I would also like to thank my constituents who provided financial support, requested lawn signs and those who came out and showed their support at the ballot box.

I am humbled and grateful to all of you.

I think we accomplished a tremendous amount in a very short time and that the efforts of council over the last few years will help position this city for prosperity and a quality of life second to none.

Serving my community in public office was both challenging and rewarding;  I am a better person for the experience and wish the same for all those newly elected, and those re-elected to Guelph City Council this term.

I would like to thank my constituents for their faith in me and ask for your support to represent your interests at City Hall for a second term.

Please visit my campaign website http://mikesalisbury.ca for complete information about the issues we face and my vision for the future of Guelph

I will be taking a brief sabbatical from blogging during the election period.

The City of Guelph recently named Guelph Hydro Inc. as the primary developer and implementer of energy-related projects under the City’s Community Energy Initiative.

Guelph Hydro Inc., a wholly owned entity of the City, will be responsible for taking the lead in developing sustainable energy projects within city-owned assets. This will include leasing municipal properties including roofs of municipal buildings for rooftop solar installations as well as developing, building and operating district energy and other clean power projects.

Solar Installations for Municipal, Commercial, Industrial, Institutional and Residential Rooftops

The City of Guelph Community Energy Initiative strongly recommends a target of a “Thousand Roofs” of solar photovoltaic electricity. Guelph Hydro will assist the City in achieving this goal by implementing solar installations on municipal buildings as well as other commercial, industrial, institutional and residential rooftops in the community.

District Energy and Other Sustainable Power Projects

Guelph Hydro is actively developing sustainable energy projects within the Guelph community. These projects will include district energy, combined heat and power (CHP), biogas and biomass projects including anaerobic digestion.

Mayor’s Task Force on Community Energy

Guelph Hydro Inc. will also serve as a key member of the Mayor’s Task Force on Community Energy. The Mayor’s Task Force has a mandate to engage community members and stakeholders and oversee the rollout of initiatives to achieve the goals of the Community Energy Initiative.

Goals of the City of Guelph Community Energy Initiative:

* Use less energy in 25 years than the City does today
* In 15 years, 25 percent of our energy will come from renewable sources
* Consume less energy per capita than comparable Canadian cities
* Produce less greenhouse gas per capita than the current global average

Guelph is often referred to as The Royal City.

It could at least as fairly be nicknamed The Activist City. There’s a long tradition of such in the city. Broaden your interpretation of the term if necessary and then embrace some of the history of local activism – if you’re off-put by some recent tactics and actors associated with the label.

Activist citizens helped deliver the River Run Centre to Guelph. They campaigned for Hospice Wellington. They formed the 10 Carden St. organization, Wellington Water Watchers, the backbone of the community force that opposed Wal-Mart. Gwen Jacobs was an activist. Many of the founders of Hillside would identify themselves as activists. Anne-Marie Zajdlik is an activist. Wendy Durigon is an activist. Guelph teems with such driven citizens. It has for years.

Comparing “good” local activists and “bad” local activists and “good activism” in this area with “bad activism” has even recently surfaced as a buzz subject in the community. This month, Susan Ratcliffe, long an active promoter and chaser of causes, offered an opinion column in this paper on just such distinctions. She came down hard on the lot of people who have opposed the development of the Hanlon Creek Business Park – even questioning their commitment to vigorous activism. That’s quite a throw-down on folks who physically occupied the land for weeks and have fought court battles, staged protests and continue to speak out in various ways in opposition to the development.

There’s also a compelling exchange of comments on a post placed days ago on the Mercury’s city hall blog, 59 Carden St., on the subject of what is good activism. Comments that followed the post: “Where were the other delegations,” “police escorts?” include opposing arguments from Guelph’s old-guard activist vanguard and elements of its new one.

Deeper into the dialogue is a forceful interjection by Guelph Coun. Mike Salisbury. We hope it carries weight.

In blunt paraphrase, Salisbury encourages citizens agitating to make a local difference to run for public office – this year.

He asserts that doing so represents an act of courage, accountability and a willingness to lead away from the sidelines.

We take a wide view and a long-term one on “good advocacy.” But we support the notion that participation as a candidate for public office is great activism – a quite trying variety as well.

Let’s hope for a full and active ballot this fall.

Posting on 59 Carden Street

Wikipedia: Activism can be described as intentional action to bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change. This action is in support of, or opposition to, one side of an often controversial argument.

In my experience, THE single most effective form of activism I have ever engaged in was running for City Council.

A few years ago I began to feel the need to “bring about social, political, economic, or environmental change” in my city.

This was radical action for me. There were two things that worried me; the common perception that all politicians are dishonest, self serving, liars and cheats (I don’t know anybody who would want to be associated with THAT crowd) and, the fact that I have spent most of my life rebelling AGAINST authority, not “selling out” to it.

