Committee of the Whole Meeting Wednesday February 19, 2025 at 9:30am
Meeting Agenda: View Revised Meeting Agenda
Watch Meeting: Meeting Video
Recap:
All items were moved to next week's Council Meeting.
The primary discussion centred around the blue box changes for 2026. The Province of Ontario is transitioning the blue box program from municipalities to a new model that makes producers of recyclable materials responsible for their collection and processing.
Beginning January 1, 2026 a separate Miller truck will be collecting blue boxes materials in Richmond Hill. The city needs to make decisions about providing recycling services to locations that will become "non-eligible sources" under the new EPR system. These include city facilities, businesses in the downtown core, religious institutions, non-profit organizations, daycares, and some industrial/commercial properties.
Agenda Items Include:
The City of Richmond Hill is preparing for the transition of its Blue Box Program to an Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR) model, as mandated by provincial legislation, by January 1, 2026. This shift means that producers of recyclable materials will be responsible for the collection and end-of-life management of their products.
The city needs to make decisions about providing recycling services to locations that will become "non-eligible sources" under the new EPR system. These include city facilities, businesses in the downtown core, religious institutions, non-profit organizations, daycares, and some industrial/commercial properties.
The recommendations are:
Continue recycling collection services to City facilities.
Continue recycling collection services to the 88 businesses in the downtown core BIA that currently receive municipal waste collection, and implement a $365 per year waste management fee for each of those businesses.
Discontinue recycling collection services to religious institutions, non-profit organizations, and daycare providers.
Discontinue collection of all waste streams from industrial and commercial properties outside of the BIA.
Terminate the Super Mailbox Recycling Program.
An update on the required amendments to the City’s residential waste collection contract with Miller Waste Systems as a result of the Blue Box Program transition to Extended Producer Responsibility (EPR); and to receive direction on procuring a new, long-term waste collection contract.
The existing contract with Miller Waste needs to be amended to remove recycling collection and adjust the cost for organics collection. A one-year contract extension is recommended to allow time to procure a new long-term contract.
Recyclables and organics can no longer be collected in one truck, as per the new regulation. Therefore, Miller Waste informed the City that their cost to collect organics will increase as of January 1, 2026.
Staff and Miller Waste have negotiated a mutually acceptable tentative agreement that includes a one-year extension to the contract. As per this tentative agreement, the City would pay Miller an additional $640,000 annually for organics collection, effective January 1, 2026
A Request for Proposal (RFP) will be issued to secure a new long-term residential waste collection contract commencing in April 2028.
In support of the City of Richmond Hill’s Provincial Housing Pledge and Federal
Housing Accelerator Fund obligations, this report serves to inform Council that the Richmond Hill Centre Zoning By-law is being initiated.
The Zoning By-law aims to implement the Richmond Hill Centre Secondary Plan (RHCSP), encourage density and affordable housing, accelerate infrastructure, and streamline development.
The City’s HAF Action Plan commitments for rezoning the Richmond Hill Centre include setting land use permissions, heights and densities, built-form and public amenity requirements and requiring family-sized units.
An approach to zoning in the context of the Minister’s Zoning Order for the High Tech Transit-Oriented Community, which has established specific zoning standards, must also be coordinated.
The pre-zoning will make it easier for development to implement the RHCSP vision and is one of nine initiatives funded through the Federal Housing Accelerator Fund (HAF).
The City was awarded over $31 million of HAF funding by the Federal Government in November 2023, to eliminate barriers to building housing. To remain eligible for HAF funding disbursements, the City is committed to achieving all milestone dates pursuant to the HAF Agreement.
Richmond Hill residents and Council must be confident that the City is delivering services and projects that maximize value for taxpayers while effectively meeting the community's needs and expectations.
To that end, I am bringing forth a motion requesting a presentation on Richmond Hill's continuous improvement projects to be delivered to Council by March 19, 2025.
To maintain transparency and accountability, City staff will be required to provide regular reports on efficiencies, cost savings, and service improvements to both Council and residents.
This report will include details on efficiencies, service improvements, cost savings, opportunities for further enhancements, and recommendations for sustaining and expanding continuous improvement efforts. Additionally, it will cover ongoing and upcoming projects planned for 2025 and beyond.
Public Comments:
The public may submit written correspondence regarding agenda items by email to clerks@richmondhill.ca. Written correspondence must be submitted by 12 p.m. (noon) one business day before the meeting. Comments submitted will be provided to all Members of Council, are considered as public information and will be included on the public agenda posted to the City’s website.
Delegations:
Any person who wishes to speak to Council on agenda items must pre-register with the Office of the Clerk by 12 p.m. (noon) one business day before the meeting. Applications to appear as a delegation can be submitted by email to clerks@richmondhill.ca or by using the on-line application form. Delegations can be in person, or electronically by video conference or telephone. The Office of the Clerk will provide instructions on appearing as a delegation.