Committee and Council Highlights - October 2025

October 24, 2025

In these Council and Committee Highlights you will find a monthly digest of featured news and updates coming out of the Council and Committee meetings.

October Council Highlights

Council received presentations from Mr. Lang and Ms. Allen regarding concerns related to the Township's plan to extend the public dock at Maple Leaf Bay in Windermere. 

Council adopted recommendations 1-2, 5-8 and 10 from the September General Finance Committee meeting.

Council reconsidered Action Item 3 - Digitization Policy, at the request of Councillor Mazan due to new feedback that was received. Council chose to amend the original Resolution to reflect the information that staff received, which included specifying conditions for recognizing records that were digitized prior to the adoption of this policy.

Action Item 4 - Sale of Original Road Allowance Application, Prymak, Roll No. 2-22-033 was reconsidered at the request of Councillor Burry due to his concern with selling Township land that leads to water. Council discussed the decision making process that they used last month and considered an amendment to refer the item back to General Finance Committee next month. The amendment was defeated by Council and the Action Item passed as originally presented.

The final General Finance Committee Action Item that was reconsidered was Action Item 9 - Venture Muskoka - Memorandum of Understanding (MOU), as requested by Councillor Mazan in light of new information that staff has received related to the MOU. Council voted in favour of postponing the Action Item to the November 12th Council Meeting..

Council adopted recommendations 1-8 from the September Planning Committee meeting.

Council reconsidered Action Item 9 - Heritage Designation Application, Mason, 44-Island J5 (Chief's Island), Roll No. 4-25-032 at the request of Councillor Bosomworth and chose to adopt a substitute Resolution due to the applicants' withdrawal of their application.

Council passed all by-laws noted in the October Council Agenda. 

When Council considered the Award of Tender for the Windermere Wharf Floating Dock Replacement, they kept the delegations' comments in mind and Council chose to proceed with the Windermere Wharf Dock replacement but to defer the Maple Leaf Dock replacement portion of the project at this time.

Staff presented a summary of the feedback collected over a two month period from the community consultation sessions and Engage Muskoka Lakes website regarding the 7-Station Model that General/Finance Committee recommended in August. During discussion of this matter, Councillors shared some of the feedback they had received over the past two months including repurposing some of the fire stations. Council directed staff to proceed with the 7-station model and the related implementation plan.

Pratt’s Lawn Care & Landscapes presented staff with a proposal for the creation of a 'Hero Forest' that focuses on the Wahta Mohawks at the Bala Sports Park. The construction and ongoing maintenance of the area will be provided by Pratt's Lawn Care. Council directed staff to complete a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Pratt's Lawn Care for this project.

The general insurance program renewal for municipal insurance coverage runs from October 1 to September 30. For 2025/26, there is no change in coverage nor deductibles and as such, Council voted in favour of renewing the coverage until September 30, 2026.

October Committee Highlights 

Council decision-making at the Township of Muskoka Lakes typically starts at the Standing Committee level. These committees review and discuss staff reports, and make recommendations for Council who ultimately make a decision or provide direction to staff.  Recommendations coming out of Standing Committees are not 'decisions' until Council 'adopts' them as a whole, which typically happens a month later at the next regular Township Council meeting.  Information reports are also shared at these meetings.

These Committee Highlights provide updates coming out of the General Finance Committee and Planning Committee meetings. 

Planning applications are not included in the Committee Highlights. For information about September Planning Applications, please see the Planning Committee Agenda.

Mr. Klos made a presentation requesting that the Township provide any amount of financial support to the Light it Up Muskoka event, a holiday tree-lighting event in Bala that has been occurring since 2023.

Committee discussed the request and noted how great the event is for the community, and although they did not commit to any funds at this time, Committee encouraged Mr. Klos to apply for a community grant moving forward.

Mr. Elliot provided an update of the snowmobiler's club use of the $20,000 that the Township granted to them last year. Mr. Elliot also requested an additional $20,000 in 2026 to further support the club's activities. Committee requested that the Mayor consider the inclusion of up to a $20,000 Operating Grant in the Draft 2026 Budget, noting the positive financial impact that the snowmobilers bring to the Township throughout the winter months.

Committee received public comments from Liz Beatty, Tim Peters, Gordon Thompson, Jane Thompson and Sarah Storey regarding the removal of seasonal boat permits at the Beaumaris Dock.

Following receipt of a Closed Session report later in the meeting, Committee considered the delegates' comments as well as the Beaumaris Wood Dock Report and voted in favour of exploring a potential lease of the Township's Beaumaris Docks in order to preserve the historical seasonal use.

 

 

At the July 2025 General Finance Committee meeting, Committee heard a request from a resident for a streetlight to be installed at the end of Kidd Street in Torrance. Committee voted in favour of installing one new streetlight at the end of Kidd Street at the estimated cost of $11,000.

Council Policy FS-16 - User Fees and Charges directs staff to perform a comprehensive review of the entire fees and charges by-law every other year. The last review was done in 2023 and therefore, staff conducted a review in 2025. Committee approved the updated Fees and Charges by-law and recommended that the final By-law be forwarded to Council for adoption in December, once the Building Inspection fees (Schedule H) are presented to Planning Committee in November.

