Economic Development and Tourism Advisory Committee

0:02for this land. The people who live here today and the generations to come for actions today can

0:08move us towards reconciliation. We should take pause and make those decisions with intention

0:13and gratitude. This place we call Guelph is served as traditional lands and a place of refuge

0:19for many peoples over time, but more specifically the Atta Wanderang and the Haudenosaunee.

0:25This land is held as the treaty lands and territory with the Mississaugas of the credit first nation.

0:31Guelph lies directly adjacent to the Haldeman tract and is part of a long-established traditional

0:36hunting ground for the six nations of the Grand River, many First Nations, Inuit and Métis people

0:41who've come from across Turtle Island called Guelph home today.

0:54Are there any disclosure of pecuniary interests? Next is the approval of the minutes from the

1:06meeting January 13, 2026. Do I have someone who will move to accept the approval of the minutes?

1:17Dennis, thank you very much. And someone to second? Erin, thank you very much.

1:26Before discussion today, so there are three presentations. First one will be Christine

1:32Chapman, the economic development tourism purpose and mandate followed by the transportation demand

1:38management recommendations. And lastly, outside water use bylaw update. All the presentations

1:45are circulated to everyone by email prior to. So I guess we can start ladies first Christine.

1:54Thanks, Damian. Okay, so we have now been together for almost a year and we have seen

2:01different staff come to present. We have seen council make decisions based on the recommendations

2:08from this committee. And I just thought it would be a good opportunity to be able to

2:16reflect back on some of the work that's been done and better understand how this work actually

2:23translates into decisions made by council. So how do these discussions translate into

2:31things that are presented council through council reports and those kinds of staff reports and

2:35those types of things. So I thought it would be an opportunity to do that. And then also my intention

2:41and hope and our intention and hope is that it helps to empower folks to be able to be curious

2:49about some of the things that are being presented to you asking good questions. And we've had a lot

2:54of great dialogue, but I just don't want people to feel that their contributions are, you know,

3:01I mean, you may not know technically a lot about some of the things that are being presented,

3:06but your voice still matters and your vote still counts. So just wanted to kind of connect the

3:12dots between here and council. So to start that off with a revisit of the mandate. So there are a

3:20number of different responsibilities as being a member, but boiling down to essentially two

3:26functions and roles. So the first is to provide the strategic input and advice to items that are

3:33related to economic development and tourism. So what that means is it's more formally our

3:40department or department of economic development and tourism includes downtown. It also includes

3:45strategic properties. It just most recently included the wealth junction railway. They have been

3:51reorged to another department, but we still work very, very closely with them. And it's an important

3:56almost strategic advantage for our community. So you'll be hearing things coming from our staff,

4:02and they may be information items, or we may be bringing something to council that we would like

4:06to get your, your feedback and opinion on. We may not be bringing it to council, but we may still

4:12want to make sure that it's in front of you. Some of the items that have come already are the way

4:16fighting strategy. If you remember that and the St. George's Square. So those are the kinds of things

4:23that come from our department. And then additionally are items that are coming to you guys, but it's

4:31not specifically economic development and tourism, but we feel may have some impact on the business

4:37community or staff in other departments have identified it as being something they wish to get

4:43in front of the business community to kind of get their take on something. And when I say business

4:48community is interchangeable with our tourism operators are not for profits who represent

4:53tourism and events as well as businesses as a whole. So those are the, that's what we're looking

5:02to get from folks at this during these meetings. Okay, it's either coming from us or it's coming

5:08from our fellow staff. Pop quiz. So who actually went through the materials prior to the

5:15presentation? Damien's got his hand up there.

5:18No, he's. I want to stare on the bridge.

5:24All right. So how many times does council typically meet in a month? Anybody? We're going to have to

5:33do both of them. Three times. Three times. That's right. So meet officially meet three times. That's

5:39typical budget special council meetings would have you but typically it's three times a month.

5:45All right. And that is names of those meetings are the committee of the whole meeting.

5:52You may hear us refer to it as cow. There's committee of the whole. So there's a committee

5:57of the whole meeting and then there is a meeting specifically for planning matters. And then there's

6:02an official council meeting and I'll talk about the differences of those meetings and how reports

6:07go to council. I do want to preface all of this to say I am not a clerk. I'm not an official

6:14clerk, you know, representative. This is coming from an active perspective and how we work with

6:19the awesome folks and clerks to get items in front of council on those types of things. So

6:26don't quote me on the legislative definitions, please. All right. So how do we report to council?

6:35So typically staff will report to council in two different ways. One is through a staff report.

6:40A staff report is used when a decision needs to be made. Okay. So we want council to make a

6:48decision on something direct staff to undertake some kind of work, approve something. And that

6:55is when we will use a staff report as part of that report. You will see something called a

7:01recommendation. You'll hear staff coming to you to say we're going to make a recommendation to

7:04council. What that is is we will make a recommendation and we're asking them to develop a motion based

7:10on that recommendation. They may use that recommendation or they may make amendments to

7:15it. They can do what they would they please with putting a motion on the table. But it's a way for

7:20us to help inform them about what is the ask of council to be able to approve. Okay. So when we

7:27talk about we're making a recommendation to council, that's what we're talking about. The other

7:32method by which we communicate with council is through something called an information reward.

7:36And we use these reports when a decision isn't needing to be made, but we do want to publicly

7:42communicate something. All right. So this might be an update on a program. It might be

7:49it might be a form of communication that we've had with other levels of government, those kinds of

7:54things. All right. So all of those are compiled by our wonderful clerks department and put into

8:00an information report package. And that goes to council every single Friday. Alrighty. So those

8:07are the two ways that we communicate with council. Let's talk go back to the committee or the council

8:14meetings and talking about decision making and how we communicate. So a committee of the whole

8:20meeting. So a committee of the whole meeting is actually not technically a council meeting.

8:24It's a committee meeting. And it's called committee of the whole because it's the whole of council

8:29that is meeting. Okay. Everybody from council is meeting. It's not a it's not a subsection of

8:33council and it's but it's everybody and it represents all of the different departments

8:38within the city. Okay. So that's why it's called committee of the whole. At committee of the whole,

8:43council will receive staff reports as I noted. So you'll see staff presentations and those types

8:49of things. Delegations and public delegations can come out and speak to the staff reports and the

8:54recommendations that are being put forward. They can also ask questions of staff. So if they have

9:00any questions related to the report. And they can also make motions based on those recommendations,

9:09but they cannot be approved because it's not a council meeting. So when you see staff going

9:13at the beginning of the month, like we're saying now, going to committee of the whole, this is

9:19what they're talking about. They're presenting an idea of report to staff. They're asking for a

9:23decision. They have an on council is an opportunity to ask those questions here from the public

9:28related to the topic. And then they will refer those motions to the end of the month when they're

9:35officially meeting as council. In some cases, what council will do at committee of the whole is

9:40send staff back to find out more information. Okay, so we had, you know, a lot of public

9:46delegations. It's opened up a lot of questions. We have more questions here than can we can discuss

9:50within the time. Please go back, give some thought to those questions, and we will meet again at the

9:55end of the month and have a full some discussion to make a decision. Okay, so that's committee of the

10:00whole. The next meeting is an official council meeting, but it's only for planning matters.

10:06So council has a legislative role here to like a large role to be approving and hearing on a

10:15large amount of planning matters. So we have one meeting a month that's just solely planning

10:21matters. So if you see our planning folks here, likely they're working toward this planning meeting.

10:26Okay, and looking for council to make a decision on during this planning meeting. It's only for

10:31planning. And then as I noted, the official council meeting is actually at the end of the month,

10:36and that's when the decisions are made. So presented at the beginning of the month. Let's give some

10:41thought to it. Meet at the end of the month. All right. Okay, so how the work that's done here in

10:50this committee makes its way to council is typically through a staff report. In every staff report,

10:57there's a section that staff have to fill out, and it's called consultations and engagement.

11:02And now what I'm going to do is try and flip my screen. So bear with me. I think that just seeing

11:11a staff report might be helpful. Okay. So this is an item that came to the committee. This is the

11:16Water and Waste Water Servicing Allocation Policy. This is what it looks like. Here's our recommendations

11:21of staff, adopt the policy, create a bylaw, those types of things. And you have a whole slew of

11:28background. Here's all the background work that was done. Everything that you needed to know and

11:33ever wanted to know about this topic. And at the very, not all, not the very bottom, but close to

11:40the bottom is this section, consultations and engagement. And this is what council wants to

11:46hear about is, who did you talk to related to this recommendation that you're putting forward?

11:52And this is where staff either in some cases, there's this section is very, very robust,

11:58and there's a lot of engagement. In some cases, not a lot of engagement is needed. You know,

12:03it's a technical report that's coming forward, little engagement. But this on this topic that

12:09came to this committee. There you guys are right there. Okay, so this topic came to the committee

12:15twice. And so once was to introduce the program and gather feedback through their engagement,

12:23the engagement time that they had allotted. And the second time was to come back and ask for

12:31for the endorsement of the policy, so that when they went to council, it signals to council,

12:37your advisory committee has seen this, they have been had an opportunity to comment on it,

12:42and we endorse generally, you know, you don't have to be a technical expert, we endorse what's

12:47going forward to council. And that's your communication and council is through those

12:51motions at the end. Okay, so that's the first way that we communicate with council. The other is

12:59items for information. So this is when I was talking about those information reports.

13:04Here's the information reports and here's all the information reports that go to council in a

13:08week. Okay. And here are our minutes. The minutes of every single committee meeting

13:17goes into an information report and gets presented to council. So if council wanted to know and trace

13:23back through the staff report, when did it go to edTAC, what was the specific motion that was put

13:30forward? If there are recommendations that have been worked into a motion, they will see that.