However, if you REALLY want to make change, if your motivation is tied to worthwhile ideals and not personal ego, if you are willing to actually get off your ass, make a stand and put your time, effort and reputation on the line for what you believe in, if you are willing to test everything in the cruel court of public opinion…then get off the sidelines and make a stand where it REALLY counts – Run for Office!

It is easy to complain and do nothing. It is infinitely harder and far more effective to get involved. The most effective way to get involved is to become part of the process, part of the solution.

Beware! The solution (democracy) involves, accountability, responsibility, and service.

It’s an election year – want to make a change?

Unfinished Business

The Guelph Field Naturalists (GFN) would like to express our disappointment with your article “Risky Business” [Autumn 2009], which reported on the proposed Hanlon Creek Business Park (HCBP) development in Guelph.

The article is riddled with misinformation and was written in a biased manner. In addition, neither City of Guelph officials, Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA) staff, the city’s Environmental Advisory Committee nor the environmental consulting firm that studied the site were cited. We suggest that, in future, your articles should be fact checked and that local affiliated members of Ontario Nature should always be contacted to provide local information.

The GFN has contributed input to the proposed HCBP for more than five years. We support the proposed HCBP development, both for its protection of natural heritage features and for one of its goals – providing local employment for Guelph citizens, [and] thereby reducing the need for commuting to other cities.

The City of Guelph has recently completed its Natural Heritage System study, which will become part of the city’s official plan. All the significant natural heritage features located on HCBP lands that were identified in that study will be retained and protected. The city has done all the necessary environmental and planning studies for the HCBP, which were reviewed and accepted by the GRCA and the city’s Environmental Advisory Committee. Further, the HCBP was subjected to an Ontario Municipal Board process that added further environmental restrictions and conditions to the proposed development. A thorough environmental review has been undertaken.

Contrary to your article, the HCBP is opposed by a relatively small group. The article refers to an old hop-hornbeam tree reputed to be one of the oldest of its kind in the province. Experts we consulted at the University of Guelph disagree on the basis of the lack of supporting evidence. The tree is located in an area that has been heavily grazed in the past, and little native understorey and ground flora now exist. The area is completely infested with common buckthorn.

The HCBP is located entirely within the city boundary and is therefore not contributing to sprawl. It is being developed in response to the province’s Places to Grow legislation. The HCBP will be protecting all natural forests and wetlands within its boundaries, which constitute approximately 24 percent of the site. The only trees being removed are those in hedgerows and a small edge area. Many trees will be planted to substantially increase canopy cover. Development will only occur on previously farmed lands. The Storm Water Management system is designed to match pre-development conditions. Laird Road, the main road now bisecting the large central forest/wetland complex, will be closed as part of the development, essentially rejoining the two forested halves. This is where a dead hybrid salamander of the Jefferson salamander complex was found and where substantial frog and toad mortality is now occurring.

Closing of the road will have a significant positive effect on the natural environment.

Your article mentions a potential threat to Guelph’s drinking water from the HCBP. Guelph draws its drinking water from a deep regional aquifer, whereas the HCBP contributes to the shallow aquifer that feeds Hanlon Creek. Hanlon Creek itself is not located on HCBP lands, but rather a small tributary of it. Only a small portion of the HCBP lands is actually on the Paris-Galt Moraine.

As naturalists, we strive to protect nature in the city and elsewhere. We strongly support the city’s Natural Heritage System in protecting the city’s green spaces. We also support initiatives that will reduce our carbon footprint, such as provision of local employment to reduce commuting needs and contribute increased density to our city.

Valerie Fieldwebster, President, Guelph Field Naturalists

All Ontario cities, including Guelph, are required by the Act to define and map vulnerable areas around water supply sources—either a supply well, or surface water intake area—that could be affected by potential threats. These areas require extra care in order to protect water quality. Potential threats, including common commercial and residential activities that take place on properties in these vulnerable areas, are currently being evaluated and will be ranked according to criteria developed by the Ministry of the Environment (MOE).

Once finalized the City’s Groundwater Vulnerability Assessment, Surface Water Vulnerability Assessment and Drinking Water Threats Assessment will be compiled with assessments by other municipalities in the Grand River Watershed, and used to develop the Grand River Watershed Source Protection Plan. The Plan, as required by the Clean Water Act, will outline protective measures so the identified potential threats do not impact the quality of each municipality’s groundwater.

The MOE funds water source protection investigations and has recently committed an additional $80,000 to Guelph for public education geared to home, business and rural land owners.

The Province of Ontario’s Clean Water Act was developed to protect drinking water at the source as part of a commitment to safeguard human health and the environment.

Without a question, the Beijing opening ceremonies were flawless and awe inspiring. They were a spectacle the kind of which may never have been witnessed before. The Canadian opening ceremonies were…well, not exactly flawless.

