City council has tentatively agreed to spend $250,000 in an attempt to win a $10 million grant from the federal government.
Earlier this month Guelph-Wellington’s bid was named one of the finalists in the national Smart Cities Challenge, with the Guelph-Wellington County entry named one of 10 in its population category of up to 500,000.
There were more than 100 entries.
The local entry would see the area develop a circular food economy to increase access to affordable, nutritious food.
It would include over 100 partners, from social organizations and businesses to the public and University of Guelph.
It focuses on three key goals, with a target of achieving them by 2025:
- Increase access to affordable, nutrition food by 50 per cent
- Create 50 new circular businesses and collaborations
- Increase circular economic revenues by 50 percent by recognizing the value of “waste”
Council voted unanimously at its planning meeting Monday night in favour of a staff recommendation to approve the funding, which will come from the city’s Efficiency, Innovation and Opportunity Reserve Fund.
The funding still has to receive final approved at the meeting of city council at the end of the month.
“Although the Federal government has committed $250,000 to the preparation of the final proposal, additional resources are required to respond in a limited time frame and to put forward a competitive final proposal,” said the staff report.
Cathy Kennedy, the city’s manager of policy and intergovernmental relations, said the money would be used to address gaps in the tech and data requirements for the project.
Coun. June Hofland brought up the fact that the reports on the project to date have contained some fairly high-level language and that more “plain language” might help citizens get a better grasp of the project.
Kennedy said that the language was necessary during the proposal phase, but that more “front porch language” would be used going forward.
The city was awarded $250,000 from the federal government to further develop its bid.
Two of the 10 finalists in the category will receive a a $10 million prize from the federal government.
The winner is expected to be announced in the spring of 2019.