13:35Okay, so they can go down to page 25. There we are. There you are. Okay. Here are the items for

13:46discussion. There's the wastewater allocation policy and there's the motion that's been carried by

13:52this group. Okay. And then you'll see the second one there. So St. George's Square, this didn't need

13:58a motion. This was just for information purposes. Maybe you're receiving information. Maybe it's just

14:05an update. You know, council made their decision, everybody, and here's where we landed. Okay. So

14:11I just thought it would be helpful for you to see the connection here. So when we're asking you to

14:16make motions and those types of things, you kind of understand what happens next.

14:21So the going back is specifically us to... So when we're asking questions, when the presentation

14:30is being made, that's not being recorded. It's only that, like, do you want to... Yes. Okay.

14:36So this session is being recorded? Recorded, yes. Yes. But not in the minutes. Minutes are only for...

14:43I'm going to probably get this wrong, but they're only for capturing, like, new information. Like,

14:51I've made a presentation. Here is the result of that presentation. Not the dialogue that happens

14:56in between. Yeah. Okay. So, and I think this is also really important for you guys to understand,

15:05and that is why you... So the selection process, so we... As you know, there was an open call for

15:12applications. We received a lot of applications for this committee, and all applications were put

15:19toward evaluation criteria. And what we're looking for is professional experience and

15:26lived experience related to items that impact businesses and our tourism folks as well.

15:34So, and we're looking for a broad spectrum of experience to come to the table. We're looking for,

15:44you know, not-for-profits. We want to see smaller businesses, larger businesses, across sectors.

15:53That makes for a very, very broad skill set that's coming to this table. But you were

15:59recommended by staff and appointed by council to this committee based on what we believe that you

16:05could bring in terms of perspective, okay, to staff. So that was... That's it. So, I mean,

16:13like, I'm happy to answer any questions about what kind of... What are some of the things that we go

16:17through to bring items here or what have you, evaluation criteria, whatever it is that you

16:26have questions about, but just thought it'd be a good sort of reset as we go into the new year.

16:33Excellent. Thank you for that. How do the things that make it onto the agenda for a discussion,

16:40how do those come about for the advisory committees? Yeah. So, Alex and I meet every single month.

16:47We typically will meet right after this meeting, kind of do a bit of a debrief as to what we heard.

16:53And we will take a look at the council agenda. So, there's some kind of agenda forecast,

17:01so we know what reports are going to be or slated. It moves around. It's a living document. But

17:07to come to council and we'll highlight those, we'll also bring in our colleagues typically

17:13at once of order. And this is our entire department and to the leadership team to say,

17:19hey, are we missing anything that we should be looking for? And then most recently, we also

17:26worked with our engagement team. So, one of the things that Alex and I found is that a lot of

17:33the items that are coming to you guys are really far down the decision-making path already. So,

17:41how can we maybe start at the beginning in that engagement time so that you have an opportunity

17:48to learn about the project, provide your input, those types of things. So, all of those go into

17:54our own agenda forecast. If we know something might be coming in October, we try to work about a

18:00two months behind before it comes to council, just because the report writing deadlines,

18:07that's kind of what we have to work within. So, we don't want the report already to be written,

18:11decisions made, recommendations, right? And then coming here, that's not necessarily ideal.

18:17In some cases, it's going to happen though, guys. Like, it's just the nature of the timelines we

18:21work within. But, it's not the intention. I hope that answers your question.

18:27Thank you. Any other questions?

18:39Okay, thanks very much, Christine. So, that was just a presentation. We don't have to

18:46become a formal follow-up. Oh, hey. 2.2, Transportation Demand Management Reconitations,

18:56presentation by Vanita, Project Manager Sustainable Transportation.

19:08Thank you so much for having me today. My name's Vanita Van Melton Berg. I'm a project manager

19:13with Sustainable Transportation and Transportation Planning Department here at the City of Wealth.

19:19I'm here today to share an exciting project that we have currently underway. It's called

19:23Moving You Forward. It's a Transportation Demand Management Action Plan. That's a bit of a mouthful.

19:30So, I'm definitely going to start with an overview of what transportation demand management means,

19:35and then sort of explain how you can expect to see this concept play out in a wealth context

19:41in the coming years. Okay, so, TDM 101. I'll just use the acronym TDM Moving Forward.

19:55So, essentially, what this means is it's a set of strategies aimed at reducing reliance on single

20:01occupancy vehicles. So, we're trying to mitigate traffic congestion. We're improving mobility city-wide,

20:08and we're encouraging more uptake of efficient options like transit, cycling, walking, carpooling,

20:15and telecommuting. The goal is really to leverage the existing network that we already have as opposed

20:22to relying on expanding roadways and parking facilities to accommodate our growing population.

20:28So, we're trying to make the best use of what we're already working with in the city.

20:36There's lots of reasons to invest in TDM. Not only does this help us responsibly manage growth,

20:42but it achieves a number of other positive outcomes as well. So, TDM enhances equity by

20:49ensuring that members of our community who are not able to drive or choose not to drive can still

20:54experience the same freedom and independence as those who do drive. It helps support community

20:59health and well-being by enhancing opportunities for physical activity and social connection.

21:05There are important economic benefits that come with reducing congestion and enabling a variety

21:09of commuting options. So, for instance, improving shipping and travel times, increasing job satisfaction,

21:17things like that. And then there are environmental benefits in the form of reduced greenhouse gas

21:21emissions, more resilient transportation systems. We're all feeling probably a little bit of a

21:28lack of resilience in our transportation system based on international affairs and what's going on

21:33in the broader global context. So, we're trying to reduce our reliance on those single occupancy

21:40vehicles and those boats of travel and kind of give us a more diversified transportation landscape.

21:47TDM is achieved through a variety of measures, but we sort of put them into two categories.

21:52They're typically thought of as either push or pullment measures. So, push measures are intended

21:57to decentralized automobile travel and pull measures are intended to incentivize alternatives.

22:06So, this includes a wide variety of tactics, but it can be things like shifting the demands on the

22:11transportation itself. So, staggering start times, we see this with elementary and high schools and

22:18the yellow bus service that they stagger their school start times so that all the buses are

22:23trying to transport all the kids at the exact same time every day. Things like promoting flexible

22:28work hours, offering compressed work weeks, work from home options, etc. And then there is things

22:35like existing, existing transportation options such as transit and active transportation,

22:41managing the parking supply and demand. This is a big one. So, through the use of parking levels,

22:46shared parking, offsite parking, anything that helps. Just helps folks think twice about whether

22:52or not it's worth it to drive or maybe if it's only a couple extra minutes to walk and it's a really

22:57nice day and they've got to walk from the parking spot, maybe for parking. Maybe they choose to

23:02make an alternative choice to driving. Land use and site design also have a large role of play.

23:08So, for instance, designing compact and misuse communities that promote active transportation

23:14and designing commercial and employment areas to prioritize those alternative votes. So, to really

23:19put the carpool parking up front center, you know, Stonrod Mall with its dedicated transit

23:25facility area is a really great example. And then finally, there's often a suite of sort of programs

23:33and incentives and educational resources put towards helping, helping spread information

23:39and helping travelers choose alternatives to driving. In terms of who does all of this work,

23:47you know, it's not a one size fits all solution, but a lot of the work does fall out to the public

23:51sector. That's us. We're responsible for building and managing transportation systems, and as well

23:58developing the policies that direct our investment in these systems. The public sector also often

24:05funds sort of travel consortiums. So, if you've heard of Waterloo's Travel Wise or the Greater

24:11Golden Horseshoe Smart Commute Program, those are transportation consortiums that are working

24:16on the same goal. Employers definitely have a role to play, especially those with a large and

24:22concentrated employee population. So, something like a hospital, universities, large industrial

24:28or business parks, employment hubs. Developers are largely responsible for site design. So,

24:34they have a role to play in developing the built facilities that contribute to the city's built

24:41environment. And then there's a role for businesses and service providers, especially those within

24:45the technology design and transportation sectors. Any questions so far, the content?

24:54Just pause because there's a lot of information. Okay, great. So, now we can turn our attention to

25:01WELF's Transportation Demand Management Action Plan. This is an overview of WELF's existing

25:08mode share. So, this is the percentage of trips that are occurring by each mode of travel. So,

25:14probably unsurprisingly to everyone in the room, driving kind of dominates. So, either driving a

25:19car or being a passenger in a vehicle makes up about 76% of today's trips in WELF. These are from

25:262022, but they wouldn't have changed too much over the last little bit. This is sort of a mid-Covid

25:34data point. Driving is followed by walking fairly high at 14%, and then we kind of reduce from there

25:43with transit, cycling, school bus use, and other. We have a Transportation Master Plan that was

25:50approved by Council in 2022, and this sets out our target mode share. So, this is what the city is

25:55working towards with the 2051 deadline. So, we are trying to see that automobile mode share decrease

26:02down to 58%, and we're trying walking we're fairly strong on. That stays fairly consistent,

26:09but cycling and transit, the goal is really to increase these modes. So, it's worth noting that

26:14WELF's population is expected to grow by about 40% between now and 2051. So, we're hoping to absorb

26:21a lot of those new trips with the alternative modes, as opposed to everyone who comes to WELF to

26:27work or live, bringing their private vehicle and us looking at sort of endless road widenings and

26:32trying to develop new parking facilities to make sure everyone has a place to park. We're really

26:37trying to absorb some of those new trips with those alternative modes. How will we do this?