As many of you know, the fourth ‘leg’ of the Olympic cauldron didn’t work. It failed to rise up out of the floor leaving one of our torch bearers holding the bag, or more precisely, holding the torch.

In the weeks that followed I heard many people respond critically about our opening ceremonies; it wasn’t “perfect” – it “failed” – it was an “embarrassment”. I began to contemplate how well, or how poorly, our opening ceremonies portrayed our nation to the rest of the world. It wasn’t until 17 days later watching the closing ceremonies that it became apparent just how proud I am to be a Canadian.

Perhaps one of the moments I remember most vividly about the opening ceremonies in Beijing was the little girl in the pigtails and red dress who sang the anthem. Lin Miaoke, a cute 9 year old from Beijing become a national sensation and darling to the international media following her performance; the only problem, she was a fake.

The real singer was a seven-year-old girl named Yang Peiyi. She had won a gruelling competition to perform the anthem, but was pulled at the last minute because while she had a perfect voice, she wasn’t considered pretty enough to represent her nation to the rest of the world. So on the night of the opening ceremonies, while a pre-recording of Yang Peiyi played Lin Miaoke was seen but not heard.

By contrast, our opening ceremonies were flawlessly real – warts and all.

The way I see it, life doesn’t always work out the way we want it to. Sometimes we fail, we don’t get that job we wanted, we miss the bus, or our fancy Olympic flame just doesn’t work right. As Canadians we pick each other up and we just keep going.

We also laugh about our follies. It was no surprise that our closing ceremonies opened with a three legged Olympic torch complete with a theatrical “mechanic” who after several unsuccessful attempts ultimately succeeds in pulling up the arm with an imaginary rope so that Catriona Ann Le May Doan, the athlete who was previously denied, is given the honour of lighting the cauldron.

Perseverance, tolerance, creativity, humour, helping each other to become great…THAT is being Canadian, and I am proud we shared it with the world.

Five common themes emerged that will continue to require focused attention and action. Here’s what I heard;

KEY THEMES

• Communication - residents want timely information about progress on current and emerging issues
• Employment  - job creation and economic development is critical at this time
• Control Spending / Reduce Taxes – appropriate controls and measured spending need to be in place
• Protect our Environmental – our water sources and supply need vigilant attention
• Community Safety -  more physicians are required and vandalism and speeding needs to be curtailed

THANK YOU

One of the most challenging roles for a City Councilor is to maintain a strong connection with those I serve. Thank you for your continued support.

QUESTIONNAIRE RESULTS

Click on the graphs for a larger image – click on larger image for full screen

How would you rate the overall quality of life in the City of Guelph today?
The quality of life in the City of Guelph in the past three years has…
How satisfied are you with the overall level of quality of services provided by the City of Guelph?
How effective do you feel City Council is overall, at dealing with important issues in the community?

How important are each of the following services and how satisfied are you with the job the city is doing providing that service?
Recreation Facilities
Public Transit
Garbage Services
Fire Protection
Ambulance Services
Emergency Planning
Entertainment Centres such as River Run / Sleeman Centre
Arts and Culture Programs
Tree Maintenance along roadways and in parks
Road Maintenance asphalt repairs, snow removal, sweeping
Roadside Maintenance sidewalk repairs, mowing, boulevard treatments
Parks, Trails and other green spaces
Sports Fields
Recreation the variety of available programs

How satisfied would you say you are with yard waste collection?
How supportive would you be of an increase in twice yearly yard waste pickup?
How supportive would you be of increasing yard waste pickup if each additional pickup would increase your property taxes?
1$ annually
2$ annually
3$ annually
How satisfied are you with the city’s current sidewalk snow removal service?
How supportive would you be if the city were to change this it’s sidewalk snow removal service? This change would mean that able bodied residents would be responsible for clearing their own sidewalks but would result in a property tax savings of approximately 2$ per year.

What is your level of satisfaction with the following transportation issues?
Public transit between Guelph and the surrounding communities such as Waterloo, Kitchener, Cambridge
Transit service between Guelph and Toronto Area (GTA)
The level of congestion on Guelph roads?
The job the City has done encouraging bicycle use through the creation of paths and laneways?
Overall transportation in the city?
When was the last time someone in your home used public transit?

How likely do you think the following initiatives would be to make you take public transit more often?

Below is a list of the local events / initiative in our community where you can lend your support.

1. TUESDAY NIGHT NON-PROFIT SCHOLARSHIP LEAGUE

Mike

Thanks for all your help regarding the fund raiser we are doing on Feb-06 and feb-07 at Woodlawn Bowling Alley
The program I run is a youth 10 Pin Bowling league which is totally different then any other league in Canada.
Our program kids will be going throughout the city asking people for their donations or pledges to help the youth in Haiti.

