Great posting by Councillor Leanne Piper on her blog about engaging the community in growing the urban forest.  Check it out by clicking here.

Rotary Tree Planting

The Chamber of Commerce taped my State of the City Address and posted it in 5 parts.  You can connect to the taping through their website:  www.guelphchamber.com

Guelph has some of the best water in the country.  We test it approximately 18,000 times a year for quality.

In October of last year, City staff initiated a Public Promotion Action Plan to:

• promote the overall quality of City drinking water
• promote the consumption of City drinking water in the City at large
• increase accessibility to City drinking water in City facilities
• lead by example in City owned and administered facilities
• increase accessibility to City drinking water at community events
• reduce the amount of waste related to the provision of bottled water

In addition to promoting the quality of municipal drinking water we are making it easier to use.  Staff recently reported on their work and here are some highlights from that report:

Chilled water fountains have been installed in City facilities all with a spigot filling system for staff and facility visitors to fill personal water containers.  The new City Hall was our first bottled water free facility.  Most City facilities should meet this milestone during 2009/2010.

Many community events are seeking to reduce the amount of excess waste generated through bottled water use.  Since 2007, the City provided municipal water (via water tanker trucks) to the annual Hillside Festival. 

We have since partnered with the Region of Waterloo to share study costs to find a common municipal water servicing and management approach to increase municipal water accessibility at public events.  In 2009 we had a pilot  program with:

• Guelph Multicultural Festival
• Guelph Canada Day Celebration
• Guelph Faery Festival
• Guelph Hillside Festival (like they needed water this year!)
• Guelph Sunlight Music Festival
• City Hall Grand Opening
• University of Guelph Homecoming Celebration
• Mother/Daughter Walk for Heart and Stroke

I have received several e-mails recently wondering about the status of the organic processing facility.  The contract was signed with Maple Reinders in July to construct the facility.  Demolition and site servicing is happening this fall.  Construction will being in Spring 2010 as soon as we receive an amended Certificate of Approval under the Environmental Protection Act to, once again, allow us to process organic waste at the Waste Resource Innovation Centre.  We are hoping for a timely response from the Ministry of Environment.  The net total cost for processing organic waste is $114/tonne (net present value; adjusted for inflation; amortization of debt included).  A recent tender by another community for the processing of their organic stream brought in bids ranging from $107 to 130/tonne showing our processing costs will be competitive with the market place.

Final Fact Sheet Organic Processing Facility

I delivered my annual State of the City address to the Guelph Chamber of Commerce on Thursday.

Details here.

I was invited yesterday to Ottawa to a national round table to present on some of our citizen engagement processes as they are recognized among the best.  Primarily, I discussed our recent process to develop our local growth management structure.  Some of the most interesting components included:

• a random telephone survey to get a baseline public opinions and concerns related to growth and the City’s future
• a Community By Design symposium that attracted several hundred people to explore sustainable approaches to growth management
• the use of an interactive software “game” where citizens could choose different futures for Guelph based on different decisions on growth management
• hands on exercises with lego and poker chips to identify future infill opportunities and population distribution in the city
• visualizations of key city streets under different growth scenarios
• a downtown design charette that created a model of the downtown that could accomodate 5000 more residents
• youth engagement process to redesign mainstreet sponsored by the Province of Ontario

Here are some images from these activities:

Building a city

Visualizing our future

Working with lego

Youth project

Downtown Charette model

November 11 – Remembrance Day (Canada, UK) – This day commemorates the soldiers killed in World Wars I and II.  Canadians always set aside this day in memory of those who gave their lives for freedom.  Many observers wear red poppies as a symbol of this day.

November 11 – Veterans Day (USA) – It was first proclaimed as Armistice Day in 1919 to commemorate the termination (at 11am on November 11, 1918) of World War I.

November 12 – Birth of Baha’u’llah (Baha’i) – Born Mirza Husayn ‘Aliinto one of the leading noble families of Persia in 1817.  His name is a title, in Arabic, meaning ‘The Glory of God’.

November 13 – International World Kindness Day (International) – The spark for World Kindness Day was lit at the Second Conference of the World Kindness Movement in November, 1997 in Japan.  Starting as random acts of kindness, the movement now has members in over 17 countries including USA and Canada.  They are committed to building a global organization dedicated to inspire and promote kindness.

November 15 – Shichi-Go-San (Japan) – Prayers are offered for children’s growth.  The ages of three and five for boys, three and seven for girls—are celebrated.  On this day, children dress up in their gala dresses and go with their parents to a Shinto shrine to pay a visit to the tutelary deity.  Children are given thousand-year candy which is red and white (auspicious colours) with crane and turtle illustrations (symbols of long life).

November 16 – Louis Riel Day (Aboriginal/Native Canadian) – He was the famous Métis leader who in 1885 led a rebellion and lost against Canadian authorities because he feared more Métis land would be taken away by the settlers.  Today his name is a symbol for Native independence.

November 20 – Transgender Day of Remembrance (USA) – Begun in 1999, vigils, services and a variety of other events are held to mark this day set aside to memorialize those who were killed due to anti-transgender hatred or prejudice.

Source: www.multiculturalcalendars.com

Part of a posting series on multicultural events for 2009.

Find out here.

A Captain Hook pumpkin was our submission for a pumpkin-carving display at Stone Road Mall to benefit UNICEF: