Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

Minutes

Meeting #:

31

Date:

Thursday, December 04, 2025

Time:

10:00 A.m. - 1:00 P.m.

Location:

Ben Franklin Place, The Chamber, Main Floor, 101 Centrepointe Drive, and by electronic participation

Present:

• Chair David Brown, 
• Vice-Chair Clarke Kelly, 
• Councillor Catherine Kitts, 
• Councillor Matt Luloff, 
• and Councillor Isabelle Skalski 

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1.

Notices and meeting information for meeting participants and the public

Notices and meeting information are attached to the agenda and minutes, including: availability of simultaneous interpretation and accessibility accommodations; in camera meeting procedures; information items not subject to discussion; personal information disclaimer for correspondents and public speakers; notices regarding minutes; and remote participation details.

Accessible formats and communication supports are available, upon request.

Except where otherwise indicated, reports requiring Council consideration will be presented to Council on Wednesday, December 10, 2025 in Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Report 31.

The deadline to register by phone to speak, or submit written comments or visual presentations is 4 pm on Wednesday, December 3^rd, 2025, and the deadline to register by email to speak is 9:00 am on Thursday, December 4^th, 2025.

The Chair read the following statement at the outset of the meeting pursuant to the Planning Act:

This is a public meeting to consider the proposed Comprehensive Official Plan and Zoning By-law Amendments listed as Item(s) _______ on today’s Agenda.

For the item just mentioned, only those who make oral submissions today or written submissions before the amendments are adopted may appeal the matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal. In addition, the applicant may appeal the matter to the Ontario Land Tribunal if Council does not adopt an amendment within 90 days of receipt of the application for a Zoning By-law Amendment and 120 days for an Official Plan Amendment.

To submit written comments on these amendments, prior to their consideration by City Council on ___________, please email or call the Committee or Council Coordinator.

2.

Declarations of Interest

No Declarations of Interest were filed.

3.

Confirmation of Minutes

3.1

ARAC Minutes 29 – 6 November, 2025

4.

Finance and Corporate Services Department

4.1

2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budget – Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

File No. ACS2025-FCS-FSP-0013 – City-wide

The draft budget was tabled at the Council meeting of November 12, 2025. The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee report on the draft budget will be considered by Council at its meeting of December 10, 2025.

At the outset, the Committee received a detailed slide presentation overview of its portion of the 2026 City of Ottawa Budget from Mr. Cyril Rogers, Chief Finance Office and City Treasurer.  In addition to Mr. Rogers, each of the following also spoke, in turn, related to their departments’ portion of the Committee’s budget.  A copy of this presentation is held on file with the Office of the City Clerk.

• Ms Marcia Wallace, General Manager, Planning, Development and Building Services Department (PDBS);
• Ms Tammy Rose, General Manager, Infrastructure and Water Services Department (IWSD);
• Alain Gonthier, General Manager, Public Works Department (PWD), and;
• Ms Debbie Stewart, General Manager, Strategic Initiatives Department (SI).

Messrs. Dan Chenier, General Manager, Recreation, Cultural and Facility Services Department (RCFS) and Derrick Moodie, Director, Planning Services, PDBS, were also present to respond to questions.

Vice-Chair Kelly then introduced the following Technical Motion:

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee consider the relevant portions of the 2026 Operating and Capital Budgets, and make recommendations to Council sitting in Committee of the Whole to be held December 10, 2025.

  Carried as amended
• Motion No. ARAC 2025-31-01
  Moved by C. Kelly

  WHEREAS the 2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budget documents for the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee were circulated and published with the Committee agenda on November 25, 2025;

  WHEREAS after the agenda was published, a correction was required to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Draft 2026 Budget documents, specifically to the project description for capital project 911289-24-26 Rural Roads Upgrades; and

  WHEREAS Finance and Corporate Services has issued a revised Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Draft 2026 Budget Book which includes the updated project description below on page 17 of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Full English Budget Book.

  THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee approve the replacement of page 17 of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Full English Budget Book with the corrected project description for capital project 911289-24-26 Rural Roads Upgrades, as shown in the table contained in this motion, and on file with the City Clerk.

