yet the uneven gravel limits my traction it means i exert a lot of energy to travel at only

1:02:15about 15 kilometers an hour while vehicles are traveling often in excess of 80 kilometers an hour

1:02:22there is a very unique and terrifying sensation that comes with fighting against the wind draft

1:02:29of a transport truck as it's pulling you into its path the entire experience is filled with fear

1:02:37and danger but also not unique to me silver creek was never meant to be a trail it is not safe

1:02:44nor accessible it undermines the city's vision zero strategy contradicts the cycling master plan

1:02:51and does not move us towards the goals of the aod a which was designed to achieve full accessibility

1:02:57for ontarians with disabilities by this year let's be clear it is not an acceptable option for the

1:03:04majority of the community in today's presentation gjr asserts they are an active stakeholder in

1:03:11g2g trail connections they deserve acknowledgement for their role in the soon to be constructed gjr

1:03:18trail between woolwich and wood lawn the next section between wood lawn and silver creek must

1:03:24now be their priority last year gjr stated they were doing work that would be completed by the

1:03:30end of this summer to allow for the trail it has now been indefinitely postponed financial

1:03:37uncertainty is cited as the reason however this isn't aligned with statements in this year's annual

1:03:43report regarding the financial success of the past year and the optimism about the continued

1:03:49growth this year it is critical that gjr allocate the required land and prioritize completing all

1:03:56tasks within their scope towards the trail completion i've heard bridging the gap trail

1:04:02will be referred to as an elitist project the exact opposite is true it is priority infrastructure

1:04:09that will serve the entire community the kid learning to ride a bike a parent with a stroller

1:04:15or cycling with a child in a trailer older adults looking to be active the novice exerciser enjoying

1:04:22nature this is a more than a trail it's about equity safety and dignity as a community we need

1:04:29a solution that supports these values our friend and former colleague the late john fischer had a

1:04:36dream that this number one priority project in the golf trail master plan would be completed as part

1:04:42of the city's bicentennial celebration in 2027 with urgency let's make that dream a reality thank you

1:04:49thank you cindy is there a follow-up for cindy's delegation there is not but again thank you very

1:04:57much for delegating thank you and lee i i saw you there lee come on down is ron here ron to zarek i

1:05:04hope i'm saying that right okay i see you're you're in the wings okay thank you did i say your last

1:05:12name right pulse okay welcome lee whenever you're ready okay we'll put the mic on there the mic's

1:05:33on for you okay sorry good afternoon everyone gjr uh counselors um my name is lee fernier i'm the

1:06:10owner of paramount skis bikes boards right here in gulf i'm a lifelong cyclist a passionate advocate

1:06:15for active transportation recreation and more importantly a father of two young kids who i want

1:06:20to see grow up riding safely and confidently in our community i'm here to speak to strong support of

1:06:25expanding gulf to godrich rail trail known as g to g directly into heart of our downtown core

1:06:31this route is already something special it's stunning it's included it's direct long and

1:06:35surprisingly convenient i've ridden it many times while soloing with friends and every time i think

1:06:41why don't i do this more the truth is it's not easy and safe to get to especially with my kids we

1:06:46live close we ride a lot but getting to the current start end of the trail involves dodging traffic on

1:06:51a busy seven kilometer road that's not safe for kids it's not safe for seniors and honestly it's not

1:06:56safe for anyone now let's think about what the trail could be riding the full g to g is a massive

1:07:03undertaking especially there and back some folks take three days some go for two a few hardcore

1:07:08riders do it in one but regardless of pace it's the kind of adventure that leaves you hungry for

1:07:13food for water for spare parts maybe even a new pair of shorts or a clean shirt with the emergence

1:07:19of apple or google pay air bmb and other amenities along the route packing light and getting things

1:07:24along the way is way easier than ever this is where gulf can shine god rich at one end of the

1:07:29trail greets you with lake here on bustling waterfront and restaurant options at our end a farm field

1:07:34a terrifying road down a busy country road we are literally in the name of the trail wealth to god rich

1:07:39yet our connection to anything but direct imagine instead that the trail finishes right on in our

1:07:45vibrant walkable welcoming downtown what riders could roll in grab a meal visit a shop or stay the

1:07:52night maybe they forgot a tool or need a replacement part maybe they just want a new outfit before

1:07:57stepping into a restaurant that's an economic opportunity we're missing the smaller towns

1:08:02along the route perth region in blithe they're investing heavily into the trail and they don't

1:08:07even have the privilege of being in the name but they see the value so should we g to g follows

1:08:13a formal railway and continuing it along the railway corridor into the city just makes sense

1:08:18it would be fitting to ride by our antique train as the completion or start of the ride

1:08:23it should be a trail and not a detour along a fast-moving traffic extending the trail would

1:08:28transport access to all types of riders walkers and hikers commuters hand bikers kids seniors

1:08:34families like mine locals and tourists from near and potentially far it's a great attraction for

1:08:40people trying to avoid things stateside these trails these types of trails exist elsewhere in

1:08:45the world and whole economies exist around them in kebec one of their trail systems has a group of

1:08:51bed and breakfasts that are affiliated riders park at one end of the trail they as well as their

1:08:56gear are transported to the opposite end riders then cycle to the next bed and breakfast with an

1:09:01option that their luggage meets them at their destination allowing riders to pack light but

1:09:06still have their creature comforts with better access to our downtown this model is more approachable

1:09:13i've had the privilege to ride whistler's challenging mountain bike trails and i'll be

1:09:16honest the thought of cycling down silver creek with my young family is more frightening

1:09:20it shouldn't be that way this isn't just about cycling it's about making our city more connected

1:09:25more accessible more livable it's about using what we already have and turning it into something

1:09:30better let's not waste the privilege of being an endpoint of this trail let's make it something

1:09:34worth arriving to thank you thank you any questions at all for this delegate there is not lee thank you

1:09:43very much and ron you're on your way down to is make a just make thornborn here let's make here

1:09:51okay i see you make thank you you're in the wings just a reminder again if we could try to um keep

1:09:59it to the topic of us as the shareholder and and i would i think we'd all appreciate that uh the time

1:10:06will start for you when you yeah well i did it it'll work i commend my three three assessors for

1:10:12all their comments thank you very much and i hope i can honor the staff here with my comments as well

1:10:21good afternoon shareholders of the gulf junction railway and city staff and your worship

1:10:28thank you for the opportunity to speak today my name is ron has eric my family and i have been

1:10:34living in guelph for the past 27 years and truly enjoy the city as our home as an older person i cycle

1:10:42a lot to stay active and healthy i've been all over the world both flying and cycling in fact last

1:10:50year we spent thousands of kilometers in europe i'm a retired roccane air force pilot an airline

1:10:58pilot as someone who has flown fighter planes and airliners i take quite safety quite seriously

1:11:06so i don't say this lightly when i ride my bike on gulf streets i'm often concerned for my safety

1:11:14our cycling infrastructure is not what it should be i will get to the points with reference to the

1:11:21g uh yes people are being injured and dying every year in gulf streets and this is not acceptable

1:11:36gulf vision zero concept is not close to being achieved i was troubled to learn

1:11:42that the officials uh fish the city's official route to the g2g trail goes along silver creek parkway

1:11:50this is a dangerous road as you've heard from many delegates before me especially for those people in

