By sharing knowledge and expertise, five communities in southwest Ontario have increased their capacity to manage community assets effectively.

“I call it the coalition of the willing,” says Rick Charlebois, Chief Administrative Officer and Treasurer of the Town of Petrolia. “Through collaboration, each one of us has accomplished more than we ever could have working on our own.”

Along with Petrolia, the partners include the Municipality of Brooke-Alvinston, Warwick Township, the Municipality of Southwest Middlesex and the Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc. Although located in various counties, and with populations ranging from less than 2,500 to more than 20,000, the communities share a common challenge: ensuring that local infrastructure continues to support essential services such as drinking water, sewage treatment, waste collection and road maintenance.

During the first part of his career, Rick Charlebois was an accountant with the Department of National Defence, where he tracked projects that ran for decades and cost hundreds of millions of dollars. When he moved to his current job in 2013, he learned that Petrolia followed a dramatically different approach to financial planning.

“Like most small municipalities, Petrolia planned each year’s budget as the year went along,” Charlebois says. “Revenues were spent on immediate needs, such as fixing a broken water main. Rather than set aside money to replace aging infrastructure, we had to focus on the current crisis.”

When Ontario enacted legislation requiring municipalities to plan more effectively in 2017 (Ontario Regulation 588/17), Rick Charlebois invited his peers in the region to collaborate.

“When it comes to asset management, there’s strength in numbers,” says Bill Dakin, Strathroy-Caradoc’s Director of Finance and Treasurer. “Each member of the coalition has strengths and weaknesses. We’re strong on the financial planning side, for instance, but needed help with analyzing levels of service and infrastructure life cycles.”

During an October 2018 workshop, each municipality described the progress it had made on asset management, identified gaps and indicated how it could help other partners. Petrolia, for instance, had developed a financial management model tailored to the unique needs of small Ontario municipalities, and now shares it through the coalition.

“There are many aspects to asset management,” says Bill Dakin. “A municipality has to set priorities for the short and long terms, for instance. You also need good communication to ensure a shared understanding among elected officials, municipal staff and ratepayers.”

All of the partner municipalities credit the coalition for helping them make progress on the asset management journey. And all received funding support from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Municipal Asset Management Program.

“Our mayor likes to say that we’ve gone from a six-month planning horizon to a 10-year planning horizon,” says Rick Charlebois.

“Life’s all about partnerships,” says Bill Dakin. “Sharing expertise can only make us stronger.”

Contacts

William (Bill) Dakin
Director of Finance/Treasurer
Municipality of Strathroy-Caradoc
Email: bdakin@strathroy-caradoc.ca
Phone Number: 519-245-1105 ext 253

Rick Charlebois
Chief Administrative Office/Treasurer
Town of Petrolia, Ontario
Email: rcharlebois@petrolia.ca
Phone Number: 519-882-2350

Participant organization details

• Town of Petrolia, ON
  • Population: 5,528
  • Project duration: 12 months
  • Grant amount: 50,000.00
• Village of Brooke-Alvinston, ON
  • Population: 2,548
  • Project duration: 11 months
  • Grant amount: 50,000.00
• Township of Warwick, ON
  • Population: 3,717
  • Project duration: 11 months
  • Grant amount: 50,000.00
• Municipality of Southwest Middlesex, ON
  • Population: 5,860
  • Project duration: 11.5 months
  • Grant amount: 50,000.00
• Township of Strathroy-Caradoc, ON
  • Population: 20,978
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 42,940.00

Additional resources

• Town of Petrolia’s Strategic Asset Management Policy, available on their website
• The Town of Petrolia is producing a Long Term Financial Plan Excel template with a User’s Guide, funded by MAMP, which they will be providing to MAMP with their final report in September.

A new guide demystifies asset management by using easy-to-understand language, colourful graphics and practical examples. The Joy of Governing is a 32-page booklet published in May 2018 by the Association of Yukon Communities (AYC).

