Council Orientation and Education Workshop

13:47All right, good evening everyone. It is Tuesday, June 17th, 2025. It is six o'clock and we are meeting here for a council orientation and education workshop.

13:57And so thank you for everyone that is attending. And we are missing a few members of council. So I am going to respectfully request those that are online joining us to please try to keep your cameras on because we are close to the quorum issue.

14:16So we need to make sure that we continually have quorum. So if it could do that for us, we'd appreciate it.

14:23I did get official regrets from ALT and from Gibson.

14:30And then I just found out that Richardson also sent in regrets for the clerks. And of course, O'Rourke is not here.

14:38So we're waiting to see if maybe others might show up. But again, we appreciate everyone being here.

14:47And these are important because of the effort that our staff put into these types of workshops.

14:53So I'd like to thank staff very much for doing that.

14:57I'm really looking forward to this one just based on the reports that came out in advance and all the talks I've had with them already.

15:10I'm actually really excited about it and where we're going. And I think, I don't know, I learned a lot just by reading the reports.

15:18And I was thinking about how much things have changed. But I was thinking about even some of our newer counselors are on this term.

15:27This is a really good sort of a little bit of history to where we are and then where we're going to.

15:33So I think you've laid it out really well. So I'm really looking forward to the presentation and walking us through that.

15:40What I would ask actually is as each member of staff come up to do the presentation, maybe you could just state your name and what your role is just so that people maybe later on that are watching this back later

15:56knows kind of who's who and who's talking and what division or department you're from that you oversee.

16:02So with that, I would just like to ask, I guess, Auntie, are you kicking us off? All right, I'll turn it right on over to staff.

16:11Being that it is a workshop, a little bit more casual. So just one second, the clerks are just asking me something.

16:22Oh, yeah, sorry. Got a little bit too informal right away. Is there any disclosure of pecuniary interest, any nature thereof?

16:30Okay, there's the formal part out of the way. So yeah, we can just kind of engage. You don't have to do the whole through the mayor thing.

16:38I'm good with that because we're we're here to engage as a workshop style. Okay.

16:42These workshops are usually and always historically have been sort of that hour and a half or so where we're at has nothing to do with Stanley Cup playoff game happening.

16:53Go Oilers, but we'll turn it over to Auntie and you can you can walk us through everything with the other staff. Thank you.

17:01Very good. Well, thank you. Good evening. I'm anti vocal general manager of facilities and energy management. And I want to thank you for your participation in this workshop this evening.

17:10We're here today to talk about a number of significant city initiatives, including fleet electrification, transit and facility needs, investing in Canada infrastructure program or ISAP, that funding and budget as well as the operational facilities long term plan.

17:26We have combined the two reports into one presentation, given the linkages between these topics. Many city staff have contributed to the two reports and presentation given the breadth of topics being discussed.

17:38We have city staff from transit operations fleet intergovernmental services finance and facilities and energy management with us today and addition parks environmental services staff are on standby as well, given the operational facilities long term plan update impacts them as well.

17:56All of these topics are interconnected and will impact upcoming council decisions about service delivery to the golf community, particularly as the city continues to grow with a focus on housing, maintaining core services and affordability.

18:09Here's what we'll be covering today, which includes the goals of the workshop. We will walk you through the journey, how we got here today, how these topics are really interconnected, a few updates on our overarching plans and then bringing it all together.

18:30Our goal with the workshop today is to provide an update on a number of related and interconnected topics. This includes the long term plan for our operational facilities and we will review the impact of city growth, barriers, community challenges and solutions for moving forward.

18:46To do this, we will look back a bit to review transit fleet services and facility needs. We're also going to provide an overview of strategic operational alignment and update on changes to the operations facilities long term plan and solutions for moving forward.

19:00We'll also provide insight into the interconnection between the many council approved plans that God free general manager of operations will now present the next slides.

19:14Thank you, as anti indicated on Doug Godfrey and the general manager of the operations department and responsible for the corporate fleet.

19:22So in October of 2019, we presented the facility needs assessment that focused on the city's operational departments consisting of transit, parks and forestry, operations, fleet maintenance and corporate building maintenance.

19:43We highlighted that these departments were operating in facilities that were at the end of their use for life were over capacity and did not have room for expansion.

19:53These issues were compounded by the anticipated population growth of 6000 people or 45% increase over 25 years.

20:02In addition, of the resources needed to maintain appropriate service levels for wealth growing population.

20:12These pictures illustrate space constraints for vehicle storage and maintenance space. Here you'll see the transit bus yard has no room inside or outside.

20:22Most of the space that the transit facility is used by fleet to repair and park the buses. We have already maxed out the parking availability for these buses.