1:11:58uh mobility scooters hand cycles are on foot the better route would be along the hydro corridor

1:12:06and there could be even a better route along the uh uh g j r corridor the g g r is after all

1:12:13the property of all citizens and taxpayers of guelph the people of guelph should have a voice

1:12:19in how the property is being used and to their benefit it's my understanding also that no injuries

1:12:25or deaths have been reported on the multi-use paths that are already existing next to the g

1:12:32j r railway so it's not a big leap to know where to put a future multi-modal path including cycling

1:12:40paths so what's the holdup industries often claim safety as their top priority but it's

1:12:48disingenuous when the railway pushes trail users onto roads in the name of safety

1:12:55keeping us off quiet uh keeping us off a quiet railway corridor only to expose us to the real

1:13:03dangers on busy roads doesn't protect lives it just sifts the risk calculating and mitigating risk

1:13:13was part of my job as a pilot and is often where it's safer it is obvious where it's safer to ride

1:13:23or be a pedestrian next next to the traffic on the street or on a multi-modal path separated from

1:13:31a train which is fixed to rails trains don't text they don't drink and drive or weave into bicycle

1:13:39lanes as far as i'm aware there have been no incidents reported with trains and trail users

1:13:45in guelph along the g j r so there is no reason that this would not apply to future sections as well

1:13:51it has been stated that trains backing up would impose a safety risk

1:13:58i've heard concerns about trains backing up without crewmen on the rear of the train

1:14:02by my understanding is that the g j r doesn't operate trains

1:14:09that's the responsibility of the train operator but it would make sense that the train operators

1:14:13required to follow transport canada's canadian rail operating rules if the g j r is truly

1:14:20committed to rail safety it could ensure that operators follow the c r or guidelines which

1:14:26state that the during reverse movements a crew member must ensure the track is clear

1:14:32this is transport canada's standard for safe operations and g j r could require that as well

1:14:40this could be a solution to ensure safety for all parties on the future trails along the g j r

1:14:46it doesn't make sense not to build a path in the spirit of safe practices i propose the shareholders

1:14:56put forth and adopt a following motion which is taken from the transport canada c r or

1:15:03motion that reverse during reverse movements any train operator operating on g j r rails or property

1:15:10ensures that a crew member is in a position to ensure the track is clear and remains clear

1:15:15as per transport canada rail operations thank you got that snuck that in under the last 30 seconds

1:15:22that's good okay uh is there any follow-up questions for this delegation there is not

1:15:29and thank you very much for waiting appreciate it uh who did i say was coming out was it meg

1:15:38i think so did i skip someone don't think so james i saw james james thank you

1:15:45you're in the wings okay okay no problem speak whenever you're ready okay good afternoon g j r

1:15:58shareholders and staff and public my name is meg thornburn i'm a health economist and epidemiologist

1:16:05today i have questions about the g j r and land use why is my city being filled with rail rail

1:16:11way yards with no planning or oversight as far as i know g j r is the only business in gulf

1:16:16allowed to construct whatever they want wherever they want without going through municipal permitting

1:16:22ea's adherence to governing city plans in a myriad of bylaws how much knowledge and oversight

1:16:29do you have over g j r's activities is transloading dirty tanker storage and rail car parking your

1:16:35vision for gulf g j r is reshaping the city's landscape and character with little to no input

1:16:41from shareholders sightings were added to kaufman yard without consultation compushing a potential

1:16:47trail from york road to the g id lands now g j r is proposing sightings between the aramosa bridge

1:16:53and stone road to store tankers do you vote for this are you aware of its potential impact on the

1:16:58proposed g id cycling network are you aware some sightings added on north edinburgh or on land

1:17:04repeatedly identified as the desired trail connection in the trails master plan railways

1:17:10may follow different rules but that doesn't justify ignoring official plans this is a land

1:17:15use issue and it deserves proper oversight switching gears why after 30 years as a priority

1:17:22project you don't we have a g to do you from selver creek to woodland or woodland to selver

1:17:28creek why is the community led group so frustrated why are all these people here

1:17:34g j r is 2021 and 22 and a report states g j r continues to work with parks and trails to aid

1:17:41the connections of the tct tct g j r's sole director scott steward said g j r was fully supportive of

1:17:47the trail and we're moving the tracks to create room for it then ag to ten arrived and things changed

1:17:53in the business development section of the 2023 report g j r states that the rail lineovers

1:17:59create additional opportunities such as potential trail network or and i emphasize or

1:18:05additional rail sightings also a lot of work has occurred in the right of way further up the tracks

1:18:10by ag to ten is northern property do but do any of you know what is being done there or the

1:18:15environmental impacts or the impact on trail development is this preparation for more sightings

1:18:20more trans loading increasingly it feels like g j r's and ag to ten is business plans are prioritized

1:18:26at the expense of g to g's completion every jurisdiction from here to godbridge except for

1:18:34guelph embrace the g to g with relish and investment and for good reason it's a cash cow our research

1:18:41has estimated that well over two million dollars will come into guelph as every year as a direct

1:18:46result of completing the g to g trailway who benefits from travel tourism revenue and wealth

1:18:52almost everyone even if trails hotels restaurants and sports shops aren't in your war the people

1:18:59working in them likely are support industries and their workers are spread citywide tourism

1:19:05boosts industries and residents in all wards it's basic economics plus there are other obvious g

1:19:11to g benefits such as increased equity through at three access to natural rural settings improved

1:19:16mental and physical health city pride etc what are the economic benefits from that katina maybe a

1:19:22small increase in g j r annual dividend they have no buildings in guelph the property is appraised at

1:19:27205 000 not much tax but the non-tangibles added truck traffic more trains blocking woodland what

1:19:35department was consulted and approved that g to g revenue numbers are much higher than g j r revenues

1:19:41but i am not suggesting either or scenario we can have both the g to g is only asking for room in

1:19:49the right of way it is not asking to be exclusive like flash freight and that katina r rails with

1:19:55the trail is a double economic boon for the city now back to the sightings that you have no have had

1:20:02no say over that have been changing our city we don't have to hold ourselves to the lowest bar

1:20:08this is a land use issue may i suggest the following motion for the needed oversight we expect

1:20:13everywhere else in our community that rail sightings are subject to review and approval

1:20:20by all relevant departments and conform with all govern governing city plans with final approval

1:20:26at city council thanks very much for your time thank you very much for your presentation is there

1:20:32a follow-up here there is not thank you very much make and james you're coming down and uh and then

1:20:39is just in here as well sorry got to get my glasses on it's just in here i see a just in thank you

1:20:49and james whenever you're ready okay uh shareholders of the gjr city council members and city staff

1:21:02thank you for your time today my name is james fedesav i'm the co-owner of speed river bicycle

1:21:07since the pandemic bicycles for recreation and transportation have surged in popularity particularly

1:21:12hybrid bikes and gravel bikes which handle both trails and roads well mean meanwhile

1:21:17gulf's traffic has grown faster than its cycling cycling infrastructure making these bikes a safer

1:21:22way to get around town the radial and the aqueduct trails through the gid lands between victoria

1:21:27and stone roads as well as the trans canada trail and g2g multi-use paths are particularly popular

1:21:32routes for gulf residents and trail users have been crossing over railway tracks safely for over