“Many people find asset management a little intimidating until they get to know it better,” says Bev Buckway, former Executive Director of the Association of Yukon Communities. A former councillor and mayor of Whitehorse, Ms. Buckway recognizes the value of asset management. She led the effort to create The Joy of Governing to encourage staff and elected officials of local governments to apply the principles of asset management.

“The booklet is written in an open, engaging style and avoids bureaucratic language,” says Ms. Buckway. “It draws readers in by telling a story about local governance: why it exists, what elected officials and staff are responsible for, and how they can best meet the needs of community residents.”

Governance can be particularly difficult in small communities, in part because they don’t have the revenues needed to pay for full-time councillors.

“The booklet has been particularly handy for educating councillors about the link between asset management and sound governance,” says Shelley Hassard, Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) for the Village of Teslin, Yukon.

Like many small communities, Teslin—population approximately 450—delivers a range of key services, such as water and wastewater treatment, road maintenance, waste management, recreation and animal control. Each of these services relies on infrastructure at various stages of its life cycle.

“Council decides where to spend the town’s revenues,” says Ms. Hassard, who completed asset management training several years ago. “With asset management, budget decisions are based on information about the condition of community infrastructure and the importance of the services that the infrastructure provides. The booklet helps councillors and staff reach decisions that best serve the interests of citizens.”

AYC delivered copies of the booklet to the CAO at each of Yukon’s eight municipalities and a total of 42 elected officials. The Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP), along with the Government of Yukon, paid for the booklet’s development and publication. The Nunavut Association of Municipalities received MAMP funding to translate The Joy of Governing into Inuktitut and distribute it to communities across the territory. A French version is available as well. The booklet has also already been shared and adapted in communities across Canada.

“The Joy of Governing was designed to meet the unique needs of northern communities,” says Bev Buckway. “It helps communities develop the in-house knowledge they need to provide services to residents in a sustainable manner.”

Contact

Shelley Hassard
Executive Director
Association of Yukon Communities
Email: ayced@ayc-yukon.ca
Phone Number: 867-668-4388

Participant organization information

• Association of Yukon Communities: Bev Buckway, former Executive Director
  • Population: 35,874
  • Project duration: 6 months
  • Grant amount: 45,432.00
• Village of Teslin, YT: Shelley Hassard, former CAO
  • Population: 122

Resource

• The Joy of Governing (your how-to guide for optimal governance) (English, French, Inuktitut): A customized Yukon municipal handbook to introduce elected officials and senior managers to asset management as a primary responsibility of local government.

Seven towns along Newfoundland’s west coast banded together to meet a shared challenge: ensuring that community infrastructure continues to deliver essential services such as clean drinking water and waste disposal. The towns are all small—fewer than 1,000 residents each—and have limited financial resources.

The roots of the collaboration lie in the Town of Woody Point’s decision to seek assistance from a St. John’s firm. They quickly recognized that Woody Point couldn’t afford to plan effectively on its own to maintain its infrastructure, although partnering with nearby towns might lead to success. With funding from the Federation of Canadian Municipalities’ Municipal Asset Management Program (MAMP) and leadership from the Atlantic Infrastructure Management (AIM) Network, the partnership produced solid results.

“Like many small communities, the seven towns didn’t have a clear understanding of their infrastructure and its condition,” says Daisy Foster, Managing Director of AIM, a community of practice. “And individually, they don’t have the capacity to do the research and analysis needed to deliver municipal services sustainably over the long term.”

“About 50 percent of our residents are senior citizens and most of them are on fixed incomes, so we have little room to raise taxes,” says Myrna Goosney, the lone employee of Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook (GBS), another partner in the initiative. The other five are Cow Head, Norris Point, Rocky Harbour, St. Pauls and Trout River. Like other communities across Newfoundland and Labrador, these towns also benefitted from ongoing support and advocacy from their provincial municipal association, Municipalities Newfoundland and Labrador (MNL), to advance their asset management practices.

