Real-time updating of building assets across the board in Tiny Township will be getting easier and more efficient, as per a recent 1,310-page document that passed though council’s approval.
At the recent committee of the whole meeting, a township facility condition assessment report was received for information without alteration or staff direction, aimed to provide the municipality with a better understanding of the cost of managing and replacing its buildings.
The report was a result of a 2023 recommendation from a previous corporate asset management strategy that aimed to ‘componentize buildings and facilities’. Scrutinized through the department head of each structure, a detailed asset-level view of the major building and service-level components were given present-day replacement costs, estimated useful life, and current condition assessments.
Deputy CAO Haley Leblond informed council that the report was a standard process produced through the Building Owners and Managers Association guidelines, which would likely adjust the cost of replaceable assets in real-time. In June, Leblond noted that an estimated 2.39 per cent tax base increase over 20 years would be a ‘line in the sand’ to fix the infrastructure gap in the township at then-current replacement costs.
A deputation from a Tiny resident earlier in the evening had raised concerns that some numbers in the report were inflated. Public works director Tim Leitch explained that in addition to purchasing an item for replacement, there would also be a cost toward amending the item if needed and disposal of the replaced unit.
“There’s a lot of indirect costs that are associated with any project that you just don’t see on the surface, but they are there and they’re in behind,” said Leitch. Leblond noted that the document, once council approve it to be received for information, would be added into the corporate database and used to inform further asset management as well as requests for proposals.
Whereas some on council admitted to reading through the entirety of the 1,310 page document, Coun. Dave Brunelle admitted he focused on the municipal building at 130 Balm Beach Road West and narrowed his questions toward the age of individual items.
As staff approached to scour the report for Brunelle’s query, he was asked if he was making a policy-based question. Brunelle replied he wasn’t, and was told that council would have an opportunity “to get into the weeds” of specifics during budget discussions as those buildings and facilities became introduced.
CAO Robert Lamb responded that the report was a guiding document unlike anything the township had access to prior, and would be used similar to how fleet maintenance cared for municipal vehicles.
“We are, for the first time, having our own playbook on all of our facilities. We now can plug this into our database of information and start to proof it with real time information,” said Lamb, adding that an updated cost of one item would be shared throughout the spreadsheet to be updated in all other relevant assets.
“It’s just a guiding document,” Lamb said, “and it’s not the type of document I would suggest council should be getting into the weeds. The weeds are when we come at budget time as we start to show you this is how the information is being used, flushed out, and proofed in real time.”
The 1,310-page township facility condition assessments report can be viewed on the agenda page on the Township of Tiny website.
Archives of council meetings are available to view on the township’s YouTube channel.