20:31Buses are often stored offsite as a result of this lack of space. Often they're parked at solid waste in a gravel lot near Watson Road.

20:41We've also stored some of our buses on private land, mostly at our vehicle auctioneer.

20:47Parking the buses offsite comes with additional risks. It reduces security and we've seen some of our buses vandalized.

20:55These images are from 2019 and there's just no more room for additional buses and this consequently impacts the city's ability to grow the transit service.

21:05Fleet Services operates at 45 Municipal Street, 170 Watson Road, a rental property located at 614 York Road, as well as Fire Headquarters.

21:22Fleet Services maintains all city-owned fleet vehicles including ambulances, plows, and buses.

21:28Over the past 50 years, the city's fleet has not only increased in quantity, but also the physical size of our newer and more productive vehicles have grown.

21:38This slide shows our six undersized truck maintenance bays which were built and designed in the 1960s for much smaller public works fleet vehicles.

21:48In most cases, we cannot physically bring two outfitted plows in the shop together because they are simply too wide or too long.

21:57In the bottom left picture, even when one plow was moved outdoors to allow another to squeeze into the work bay, there is still insufficient room for staff to get from one side of the truck to the other without climbing over equipment.

22:13In this picture, to open one of the tilt forward hoods, one of these large trucks will need to be backed out of its space to perform the most basic maintenance function which is to open the hood.

22:26The picture on the upper right shows how large some of the city's fleet equipment has gotten. This is a new multi-residential waste packer truck.

22:36When this vehicle is brought in for maintenance, it is so large it takes up three of our six undersized truck bays.

22:43There is an ever-growing number of outside works trucks and equipment similar to this size in the fleet that puts the maintenance shop into similar inadequate work space situations.

22:57The bottom right image gives us a view of the other side of the maintenance shop where our light vehicles in large volume of small motorized equipment is maintained.

23:07Given the tight quarters, staff do a good job at keeping things neat and organized.

23:12What I would like to point out is that the small motorized equipment is tucked up against the wall, which is the best we can do to keep the drive lane clear.

23:22In this case, you see we are servicing one of the city's sidewalk plows in the drive lane due to the lack of the maintenance space.

23:30I'll now turn it over to Glenn Marcus.

23:32Thank you Doug. Hi everyone. Glenn Marcus, Acting General Manager of Gulf Transit.

23:43So in 2021, there we go. In 2021, staff presented the Gulf Transit Future Ready Action Plan and shared how the city can deliver a more competitive, convenient and reliable transit system that meets the community's needs today and beyond over the next decade.

24:04It demonstrated how it moves us closer to meeting goals set out in the city's strategic plan by improving connectivity of the whole transportation system, making it easier for people to travel within city limits.

24:17Gulf Transit started with a look at individual routes and frequency to meet current and future customer needs and to identify opportunities to move from its current system that requires customers to transfer buses at a central hub to a more grid-like system with direct routes.

24:37The route review used data collection, such as ridership and stop activity data, and route-by-route on-time performance, industry best practices, and employee and public input to create a 10-year plan that will see yearly changes until fully integrated by 2032.

24:57On November 15, 2021, Council approved the Gulf Transit Future Ready Action Plan, a blended model of transit hubs, express routes, and routes that follow the city spine in a grid-like pattern, as well as outer perimeter.

25:11It's designed to get people where they want to go with more route types such as core-based university express and industrial express, faster travel times, frequent service, and service reliability.

25:25At the time, it was clear that making the Future Ready Action Plan a reality required capital investment in additional buses, updated in new transit facilities, and to invest in sustainable alternatives like electrification.

25:38The financial impact would be reviewed through the budget update process, and implementation would depend on budget approval.

25:48Another part of this journey we must consider revolves around environmental sustainability. While Gulf has always been a leader in sustainability, in 2018, Council set a goal for the community to be net zero by 2050, and in 2019, the city formally recognized a climate crisis.

26:08Gulf is participating in the United Nations Race to Zero campaign. Our goal is to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 63% per capita by 2030 compared to 2018 levels. Just last month, the city presented the Community Call to Climate Action.

26:29The Community Call to Climate Action is about collective action, as no single entity can do it alone. The Community Call to Climate Action clearly defines how we can fight climate change and the priority climate actions required to meaningfully achieve carbon reductions.

26:45And with this focus on what is needed, we can figure out real ways to gain more momentum and support in the community to join in the action. Taking public transit is climate action where everyone in the community can get involved.

26:59If you recall, the May Committee of the Whole meeting included discussion specifically about growing transit and getting people out of cars and using other transportation modes to reduce emissions caused by the transportation sector, which is currently the largest contributor to community emissions.

