The Infrastructure and Corporate Services Committee met to address several issues, including the elimination of recycling services for small businesses following provincial regulatory changes. The committee also reviewed capital project budgets, approved reserve fund contributions from surplus revenues, and discussed budget transparency and projected debt growth.

Topics Discussed

Business Recycling Service Elimination

The committee discussed the impact of provincial rules that prohibit combining business and residential recycling streams. Staff said about 535 businesses previously receiving curbside recycling pickup on residential routes have lost that service, and that roughly 2,100–2,200 small businesses are affected overall.

The city’s proposed response is a pilot allowing businesses to drop off recyclables at Enviro Depot locations. Several members argued this does not replace curbside service. Mayor Morgan said, “I think the path here as an interim step to allow some drop offs, even though it isn't convenient, is fair to help them transition.” He also argued the longer-term fix is to restore pickup where trucks already pass businesses, saying, “Ultimately, the best solution here is the trucks driving by, make an extra stop and pick up some extra materials as we were doing when we ran the service.”

Councillors also focused on the financial context of the province taking over residential blue box collection. Mr. James told the committee, “As of mid July 2023, we've saved approximately 3 to 4 million per year,” adding that savings were used to offset the green bin rollout: “Anything offset for recycling we've basically put towards green bin.” Councillor Stevenson argued the city should not stop at the depot pilot, saying, “I don't think that we should leave it here. Like this is fine for now, but I don't think that we could do a lot better for our businesses here.”

Staff said a citywide return to business recycling collection would be costly and complex. The committee also discussed how other municipalities handle business waste; Mr. Chambers said, “in Ottawa, all of the businesses pay for their garbage collection… [and] they've kind of just added that on as an additional fee that they'll pay for their recycling.” Councillor Traso supported the pilot as a budget-neutral step, saying, “What's so elegant about this proposal that's in front of us is that it's already been budgeted for and we're not asking for any additional expenditures.”

Mayor Morgan said he would raise the issue with the province at AMO, describing it as both a logistics and advocacy problem: “To me, the easiest solution is there are trucks driving by already… And there's an advocacy piece here with the province.”

Capital Project Budget Oversight and Debt Growth

Committee members questioned how council is informed about capital projects that run over budget. Staff said reporting comes forward when additional funding beyond contingency is required.

The committee also reviewed debt projections. Mr. Murray said, “We do expect debt to ramp up over the years ahead,” and described the city’s use of debt substitution policies to avoid issuing debt, saying those policies have “successfully allowed us to avoid… a little bit north of $100 million going back now to 2016.”

Budget Transparency and Surplus Allocation

A councillor criticized the level of detail available in budget documents, arguing the public and council no longer receive line-by-line information. The councillor said, “We've consolidated to one line, right? So we don't even know how much is wages, how much is overhead,” and added, “Our tax rates are going up up up and what the public gets to see is going down down down.”

The committee also debated how surplus-related funds should be directed to reserves. One member questioned why savings could not be directed to other priorities, asking, “Why this? Why not garbage? Why couldn't the 3 or 4 million dollars in surplus have gone to a garbage reserve fund…?”

Sunningdale Road West Infrastructure Project

The committee discussed the Sunningdale Road West project and provincial funding. Staff said the project is $24 million with $18 million from the province and $6 million from the municipality, and that more detailed financial information will come forward when the project goes to tender in the next council cycle.

Buy Ontario Act Implementation Costs

Staff said implementing the provincial Buy Ontario Act will require additional work across procurement. Ms. Aurora told the committee, “there will be cost implications in terms of resources as well as designing and evaluating the major goods reporting requirements… So yes, there will be some cost implications.” Staff also said there is no indication the province will provide resources beyond guidance, and that staff will report back after provincial training sessions in early May.

Motions

Passed (6-0): - Items 2.1-2.7, 2.10-2.12: Various capital projects and administrative matters

Passed (5-1): - Item 2.8: Reserve fund contributions including employment services incentive funding to Social Services Reserve Fund and affordable housing property surplus to Affordable Housing Renewal Reserve Fund

Passed (6-0): - Item 2.9: 2025 Year End Capital Budget Monitoring Report
- Motion to move to confidential session
- Motion to adjourn

Attendees

The transcript did not provide a complete list of councillors present. The following were identified as participating: - Mayor Morgan - Councillor Frank - Councillor Stevenson - Councillor Traso - Councillor Ferrer (or Fer) - Councillor Stevens

Staff members present included Mr. Murray, Ms. Murray, Ms. Baro, Mr. Sheer, Mr. Yan, and Mr. McCrae.