26:46There is lots of work to do, so the city is definitely working on policy updates to help

26:51direct the investment to this end. So, this includes things like an updated cycling master plan,

26:56we're fencing our Vision Zero Road Safety Action Plan, there's a citywide parking master plan coming

27:04up. Those policy updates are also coupled with network improvements, so for instance,

27:08enhancing active transportation facilities so that people feel safer choosing to walk or cycle

27:14for some of their trips. Things like improving signals technology to enhance efficiency during

27:20peak hours. And then we'll also be looking at enhancing programs and services, so this might

27:26include rapid transit, service provision, hopefully some programs that will be coming out as a

27:32recommendation of our TDM Action Plan that we're working on now. And then working with partners

27:37across the sectors, so working with the development community, major employers, organizations,

27:42and institutions to also achieve some of these goals. In terms of this project, this is a bit of

27:51an overview of the timeline. So, we are, we've completed the background research and data collection

27:58and we've also undertaken a statistically significant household travel survey. I'll speak

28:05a little bit more about some of the results of that survey, but that's a pretty rich data source

28:11that we have to look to moving forward. And we've developed a TDM toolkit for development. I won't

28:17go into too much detail on that toolkit, but I'll just give you a really quick overview of it.

28:23Essentially, it's designed to streamline the process for achieving parking reductions through

28:28new developments in the city. So, the applicants, which would be developers, can use the toolkit

28:35to indicate which TDM type measures they're already including in their developments,

28:41in purple parking, and enhanced bike parking facilities, and end-of-trip facilities like

28:47showers. They might have some TDM wayfinding or a transit pass or something. They can check those

28:52boxes. The toolkit will automatically output a suggested reduction in the amount of parking that

28:58they need at their site. So, it'll essentially say, because you're offering all these other

29:04alternatives, and these are things that we've already sort of asked for at the site plan table, but

29:10it kind of structures those things that we're asking for to give them a recommended reduction.

29:16So, we're recommending 10% less parking at this site based on the fact that you're supporting

29:21travel to and from the site in all of these other ways. It's not an automatic approval. They still

29:26go through their regular council processes, so get a zoning bylaw amendment or a variance,

29:31but it does kind of help streamline the process, and it helps staff reviewers understand how we're

29:37going to support travel to and from these sites if we're under supplying parking a little bit.

29:45Part of the benefit of this tool is that it can also help us achieve more affordable housing

29:49developments, often parking as one of the most expensive things that developers have to invest in.

29:54So, we're trying to find ways to help find alternatives and improve our affordable housing

30:01delivery. And then right now, we're sort of in the final stages of this project. So,

30:08the consultants are working on developing the recommendations. We're doing some engagement

30:12touchpoints, so we just presented the toolkit to the development community last month. We're here

30:18today with you folks, and we'll also be taking the recommended measures to focus groups in mid-April.

30:25So, that's where we're at right now. This will go as an information report, which Christine has

30:31helped me outline for us today to council in July of this year. Okay, as part of our background

30:43research, we undertook some interviews with major employers here in Guelph just to get a bit of a

30:48pulse check on the status of TDM for major employers in Guelph, what they are maybe already

30:55doing in their workplaces, what types of initiatives they might be able to explore, what some of the

31:00barriers that they're aware of are. So, I wanted to highlight a couple of those, some of the sort of

31:06results of those interviews. Some measures that are already taking place include things like

31:13subsidized transit pass programs, paid parking, and staggered start times. Most of the businesses we

31:20spoke to do have at least some understanding of their employee demographic and travel information

31:27related to that demographic, and that's super helpful for measuring changes over times. We're

31:32really grateful that some of that data is available. There's also interest in supporting more TDM

31:38initiatives, and there's a good understanding of what some of the barriers that their employees

31:43might be facing include. So, this definitely includes lack of transportation networks and

31:48services, for instance, some areas of the city, especially outside of the sort of denser downtown

31:54areas, don't have great transit service. They may be lacking active transportation infrastructure,

31:59like multi-use pathways, things like that. A lot of employers identified a need for improved

32:04information sharing and promotion of travel options, so that's great for us to know. And many

32:10employers did acknowledge that parking availability is a challenge, especially if we're looking, this

32:15won't be a surprise to anyone at institutions like the University of Guelph or the Guelph General

32:19Hospital. They are feeling the squeeze. They've got employees coming to work every day, visitors

32:23coming to the site, and only so much land to invest in parking and to use for parking, and building

32:32vertical, high-risk parking structure is quite expensive, so they're actively looking for alternatives

32:38to help people get to and from their site every day without having to drive. I also thought that

32:45this group might be interested in some of the results of the survey data. So, this, like I said,

32:52is very rich, so it's statistically significant. We received over 2,800 responses, and it should

32:58stay relevant for the next three to five years. We definitely saw some transportation trend changes

33:04as a result of COVID-19. We've mostly bounced back from those, aside from transit, which hasn't

33:10quite bounced back to its pre-COVID levels yet, but unless something crazy happens over the next

33:16three to five years, this data should all be pretty stable. And the goal is that we'll be able to

33:21repeat this data collection intermittently between now and 2051. So, we were looking at

33:28information about people's trips, but also understanding their perceptions of travel and

33:34wealth and how those might change as we work to invest in different alternatives and programs and

33:40services and things. So, we asked a really wide range of questions. We asked what types of trips

33:46people make in a week, what mode of travel they use, and why, and whether they would consider

33:51using a different mode for some of those trips, and what barriers they face to making those choices.

33:57So, I focus more on trips to work. We also grouped work or school in there. For school,

34:03we're talking university age, so like Conestoga University of Wealth. So, about 63% of people

34:11are using an automobile as the driver. 22% are using public transit, 11% are using active

34:17transportation. Of those who primarily drive to work or school, the consideration for using an

34:24alternative mode is quite high. So, that's good news for us. It means that 39% would consider

34:31carpooling or riding as a passenger. 27% would consider using public transit. 21% would consider

34:38cycling or using an e-scooter, and 18% would consider walking. And then we also asked questions

34:45about things like level of enjoyment. So, how do people like to travel? What do they find enjoyable

34:50in the city at this time? 73% reported driving was somewhat very enjoyable. 79%

34:57like being a passenger. 82% reported that cycling and e-scootering are somewhat very enjoyable,

35:04and walking comes in at the highest score with 91%. So, that's good for us to know because it's

35:10kind of measuring. Not only would you consider this mode, but can we use data from people who are

35:16already using these modes to support that push towards people making different choices, different

35:24travel choices? We also asked about barriers to using some of the alternative modes. So,

35:3269% felt that other transportation options take too long. 42% reported that those options do not

35:39get them to their destination. 41% reported that they may have items which make other transportation

35:45options difficult. So, maybe picking up groceries or traveling with an elderly family member or

35:50something like that. Safety and distance are top barriers to cycling. Not too surprised by those,

35:56and distance and time required are top barriers to walking. So, that's where we come back to these

36:00sort of dense, compact mixed-use communities. And then a couple other interesting stats. 62%

36:09of the respondents work within wealth. 37% work outside of wealth. 34% of respondents reported

36:16a commute time of under 15 minutes. So, that's really good for us to know because it does,

36:20again, get us back to that consideration place. And, you know, we wouldn't be looking for everyone

36:26to change their commute every single day of the week, but we might be looking at like, hey,

36:30on Fridays, does it make sense for you to bike to work instead of drive? Or maybe there's someone

36:36you can carpool with on Mondays and Tuesdays or something like that. So, that 15-minute stat

36:41was really interesting to us. 3-4 residents who drive a short distance to work, so 15 minutes

36:47or less, have a free place to park at work. So, that's also good data for us to have.

36:52And driving to work increases with age and income. Not too surprising. In terms of next steps for

37:01this project, as I mentioned, we're finalizing the recommendations for programs and services

37:06to promote TDM and wealth. These may include recommended actions for major employment hubs.

37:13These would be things like promoting a bike to work week or developing an internal carpool

37:19program to help connect employees who live in similar parts of the city and have a similar

37:25schedule. We will also be doing some focus groups, as I mentioned. So, we're testing our branding

37:32and messaging with members of the community in April. So, we're opening up the call for interested

37:38volunteers this week, actually. And then, taking this information as an information report to

37:45council in July. It's worth noting that right now there is no designated budget for implementation.

37:51That ask will come closer to budget time. So, we'll have a full suite of programs and recommendations.

37:56It might even involve something like developing our own smart commute type program to support

38:02these TDM in the city. But we will not have any funding for implementation as of right now.

38:10And then, I also wanted to mention that while the study itself was focused on travel within wealth,

38:14there's lots of positive outcomes and slower effects for tourism as well. So, for instance,

38:21things like enhancing cycling infrastructure, supports bike tourism, especially as we're seeing

38:26through routes like Gwaltam Goddard's rail trail, events like Tour de Gualt for people travel from

38:31outside of town to partake in those types of events. Reducing car ownership overall pushes the

38:38demand for improved inter-regional transportation options. And then, that in turn enhances wealth's

38:44connectivity to surrounding communities. So, we're testing things as they get to way all day go,

38:48which I know is much awaited for us here in the city to get in and out of

38:53Toronto and the Tri-Cities on weekends. And then, this also helps enhance livability and

39:00public spaces. So, if we think about cities like Allora, they're doing amazing sort of downtown

39:05work. And they actually do have a park outside of downtown and walk in to kind of preserve

39:12the really lovely nature of their historic downtown. So, there's lots of tourism opportunities

39:16that can come from investing in and supporting transportation demand management.

39:23I've given you lots of information in a very short period of time. So, that's it for me,

39:27but I'm happy to take any questions or to connect with you afterwards if you have,

39:32if you want to chat offline about anything. I've just seen in other communities like the e-bikes,

39:43e-scooters, and bike share and stuff like that. Does Gwaltam have a bylaw and gate

39:47stingles? I just, I don't seem to see it in Gwaltam. Like I've seen in Kitchener, Cambridge,

39:54and certainly like Toronto. Every block has a block of like 25 bikes and things like that.