27:16Replacing diesel buses with electric buses is a way the corporation can optimize how public transit is provided by reducing operating costs and using a cleaner fuel source.

27:27This also helps corporate emissions in a big way and works towards the corporate 100% renewable energy goals. I'll now turn it back to Antti.

27:37Thanks, Glen. So now that we've covered some of the important background information, we will move on to an overview of the interconnected objectives, links to the strategic plan, and how the topics of the workshop fit together in the big scheme of things.

27:55The work we're discussing today aligns and helps us deliver on all four pillars of the strategic plan. I won't go into all the details, but as you know, our commitment under environment is to be a leader in climate action, reduce energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, reduce

28:14the use of the carbon footprint by investing in zero emissions vehicles for our fleet. Our commitment under people and economy is to grow the economy and to support the delivery of reliable city services, including public transit options to

28:29wealth businesses. Moving to city building, our commitment is to make it easier to get around and improve housing supply, keep up the city's growth by advancing wealth transit and fleet services facility to be shovel ready, implement the

28:43wealth transit future ready action plan to get people where they want to go, support sustainable growth and quality of life within our community, and finally under foundations we aim to provide excellent service and maintain the city's healthy financial position.

28:57So let's take a closer look at how these elements are interconnected. On this slide, you will see the future ready action plan is at the top. This then feeds into three categories, which I'll discuss while highlighting interdependencies.

29:12Firstly, making it easier to get around, supporting housing and growth and reducing wealth's carbon footprint. From these three categories, we focus on several initiatives, expanding transit, investing in our fleet, introducing electric vehicle buses and charging infrastructure and utilizing the

29:32ICIP funding. All these components are interdependent. For example, making it easier to get around requires more transit options. More transit means we need additional space and increased maintenance.

29:45Supporting housing and city growth, that requires expansion of city services to maintain our service levels. To reduce wealth's carbon footprint, we aim to replace diesel buses with electric ones.

29:57This transition requires charging stations and additional space for more buses, further illustrating the interconnected nature of these initiatives.

30:06On this slide, we're taking a closer look at how this work is all connected. Cascading down from the strategic plan and master plans into the needs assessments and how the needs of our operational departments feed into the wealth transit and fleet services facility.

30:26The wealth transit and fleet services facility is the link that enables the city objectives of allowing more transit buses and storage, centralizing the fleet maintenance services, capacity for bus charging infrastructure, it drives the wealth transit future ready action plan.

30:44It also provides space, technology for storing, charging, maintaining fleet vehicles, including electrified transit buses. Following completion of the wealth transit and fleet services facility provides facility space for operational services to expand with city growth and continue to provide service excellence to the community.

31:04The facility is about providing growth capacity for transit and fleet maintenance and is also aligned with the city environmental sustainability goals.

31:12It leverages the ISAP grant funding and supports the city continuing as an employer of choice with operational facilities that function efficiently and effectively to provide services to the community.

31:24Ryan Hoyen will now provide an update on the wealth transit fleet services facility.

31:28Hello, I'm Brian Hoyen. I manage the energy and climate change division within the facilities and energy management team.

31:40Related to this, I'm the program manager for transit electrification, which includes the wealth transit fleet services facility.

31:48So the wealth transit fleet and fleet services facility is a major part of the operational facilities long term plan, which covers this site and several other work locations used by different city departments.

32:03The plan for these facilities was first initiated with a 2019 facility needs assessment.

32:10The graph shows the projected sequence and timing for each of the operational facilities that are included.

32:19The plan presented here is captured in the 10 year capital forecast, but remains flexible to allow the scope and timing within the multi-year budget to be adjusted to match affordability and maybe subject to modification in future years.

32:32With affordability top of mind, the timing has been deferred in priority sequence to spread out the capital costs.

32:41The first step of the plan is completing the construction of the wealth transit fleet services facility.

32:46This allows fleet services to move out of its current location and the subsequent shifting of other departments and major renovations can then take place at the other facilities and priority sequence.

32:57All these operational facilities are critical to meet city growth, levels of service and cost efficiently.

33:04Approval of funding for these projects will be through the budget process.

33:11The costs in the 10 year capital forecast are currently high level estimates and they will be refined throughout the design phases and following the city's planning processes.

33:20Focusing back in on the wealth transit fleet services facility, on the screen is the site layout.

33:31The site is situated just north of Stone Road which runs along the bottom of the image and west of Watson Parkway which is the road along the right border.

33:41The facility is made up of two main parts with the fleet maintenance area on the right and the transit bus storage area on the left.

