RE: 2014 Asset Management Plan. OBJECTIVE: To present Council with an Asset Management Plan and recommended implementation strategy moving forward.

Transcription

1 HALDIMAND COUNTY Report PW-GM of the General Manager of Public Works For Consideration by RE: 2014 Asset Management Plan OBJECTIVE: To present Council with an Asset Management Plan and recommended implementation strategy moving forward. RECOMMENDATIONS: 1. THAT Report PW-GM Re: 2014 Asset Management Plan dated April 10, 2014 be received as information; 2. AND THAT Council endorse the proposed Asset Management Plan (Attachment 1 to Report PW-GM ) as required by the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII) Asset Management Program. Prepared by: Wray Oakes Manager, Asset Management Implementation Date: April 10, 2014 Respectfully submitted: Approved: Paul Mungar, C.E.T., CMM III General Manager Public Works Department Donald G. Boyle Chief Administrative Officer Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 1 of 6

2 BACKGROUND: On August 16, 2012 the Ontario government announced the launch of the Municipal Infrastructure Investment Initiative (MIII) Asset Management Program. Through this program, the Province made $8.25 million available to small and rural communities to assist them in preparing detailed asset management plans for bridges, roads, water, and wastewater infrastructure. Haldimand County was successful in obtaining funding to develop an Asset Management Plan (AMP). It should be noted that the final funding report related to this grant opportunity requires that the AMP be made available to the public once completed. The Province also noted that in order to qualify for future provincial capital funding, municipalities must prepare a detailed Asset Management Plan that demonstrates the current condition versus performance of the asset classes, as well as the municipal financial capacity to fund the asset s average requirement for sustainability (funding versus need). In 2013 staff initiated a Request for Proposal (RFP) recruitment process to secure an Engineering Consulting firm to assist staff with the development of the County s Asset Management Plan. The County s Tangible Capital Asset data as prepared by the Finance Division to meet PSAB 3150 accounting standards utilizes a computer program called CityWide, Tangible Assets (TA). Staff concluded that the CityWide Capital Planning and Analysis (CPA) software module would be a natural fit and the most cost effective solution to house and establish the County s Asset Management Plan. To date staff has successfully compiled a complete inventory of the County s five main infrastructure asset classes into the CityWide software module database and produced the Asset Management Plan. The Asset Management Plan is prepared and based on the following questions and principals as outlined in the National Guide for Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure. What does the County own and where is it? (inventory) What is it worth? (valuation / replacement cost) What is its condition / remaining service life? (function and performance) What needs to be done? (maintain, rehabilitate or replace) When does something need to be done? (useful life analysis) How much will it cost? (investment requirement) How does the County ensure sustainability? (long term financial plan) With these principals and guidelines incorporated into the AMP the following five main infrastructure asset classes were loaded and form the basis of the Asset Management Plan. 1. Roads Network urban and rural paved and gravel. 2. Bridges and Culverts with a span greater than 3 meters. 3. Water Network watermains, stand pipes and elevated tanks and facilities. 4. Sanitary Sewer Network sanitary sewers and facilities. 5. Storm Sewer Network storm sewer mains. Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 2 of 6

3 ANALYSIS: Although the AMP is prepared under the guidelines as noted above, due to the lack of asset condition data, there are many assumptions within the plan data. The infrastructure deficit funding strategy in the Asset Management Plan provides a benchmark for the long range sustainable, financial planning, however, the deterioration and replacement strategy in the plan is based on the available data that the County had, which was age and useful life estimates and not current asset condition. Although the projected funding strategy does provide a benchmark target in reaching sustainability, the deficit shortfall or gap in current funding practices is viewed as worse case and in some cases overstated given the lack of condition/performance data in the plan. In order to accurately establish a realistic funding strategy, an appropriate current state of the infrastructure is required and from there the desired service levels must be confirmed to ensure that the infrastructure is performing to expectations and, that the asset management strategy is aligned with the funding strategy. Moving forward, the next steps in the development process of the AMP involves a prioritized review of the state of the infrastructure (asset condition assessments), and a review and confirmation process of the desired service levels for each of the five asset classes. As more detailed condition assessments of the five asset classes is collected and further in depth analysis is completed, a more accurate prediction for future replacement and financial planning will be achieved. Moving forward staff will be pursuing the following action items to be initiated and completed over the next 12 months and beyond. 1) Verifying the current asset inventory in each of the asset classes is critical in ensuring an accurate account of future program needs. Given the significant quantity of asset units, more accurate information is essential to maintaining accurate long range financial plans. 2) Prioritize infrastructure condition assessment reviews with the various operating divisions responsible for each of the five asset classes to determine and establish condition assessment strategies that will effectively provide an accurate account of the state of each asset. Components of the condition assessments will include policy development that clarify how assets will be assessed to determine their condition, and processes that will update the database, i.e. techniques, methods, processes and frequency. Staff recently learned through attending the 2014 Asset Management Symposium sponsored by the Municipal Finance Officers Association (MFOA), when Asset Management Plans are updated with detailed asset condition assessment information, after the initial funding strategies were completed via straight amortization based on asset age, the results of the updated condition assessment data produced significant reductions in the overall forecasted deficit, and in some cases as low as 25% of the original funding proposal, simply based on a revised asset condition report card. 3) Stage two of the condition assessment process will be a review of the current service levels of each asset class and confirmation of the desired service level. The service level review will include a review of the effectiveness and benefit of each service compared to the possible alternative, i.e. the impact of improving or raising a service level or reducing or eliminating a service. The final step of the service level review will involve establishing service level tracking and reporting process to effectively measure the performance of each service level as it relates to each asset class that will act as a Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 3 of 6