1:21:3750 years without incident recently the railway has begun a campaign to declare these crossings as

1:21:42trespassing and is asking to close these trails the railway has also cooperated with flash freight

1:21:47slash eiketina's complete comp closure of access to the hydro corridor extending from wood lawn at

1:21:52edinburgh that formally allowed pedestrians and cyclists safe passage to the northwest end of town

1:21:58excuse me into the start of the g2g there are questions that i am asked over and over by my

1:22:03customers and they are why isn't it easier to get to the start of the g2g why do i have to ride on

1:22:08silver creek and why is the city closing trails cities growing and yet staff are closing trails

1:22:14despite it being their job to manage and increase them according to the gtmp shareholders of the

1:22:19gjr it's very important that you know how frustrated people are our store repairs nearly 10 000 bikes

1:22:24per year we sell another 800 and we see an average of more than 250 people every day through our doors

1:22:30and as such i feel entitled to ask on behalf of my community why is the railway conducting its

1:22:34operations without keeping the entire public good in mind why is the railway with only one

1:22:39manager reconfiguring the landscape of our city and closing trails without interacting with council

1:22:44or the public and without respect for official plans the gjr is pointing to safety as the

1:22:49reactionary justification for the suggested closures nothing has changed on these trails if it wasn't

1:22:54safe for over 50 years why raise the red flag now our roads have a very different record and yet

1:23:00nobody is closing them i've heard many of these conversations among customers quickly search for

1:23:05other reasons that must be at play john fischer a former customer once mentioned to me that the

1:23:10railway has even more sightings planned for the gid lands the parking of more empty tankers has

1:23:15council voted on any of this and where is the oversight consider again the radial and aqueduct

1:23:21trail gjr has installed no trespassing signs here but people will continue to use these routes

1:23:26the signs do not increase the safety they only offload liability that is not responsible city

1:23:31staff work or corporate citizenship think about the open crossings behind the river

1:23:35and center or the youth music center there is no lights there is no signage if it is safe for

1:23:41children to cross there then what is the real issue here a legal trail crossing like dozens of

1:23:46the other uncontrolled crossings in guelph it costs very little and is a smart community focused

1:23:50solution it would show that the railway actually values public safety on our trails now let's consider

1:23:56our favorite topic of the gdg connection gjr says it supports a trail from woodlawn to the end of

1:24:01the tracks if it's safe but the city owns the railway and determines what safe is silver creek

1:24:06is not safe as you've heard did anyone here approve turning agatina's land into a transloading

1:24:11rail yard does anyone know the full extent or the future of these sighting plans is there any written

1:24:17direction it seems that these sightings may make it convenient for the railway to later claim that

1:24:21a trail is no longer possible just as agatina has publicly stated that they oppose trail

1:24:25development it does not seem that the gjr shares plans with the public before acting

1:24:30there are a lot of related questions that the community has here but the ones i'm constantly

1:24:33being asked in the store are is gjr leaving room for a multi-use path as mentioned in their 2023

1:24:40shareholders report if not why are we letting them derail the number one project in the gtmp

1:24:46why is guelph one of the two namesake towns along the guelph to goderich trail the only

1:24:50municipality along the entire trail that is not directly connected to it why are we leaving

1:24:55tourism dollars and real safety on the table my customers are frustrated with the gjr but they

1:25:00also recognize its incredible efficiency when it chooses to act and so let's apply that same

1:25:04efficiency to real collaboration we have plans to complete the gdg and have had them for over 30

1:25:10years only when john fisher proposed a community led and city supported model did we start to make

1:25:15real progress in the last year more than has happened than in the previous three decades and so let's

1:25:20keep that going the gdg team has 132 kilometer track record and is completing multi-million

1:25:25dollar upgrades right now jgr can help finish this vital link please adopt the following two motions

1:25:32one direct gjr staff to install an uncontrolled crossing at the act product trail by june of

1:25:372026 and two direct gjr staff to work with gdg staff to remove project barriers and complete the

1:25:44gdg trail by 2027 using lands transferred from gjr to the city thank you for your time

1:25:52all right thank you very much james is there a follow-up for james before he runs away

1:25:58no there isn't lucky for you okay uh justin and then is mike here i think so i saw mike somewhere

1:26:07mike you're in the wings okay how are you justin thank you um thank you mayor shareholders and

1:26:14staff with the gjr um we've heard a lot about john fisher today a vision of what this could look like

1:26:23i represent the gulf hiking trail club and we are trying to push forward with that vision

1:26:29and continue what he started um look like there's a problem obviously in finishing this project

1:26:37and and why are we here talking to this the shareholders why are we here talking to the

1:26:41executives and the staff because we think that this is a key player and a solution to that problem

1:26:47everyone's here because we all agree that the current process the current protocol the way that

1:26:54this project is being approached is not working and it's not going to allow us to finish it in

1:27:00time for the bicentennial do we want to have a bicentennial celebration between godrich and

1:27:05gulf with a finished trail between these two communities or do we want to have an embarrassing

1:27:11finish for anyone who decides to go from godrich to gulf and have to go play frogger on the highway

1:27:18maybe not the highway but play frogger on silver creek and everywhere else and and is that really

1:27:23how we want to welcome people into this community who are going to take that trek in two years there's

1:27:29there's time to make this not an embarrassing situation for the city everyone here thinks that

1:27:36this city owned corporation is the right leader they have the resources they're giving

1:27:43250 000 of dividends in this last fiscal budget why are they not able to then come

1:27:49and help us finish this with those dividends get this trail done buy the land that needs to get done

1:27:56own the land take care of this like we are community organizations and small businesses we do not have

1:28:01the time or the resources to get this done and so why are we here because we want the shareholders

1:28:07to care about the outcomes to care about what needs to happen and to start doing what needs to get

1:28:13done so that we can all celebrate with big smiley happy faces that this is finally done after 30 years

1:28:20the bicentennial we can all go from god rich to gulf a lot of pride can celebrate it can be in the

1:28:27brochure this is why we're here today and we're not at the normal council meeting because the

1:28:33normal council meeting doesn't work and is not getting it moved forward and so we want this

1:28:39corporation to take over and move this forward on behalf of the community because they have money

1:28:44and resources and dollars and they're growing and they're going to have a great fiscal year next year

1:28:50they got cash so we really ultimately just need a plan we need at the next AGM for this

1:29:00initiative to be at least recognized as something that's important to the community something that's

1:29:05being worked on and I will be here next year looking for an update and a report and it

1:29:12would be great if we heard that we're about to put the shovel in the ground

1:29:17and not have to all show up every year to have the same conversation over and over again

1:29:22so thank you very much I'd like to motion that this corporation that is owned by the city own

1:29:29the next steps communicate and engage with the community and push this forward so that we can

1:29:35all celebrate this accomplishment and make it happen before that bicentennial we don't want

1:29:41to have that counterface when all the god rich people are showing off what they're doing and

1:29:46people come to Guelph they're like so we're just a little embarrassed so thank you very much

1:29:52okay thank you is there any follow-up nope because well there is actually I think if

1:29:56you could just hang off there Councillor Downer has a question yeah through you Mr. Mayor so I

1:30:01I guess I have a question because it was John Fisher that came forward and asked for this project to be

1:30:07a community led project and city supported and since then a charter has been developed I mean

