Setting levels of service in Conception Bay South, NL

Background

Conception Bay South is a town of over 27,000 people located near St. John’s on Newfoundland and Labrador’s Avalon Peninsula. In 2021, it received a Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP) grant to establish an asset management committee and policy, acquire and populate asset management software, and set levels of service and conduct condition assessments for 240 kilometres of roads and close to 70 parks and recreation facilities. It was also able to include 36 sewage lift stations.

From April 2016 to October 2024, MAMP funded 133 asset management grants for municipal projects across Newfoundland and Labrador and provided training and education through MAMP-funded partners to more than 229 municipalities in the province. 

Highlights

• Motivated staff helped drive initial efforts
• E-learning courses and customized workshops and templates built understanding and buy-in, and fostered group ownership
• Common definitions for "adequate” level of service created shared understanding and expectations
• Climate change considerations are being incorporated into infrastructure planning and upgrades
• A dedicated asset management student and mandatory training for new staff helped maintain focus and progress

The challenge

The town was built with a piecemeal approach over hundreds of years, and there was little information about infrastructure installed before the town was incorporated in 1973. The Senior Capital Asset Accountant position was created in 2014, asset management was more of a buzzword than a reality, and the asset management activities that were taking place were not necessarily defined or documented as such. As the town grew, it started looking for a more structured approach to planning and decision-making.

The approach

After 2014, asset management quickly became a collaborative effort between council, the asset management committee and staff. The committee had many roles, including spreading awareness, sharing information across departments and streamlining asset management to avoid duplication and ensure everyone benefitted from each department’s work. 

The town began with roads, parks and lift stations. Motivated recreation staff, who were interested in how asset management could contribute to maintaining recreation facilities, made parks and recreation facilities a natural inclusion. Roads were included as they are a crucial municipal asset for residents and the most expensive to maintain. Since the town already had preliminary water and sewer data, the cost to include lift stations was not excessive. 

Training was critical. The asset management committee took the Canadian Network of Asset Managers’ eLearning courses. Subsequently, staff and council participated in a customized, in-person workshop from the Atlantic Infrastructure Management (AIM) Network, which they described as “very successful, informative and engaging,” and a turning point in their efforts. Because the sessions focused specifically on Conception Bay South, they were instrumental in building acceptance and buy-in. With the facilitator, workshop participants also customized the AIM Network’s levels of service template to meet the needs of Conception Bay South, taking the guesswork out of deciding where to start. 

Early on, the town hired a university student for the summer who was dedicated to asset management. He sat on the committee and provided consistent communication to staff to keep asset management front of mind. One of his main responsibilities was to consolidate asset inventory lists from each department and create a master list. When a master list for one category of assets was done, the committee would start working on levels of service for that category, using the AIM Network’s level of service template, internal policies, and results from annual public surveys. Council and senior management also provided input, stimulating discussion and a sense of ownership among the team, which in turn helped drive interest and commitment.

Conception Bay South consulted with the community to ensure their viewpoints were incorporated into its levels of service work. It also facilitates an annual public survey to collect information on how residents would prefer to spend the variable budget. The survey includes questions about what levels of service are satisfactory to residents, and these results will be used to inform ongoing discussions about levels of service. 

Barriers

Asset management implementation can often present challenges, and conjure concerns related to the limited capacity of resources such as funds and staff availability. Conception Bay South was able to alleviate such concerns through open communication, discussion and training. Staff, senior management and council started to understand the benefits of making data-driven decisions that could be supported by analytical figures, even in the face of having to learn new concepts and terminologies and change established processes. 

Discussions among staff and council during the workshops and afterward revealed that “adequate” level of service meant different things to different people, making it hard to determine which level of service was being met. This realization highlighted the need for defined and documented definitions. 

The results

The town developed an asset management policy; created an asset management committee with cross-team representation; acquired and began to populate its asset management decision support tool; and set levels of service for its roads, parks and lift stations. 

Staff and council now see the town’s asset management processes as important communication channels to obtain information for decision-making and planning, and to report asset conditions and financial needs. Council and senior management are eager to review asset management reports and see the potential for cost savings. However, some decisions must still be made based on available funding rather than following the asset management plan to the letter. 

New staff are expected to take asset management training, to build a common understanding and highlight asset management as a priority. Although there has been some turnover since the beginning of the project, one of the original parks and recreation champions continues to be involved, sitting on the committee and motivating other staff by ensuring asset management is an integral part of discussions and decision making. 

“When it comes to asset management, there’s strength in numbers. We keep the momentum going by encouraging new staff to become involved and using our champions to boost interest internally and throughout the municipality.”
~ Suzanne Grouchy, Senior Capital Asset Accountant

Staff have started incorporating asset management tasks into their day-to-day routines. For instance, the town’s Geographic Information System (GIS) Technician developed a process to log condition assessments for various assets, whereby field workers doing regular maintenance can complete an online condition assessment on a mobile device. The information is automatically uploaded to the GIS system that is linked to the town’s asset management software.

Conception Bay South is also beginning to integrate climate considerations into its planning. Being on the coast, it experiences ongoing losses from storm surges that damage roads and breakwaters. The engineering department and external consultants are looking at new designs and methodologies for construction specifications for infrastructure upgrades that can better withstand climate change. 

Lessons learned

• Involve council and senior management early, and ideally right from the start. Although Conception Bay South was lucky enough to have built-in champions, work was still needed to get everyone on board, and the town now views that time and effort as well worth it in the end. 
• Take advantage of outside resources. For Conception Bay South, participation in the AIM Network workshop and using the customized template was invaluable in laying out the rationale for and kick-starting the levels of service work. 
• Keep the momentum going. Conception Bay South found that enthusiasm dwindled at times as other priorities arose, highlighting the need for consistent focus and ongoing monitoring. Focusing on the net benefits has been helpful in this regard.

Next steps

Conception Bay South is now looking to set levels of service for water, sewers and buildings, and will expand its assessment and reporting schedules to monitor the extent to which its agreed-upon levels of service are being met. 

It also plans to start sending managers monthly condition reports to inspire discussion and maintain momentum. 

Related resources

• Canadian Network of Asset Managers eLearning courses 
• Atlantic Infrastructure Management Network level of service workshop 

Contact

Suzanne Grouchy, CPA
Senior Capital Asset Accountant
Conception Bay South, NL
(709) 834-6500 ext. 209