HomeMy WebLinkAboutCAO-20-001 - K-W Joint Services Initiative Committee 2020 UpdateREPORT TO:Council
DATE OF MEETING:December 14, 2020
SUBMITTED BY:Kathryn Dever, Director Strategy & Corporate Performance,
519-741-2200 ext. 7370
PREPARED BY:Kathryn Dever, Director Strategy & Corporate Performance,
519-741-2200 ext. 7370
WARD (S) INVOLVED:All
DATE OF REPORT:December 1, 2020
REPORT NO.:CAO-20-001
SUBJECT:K-W Joint Services Initiative Committee 2020Update
___________________________________________________________________________
RECOMMENDATION: That report # CAO-20-001, regarding K-W Joint Services Initiative
Committee 2020 Update, be received for information.
REPORTHIGHLIGHTS:
The purpose of this report is to provide Council with an update on recent and active Joint
Services Initiatives between Kitchener and Waterloo.
The key finding of this report Is that of 10 joint initiatives undertaken over the last year,
five were successfully completed and five will carry forward into 2021.
There are no financial implications associated with this report.
The community was informed by posting of the report to t
agenda in advance of the Council meeting, and current information on the joint services
page
This report supports the delivery of core services.
BACKGROUND:
This report is intended to provide Council with an update on recent and activeJointServices
Initiatives between Kitchener and Waterloo. The two Cities have an established history of
collaboration and cooperation. A formalized approach to joint initiatives through the Kitchener-
Waterloo Joint Services Initiatives Committee (JSIC) has been in place for over 15 years.
Through this initiative the two cities work together to identify common servicesand ways to
streamline them to benefit residents in both cities. The initiative seeks to maximize effectiveness
and efficiency of resources and service delivery,complete strategic joint initiatives,andtransfer
knowledge/build capacityfrom best practices.Over 75joint initiatives have been
undertaken-some project-specific and formally completed, and others continuing as ongoing
practice. The JSIC also supports collaboration opportunities that arise throughout the year and
are not formally planned, as long as they provide mutual benefit and efficient use of collective
resources.
***This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994for assistance.
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An annual program of joint projects are identified which align to three basic principles:
Accessibility:Citizen-focused, withresidents able to understand the purpose of the
project and its benefits.
Accountability:Clear areas of responsibility representing the needs of both
communities.
Affordability:Maximize cost efficiencies where possible, without sacrificing benefits to
residents.
REPORT:
Annual initiative opportunities are identified in the fall of each year for the upcoming year, with
suggestions scoped prior to review by the JSIC, which is made up of the CAOs and senior
leadership teams for each city. At t
opportunities and considersthe following criteria in setting annualjoint initiatives:
Enhances the ability of either city to deliver or develop a service or program outside of
its resources,
Creates service-level improvements, while either maintaining costs or producing future
savings,
Provides operational and/or capital opportunities, and/or
Features best practices of both organizations.
Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the complexity of some continuingjoint initiatives, other
collaborations underway between the two cities, and ongoing pandemic response, the JSIC did
not meet and did not identify new initiatives for 2021.
2019-2020 Joint ServicesInitiative Accomplishments
Fiveinitiatives were successfully completed last year;key accomplishments are highlighted
below:
Sidewalk and Road Inspection Programs:Develop a shared program for annual inspections
programs for sidewalks and road rights-of-way. Based on changes to maintenance standards,
the need for enhanced inspection programs is increasing above the current pavement condition
inspection program conducted every other year. More frequent inspections will identify condition
issues sooner, establish resource requirements toaddress, and minimize risks.
Kitchener adopted an internal program using temporary staff to inspect sidewalks and
capture condition data, which will result in savings of approximately $5,000 annually.
Sidewalk cost and quality metrics were captured and will be further assessed to
determine potential to sharestaff resources between theCities, and to expand into
other assets such as trails.
