HomeMy WebLinkAboutFCS Agenda - 2019-11-25 - 2020 Operating BudgetSpecial Finance & Corporate Services Committee
Agenda
KTTC H -,NF:R
Office of the City Clerk 2020 Operating Budget
Kitchener City Hall
200 King St.W. - 2nd Floor
Kitchener ON N2G 4G7 Monday, November 25, 2019
9:30 a.m. - 4:30 p.m.
Council Chamber
Page 1 Chair - Councillor S. Davey Vice -Chair — Councillor P. Singh
Discussion Items
1. FIN -19-085 - 2020 Operating Budget (6 hrs)
• Remarks — Committee Chair
• Introduction from the CAO
• General Overview by the CFO
• Boards
• Tax Supported Operating Budget
• Enterprise Operating Budgets
• Resolution
NOTE: Final approval of the 2020 Operating Budget will take place as part of Final Budget Day, scheduled for
January 20, 2020.
Any recommendations from the Committee regarding the above matters will be considered at a special
Council meeting to be held immediately following this meeting.
The Committee will recess for lunch at 12:00 noon.
Jeff Bunn
Manager, Council & Committee Services/Deputy Clerk
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Please be advised the Public
Budget meeting scheduled for
January 13, 2020
is scheduled to begin at 7:30 p.m.
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2020 Operating Budget
Table of Contents
The major sections of the budget are noted in the table below.
Content
Staff Report
Page
1
Definitions, Abbreviations & Acronyms
15
Comparative Budget by Division
18
Introduction from the CAO
21
General Overview by the CFO
23
Boards
49
• Kitchener Public Library (KPL)
50
• Centre in the Square (CITS)
51
Tax Supported Operating Budget
56
Enterprise Operating Budgets
86
• Building
89
• Golf
98
• Parking
104
• Gas
111
• Water, Sanitary & Stormwater Overview
125
• Water
132
• Sanitary
• Stormwater
144
151
In addition to the major sections noted above, the budget document also includes issue papers (IPs) that
provide information on notable topics. They can be found in the budget document as noted below.
Op 01— Continuing Transitions Funding for Centre in the Square (CITS) 1 55
Op 02 — Community Grant Funding (Tier 1 & 2)
73
Op 03 — Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy Implementation Options
75
Op 04 — Affordable Housing Options
77
Op 05 — Expand Leisure Access to Neighbourhood Association Programs
79
Op 06 — Supporting City Services and Growth
82
Op 07 — Improving Scheduling of Building Inspections
96
Op 08 — Maintaining Gas Meter Infrastructure
123
Oo 09 — Maintainine Water & Stormwater Infrastructure
140
Note: Final approval of the 2020 Operating Budget will take place as part of Final Budget
Day, scheduled for January 20, 2020.
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Many Languages:
Customer Satisfaction Program:
Protected Cycling Network:
Pedestrian-First Streets:
Corporate Climate Action Plan:
Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy:
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Affordable Housing:
Community Centre Expansion:
Business Cases:
Make It Kitchener 2.0 Strategy:
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 01 – Continuing Transitional Funding for Centre In The Square (CITS)
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Centre In The Square
PREPARER:Deborah Daub, Director of Finance, CITS
BUDGET IMPACT:$111,311 (funded from the Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund)
BACKGROUND:
In 2016, Centre In The Square (CITS) was allotted $250,000 for transition funding due to the
change to Mandate B that became a new policy from the City of Kitchener for CITS to follow.
This transition funding increased the total funding for CITS to $2,000,000 when it was added to
the $1,750,000 operating grant that was approved for 2016.Since then, the total funding
provided to CITS by the City has remained at $2,000,000, but the transition funding has been
decreased each year by the increase in the grant provided to CITS by the City. The transition
funding has been $250,000 in 2016, $218,500in 2017, $182,870 in 2018, and $146,527 for
2019.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
The request reflects the decision taken by City Council in March 2015 tied to the new mandate
and the subsequent financial implications for CITS. As the new agreement between CITS and
KWS is implemented over the next 2 – 4 years (starting with the 2019/2020 season in
September 2019) and to continue to make the necessary adjustments for the Mandate fiscally
possible, CITS is asking for a continuation of this transition funding with a decrease of $35,216
from the 2019 amount. This would amount to an additional transitional funding of $111,311.
With the increase of the operating grant by inflation to $1,888,689, this additional funding will
leave the total funding for CITS at $2,000,000 matching the total amount received in 2016,
2017, 2018, and 2019.
In addition, in order to support several capital projects, CITS is requesting that any yearend
surplus amounts in 2020 be retained by CITS and assigned to its capital replacement fund. Any
deficits would be split 50/50 between CITS and the City. The current arrangement is that any
surpluses or deficits are split 50/50 between CITS and the City. CITS would like to retain any
2020 surplus to help fund upcoming capital projects such asthe replacement of the original
stage jack lift mechanisms and the replacement of the seating to allow for more AODA seating.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The transition fundingwill supportthe Front of House costs for our community partners (such
as the Grand Philharmonic Choir) and will allow CITS to continue to work with other smaller arts
presenting organizations within Kitchener. It also provides support for other Mandate activities
such as covering some of the costs of access to the Studio and Main Theatres.
RECOMMENDATION:
That approval be granted for additional transitional funding of $111,311 for the CITS to be
disbursed from the Tax Stabilization Reserve Fund at the request of the CITS Board, with
Council being notified of the request by email,
And that any yearend surplus in 2020 be retained by CITS to help fund its capital projects, but
any deficit be split 50/50 between CITS and the City.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 03 – Sustainable Urban Forestry Strategy Implementation Options
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Infrastructure Services – Parks and Cemeteries
PREPARER:Niall Lobley, Director
BUDGET IMPACT:For Council’s Direction
STRAT PLAN:Environmental Leadership
BACKGROUND:
In April, 2019, Council approved Kitchener’s first Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy (SUFS).
Alongside the Strategy, Council endorsed an iterative and phased approach to implementation,
prioritizing investment in key areas highlighted within the strategy.
The 2019 budget approval supported delivery of:
Eliminating the 2018 tree planting backlog by the end of 2022
Establishing a tree canopy target by the end of 2020
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
Managing our urban trees and forests is a long-term objective; making incremental
improvements with a focus on the customerand a strong foundation of planning and
management will be key to achieve the goals established by the community in the
Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy.
Alongside the approval of the strategy, Council provided feedback on areas for focused activity
in the early implementation of the SUFS. Council indicatedthat the following areas are
important for early phases of implementation:
Tree Planting (City led and Community)
Tree Pruning/Proactive Management
Risk Mitigation & Inspection
Conserve and Protect
Develop an Emergency Response Plan
Staff are proposing a conservativeand iterativeapproach to funding the delivery of the
Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy respecting the broad range of pressures that existing across
the municipality and that focusses on key areas of delivery for Council. Immediatestaff
resource pressures are recommended to be addressed through two additional forestry
positions in 2020 (see Issue Paper Op 06) and continued support for managing risk within our
tree canopyembedded within base operating budgets.
