City Council September 22 2025

City Council met September 22nd and, as usual, managed to combine money, mud, garbage, and teenagers into one evening of civic poetry.

Money, money, money (or lack thereof).
The accountants started things off with the city’s financial report. Turns out our investments are pulling in more than expected—about $8 million this year. Excellent news, if you’re a spreadsheet. Less excellent if you’re a bus driver, a parking garage, or a landfill. Transit fare revenue is limping along because nobody’s riding. Parking revenue is down because apparently everyone decided to avoid downtown altogether. And landfill tipping fees are short, partly because of the March ice storm when the city let everyone dump for free, and partly because builders are building less. The net effect? The city’s got cash, but not where it planned to have it.

Thou Shalt Not Move Dirt.
Council passed a Site Alteration By-law, which boils down to: don’t mess with the soil unless we say so. It’s meant to protect stormwater systems, keep flooding under control, and stop your neighbour from turning his yard into the Sahara. For anyone hoping to finally build that backyard motocross track, better check with City Hall first.

Housing, taxes, and future headaches.
The province dangled a shiny new toy called the Affordable Rental Housing Tax Subclass. Basically, landlords of affordable rentals could get a tax break. Council didn’t bite just yet—they’ve got until the end of September to decide if they want in for 2026. So for now it’s parked on the shelf while staff figure out who would benefit, who would complain, and how much grief it’ll cause.

Teenagers ride free.
One thing they did move forward on: the Youth Transit Pass Program. Kids aged 13 to 18 will now ride city buses for free evenings, weekends, and summers. The goal is to get teenagers out of cars and into transit, which is noble, though most of them will probably still use the bus for one thing: loitering at Lansdowne Place without bumming rides from parents.

Recycling déjà vu.
Council also wrestled with the upcoming provincial changes to recycling. Starting in 2026, producers—not municipalities—are supposed to handle the whole mess. The wrinkle is that not every source of recyclables counts. Institutions and businesses may find themselves without service. Translation: someone’s going to be confused, someone’s going to be mad, and the rest of us will keep stuffing blue boxes with guilt until the province makes up its mind.

Water, glorious water.
An update came in about disinfecting certain bits of the water treatment plant—Contact Tank 2 and Clearwell 4, for those keeping score. Basically, Council wants to make sure your tap water won’t kill you. Not glamorous, but pretty essential.

Big truck, big bucks.
Water Services got approval to spend $225,000 on a new specialized truck. This is the kind of purchase that makes ratepayers groan until they realize it’s better than having the city’s water crews show up in a rusted-out pickup with duct tape holding the doors shut.

Closed session adventures.
Behind closed doors, Council declared a road allowance in front of 345 Armour Road surplus (real estate jargon for “we don’t need this bit of road, so let’s sell it”). They also approved a request from the Rice Lake Snow Drifters Inc. to use city property for snowmobile access. Because nothing says responsible governance like making sure snowmobilers have enough trails to zip around after a few beers at the cottage.

Odds and ends.
Council also signed off on rent supplement agreements to help support affordable housing. Not headline material, but important in the background. Think of it as the council equivalent of flossing—unglamorous, but you’ll be sorry if it doesn’t get done.