40:00Yes. I was just curious if there was anything prohibiting that problem.

40:03Yes. So, what we, our team is working on the business case for a system like that. So, there's

40:11a couple different models that municipalities will use. In Hamilton and Toronto, for instance,

40:16the city has actually bought the asset. So, it treats it more like a transportation,

40:21like Gwaltransit style system. The city owns the bikes and then they have an organization

40:28operating the service. So, there's that route and then there's also the route where you just

40:33like, you write a licensing bylaw and you permit businesses to come in and start operating. But

40:40there's, you know, pros and cons to both. Obviously, it's a big investment up front if you're going

40:43to buy all of the hubs and the bikes and everything. And this is a tough time to be making that sort

40:50of scale of investment. But on the flip side, if you're just licensing operation, you have a bit

40:54less control over the system itself. So, we do want to make sure it's successful. It's

41:01serving equity deserving parts of our city, which maybe would be less economically interesting to

41:07some of those operators. They might be looking more at like downtown, U of G, and that's kind of

41:12where they would concentrate their services. But we would want to make sure they're getting into

41:16the Northwest end and, you know, sort of able to service all those different communities. So,

41:22short answer, yes, it's on a work plan. There will be business case coming in the next year or so,

41:28I believe. And then it would go to council to sort of ask or make a recommendation to what

41:35we feel the best system would be. But we do see that as one of those big late-move demand

41:41eases that we can fill, especially with trying to get people to try cycling. Like, most people are

41:46not just going to go to a bike shop and purchase a bike and start riding it. It happens through,

41:52you know, going out with a friend or having a family member. It's like, hey, we're going to go

41:57to the park. Let's celebrate you a bike. Let's bike there. So, that is definitely in the works.

42:03Yeah, for the short trips, I think there'd be huge potential for that. And not for me,

42:07just getting from the east end to the south end of Osatica bus to work is three buses an hour and

42:1215 minutes. It's a 15-minute drive. So, the drive's going to win every time. Two weeks ago,

42:19I had to go to Toronto and I took the go for the first time. That was about the most pleasurable

42:23experience I've ever had. Three Wi-Fi, also it's a leger and coffee in hand. 16 bucks. Amazing.

42:32Yeah. Yeah, the satisfaction, I didn't include in this presentation, but the satisfaction

42:39levels go trans- it was very high in our survey. We'll learn really well. Especially like pre-service.

42:45That was fantastic. Time to get that, but it's only 13 bucks. I had to go trans three times a week

42:50to go to Toronto. And I'm lucky I can walk to the train station because from other heads, people

42:56have where to leave the park out there. But yeah, we got all those trains. Every train that is

43:03added is a big smile for me. And so the program or this report would potentially be looking at

43:09things like fare integration. So, if we did have a future bike share service in an ideal world,

43:14you could tap off the go bus or train with your Presto card and then tap onto the bike

43:18share system. And it's just one seamless integrated system as opposed to like having on

43:23then now the app for the bike share. But my phone is dying and I got to go charge it. We start creating

43:28all these barriers. We're looking at that and things like that. Or when bike share or skier

43:36share would eventually come up on here. The only other comment I had to say, I went on those two

43:42websites that you referenced. I'm trying to find the one was for Kitchener. What's it? The

43:49Trouble? Yeah, the Hamilton one. Excellent. There's some really incredible information for

43:56alternatives to single car use. Yeah, yeah. And definitely like from the business community

44:01perspective to really help support and promote those options, right? There's this is an action

44:07plan for the city. And so we can make a series of recommendations to businesses. But without the

44:13infrastructure to really put them into place, few businesses have interest or capacity and

44:19taking this to bar on their own, which makes perfect sense. So yeah, I have to take that feedback.

44:25I'm hopeful that that's where we'll land someday.

44:32The stats for the cycling, that's really jumping out of me on a growing wealth. I don't live in

44:39Guelph now, but for 20, 30 years, Guelph has been trying to position itself as a bike friendly city.

44:48It is not. But I am shocked that cycling is 2%. And for the target to be 10%.

44:58And then you have decisions like this winter from Council not clearing bike lanes.

45:04Like what have we learned from that decision? How do you get to this 10%? I've also talked to people on

45:15the hiking. I forget what it's called like a trail and you hike. Yeah. And they find it impossible

45:22to get partnership with the city to increase G to G trails, bike lanes in the city. How are we

45:32getting here? Yeah. Yeah, it's a very fair question and good observations.

45:40A couple of things. So for one that 2% is that data was, I should have mentioned this, that was

45:45census data. So they are measuring just trips to work. So we believe that that percentage is

45:51undercounting. It's not representing a recreational ride after work or

45:57it's that take place on the trail system or different sort of, you know, just a visit to a

46:02friend's house kind of thing. So we think it's probably a little bit higher than that 2%. But

46:09the census data is kind of the most one of the more reliable data sources that we have. So that's

46:13what we do publicly report on. I also assume that 10% target is from that same data source.

46:21So 10 might actually look closer to the 14 or 15th, yeah. Hopefully. The number one

46:28we hear to people cycling is that they don't feel safe on the roads. So that's why we're

46:33investing in things like the Scottsdale and Silver Creek bike lanes that are protected

46:37bike lanes. They're either built in the Boulevard. That would be College of would be a good example

46:45of that. So it's a bike cycle track or one road bike lanes. We do run into a lot of tensions. There

46:51is a lot of perception that something like removing on street parking and replacing it with

46:56on street bike lanes will result in a revenue loss for businesses in the downtown core. So we are

47:03always sort of trying to balance everyone's needs and trying to balance the needs of the roadways

47:09and the transportation system. But knowing that that interest is there and that the number one

47:17barrier is the built network is ultimately good news for us. It's going to take time to build out

47:22that network. And we have a lot of pushback from a lot of different places for sure. We're also

47:30through like the way finding study and things trying to kind of elevate the trails network

47:34and help connect it a little bit better. In some places it's fairly well connected,

47:38but then there are little missing links and little gaps and things. So we're trying to close those

47:43gaps. But we're anticipating that the action plan will have recommendations for how to increase that

47:52cycling mode share. So something like a bike body system, definitely bike share, scooter share,

47:58and then those built network improvements. The situation this past winter was super unfortunate

48:06that our team really advocated hard against that because we're the ones that are building the network.

48:11So we were pretty devastated by that initial recommendation to remove the winter maintenance.

48:17We're very grateful to our advocacy community who got it put back online. It's really honestly

48:22incredible work. So that's not a recommendation that we would ever make. And all we can really do is

48:30draw council's attention to the policies that we've already committed to. Things like the

48:35transportation master plan that have this hard mode share and or this mode share target. Things

48:41like the vision zero action plan that are about helping vulnerable road users feel safe on the

48:46road, but also getting them to where they're going with the same level of safety as those that are

48:50protected by many hundreds of pounds of metal and plastic. So it's a multi-pronged approach. It's

48:57going to be fine. I do believe we can do it. I think even if we look at other municipalities,

49:04even cities that have a more substantial winter than we do like Montreal, they have an incredible

49:09bike network there. The mode share within this city for cycling is like 25% or something. It's

49:15really, really high. So there's a lot of research to suggest that the infrastructure is what gets

49:21you there. But no one would walk if the road, none of the roads had sidewalks. You just wouldn't

49:26choose to walk a lot longer. The side of Gordon Street with cars whizzing by you with a painted

49:31line between you and those cars. It's not going to happen. So those investments are coming over time,

49:37but they do. They do take time. And I do think that something like bike share will

49:42notch that percentage up significantly because again, if we can kind of put access to a bicycle

49:47into the hands of many, many people at once without them having to go out and purchase it

49:52themselves, we're getting a lot of the way there. And the Gulf of Goddard, the trail connection,

50:01that's, I can't comment too much on that. The trails team kind of manages that relationship.

50:06I do think it's in the works. Our team is looking at an alternative on road route. So

50:12the bike lanes on Silver Creek going north out of the city right now are at some paved shoulder

50:18and at some gravel shoulder. And there's a couple key gaps. We've actually recently applied for a

50:22grant to do the design and construction work to close those gaps and to improve that connection.

50:28So it's not our ideal. We would love to just have the offer of trail connection the whole way.

50:34We know that there are community groups working on that and that park staff are supporting them.

50:38That's under the wealth trails master plan technically designated as a community led

50:43city supported project at this point. So the decision making authority and the momentum for

50:49the project is sitting in the hands of the community, which is probably good news at this stage.

50:55And then our team is looking at this like interim on road connection. But yeah, that's a huge

51:01gap and it's it's got incredible tourism potential. I think as soon as that gap is closed,

51:05we're going to be seeing air being bees and vented breakfasts and lots of things popping up along

51:10that route because it's a really nice cycle tourism opportunity here in Ontario and it

51:16brings people directly into downtown wealth, which is exactly also what we want. Maybe just one quick

51:27comment to the public transit side. So the free teenage pass over the summer. It was

51:35a great way for my two teenagers to learn how to use public transit in the city. And so I don't

51:41know if that's on the table for this year, but they wrote it all to place and they just went

51:46in places that I couldn't take them to and but they learned how to use it. Yeah, I mean, so yeah,

51:51so like buy in because 2051 they're going to be working. So if they're bought in now,

51:57but essentially in the future, they'll continue. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, I would have to double

52:03check. I know that kids ride free. There are senior free days and there are youth free days,

52:09but I don't know how those all work or how they're distributed. But I think definitely,

52:14especially once they kind of hit those teenage years and they want to go places and I want to,

52:19you know, maybe show up with their parents and tell like it's an awesome way to kind of promote

52:25that independence and skills development and things in a way that we know is really safe. So

52:32yeah, really appreciate that feedback and I will double check with transit about that.