Staff have provided options for the investment in the implementation of the SUFS that range
between $50,000to $200,000 in operating funding to support priorities identified by Council.
These options advance programs aimed at increasing the health and resiliency of Kitchener’s
urban forest and implementing protective measures. This request does not reflect full
implementation of the Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy, but is considered a prudent initial
investment. Staff look to Council to provide guidance and support as to where they would most
like to invest in the Urban through the following three options.
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Note: Tree planting to meet strategic plan targets is embedded within the existing capital
program in 2020 and 2021. Through the development of a tree canopy target, a long-term tree
planting strategy will be developed and various funding mechanisms considered. Therefore,
further enhancements to tree planting are not recommended at this time.
Option A – Conserve and Protect- $50,000
In addition to existing planned work to evaluate tree protection policies, by-laws and incentives, this
option would further protect the urban forest canopy through the development of woodland
management plans that would incorporate invasive plant management strategies.
Option B–Risk Mitigation & Inspection-$100,000
A tree risk management program would formalize practices and allow for an inventory to be completed
every 7 years and an enhanced level of inspections would be undertaken over the course of 10 years.
Inspections are an important maintenance practiceto actively monitor and respond to tree risk related
concerns and issues and mitigate potential damages and liabilities. The City’s current inspection
program is complaint-based and does not provide a systematic method of inventory and inspection of
the urban forest.
Option C – Tree Pruning/Proactive Maintenance - $200,000
Pruning is a key urban forest management activity that should occur routinely throughout a trees life to
increase resiliency of the urban forest canopy. In the early years of a trees life cycle, pruning establishes
healthy growth and manages later issues (such as stem co-dominance, a significant risk factor in mature
trees); as trees mature, pruning removes deadwood, lifts the canopy and proactively addresses risk
issues. The City does not currently have a proactive pruning program; pruning is complaint driven. The
most significant area of public concern in respect to City owned tree related issues is associated with a
lack of pruning. One of the recommendations of the Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy is to implement a
proactive maintenance and pruning program.
An annual investment of $200,000 would supporta minimal investment into proactive maintenance or
pruning. Over time, staff would be able to establish a desired service level associated with pruning to
inform future budget requests.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Options are provided that range between investments in a sustainable urban forest of
$50,000; $100,000; $200,000in operating funding.
RECOMMENDATION:
For Council’s direction.
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2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op04 – Affordable Housing Options
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Development Services Department
PREPARER:Karen Cooper, Manager Strategic and Business Planning
BUDGET IMPACT:For Council’s Direction
STRAT PLAN:Caring Community
BACKGROUND:
The City is preparing an affordable housing strategy to better position itself to find solutions to
growing unaffordability. The strategy is to be completed by the end of 2020. While the strategy
is being developed there are existing opportunities to make progress on housing and there will
likely be quick wins identified in 2020.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
There are two opportunities outlined within this issue paperthat merit funding in advance of
the development of the affordable housing strategy.
First, Homelessness & Housing Umbrella Group (HHUG) in partnership with Wellbeing Waterloo
Region (WWR) is running an ALL IN 2020 campaign.The campaign is seeking to raise
community, awareness and resources to end chronic homelessness in Waterloo region by
November2020 – 5 years ahead of the provincial government goal.
The campaign is seeking to raise $700,000 to help end chronic homelessness. To date about
$120,000 has been raised. Funds are being used to addressa number of barriers that prevent
people from accessing and staying housed.
Second, as the City of Kitchener develops its Affordable Housing Strategy there will likely be
‘quick wins’ identified. Currently there is only funding allocated towards the development of
the strategy, withno money allocated towards new programs or services related to affordable
housing. In the spring of 2020, staff anticipate that Council will be presented with issues and
options. Should ‘quick wins’ be identified, there will be no funding available to implement
them until the 2021 budget year. Allocation of operatingdollars towards ‘quick wins’ will help
advance delivery on the affordable housing strategy earlier than waiting for the advancement
of the full strategy. Council will be consulted and would approve distribution of the funds in
2020.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Three options are proposed for Council’s consideration related to ongoing operating budget
funding for affordable housing as outlined below.
Option A - $75,000
A $75,000 contribution would be made to ALL IN 2020. Funding in future years would be
allocated based on the findings of the affordable housing strategy.
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Option B - $125,000
A $75,000 contribution would be made to ALL IN 2020 + $50,000 available in 2020 for ‘quick
win’ opportunities. Funding in future years would be allocated based on the findings of the
affordable housing strategy.
Option C - $200,000
A $75,000 contribution would be made to ALL IN 2020 + $125,000 available in 2020 for ‘quick
win’ opportunities. Funding in future years would be allocated based on the findings of the
affordable housing strategy.
RECOMMENDATION:
For Council’s direction.
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2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 05 Expand Leisure Access to Neighbourhood Association Programs
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Community Services –Neighbourhood Programs & Services
PREPARER:Lori Palubeski, Manager, Program & Resource Services
BUDGET IMPACT:For Council Direction
STRAT PLAN:Core Service
BACKGROUND:
The City’s Leisure Access (LA) program currently provides financial assistance to residents living
onlow incomes who are accessing direct City of Kitchener programs (e.g. March Break and
summer camps, swimming/skating tickets, golf lessons/passes, Kitchener Market classes, older
adult programming). Currently, LA funding cannot be applied to programs provided by affiliated
organizations, such as Neighbourhood Association and Minor Sports groups.
In an effort to provide greater flexibility in the use of LA funding, in 2018 and 2019, changes were
made to allow users to access their entire annual funding allotment at any time throughout the
year (previously, users were limited to spending one quarter of their annual funding per season).
These changes have substantially increased LA use for camps (March break/summer)and
aquatics (swim lessons/memberships/three month passes). In 2017, approximately $45,000 of
subsidy was applied to these programs compared to approximately $86,000 in 2018 and a
projected $195,000 for 2019.
In addition to this change, as part of the 2019 budget, City Council increased the annual LA
subsidy for an individual by $50 to $300 (children/youth) and $265 (adults/seniors) per year.
On June 24, 2019, City Council directed staff to explore the expansion of the Leisure Access (LA)
program to cover Neighbourhood Associations program fees.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
Programing at City of Kitchener community centres is a shared responsibility between
Neighbourhood Associations (NA), the City and other community partners. In 2018,the City
provided 1,200 direct programs out of our community centres while Neighbourhood Associations
provided 2,200 programs (approximately 65% of total community centre programs).
Many affiliated NAs already provide fee assistance to individuals living on a low income. If LA is
expanded to cover NA programs, it is highly likely that these NA fee subsidy programs will no
longer be offered as there would be little incentive for an NA to continue to provide this financial
support when the City is already doing so.
