Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee

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.

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: Planning, Development and Building Services, Development Review Rural and Rural Affairs Operating Budget as follows: User Fees (page 4); Operating Resource Requirement (page 3) The Agriculture and Rural Affairs Committee Capital Program (page 5) [individual projects listed pages 10-18], including revised page 17 .

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