52:36I don't think we even knew it was happening until my one son said no money has come up my

52:40kernel summer. It was sort of like all the time. It was great, but yeah. Yeah. Okay, so maybe also

52:47on the promotion side, that's a missing, a missing link there. There just be a missing. Yeah.

52:53I've also heard of studies that have shown like if you just made all of the transit free,

53:00that would be a huge benefit because more people are going to take it. It takes away

53:06some friction for the drivers even it makes their jobs safer where they're not trying to

53:10collect fares. More people are going to take it and remove those barriers. Else families,

53:17youth, like there's a way larger net positive to just making the entire system free for everyone

53:25than the cash that you would lose out of the system. So I mean, what about that?

53:32Yeah, that's a great idea. Again, that would be one that I would have to take to colleagues in

53:36transit. I don't know what the revenue from charging for ridership does in terms of

53:44covering the cost of offering ridership. I'm not sure where that line is, but I don't

53:49doubt that there's a cost benefit that comes into play if more trips were to be free.

53:55So I think that I think there could be good potential there. I don't know also for us just

54:01yet if we have the network to kind of support it. I think that the rapid transit, I believe they're

54:08going to start with Gordon Street. So there will be more rapid transit happening like every 10 or

54:1215 minutes, which would be a good time to launch something like that or to test it out for a month.

54:18Let's say, so I think that that's a great idea and I'll note that back to our consultants to

54:24consider as one of the recommendations. It's a good place to do the biking program too.

54:29Where I look at university and stuff like that. I'm in the kitchener and I see the bikes all over

54:34the place. I also see the scooters. They can just, you know, all charged. I mean, yeah, like it's,

54:40it just, it's happening. Yeah, I don't have money. I just have another thing. I don't

54:47know if this is a question or comment, but I live in kitchener as well. And I've a business in

54:54Waterloo and a business in Guelph. And it's not just big business that has a lot of commuters.

55:01I know Lenomar has a ton of people that live in KW region, community back and forth every day.

55:07But even my small business and people are coming from Cambridge, it's there.

55:13At times I've had people coming as far as preempting. Like there's a ton of city,

55:18intercity commuting, even for jobs and small businesses. And the way the system is now,

55:26I would never even look to see if I could take a bus to get to work. So I think some of those

55:31things, especially for the bigger employers, and probably that's where you would start is

55:35targeting them of how to really reduce the number of cars because that's growing all the time. Like

55:41highway seven as we all know. You know, when it's shift change because everyone's on highway.

55:51So yeah, but just to say that it's not just those larger employers that see a lot of commuters.

55:59Yeah, absolutely. One of the questions we, through this fiscal travel survey, we were trying to

56:06identify specific demographics and the barriers that they face. So we did

56:12look at, we were just looking at employer size, but we looked at postal codes. So is there a

56:20strong need for people from the south end to get to the north end or something like that? And we're

56:25trying to sort of pick through that data and distill to see if we have unique demographic groups

56:31and what shared barriers they might be facing. I think that that really falls under. So

56:36like you said, for small businesses, maybe it's looking at getting to and from downtown

56:41or getting to and from, you know, other commercial commercial areas on silver

56:46Greek and willow kind of thing. And so yes, there's there's lots of good potential there.

56:53Yeah, the question is, hey, thank you very much.

57:03And that's just the presentation is also there's no formal

57:08I'm going to do on that. So 2.3 outside water use by law update presentation from Heather Yates,

57:15manager, compliance program, performance, Steve, yes, supervisor, environmental programs.

57:22Hi, everyone, I'm Steve Yes, I am going to be speaking with you. So I want to use by law update

57:27today. Thank you for having me. So good forward to me.

57:32So we want Steve is organizing itself. My name is Heather. I'm the manager of compliance programs

58:01and performance. So nice to thank you all for your time. So the city is updating our site water

58:10use by law. The original by law came into place in 2001. It was updated in 2014. We are now 12

58:18years behind that. And looking to update again, the by law is intended to support

58:25stable and efficient outside want to use practices during dry conditions.

58:31You know, it's meant to protect our water supplies and not to get too far in the weeds.

58:37But in some respect, it's been for peak shaving. And so our system is sized such that

58:43we can handle the worst of the days. And we say the worst to be the date the days that

58:47we have the greatest demand water with an additional buffer on top of that. And so if we

58:52can reduce those peak days, our system is is more resilient and better to be better able to handle

59:01you know, unforeseen issues that come our way, whether it be maintenance of a well that we're

59:06shutting down with was that capacity for the day or week or what have you. So we are looking to use

59:12this as a as a mechanism to, like I said, in shade to be a bit of a pressure release for our

59:18system as well. And we typically see those days the Irish space in the Southland gets hot and dry.

59:26So we began a process of updating last year. We have reached out to a consultant for working

59:33with GEI consultants to help us update this bylaw. And really the work they've taken on is looking

59:40at the overall problem structure, but looking at other municipalities and what they're doing

59:45across Canada in comparison to what we have now involved updating really regulatory requirements

59:52that really kind of an administrative type background to this bylaw process.

59:59Looking at the restrictions that exists and when they should be required types of permits and fees

1:00:05that we do have in existence enforcement finds that type of thing. And we really like stakeholder

1:00:12input, which is one of the reasons that we're here today. And so for a background on it, as I

1:00:18mentioned, the original bylaw was created in 2001. We saw that update in 2014, which is when we also

1:00:24saw the the update to the water supply master plan. And now the water supply master plan is really

1:00:30just that forward looking future looking demand, looking at how our communities can

1:00:35grow over years and how we will be able to provide water to our community as it grows and goes for

1:00:42change. And now identified within that conservation, conservation methods were a good opportunity for us to

1:00:53in some senses provide water for our community. As our community grows, what we can save over

1:00:58here is water that we can then supply to our community. In 2016, we saw the update to the

1:01:06water efficiency strategy update. This looks at both inside uses of water and inside uses of water.

1:01:13It is the work that my team works on on a day to day basis, whether it's rebates for toilets,

1:01:21audits for multi residential properties, or water smart business program, which which rebates

1:01:26businesses in well who undertake a project that will see water savings. That is what is outlined

1:01:34in our water efficiency strategy and is outlined with the work forward team. And then it works

1:01:40alongside the total water use bylaws. We also do have some outside focused programming.

1:01:46In 2022, we saw the update to the water supply master plan. Again, the forward looking,

1:01:51looking at our water use, how are communities going to grow over time and what we expect of the water

1:01:57demands in the years ahead. In 2024, we took on, we created the DREV response operational plan.

1:02:06This runs, I would say, in aligns with the outdoor water use byline and outdoor water use

1:02:14programming, but really looks at what happens if we get into a direct condition beyond

1:02:22the water use bylaw approaches. And then finally, as mentioned in 2006, we are updating this bylaw.

1:02:31We hope to go to Council for the community of the whole in a second. Ideally, we hope to have it

1:02:37approved by the end of end of June so that we can then educate the community and roll out the plan.

1:02:45This does go alongside the blueprint where creating a one water strategy in Guelph, which kind of pulls

1:02:52in water, wastewater, and storm water all together. And again, within the strategy will be that update

1:02:59to conservation initiatives, rebates, incentives, you name it. So that water efficiency strategy

1:03:07update will be encapsulated into this one water strategy. A lot of people in this room probably

1:03:15already know that, well, this is a public seat. We are one of the biggest, one of the biggest in

1:03:21all of Canada that were realized solely on groundwater or almost solely on groundwater.

1:03:27And so it does represent a constraint for our city as it relates to water. As it relates to the

1:03:33outdoor water use bylaw, I mean, we use water in all sorts of ways, internal to businesses,

1:03:40internal to our homes. But this is strictly looking at what uses of water we use outside,

1:03:45outdoors. It is not looking at the rest of that water use. It is also not looking at private wells.

1:03:51We do have private wells, whether it's residential, commercial, golf courses,

1:03:55nurses, looks like that. It is simply looking at residential outdoor use, commercial, institutional,

1:04:00and industrial outdoor use, and the cities outdoor use as well. And so within our existing bylaw,

1:04:09it covers restrictions. You can see the levels here and I'm not going to the levels in the next

1:04:15slide and what exactly what they mean. But at different levels, there's restrictions.

1:04:21Those are typically based on our traders or program traders, targets that we get, whether it has

1:04:28world-looking precipitation patterns from a monthly basis or of course three months,

1:04:33the Ontario low water conditions for river conditions, things like that.

1:04:40And as we go up that level from zero, blue, yellow, one, and red two, you'll see those

1:04:52restrictions, those restrictions increase. Of course, it includes enforcement of this bylaw.

1:05:01Ideally within any of our bylaws, focus is clarity and communication

1:05:07on top of that, having clarity support, ensuring that people know what is expected of them so that

1:05:14they can comply. And then of course, looking to see that they can fight our bylaw. Ideally,

1:05:20we don't want enforcement of the people's houses because they are compliant.

1:05:25And everyone sees the value in the bylaw that exists. This is really the nutshell of what our

1:05:33bylaw looks like now. Again, you'll see the different levels as you go up that continuum.

1:05:40As we see a hotter, drier weather, more use. We are looking at our production on a day-to-day

1:05:46basis. And traditionally, we look at the various triggers and put out a report once a week that

1:05:53will outline what condition we're in and perhaps if we have to go to a new condition, what happens,

1:05:58at which point we articulate the community through social media, radio ads, signage,

1:06:05you may have seen signage around town that gets changed there when we shift from one level to

1:06:10another. You'll see the restrictions change as well. So for instance, lawn watering permitted

1:06:17between 7 to 9 a.m., 7 to 9 p.m. for up to four hours a day. As we shift to, say, a drier condition

1:06:25and we may go to level 2 red, it's no longer permitted. Now lawn watering as well is permitted

1:06:32on municipal address days. Really what that means is if your address is on an odd day,

1:06:40you can water on, sorry, if your address is an odd number, you can water on an odd day.