1:30:15there's been a number of meetings maybe it hasn't moved you know as fast and things have done and

1:30:20there's you know things that we need to look at but what you're suggesting now is that we throw out

1:30:26what he wanted which was a community led project I'm not suggesting we throw that out I'm suggesting

1:30:32we need a solution to this and like we if the city wants to get this done in time for a bicentennial

1:30:40like the the kind of approach that we're currently taking is not spitting out dividends that we need

1:30:46so the community is here to help fundraise this is really not a money issue we will help fundraise

1:30:53every dollar that's needed to make this project come together the problem is who's going to coordinate

1:30:58that who's going to buy the land who's going to sort out all the leases all that stuff we can't do

1:31:03as community organizations but if you need money at the table we're all going to participate in

1:31:08that process and we're going to make sure that the community contributes financially to make this

1:31:11a reality that's kind of the community partnership that that we can make happen and that's realistic

1:31:16but I don't think that's what the charter says that was developed by all the partners in this

1:31:23including including the trail groups and a gdg group right okay that's just sort of I don't

1:31:31want to debate with you but anyway thank you we'll cut we'll cut it off there and we could

1:31:37do a follow-up with staff even publicly quickly here if we have to or we could have questions sent to

1:31:45to have a report back or something like that at a council meeting but this isn't probably the arena

1:31:50for it so thank you Councillor Downey you just took your mics on there is there anything further

1:31:56there is not thank you again you can leave for real this time and Mike Darman you're our last so

1:32:01come on forward and bring it home for us city staff ggr representatives and councillors and

1:32:18mayor Guthrie my name is Mike Darman and I'm co-chair of GCAT the Guelph community for active

1:32:24transportation the ggr right-of-way corridor offers so many opportunities for low-admission

1:32:29transportation economic development and tourism GCAT has and continues to fully support the

1:32:35extension needed to connect the g2g from our downtown to the Kissingbridge trailhead

1:32:40however GCAT is primarily focused on active transportation versus recreation and the ggr

1:32:44right-of-way corridor offers many opportunities to connect people to places of business schools

1:32:50and amenities and employment the section of ggr from Speedvale to downtown is part of our active

1:32:55transportation network and as such it offers the safest and most enjoyable and efficient way to

1:33:00walk bike or roll without using a car it is mostly off-road and maintained in all seasons it is also

1:33:06arguably our most used active transportation trail in Guelph and it benefits our health air

1:33:10quality and emissions reduction goals today I'm speaking to increase those benefits with the

1:33:15opportunity to extend the current TCT from a thermal downtown at the Macdonnell bridge to

1:33:21to Victoria Road and the GID this priority project fits perfectly with the ggr strategic

1:33:27direction and I quote from from the city staff report on the environment according to the city's

1:33:32official plan transport accounts for 30% of Guelph's energy use and 45% of greenhouse gas

1:33:40emissions in Guelph a locomotive can move one ton of freight more than 200 commers on a single

1:33:46liter of fuel making it a highly energy efficient means of transportation and a low emitter of g8

1:33:51g's end quote bike riding also ranks as one of the lowest ght emitters and a combination of two

1:33:58of these most efficient lowest emission means of transportation are possible using this same

1:34:03corridor I quote the city page 18 and city building the future of rail is the city folk

1:34:09in the city focuses on both the movement of goods and the safe movement of people quick

1:34:13connectivity from the south end of Guelph all the way to the heavy employment area of the north

1:34:18industrial it could offer a drastic change in quality of life for Guelph residents this could

1:34:23be a reality in the future with continued investment and careful planning that aligns the

1:34:27Guelph trans transportation master plan and quote along with the extension to the current tct adding

1:34:33the potential of a battery powered tram or lrt maximizing this maximize this underutilized city

1:34:40asset to a higher economic environmental potential potential this option offers an uninterrupted

1:34:46multimodal route between the industrial and commercial employment areas in the north end of

1:34:51the city through the downtown and all the way to the gid we're working closely with staff

1:34:56of the near future 7500 unit woods to and the 12 000 resident fusion homes gid to connect these

1:35:03developments with safe and enjoyable sustainable active transportation options the gid vision is

1:35:09for a walkable city within the city complete with linear parks containing active active

1:35:13transportation corridors our gcat vision is to connect this mixed use development with a trail

1:35:18like active transportation experience all the way to our downtown and beyond the extension also

1:35:24runs adjacent to the city owned imico site this trail extension potentially offers more affordable

1:35:29housing by enabling car free or car light living and makes the site more appealing to developers

1:35:34and organizations like habitat for for humanity you can almost see the downtown from the tracks

1:35:39at imico and in the other direction the extension would connect residents to the shopping plazas

1:35:43at york and veritory road the woods to development offers a similar opportunity with the future trail

1:35:48passing through a tree linear park section adjacent to the gpr tracks i biked with my grandson

1:35:55to a school today and i was thinking how great it would be to be able to bike with him at least

1:35:59partway to sacred heart school on the extension and even better would be to pick up other kids

1:36:03along the way on a bike bus after school on a hot day like today i would love to take him downtown

1:36:08to the splash pad but continuing over the planned ward to downtown bridge or perhaps continuing

1:36:12our ride along the existing tct to my home by riverside park with the option of stopping to

1:36:18listen to the sounds of nature and the trickle of the speed river on the emeter earl street

1:36:21pedestrian bridge as we just chat about his day at school the tct city building priority

1:36:28project this tct city building priority project extension offers so many benefits within the gjr

1:36:34rail corridor without affecting vehicular roads in conclusion gcat fully supports the strategic

1:36:41strategic direction of gjr as it aligns with the city of guelph strategic plan future guelph

1:36:46to trails and master plan and gcat's vision for a more affordable safer and sustainable

1:36:51active transportation options for the citizens of guelph providing connectivity to new mixed

1:36:57street residential developments the combination of rail transport active transportation transit

1:37:02and local tourism is a winning combination for environmental sustainability and economic

1:37:07development with vision leadership we can build it and they will come thanks thanks mike is there

1:37:15any questions for him as a follow-up all right goller thank you and through your worship to

1:37:21mr dameron thank you for laying out division of the the connection between the ward to

1:37:28downtown bridge and victoria road at present in in conversations between your organization and

1:37:35and the railway is there a plan to make that whole connection there is a plan actually it's on the

1:37:42it's in the well trails master plan and it goes all the way to stevensson street and there's another

1:37:46part of the gj of the well trails master plan that puts the the rest of the extension on that map

1:37:53as well on the map okay i appreciate that we haven't actually worked with gjr on that but as far as i

1:37:57know there's no opposition to that okay as long as the land that probably runs by imico for instance

1:38:03would probably run within the imico site to get further up okay i'll follow up with saffon that

1:38:08okay thank you very much okay and oh clausen just before you go somewhere mike clausen has a question

1:38:20sorry mr mr mayor i was just putting my hand up a little bit too eagerly for questions to staff

1:38:27okay mike you can go thank you very much all right we got through all those delegations and

1:38:33thank you very much for for coming um and i just want to remind everyone too that budget season is

1:38:42upon us in the fall as a council so it'd be awesome if you guys were engaged with that process

1:38:49like right through september october november there'll be plenty of opportunities to to discuss

1:38:55about trails financing like all that kind of stuff is all at budget time so just a little plug that you