The following 14 NAs currently provide eligible residents with fee assistance ranging from
discounted rates to free programming:
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Centreville Chicopee Cherry Park Country Hills Downtown
Doon Pioneer ParkForest HeightsNorth 6 Stanley Park
Victoria Hills Williamsburg Huron Kingsdale
BridgeportMill Courtland
When a resident requires additional fee assistance, beyond these programs, City staff work
closely to access other financial community supports such asthe Canadian Tire JumpStart
Foundation, House of Friendship, KidSport and grant opportunities through foundations.
The following chart outlines the benefits and risks associated with expanding LA to provide fee
assistance to NA programming:
BENEFITS RISKS
NAs that have the financial ability to provide
support to residents living on a low income
Increase the number of residents that use LA,
will shut down their fee assistance programs,
as it would cover more programs.
shifting costs from the user base (program
revenues) to the tax base.
Affiliated minor sport groups will likely want
Increase the City’s financial support tothe
the City to extend LA to cover their programs
specific NAsthat offer programs.
(which can be much more expensive).
Significant expansion of LA will require
additional staff time to support applicants
and users (e.g. following up with applicants
to confirm information, complete
applications).
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
The program improvements made to LA in 2018 and 2019 (see Background section) have been
successful in increasing program usage and expenditures significantly through an increase in the
number of users accessing a higher percentage of their annual allotment. In order to fund these
increases moving forward, staff have already built an additional $100,000 into the proposed 2020
budget.
It is important to note that it is difficult to forecast the financial impact of expanding LA to NA
programming as there is no way to forecast how usage would increase as a result. We anticipate
that such a change would come at a significant cost to the City. Given the City’s commitment to
not turn-away any LA customer due to lack of budget, an expansion would pose a significant
financial risk to the City. Recognizing that risk, based on historic usage and a comparison of how
LA is accessed for direct City program, staff estimate an additional $143,000 would be required
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should Council wish to expand LA to cover NA programs – although that may be an under-
estimate.
Given the significant impact we are already experiencing as a result of the changes made to LA
over the past two years, the fee assistance programs currentlyoffered by many NAs, and the risks
identified in the chart above, staff do not believe this is the right time to expand LA to cover NA
programming.
RECOMMENDATION:
For Council direction as per Council motion – June 24, 2019.
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2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op06 – Supporting City Services and Growth
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Infrastructure Services, Development Services & Community Services
PREPARER:Ryan Hagey – Director of Financial Planning
BUDGET IMPACT:None(seeking approval of FTEs only)
STRAT PLAN:Core Service
BACKGROUND:
The City employs staff to deliver services to citizens. The creation of new permanent full time
equivalent positions (FTEs) requires City Council approval. The graph below shows that
population growth in recent years has outpaced the growth in full time staff positions, putting
additional strain on City staff.
This issue paper requests the approval of FTEs, all of which are fully funded in the proposed
budget, and only approval of FTEs is being sought.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
The positions being requested are detailed below. The number of FTEs is shown in brackets.
Facilities Management Project Delivery(1)
Facilities Management (FM)is currently responsible for the delivery of various types of capital
projects, including State of Good Repair (SOGR) projects based on Building Condition
Assessments (BCAs), new builds, energy & sustainability, and client/service driven projects. In
addition to direct project delivery, FM is also responsible for supporting other corporate or
divisional projects by providing oversight and/or knowledge as subject matter experts.
Currently, FM has more than 50 projects scheduled for 2020, but has only one project manager
and one project coordinator dedicated to project delivery and has a history of a not being able
to spend its capital allocation annually due to its limited capacity to deliver projects. As such,
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capital balances regularly carry over and a time lag has been an on-going trend. Considering
current project workload, it is recommended that one project delivery FTE be added to the FM
complement.
Without approval of an additional FTE, the ability to deliver a number of significant capital
projects will likely be compromised. The associated risks with delaying projects are increasing
the infrastructure deficit; not being able to meet corporate climate action plan targets; and not
being able to support client/service projects, resulting in impact on programs and services, and
a decline in customer service experience.
Security (2)
The number of security incidents has increased 122% between 2011 and 2018 while staffing
levels in this area have remained unchanged. Increasing volume, along with an increasing
complexity in the types of incidents encountered, is putting significant strain on the City’s
security staff. Examples of the increasing complexity faced by these staff include:
More physical and tactical types of incidents, involving weapons or hands-on contact
Increased risk from physical harm, verbal abuse, exposure to weapons and drugs
Arrests by Security staff are becoming more routine
Some individuals who are known to be violent and flagged as “do not approach alone”.
Resourcing does not always allow Security staff to have a backup on some evening and
weekend shifts.
Increased pressures with marginalized populations: mental health and addiction,
unwanted behavior, violence, homelessness has led to increase pressures on Security
resources
Increased demand and desire to have events across the City (and particularly in the
downtown) has placed increased pressures on Security resources and scheduling.
With two additional FTEs, Security will be able provide additional weekend and weekday
coverage. This will also ensure two staff are on the road, able to cover more of the city
consistently and will allow for backup and assistance where needed.
Development Inspections (1)
Development inspectors are responsible to ensure safe communities are constructed in
accordance with applicable legislation and standards. All infrastructure must be as per these
standards prior to the City taking ownerships of the assets. Failure to do this will result in
higher operational maintenance costs, increase risk of flooding, potential spills to sensitive
water courses, and negative impacts to private property. These failures will result in increased
funding from the tax base, possible increases in the utility rates, as well as the increased
potential for claims against the City.
In 2015, 66.0 km of right of way required inspections through new development and increased
steadily to 130.5 km in 2018 (a 49.4% increase in four years). The City currently has over 80
subdivisions in the construction/maintenance phases and currently one full time and one
contract inspector to address any and all issues that arise from development. The continuing
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growth in demand for development inspections necessitates making the contract position a full
time position.
Property Standards By-law Enforcement (1)
In 2017, at the direction of City Council, the City’s Internal Auditor led a comprehensive LEAN
review of the property standards ability to respond to by-law complaints. That review, which
was presented to City Council in March 2018 concluded that the demand for service (back in
2017) exceeded the available staffing capacity by approximately 3.75 FTEs.
The number of property standards complaints has grown from 2,290 in 2015 to 3,060 in 2018 (a
34% increase in four years). This is due to growth in city population as well asa number of
service improvements such as the City’s 24/7 Corporate Contact Centre, online reporting,
increased public education (website, social media, printed documents, community events, etc)
which have all made it easier for residents to lodge complaints – increasing their expectation
for a quick response from staff. The addition of one officer will help maintain appropriate
response times to residentcomplaints. Staff will continue to monitor the need for additional
enforcement officers for consideration in future years.
Sustainable Urban Forest (2)
In April, 2019, Council approved Kitchener’s first Sustainable Urban Forest Strategy (SUFS).
Alongside the Strategy, Council endorsed an iterative and phased approach to implementation,
prioritizing investment in key areas highlighted within the strategy.
There is no capacity within the existing staff team to advance priorities of the SUFS
implementation, so two new positions have been incorporated within the 2020 budget.
