Council Highlights – December 2, 2025

Mayor Christa Lowry opened the meeting with her 2025 Mayor’s Annual Address. She shared updates on an exciting year for the Municipality, including the $10.5 million investment in the new Mississippi Mills Childcare Services facility, upgrades to the municipal road and sidewalk network, the Mississippi Mills Regional Fire Training Centre, as well as the MM2048 process and how the Municipality is planning for the future. View the Mayor’s full Annual Address.

Council heard a presentation from Trajan Schultka and Kathy Brook with JustServe. JustServe is a website that links community volunteer needs with people who want to help. It operates in 17 countries and has nearly one million volunteers worldwide. JustServe also presented the Municipality with the JustServe City Award for their comprehensive volunteer policy. View the presentation. For more information, visit www.justserve.org.

A public meeting was held to review the background report for Official Plan Amendment 36, related to properties at 39 and 53 Carss Street in Almonte. A boutique inn with a restaurant and spa is being proposed for 39 Carss Street, and a four-storey apartment building is being considered for 53 Carss Street. Council will look at this matter again at a future meeting.

Council approved the Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF) initiative, 4 Units As-of-Right, which allows up to three extra units to a single-detached house. Council also endorsed another HAF project, Official Plan Amendment 34 – Downtown Secondary Plan and Public Realm Plan. The Downtown Secondary Plan will help guide how public spaces and privately-owned spaces (that the public can use) are designed in downtown Almonte and along Ottawa Street. The Public Realm Plan works alongside it, giving a framework to improve the look and use of these public areas.

Council has decided to gradually end curbside recycling services for small industrial, commercial, and institutional (ICI) businesses in the Municipality. In 2026, there will be a short-term contract to give these small businesses time to switch to new recycling services. During that year, staff will also work with businesses to help them create waste reduction strategies and waste management plans.

Council approved revised building permit fees in the 2026 Fees and Charges By-law. The Building Department collects fees to cover the full cost of providing the service. The OLMCBO guide has been used as a baseline for fair and reasonable fees for residential, non-residential and agricultural permit fees.  

As part of a special report, the final 2026 Mississippi Mills Budget was tabled at Council. While navigating new legislative requirements, Council has remained committed to a collaborative and transparent budgeting process. A highlight of the budget includes the new capital asset levy of $133,298 which is a recommendation from the updated Long Term Financial Plan, received by Council early this fall. The purpose of the levy is to tackle the current $2.85M infrastructure gap over time and help pay for future repairs and upgrades to roads, bridges, buildings and equipment. Using powers in the new legislation, Council voted to shorten the 30-day budget review period to just three days. Provided there are no new amendments brought forward in those three days, the budget will be deemed adopted on December 6. 

Due to time constraints, Committee of the Whole did not meet. Items from the December 2 agenda will be added to future meetings. 

Upcoming Meetings:

• Hybrid Council Meeting – Tuesday, December 9, 2025, 6 p.m. Committee of the Whole meeting to follow Council.
• Hybrid Council Meeting – Tuesday, January 13, 2026, 6 p.m. Committee of the Whole meeting to follow Council.