1:39:02you know keep keep your ear to the ground on on that opportunity too if you want to engage on that okay

1:39:08okay all right before i go to questions um i think it's appropriate for me to go to staff

1:39:17first to clear up anything that has been said so i turn the mike over to whoever wants to jump in

1:39:26because i think there's some things that need to be stated thank you gene yeah thank you mr

1:39:32mayor and i'll start and see if any of my colleagues would like to jump in just to thank everybody

1:39:38today for their delegations um there's a there's a few things that i just want to go through so

1:39:45i might be a bit rambly to start so maybe that might help generate some questions as we as we go

1:39:52along so i just want to emphasize that for gjr like our the prioritization of the things that

1:40:00we want to do the trails is not a prioritization a high prioritization or the top prioritization

1:40:06for gjr it is to be an economic vehicle for the city and um we do that um we have been doing that

1:40:14successfully and working with our businesses to make sure that they are successful but

1:40:19that being said i think you've heard loud and clear for the last well at least four years

1:40:24since i've been here anyway that we are very interested in working with our community working

1:40:31with our our trail staff to make sure that that corridor can also be used for other uses as well

1:40:40and and that combination and the economic viability of trails is important to us as well

1:40:45as we as we look and see how those how that partnership can work so i just want you to hear

1:40:53that loud and clear that that we are interested in partnering with communities to incorporate trails

1:41:01into into our corridor but it has to be done in a safe way so railway operations are highly regulated

1:41:09there we don't make up those safety regulations we have to abide by them we have a duty to make sure

1:41:16that anybody who enters our rail corridor does so in a safe manner

1:41:22and so that's a priority for us too and we try to take that into account when we're working

1:41:29with the community groups whether it be with our staff or with external groups

1:41:36there was a just a mention of you know we don't are we just doing things without

1:41:42conferring with anybody we gjr whenever they do any kind of building they do go through and

1:41:51partner up and talk to other members of city staff just like any other development would so we

1:41:58we we do that already i know there was a motion in place to direct ggr to do that we already do that

1:42:06and then there was some discussion about land and transfer of land that i'm a little bit confused

1:42:11by because the transfer of land between gjr and the city is not an issue what what might be an issue

1:42:18and might be a bit of a roadblock as if we're trying to get obtain land from private owners and

1:42:25we have less control over that we've less control over i heard a couple of things of what private

1:42:30owners might have said that's not what gjr has said that is not what the city has said in terms of

1:42:37whether trails belong along the corridor or not but there's there's not a there's there's less

1:42:45things we can do we've less control over trying to obtain private lands in order to make room for

1:42:50the trail that being said also that they when we have when we're looking for what land we need for

1:42:58trails i can't i can't do that without a design so you had mentioned before about you know this

1:43:05the Woolwich just to um uh silver creek trail you're right it's it's a it's a community led

1:43:12city supported project and it's very clear in the project charter um what milestones and what

1:43:18deliverables are due from that group um i haven't been involved in a lot of those meetings up to

1:43:25date i know i thought we had a i thought we had a really good meeting last friday when we talked about

1:43:29what the deliverables might be coming up because we were a little bit concerned that we hadn't

1:43:34heard anything for a while um i haven't seen a design yet um it's hard for me to push back and

1:43:41reject a design that i haven't seen that i haven't had a chance to approve with all of our staff so

1:43:46my understanding is that design is coming i think um willow had mentioned it that he is going to

1:43:52arrange a meeting in mid july so we can have that technical staff and take a look at um what they have

1:43:59produced um in order for us to be able to move forward and there's going to be some back and

1:44:03forth and there's going to be that balance between um rail operations and keeping the um the users of

1:44:11the trail safe and that's what the consultant is there for to help us sort that out and we look

1:44:16forward to those um we look forward to those discussions so again we go back to the project

1:44:22charter to see uh what um what the responsibilities are of the of the community that's leading this

1:44:30i think we've reached out numerous times as staff to say how can we help um where are you in the

1:44:35process um there is um there is uh design money there um to be able to uh sorry i yes i think so

1:44:47yes so yeah so we the city has put forward money in order to be able to to move that forward

1:44:54but again we haven't we haven't seen a design yet so i guess i'm mr mayor i'm just a little bit

1:44:59confused in terms of um what the hold up might be because i can't i there's nothing for me to hold

1:45:06up i haven't seen anything yet so um i i'm again i'm looking forward to seeing that design and be

1:45:12able to move forward um i will also mention that um even though we've have design money i don't

1:45:20that there's there's no construction money in place yet i think it's in the 10-year forecast but it

1:45:25might be uh later on um but again trying to pin down what the cost of that trail would be would be

1:45:32depended on a design and which which which i haven't seen so um anyway i don't know if there's any

1:45:38that's a bit rambling i'm sorry um because that's fine there was a lot of to take in with the

1:45:42delegation so i don't know if i missed anything if my colleagues wanted to jump in that's fine um

1:45:51council i just wanted us to be aware of time our council meeting was supposed to start at 5 30

1:45:56okay so with that uh downer

1:46:01and then clauson and then goer thank you mr mir so the first i do want to say from

1:46:07from the business perspective of gjr congratulations on an excellent year and the dividends that you

1:46:13have produced and and during so well and i i must say i really enjoyed the tour we had this past year

1:46:20of the businesses using gjr and how effective and efficient that was and

1:46:26there was uh really an eye-opener so thanks for doing that um so but our delegations are here

1:46:34around the around the the trail comportion and so in the report i did i didn't notice that um around the

1:46:43um on the trail connectivity so that you'd been working on uh completed multiple phases of rail

1:46:51line uh over to eliminate steep elevation and curves which involve the grading and realignment

1:46:56attract um and how that's helped create greater opportunities for multi-user trail connections

1:47:03following the railway but you're not doing any further work um on this it sounds like

1:47:11and um and due to the current economic environment but it sounds like the economic

1:47:16environment for gjr is actually quite good so i'm just trying to say and at the same time you're

1:47:22saying this delay is not expected to affect continuing efforts on the project charter of

1:47:27the trail connection but i can't see how it's not impacting the trail in some way by putting this

1:47:33on hold can you sort of explain that whole yeah the pause part and how that's not impeding

1:47:42some sort of progress in this area um through the chair and unless we'll jump in with the

1:47:49the details of course but you know um some of our rail cars are down this year so that was a piece

1:47:57of work this kind of last phase of straightening a portion of the track is something that we've put

1:48:02on pause but it is definitely something that we could um reignite and look at again uh in the

1:48:10future relatively quite quickly um again furthering what miss holmes had said uh we haven't seen

1:48:17anything yet to review um so we you know that's we're putting that on pause because you know the

1:48:24g to g trail connection hasn't progressed to where we thought it would be um but we're definitely ready

1:48:30to to move um when they are oh so that's put on pause until you have a design where to sort of

1:48:37align your work with the design is that what you're saying well through the chair we'll be before that

1:48:43but one of the commitments that we made on friday was to provide um some drawings around what we're

1:48:50looking at doing we're actually quite surprised that the consultant uh that's being used to come

1:48:55up with the design hadn't reached out to us yet for information around um ggr works so as miss

1:49:04holmes said that's something that we're looking forward to whenever we receive that design and

1:49:08preliminary costing that's something we can look at um in conjunction with whatever other work we

