The City of Yorkton is in the midst of having an asset inventory and analysis and at the regular meeting of Council Monday Associated Engineering (AE) made a presentation on the process. The work includes a look at sidewalks, sanitary sewer, water mains and facilities.
David Watt, Manager Asset Program with AE said the City has extensive assets at present.
"You actually own about $300 million in assets. That's the best estimate I can make," he explained, adding that does not include the new water treatment plant. That translates to about $15,000 in assets for "every man, woman and child in Yorkton."
Watt said undertaking an Asset Management process, it's important to consider the situation in the context of the level of service 小蓝视频 provided. He said it's the Cadillac and the bicycle situation.
If a municipality had access to unlimited funding, then you could develop a Cadillac system, but realistically that is not the case.
On the opposite end of the spectrum is a system where renewal is limited, with dollars spent only to fix things, the bicycle approach.
"Where's the balance?" he asked.
Having as assessment of what already exists in the City, allows a municipality plans how to maintain its infrastructure, "what sort of rehabilitation is needed, and when," said Watt.
That situation also needs to take into consideration what the community expects, offered Watt.
"Residents expect a certain level of reliable services," he said, adding " It needs to be affordable."To provide that service does mean ongoing investment in infrastructure assets.
As a fundamental truth Watt said, "All assets get older every day," and all assets deteriorate with age.Establishing the balances within the system is a key aspect of Asset Management, using the result to dovetail elements such as Council strategic objectives, with public expectations, and available resources, offered Watt.
The process itself comes down to some basic fundamentals, including determining what assets the City owns, their value, the condition of those assets, and what might be needed to be done to maintain the asset, and the cost of the work.
As an example Watt said AE worked with the City to do an assessment of sidewalks.There are approximately 100 linear kilometres of sidewalks in the City, and would cost some $21 million to replace.
Watt said at the time the City's annual investment of $150,000 annually in sidewalks meant a replacement of 150 years.
"The trick is to get your money's worth, the best benefit for your buck," he said.
Watt said with the data collected on sidewalks AE can produce an annual "replacement regime for sidewalks."
Watt said AE is now looking at other specific areas in the city, including water distribution and wastewater infrastructure, and facilities.
For Yorkton, the good news is that the city is at the cutting edge of undertaking such processes, at least in terms of within the province, said Watt.
"I'd say you are in the top one per cent (of municipalities in Saskatchewan for infrastructure Asset Management progress)," he said. " You've got a staged plan in place."
Watt said as senior levels of government move toward needs-based funding eligibility, Yorkton will be well positioned to show need compared to most other communities, based on the assessment work now 小蓝视频 carried out.
Councillor Les Arnelien wanted to know if the AE work has "identified any major deficiencies."
"I wouldn't say we observed anything that stood out like a sore thumb," replied Watt.
Coun. Bob Maloney asked if the City was currently investing enough annually in its assets.
"That depends entirely on your level of service," said Watt. "Are you spending enough? There's never enough." He then added the important thing is to focus on areas of risk.
Associated Engineering will make additional reports to Council as the process continues.