33:50Stormwater ponds flank the site to the east and west.

33:54Although the facility is operations focused and generally not open to the public, included in the design is a new public parking area situated at the west side of the site which will connect to the hiking trails on the former Ontario reformatory lands near the Aramosa River.

34:12The wealth transit fleet services facility will address key constraints.

34:18It will enhance fleet maintenance capabilities.

34:21As mentioned, the new facility includes purpose built fleet maintenance garage space that will allow the fleet services team to relocate activities at this new headquarter location.

34:33The up to date fleet maintenance garage space will be equipped with appropriate tools and workspace to complete repairs and ensure fleet vehicles are available to provide important public services.

34:45It will increase transit bus storage capacity.

34:49As shown earlier, the existing 170 W Watson Road bus depot stores 66 conventional buses and 10 mobility buses and has no more room to store anything more and that restricts transit expansion.

35:02The wealth transit fleet services facility will add new bus storage capacity as well as service areas for interior cleaning, washing and fluids refill.

35:12It will build up bus charging capacity.

35:15The initial phase of bus charging infrastructure was installing chargers at the 170 W Watson Road bus depot to the electrical limits of the facility.

35:23As more electric buses arrive, we are approaching the limits of the initial bus charging capability, or constraining the utilization of electric buses.

35:33The wealth transit fleet services facility will have larger electrical service that can supply more electricity for bus charging and support more transit electrification.

35:42For transit maintenance and storage building types like the wealth transit fleet services facility, it is typical to require significant floor space.

35:53The wealth transit fleet services facilities anticipated to be approximately 26,000 square meters or 283,000 square feet.

36:02If you can imagine, it's equivalent to about five football fields.

36:07The wealth transit and fleet services facility includes a road network designed to improve efficiency and prioritize driver safety.

36:15There is a vehicle staging area on the north end of the site for fleet maintenance.

36:20The overall site will be secured with fencing and controlled entry.

36:24Landscaping in berms will surround the facility to reduce visual impact and noise to neighboring properties while cost effectively utilizing the excess soil on site.

36:33Stormwater facilities and infiltration galleries will be located on the site to capture precipitation runoff from the building and paved areas for the site and surrounding areas.

36:45And a signalized intersection will be installed at the main driveway to manage traffic flows.

36:51In December 2024, we received the 30% design package and cost estimate.

36:56The 30% design cost estimate was high and deemed not affordable.

37:01The project team has been working on value engineering to reduce the cost as well as considering ISIP grant prioritization options to increase the funding for the facility.

37:11Some of the affordability and value engineering strategies in the place include using an integrated design and construction team.

37:19To leverage skills from both design and constructability perspectives to make informed decisions and track budget.

37:26Updating the transit operating model to use both 170 Wattson Road and the new Guelph Transit and Fleet Services Facility as purpose built bus depots and have more space for transit expansion.

37:39Managing excess soils by incorporating a cut fill design that reuses materials on site to achieve soil balance.

37:48Which avoids the high cost of taking soils off site adopting a modular building design so the facility can be built in affordable phases and expand over time as the transit fleet expands.

38:02And incorporating open walled bus storage which is a practical and cost effective approach for providing covered storage for the buses so they can meet operating demands.

38:11And they were also including rooftop solar photovoltaics which will offset much of the high electrical usage at the facility and reduce ongoing operating costs.

38:24Looking specifically at transit electrification there are a few updates I'd like to share.

38:33As mentioned over the years we've grown the electric portion of the bus fleet.

38:38Currently there are 19 electric 40 foot conventional buses in the fleet.

38:43As for market conditions for buses unfortunately like most things the cost for electric buses and diesels for that matter has increased significantly.

38:52And so the number of new buses to be purchased each year for both renewal and expansion cannot be purchased within the existing budgeted dollars.

39:02In addition there is a long lead time for delivery of electric buses approximately two years from order date.

39:09This has impact to bus purchases.

39:12The 2024 and 2025 budgeted renewal or expansion buses have not been ordered yet due to the above noted pricing and delivery constraints.

39:23With a long lead time for electric buses compounded with the bus charging limitations.

39:28The near term plan is to refurbish the diesel buses due for replacement to get more usage out of them.

39:34And to do this until the new facility is constructed and we have the additional bus charging infrastructure.

39:40Another strategic move to build out bus charging infrastructure is to add fast bus chargers at key bus route node locations such as a Guelph Central Station.

39:50We have this on route charging infrastructure budgeted in 2026.

39:55Advancing this work with procurement this year.

39:59I will now hand things over to Shanna for the next section of the presentation.