1:49:15need to do in this area so we don't need any motions to have that we be like moving forward

1:49:23you'll be able to do that when you have the information yeah and through the chair it's

1:49:27actually it's a separate project it's not a very old project and i remember the last time that we

1:49:33were meeting with the group and it was it was around the survey getting done so the survey's

1:49:37been done i'm assuming which is why you're getting to the design now i thought that 75 000 was going

1:49:43to help with the survey is so but there's much left for the design or is 75 000 enough to do that

1:49:49kind of design work oh yeah so i can take this one so through the chair um 75 000 is intended to

1:49:59complete the feasibility study that's required to demonstrate that the trail in this location is

1:50:04actually feasible and give us some cost certainty certainty for what the construction would cost

1:50:10okay so maybe by the time we get to budget time we know a bit more about that and so that's um

1:50:14okay and that's probably outside of our shareholder thing so that that was sort of my

1:50:21only questions on that is you know i i think um deputy CAO home sort of may have answered

1:50:29something i was going to ask about what do you see the barriers now it seems like it's it's about

1:50:34moving forward with you know it sounds like even more communication with the group um

1:50:41it i understand that's the community led but it still says city supported so it's not just about

1:50:47being supported financially we need to support them and in moving forward on this as well so those

1:50:52would be my comments on that and i think there's other discussions that may have happened around

1:50:59budget once the design i would encourage the group to have to work really move forward as quickly

1:51:06as i can with those with the design so that when we get to budget in the fall we'll know if there's

1:51:13any anything that we need to do thanks okay and so uh i believe i had clauson and uh caller

1:51:24yes uh thank you through you mr. marita staff um i have a couple of questions about about gdg

1:51:31um but also about the gjr um and specifically i'm going to start with that one if that's okay

1:51:39we had correspondence from greg allen and he also came to delegate um and he had a number of

1:51:45of asks and questions with regard to the operation of gjr and puss lynch and so i was just wondering

1:51:52if staff could speak to those those asks um and is is that something that um we need to

1:51:58provide direction on or is that something that you can follow up directly with mr. allen on thank you

1:52:03uh through the chair i definitely we we plan on we received the correspondence we definitely plan

1:52:10on following up with mr allen um we can address all those questions we have a very so councils

1:52:16aware we have a very strong working relationship with puss lynch uh deputd ceo homes and i meet with

1:52:22the ceo of puss lynch on a quarterly basis less and his team are actively involved with puss lynch fire

1:52:29um less his team's also looking at uh we have a brush and vegetation program we've put um out

1:52:38water totes along the rail line in the rural areas that puss lynch fire is very appreciative of

1:52:45and um yeah definitely i we can speak with mr allen to address these concerns i'm not sure if

1:52:50there was anything that jumped out that council would like an answer to or the shareholders would

1:52:55like an answer to at this point but um i just want to let you know that you know train safety

1:53:02we're following the rules in terms of any shunting operations and blocking any roadways

1:53:08the mto has inspected us in that area to make sure we're not blocking the roadways

1:53:13for more time than is permitted which is five minutes so we're following all operating rules

1:53:18and regulations and have a good good working relationship with puss lynch and but we're not

1:53:24perfect and that's something we can continue to work on um you know we're talking about the

1:53:31you know the future mr allen was talking about the future and some other projects

1:53:35that is definitely something we can speak with with slinch about to see how their marron council

1:53:41and their senior staff there want to engage on any of these matters so it's definitely being addressed

1:53:50okay thank you for for addressing those you know and i think i i think i see a couple of those items

1:53:56that were covered off you talked about the shunting and the fire i just want to go to number two he

1:54:02talks about hazardous materials being stored on the on the railways is is is that something

1:54:08that we that we need to be concerned about is that something that we should um address in this

1:54:13meeting or is this you know i mean again i saw councillor alton go up as well um so i don't know if

1:54:20you're trying to talk to this point as well councillor but then the lack of engagement i think you've

1:54:24said that you were going to connect with puss lynch so that one's been addressed too so maybe

1:54:28just number two if you could address that please to the mayor council members and the chair um

1:54:37six percent of our business is dangerous goods after five days of storage we are

1:54:44uh guided by rules by the mto to inspect the cars every two days thereafter the five days

1:54:52which we get a report monthly um our business for dangerous goods are very low we keep that number

1:55:01down for a reason is we don't want to haul certain uh liquids and resins uh through the city of

1:55:09gulf as we know that it's it's not a safe product to haul through the city if something were to

1:55:14happen and being along the river's uh edge um and we generally do get requests to price certain

1:55:25dangerous goods uh jdr staff look at the product and we look at to see whether it's a worthwhile

1:55:33business and what the actual danger of the product is and normally we turn this type of business away

1:55:39most of our businesses is safe freight thank you thanks last about um okay i just um i'd like to

1:55:50switch to gdg i just i had a question with regard to governance and you know we've heard

1:55:56some requests for emotions and things like that and i'm not sure if this is potentially the

1:56:00appropriate meeting for those but i would like to understand um as an entity so i mean i know gdr is

1:56:07the separate entity to us it's a corporation um and that's for a number of reasons including

1:56:12things like liability um but my understanding too is that um the city of gulf still provides you

1:56:17know overall direction for the city including things like trails master plan so my assumption

1:56:23is that you know while the gjr may have economic you know at the thing jayne you said um

1:56:31trying to find out it's not trail or not a priority for gjr they're still an entity related to the

1:56:37city so my question and maybe maybe that's a little there's a lot going on in that is that as as

1:56:43stakeholders as part of the gjr and as as the you know as also a sitting council um we have provided

1:56:52direction about gdg and we are also the stakeholders so is there a way to to both have the gjr you know

1:57:01being an economic driver but also um making sure that at those you know board meetings

1:57:06that we are we are considering gdg and i'm assuming that it is um i just am wondering

1:57:13i'm hearing that there's a conflict here but does there there have to be from a governance

1:57:18perspective can can both things be true i'm through the chair to council class and um

1:57:24yes both things can be true um that doesn't mean to say it's easy but it can be true um when

1:57:31we have discussions with the gjr board we are talking about what makes sense from a business

1:57:38point of view from the railway but also what makes sense and how we can you've heard me talk

1:57:43about balance a lot the balancing between what might be what sometimes is a conflict between

1:57:49rail operations and installing installing trails in the trail corridor and again it comes down to

1:57:57making sure that we are as much as we can um being as safe as we possibly can when we when we

1:58:04invite um trail users or anybody into our into our rail corridor it is our responsibility as the

1:58:12owner of that um organization to make sure that those trail users or anybody in that corridor

1:58:18is as safe as they can possibly be so that's what we are looking at so we're trying to balance that

1:58:24with making sure that we're being good community partners as well that's that's again i i know i've

1:58:30heard it in the last four years since i've been here that that that is our commitment

1:58:35to to continue to work with our park staff and our community partners to as much as we can

1:58:42introduce trails along the corridor okay thank you that that that helps and then i'm just i'm

1:58:52just jumping in uh councillor claus we we've really got to keep moving and that's to my next on the

1:58:56list too we are we are really getting overtime here and i'm trying to respect our our agenda

1:59:01management so if we could just get right to the questions and then to staff if you could please

