Part 2: Housing Split, Road Plan Approved, Pit 2907 Reviewed - 10/21/2025

Ridge Road residents and nearby communities were front and center during the Pit 2907 discussion. Councillors McNaughton, Hirsch, and others clearly signaled concern about the lack of transparency and the missing site plan. Hirsch went as far as offering to sponsor a motion pushing the province to treat the pit as a new application.

Photo: PEC Council/ YouTube

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Council voted unanimously to have the mayor and staff review the issue and consider formal representations to the MNR. For locals on Ridge Road, this means council is at least stepping into the conversation rather than waiting on the province, though the final authority still sits with Queen’s Park.

Builders, developers, and housing advocates saw movement on conditional building permits. Councillors St Jean and others supported giving staff more delegated authority, framing it as a way to avoid unnecessary delays without weakening safety rules. This affects anyone trying to build or renovate, especially late in the construction season, by making the process more flexible while keeping protections in place.

Rural residents and drivers were directly impacted by the road improvement plan vote. Councillors Hirsch, Pennell, and Maynard all spoke in favour of experimenting with different surface treatments to stretch limited dollars. The plan passed, meaning continued work on roads like County Roads 28 and 35, more use of surface treatments, and future data gathering to guide spending.

For residents on lesser-used roads, this signals a push toward broader coverage rather than focusing only on high-traffic routes.

Affordable housing was where council divided most sharply. Councillors St Jean and Prinzen supported the governance update and resisted calls to pause or dismantle the housing corporation, arguing that recent progress and private partnerships are starting to take shape.

Councillors Harrison and Roberts questioned whether the corporation is delivering value and whether the private sector could do more without municipal involvement. Councillor Pennell focused heavily on protecting taxpayers and tightening language to reduce risk.

The key vote of the night on housing was the motion to request a report on dissolving the Affordable Housing Corporation. That motion failed on a tie, meaning the corporation stays in place for now. Governance updates passed, with clearer requirements around council representation on the board.

For residents struggling with housing costs, this means the current structure remains, along with ongoing efforts tied to projects like Disraeli Street and other partnerships, but the debate over effectiveness is far from settled.

Overall, the meeting showed a council willing to push back on provincial processes when residents are affected, broadly aligned on infrastructure priorities, and deeply split on how best to tackle affordable housing. For locals, the immediate takeaway is action on roads and permitting, cautious engagement on the Ridge Road pit, and a housing strategy that continues but under increasing scrutiny.

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Disclaimer: This article is based on a meeting with an approximate duration of 1:58:017. Due to the length of the meeting, our team was not able to independently review the full recording in its entirety. As a result, we relied on software-generated transcription, automated summarization, and automated recognition of speakers and participants, which may not be entirely accurate. All transcriptions, summaries, and related content are prepared by our team in good faith and on a reasonable best-efforts basis. The content is provided for general informational purposes only and is intended to support public understanding of the topics discussed. While reasonable efforts have been made to present the information accurately, automated processes may result in errors, omissions, or unintended misinterpretations. This article does not constitute an official, certified, or verbatim record of the meeting, and it should not be relied upon as such. Readers are encouraged to consult original source materials, official minutes, or recordings where available for confirmation or clarification. Questions, requests for clarification, or suggested corrections may be submitted to hello@pecconnect.ca for review and consideration.