1) Manager, Forestry and Natural Areas – This position will provide dedicated leadership in
implementing the SUFS through coordination and alignment of existing resources as well as
providing direction and oversight to risk mitigation.
2) Forestry Inspector – This role will be responsible for delivering the proactive tree inspection
program, responding to customer enquiries and concerns and will support the legislative
responsibility by fulfilling the function of Weed Inspector under the terms of the Weed
Control Act, 1990.
Without approval of these positions, the ability to deliver any progress on the SUFS will be
greatly compromised.
Downtown Maintenance (1)
Downtown Kitchener reflects the best of the City and is the centre for activities for residents
and visitors alike. It is a hub for events and activities and is a focal point for economic
development for the City. Ensuring the downtown core is maintained to optimal standards is
critical to supporting the range and scope of downtown experiences and helping build a vibrant
economy.
The current downtown maintenance efforts have lead at times to disconnected service
delivery, and the existing resources are unable to provide a full scope of cover (extending
seasonal coverage, hours and days of work) that is increasingly being demanded within the
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downtown area. Downtown faces increasingexpectation from the community as attendance at
festivals, events, and upgraded workspaces mean the core gets busier.
The addition of a maintenance position will provide a dedicated year round focus, working in
coordination with various teams across the City and BIA to ensure a coordinated, responsive,
and proactive operational resource foritems such as sanitation, street beautification, event
preparation & support, and winter maintenance.
Love My Hood (4)
Through the 2017 budget process, existing funding and two FTEs were reprioritized to create
the City’s Neighbourhood Development Office (NDO). In order to keep up with the increasing
workload as the program became more popular, later in 2017 two additional temporary
positions were created and have supported resident-led projects since that time. These
positions were funded out of the Neighbourhood Development Reserve, which is projected to
be depleted by the end of 2019. In order to maintain the service-level established to support
resident-led projects over the past three years, staff recommended making those two
temporary FTEs permanent. Without these FTEs the City’s support to resident-led projects will
have to be reduced.
In addition, a recent report updating Council about Love My Hood (report CSD-19-020)
identified the need to convert 4 part-time Neighbourhood Liaison positions to full-time
positions, which works out to two additional FTEs. Neighbourhood Liaisons serve as the single
point of contact and support to residents volunteering their time to complete resident-led
projects. This change will allow the City to maintain its level of service to resident-led projects
(as the number of projects continues to grow) while also ensuring the Liaisons become more
proactive in targeting their support to a greater diversity of resident groups.
In addition to supporting resident-led projects through Love My Hood, it would be effective to
have Love My Hood staff support the City’s participatory budgeting should Council choose to
proceed with that program.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
No new funding is required for these FTEs.
RECOMMENDATION:
That a total of twelvenew FTEs as outlined above in the issue paper be approved.
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ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Building Enterprise
Operating Model/Philosophy:
The Building enterprise is responsible for the administration and enforcement of the Building
Code Act and Building Code. The mandate of the Building enterprise is to ensure construction
within the City meets the minimum requirements as detailed in the Building Code.
Services Provided:
The Building enterprise provides a majority of its services to external customers for building
permit issuance and on-site inspections. Building also supports the AMANDA software system
and administers the final grading approvals for new low-rise residential buildings.
Benchmarking:
The charts below outline the total number of building permits issued and fees collected over
the past 6 years.
Total Building Permits Issued 2014-2019
2732
3000
2328
2500
2140
2119
2052
2000
1321
1500
1000
292
269
258
234
227
219215
500194
193
148
126
94
0
20142015201620172018*2019
Industrial/CommercialInstitutionalResidential
Total Building Fee Revenues 2014-2019
$4,942
$5,000
$4,500
$3,852
$3,708
$4,000
$3,500
$2,877
$3,000
$2,114
$2,500
$2,089
$2,000
$1,500
$1,012
$864
$814
$709
$650
$642
$1,000
$571
$490
$424
$381
$337
$226
$500
$-
20142015201620172018*2019
Industrial/CommercialInstitutionalResidential
st
* 2019 – Year-To-Date (YTD) January 1 to June 30th
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Primary Legislation:
The Building enterprise is governed by the Provincial Building Code including referenced
legislation such as the Planning Act, the Development Charges Act, and other construction
standards. The main purpose of the Building Code is to ensure the buildings citizens work, live
and play in are safe through the issuance of building permits and site inspections. Building
permit revenues must only be used for the administration and enforcement of the Building
Code.
Customer Base:
The majority of Building’s customers are the private sector, and their experience in building
regulations is diverse; from minimal to knowledgeable. Building’s customers include single time
users such as do-it-yourself homeowners, repeat homebuilders, and non-residential applicants
who build 1-2 times per year. The 2019 Year-To-Date (Jan. 1-June 30) breakdown of Building’s
customer base is 86% residential, 8% industrial/commercial and 6% institutional.
Recent Challenges:
This year, a higher number of time sensitive processes and projects impacted issued permits.
For example, three major development charge changes significantly increased the demand for
issued permits. The downtown development charge (DC) exemption expired on Feb. 28, 2019
and the City and Region (July 1 & Aug. 1) enacted new DC By-laws. The impact of the By-laws
and higher level projects, caused additional staff pressure to issue permits before the increase.
In the downtown area, not all the projects that received permits have started construction. The
assumption was shortly after permit issuance, construction would start. The delay in start of
construction will add staff demands to meet regulated inspections such as residential multiple
occupancy inspectionsin late 2020.
The public portal upgrade is expectedto go live in the fall of 2019. The go live date could have
been earlier but with other competing tasks and a busy building season, a decision to postpone
to fall was selected.
Recent Successes:
Year-To-Date, the Building enterpriseissued 1541 permits, and typically issues 2500 permits in a
year. The 1541 permits is significant because of the short timeline and demonstrates how busy
including overtime staff worked to meet the regulations.Some customers were demanding, in
some cases unpleasant and this added pressure onto staff. The good news is we did it!
The Building enterprise administered the termite pilot project for the 5thyear. Tuesday Express
Service was enhanced, again, where qualifying applicants could receive their DIY permit any
weekday - not just Tuesday afternoons!
Lastly, through ongoing and prudentfinancial measuresincluding high activity levels, the
Building Stabilization Reserve remains positive and sustainable over the 5-year projection
period.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 07 – Improving Scheduling of Building Inspections
FUND: Operating & Capital
DEPARTMENT:Development Services Department – Building Division
PREPARER:Tim Benedict, Manager, Building
BUDGET IMPACT:None (included in proposed budget)
STRAT PLAN:Core Service
BACKGROUND:
Late in 2018 our industry stakeholders requested a better system of booking inspections and
updates as to when the inspector will be on site. A better system would help both the
development industry and do-it-yourself builders make more efficient use of their timeas they
would have more accurate time frames for inspections.
