MAPLETON – Consultant Peter Simcisko provided Mapleton council with an overview on the need for a strategic asset management plan on May 28.
In late 2018 the province introduced Ontario Regulation 588/17, which requires all municipalities in Ontario to prepare asset management plans.
Simcisko, manager from Watson and Associates Economists Ltd., told council municipalities were required to have an asset management policy by July 1.
Simcisko described the policy as “a higher statement of intent.”
The policy is meant to identify goals and objectives of township council and staff.
It will also work in conjunction with other strategic documents that concern municipal assets.
As Simcisko reminded council and staff, municipalities own and manage a wide arrange of assets ranging from roads and sidewalks through water and wastewater pipes, treatment plants as well as a number of buildings, recreational facilities, vehicles and equipment.
Asset management has changed in recent years, Simcisko said, from planning for the full replacement of an asset.
“Asset management as we see it today is a lot more concerned with understanding what that life cycle of the individual asset actually looks like, what different factors impact the service level the asset is able to provide [to] establish those service levels that the township wishes to provide,” he said.
Councillor Marlene Ottens asked whether the new asset management policy and later, plan, would affect the township’s long-term capital budget, “because there are already plans there to replace or repair assets.”
“Initially the asset management planning is looking at what are the needs of the assets to support service levels in the absence of the budget and then once we understand what those needs are based on the lifecycle management strategies that have been identified, we will be looking to align the two,” said Simcisko.