We will also be running a Silent auction, the week prior, all of the items have been donated from local businesses as well as the pro Bowlers Tour, they have given us signed Bowling Balls, Shirts, Towels, and much More.

We have the support so far of the Tribune and Roger`s T.V. we expect The Guelph Mercury as well.
Please see what you can do, we are really trying to raise $15,000, and every bit of support we get, will help us reach this goal.
Thanks
Bob

I also like Steven Colbert – Steven is a popular late night TV talk show host featured on the Comedy Network who plays an opinionated and self-righteous commentator who “unwittingly” uses a number of logical fallacies to ridicule the actions of politicians and other public figures. By taking their statements and “the facts” to the furthest (supposedly) logical conclusion, he uses irony and sarcasm to paint a twisted picture of reality.

Both of these gentlemen are gifted satirists and both of them can be very entertaining (and even enlightening) if you don’t take them too seriously.

Satire is a complex literary tool, and it is not uncommon to be misunderstood. Take for example Gerry’s latest rant titled “An Assessment of Guelph’s Finances”. Purportedly a three part analysis of how the current city council is bankrupting Guelph. The Mercury refused to publish the editorial and so it started floating around cyberspace along with emails from the prince of Estonia who needs me to send him money so he can access the family fortune (which he promises to share with me).

According to Gerry’s email – “salaries and benefits have increased by 31.8 per cent” – “council has spent $8,300,000 from this Tax Stabilization Reserve to conceal rising costs and artificially contain tax increases” – “Guelph Transit is a financial basket case” – and there is “imminent danger that huge increases in debt will downgrade our city’s credit rating” all of this to support council’s “vanity projects”. Of course… this spells “a disastrous financial outcome for residents”

WOW

Because of the viral nature of email, Gerry’s writings began to cause quite a stir. With constituents beginning to panic, The Mayor responded:

The information in this column is factually incorrect and misleading. I appreciate this opportunity to correct the record.

Mr. Barker’s assertion that Barrie operates a larger city with fewer employees is full of holes. He has incorrectly calculated the number of City of Guelph staff – we have 1,149 full-time employees, not 1,305. He also fails to mention that Barrie contracts out a number of services – including waste management, snow plowing, and transit – so these FTEs do not appear in their numbers. Guelph, on the other hand, has taken on delivery of ambulance service, a service we previously paid for through a contract with Royal City Ambulance. This is a primary reason for an increase in our FTEs between 2008 and 2009.

Assuming Mr. Barker’s calculations on Barrie’s payroll costs are accurate, Guelph’s costs per employee are actually $21,000 less than Barrie’s.
His assertion that salaries and benefits have increased 31.8% over two years is also wrong. In each year, economic increases to staff were 3%, with additional recognition pay to fire services as per Provincial arbitration.

I could go on. All three parts of Mr. Barker’s column are rife with inaccuracies. In contrast, the City’s budget process – which is transparent and open to the public, and will begin in mid-November – will provide factual information and a true picture of the City’s finances.

Like many businesses and residents in Guelph, the City has felt the impacts of the economic downturn. Through the budget process, Council is prepared to make tough decisions to ensure our city is strong, and our AA credit rating is maintained.

Given the number of inaccuracies in it, I am not surprised that the Mercury refused to publish it. It is unfortunate that it is circulating through e-mail, as those who receive it may not realize the many errors in it.

Phil Andrews managing editor of the Mercury wrote with regard to refusing to publish the writings:

They were declined pending the columnist revealing and enumerating the precise documents cited that gave rise to the data in the pieces. Further, I insisted that I needed to be informed of the identity of the financial adviser who purportedly offered analysis of the data for the columns — before they could be considered for publication. Those terms weren’t met.

OK… So Gerry got a little over excited, and with a just over a year to the next municipal election I guess you can’t really blame him.

And speaking of elections – I guess those with a burning desire for political recognition are beginning to rev up the campaign machine once again – one of the candidates from the previous election published “An Assessment of Guelph’s Finances” on his website asking for people to “forward (it) to those who may share the same concerns.”

Nothing like false controversy and hearsay to get people all worked up!

Personally I think creativity, honesty, and integrity make for better reading AND better leadership in government.

Just inside the front doors is ServiceGuelph, the City’s centralized customer service, makes access to information, services and resources even simpler. People can purchase transit passes, sign up for recreation programs, buy dog licenses, pay parking tickets and property taxes and more. ServiceGuelph is open Monday to Friday, 8:30a.m. to 4:30p.m. A full list of services is available at serviceguelph.

Guelph invested $39,090,010 in the building, and will now save over $658,000 per year in rent costs. The Province of Ontario contributed $803,000 to restore the historic Winter Fair Wall which is incorporated into the design of the building, and $3,000,000 in Federal Gas Tax funds paid for the building’s heating and cooling system. The efficient system uses 38 per cent less energy and emits fewer greenhouse gas emissions than a typical system.