A better system would also benefit staff as workload will bemorebalanced and constant,
taking into account training, holidays and unplanned absenteeism. The current booking
process allows for requesting inspections on a specific date and time period, but there is no
limit for the number of requests on a daily basis.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
CLEVEST Mobile Workforce Management solutions will drive greater efficiencies from our field
operations, improve responsiveness, and increase the safety ofbuilding inspectors. Kitchener
Utilities purchased the CLEVEST platform in 2017/2018, andBuilding is proposing to leverage
and expand the service for our use.
CLEVEST will allow a dispatcher to optimally assign work. Once the workload is optimized,the
applicant will receive notification that they are in the queue for an inspection the next day,
either noting A.M. or P.M. with further updates to come once the inspector is on-route to their
property. Assignments are made to the right building inspector, at the right time, and at the
right location. Overall productivity of field operations will be maximized, improving customer
satisfaction and regulatory compliance.
Building can better serve its customers by having consistent workflow to all building inspectors
while still meeting its legislative requirement to complete inspections within 48 hours after
notification. Another benefit ofleveragingthis technology is that it will allow increased
reporting on inspection activity within the City of Kitchener.
The implementation of CLEVEST continues to be supported by the Waterloo Region
Homebuilders Association (WRHBA) Kitchener Liaison Committeeincluding the associated
costs. The industry supports one new staff position (Dispatcher & Digital Permit Assistant)
because aside from the true customer service enhancement from CLEVEST, the FTE will also
improve the tracking and processing of resubmitted documents for permit issuance in a timely
manner.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
All funding for CLEVEST implementation will be funded from the Building Enterprise and is
included in the proposed budget. This includes operating costs of $55,300 to fund the part-year
salary costs for new position (effective June 1, 2020), as well as the ongoing licensing and
maintenance fees. In addition, capital costs of $96,900 are included to fund implementation
costs (e.g. project management, system configuration and integration).
RECOMMENDATION:
That one Dispatcher & Digital Permit Assistant be approved to support the implementation of
CLEVEST.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Golf Enterprise
Operating Model/Philosophy:
Kitchener Golf provides an affordable golf experience for all.
Services Provided:
Kitchener Golf operates golf propertiesandfacilities at both Doon Valley and Rockway Golf
Courses offering affordable recreational golf opportunities, as well as facilitated camps and
clinics, leagues, tournament and events.
Kitchener Golf facilities are open from dawn to dusk seven days a week during the golf season,
which can run anytime between April-November dependent upon weather. During the off
season, the facilities can be utilized for special occasions and provide a publicspace for winter
walking and cross country skiing with the introduction of the Nordic Ski Club for the 2019-2020
winter season.
Benchmarking:
The chart below outlines the prices at a number of privately owned public golf courses in the
area. Kitchener Golf’s prices are at the low end of the spectrum.
Kitchener Merry Hill Cambridge Puslinch Elmira
Primetime$48 $40 $59 $54 $54
Off-Peak $38 $38 $49 $50
Primary Legislation:
A Level Playing Field agreement signed with National Golf Course Owners Association states
that municipal golf courses will pay a dividend to their municipality equal to the sum of
property and income taxes. This ensures that municipal golf courses are not at an unfair
advantage.
Customer Base:
Both courses are open to everyone.
Recent Challenges:
Aging infrastructure of clubhouses, golf carts, maintenance and storage building.
Recent Successes:
The Golf Fore Life – Golfers with Dementia program is in its second year and has expanded to 4
days a week to meet demand. We have received a tremendous amount of positive feedback
and media exposure for this unique program. We are continuing to look for outside funding
sources to continue to improve the program.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Parking Enterprise
Operating Model/Philosophy:
The Parking Enterprise’s goal is a self- funded, financially sustainable enterprise providing
accessible and convenient parking in the downtown core at a fair price. It is very important to
the core as it helps the City achieve and balance its economic development growth
management and transportation objectives.
Services Provided:
The Parking Enterprise manages and operates the City’s downtown parking portfolio, which
currently consists of five parking garages, 17 surface lots, on-street meters and free parking
spaces (totaling 3,701 spaces). It has direct responsibility for the operation, maintenance,
capital rehabilitation and fiscal management of the City’s public parking infrastructure.
Benchmarking:
The table below outlines current prices of monthly parking for surface and garage facilities in
the downtown. The City’s monthly parking prices are at the high end of the spectrum.
Current Parking Operators Monthly Parking Fees before HST
Provider SurfaceGarage
Major 3rd party Private Business $118.65 $125.00
City of Waterloo $118.87 $153.82
City of Kitchener - Downtown$140.35 $159.38
Primary Legislation:
Not applicable.
Customer Base:
All garage and surface facilities are open to anyone living, working or visiting the downtown.
The customer base currently includes 2,368 monthly parkers and over 500,000 daily customers
per annum. The total number of monthly parkers has increased slightly year over year, but
inventory has decreased in the past year with the sale of 345King Street, the Forsyth Lot and
the Legion Lot. The percentage of monthly customers over the current supply is approximately
72%.
Recent Challenges:
The ION launched on June 21, 2019. Although it is too soon to gauge, ION ridership will affect
travel patterns in and around the downtownand will likely impactparking demand.
In 2019, the City’s monthly garage parking rate of $157.08+ HST ($177.50) is the highest being
charged within the downtown business area. Competitors in the downtown have not followed
suit with the City’s aggressive parking rate increases and contribute to eroding the City’s market
share. The City’s daily rates are very reasonable. Hourly rates in private parking garages range
from $3.00 to $4.00 per hour, where City garages provide 2 hours of parking at a rate of $3.40.
The City’s on street meter and pay & display surface rate is $2.40 per hour.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Increased demand for surface parking spaces throughout the downtown and specifically in the
Innovation District is forecasted. In addition, supply of surface parking spaces is being reduced
as planned redevelopment of surface lots occurs. An increase to monthly surface rates and
hourly rates are warranted as demand for convenient and cheaper spaces increase and
inventory decreases.
Staff anticipates increasing monthly parking rates in garage facilities above inflation at this time
will result in more overall revenue as supply of available parking shrinks with the addition of
new downtown development and as demand increases with the introduction of general trades
within the development construction sites. Increased parking rates in surface lots will narrow
the price gap enticing long-stay parkers to use garages. It is forecasted this will free up valuable
surface spaces for short-stay customers. Increased monthly garage parking rates also influence
Downtown Kitchener’s competitive advantage. High parking prices can directly impact current
and future economic development in the downtown.
Recent Successes:
The Parking Enterprise successfully launched its new Pay by Mobile App called Passport Parking
th
on June 19. In the first two monthsalmost 2,000 transactions were made with the mobile app
and the adoption rate is trending upward.
The Parking Enterprise is forecasted to achievenet revenue better than budgeted. Expenses
estimates are very close to budget. However, projected revenues are higher than budgeted
due mainly to a number of short term parking arrangements with neighbouring apartments and
condominiums while they complete major garage repairs.