To save on costs, AIM hosted a single training session for councillors and staff of all seven towns, and shared its customized open-source software. The software supports effective planning by linking services to the condition, expected life cycles and replacement costs of assets, along with other relevant information, such as budgets and land-use policies. All seven towns now have complete inventories of community assets, including general information about their condition and projected life cycles.

“GBS is now better able to prioritize investments in community assets,” says Myrna Goosney. The town plans to complete a new community centre, and to replace an aging breakwater to protect against rising sea levels.

Four of the communities continue to collaborate on the next step: long-term asset management plans.

Participant organization details

• Atlantic Infrastructure Management (AIM) Network: 
• Town of Woody Point, NL
  • Population: 281
  • Project duration: 10 month
  • Grant amount: 10,400.00
• Town of Glenburnie-Birchy Head-Shoal Brook, NL
  • Population: 258
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 10,000.00
• Town of Cow Head, NL
  • Population: 475
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 16,000.00
• Town of Norris Point, NL
  • Population: 685
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 22,800.00
• Town of Rocky Harbour NL,
  • Population: 979
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 32,000.00
• Town of St. Paul's, NL
  • Population: 258
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 10,000.00
• Town of Trout River, NL
  • Population: 576
  • Project duration: 10 months
  • Grant amount: 19,600.00

In 2016, the growing Town of Neepawa had pushed its lagoon system to the brink. The community decided to upgrade its wastewater system while taking future growth and sustainable development into consideration.

The town’s conventional lagoon system can accommodate sewage waste from 4,500 residents. The Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor (MBBR) technology, upon which the town’s new design is based, can serve a population of 7,500. This approach, not usually used in cold weather climates, will inform initiatives in other northern communities facing similar challenges. The technology is compact, can be easily replicated and maintained and works well where land is at a premium or limited.

“The incorporation of the new technology will modernize the way effluent is treated. The entire community will benefit from this project, not only in relation to efficient wastewater treatment, but by repurposing the two lagoon cells into a licensed compost and an area for water retention.”

—Colleen Synchyshyn, Chief Administrative Officer, Town of Neepawa

The upgraded process will allow the town to meet nutrient removal limits and extend the lagoon system’s lifespan so it can easily accommodate future growth and the community’s needs. Another key advantage of this new system is that its design is self-adapting to seasonal changes and will be able to accommodate extremely low temperatures in winter. Furthermore, the organic treatment process could divert approximately 30 per cent of the waste currently going to a landfill. 

“The wastewater processing has not always been adequate, and MBBR is entirely new technology that will lead to better results. I think the biggest highlight for me is that this project will increase the capacity for our community. It will allow industrial, commercial and residential growth.”

—Ken Waddell, Publisher: Neepawa Banner & Press, Rivers Banner (see: myWestman.ca)

Neepawa’s MBBR project will provide efficient and effective wastewater treatment and will result in continuous discharge into the water system. This differs from conventional storage which, at given times of the year, can emit an offensive odor. The MBBR will also help address the significantly increased load that’s been put on the system in the last decade, via the expansion of a local processing plant. That expansions will also increase the community’s labour opportunities.

We expect this project to:

• Reduce total suspended solids (TSS) by 85 percent
• Increase treatment capacity from 611,000 m3/year to 1,007,400 m3/year (65 percent increase)
• Reduce energy consumption by 2,690 GJ/year

Additional resources

• Green Municipal Fund 2018-19 Annual Report

When the City of Maple Ridge saw a need for improved and sustainable recreational services, it birthed the idea of a community centre in the Albion area. Around the same time, the school district was preparing to start public consultations for a new 500+ student elementary school. And so, a joint planning and consultation process began. It emphasized shared space, a connection to nature and a green building design with an educational component.

