Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

That the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee recommend Council : Direct City staff to review the Rural Transit Area A funding model and report back to the Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee, including: a description of how the model allocates costs among rural areas/wards and the inputs driving those allocations; an analysis of alignment between costs paid and transit benefit/service received (including service levels, frequency, span, coverage, ridership, and commuter demand); options to improve fairness and transparency, including potential adjustments to the model, parameters or boundaries, with estimated impacts by rural ward/village and any budget implications. Direct City staff to evaluate the feasibility of engaging private mass transportation providers to supplement rural transit service for commuters and to enhance interconnectivity between villages and major hubs (e.g., Park & Ride lots, town centres and key employment areas), including: a scan of service models (including contracted fixed-route, peak-period commuter service, village-to-village shuttles, on-demand/microtransit, and feeders to rapid transit); procurement and contracting pathways, including whether existing City contracts may be leveraged or expanded, with estimated costs, risks, and timelines; minimum service standards and requirements, including accessibility (AODA), safety, reliability, customer service, data-sharing, and performance metrics; integration considerations with OC Transpo and

That the Rules of Procedure be suspended to consider the following motion at today’s meeting as the matter is time sensitive as excess soils will start being moved again shortly with the onset of construction season, especially once the spring load restrictions are lifted. WHEREAS the management, transport, reuse, and disposal of excess soil (also known as fill) is governed by Ontario Regulation 406/19 – On-Site and Excess Soil Management ; AND WHEREAS under this regulation, sites receiving more than 10,000 m³ of excess soil must be registered in a public online registry administered by the Resource Productivity and Recovery Authority (RPRA); AND WHEREAS the Province does not require municipalities to be notified when a large excess soil reuse site is registered within their boundaries; AND WHEREAS the Province does not require that a fill management plan be prepared or made public for large reuse sites, but only recommends such plans as a best practice; AND WHEREAS without mandatory municipal notification or required fill management plans, municipalities may be unaware of significant soil importation activities until impacts occur; AND WHEREAS the uncontrolled importation of large volumes of excess soil can generate substantial truck traffic, road degradation, dust, odour, noise, erosion, stormwater impacts, invasive species spread, and potential groundwater concerns; AND WHEREAS in the absence of advance notice and proactive planning requirements, municipalities are limited