The parking stabilization reserve fund is forecasted to be in a surplus position between the
established minimum and maximum benchmarks at the end of 2019 and will continue to
remain in a surplus position for the remainder of the 5 year forecast.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 08 Maintaining Gas Meter Infrastructure
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Infrastructure Services – Utilities
PREPARER:Peter Pavlinich – Manager Gas Meters & Regulator
BUDGET IMPACT:None (included in proposed budget)
STRAT PLAN:Core Service
BACKGROUND:
Kitchener Utilities’ Gas Measurement and Service section is responsible for installation of new
services and meters, maintenance of the gas regulator stations, inspection & maintenance and
repair of existing meters/regulators to ensure compliance with TSSA and Measurements Canada.
The increase in the number of gas meters and the capacity demand on the three district regulator
stations that supply gas to the entire city must be operated, adjusted, and maintained in proper
working condition. To perform this work, a gas fitter license is required.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
The demand for natural gas service has increased over the past several years. With the additional
growth, there is an immediate need to install new meters and regulators. In addition, there is a
continued requirement for inspection, maintenance and repair of existing meters/regulators to
ensure they are functioning safely and are within the accuracy tolerance for billing purposes.
Kitchener Utilities, Gas & Water (KU) must work within the required standards set out in the
Canadian Standards Association as well as Measurement Canada. The trend over the last few
years is an increase in multi-residential developments with a need for multi meter manifolds. The
manifolds could include retrofitting a single detached home into a duplex or for a multi-family
residential customer. These banks of individual meters require a custom design and are time
consuming to install and test. KU has received the highest volume of applications in the fall of
2019 and already exceeded 2018’s numbers.
New high-rise developments in the downtown core and other areas of the city require large
meters installed which are labour intensive. In addition, some existing apartment buildings are
installing natural gas generators. In most instances, these generators require the meter to be
replaced. The chart below illustrates the large and multi-metering requirements since 2012.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
New Meter Installs -Large Meters and Multi-Metering
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
Number of New Meters
20
0
20122013201420152016201720182019 (Jan -
Oct)
Year
Large MetersMeter Manifolds
One additional FTE with a gas fitter license is required to ensure staff can maintain all types of
meters and keep up with the growing number of meters that require maintenance on the natural
gas system, as the community continues to grow. Increasing the complement of front line staff
will allow KU to be able to adhere to itslegal requirements to inspect, maintain and replace gas
meters and regulators in a timely manner, while continuing to ensure a safe and accurate billing
of natural gas to the citizens of Kitchener.
Ensuring the accuracy and safety of the gas meter, and improving responsive to service requests
associated with gas meter and regulators installation and servicing arekey components of this
position.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Funding of $127,000 has been included in the proposed natural gas budget to fund this
additional position.
RECOMMENDATION:
That one Gas Meter and Regulator FTE be approved.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Water Utility
Operating Model/Philosophy:
Provide customers with quality, dependable, and economical distribution of water. Promote
conservation and operate in an environmentally sensitive manner.
Services Provided:
Water Distribution: Monitoring, installing and repairing the network of water mains, meters
and services to ensure a reliable and safe supply of water.
Conservation: Promotingconservation programs, which help customers reduce the amount of
waterused which save both money and conserves energy.
Benchmarking:
While the population of Kitchener continues to grow, water use hadbeen declining over a ten-
year period; however, in the last two years the trend is now increasing. The graph below shows
that the amount of water metered and billed by the City of Kitchener. Flows have been
decreasing since 2005 but increased in 2018 largely due to hotter weather compared to 2017.
Water supply demand forecasts indicated that 2018 would be the year that population demand
would outpace water conservation measures. The consumption may fluctuate around this
volume depending on weather until population demand clearly exceeds conservation
measures.
Metered Water (M3)
25,000,000
20,000,000
15,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
0
Year
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Primary Legislation:
Safe Drinking Water Act, 2002.
Ontario Regulation 170/03 Drinking Water Systems
Ontario Regulation 128/04 Certification of Drinking Water System Operator and Water Quality
Analysis
Ontario Regulation 169/03 Ontario Drinking Water Quality Standards
Ontario Regulation 188/07 Licensing of Municipal Drinking Water Systems
Customer Base:
Water: 68,000
Recent Challenges:
KU licensed staff must be present to witness all cut and caps and all final connections to ensure
that the drinking water system is not contaminated. In 2018,this additional workload resulted
in 2000-2500 extra hours, with 2019 trending slightly higher. Workis scheduled within 48 hours
of contractor requests relating to reconstruction and new construction work. Staff
accommodate contractor’s schedules to assist in the timely completion of projects. Balancing
the demand from contractor related work with regular maintenance continues to be a
challenge.
The Region of Waterloo’s Strange Street Water Pumping station was scheduled to be offline
starting in spring 2019 for installation of a manganese treatment system, which will decrease
discoloured water issues in the surrounding area. The upgrades have been delayed to fall 2019,
which has resulted in continuing discoloured water complaintsin the surrounding areas. Staff
perform watermain flushing in the area to minimize the impact of discolured water to residents.
Upon completion of the upgrades in 2020, it is anticipated that discoloured water calls and
watermain flushing in the area will decrease.
Recent Successes:
The Municipal Drinking Water License and Drinking Water Works Permit were renewed in May
2019 allowing for the continued operation of the water distribution system. The Drinking Water
Quality Management System was re-endorsed by Council in 2019. An external audit in August
2019 revealed no-non conformances and recommended re-accreditation for the City of Kitchener
as an Operating Authority. The Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks inspection in
early 2019 did not identify any issues of non-compliance.
The 2019watermain cleaning program commenced in September 2019 and consists of
approximately 113km of watermain and 870 valves. The 2019 area includes the area surrounding
the Strange Street Water Pumping station. The utility continues to replace broken valves to
improve system reliability.
The Water Meter Shop went live with a Meter Inventory Management System in March 2019.
The mobile solution (tablets for field staff) eliminates the paperwork and data entry and improves
accuracy and process completion.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
The water infrastructure program has assisted to increase customer awareness and
understanding for infrastructure investment needs and how they contribute to building a
strong and reliable water system for our community.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
ISSUE: Op 09 Maintaining Water & Stormwater Infrastructure
FUND: Operating
DEPARTMENT:Infrastructure Services – Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities & Gas and
Water Utilities
PREPARER:Leah Walter, Manager, Maintenance and Operations
Angela Mick, Manager, Quality Management & Water Programs
BUDGET IMPACT:None (included in proposed budget)
STRAT PLAN:Core Service
BACKGROUND:
Council endorsed the Water Infrastructure Program (WIP) and five-year rate forecastat a
strategic session on September 25, 2017. As a component of WIP, a maintenance program
review was conducted for the water, stormwater, and sanitary utilities. The maintenance
program review considered regulatory requirements, industry best practices, and asset
management principles and associated master plans (e.g. Integrated Stormwater Master Plan).
