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original document ·
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unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.
Created:
2017-05-01
Revised:
2025-02-25
Authorized:
By-Law 15-25
Superseded:
The purpose of this policy is to provide leadership and guidance for the Town of Fort
Frances to ensure the strategic development of its infrastructure asset management
program, including roles and responsibilities. The policy facilitates logical and informed
decision-making for the management of the municipal infrastructure to support the
delivery of sustainable community services. The development of a strategic asset
management policy is a requirement of Ontario Regulation 588/17 under the
Infrastructure for Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015 as amended.
A comprehensive approach to infrastructure asset management ensures that
appropriate levels of service (LOS) are being delivered in the most efficient and
effective manner and that due regard and process are applied to the long-term
management and stewardship of the Town's capital infrastructure assets. This
document provides a high-level statement of the organization's approach, principles
and expectations related to asset management, as well as a focus for the
implementation and continuous improvement of the Town's asset management
program.
Our vision - as stated in the 2023-27 Strategic Plan - is to be a leader in growing a thriving
community with boundless opportunities. For this to be achieved, we require alignment of the
many initiatives underway in our organization at any given time to ensure the levels of service
provided by our existing and planned assets are congruent with and supportive of our vision.
Asset management planning therefore will not occur in isolation from other municipal goals,
plans, and policies. Rather, an integrated approach will be followed to successfully develop
practical asset management plans that align with the overarching aspirations of our
community. This approach keeps us mindful of the goals described in our Strategic Plan,
leverages our Official Plan and coincides with our Financial Plans. Council is to conduct an
annual review of its asset management progress once the plan is completed.
The Town of Fort Frances will implement an enterprise-wide asset management program
through all Town divisions. The program will promote lifecycle management of all
infrastructure assets, including lowest total cost of ownership, and will define the provision of
levels of service while balancing customer expectations with overall cost and business risk.
The program will be based on continuous improvement with the goal of implementing
industry best practices across all asset types and throughout the organization.
The program will include:
The asset registry, or centralized asset database, will maintain an inventory of the Town's
capital assets including unique ID, description, location information, asset value (both
historical and replacement), performance characteristics and/or condition, estimated
remaining life and estimated repair, rehabilitation or replacement date, and estimated cost for
the repair, rehabilitation or replacement.
Updated Asset Management Plans will be developed to incorporate all infrastructure
categories. The plans will leverage the data in the registry and known best practices to
identify and implement improvements in business processes in order to balance a level of
service that meets residents' expectations with the costs and risks associated with providing
the service. The Asset Management Plan must be reviewed and updated at least every five
years as per O.Reg. 588/17.
Elements to be reviewed and advanced include:
Valid, defensible data is the foundation of good decision-making. It is essential
to collect complete and accurate data for all municipal infrastructure and to
maintain this accuracy and currency over time.
Municipalities need to have a clear understanding regarding the performance
and condition of their assets, as all management decisions regarding future
expenditures and field activities should be based on this knowledge.
Risk and criticality models and analysis are key elements of proper asset
management practices and programs. Through their use, an asset manager
can determine which infrastructure is critical to the organization and can also
rank and rate the level of business risk associated with all of the infrastructure
stock. This becomes invaluable when limited internal resources are being used
to try and address a significant number of field needs or priorities.
Proper lifecycle management of infrastructure components, networks, and
portfolios will assist in establishing budgets and make the best use of public
funds. The types of preventative maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement
activities and the timelines for application for each asset class will be reviewed.
The two main risks to financial sustainability for municipalities are: providing
levels of service that do not reflect fiscal capacity, and the cost of
infrastructure. As a result, in order for an asset management program to be
effectively implemented, it must be integrated with financial planning and long-
term budgeting, identifying the need for senior government funding.
Desired levels of service are high level indicators, comprising many factors that
establish defined quality thresholds at which municipal services should be
supplied to the community. They support the organization's strategic goals and
are based on citizen expectations, statutory requirements, standards, and the
financial capacity of the municipality to deliver those levels of service.
Performance metrics and reporting tools will be developed to transparently communicate and
display the current state of practice, including service levels achieved, within the organization
and to assist with the path of continuous improvement moving forward.