40:03Thanks Brian. I'm Shanna Dwyer, general manager of finance, city, treasure and chief financial officer.

40:15So I know anti mentioned it up front but as a reminder, ISIP stands for investing in Canada infrastructure program and I'm going to say a lot.

40:23So I just thought I'd refresh your memories.

40:26So the ISIP public transit stream provides grant funding for transit infrastructure projects including planning, construction, expansion and modernization of public transit systems.

40:38The city successfully applied for funding under this program in 2019 and 2022.

40:44Between the two application intakes funding for nine projects totaling 103.3 million was approved.

40:52From 2022 to 2024 inflation significantly eroded the purchasing power of these funds and an acknowledgement of that ISIP opened up a decommitment process in 2023 to enable grant funds or recipients to move funds between projects to support the highest priority projects.

41:11In late 2024 ISIP opened a second decommitment opportunity.

41:17Through the first decommitment process in 2023 the city decommitted funds from all but three projects the Guelph transit and fleet services facility transit portion transit expansion buses and transit replacement and electrification buses.

41:33All of the decommitted funds from the other projects were moved to the Guelph transit and fleet services facility.

41:39This request was approved by ISIP.

41:43Through the second decommitment process we have requested to decommit the unspent funds from the transit replacement electrification buses and move them to the facility as well.

41:53That request is pending approval from ISIP.

41:57Through all of this the city has maintained a good relationship with the funder and regularly monitors this project through an agreement oversight committee to manage risks.

42:10So why have these adjustments been made?

42:13From the other members of the team presenting today you have heard about the multiple strategic objectives that are enabled by the Guelph transit and fleet services facility.

42:22Transit expansion because the current transit facility is at max capacity.

42:27Transit electrification because we need more charging infrastructure.

42:31And asset renewal because the current fleet services facility is at end of life and not large enough to service today's public works vehicles efficiently.

42:39You've also heard about the barriers.

42:41High inflation and the increased cost of building.

42:44Long delivery timelines and the increased price of buying new buses.

42:49The need to ensure the timing of increased electrical charging capacity aligns with the timeline for delivery of additional electric buses.

42:57So this is the most up to date information, budget information that we currently have based on the plans that have been developed from responding to all of these barriers.

43:10And they will be coming to you through budget adjustments in the Q2 budget monitoring report and the 2026 budget confirmation process.

43:20So first talking about the Guelph transit and fleet services facility.

43:24The 40% design cost estimates have been completed and the total project budget is estimated at 210.7 million.

43:33That figure is all in and includes funds approved in previous years for design and site development and funds in the 2026 budget and forecast for construction and electrical charging equipment.

43:45As well as the consultants recommended level of contingency for a project of this size and complexity.

43:51In total, it is 7.2 million higher than the project budget total from the 2025 capital budget and forecast.

43:59And we also have more clarity about the timing of the budget requirements now and adjustments to increase the project budget to the 40% design cost estimates in timing will be proposed through the 2026 budget update.

44:13These estimates have been arrived at after significant value engineering as you've worked or as you've heard by the internal and external project team.

44:22And that value engineering work will continue as the project design is completed.

44:27So we're not done looking at that.

44:30But a lot of the big stuff I think has already been incorporated.

44:35The budget changes for this project will require other adjustments and deferrals through the 26 budget update.

44:42And we will rely on our capital prioritization criteria to recommend those changes.

44:48The bus fleet replacement and electrification budget has been adjusted downward to reflect the actual spending to date.

44:55Plus the remaining funds committed for the additional renewal buses that will be delivered this summer.

45:01But I think maybe that is old news.

45:05The unspent ISAP funds and the related municipal contribution has been moved to the facility in alignment with the decommitment request.

45:13Remaining municipal funds have been moved to two new projects.

45:17One for refurbishment of diesel buses for renewal needs for 2024 to 28.

45:22And one for the refurbishment of two diesel buses for growth.

45:26And those adjustments will come to you through the Q2 budget monitoring report.

45:30With respect to root expansions, there has been no change in the overall budget of 40.95 million for that program,

45:40which includes ISAP grant funding of 18 million and municipal funding of 22.9 million.

45:46And there has been a scope change, though, to reduce this program from 30 buses down to 24 buses to reflect the purchasing power of the funds because of the increased price of buses.

45:57The scope modification request is subject to approval from ISAP.

46:02And as I mentioned on the previous slide, there will also be the two diesel buses refurbished to support root expansions,

46:08which will be funded from the savings from the refurbishment of those renewal buses.

46:15With the timeline for facility construction firmed up,

46:18we have also identified the need to advance the on-route charging capacity for optimal operation of the electric buses that we will have or that we now have.

46:30So there is 5 million in the 2026 budget for this,

46:33and we will request these funds to be moved to 2025 through the Q2 budget monitoring report so that the procurement can be started this year.

46:42The 10-year capital forecast also includes a total budget of 75 million to address the needs illustrated in the operational facilities long-term plan with updated facilities for parks,

46:53two locations at Maryland Drive and 50 municipal per public works at 45 municipal and solid waste operations center and collection center.

47:04That has not changed from the 2025 budget confirmation,

47:07but the timing of those projects may shift through the 2026 budget confirmation process or future budget updates.

47:15And I'll turn it back over to Antie.

47:17Thanks, Shannon.

47:23So I'll take the next few minutes to walk everyone through how all of this work is connected.

47:31So first off, city growth leads to a need for more housing,

47:36new area development and intensification, and more demand for public services.

47:42And this means we need more transit buses, more emergency services, more plows, waste management vehicles, and infrastructure maintenance vehicles to name a few.

47:52There are some barriers stopping us from being able to achieve these things.

47:58We're out of space to maintain fleet vehicles.

48:00We're out of space to add transit buses as shown in the earlier pictures.

48:04Our facilities are at end of life and beyond capacity.

48:08And then there are community challenges, maintaining levels of service and a sustainable way to keep up with city growth and growing transit service.

48:16We want to share five key takeaways for you as we conclude this workshop, which are one, the first one.

48:27City growth demands infrastructure expansion.

48:29The city of Guelph is experiencing significant population growth, which requires expanded and modernized infrastructure to maintain service levels.

48:38This includes more transit buses, fleet vehicles, operational facilities, support services like transit, waste collection and public works.

48:46Secondly, facility limitations are hindering service delivery and expansion.

48:50Current fleet and transit facilities are outdated over capacity and not suitable for modern vehicle sizes or electric bus infrastructure.

48:57And of course, this results in outsourcing maintenance, which is costly and inefficient.

49:02Storing buses off site, which creates security and operational risks and inability to expand transit services effectively.

49:10Number three, the Guelph Transit Fleet Services facility is central to future readiness.

49:16It is a cornerstone project that will provide adequate space for bus storage and maintenance, support electrical bus charging infrastructure,

49:24enable consolidation and modernization of fleet services, be scalable and designed with sustainability in mind,

49:31modular design and value engineering to bring down facility cost as much as possible.

49:37Number four, Trans electrification and sustainability goals.

49:41Guelph is committed to achieving net zero carbon by 2050 and is actively transitioning its transit fleet from diesel to electric.

49:47This includes 19 electric buses already in service, plans for more but constrained by charging infrastructure and high costs.

49:54And electrification is essential as transit buses are cities largest, are the cities largest greenhouse gas emitter.

50:03And lastly, number five, strategic funding and phased implementation.

50:08So the city is leveraging the investing in Canada infrastructure program to fund transit and facility upgrades that includes the construction of the new Guelph Transit Fleet Services facility.

50:18That is planned to start next year in 2026.

50:21We've decommitted funding from other ISAP projects to prioritize the facility because it is foundational to transit expansion and electrification and overall facility renewal.

50:32In the short term, we're refurbishing diesel buses to respond to electrical charging capacity constraints, increase bus costs and delivery timelines and prioritizing that funding for the facility.

50:43In conclusion, ISAP funding is the opportunity to grow transit operations, which includes storing, charging and buying buses.

50:55It's aligned with our strategic plan objectives.

50:58The council approved future ready action plan and the desire to expand and modernize the city growth, modernize with city growth and more housing.

51:07So to recap the Guelph Transit Fleet Services facility is the thing that enables city objectives, things like implementation of the future ready action plan as more buses can be purchased and stored, more electric buses can be charged and all city fleet vehicles can be serviced and maintained efficiently and effectively.

51:24It enables real progress towards sustainability goals of reducing community greenhouse gas emissions as part of the community called the Climate Action that we talked about at the May 6th community of the whole meeting.

51:34Moving operations into the new Guelph Transit and Fleet Services facility also allows more space for growth at existing operational facility locations with capital improvements queued up in sequence within the 10-year capital forecast that can be sped up or slowed down at the will of council based on the budget process.

51:54So putting all the information together, the ISAP funding, the Guelph Transit and Fleet Services facility and the 10-year capital forecast, those are the things that enables us to do what is expected of us as a city.

52:07To make Guelph a great place to live, work and play. This means more buses in alignment with the future ready action plan.

52:13Snow plows to clear more streets and new growth areas, garbage trucks to pick up waste, responding to emergencies, servicing our buried infrastructure, maintaining our green spaces and parks, maintaining city recreation facilities and the list goes on and on.