4 performance managing tool that will be updated into the AMP on an annual or semi annual basis. 4) Upon completion of the condition assessment process and service level review process the next steps in the continued development of the Asset Management Plan is to finalize the strategy. The asset management strategy is the set of planned actions that enable the assets to provide the desired levels of service in a sustainable way while managing risk at the lowest life cycle cost. Some of the key components in the development of the asset management strategy include: Non infrastructure solutions actions and/or policies that can lower costs or extend asset life, integrated infrastructure planning, process optimization, managed failures, etc. Standard maintenance activities regular scheduled inspections, significant repairs associated with extreme or unexpected or planned events, i.e. extreme winters, spring flooding, etc. Renewal or rehabilitation strategies repair methodologies designed to extend the life of the asset, i.e. lining of cast iron watermains that can defer the need for replacement. Asset replacement standards policies that determine when the asset has reached its useful life. Expansion activities/policies planned activities to extend services or expanded services to meet growth demands when warranted, etc. Training workshops, life cycle asset management strategies. 5) Managing infrastructure assets and accumulated data with GIS software solutions. In order to better understand and more effectively track, manage and share infrastructure asset data and to more efficiently manage and coordinate asset information, staff recommend that serious consideration be given to linking the County GIS with CityWide. GIS software aligned with the CityWide Tangible Asset TM module and CityWide Capital Planning and Analysis software module will provide consistency in data, and improved accountability of the extent and effect of aging infrastructure. GIS provides an overview and mapping capability that improves staff s ability in managing programs and service level compliance, performance and rehabilitation strategies and efficient sharing of asset information across the various internal departments and external agencies/upper levels of government. Utilization of a centralized GIS database specifically to track assets, allows for improved data management capabilities where prior metrics did not exist. Staff will continue to explore the above noted initiatives to refine and confirm a more accurate account of detailed infrastructure asset information and prepare to load the data into the AMP. It should be noted that the AMP is a living document that will continuously require regular updates under the guidelines and policies established over time to ensure responsible infrastructure management practices are maintained and to, in turn, provide the sound basis for long range sustainable financial planning. Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 4 of 6

5 BUDGET/LEGAL IMPLICATIONS: Staff have utilized the preliminary funding information contained within the draft Asset Management Plan, to better plan for future sustainable funding plans within the Roads, Bridges, Water, Wastewater and Storm categories. As a result, the 2014 Tax Supported Capital Budget and Forecast noted the need for a continued increase in contributions to the Capital Replacement Reserve (CRR) Roads Infrastructure. In the future staff will be reviewing the possibility of segregating the funding of Roadways and Bridges to better align with the AMP. As well, the draft AMP indicates a funding shortfall, particularly in Water. The 2014 Rate Supported Water and Wastewater Capital Forecast and Operating Budget proposed a shift in contributions to capital replacement reserves, from wastewater to water, to be phased in over 10 years. Staff will further refine these contributions as more detailed information becomes available. The County currently has, and is, using CityWide to manage the data and reporting which would benefit from connectivity to our GIS software. This technology would be used to collect, organize, store and analyze some of the data that is required to be gathered on our assets. It is staff s opinion that the GIS integration will not be required in this early stage. Through review of AMP and need for condition data, staff will develop an approach to gathering asset information and will be reviewing the options related to GIS software integration as well as any additional proposed financial impacts regarding infrastructure assessment, and asset strategic planning/training for Council s review through the 2015 budget process. INTERDEPARTMENTAL IMPACTS: Departments directly involved in the AMP at this point in time include Public Works and Corporate Services. The five asset classes and asset inventory currently loaded in the AMP include infrastructure managed under the Divisions of Engineering Services, Environmental Services, and Roads Operations. There are numerous databases of information within the County, with the asset management database for financial reporting housed and managed under Corporate Services. As further work involving asset condition assessment verification is initiated and completed and administrative processes are confirmed, increased crossover responsibilities involving the Plan and the database will be realized between both departments. It is anticipated that future expansion of the Asset Management Plan may include all asset classes involving many of Haldimand County Divisions and the management and links to the databases specific to those Divisions would need to be investigated to ensure consistency, efficiency and limit duplication. LINKS TO STRATEGIC PLANS: The Asset Management Plan will become a central component to the County s Strategic Plan and direction with direct links to the Official Plan, infrastructure master plans, business plans as well as legislative municipal regulations and senior levels of government policy. CSP1 Growing our Local Economy by Creating Economic Opportunity (new infrastructure investment, strengthening of the economic base). CSP2 Community Vibrancy and Healthy Community (high quality sustainable services). Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 5 of 6

6 CSP3 Corporate Image and Efficient Government (more efficient more effective local government). CONCLUSION: Asset management is essential to achieving financial sustainability. It requires continual improvement, ensuring efficiently managed assets that meet the service needs of the present without compromising the sustainability of its infrastructure for the demands of the future. This will be accomplished by implementing approaches to better understand the County s assets, the condition of these assets, how to maintain the assets to maximize useful life, and how to budget appropriately so assets can fully meet the needs of the County. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Draft Asset Management Plan. (To be distributed under separate cover due to the size of the document.) REQUIRED AND RECEIVED COMMENTS FROM: Yes or Clerk s Community Services Department Finance Health & Social Services Department Human Resources Information Systems Legal Public Works Department Planning & Economic Development Department Support Services Other Yes Yes CLERK S DIVISION REVIEW Re: Asset Management Plan COUNCIL IN COMMITTEE: RECOMMENDATION NO Approved Approved with Amendments Defeated Deferred Other COUNCIL: RESOLUTION NO: Approved Approved with Amendments (Noted below) Defeated Deferred Other Amended Recommendation(s): Council Direction: Clerk s Division Action Taken: Date of Meeting: April 22, 2014 Page 6 of 6