WIP identified that the stormwater utilityhas a maintenance gap of $2.0M and the water utility
a maintenance gap of $1.3M. Thesanitary utility review did not identify a maintenance funding
gap however included recommendations to optimize, enhance and coordinate the various
sanitary maintenance programs. Council endorsed the phase-in of the maintenance gap over a
5-yeartimeframe to allow time for programs to be developed and resourced and to align with
the 5-yearrate forecast.
RATIONALE / ANALYSIS:
Water
Kitchener Utilities is responsible for water distribution maintenance on 890 km of distribution
watermains, 4,400 fire hydrants, 7,500 valves, and over 60,000 services.
In order to respond to both reactive and preventative maintenance requirements of the water
distribution system, staff have reviewed current operations and recommend two additional
staff resources to maintain the water distribution system.
The Utilities Distribution Technician (UDT) is a front line position that holds licenses to work on
the water and gas distribution system. The UDT is responsible for all aspects of the repair and
maintenance of the water distribution system. This includes repairing watermain breaks,
flushing, valve replacements, water quality testing, and other preventative maintenance
activities. In addition, they must be present to witness all tie-ins to the water distribution
system by third parties to ensure the drinking water system is not contaminated. The
additional UDTs will assist in meeting the demands of these programs andallow operational
activities to be completed in accordance with the required maintenance schedule.
Stormwater
The 2020 stormwater maintenance program funding allocation is for sediment management
and catchbasin/manhole casting repairs. This funding will allow for contracted services to be
retained to work on completing a backlog of work orders related to storm castings which have
not been completed due to lack of funding a resources to complete the work. The funding
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CITY OF KITCHENER
2020 BUDGET ISSUE PAPER
allocated to sediment management will allow for the operations team to cover the labour and
equipment costs of this program, taking this pressure off of the capital program which was used
to fund this work in past years. The Utility Planning & Programming group will continue to
support operations in planning the work and also coordinating the disposal of the sediment
with their capital budget. Table 1 shows a revision to the Total Financial Gap for Watercourses
and Sediment Management to reflect this change.
The improvements to these programs lead to better performance of the storm water
management facilities, regulatory compliance, reduced risk of litigation and improved service to
customers. Table 1 provides a summary of the stormwater maintenance program gaps and
proposed 2020 funding allocations.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Table 1 (stormwater) and 2 (water) provides a summary of previous investments and current
allocation of maintenance funding to address the gaps identified through the Water
Infrastructure Program. As previously endorsed by Council, the $400,000 for stormwater
maintenance represents the year 3 funding allocation of the 5-year program phase-in. No
additional operating funding is being requested for the water utility in 2020 however two FTEs
are requested to address the needs of the maintenance programs.
Total funding of $254,000 has been included in the proposed Water ($178,000) and Gas
($76,000) budgets for the Utilities Distribution Technician positions.
RECOMMENDATION:
That the two (2) Utilities Distribution Technician positions be approved.
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5,075
84,9256
148800,000
$$$45,000$20,200
$$226,800$210,000$
Remaining
Financial Gap
00
$$0$0$0$
2020
250,000150,000
$$
Allocation
,000
0
$0$0$0
178,325400,00010
Previous
$121,675$$$
Allocation
otal Financial Gap Remaining
T
Gap
Total
206,600
R
$45,000
Financial
$$398,000$393,400$626,800$210,000$120,200
and Proposed Funding Allocations
events
Previous
BUDGET ISSUE PAPE
,
CITY OF KITCHENER
2020
Benefits of Program
integrity of the storm sewer main and
Prevents blockages to reduce the risk of flooding, damage to the downstream environment and maintains channel capacity for increased flows during large rain Provides for proper testing
and disposal to meet regulated requirements for sediment managementInspection and maintenance of catchbasins and maintenance holes to ensure proper drainage and that the structure is
not a hazard in the right of way (per provincial maintenance standards)Ensures LID infrastructure (e.g. infiltration facilities, permeable pavement, etc.) are functioning as intended
and prevents blockages that could cause flooding and water quality impairment.Protects the prevents main breaks that have the potential to cause sinkholes and flooding to public and
private property.Provides leaf collection in mature treed areas to prevent leaves from covering the catchbasins and decreases risk of floodingIncludes various other program areas such
as sweeping, culvert maintenance, storm sewer maintenance, spill response
rograms
ollection
nspection
aintenance
Program
atercourse
aintenanceanagementaintenance
ther P
epair
atchbasin/
WInspection & MSediment MCMaintenance Hole I& MLow Impact Development (LID) MStorm Main RLeaf CO
Table 1: Summary of Stormwater Maintenance Program Gaps
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$0$0$0
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Gap
$130,000$636,000$766,000
Financial
Remaining
259,000$60,000$21,000
$75,000
$119,000
Previous
Allocation
000
$60,$21,000$75,000
Gap
Total
$389,000$755,000
Financial
Total Financial Gap Remaining
water
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BUDGET ISSUE PAPE
bacteria related corrosion,
CITY OF KITCHENER-
, Previous Allocations, and Remaining Gap
2020
break costs. *Includes new requirements
Benefits of Program
Removal of iron and manganese build up to decrease reactive discoloured water flushing, reduce ironimprove water quality and increase overall water quality.Ensure that valves will work
to isolate mains in emergencies and for construction to minimize disruption length, number of customers affected and reduce watermainfor witnessing cut/caps and new connectionsDecrease
the number of potential cross connections in the system to prevent drinking water contamination.Regulatory requirement to test hydrants annually, winterize to ensure they don’t freeze,
keep clear of snow, maintenance for painting for corrosion protection and customer confidence in the only visible infrastructureTo prevent damage to underground infrastructure, potential
injuries and fines by marking out underground mains for construction
Program
Watermain cleaningValve maintenance & replacement program*Cross Connection Control ProgramHydrant operation and maintenanceUnderground utility locates
Table 2: Summary of Water Maintenance Program Gaps
CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Sanitary Sewer Utility (Wastewater)
Operating Model/Philosophy:
The Sanitary Sewer utility performs the service of removing wastewater generated in the cityin
an efficient, cost effective, and environmentally responsible manner. The Sanitary Sewer utility
also ensures this is done in compliance with legislative and regulatory requirements.
Services Provided:
The Sanitary Sewer utility performs a wide range of activities and programs that together
supports the provision of safeand reliable collection of raw sewage generated within Kitchener
and neighbouring municipalities, and its subsequent conveyance through 834 kilometers of
pipes and 22 pumping stations to a Regional wastewater treatment facility, where the City pays
the Regionfor ultimate treatment and disposal.Such activities and programs include:
The Water Infrastructure Program (WIP) – Previously known as AIRP
Pumping station rehabilitation and replacement
The trenchless sewer rehabilitation program
Trunk sewerreplacement
Sewer Mains & Lateral Repairs
Pumping station maintenance
Flow monitoring program
Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) inspection program
Sewer Flushing programs
Year Round On-Call Staff (Emergency Response)
Service connection blockage clearing
Hydraulic modeling
Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) for pumping stations
Benchmarking:
The Utility is participating in the National Water and Wastewater Benchmarking Initiative which
looks at key performance indicators for municipalities across the country. Data for the current
yearis being gathered and will be processed to compare to previous years.