1:59:05just get right to the answers i would appreciate it okay thank you yes absolutely but i also think

1:59:11this is this is important to our community um so i'm happy to take an extra few minutes on it um

1:59:17but i would like my last question is is we i heard councillor downer refer to it you know

1:59:23i've we've heard some delegates refer to it we've heard staff refer to it but i was just wondering

1:59:27if you could talk a little bit like two sentences or or or you know four sentences about the community

1:59:33led agreement um i'm not sure if everybody has seen the community led agreement um and i'm i'm

1:59:38guessing by hearing some of the delegations that not everyone has seen the community led agreement

1:59:42because there's a lot of the items that were discussed this evening um listed out in that

1:59:47agreement um so i was just wondering and we did have an updated meeting last friday with a number of

1:59:54the stakeholders who are part of of the group so i'm just wondering if you could talk to the

1:59:58charter for you know very very briefly and also um just clarify that next step and and perhaps

2:00:06if there's a way to communicate um what that next step is um and to all the shareholders who

2:00:12will hear this evening um just so that there's some clarity about the path forward for everyone

2:00:16going forward thank you so that so that charters with the city it's not with the the shareholder

2:00:24that was uh so Mallory can you just confirm that please that's correct yep okay so um

2:00:31there's a copy of that i'm happy to send everybody okay so we we all have it but but that is that

2:00:37discussion should be had at the city because the charters between the community led groups and the

2:00:41city not not with the shareholder you still have the floor though councillor Klassen okay i appreciate

2:00:53that but i just i do think that that piece should be communicated between people because i'm hearing

2:00:58that that's a source of of of miscommunication between a lot of the people here tonight so i

2:01:04appreciate that that this is a jjjjjjr stakeholder meeting but with regards to governance in i think

2:01:10that it's important in the context of this discussion just to clarify that this exists

2:01:15and that there is a path forward that is related to the jjr so there is there is a priority there

2:01:22that is made by both city council and i think jjr as well so um happy not to have a further

2:01:28discussion about it as long as it's clear that um that we are moving forward using that document

2:01:34because i think it's important um yes yes so there is a project charter it has a number of

2:01:42deliverables in it and i can have that in everybody's inbox in about two minutes i would

2:01:50appreciate that thank you great thank you again being aware of time and now i have council all

2:01:56that's put his hand up as well so i'm going to goller busatil and alt thank you through your

2:02:02worship to staff thank you so much for the the report um i i i really appreciate the the work

2:02:08that the railway does to build the the business community here in our city and then to build jobs

2:02:17with that said i just wanted to touch base on some of the things that have been raised today

2:02:22does the gulf junction railway need direction from the shareholders to allow a trail connection

2:02:29between woodland and wellington road 39 on the rail corridor through the mayor no it's

2:02:37something that we're working on it's all discussed in the project charter yeah okay so just to be

2:02:42perfectly clear i've heard some of the delegates say that the overwhelming that that the railway

2:02:48believes that trails and trains don't mix um that was a property owner that they spoke to

2:02:56somewhere along the way i don't know so perfect thank you so much um could you tell me about the

2:03:02closure of the crossing the active transportation crossing at the aqueduct trail that was raised

2:03:13through the mayor um i i don't think it was a closing i think it was a request for a trail

2:03:19crossing at that location but less a there was a request i believe this afternoon

2:03:27yes they they requested for the uh to install um an active transportation trail at the aqueduct trail

2:03:33so it's my understanding that people were allowed to you cross it with their bicycles beforehand

2:03:39and now we're saying you can no longer cross this is that the case yes that is the case there has to

2:03:45be a safety design done and a review of the crossing and locations we can't just put one in wherever

2:03:56so there there are some steps similar to the charter that need to be taken

2:04:00before we can initiate something like that or agree to it okay thank you so could you help me

2:04:05understand what changed if we allowed people to use those you know to to use their bikes to cross

2:04:10over those trails for the last i think they said are all the last 50 years what changed in the last

2:04:14couple of years to prevent those crossings from being used through the mayor one of the

2:04:22efforts that we really wanted to concentrate on was rail safety and with that we created rail

2:04:27safety officer position within the ggr organization and to address these ongoing safety concerns we

2:04:35have had close calls um and to address these ongoing safety concerns the rail officer is safety

2:04:42officer is focusing in on some of these um unsafe crossings and regardless people have used them for

2:04:48years and i understand that but as we know the world's becoming more litigious and um then we're

2:04:54aware of these um perhaps unsafe areas and we need to sign them appropriately and advise

2:05:02people that it is private property and um there's an uns you know potentially unsafe area to cross

2:05:09here and so that's what's really changed we have a real focus on on safety and we have that position

2:05:14that was created and that's probably why you're seeing it in the last two years uh because that's

2:05:20when that officer position started yeah fully appreciate that um the request from the community

2:05:26was for an uncontrolled crossing at the aqueduct trail is there work being done to reopen the

2:05:34rail crossing for the aqueduct trail uh one of the things ggr does is we work with our park staff

2:05:42they're the trail experts they know what they need they know where the trails are so we'd be happy to

2:05:47you know i i don't know the exact location but if that's something that um you know it would

2:05:52require budget from the city and those sorts of things so if that's something that um the public

2:05:57would like i you know suggest that you know being in contact with our parks folks malady's here today

2:06:02and we'll you know gladly have those discussions similar to what we're doing with the g to g

2:06:07this last connecting piece perfect so just to be clear this is not the place where i would say

2:06:13give you direction to put a crossing there it would be during budget time that i gave direction

2:06:18to the active transportation team to work with you to put a crossing there is that correct

2:06:24that's correct okay thank you very much that's that's really helpful um and um it yeah

2:06:35yeah uh there was a question about the reverse movement of trains are our train operators

2:06:42required to have someone in the back to make sure that the train tracks are clear at present

2:06:49no they are not they have a measurement of the train before they back up um and then they back up

2:06:57so they know exactly how far that the rear of the train is going to be stopped before the they have

2:07:03to throw the switch and then go back on the main or go up to the industrial so part of the delegate

2:07:10I believe that they said that under national requirements there was a standard for someone

2:07:16to be at the back looking is that not the case to my knowledge that is not the case but we will

2:07:22get back with a very precise answer to that question thank you thank you thank you very much and

2:07:29just one last question in terms of the um when sightings are being built that are active transportation

2:07:37master plan identified as potential for future trail connections so going back to what councillor

2:07:44classon said how does that decision making uh you know do you put a request to the active

2:07:49transportation team and then they have to give you the thumbs up before it happens um I through the

2:07:58chair if you're seeing an evolution here and you'll you see that in the next report too about the

2:08:02governance structure and that so we're getting better right at communicating across departments

2:08:07divisions and working together in that sense so going forward yeah we're very much more integrated

2:08:15now and having those discussions so that um you know GGR is cognizant of the trails piece

2:08:21and vice versa we have a very good working relationship with Mallory and parks and gene

2:08:27so our rail safety officer in fact meets monthly or bi-monthly with the trails folks in parks so

2:08:34we're getting really well integrated across the organization and that oversight piece

2:08:41if I could just add through the chair whenever there is a project that comes

2:08:46forward through GGR that goes through approval through the board and the instruction from the

2:08:51board would always be to go out to the individual all the different parts of the city to coordinate