  Carried
• Motion No. ARAC 2025-31-02
  Moved by C. Kelly

  That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend that Council, sitting as Committee of the Whole, approve the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee 2026 Draft Operating and Capital Budget as follows:

  1. Planning, Development and Building Services, Development Review Rural and Rural Affairs Operating Budget as follows:
     1. User Fees (page 4);
     2. Operating Resource Requirement (page 3)
  2. The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Capital Program (page 5) [individual projects listed pages 10-18], including revised page 17.
  Carried
• Motion No. ARAC 2025-31-03
  Moved by C. Kelly

  WHEREAS oversight and direct service delivery in rural Ottawa, including increasing maintenance standards for rural drainage assets such as roadside ditches, is a priority for rural residents and for Council; and

  WHEREAS rural roadside ditch maintenance has not been performed at an acceptable standard since amalgamation and responsibility for drainage assets is currently dispersed amongst several different groups within the City of Ottawa; and

  WHEREAS the Roads, Rural Ditch Maintenance Program (911869) provides a dedicated capital envelope for rural drainage maintenance and, as part of Rural Summit 2024, the City committed to improving rural service levels, including rural drainage and roadside ditch maintenance; and

  WHEREAS the Roads, Rural Ditch Maintenance Program budget is set at $3.6 million, funded 50 percent by rate and 50 percent by tax-supported sources, and the Rural Stormwater fee capital budget is flexible enough to cover all related capital costs, including ditching work, brushing, trucking, materials (culverts, asphalt, etc.), equipment (handheld tools, vehicles and attachments), the Project Coordinator position to facilitate the work, hiring contractors to carry out the work, and in-house budgetary allocations for City staff.

  THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT, as part of the implementation of the City’s commitments from the 2024 Rural Summit and the substantive investments made in the Roads, Rural Ditch Maintenance Program (911869), staff be directed to ensure that the new Project Coordinator position has the capacity to action drainage projects in a timely and efficient manner, to support the effective delivery of service to rural taxpayers and landowners; and

  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT staff be directed to seek input from each rural Councillor on drainage priorities for each rural ward before January 15, 2026; and

  BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT a workplan prioritizing the delivery of drainage projects and their operational requirements be developed by the General Manager of Public Works, in consultation with the Chair and Vice-Chair of the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, and that this workplan be shared with the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee and the Ditch Alteration and Maintenance Sponsors Group by way of a memo in Q1 2026.

  Carried

5.

Infrastructure and Water Services Department

5.1

Third Concession Municipal Drain – Appointment of Engineer

File No. ACS2025-IWS-WL-0018 - Osgoode (20)

The Committee briefly heard from Mr. Dan Anderson, appearing on behalf of the applicant, who indicated he would not need to speak in the event that Committee were to ‘Carry’ the report recommendations.  Mr. Dave Ryan, Drainage Superintendent, Infrastructure and Water Services Department, was present to respond to questions.  At the conclusion of questions to staff, the report recommendation was put before Committee and was ‘Carried’, as presented.

• Report Recommendation(s)

  That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend Council appoint Mr. Andy Robinson, P. Eng of Robinson Consultants Inc. as the Engineer of record to prepare a report under Section 8(1) of the Drainage Act in response to a petition received under Section 4 of the Drainage Act, as described in this report.

6.

In Camera Items

There were no in camera items.

7.

Information Previously Distributed

7.1

Living Snow Fence Pilot Program

File No. ACS2025-SI-CCR-0012

8.

Open Mic Session

There were no in camera items.

9.

Notices of Motions (For Consideration at Subsequent Meeting)

There were no Notices of Motion.

10.

Inquiries

There were no Inquiries.

11.

Other Business

There was no other business.

12.

Adjournment

Next Meeting

• Wednesday, December 17, 2025 (Joint Meeting with Planning and Housing Committee)
• Thursday, January 15, 2026 (Tentative)

The meeting was adjourned at 11:13 am.