Primary Legislation:
Clean Water Act
Environmental Assessment Act
Ontario Water Resources Act
Canadian Environmental Protection Act, etc.
Customer Base:
The owners, residents, and users of nearly all facilities in the city are generators of raw sewage.
This would include nearly every residential, and every significant commercial, industrial, and
institutional building in the city. In total, this equates to over 65,000 customers billed for this
service.
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ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Recent Challenges:
Operational: Significant amounts of Kitchener’s sanitary assets have reached, or are nearing,
the end of their lifecycle. As these assets deteriorate, the need for ongoing, regular
maintenance increases, resulting in a requirement for more funding and resources for
preventative and corrective maintenance. The recently approvedsanitaryutility rate increase
will provide funding for maintenance and replacement of sanitary infrastructure, thus
contributing to reduced risk to the utility.
Budgetary: (1) Construction costs for replacement and rehabilitation of infrastructure from
2004 to 2017 were significantly greater than the CPI rate of inflation. (2) Unit costs of sewage
processing have been, and are expected to, increase at rates well above the rate of inflation
(these costs are controlled by the Region).
Recent Successes:
Capital Works: Furthering the goals of the Water Infrastructure Program through the
replacement of sanitary sewer mains and services: by the end of 2019, 5.7 kilometers of sewer
main replacementwill be completed along with550 metres of sewer main rehabilitation.
Capital Works: (1)Replacement of the King St sewage pumping station (SPS) and forcemains is
complete. The completion of this work resulted in the lifting of a development freeze in early
2019 that has existed in this area for over a decade.(2) Construction of a new Sewage Pumping
Station servicing New Dundee is now complete therebypermitting the development of the
Doon South Community Plan area. (3) The design of the MiddleStrasburg Trunk Sanitary Sewer
is now completeand awaiting 2020 construction, which will provide an outlet for growth in
south-west Kitchener.
Analysis: (1) Development of a risk analysis software tool for use in theenhanced prioritization
of remediation work to the sanitary sewer network. (2) Development of a flow analysis tool for
use in analyzing the capacity of individual pipe sections within the sanitary sewer network for
both existing and future proposed flows.
Administration: (1) Review of properties serviced by municipal water but sewer exempt.
(2) Analysis to confirm the current residential sewage flow that should be used for design
purposes.
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ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Stormwater Utility
Operating Model/Philosophy:
The Stormwater utility performs the service of treating and controlling stormwater generated
in the city in an efficient, cost effective and environmentally responsible manner to comply with
legislative and regulatory requirements.
Services Provided:
The utility provides the necessary funding to operate, maintain, rehabilitate, replace and build
stormwaterinfrastructure across the city. The stormwater system is comprised of
approximately 139 kilometers of open watercourses in 20 subwatersheds, 722 kilometersof
storm sewers, over 24,300 manholes and catch basins, 65 hydrodynamic separators, and 101
constructed stormwater management facilities (SWMFs).
Servicesinclude capital projects identified by theIntegrated Stormwater Management Master
Plan (2016) to address portions of the 75% of the City which have no stormwater management
controls. Other projects are required to address flooding in various parts of the City. In addition
to discreet capital projects, annual programs are established to address recurring activities.
These include:
Stormwater Management (SWM) Low Impact Development (LID) in
Monitoring Program WIP Projects
Sediment Management Program Sewer Mains, Catchbasin & Manhole
Maintenance and Repair
Watercourse Improvement Program
Watercourse/Bridge/Culvert
SWM Facility Retrofit Program
Maintenance and Repair
Drainage Improvement Program
SWMF Maintenance & Sediment
Hydraulic and hydrological
Removal
modelling
Catchbasin Cleaning Program
SWM Infrastructure Implementation
Street Sweeping
Program
Leaf Pickup
Water InfrastructureProgram (WIP)
Spills Response
Finally, the utility also funds a credit program to provide an incentive to private property
owners to control stormwater at the source where it falls on private property.
Benchmarking:
The stormwater utility finalized the Integrated Stormwater Management Master Plan (ISWM-
MP) to replace the 2001 SWM Policy I-1135with policy MUN-UTI-2003. The master plan
establishesgoals and objectives as well as provides direction to the utility until the year 2030.
There is an annual process of measuring progress against planned progress in the ISWM-MP.
Additionally, the utility is participating in the National Water and Wastewater Benchmarking
Initiative, which looks at key performance indicators for municipalities across the country. Data
is gathered annually and is processed to compare results to previous years.
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CITY OF KITCHENER
ENTERPRISE OVERVIEW
Primary Legislation:
There is existing legislation that dictates certain requirements for stormwater management.
The key pieces of legislation include:
Clean Water Act, Canadian Environmental Protection
Act,
Environmental Assessment Act,
Canadian Fisheries Act, etc.
Ontario Water Resources Act,
Customer Base:
All owners of properties in the city that have impervious area are generators of runoff during
precipitation events. There are over 70,000 properties in the city that arebilledfor the
stormwater managementservice based on the amount of their impervious area.
Recent Challenges:
Operational: Storm events are becoming more severe and intense which has a direct impact to
the entire stormwater system, by either causing damage to or exceeding the capacity of
existing infrastructure in an unpredictable manner.
Legislative: The new legislation for the Sewer Safety Inspections process has resulted in an
increased level of service that is now required for the locating of utilities prior to construction
activities taking place.Environmental permits for capital projects can cause project delays.
Budgetary: (1) There is an existing backlog of legacy projects identified in previous stormwater
audits that can only be completed as funding becomes available. (2) Operations and
maintenance requirements necessary to maintain the current service levels and meet legislative
requirements versus the current budget allocations for such activities. This does not take into
consideration the need for additional budget to facilitate the transition to a more preventative
maintenance approach. (3) Alternative strategies are being examined to enhance the lifecycle
of stormwater infrastructure to help address current and future deficits.
Recent Successes:
Operations and Maintenance: Operations staff anticipate removing over 4,000 metric tons of
sediment from stormwater facilities in 2019 to improve water quality. With the work in 2019, a
total of 55 out of 101 stormwater ponds willhave been clean over the last several years.
Capital Works: (1) The construction of SWM Facility 21 on Penelope Dr, the Kolb Creek culvert
replacement, Idlewood Creek Restoration and Walter Bean Trail Link as well as sediment
removal from the Victoria Park forebay has been completed in 2019.
Grant Funding: The City applied to the federal Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund to
receive funding for 40% of the cost of projects identified in the ISWM-MP as well as other
studies completed in the past 5 years by the City. The total cost of the projects included in the
application is $125M. The federal government announced that the City of Kitchener was
successful in the application and will receive almost $50M of funding through the year 2028.
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