The city completed a GMF-funded study to determine the technical and financial feasibility of implementing energy efficiency guidelines for the centre. This study was a result of an extensive community-wide consultation, including:

• An open house
• Neighbourhood workshops with students
• Interviews with major stakeholders, including the Katzie and Kwantlen First Nations, School District, Metro Vancouver Regional District and facility operators
• A series of community-wide surveys
• 25 community partner outreach meetings
• Information sharing through local media, the city and school district’s websites and social media platforms

This feasibility study allowed the community to develop

• A review of net-energy reduction in a building that is atypical and doesn’t meet various sustainable program standards
• Energy modeling that determined how changes in architectural, mechanical and electrical systems would impact the building’s cost and performance
• An exploration and understanding of sustainability paths that allowed the city council to make better funding decisions

The city investigated four highly reputable programs currently in place to advance green building in British Columbia. Given the limitations of this location (i.e., it is remote and certain codes don’t apply to institutional buildings), it became clear that a LEED Silver certification was likely the highest level the building could achieve. The results suggested that the new design would use 62 per cent less energy than a baseline building designed to minimum code standards.

“To me, the best part about this project is the interface between the elementary school and the green building education. This centre is also an example of the great partnership between the school and the city, and is one of our many mutual projects. In the long run, it will save taxpayer dollars and provide better services to the community.”

–Don Cramb, Senior Recreation Manager, Maple Ridge Parks, Recreation & Culture

The community voiced its strong support for the concept of a co-located elementary school and neighbourhood community centre. The designers focused on incorporating the existing landscape into the design and showcased some sustainable approaches as part of its educational approach. The centre will also serve as a major node to natural trail connections in the surrounding riparian area.

“I think the centre will enhance our community greatly… There is an overall need in the area to support children and families, so it is really wonderful to see these synergies.”

–Rick Delorme, Director of Maintenance and Facilities, School District 42 Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows

Additional resources

• Green Municipal Fund 2018-19 Annual Report

Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie is a densely populated central part of Montréal with nearly 140,000 residents. In 2016, 63 per cent of its household garbage ended up in a landfill, so the borough developed the Défi zéro déchet (Zero Waste Challenge) to reduce that number.

The program was inspired by the concept of zero waste, a movement that is gaining momentum in Quebec and other cities around the world, which focuses on five principles: 

• Refuse
• Reduce
• Reuse
• Recycle 
• Compost

This pilot project should: 

• Reduce household waste by 30 to 50 per cent (i.e., reduce the waste per person, per year by 109 to 181 kg)
• Reduce 16,390 tonnes in household waste per year at the district level, in the long term

Out of 569 applications, 50 households participated in the pilot between October 2018 and June 2019, and each one weighed its waste throughout the project. The organizers also recruited three professional zero-waste specialists, who worked closely with each household.

“Midway through the project, the volunteers had reduced their waste by 20 per cent on average—a remarkable outcome four months into the challenge,” states Marilou Deschênes, a Sustainable Development Research Officer of the borough.

“The Zero Waste Challenge, as small as it may seem, has enormous potential to turn Montréal into a sustainable city. The fact that the project was so popular shows that municipalities have a role to play in helping residents transition to a low-impact lifestyle.”

—Marilou Deschênes, Sustainable Development Research Officer, Communications Division, Borough of Rosemont-La Petite-Patrie

Participants were offered support activities based on their needs, including telephone support, individual and group meetings, special thematic workshops and a private Facebook group. The public could access information about the participants on a website, along with their testimonies, goals and achievements.

The borough estimates that in its first edition, Défi zéro déchet will reduce the total household waste generated by 10 to 17 tonnes.

Overall, the goal of the challenge is to position borough citizens as leaders in reducing waste before it goes to landfills. The pilot aims to test an innovative solution that is replicable and inspires other communities. 

“During the challenge, I was able to enjoy workshops and the feeling that I was part of a community, with all the support that entails. …  My responsible consumption is my own contribution to the fight against climate change.”

—Jean Gagnon Doré, Défi zéro déchet participant

Additional resources 

• Green Municipal Fund 2018-19 Annual Report