The municipal asset management plan is to incorporate the strategies outlined in the Town's
Long-Term Capital Financial Plan Policy and develop funding solutions to replace and/or
renew municipal infrastructure assets based on lifecycle costing. The development of a long-
term comprehensive financial plan within the Town's Asset Management Plan will allow the
Town to identify the financial resources (taxation, user fees, reserves, debt) required for
sustainable asset management based on existing asset inventories, desired levels of service
and projected growth requirements.
The municipality's asset management plan is to incorporate all infrastructure categories and
infrastructure assets that meet the capitalization threshold outlined in the organization's
Accounting for Tangible Capital Assets Policy.
The municipality will ensure that the asset management plan is aligned with
i. Financial plans related to the municipality's water assets including any financial plans
prepared under the Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002 as amended.
ii. Financial plans related to the Municipality's wastewater assets.
The municipality's asset management plan must align with Ontario's land-use planning
framework, including any relevant policy statements issued in the Planning Act, any provincial
plans as defined in the Planning Act and the municipality's official plan.
The municipality will coordinate planning where municipal infrastructure assets connect or are
interrelated with those of neighbouring municipalities or jointly-owned municipal bodies
wherever viable and beneficial.
The municipality's asset management plan shall provide opportunities for municipal
residents and other interested parties to provide input into the municipality's asset
management planning.
The municipality's asset management plan must address the vulnerabilities that may be
caused by climate change to the municipality's infrastructure assets. Considerations shall be
made for operations, level of service and lifecycle management. Actions such as anticipated
cost due to climate change, adaptation opportunities, mitigation approaches, disaster
planning and contingency funding will be considered.
As of July 1st, 2019, the Strategic Asset Management Policy shall be reviewed and, if
necessary, updated at least every 5 years by the Town of Fort Frances.
Holistic
Taking a comprehensive approach to asset management that looks at the 'big picture' and
considers the combined impact of managing all aspects of the asset lifecycle.
System Focused
Considering the assets in their asset system context, in terms of the different assets and
their interrelationships, as opposed to optimizing individual assets in isolation.
Systematic
Adopting a formal, consistent, repeatable approach to the management of infrastructure
assets will enable services to be provided in the most cost-effective manner.
Innovative
Continuous improvement will be a key part of our asset management approach and will
focus on driving innovation in the development of tools, techniques and solutions.
Forward Looking
Making the appropriate decisions and provisions to better enable our assets to meet the
challenges of future citizen expectations, legislative requirements and climate change.
Risk-based
Managing the asset risk associated with attaining the agreed upon levels of service,
focusing resources, expenditures and priorities based upon risk and the corresponding
cost/benefit
Citizen Focus
Having clearly defined levels of service and providing assurance to our citizens by
adhering to good, or where proven cost-effective, best practice asset management
processes and systems, supported by continually improving confidence in our asset data,
and achieving citizen satisfaction at the defined levels of service.
Jobs and Prosperity
The Township shall consider all principles outlined in section 3 of the Infrastructure for
Jobs and Prosperity Act, 2015, as amended. This Act establishes mechanisms to
encourage principled, evidence-based and strategic long-term infrastructure planning
that supports economic growth, protection of the environment, and incorporates design
excellence into infrastructure planning.
- Approve the asset management policy and direction of the asset management
program
- Approve future amendments to the asset management policy
- Establish acceptable infrastructure levels of service
- Ensure that adequate resources are available to maintain the Town's asset
management program
- Report to citizens on status of community's infrastructure assets and asset
management program. The channels may include annual reports, business plans, etc.
- Will provide corporate oversight to the goals and directions of this Policy.
- Will ensure the asset management program aligns with Town of Fort Frances'
current Strategic Plan.
- Track, analyze and report on asset management program benefits
- Provide corporate-wide leadership in asset management practices and concepts
- Provide asset management steering committee and divisional staff coordination
- Coordinate and track asset management program implementation and progress
- Develop and maintain asset inventories
- Assess Infrastructure condition and monitor service levels
- Establish and monitor infrastructure replacement levels using full lifecycle costing
principles
- Develop and maintain financial plans for the appropriate level of maintenance,
rehabilitation, extension and decommissioning of assets
- Utilize the new business processes and technology tools
- Participate in implementing task teams as part of the asset management
development
- Provide support and direction for asset management practices within their division