The Guelph Civic League is challenging the Mayor and City to reopen the dialogue regarding the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park development. The City attended a Guelph Civic League facilitated session with concerned community groups on March 26 yet there has been very little dialogue since.
So much for the Guelph Civic League being… as one person who wrote to me put it… “the Farbridge Party“. Kudos to them for taking a stand.
Guelph Needs Openness, Respect
Guelph Mercury, September 22, 2009
Letter from Annie O’Donoghue, President, Guelph Civic League, on behalf of the league’s executive committee
Many citizens contacted the Guelph Civic League this summer to express concerns regarding the city’s handling of two development projects: the Guelph Youth Music Centre parking lot upgrade and the Hanlon Creek Business Park. We realize the two are very different in scope and complexity, but hope to draw your attention to the engagement practices as they relate to the concerns and subsequent outcomes.
We commend Coun. Ian Findlay for his leadership related to the youth music centre. As the ward representative, he intervened once citizens raised the alarm about an absence of real public process. Findlay listened, then supported both local and city-wide input to reduce the environmental impact of the project. We also commend the city staff and Farbridge for publicly acknowledging that a mistake had been made with respect to the process.
Finally, we applaud the swift response in bringing staff and community stakeholders together to share information and develop solutions. We hope this can serve as a successful model for future developments.
The Hanlon Creek Business Park process has not been as smooth. Despite the original public engagement and Ontario Municipal Board processes, community concerns began coming to our attention in late 2008 and have steadily increased. There seems to be significant frustration among various stakeholders surrounding this project exacerbated by recent acts of alleged “intimidation,” vandalism, civil disobedience and property damage. Most recently, citizens have expressed concerns relating to the nature of the city’s responses and the tone of city communications. There appears to be a general lack of clarity regarding the obstacles or avenues for change available, once a development has been passed by council, tendered and awarded.
We at Guelph Civic League believe:
•The Hanlon Creek Business Park has the potential to strengthen our economy and increase job opportunities while protecting the environment,
•Maintaining respectful community dialogue is especially important when contentious issues prevail,
•There should be zero tolerance for verbal abuse, intimidation, vandalism or property damage of any kind,
•Multi-stakeholder collaboration should be solution-focused and open to compromise,
•Civic leaders should clearly account for the city’s capacity to address concerns within the constructs available and
•As a community we share a responsibility to strike a balance between a strong environment and a strong economy.
We appreciate the efforts of city staff and council, respect the parameters of democratic process and applaud our local environmental groups for their ongoing stewardship and advocacy. We believe, given the nature of ongoing concerns, the extent of misunderstanding and a growing sense of distrust and frustration by all parties, further action is required before the Hanlon Creek Business Park work recommences in the spring.
We would like to invite Farbridge to re-engage the community within a collaborative process that addresses any legitimate citizen concerns and reinstates community cohesion. This is not about going over old ground but rather moving forward — seeking solutions where possible and developing better clarity, accountability and understanding around process and decisions.
The Guelph Civic League would be happy to convene a small meeting (between the league’s executive, Farbridge and council representatives) at 10 Carden St. to explore this and/or any thoughts you may have regarding next steps.
If all parties remain committed to a spirit of openness, compromise and mutual respect, we can achieve the same success for the Hanlon Creek Business Park as was demonstrated by the Guelph Youth Music Centre stakeholders. We are counting on the mayor’s leadership to make a difference.
Annie O’Donoghue, president, Guelph Civic League, on behalf of the league’s executive committee
For more on this issue, catch Royal City Rag, Saturdays 7-9 a.m. on CFRU 93.3fm.
This reply from the Mayor was posted to Councillor Ian Findlay’s great Ward 2 blog, http://ward2.wordpress.com. As it is now in the public domain, I’m reposting it here. Food for thought and more investigation for us, I think.
Dear AO,
Thank you for your email and passing on the concerns of some of your members.
GYMC
We have a very successful process for public engagement in neighbourhood park (re)development. The matter of the GYMC parking lot should have been viewed in the context of this existing process. Thank you for recognizing the response by our staff and members of Council in correcting this situation.
HCBP
The realization of this project has involved four terms of Council. While there were several decisions along the way, the final decision by Council to move forward on this project was made in 2006 when the OMB Minute of Settlement were signed by all parties including the City of Guelph. That alone had a substantive public engagement process. Since that time, city staff have moved forward to implement the direction of Council and the conditions of the OMB. To date, $20.5M has been committed with a further $12.5M committed through contractual obligations with two private developers who have partnered with the City. These developers have the legal right to move forward with the development of their property within conditions established by the City, OMB and other approval agencies. As well the City, developers and the Ministry of Transportation Ontario have entered into contractual obligations related to this project.
The $32M, referenced above, has been debt financed. The funding source for this investment is the sale of the lands. The revenue from the sale of the land will provide much needed capital funds and will release debt financing capacity for other important capital projects in the community.
I do remember the GCL commenting on the HCBP during the public process. In your posting “Ancient Trees Found – A 500-year-old clings to life”, on January 11, 2006, a member of your organization called for the protection of the heritage maple grove and, indeed, the heritage maple grove has been protected.
A Public Liaison Committee was established through the OMB Minutes of Settlement to provide for continued public input during the development of the project.
With respect to your offer to convene a meeting with myself and the members of Council, while I appreciate the positive sentiment to be of assistance, under the Municipal Act, particularly given new accountability and transparency legislation, such a meeting would be prohibited. The GCL will be familiar with this legislation and the City of Guelph’s recently approved Transparency and Accountability Policy as you provided valuable input into its development.
Finally, as Mayor, I provide leadership to Council and I am also responsible for ensuring that the decisions of Council are respected and the direction they provide to City staff is followed. This term of Council fully supports the decision and direction given in 2006 and is committed to moving forward with the project in conjunction with our partners and with full regard to all relevant policies, regulations and legislation.
Regards,
Karen Farbridge | Mayor
This is the reply from Annie O’Donaghue to the Mayor. It was reposted from Councillor Ian Findlay’s great Ward 2 blog, http://ward2.wordpress.com.
Annie’s response is clear and to the point. Why won’t you meet with us?
Interesting questions about the meetings of the Public Liasion Committee that no one seems to know anything about.
Dear Mayor Farbridge,
Thank you for your swift reply.
Just to clarify our invitation:
1.) We did not anticipate a full council representation but rather extended the invite to all, understanding that yourself, and whichever council representatives that you saw fit, would respond. This has been our practice for all GCL meetings, workshops and events which we’ve been pleased to have yourself and councillors attend. Our understanding was that a number that constituted a quorum of council would be prohibited. We would be pleased to meet with just yourself within one of our regularly scheduled GCL/Mayor meetings. We’ve met in January and May this year so a meeting this fall would be timely.
2.) We were not suggesting a meeting about the HCBP itself, as that was the purpose of our forum in March. Rather we were inviting you to discuss strategies to address the most recent community concerns around process, communication and avenues/limitations for input. We would like to work with the city and citizens’ groups to increase understanding and bring about resolution in this regard and your input would be most valuable. We hope to model effective vehicles for community engagement and will continue to denounce acts of intimidation or violence of any kind.
Please let me know if you would consider meeting with the GCL executive and I will follow up with Ana to find a suitable time and date.
In the interim, perhaps you or someone on staff, could point to where I might locate contact information or meeting minutes from the HCBP Public Liaison committee? I’m afraid that I can’t seem to find them on the city’s website. These might be helpful to share with our members and the community at large as they could speak to some of the concerns that have been presented. We’d be happy to place the link on our website.
Yours truly,
Annie O’Donoghue
President – GCL