1:06:46If your address is on an even number, you can water on an odd day with respect to those restrictions.

1:06:52And then of course, enforcement. As we move up that ladder of restrictions, the enforcement,

1:07:02the fine issued or potential fine issued increases as well. Along with our bylaw, we do have

1:07:11permits that people can get. Timeshift is one of those programs. I mentioned those timeshift lawn

1:07:17watering. And so if people can't or would like to shift those through their house, whether it's on

1:07:23hours, allowed hours or address days, they can shift that. And then there's new turf and treated

1:07:29turf permits as well. So if people are putting in sod or sieving their lawn, these require

1:07:34for water. We don't want people to put any investment into that and lose it because

1:07:40we've shifted to level red and they're no longer allowed to water at all. Similarly,

1:07:44treated turf, sometimes those treatments require moisture to be effective.

1:07:49So how did we assess the bylaw? For American Soil, we look at parable municipalities. A lot

1:07:57of them are fairly local to us. Brantford, Orangeville, Oxford County, Centrel wealth,

1:08:01Tender Beach, and Warloo. Many of these are also majority groundwater based. They also looked

1:08:08at the West primarily in Alberta and NBC. There are some of these as well, but primarily in Alberta

1:08:15and NBC where they do see drier conditions and the risk of drought is definitely foreseeable on a

1:08:21regular basis for them to see how they enact their their bylaws as well. We solicited public feedback

1:08:28at the tail end of last summer and the early stage of of fall and last year to see how the

1:08:34community felt about the existing bylaw, what they what they saw as benefits or board disadvantaged

1:08:40bylaw that we have, and then looking at historical water patterns. How has

1:08:47shifting from level to level impacted production and is the bylaw working as intended in its current

1:08:56state? So what did we find? There were several strengths of our existing bylaw.

1:09:04One is that we have multiple program levels. This is relatively, this doesn't happen in Ontario

1:09:09quite a bit. We do see it more on West are relatively unique from wealth. And we do see it

1:09:15as an advantage in wealth. It gives us flexibility in in my I mentioned that pressure relief at the

1:09:24beginning as we see drier, hotter conditions. It allows us to shift to a level red, shift the

1:09:31restrictions and reduce that water use outside. Ideally seeing that peak go down.

1:09:38Program mobile changes are also an opportunity to remind water users of our restrictions.

1:09:43There are communities that see one level of restrictions enacted in the spring. It stays

1:09:48the same throughout the spring, summer, fall, and then then it kind of the programs turn them off.

1:09:54We feel that by being able to change restrictions for the summer and we have those community signs,

1:10:00we promote again, you know, through radio, social media, things like that. It gives a visibility

1:10:04to the program. It reminds people that, you know, water for our community is constrained. It matters.

1:10:12We want people to consider that on a on a more day to day basis. And then of course we have our permit

1:10:17system. Not all communities have a permit system, but we see the permit system as providing flexibility,

1:10:24both to residents who want to do projects at home within the lawn. Again, seating, sod,

1:10:31things like that, but also to the businesses that provide some of these services as well.

1:10:36Some of the gaps, public confusion. I'm going to go back a few slides because

1:10:41there's two things that I think added most to confusion. If you look at level blue,

1:10:46level zero, blue, level one, yellow, they're actually identical. There is no difference

1:10:51between these two levels with the exception of enforcement. In yellow, the fine issued is

1:11:00the maximum fine is $100 one. And so it's confusing of sorts. People see blue. If you're not really

1:11:10reading, you know, text box by text box, you may not notice that they're the same. And blue gives

1:11:16the impression that where everything is good, I can use water as much as I'd like to use water.

1:11:21You know, whereas when you see yellow, then you start to pause and have a closer look at your

1:11:26water use. So there is confusion there. There's no question. Limited data to monitor effectiveness

1:11:33of the program. A big portion of our limited data is just how we capture data for consumption.

1:11:41We get a monthly bill for water. And there's, it's a one, it's a one data point for an entire

1:11:47month of what a resident uses. And so as we shift from program level to program level over a month,

1:11:53it's hard to tell when there's one data point in that month, whether residents or businesses are

1:11:58reducing the water use when we've changed a level mid month. Limited enforcement,

1:12:07really from an enforcement perspective, we rely on education first and foremost.

1:12:15We do issue permits. Unlike other community people call, they say they are

1:12:23doing receding or sodding along. They pay their permit fee. We issue them the permit

1:12:28and move forward. But at this point, we're not asking for a proof of say, proof of purchase of

1:12:38contractor going out to do work or of purchase of sod and seeding, anything like that.

1:12:43Other municipalities do limit the number of permits used. It's not something we do in WOLF.

1:12:49And then the other thing noted as an opportunity to shift is program active period is not defined.

1:12:55In other communities, there's a date their program turns on and the date their program

1:12:59turns off. That is not the case for WOLF. So some of the proposed bylaw updates is a shift

1:13:08from the three tier system we have, blue, yellow, red to a two tier system, which right at this point,

1:13:17we're naming standard and elevated. Standard, I would see the easiest way to explain the system

1:13:24is I would see it as really just a shift to what we now have as yellow and red.

1:13:29Bullet point three, defining the program, effective dates, April 15th to October 31st.

1:13:35Essentially, what you would see is on April 15th, we would go into a standard baseline restrictions.

1:13:41That would remain the case until October 31st. And if needed, we see a particularly hot, dry,

1:13:49summer and WOLF. We see the rip flows reduce and our production go up. We can shift to an elevated

1:13:57level where you'd see those additional restrictions come into play.

1:14:04One of the another one of the proposed updates is through that permit application, it would provide

1:14:11the city the ability to request supporting documentation, foundation permits.

1:14:17And then there's naturally going to be updates

1:14:22from an administrative perspective to our bylaw to match other recent updates from the

1:14:27city of WOLF bylaws. A huge recommendation is communication. We have had a system in place

1:14:37for quite a long time, our three-term system. And occasionally, there are still people

1:14:43really well over a long time and are just getting to know it. As we shift to a new bylaw,

1:14:48those rules change that we've had in place. So effective communication is going to be absolutely

1:14:53key when the bylaw is changed and enacted. So we'll have to do quite a significant campaign,

1:15:02information campaign to make sure that the residents are aware of what's coming and the changes that

1:15:08are expected of them and the new program levels. And then enforcement, there's recommendations

1:15:16to increase this enforcement efforts following our last public education campaign. Like we reached

1:15:26out in the tail end of summer early part of fall in 2025 to solicit feedback, we are also soliciting

1:15:33feedback now on Have Your Say. We recommend everyone go there and submit your feelings on

1:15:42some of proposed bylaw updates. We really want as much feedback as we can get as we head towards

1:15:49council and iron out all of the aspects of our bylaw. We were looking to meet with as many

1:15:57stakeholders as we can. We met with the GRCA last week to make comment on it. We're here today

1:16:02with the active end tourism advisory committee. I look forward to your questions if you have them.

1:16:09And then as I mentioned earlier, we're looking to finalize the bylaw,

1:16:13incorporate relevant comments from all stakeholders that we receive comments from,

1:16:17add a complete illegal review, and then present to council in June for an option so that we can

1:16:25enact this change ideally in summer of 2026. And we'll initiate a public campaign at that point.

1:16:34And that is all I have, but I do have some questions.

1:16:44Is there any discussion in there about alternatives to grass? Is this not a great

1:16:51plant for the way that we use it and the seasons that we have? So there's enforcement,

1:16:59things like that in here, but how do you incentivize the city, industry, residents to

1:17:06choose a better alternative to grass? It's a good question. I would say for the purpose of this

1:17:14bylaw, it really is just looking at how we currently use water outdoors. What we do have,

1:17:19we do have programs, a healthy landscape program that we send advisors out to people's homes.

1:17:26They go through their yard, typically people want something that is of low maintenance,

1:17:31uses a little water and will look beautiful. And that is the job of our advisors to go and

1:17:37recommend those. And they'll look at plants in those yards that maybe use a lot of water and

1:17:42require a lot of water. And traditionally what they're recommending in our community are plants

1:17:47that are natural or native to, to wolf that once established aren't going to require watering on

1:17:54semi, you know, on every other day or something like that. So we do have programs that do look at

1:17:59outside water uses and exists and those have been in play for quite some time. And so that's

1:18:03through a vassal learned period. We're also looking to promote programs like that and that

1:18:08help you answer each program. It's a busy one year to year. So how come projects like when,

1:18:15when a roller is redone and they have to put the boulevards back in, like how come alternatives

1:18:19aren't being put in their endals applications? That's a good question. I'm not sure. Sure,

1:18:26I have a great. Sure. For you, Chair. For the city to adopt alternatives, we have to look at

1:18:36our streetscaping and, and reestablishment guidelines. And I'm the name of that, that

1:18:43particular guideline escapes me the cost of those things and the maintenance of that type is one

1:18:48of the things that would drive up, would drive up costs. So all of that is considered. We work with

1:18:53our horticulture team where it's appropriate to advance some of these methodologies. We do

1:18:58actually training with even our seasonal staff in the gardens and at the parks and things of that

1:19:03nature. It's more to do with, with changing perspectives, hearts and minds and, and cost

1:19:09drivers ultimately. Do you think this question has been considered at all or just hasn't come on

1:19:16overall across the corporation? I think, I think you're asking a very

1:19:20judicious question. And, and one that is we actively advocate through for a healthy landscapes

1:19:29program. So we're talking about a policy here because not everybody is on board to replace

1:19:34their graphs yet. You know, Guelph is a green community and we have a very wide,

1:19:39we're literate community as well. And they care about this. The two are not just like there,

1:19:44there is an opportunity to promote when bylaw goes out for education, healthy landscapes is

1:19:48promoted as one of those types of things are solid waste, yard waste conversations that we're

1:19:57having there, healthy landscapes again, they're all tools that need to be and are continually

1:20:02putting my fingers together in it. But we're trying to bring those things together to make sure

1:20:05we're not siloed on how we're talking about these things. So it doesn't, our bylaws not

1:20:10necessarily referencing that. There are other channels in which we as staff are advocating

1:20:15for the inclusion of low impact development aspects to any of the projects city is working on as

1:20:25well. It's just not as advanced yet. But I appreciate that comment. And if you have more to

1:20:31add to that, we definitely take that down. I don't think so. I just, you know, you hear about programs,

1:20:38you know, in this southern states like California, where they have these incentives

1:20:43to replace along with like native cacti and other species, I personally would love an

1:20:51incentive program to get rid of my lawn. I hate cutting my grass. And I'm sure I'm not alone.

