Asset Management
Posted In: Councillor Blog | Posted On: August 14, 2011 | Posted By: GFWebmaster
Our infrastructure is aging and starting to fail. Infrastructure ages from the day we acquire it, and we need to keep it in a reliable state of repair. Infrastructure is important to the health of our community, as healthy infrastructure provides access to a broad range of services such as roads, water, sewer, electricity, and parks. We are being more strategic regarding our infrastructure investments, as being proactive makes our investments more cost effective whereas delaying these projects, just increases our costs.
The City of Grand Forks is 114 years old this year. Much of our infrastructure is nearing the century old mark. While most of us think of infrastructure “assets” as being roads, waterlines, and sanitary sewer lines; municipal assets also include infrastructure, such as buildings, parks, and the municipal fleet.
Some of our waterlines date back to the 1930’s, and we have buildings such as the Heritage Courthouse building and the City Hall which are 100 years old this year. These assets do not last forever, and like every other municipality across Canada, Grand Forks now has to deal with replacing aging infrastructure.
In 2009, council received an infrastructure report, which was done by the engineering firm of Kerr, Wood, Leidal of Burnaby. The “KWL” Report was a huge “eye-opener” outlining the need to spend approximately $35 million in the next ten years. This report prioritized the projects that needed to be dealt with in the near future to avoid any risk of infrastructure failure. It was published on the City’s website for the public’s reference for the better part of a year. In 2010, Council directed Staff to come up with a plan to implement the recommendations contained in the “KWL Report”. Sounds easy enough – but there is just one thing; where was Council going to find $35 million to do all that needed doing.
The Asset Management Plan was developed using the KWL Report as a basis, and with help from engineers from Urban Systems Ltd. Following the Asset Management Investment Plan (AMIP) which outlined an infrastructure deficit of $32.5 million and a loss in value of assets of $74 million, is the Asset Management Financial Plan (AMFP), which outlines how these infrastructure upgrades will be financed over the next 20 years. With help from our engineering consultants, Staff has built a 20 year financial model for infrastructure asset replacement and upgrading based on a 1% growth rate. The Asset Management Plan is a living document. The priority for specific infrastructure upgrades will be based on science of the condition of the asset and the potential risk of failure. As information on a specific road, waterline, sanitary mains, etc. becomes available, the priority for the replacement of these assets will be determined.
It is intended to present two priorities in two separate loan authorization bylaws (2 separate referendum questions) to the electorate in the fall election. The first priority is intended to improve our emergency water supply for fire protection to meet requirements of the insurance industry. To ensure that our residents continue to enjoy low insurance rates, and to ensure that the City has the ability to fight a major fire in the west end during the peak water consumption times, it is necessary to address this issue now. The second priority will be to undertake Multi-utility projects, which means combining works for cost efficiency, for example, roads that also have deteriorating water and sanitary sewer pipes. We can start now, borrowing $5.5 million over the next 5 years ($1.1 million per year).
Proposed Referendum Questions:
Question 1 – Borrow $1.3 million for emergency water supply for fire protection?
Question 2 – Borrow $4.2 million for roads, water, & sewer upgrade projects?
Council expects to implement a public outreach program in the month of September when public presentations will be made at various venues.
Stay tuned as council rolls out a balanced plan that addresses infrastructure issues and appropriate levels of services designed to maintain and promote a resilient community.
This councillor blog item and other Grand Forks Happenings are available in PDF format in our Newsletter Archive.
