Posted on October 29, 2009 by kfarbridge
Tonight, we did a sod-turning for the Hanlon Creek Business. Servicing will begin next month and continue through the winter. Servicing close to the environmentally-sensitive areas will not occur until we complete addtional monitoring in collaboration with the Ministry of Natural Resources.
These are my speaking notes for the event:
Good evening everyone, and thank you very [...]
Filed under: Healthy Environment, Jobs & the Economy | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 29, 2009 by kfarbridge
The City was voted “favourite water supplier” in the Guelph Tribune’s annual Readers’ Choice Awards. This is great news – it shows that residents recognize the quality and value of our municipal drinking water.
Congratulations to Waterworks staff for their commitment to providing safe, reliable, and cost-effective drinking water to our community!
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Posted on October 27, 2009 by kfarbridge
I have attended a remarkable diversity of events over the last few days.
ACORD 30th anniversary – For 30 years volunteers for ACORD have been providing services to adults and youth who have come into conflict withe the law. One of their volunteers has been with them for 25 years and spoke passionately about his motivation for [...]
Filed under: Celebrating Diversity and Inclusion, Making a Difference | Leave a Comment »
Posted on October 22, 2009 by kfarbridge
October 22 – Abu Simbel Festival (Egypt) – Built by Ramses II, his temple is angled so that the inner sanctum lights up twice a year: once on the anniversary of his rise to the throne and, once on his birthday. Crowds pack in the temple before sunrise to watch the shafts of light illuminate [...]
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Posted on October 21, 2009 by kfarbridge
Posted on October 20, 2009 by kfarbridge
Tonight, Council received a presentation on the proposed 2010-2014 capital budget. Compared to the estimates provided in the 2009 capital budget for this period, approximately $273M of capital projects have been pushed beyond 2014 leaving a little over $200M in capital spending remaining. Stating the obvious, these are tough decisions.
In the past, the current year’s capital budget met affordability [...]
Filed under: Excellence in Municipal Governance | 2 Comments »
Posted on October 20, 2009 by kfarbridge
Today I welcomed the first group of elementary students who are visiting City Hall as part of Local Government Week. The students, a group of grade 5’s from Holy Trinity school, had a lot of great questions about how local government works.
Over the next week and a half, I’ll have the chance to talk to [...]
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Posted on October 15, 2009 by kfarbridge
In an earlier post I provided information on the impact of the economic downturn on city revenues. It is significant. More than an $8M decline projected for 2010.
In discussions with our Chief Administrative Officer and the City Treasurer, I have requested that mitigating measures be developed for Council’s consideration that reflect the tough times we are in.
I am confident [...]
Filed under: Blog, Excellence in Municipal Governance | 1 Comment »
Posted on October 13, 2009 by kfarbridge
Today members of the Finance, Administration and Corporate Services Committee recommended to City Council a new policy to manage spending on capital projects.
Our economy is changing. If we want to continue to provide diverse opportunities and a good quality of life for our community, we must rebuild the backbone of our financial management system for [...]
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