52:32So these three elements are really what enable city growth and facilitates the delivery of city services to accommodate that growth and meeting the levels of service that are expected from the community.

52:43Thank you for your attention and allowing and participation and allowing us to get through a lot of information here with the slide presentation and we're happy to answer any of your questions.

52:57Thank you so much everyone. Appreciate the presentation.

53:01I'll open it up to anyone that has any questions.

53:08Okay, Karli.

53:09Yeah.

53:10Yes, thank you for the presentation, all of you.

53:15I had a question with regard to the new Transit and Fleet Services facility.

53:20We talked about life cycle. We're currently at the life cycle of the current building. What would the life cycle of the new building be?

53:28Sorry, I just have like clean X boxes in the way for my allergies.

53:43Yeah, so I just wanted to be clear about the 170 Watson Road. So the condition of the 170 Watson Road bus depot is in good condition.

53:50And so we are looking to continue to use that as the bus depot.

53:54And then with the Gold Transit Fleet Services facility, you know, typical life of a billing, you know, 50 years or so. I mean, as long as it's well maintained.

54:03And then keeping in mind that we can expand is the design is incorporating that modular design. So it is expanding to be able to take on more buses beyond the 84 buses that it is currently designed for.

54:17Great. I appreciate the clarification too on the current facility. Can I ask another?

54:26I have a question about the ISIP funding. Are there conditions for the funding? I know that, you know, there's been some changes and the government has adjusted for those.

54:40But when does it need to be used by if it has to be used by a certain timeline?

54:47Thank you. I believe it is 2033 that we have until I can double check that. Okay. Yes. My colleagues are nodding. Thank you.

55:00Thank you.

55:02Following up on the first question from Councillor Claeson.

55:05I believe that previously the plan was to move the transit facility to the new location to what was the deal, the operation campus.

55:15And then parks would move to transit. So has that changed of parks to the transit facility being, like I said, not growing the table at this point?

55:26So there's been a couple of iterations on the on the sequence of which department would go to which location.

55:35So the current plan has transit operating out of two locations, the 170 Watson as well as the new golf transit fleet services.

55:45So primarily for affordability, as well as there's benefits from a operational perspective, we've got two, two depots or we're not relying on just one location in case there's a, you know, a problem that one we can always operate out of the other.

56:01So there's efficiencies that way and some redundancy from an operating model, as well as transitioning to electrification and transitioning with growth.

56:10We're not having to move out, essentially.

56:14Now, as far as parks is concerned, we've reviewed all of the available options and with with fleet moving out of 45 municipal into this new location that allows operations to expand at 45 minutes.

56:32And that therefore allows parks to reside solely at 50 municipal. And then we also recognize that the parks operations at Maryland Drive, we have land that can be built upon for updating their facilities which are at end of life.

56:48So the benefit with parks being at Maryland Drive is it's very central to the city. And so from an operational cost perspective, keeping them there makes sense. And plus we have the space to accommodate them.

57:01That makes a lot of sense. Thank you for that update. I really appreciate that.

57:05My next question was read on the report that the electric buses have a shorter range than the diesel buses. I was wondering as we move into and also you mentioned that there be installation of new charging stations as we move to the grid system.

57:21How will that shorter range play into it? Will it be that we keep the diesel buses for the longer routes that go up and down the one streets and maintain the electric buses for shorter routes? How does this work?

57:40I just want to, in terms of the shorter range for an electric bus versus the diesel. So I think it's the way of how things are being charged or a tank is refilled.

57:52Right, so we're used to the convention of a gas tank or a diesel tank. We go to a pump, we pump it up, like these split, we're on our way next time.

57:59We don't currently have that for electric buses. Based on the current size of our chargers. So currently we have chargers in the 170 Watts and Road Depot. It takes a few hours to take it from completely dead to full.

58:15But those buses can go out depending on the route, but can go out quite a long all day. And that's why it's key to have that fast charging capability in the downtown node because many of the buses circulate through there and can do that lickety split charge.

58:29If we have that infrastructure and they can go on the 99 North South and anything all day.

58:38That's very helpful. And my last question.

58:43We have been told that there would be another bus terminal in the south end. Where does that fall on these plants? Is that still in play that there would be another bus terminal somewhere in Clermonti or is that outside that what is being presented today?

59:00When I start and Glenn, you can help me out after. So I think the transit station that would be for the future Clermonti areas is currently outside the 10 year capital forecast.

59:16And that's something that we'll have to keep an eye on as that growth happens and what's really needed. But at this point it's a little bit beyond our forecast horizon.