The building has a number of green features; a green roof, living wall, eco-friendly building materials and fixtures that use 30 per cent less water than a typical office building. Guelph’s City Hall is built to the LEED Silver Standard set out by the Canadian Green Building Council.

The combination of striking heritage features and contemporary design expresses Guelph’s proud history, its continued vitality and its vision for the future.

By Renann Isaacs, curator, Alma Gallery, Guelph

Dear Editor – Re: “Need for cultural post debated” (Guelph Mercury, Dec. 19).

Hooray for Mike Salisbury and the six other councillors who voted in support of creating a much needed position for an arts and culture supervisor. I can’t believe Guelph has been without one.

I recently moved from Montreal to be closer to my parents. I chose Guelph because of its potential and because I wasn’t prepared to move back to the architecturally and culturally demolished city of Toronto, where my parents live.

Downtown Guelph is a gem waiting to be discovered.

Despite the poor placement of buses, the abundance of pubs, and the chaotic signage, the core of the city consists of stunning neighbourhoods and heritage buildings that are ideal for accommodating a beautiful community of bed and breakfasts, cafés, fine dining restaurants, boutique shopping, galleries, and anything to do with the arts in general.

Visitors from all over have admired the area and some have even contemplated moving here.

Imagine then my shock when I heard that there were still folks around like Councillors Gloria Kovach, Christine Billings and Kathleen Farrelly who referred to a proposal supporting arts and culture as “nebulous.”

Wow! How terribly Sarah Palinesque!

If a city wants to position itself for a changing world it has to attract and excite people, not make their lives dull.

Sprawling suburbs and strip malls with redundant conformity do not stimulate economies. Culture does.

Bravo to those Guelphites who have the courage to look to the future. By providing the city with an arts and culture supervisor we can facilitate the change needed to make this city an even greater going concern. Yes we can!

At the beginning of my term I toured our neighbourhood with the Director of Community Design and Development. I pointed out that while Paisley Rd. was one of the primary connections to the rest of the city, the sidewalk on the north side of the road was missing.

In fact, the sole bus stop on Paisley road required residents to walk along a dusty goat trail to access the rest of the community; not particularly accessible to say the least.

The original plan was to look at installing the sidewalk as part of a larger motion I made to move forward with a pedestrian rail underpass to Margaret Greene Park  as identified in the trail master plan following the fatal accident we had last year.

I expect this issue to be debated by council next year, however by the end of this summer a number of sidewalk projects planned by the city could not be completed and my request was bumped up to the front of the line.

Together with staff we reviewed a number of other sidewalks that need to be completed in the west end including Imperial Rd. south of Speedvale and Elmira Rd. south of Willow. These projects are in the works for next year.

While I think that it is pretty unlikely that we will be forced against our will to merge I believe that the OEB will continue to create a regulatory environment so onerous that smaller utilities will ultimately have to choose between spiralling distribution rates and operational deficits of full ownership or to accept a “tax incentive” to partner with other LDC’s for survival.

This Machiavellian reality of the current provincial energy policy was certainly not the sole reason to consider a merger, it was however the context of the discussion.

It was estimated that the savings for Guelph citizens as a result of this partnership with Horizon Utilities would be measured in the millions of dollars. Critics were quick to point out that the impact to individual ratepayers was only 20% of 20% (the distribution portion) of their hydro bill and the cost of power will continue to rise even if the distribution rates continue to go down.

While most rate payers may be tempted to sacrifice a small financial savings on their hydro bill to maintain the perceived benefits of full ownership it is important to put the dollars into perspective.

The estimated annual savings per rate payer in Guelph was the equivalent to a 2% reduction in the municipal tax rate – the equivalent of two glass sorting machines for the recycling facility, or twice covering the extra cost of 20min bus service recen.

Perhaps two of the biggest opportunities I saw with the proposed merger were being in a position to embrace technological changes in the energy distribution industry and meet the growing social changes with regards to conservation and demand management.

Smart meters and smart grids – micro generation – increasing role for our distribution system that didn’t exist a few years ago… I may not know much about the emerging technological opportunities however I can almost guarantee one thing – it won’t be cheap!

Having rigorously reviewed the business case I was comfortable that this was a good partnership.

Why?

• Combination of urban density, growth and favourable geography
• Guelph would have become a strategic partner based upon our location and expertise – (reflected in the premium valuation of our assets)
• As a strategic partner our facilities and the jobs created by these facilities would have been insulated during subsequent mergers – in fact we had language in the legal agreements to protect our assets

Very simply – we either needed to embrace the vision of larger regional distribution or not. This time around we chose not to, however my fear is that by choosing so we run the risk of becoming an island.