1:21:00And, and then there, you know, it's not just residential spaces, there's also,

1:21:06like I mentioned, city spaces where, okay, we read down a road and we put some bike lanes in,

1:21:12and there's still like a bowl of our that's that we're putting sod on that either doesn't get

1:21:19maintained nicely, and it all turns to weeds and mud, or, or we do have to spend the money to

1:21:25maintain it and cut it and water it. And so there's a cost to both of those. So there are plants that

1:21:32are native to this area that are drought tolerant that don't require cutting, like I don't know,

1:21:38I don't know plants that well, but I don't know if it's like over or some other like grounds

1:21:44creeper that the cost of putting it in maybe is the same and you have to water it to establish,

1:21:50but then once it's there, it's not going to let something else overtake it.

1:21:56I'm not ignoring you. I am too.

1:21:57Thank you. Just make the comment because I think, and if I understood what you said,

1:22:06there was like an actual program where you mentioned the visit homes or whatever.

1:22:13So I was a resident for 20 years. I never heard of that before. Yeah. And I say that with great

1:22:18respect, you know what I mean? Because I would have absolutely welcome I live in Kitchener now,

1:22:23so but I would have absolutely welcomed that. And so probably I agree with the education piece.

1:22:28Like I'm just thinking about condo corporations. And again, when you're talking about multiple

1:22:33maintenance, like I live in a condo in Kitchener now, but I'm thinking it's townhouses and it's

1:22:39lawns and it's, you know, and the water costs that we incurred in a year just because we pay ours,

1:22:44right? Like, you know, $30 something thousand dollars worth of water. Like it was just crazy,

1:22:49right? And so we're looking at measures. So there's a sale there even too for

1:22:54condo corporations with all the new development going in. And I think there's an opportunity

1:23:00for that new development to be looking at that as sort of, you know, a demonstrate of what's

1:23:07possible, right? Like I said, and I don't mean that I disrespect, but I never knew that program

1:23:11existed. I would absolutely take a jump on that because I love that kind of stuff. But

1:23:15no, it's your point. It's a fair point. And I think it's something we wrestle with too,

1:23:19and how we get this word out. It is something for all of our programs that I could speak to,

1:23:28particularly we do single family audits for households, internal to the homes, what we're

1:23:31looking at the fixtures, we do multi residential audits. But we promote pretty extensively. But

1:23:38it doesn't, if you're not on the right channels or the channels that we promote on that you may

1:23:43not be seeing us. Yeah, I understand. Just before we leave this if I if I can, through you, chair,

1:23:50if the committee has ideas on permission and avenues for the city that doesn't have the paper,

1:23:56doesn't have CDC news, doesn't have those types of things, we're all ears and are very much

1:24:02keen to hear from you on those suggestions as well. So I was going to comment that I have

1:24:07definitely seen the scientists inside of the state committee center. I have definitely,

1:24:13I'm aware of the program and how, in my parents even did. So the science and property centers

1:24:19is still in my heart. That is nice to hear. I have a question about the change of the

1:24:27effective dates. So I don't understand why and as somebody who's going to have to do this,

1:24:34I don't get why on November 1st I could suddenly branch my mom whenever I felt like it.

1:24:43If this is important and we're in a drought situation, I feel I don't understand why I would

1:24:47start and stop. Like if the dates really don't make any sense to me at all. So there is there is a

1:24:53language around water wastage. They're not meant to be water wasting throughout the year, 12 months

1:25:00of the year. And I believe I could come up with that. But in those months, if we're looking at an

1:25:08outdoor water use program and restrictions around it, and we're looking at how it relates to our

1:25:13production of water, people traditionally is coming from people traditionally aren't using

1:25:22water or irrigating the lawns during that time, our heaviest production date they enter

1:25:27that it's hot and dry. There are people that do say rinks in the wintertime, but we don't see that

1:25:34same stress on our system as we do in the summertime. In the hot, dry conditions.

1:25:42I just think from my perspective as somebody who's going to implement this, the lower number of

1:25:49things you need to remember to do this correctly, the better. And so I get two levels of that,

1:25:54one last thing to remember to add dates on top of it, like why couldn't it just be all the time?

1:26:01If there's no impact to the overall, it's probably not going to impact anybody's life. It's not going

1:26:08to in terms of their water usage, it's just that they're not trying to use the water for that time.

1:26:12They want to just make it all the time. Are the dates mostly for the permits? Or is it for the

1:26:22levels themselves, when they would be affected?

1:26:27During the period where the program is on, reassess it on a weekly basis and put it on a

1:26:32weekly basis, which which that goes online. When we do a level change, we articulate the

1:26:40reasons why it's level change. It's posted online so that anyone can go and it's transparent as to

1:26:47what targets we're using and how they've shifted through and why we've moved to say

1:26:51blue, yellow, red or black. And so there is staff work involved in that in time.

1:27:06Oh, I see. So you're looking at kind of eliminating some of that back end stuff by defining a date

1:27:13range because I do agree with the point that Nicole made about like you gotta make it simple.

1:27:26Are, I believe, our concerns more at the front end, not the back end of when the program turns

1:27:31on and off. In that we do see usually very wet springs. Occasionally there are times when we

1:27:38don't see a lot of precipitation in the winter and we could turn off and turn on the program

1:27:45as needed, but to give the community a little bit more to that point to give the community a

1:27:51little bit more clarity on, I think it's April 15th program turned on moving forward regardless of

1:27:58conditions, wet or dry, we are under restrictions of this program. It is pretty fairly, it's a

1:28:06fairly typical of other communities that we have in hiding wealth despite being faring out of the

1:28:12curve on our dorae's bylaw. But something we are missing that others have enacted.

1:28:21Yeah, I don't know. I get other people are going to, I don't see that it adds to, it's a fair point.

1:28:28Yeah, I also just have the graph on the one slide. It does look like the water use drops off like

1:28:37even earlier. I think that's just 2025. It looks like it drops off pretty significantly even just

1:28:42mid to the south. So it's probably not something that a lot of people. No, no, I just, yeah,

1:28:52yeah, it's a great example that's demonstrated here for 2025 because we actually went into red

1:28:57last year with the remember dry spells. I know now we're only thinking about winter, but we did

1:29:01go through some dry spells or dry periods. And the pumping regime that you see that Stephen

1:29:09described there, the top pumping regime is actually for production, our production

1:29:15wealth. So the way it works, water's pumped up, it's started reservoirs, it goes to fill all of

1:29:20our water towers, it's pressurizing the system. And that's, it's column response. So we don't have

1:29:26the billing data, we don't have everybody's daily or hourly billing data available to us. We get it

1:29:31monthly in currents and it's not read like the first of the month to the last of the month or

1:29:36anything like that. So it doesn't make it clean for us. We're not spying on your water use that way.

1:29:42So, but that's, so the pumping regime or their production to meet the demand of the community,

1:29:47you can see some oscillation through that. And that is through our peak season. What this graph

1:29:52doesn't do a great job of showing is how wealth is actually very much lack like Stephen described,

1:29:59how those peak demand, we don't have a huge irrigation challenge right now in our community.

1:30:06We don't see a massive jump in production or consumption. We do see an increase in consumption

1:30:13and production, but most communities really see an elveap with irrigation, a leap with pools,

1:30:19a leap without water use for whatever reason. So wealth has really been, and sort of speaks to

1:30:26those dates as well, Steve. If I'm out of line, you just bring me back in, but

1:30:31the shoulder seasons is what we typically call them compared to the peak season,

1:30:36is right now less problematic for us because our water consumption, and we should be proud as

1:30:42Gwellvides, and those that contribute to that, that we've really sandwiched it down. I keep

1:30:47describing a sandwich, fingers, but that is ultimately we want to keep that type of profile

1:30:54for our community because it means we're managing our supplies sustainably as a whole community.

1:31:01I've been working with this a lot because communication is going to be key to this,

1:31:06like making it as easy as simple. It's not even just simple for the residents, but it makes it

1:31:11easier on our bylaw who have to then execute and speak to us about it. So clarity is key.

1:31:19And the slides are great. Again, West End, I think it's something that I've done. I know exactly

1:31:24and there's always a conversation when it changes. It is effective that way too.

1:31:32It's the train.

1:31:38I'm still learning to the current increase from 10 to 15. I'm sure there's a reason,

1:31:41but just curious. It's been the same for you since 2014, and it's just going up with the

1:31:46cover of the whole portion of those administrative costs. What is the reasoning when level two hits

1:31:53that people still can fill their pools hot hives and such? It seems like a big luxury to do it during

1:31:59that time and not manipulate and say, wait, or do something. Is there a reason behind that?