Staff presented amendments to the Elections Sign By-law including restrictions on public property within 100m of a Voting Place, Definition Updates and updates to the AMP By-law Charges. Committee voted in favour of forwarding the updated amendments to Council, with an amendment to remove section 3.14.1, for final adoption in November.

This informational report was presented to inform the General Finance Committee of the pending appointment of Fire Chief Ryan Murrell as the fire co-ordinator for the Muskoka District by the Office of the Fire Marshal. 

In July, the General Finance Committee received a request to install a generator at the Glen Orchard Community Centre property, citing issues with multiple power outages that risk the loss of valuable food at the food bank. The Food Bank raised $15,000 towards the purchase and installation of a generator for the facility and asked that the Township cover the remaining amount. Upon receiving the report from staff, Committee requested that the Mayor to include funds in the 2026 Capital Budget, in the amount of $10,000, to support the installation.

The Bracebridge detachment of the Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) have contacted Township staff seeking thoughts and opinions on key public safety priorities impacting our community today and in the near future. As such, staff prepared a report highlighting Township's requests for consideration in the areas of Roads, Waterways and Trails, Crime and Community Well Being. Committee directed staff to share the report with the OPP for the purposes of developing the Bracebridge detachment action plan, and to also strongly urge the OPP to ensure that measurable improvements in patrol coverage occur - including rural and waterfront areas, response times, community engagement and proactive deterrence of unlawful activity. 

This informational report highlighted the significant growth in the community’s use of the library — including increases in attendance, program participation, active users, collections, community enrichment, and accessibility. Committee members expressed strong appreciation for the library’s progress to date.

Council recommended proceeding with a comprehensive engagement process and public meeting to amend the Official Plan and expand the boundaries of the Community Improvement Plan (CIP) to the entirety of the Township. The proposed CIP amendments focus on housing, keeping four existing grant programs, updating the 'employee housing grant' to apply Township-wide for workers in all industries, and adding five new housing programs such as the Additional Dwelling Unit Program and the Development Charge Grant Program. The ultimate goal is to incentivize the creation of much-needed new attainable housing units, with the updated program anticipated to be open for applications in Q1 2026 following the necessary Council and District approvals.

Committee approved negotiating a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Bala Cranberry Festival to lay the groundwork for increased partnership and support. The proposed MOU would provide immediate financial relief by waiving approximately $7,000.00 in annual municipal fees and would establish terms for the festival to request direct financial support through an Operating Grant for a proposed four-year term. Council approved the recommendation that the draft MOU be prepared and brought back to the General/Finance Committee for approval at a later date.

Councillor Roberts brought forward a Resolution, seconded by Councillor Edwards, directing staff to investigate the history of a Fire Rescue Boat located on Skeleton Lake, potential solutions to add a vessel on the lake and for staff to report back to committee on their findings, potential solutions and impact on the Capital Budget.

This report provided an overview of the options for the refurbishment/replacement of the Beaumaris Wood Dock. Following receipt of a Closed Session report, Committee reviewed the options and voted in favour of exploring a potential lease of the Township's Beaumaris Docks in order to preserve the historical seasonal use.

At their August 2025 meeting, Committee directed staff to amend By-Law 2003-029 (Use of Public Docks and Ramps By-law) including an amendment regarding fees at the Public Docks. Staff prepared the amendment to the fees and charges and Committee directed staff to forward the amendments to Council in November for final approval.

In order to streamline the planning process, provide clarity to applicants, and harmonize application requirements between the Township and the District of Muskoka, Planning Committee adopted the Terms of Reference (ToR) for various technical studies supporting planning applications. Township staff will report back on the success of the ToR as part of the year-end 2026 DSES report.

The report highlighted the challenges of providing public meeting notices for planning applications due to the Canada Post strike and potential future service modifications. Council approved changing the primary method of public circulation to posting physical notices on the subject property as well as on the Township's social media and website, effective December 1, 2025. Residents will be able to receive email notification of monthly planning notices by signing up to the Township’s News and Notices page. 

Committee endorsed the proposed plan for the review and update of Noise Control By-law 2005-83 and staff were directed to publish a public survey to gather feedback on noise concerns and potential updates to the by-law in the fall of 2025. The anticipated completion of the update is the summer of 2026.

This report provided a background on the current Prioritized List of By-laws to be updated. Committee voted to re-prioritize the list, bringing forward the Fireworks By-law at the earliest opportunity. The remaining by-laws were prioritized as follows:

  1. Noise Control 
  2. Public Docks and Ramps
  3. Parking
  4. Animal Control (Dog Control, Exotic Animals, Zoos & Wildlife Sanctuaries Licensing)
  5. Business Licensing
  6. Property Standards and Clean Yards
  7. Burning

Looking for additional information on the Committee meetings? Check out the October Agenda Packages or watch the meetings online.

Contact Us

Township of Muskoka Lakes
1 Bailey St., P.O. Box 129,
Port Carling, ON, P0B 1J0
T: 705-765-3156 F: 705-765-6755

Office Hours: 8:15 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

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