Case in point; we are NOT part of discussions with our neighbours (Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge) to establish commuter rail in the tri-cities area even though we already own an existing and profitable railway! There may be a number of reasons why our neighbours have chosen not to include us but I wonder if it had anything to do with our reaction to amalgamation pressures a number of years back and our withdrawal from regional projects like the “technology triangle” or the regional airport?

Perhaps the greatest lesson we can all learn from this exercise can be summed up in one word – TRANSPARENCY.

From day one – I fought to have the business case for merger be made public. I consistently maintained that such an important issue mandated complete and total transparency and the participation and consultation with our community. I argued that if this is a good recommendation it will weather the intense scrutiny of public review and that if it cannot, then it is not a good recommendation.

Unfortunately the public never had the chance to debate the real issues from the business case and instead were forced to rely on summaries and speculation – a bad combination.

I can only hope that this entire process will become a stepping stone to much greater things for our community with regards to Guelph Hydro and our community energy plan.

As the Shareholder Representative on the Guelph Hydro Inc. (GHI) Board of Directors, I support the recommendation to merge Guelph Hydro Electric Systems Inc. (GHESI) with Horizon Utilities Corp. (Horizon).

Context

Industry consolidation is being driven by regulatory pressures, the capital needs of utilities and increased consumer advocacy (e.g. industrial and commercial sectors seeking rate harmonization).

The GHI Board of Directors has been delegated the responsibility by Guelph City Council to manage the business and to “enhance the value of the Corporation (GHI) and its subsidiaries (GHESI & Ecotricity)”. The GHI Board unanimously recommends the merger with Horizon to respond to industry changes being driven by the Province of Ontario and the Ontario Energy Board (OEB), as the regulator.

Industry changes present both risks and opportunities for GHESI. Council’s role as stewards of this valuable public asset is to separate potential risks from fear and to understand how those potential risks can be effectively mitigated. Equally, Council must also consider opportunities for maintaining or enhancing the value of this public asset for the benefit of the community.

The role of Council is to provide strategic leadership based on the best available information. Critical to fulfilling this role must be an understanding that a decision to take no action at this time will not alter the course of industry change and comes with its own set of risks that must be well considered.

Due diligence

Council and the citizens of Guelph can have confidence that the due diligence process has been robust.

The due diligence process is a process of discovery for the shareholder (Guelph City Council) with respect to the merging entities (Horizon and GHESI). This process is designed to assist Council in the assessment of the risk and opportunities with respect to the proposed merger.

The strength of the due diligence process is demonstrated by the significant resources that have been assembled to consider the proposed merger. They include:

• Council’s appointment of a skills-based Board of Directors for GHI comprised of members with extensive industry and business expertise
• a GHESI Management Team with substantial industry knowledge and experience
• retaining Borden, Ladner and Gervais LLP for GHESI/Horizon to conduct the legal due diligence

The scope of the work included:

• corporate organization
• financial matters
• real property, plant and equipment
• technology and intellectual property
• regulatory matters
• material contracts and commitments
• management and employees
• benefit plans
• insurance

• retaining Deloitte & Touche LLP for GHESI/Horizon to conduct the financial due diligence

The scope of the work included:

• valuation of each merged entity (including relative contribution of each party to the merged entity, value of each entity on a stand alone basis, and the value of the merged entity)

• retaining Kinetrics Inc. for GHESI/Horizon to conduct the operational due diligence

The scope of the work included:

• asset verification
• asset condition assessment
• comparison of observed asset value with book value
• review of capital expenditure
• operation and maintenance programs and budgets City Hall
• review of reliability statistics and planning
• identification of any technical issues leading to financial risk

• retaining of Gowlings LLP for GHI/GHESI to provide independent legal advice
• retaining BDR for the City of Guelph to conduct an expert, independent options analysis
• retaining BDR for the City of Guelph to conduct an expert, independent peer review of the merger business case and accompanying analysis performed by Deloitte
• the engagement of Aird & Berlis LLP as independent legal advisors to the City of Guelph to assist in its review of legal documentation concerning the proposed merger
• the review of all documentation by the City of Guelph’s Chief Administrative Officer, City Treasurer and City Solicitor
• significant opportunity for the public to provide input and questions
• significant access of Council to resources and expertise

Strategic benefits & timing

In considering the available options, merger makes the most sense when shareholders want both the advantages of ownership and the benefits of good returns.

Many merger discussions only focus on potential financial savings. The comprehensive “Merger Principles” adopted by GHI at the outset have both informed the process and expressed a commitment to achieving a broader set of community benefits. The success in achieving these principles is reflected in the choice of merger partner and the breadth of benefits achieved.

There are several compelling reasons why moving forward with a merger at this time, rather than holding, is in the best interest of customers, employees, the community and the shareholder.