1:32:06It's a difficult issue to enforce because pools are in people's backyards.

1:32:14When we show up and knock on doors, we can't know for sure whether they're

1:32:20filling them necessarily to that point where we get a wide bill once a month. We don't have,

1:32:25we aren't able to look at that people's water needs from an hourly,

1:32:29minimum hourly perspective. It would rely on residents cleaning other neighbors. And then

1:32:35by the time bylaw was able to get to doors. I think it's really difficult to enforce pools.

1:32:43I see that completely, but it's also a mixed message that we say there's no restrictions.

1:32:48We have level two, fill your pools. Instead of sending maybe post-pollinates,

1:32:53even though you have your nice pool there empty now, it's just a mixed message. The enforcement

1:32:58is a different story. The other one I would point out is

1:33:05splash pads at parks regardless of the time of year, even in red, people are able to use them.

1:33:12Or if you're using a sprinkler on lawn and people are using it to cool down,

1:33:16we're not restricting that so long as people are actively using that. Not everyone has an EC

1:33:22and it's meant to almost be a cooling station for the community throughout those periods of time.

1:33:30But along those lines that people might see something like sprinklers in use and say,

1:33:34you know, we're in red, they're not the issue. I'm interested to hear about some of those folks

1:33:46that are not from the residential side of things, but how engaged has the business community been

1:33:53in some of the engagement and outreach to date of thinking about folks that, you know, have businesses

1:34:00in classes that have a property owner, the property owner is now doing the, you know,

1:34:09the irrigation and that kind of thing, or we have our folks in the, you know, industrial areas who

1:34:16have perhaps, you know, they hire companies to come in. So it'd be good to kind of get a sense and

1:34:24maybe others at the table have an opportunity to sort of give some thought to this, but how are we

1:34:29reaching those, you know, property owners or, sorry, property managers and those companies and

1:34:36those kinds of things, you know, are we having any challenges that way or are we seeing that,

1:34:41that engagement is being done? I would say absolutely. There's a bit of a challenge from that

1:34:46perspective, not just with this program, but in how we approach the industrial, commercial,

1:34:52institutional community, because we can approach it the traditional way we approach residences

1:34:59and the shotgun approach where we're having social media, we're having regular station

1:35:04things like that. So it is, it's a more difficult, unique group within our community to have to be

1:35:14able to get a message so it's difficult. So again, any recommendations on that is very welcome.

1:35:29We try to use the tools that are disposed of as best we can, but there's always going to be

1:35:32parts of our community that are difficult to get to, you know, the message, because it's true that

1:35:40it's a difficult piece when you might be part of business as part of multiple in the plaza and

1:35:46there's a property manager who's then monitoring the law during level red because they might also,

1:35:52you know, not be in-golf from a property management perspective and be changing the

1:35:59sense of it, but the wireless civil bias. I mean, we're in a plaza and there is a property manager

1:36:07that's on site at least once a week, but I'm not sure if he's from Gwelfare or not, but certainly

1:36:16the ownership group is not really a wealth. And one thing that they do is they do send us

1:36:23like a monthly newsletter that might be various topics like, and typically it's got some

1:36:30six-mile touch points like heading into the winter, talking about like sealing up doors and

1:36:37weather stripping, things like that to conserve energy and then that other times of the year it

1:36:41might be how as a business we can pay attention to internal water use like checking for a leaky

1:36:49toilet, some things like that. But like I have no information about what our landlord does for the

1:36:56property and what contributions or things that they're watching out for. And as a tenant and a

1:37:04business owner in a strip plaza, I don't feel like I have much control other than making sure that my

1:37:12toilets are working properly. If I might as part of that, engaging with property managers that

1:37:20outside of the city limits us also, it's hidden across the whole corporation or the whole city.

1:37:26We've had a lot of especially plazas that do have irrigation, even if it's subterranean or above,

1:37:34will have sort of a set it and forget it as a constee irrigation if they have. So we've been

1:37:38doing some work and trying to reach out to commercial property owners and through our

1:37:43WaterSmart Business Program to talk a bit about and help the landscapes to talk a bit about

1:37:47how to set that timer and put a precipitation gauge on it to determine if it's raining

1:37:52or not water or something like that and know at like a smart gauge. And so I think that there's

1:37:58an opportunity as we go to promote the change for the bylaw to reach out even to grass seed

1:38:05companies. Can we be in the aisles of retailers who are selling seed or grass or things of that

1:38:13nature at least to reach people where they're making those decisions or thinking about these

1:38:17things when we can't be in their backyard and saying wait, don't do that. But I think to circle

1:38:25back on some of those commercial properties, a number of them who do have irrigation systems

1:38:31either have set them to because it is advantageous to set it in the windows that have already existed,

1:38:36the watering windows that have already existed in the bylaw. And so there hasn't been as much

1:38:41engagement with our enforcement team around that unless the sprinkler have is broken. And then

1:38:47it actually circumvents our bylaw together and Steve alluded to our water use bylaw which is no

1:38:52water wastage at any point in time. So if you're just watering and the sprinkler had it's broken,

1:38:57that's actually just complete water waste. It's not even outside water use, it's water wastage. So

1:39:02it gets addressed very differently from enforcement. I just want to actually circle back as you're

1:39:06going to talk a bit about that as well. But there is an opportunity. So economic development

1:39:13is a group we can engage with.

1:39:21Yeah, it seems for larger organizations that work in the past, they all have their own

1:39:26sustainability and they're required to report to that. So they're probably doing their own thing,

1:39:31but I think making sure they're aligned with the expectation of the city. But also,

1:39:36last place I was at, probably the big push for zero waste. And being able to talk to a customer

1:39:44that was a positive thing. And I was always less than a talker like, I wish I could be sure. So

1:39:52for sure I want to talk about it. So it's always energy. It's always energy. It's your experience

1:39:59that I might ask a question. May I ask? With your experience in that, is it often your

1:40:08corporate social responsibility groups who are going out and seeking that in the community? Do

1:40:12you have people solicit to you to say, Hey, we're doing a thing. And I feel like this aligns with

1:40:16you. Like how proactive can a municipality be to support that versus, you know, it's a door knocking

1:40:23situation in some cases, obviously through our wonderful colleagues and community. But what does

1:40:30that look like? So I would say corporate sports, corporate responsibility, but a point to get

1:40:37ahead of this function. It's the maintenance manager that you've been trying to get to.

1:40:41Is there the ones that have the

1:40:44carbonism within the art facility to make a change? If they believe they'll make it work.

1:40:56I was also just thinking again about the communication outlets

1:41:01comment that you made to you, or Wellington water watchers to get information about these

1:41:07programs and how already because you mentioned West End Rapp Center. And I was just thinking like,

1:41:14okay, where do I see city messages or like, where do I see information about water?

1:41:20And the only thing that came to my mind was like going to summer festivals and going to the, I know

1:41:25I can fill up my bottle with willing to water watchers truck. And you know, if they can help,

1:41:35so why didn't I know about the like yard thing from from those, right? Like those are places that

1:41:41I think about. Yeah, I love the water truck. I think that we use the water wagon as our

1:41:52literal vehicle for a portion of a lot of these people are coming up and want to talk

1:41:56caring, loudly about city of well things that they found challenging. And to have that conversation

1:42:01well, we know about water, how can we talk about water? Yeah, it's, but it is, it is hard and unique.

1:42:06You can't get into everybody's faces. But if you have some secrets on what you would suggest for

1:42:10that and how to splash you promote it literally and figuratively, but you know, with restraint,

1:42:14because it's that water, that would be always wrong. You just stickers are things while you're

1:42:21filling it, you're staring at the thing while you're filling a lot of water. Right? Something's

1:42:24going in your brain. Yeah, absolutely. We'll snap your frame so you can change the message if you

1:42:29need something else to say. Any other questions? Comment? Oh, thank you to Heather, Steve for

1:42:41that presentation. That was presentation almost. So, for no follow up on our end. Three chair and

1:42:48staff announcements. Committee liaison was anything received prior to 10 this morning? The

1:42:53announced today? Nope, nothing was received. On to step four adjournment. Sorry, Damian, can I just,

1:43:02of course, Benita followed up. Children, faculty all ride free all the time with a fare card.

1:43:09Youth 13 to 17 ride free every week day after five and on weekends and then holidays and all

1:43:14July and August. So summer is a big thing. And there are some other details, but in follow up too.

1:43:22You're a pretty good question. Thank you. They weren't sitting on the bus then. Before we adjourn,

1:43:27this does work. Can we get on the next sessions and update how downtown construction is doing and

1:43:34feedback from downtown community? I would appreciate it. I see the construction sites, but with

1:43:40license, you get your perspective. Also, 2027 is around the corner. And I would love to see what

1:43:49the city is planning for the celebration, the birthday, city birthday, what's up there. Just

1:43:55to put it in your minds, because it's will be happens very quick. What's planned? What's there in

1:44:01the pipelines? So the process for that is simply just fire us an email or clerks an email, and then

1:44:08we can follow it. We've done an internal process that we follow up with with the folks that are

1:44:14in charge of those types of functions within the city. So yeah. Yeah, it's like, thanks,

1:44:22it was so German recommendation is that the economic development towards advisor committee

1:44:29can be adjourned or have someone move that motion. Well, thank you. And someone to second

1:44:36the sound. Excellent. Sorry, sorry, sorry, Chair. If you just call the vote on that.

1:44:44Call the vote. So anyone. Oh, right. I was really all those in favor of adjourn.

1:44:50Anyone want to stay late? No. Next meeting, economic development, tourism advisory council

1:44:57committee April 14th, 2026.

1:45:01Hey, for tourism update. That's the P.

1:45:09Thanks, everybody.