They've been advising the city for the past several years on how to best manage its assets and on Monday Yorkton City Council members had the opportunity to hear an update from Associated Engineering (AE), a Saskatoon based company hired a number of years back to help the city move forward.
Working closely with city administrators, AE has been examining all of Yorkton's infrastructure and assets (buildings etc.) in an effort to help the council of the day develop a prudent spending plan.
"The City of Yorkton currently owns and operates about $300 million worth of assets... that's about a $15,000 investment for every man woman and child living in Yorkton," spoke presenter and Manager of the Asset Program, David Watt to council.
Assets include the water, sewer and storm systems, facilities, sidewalks, the new water treatment plant and the like.
"When I talk about asset management I talk about it in a context of a level of service, by that I mean, what is the level of service you're providing the citizens of Yorkton? There's a cadillac and a bicycle principle..."
Cadillac meaning there are infinite cash flow dollars and maintaining services is not problematic.
"Or you can have the bicycle where you spend lots of operating dollars and less capital... but where is that happy medium? That's what asset management is about."
Asset management can't happen without thought and planning suggests Watt.
Infrastructure has to be monitored on an ongoing basis to determine condition and longevity.
"And timely investment prevents the majority of problems from happening... Everything you own - all $300 million worth - gets older everyday... all assets deteriorate as they age."
With that said, residents expect a nice, uniform level of service adds Watt. That means smart decisions must be made.
"They don't want flooded basements, they don't want discolored water, they don't want water main breaks... It's a known fact that failures of assets occur more frequently unless you intervene at some point."
The trick says Watt, is to know when to invest and on what. Levels of service must be balanced with investments for optimum results. That in turn means careful monitoring and goal setting.
The tendency says Watts is for things that go unseen - like water mains and sewers - to deteriorate. "Some-times you have to decrease the service level at the expense of that asset... that's part of the job."
Basically the following has to be determined: what is owned; what is the worth; what is the condition, level of deterioration; when do dollars need to be budgeted; what is the cost, what is the risk; and long term affordability.
For the past several years AE has been examining local facilities and documenting 3-D images so council can see exactly what shape each structure is in. This, says Watt, is a good way to help secure government funding if the opportunity should arise. It also helps with credible, fact, based planning.
Monday's AE presentation is the first of more to come in the coming months as the city works through identified challenges and prioritizes a plan for the present into the future.
