Committee and Council Highlights - May

Christine Condy made a presentation to Committee requesting that the Township

1. Support a VORR application to Transport Canada; and
2. Request a restriction to: Prohibit wake-enhanced boating activities on all waters of Three Mile Lake.

Committee passed a resolution to support the request and directed staff to prepare a report including information regarding the required Township resources, potential timelines and anticipated challenges and/or benefits with the suggested initiative.

Upon the direction of Council at their April meeting, staff reviewed the proposed Policy changes that were originally made in March and suggested amendments to the policy in response to comments received in regard to fees associated with the sales of Road Allowances and selling Road Allowances that lead to water. Committee approved the changes that staff recommended.

The province has issued the Municipal Buy Ontario Procurement Directive and is now requiring provincial or national vendors be given priority in purchasing decisions in key strategic categories. Committee approved updates to Policy C-FS-20 to ensure compliance with the Directive while maintaining accountability and value for taxpayers.

This informational report provided an overview of operating revenues and expenses for the period January 1 to March 31, 2026. As of March 31, the Township has utilized approximately 25% of its annual approved tax levy of $19,268,700, resulting in 75% of the budget remaining at the end of the first quarter. These results are considered to be within expectations with variances reflecting normal seasonal patterns and timing differences.

Committee approved the updates to the Township Community Improvement Plan (CIP) Private Sector Incentive Program Policy to implement recently approved housing support programs and align the Incentive Program more closely with Council priorities.

Committee received a report listing potential capital improvements that could be funded through the Bala Community Reserve Fund and which recommended funding be used to upgrade and expand the Bala Town Dock. Committee also heard a delegation from the Moon River Property Owners Association requesting that funds be directed to the earlier remediation of the Moon River Boat Launch. Committee discussed this request, with staff noting the boat launch remediation is scheduled for 2027 and there is insufficient time to obtain Ministry of Natural Resources approval to complete in-water work in the 2026 season. After some discussion, Committee approved the Bala Town dock project.

-     Rebecca Willison, the Environmental Planning Policy and Program Coordinator from the District Municipality of Muskoka provided the history and an update to the District’s water strategy. She highlighted their Watershed Resilience Action Program that is open to eligible lake associations and community groups to improve the stewardship of waterbodies in the area. She answered questions from Committee, clarifying that any of the decisions they make regarding funding grants are based on scientific evidence. You can view the District’s media release here.

-       Kaitlyn Horton, the Watershed Program Coordinator at the District Municipality of Muskoka presented some highlights from the 2025 Lake System Health Water Quality Monitoring Program results to Committee. She discussed the many branches of the program including water quality monitoring, biological monitoring, invasive species monitoring as well as other aspects of the program. The results for 2025 revealed that the phosphorus sampling results in the 28 lakes sampled within the Township in 2025 showed approximately half the lakes had an increasing trend and half had a decreasing trend. The calcium sampling results showed that all lakes had a decreasing trend and the chloride sampling results showed that most lakes had an increasing trend. All of the result data is available here.

Committee heard many public comments from the community regarding the draft noise by-law during the meeting and directed staff to report back to a future Planning Committee, after considering all of the public feedback received, with an updated Draft Noise By-law for consideration.

This report provided a summary of the results of the fall/winter 2026 consultation program focused on Non-Waterfront Zoning Issues and includes recommendations for each as part of the Comprehensive Zoning By-law Update process. Committee directed staff to include all of the recommended amendments for the first draft of the zoning by-law amendment and to pause the project until after the municipal election.