GHESI is entering the merger discussions from a position of strength. This is reflected in the strong ownership proportion identified for Guelph in the business case. As consolidation continues, Guelph’s relative size and position in the industry will decrease. The number of potential merger partners will decline and our strategic options along with our ability to set the terms of a merger in the future will be diminished.

Customers

All customers will benefit from lower rates (20% reduction in distribution rates after rate harmonization; lower distribution rate increases over time) and improved service (extended customer service hours; enhanced local emergency response). Lower distribution rates can only be achieved through a merger. Ongoing reliability of service is ensured not only by the past performance of both utilities but also regulation. The OEB regulatory environment protects customer and shareholder interests.

Employees

If we hold, our ability to negotiate as strong a transition package for GHESI employees will be compromised along with our ability to negotiate a significant level of local business presence as many of these opportunities will be locked in by other merger agreements.

Horizon and GHESI have complementary not competing human resource strengths which has facilitated the development of the human resources strategy.

The particular commitment of the GHI Board of Directors to the employee community is consistent with the City of Guelph’s corporate values.

Community

Horizon’s undeniable commitment to conservation and demand management (C & DM), their strong voice at the provincial level and the designation of Guelph as the Centre of Excellence for C & DM for the merged entity will leverage substantial new resources and partnership opportunities for the implementation of Guelph’s Community Energy Plan (CEP).

Lower industrial and commercial rates will give Guelph a competitive advantage. The merger will result in $40 million of savings for ratepayers over the next 10 years. This money will stay in the community having a positive economic impact.
Shareholder

BDR’s conclusion, after thorough analysis, is that the business case is fair and reasonable from a financial point of view.

A merger will mitigate impacts of new regulatory requirements that would otherwise be felt by the customer through increased rates and by the shareholder as a decline in asset value and dividends. It is anticipated that the OEB will adopt performance based regulation (IRM) that will reward actions of those entities that merge to find cost efficiencies.

The strength and size of Horizon will bring many operational benefits to the merged entity including:

• stronger credit rating
• new systems and technologies to enhance operational efficiency that would have been cost prohibitive for GHESI to implement (i.e. the high fixed costs and rapid depreciation of these new systems and technologies can be spread over a larger customer base)
• The electrical distribution industry is highly regulated. Local boards and shareholders have limited control over the business. The legal agreements that have been negotiated preserve one important area of control – influence over the strategic direction of the merged entity (i.e. future mergers or acquisitions). Should we hold, our ability to negotiate a merger agreement in the future, that allows the same level of influence over future strategic business decisions, will be diminished.
• Finally, increased dividends will assist the City of Guelph address the infrastructure deficit and CEP implementation.

The entire report can be downloaded here – Chamber of Commerce Hydro Analysis.

Excerpts from the report are reprinted below.

CONCLUSION

The Board of Guelph Hydro has been charged by the Corporation of the City of Guelph to make recommendations based upon what is best for the City. The thoroughness of the preparations and reports from the Board shows they have acted very well within their mandate and should be congratulated for a job well done. Following our own due diligence, the Guelph Chamber of Commerce supports the recommendations of the Guelph Hydro Board of Directors to merge Guelph Hydro with Horizon Utilities.

RECOMENDATIONS

1. The financial presentation shows stronger performance from Horizon than from Guelph Hydro or most other utilities. The financial arguments favour merger.
2. The merger provides opportunity for enhanced engineering support, that will benefit Guelph businesses looking for cost savings programs via conservation and new technologies.
3. The management preparation of the merged company has been from the bottom up, which reduces the problems inherent in bringing two organizations together.
4. The mass of the merged entity will position the utility for changing economic times ahead, providing better opportunity for stabilizing rates and investing in infrastructure.

NOTES

This report has been prepared following :

* Consultation by our ten person Advocacy Committee representing retail, industrial, education, legal, personnel, agri-technology, financial, and institutional sectors. Committee members consulted their peers.
* Chambers of Commerce were consulted in St Catharine’s and Hamilton regarding corporate citizenry of Horizon, service levels, and meeting forecast revenue and expense targets
* Guelph Hydro Board of Directors were met with twice for clarification of issues
* Guelph Hydro Management was consulted
* The public was polled on our website, including members and non-members
* The Guelph Chamber of Commerce held a public meeting with our members and members of Horizon and Guelph Hydro boards of directors

COMMENTS

* Service and Rates:

The Horizon cost and rate projections have met the projections presented prior to merger in other areas. Cost and rate projections should be made to Council by Horizon. Initial comparisons look favourable.

* Local Employment Impacts:

Contract talks need to focus on the support of local contractors currently doing civil and other work for Guelph Hydro, based on their local expertise and value.

* Engineering Support:

Having additional demand management team members will assist Guelph Chamber of Commerce members to take part in cost savings opportunities. Having additional engineering staff will also help our members to identify cost savings programs requiring additional application and monitoring available via the larger administrative staff at Horizon.

