The same Guelph park that has been earmarked for a possible power substation was the scene of a public meeting Thursday and concerned residents didn’t hold back their concerns to the Metrolinx representatives who were in attendance.
If the proposal goes ahead, Margaret Greene Park in the city’s west end will be the site of a Traction Power Substation (TPS), which Metrolinx says is necessary to electrify track in the area and improve rail service in the corridor.
About 100 concerned residents came out for the meeting on Thursday to tell the city and Metrolinx that they have no interest in seeing the TPS built in the public park, which was donated to the city in 1966.
The meeting was called by Ward 4 councillors Christine Billings and Mike Salisbury and moderated by Mayor Cam Guthrie.
Three employees of Metrolinx were in attendance, all representing the communications department. Ground rules were set at the beginning of the meeting that the three employees were not technical experts and would not answer questions about the project.
Instead, the Metrolinx employees were on hand to record interactions with residents and add the feedback to the record for the project’s public engagement process.
They got plenty of feedback to report.
“We are very angry, we are very upset by this,” said Linda Busuttil, neighbourhood development coordinator for the West Willow Village Neighbourhood Group.
Adding insult to injury for Busuttil was the fact Metrolinx described the possible site of the TPS in its documentation about the project as ‘vacant land.’
“We are opposed to and devastated that no economic value and no social value has been given to this area of Margaret Greene Park,” said Busuttil. “It was disheartening to hear that the city provided information to Metrolinx and that the Metrolinx report reflected that there is no other value for this land.”
“For us as a neighbourhood group, this park has huge value — social and economic — to the wellbeing of the residents in the area,” she added.
Resident Alex Smith pushed back on the Metrolinx employees about the vacant land designation for the park.
“You describe the site on Slide 8 as ‘property is currently vacant and there are no development applications,’” said Smith. “Can I ask you, from a communication point of view, is that a fair and transparent description of the site?”
One of the Metrolinx employees said that was a technical description and the slide will be changed to reflect the preferred TPS site is a public park
“We didn’t catch it and I apologize,” she said.
“That description was intended to mislead? Fair?” responded Smith, before being shut down by Guthrie for getting into a back and forth.
City staff were asked when the city was informed about Metrolinx’s proposal to build the TPS in the park.
“The City of Guelph was approached in June to let us know this was the site they had selected as their preferred site to move forward in their study,” said Terry Gayman, general manager of Engineering and Transportation Services at the City of Guelph.
He said the city did not announce it to the public at the time because it did not want to pre-empt Metrolinx’s plans to communicate through its public engagement.
“We let Metrolinx go forward with their process,” he said.
Gayman said city staff have in turn communicated its opposition to the project.
“Our position on this is we do not want the rail service improvement at the expense of losing parkland. Hopefully that is clear,” said Gayman, who tempered that statement by saying the city values improved rail service for Guelph.
“There are things there we also have to balance, so we will continue to provide Metrolinx technical information when requested,” he said.
As of Thursday's meeting, Metrolinx has said it will consider other sites for the project but stopped short of saying Margaret Greene Park is off the table.
The city's opposition to the project may not be enough to derail it if the provincial government decides to go ahead anyway and redone the parkland without consent, conceded Guthrie.
"They have the legal right," he said.
Mike Schreiner, MPP for Guelph, said he is in support of Metrolinx adding infrastructure to improve service.
“The position I have had is I support the electrification and all-day two-way GO, it’s something I have been a supporter of for years," said Schreiner. "But the infrastructure has to go in an appropriate location and a park is not an appropriate location."
Schreiner said the meeting was an opportunity for Guelphites to express their concern at the proposal to build the TPS as the park.
“I understand it’s an emotional issue and people want to be heard,” he said.
Salisbury asked the Metrolinx employees to consider extending the four-week public consultation process until the fall.
“We don’t, as a city, try to do consultation in the summer because most people are away,” said Salisbury. “Add to that COVID and there’s no reason this should not be extended until at least the last quarter of this year, I think that is vital.”
Salisbury hinted at the collective power some Guelphites have shown in the past to stand up against developments that are not deemed to be in the city’s interest.
“There are documentaries about how this city can get together and stand, so I think it would be best for Metrolinx to say hey we made a misstep and make that correction,” he said.
