The upcoming Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee (ARAC) is taking place a couple weeks earlier than normal to review the budget. As a result, the next meeting is on Thursday, November 23rd, with the time and place unchanged (10:00am at Ben Franklin Place in Centrepointe). Agenda items include:

• Zoning By-Law Amendment: 8089 & 8165 Franktown Road (Rideau-Goulbourn)
• 2018 Draft Operating and Capital Budget
• Zoning By-Law Amendment: 7771 Snake Island Road (Osgoode)
• Zoning By-Law Amendment: Anomaly – 168 Baillie Avenue and part of 1640, 1641 Bontrey Place
• Carp Airport Development: Area-Specific Infrastructure Recovery Charge
• Regimbald, Simpson and Wilson-Johnston Municipal Drains: Appointment of Engineer (Cumberland)

The big item on the agenda is the 2018 Budget. We will consider the relevant portions of the draft 2018 Operating and Capital Budgets and forward our recommendations to Council for consideration at the December 13th Council meeting. The ARAC budget is relatively small as it merely deals with the rural section of the Planning Department as well as funding some minor portions of the Public Works budget.

For the budget presentation at Committee, I have asked that staff also touch on items that impact the rural area but are found in the budgets of other committees, such as Transportation Committee. The 2018 draft budget contains increases to infrastructure renewal across the City that will help begin to bridge the gap between how we are currently funding renewal and how we should be funding renewal. For Rideau-Goulbourn, the 2018 draft budget includes the resurfacing of Rideau Valley Drive South, south of Kars, and microsurfacing on a portion of Fourth Line Road. The portion of Gallagher Road that was upgraded last year will see the final surface added to it in 2018. If more funds become available following the tender of many renewal projects, roads such as Dwyer Hill Road, Old Richmond Road and Eagleson Road may see microsurfacing as well.

The agenda also includes the Carp Airport Development, which was previously listed on the last two ARAC agendas. Due to some minor issues, it was pulled and will now come next Thursday. That report deals with the funding component of extending servicing to this development. The Franktown Road application, which was deferred from the November 2nd ARAC meeting, is a new development in Goulbourn. It is a 19-lot development adjacent to the existing Heron Lake Estates community and the Riverbend Golf Course. The item on Bontrey Place, in Kars, updates the floodplain lines on those properties following a review of floodplain mapping by the Rideau Valley Conservation Authority.

For more information on this agenda, please visit Ottawa.ca or sign up for our e-Newsletter at RideauGoulbourn.ca.

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If you have any comments, questions or concerns, please feel free to email me at [email protected] or contact me by phone at 613-580-2491. For information on Rideau-Goulbourn issues, please visit RideauGoulbourn.ca.