As promised, Ramara Township staff have prepared a list of comments regarding a new quarry proposal for Pearl Carrick Road from Brand X Materials and Supplies Inc., a company that plans to haul 500,000 tonnes of aggregate annually from the site.
The comments were drafted in consideration of council’s directions related to other applications under the Aggregate Resources Act (ARA). For example, NRK Holdings Inc. is having a hard time convincing the township to be on board with its Kingfisher quarry expansion plans.
Residents directly impacted by quarry operations often speak publicly at the open forum during council meetings about the impacts of living in a community surrounded by quarry operations. The LCP Quarry Ltd. ARA application was scrutinized by residents earlier this year.
Ramara Township currently has 22 licensed aggregate sites, which includes pits and quarries. Mid-last-year, a deputation to Ramara council suggested the feasibility of enacting an interim control bylaw to temporarily halt any additional aggregate sites from being constructed while policy reviews and research is conducted.
Ward 1 Coun. David Snutch has advocated strongly about the impacts of truck traffic and safety on haul routes.
“By working with the other people at TAPMO, I think we can get a lot of things done as far as trucker safety, trucker report protocols, and you need someone that’s going to work hard on it,” said Snutch at a meeting this summer when seeking support to join the executive committee of the Top Aggregate Producing Municipalities of Ontario (TAPMO).
In the comments regarding the Brand X quarry, staff noted that a traffic impact study recommended upgrades to Pearl Carrick Road before any shipping begins.
They suggest that the applicant be responsible for the necessary upgrades to support heavy truck traffic. Furthermore, staff suggest the responsibility of maintenance and traffic control measures also be with Brand X.
The quarry proposal includes a zoning bylaw amendment, which is currently under technical review. This comes as the township is in the midst of updating its zoning bylaw to align with its latest Official Plan.
Staff suggest objecting to the ARA licence approval and “reserve the right to submit additional comments as the Planning Act review proceeds and further information becomes available.”
If the process continues, Ramara staff suggest securing conditions related to adequate berms, buffers, screening, and security.
They also request a high level of monitoring groundwater and private well protection, as the Brand X Quarry proposal involves below water table extraction.
Staff listed further comments related to noise, blasting, air quality and dust control, and community involvement.
If council directs staff to submit this list of comments as is, it includes the request for a Community Liaison Committee. The committee would be composes of quarry representatives and residents meeting annually, at minimum, to review operations, impacts and maintain a transparent and tracked complaint process.
The deadline for comments through the ARA application process is Sept. 24, council will review staff recommendations at the Sept. 14 meeting.
The drafted comments from staff may be found here.
The Environmental Registry of Ontario notice and how to comment can be found here.
By Danielle Pitman, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter
Original Published on Aug 20, 2026 at 09:53
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