2:08:58getting that project going so whether it be active transportation planning engineering if

2:09:03you've seen a whole bunch of city departments listed in the in the report and that's because we

2:09:10collaborate with them with them all the time so if there are conflicts with that

2:09:14that's when we'll come back to the board to have those discussions about how we might resolve those

2:09:20okay okay thank you thank you very much and in places where we're going to be putting in

2:09:27new rail in a place where we had identified an active transportation trail would that come back to

2:09:32to council because I think the concern from the delegate was that it's a decision being done

2:09:40by by staff when council had already given direction that we wanted a trail connection here

2:09:47through the chair would come back to council okay okay I appreciate that so just as a comment

2:09:53through worship to close thanks I will be looking during the budget process to give direction for

2:09:58our active transportation team to prioritize the trail connections over railways that we had

2:10:05discussed because it is a budget issue for the city to spend money on and I look forward to

2:10:10getting an update on the the connection that will finish the Gwaltz to Godridge trail thank you

2:10:19thank you thank you councillor all right two more so bus until and then alt thank you very briefly

2:10:26so one of the delegations said that they would like to place or have a motion that the gjr take

2:10:32ownership of the g2g project you know the made reference that there's money and so on you know

2:10:38just what dcao homes has said and I'll speak to this clearly about when we get to the governances

2:10:44because I'm very unhappy with the governance and the cross over what I heard is that no that this

2:10:52resides with the city of guelph and the gjr is part of the circulation around initiatives just like

2:11:01parks and trails and traffic and engineering and so on around any of those developments can you just

2:11:07speak to that I'm sorry council visit on I don't understand the question yeah so so the the delegation

2:11:14was said the delegate was saying that oh we just need to give everything that the gjr take ownership

2:11:21of the g2g project at their board governance table and so my my question to you is I don't see it that

2:11:31way I see this as funding planning everything that is under the purview of the city of guelph

2:11:37and that the gjr is a consultation circulation just like parks and so on and and that kind of thing

2:11:46so through the chair if you're referring to the community led project I so I presume that's what

2:11:53you're you're referring to council visit so so with that one we are because it is is city supported

2:12:02it is city supported by the parks mainly by the parks department and yes you're right the gjr is a

2:12:10consultation involved with that but again gjr and and the city are very closely aligned in terms of

2:12:20how we want to move forward and also how we're structured as well when you see the motions

2:12:25coming forward in terms of governance it will reflect what you see here in the city so all the

2:12:32the resources that are available to what would be a city led project are also available as gjr

2:12:40starts to look at some of the the coordination of getting trails into the corridor I hope that helps

2:12:47yeah thank you um alt please thank you mayor Guthrie um I want to thank everybody who's been

2:13:03involved in this discussion I think that we've identified that there are two very important

2:13:07issues here that relate to uh pusslench and the concerns that were raised by the residents

2:13:13in the in the pusslench township area and with the gdh g to g to g trail uh with relationship to gjr

2:13:23and I'm hoping Ms. Holmes that we can take back that we can deal with as uh council claustin said

2:13:30some some governance issues and some clear communications issues because this what I've

2:13:36heard today is that both in pusslench and with the g to g trail that there are apparently some

2:13:42deficiencies in communication and to give a good example um I'm still not clear whom it is

2:13:51that is responsible for the design of the trail right now is it the gjr people is it

2:13:59glove junction railway is it parks people um really in some sense this is almost a comedy

2:14:05routine like who's on first so I think the concrete question is who's responsible for the design

2:14:11first of all um through the through the through the mayor to council alts it would be the the

2:14:18community group as per the charter so it's the community group okay that wasn't entirely clear

2:14:24to me and I heard from another counselor earlier uh when I was talking to somebody a day ago that

2:14:30that there were problems with the design uh as a consequence of not really knowing where the

2:14:36design was coming from so that that helps me a bit but I'm hoping in the future that we can

2:14:42resolve some of these governance and communications issues that seem to have come up here for the

2:14:47first time ever related to not just pusslench uh and not just the g to g trail but many things

2:14:54associated with glove junction railway um through if I could just address that so through the

2:15:00through the chair to council alts so I think the project charter would be um if I've sent it now

2:15:06all to uh mayor and council so when you take a look at that I think it is very clear um who is

2:15:11responsible for what and again I think we've been trying to check in with the community group and

2:15:18I'm hoping that we're going to have a series of meetings that are going to come up over the summer

2:15:22that help move this project forward thank you very much I look forward to that all right well thank

2:15:31you so much everyone um so with that I just want to say thank you um to uh the staff for what you've

2:15:41done in regards to the results financially for your oversight on the safety issues as well um

2:15:48it's impeccable so I just want you to know I appreciate that I also appreciate the takeaway

2:15:53that's that's happened in any of the discussions that's happened here as well that can be taken

2:15:57away to to look into as well and not just get back to sort of you know I'm thinking about Greg as an

2:16:02example in push lunch but to us as well just to make sure that we're closing the loop on some of that

2:16:07as well um I also want to reinforce that for years actually and I thought that everybody knew this

2:16:12um especially on from the shareholder side um there was always those agreements of the deputy

2:16:18CAO was talking to the CAO and to the CAO to the CAO of push lunch their court their quarterly meetings

2:16:24that's been ongoing now for a while now um and actually I've been I've heard from sort of the

2:16:30political side over there that those meetings are going very well and I've heard from the

2:16:34administration side that those meetings are always going very well so I think there's a good

2:16:38connection there um I wanted to say thank you for that I'm also excited just speaking of trails

2:16:43like there was basically kind of two missing links you know we've heard about one over and over again

2:16:49today which is fair um but there's that like million dollar trail that we approved for this year

2:16:55from from Woolwich out to Woodline it's it's under it's getting under construction right now yes

2:17:02yep so thank you and that's connections through G through GJR correct yep so thank you appreciate

2:17:09that that's something that we need to celebrate uh and there was one comment from somebody that said

2:17:14that um GJR is actively um trying to derail this last link or this last part of the trail

2:17:22is that accurate uh through the through to you Mr. Mayor that's just not true yeah that's what I

2:17:27thought okay so hopefully this is a good a good takeaway under the communications umbrella to

2:17:34have the community led part and the city part try to get together to clear up all this communication

2:17:41and who's doing what so that we don't have to go around and around on this you know revolving door

2:17:48going any further uh from a state from a stakeholder position we have been unanimous um

2:17:53in wanting to support the business of GJR but also in trying to integrate the the issue of trails

2:18:01as well and hey that started with Councillor Salisbury by the way like that I remember that I think my

2:18:06first term so that this kind of thinking about how can we leverage GJR for trails like I want to

2:18:12give credit or credits do that happened with Councillor Salisbury like three terms ago so we've

2:18:18been start we have been in starting to do that kind of work so I appreciate that GJR is is thinking

2:18:24in in those in those ways as well and that we just get excited about uh getting these these

2:18:30these types of things done I think that's that's important so with that Councillor Downer you're

2:18:35willing to do the recommendation for me and uh Busatil thank you and the recommendation is

2:18:40that Council in the capacity a shareholder of Guelph Junction Railway Limited receive the Guelph

2:18:45Junction Railway Limited 2024 annual report and audited financial statements for information

2:18:52I'll call the vote is there anyone against that nobody that's unanimous so thank you very much