Feb. 15, 2011 was a very significant day for the District of Squamish. On that day, our staff tabled three reports that are fundamental to managing our municipality in a responsible and sustainable manner.
These reports assess the critical infrastructure owned by our community. They are titled the Public Works Asset Management Plan, the Fleet and Equipment Long Term Plan and the Facility Condition Assessment Report. These plans were developed to guide the funding and management of the district's infrastructure asset base through the next 30 years.
The Public Works Asset Management Plan assesses our water, sewer collection and treatment, roads, sidewalks, streetlights, bridges, drainage, dyking, flood-protection, parks and trails infrastructure. These are our most critical assets and have a replacement cost value of approximately $437 million. The study addressed the key elements of asset management which are: 1) Inventory; 2) Value; 3) Condition and Remaining Service Life; 4) Level of Service; 5) Costs and Risks; 6) Timing and Priorities; and 7) Funding.
This information is now available in a central and concise format, including detailed maps and graphs which will be integrated into our electronic information systems. Gone are the days when district staff are forced to either search a backroom for a drawing or ask a senior employee to reminisce to find critical infrastructure information such as the location, age or material type of a water pipe.
The Fleet and Equipment Long Term Plan provides similar analysis for all our equipment, from fire trucks to weed-eaters. Again, no longer will we have to make arbitrary decisions about equipment life-span budgeting or maintenance programs. Finally, the Facility Condition Assessment Report provides detailed analysis including estimated life span and maintenance requirements of each component of the buildings owned by the District of Squamish.
Many of you, like me, were probably surprised that we did not already have this data compiled. However, we, like most Canadian municipalities, have suffered as a result of the public and elected officials placing a higher priority on less fundamental and short-term issues. This is why the problem of aging infrastructure is the biggest challenge that Canadian municipalities face.
The good news is that the District of Squamish is now a Canadian leader in having accurate information with which to manage our infrastructure. We have already begun a long-term budget analysis which will become embedded in a long-term financial plan later this year. These studies also put us in an excellent position to prepare high-quality applications for future federal and provincial grant opportunities.
As our council is committed to transparency and accessibility in local government, each of these reports is available in its entirety on the front page of the District of Squamish website at www.squamish.ca. While these might not be the most exciting documents you ever read, they are some of the most important for our community. Should you wish to receive regular updates on District of Squamish activities, please join the Mayor's Email list by sending your email address to [email protected]