59:27Yeah, I appreciate that. Thank you. Thank you, worship.

59:35Any other follow up at all? No. Okay. Oh, okay. Christine.

59:42Sorry. Sorry about that. Can you hear me?

59:53Yes, we can hear you. We can't see you, but we can hear you.

59:57How's that? I hit the wrong button. Brilliant. You're good.

1:00:02Unbelievable. Okay. So, do you commitment number two? Yes, it needs approval. Do you have a feel though? Like our odds are pretty good.

1:00:11For this approval.

1:00:19I think there's a solid chance that it would be approved. I do. Yes. Okay. So that's positive. So if it's not, then you're just going to come back to council.

1:00:29Correct. That is right. We would have to update our plan and figure out a new strategy to bring back.

1:00:36Okay. So high level, the 7 million. So yeah, the 2025, 2026 budget, maybe deferral, other things out of capital, yada, yada.

1:00:45At the end of the day though, with the shifting, do you believe there's going to be a tax impact or no?

1:00:55So yes, there is a tax impact. I don't have an estimate of that off the top, but each, so there's the of the 210 in total project budget, 77 million is funded from the grant.

1:01:14And then the remainder municipal contribution is funded from a combination of development charges and tax funds, tax capital funds.

1:01:25And so there would be a portion of that remainder that would be tax funded. Yes.

1:01:31Even if we even if we deferred other projects so that there was no tax impact, could we do that? This is what I'm getting at. Like, it was the only thing that I wasn't clear on in the report, truffling things around deferral of capital projects.

1:01:45That's all good. It was just really the concern of any tax impact.

1:01:51I understand my apologies. So we are not proposing increasing the overall capital budget or the tax funding in the capital budget for this. We're proposing looking at other deferrals instead.

1:02:04Okay. Thank you so much.

1:02:07That's it.

1:02:09Okay, thank you.

1:02:11Okay. Well, with that, I'll think I'll just make a quick comment to close it off then I guess.

1:02:18You know, it's, it's a lot of money, but it's very clearly, it's very clearly needed. Like, there's really no argument that we don't need it.

1:02:30I think in the last, and my colleagues can totally correct me, please with what I'm about to say if we think I'm stepping out of bounds, but, but I think, I think the last few terms council was already was very focused on and in my view, rightly focused on

1:02:47front facing projects, like that citizens would use and go into every day like open a door and go into every day. So we've got, you know, almost like $180 million or so of a library and a rec center as an example, these are like these front facing large capital projects, and

1:03:09they'll feel and use it and see it every day. But then there's the disease behind the scenes capital projects, like what we're talking about today, that are the things that our citizens are going to be able to, you know, walk into every day.

1:03:23And yet it is literally part of the sort of the heartbeat of a city is what it's part of the cog, the cog of a city that's that's moving and growing and just doing its job on for the frontline services that our community continually needs today, plus the preparation for growth.

1:03:41So I view I view this in a way of like, still just as important. It's just not as front facing to the community as maybe some of the other projects that we've done, but I think I think the, you know, I think the right decisions were made on the front facing projects.

1:03:58And now I think we need to make sure that we continue with the right decisions to make these these projects continue to move forward to so sorry, Andy, did you want to jump in on what I was saying? Nope. Oh, thumbs up. Okay. Good.

1:04:12Tara, did you want to, I'm done on my end. Do you want to say something? Okay, go ahead.

1:04:17Yeah, and thank you, Mr. Mayor, just to take this opportunity to thank the staff involved in what was brought here tonight. You'll recall there was a internal audit value for money audit done last year, where a number of these concerns about rising costs and

1:04:37uncertainty with the supply chain for buses and just the evolving technology over time and the concerns with inflation. And so it's taken a lot of work, a lot of collaboration between these different services that we're trying to integrate in a really efficient way here.

1:04:58And so I just really wanted to acknowledge all the work that was done and that we've worked through a number of hurdles. We still have a ways to go, but things, the designs coming together. And like you said, Mr. Mayor, this is a foundational, it's behind the scenes, but it's to support the front facing services that and the transit service, especially that the community is looking for.

1:05:24So I just wanted to say that in closing because of the just the vast amount of effort over over a period of time here to bring this to you.

1:05:33Great. Thank you, Tara.

1:05:36All right. Well, thank you, everybody. That was that was great. I am just looking for a motion to adjourn then. Kathy Linda, you okay with that? Okay.

1:05:46Just to adjourn. Yeah. All right. Is there anyone against adjournment?

1:05:50Nobody. All right. Thank you very much for joining us, everyone. Have a great night. Thank you.