* Conservation and Demand Management:

Guelph becoming the environmental champion for Horizon is the result of our work on the Community Energy Plan, and will offer additional innovation possibilities for our area, as well as research possibilities to make Guelph a centre for excellence of conservation and demand management.

* Long Term Strategic Plan:

Longer term strategic positioning will give Guelph a competitive negotiation advantage when other utilities in our area look at merging with larger utilities. The additional mass of the merged entity will offer higher returns on equity and financial stability for the City of Guelph and at the same time help to stabilize our utility rates for making local businesses more competitive.

* Experience in Mergers:

Horizon has a proven track record on concluding successful mergers which should be considered as an advantage in current discussions.

* Merged Utility Structure:

Management and employee teams from both Guelph Hydro and Horizon have reviewed best practices for each utility. The merger teams have recommended the new corporate structure to management. The merged organization has been structured from the bottom up versus structure being imposed, facilitating the job of joining workforces.

* Timing of Merger:

Negotiations put Guelph two years ahead of competitive utilities that may consider future mergers. Some manufacturing is feeling pressure from the downturn in the USA economy, and the merge would provide medium and long term relief on utility costs, as well as protecting against rate fluctuations.

* Regional Advantage:

The merged utility would be an attractive option for nearby utilities, benefiting Guelph’s future negotiating position. Rather than joining other local initiatives, Guelph would be leading

* Attraction of Business:

The excellent financial performance of Horizon, combined with local engineering advantages is a drawing card for businesses looking to locate in Guelph

* Risk:

Historically the assumption is doing nothing is less risk than changing. History shows not changing and adapting provides the higher risk. Historically opposition is stacked against change, with the most vocal opinions calling for the status quo.

Information was gathered by City staff throughout the winter and spring of 2008 to choose appropriate play equipment items. Besides the submitted resident comments, equipment choices for each park also take into account: vandalism records, maintenance requirements, diversification of the neighbourhood’s play equipment options, and maximizing play value.

The work shall be permitted during the following hours:
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday – Friday
9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays
At no time on Sundays and Public Holidays

Please be aware that heavy equipment will be entering and leaving the area. Pedestrian routes around the work area may be obstructed temporarily. Caution should be exercised when using these routes and adult supervision of children passing through this area of the park is strongly recommended.

New playground equipment which meets current Canadian safety standards will be installed at a new location within the park, closer to the washroom building and the existing play equipment (swings, slides, climbers, etc.) will be removed at a later date. Additional plantings, pathways and parking will also be installed.

Information was gathered by City staff in 2007 to choose appropriate play equipment items. Besides the submitted resident comments, equipment choices for each park also take into account: vandalism records, maintenance requirements, diversification of the neighbourhood’s play equipment options, and maximizing play value.

The work shall be permitted during the following hours:
7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Monday – Friday
9:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. on Saturdays
At no time on Sundays and Public Holidays

Please be aware that heavy equipment will be entering and leaving the area. Pedestrian routes around the work area may be obstructed temporarily. Caution should be exercised when using these routes and adult supervision of children passing through this area of the park is strongly recommended.

Mr. Salisbury,

I want to thank you for your help with my request for assistance in recognizing our Novice girls fastball team representing Guelph at the Quebec nationals.

I have heard from the Mayor’s office today and have they have offered assistance.

I was pleasantly surprised with your calls today and the efforts you took upon yourself which resulted in quick involvement of the Mayor’s office.

This is the second time I have sought you out, and in both instances your help was invaluable.

Once again, thank you.

Regards,
Robb Graham 

This type of communication is vital to the democratic process, in fact I think it is so important that I have established the “Ward 4 Survey” an online questionnaire based upon the original Ipsos Reid survey. I would like to encourage everyone to take out a couple of minutes and share your thoughts and opinions.

It will take only a couple of minutes to fill out, but will greatly improve my ability to represent your needs and priorities. Your participation and comments (both positive and critical) are requested and encouraged.

While I can’t guarantee anything can be done to ensure that Guelph residents won’t be left in the dark, I made a call to Jeremy Clark, Regional Station Manager at Rogers Television and Dave Carswell at CTV to ensure that they were aware of the issues we are debating in July.

Please consider covering these important public issues.

Monday July 7th

An issue that divided the community, cost millions of dollars in legal fees and took over a decade to resolve in the courts returns once again as Wal-Mart Canada proposes to expand one of its most controversial developments.

Monday July 14th

Information presentation to Council regarding the proposed merger of Guelph Hydro and Horizon Utilities. A business merger that will have provincial ramifications involving one of Canada’s the oldest public utilities .

Monday July 21st

Public delegations and deliberations on the Guelph Hydro merger.

Hopefully they will be able to do what is necessary to cover the meetings.