Processes, experiences and successes are being sharedwith Waterlooand
communication is open to share findings, challenges, data management/software
solutions and future opportunities to collaborate.
For road inspection, identified that the cities currently use different inspection software
programsthat areintegrated with different work management programs;coordination is
limited.
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Road pavement condition data collection approaches will be discussed in upcoming
years, including considering a joint contract for pavement condition inspection.
Winter ControlCollaborative Advertising: Enhance current winter control advertising, ensuring
citizens in both communities continue to receive consistent messages, and evolve
communications to be more social media and web-based, to better inform residents and provide
greater level of customer service.
Kitchener created graphics and messages through collaboration with Waterloo,
Cambridge and Region of Waterloo; Waterloo augmented communication through
Published flyer indicating Kitchener and Waterloo shared streets and maintenance
responsibilities for leaf collection and winter control.
Developed consistent approach, communications and timing for Snow Announcements
including timing of declaration, cancellation, and extensions; this represents the greatest
benefit of this initiative, recognizing that timing of announcements is not always identical
due to weather patterns, which can vary across the geography of the region.
Formalize Enforcement of Special Events:s regarding enforcement
Staff from both Cities formalized an ongoing relationship for event enforcement support,
including mitigating risk factors and addressing WSIB components.
The new collaborative approach was successfully implemented for WLU Homecoming and
will be applied going forward to ensure effective resource sharing for all events that require
additional staffing services.
Fleet and Inventory Software Sharing:Investigate the opportunity to support continuous
improvement of fleet and inventory management by assessing potential use by Waterloo of
-house built and highly regarded FLINT system.
s FLINT system through discussions on
features, benefits and data requirements.
Waterloo opted to stay with their current vendor and cloud-based solution; both teams
remain open to sharing best practices and collaborating in the future
Specialized Fire Rescue Training:Explore the opportunity for both Fire Services to conduct
joint training on high angle rescue and trench rescue.
Kitchener Fire has the ability torespond to both high angle and trench emergency at a
technical and operational level, as well ascapacity to respond in all NFPA specialized
rescue platforms.
While this specific training initiative did not move forward due to different annual training
program priorities, the Cities remain open to conduct joint training as capacity and
common work programs permit.
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ContinuingJoint Services Initiatives
Fouractive and complex initiatives continuedfrom last yearand will carry forward into
2021; progress updates are highlighted below:
Speed Limit Review:BothCities, along with other regional partners are undertaking a review of
the uniform speed limit of 50km/hour. This review willevaluate benefitand feasibility of
reducing the uniform speed limit to 40km/hourin an effort to enhance roadway safety.
A Region-wide project team was established and research conducted to determine best
practices in other municipalities.
Education campaigns carried out prior to pilots commencing in each city (different
timing) in twoneighbourhoods each.
Pilots remain in place tobe reviewed for widespread implementation post-pandemic.
Next steps includemaking final determination on extension to additional
neighbourhoods or city-wide in 2021 after data collection and analysis; Waterloo will
complete their Transportation Master Plan before deploying the new limits city-wide.
Investigation of New Stormwater Grant/IncentivesPrivate Stormwater Enhancement:
Investigate the potential for a new stormwater grant for private property owners to enable private
property owners to enhancestormwater management on their properties, reducing runoff to
municipal systems.
Summary report completed by Reep Green Solutions, synthesizing results and key
themes from three community charettes held in Kitchener, Waterloo and Cambridge.
Identified keyneeds, which are: awareness-building within neighbourhoods; education
on residential green infrastructure; and, financial incentives to offset the cost and/or
motivate action.
Next steps include developing incentive approach (not a grant program) focused on
awareness-building, education and proposed incentive programs, for Council
consideration; and, developing a new demonstration stormwater rain garden in Waterloo,
with access for public viewing.
Inclusionary Zoning Affordable Housing:Assess the impact of Provincial legislation requiring
the inclusion of affordable housing units in new residential development projects, and the option
for municipalities to implement such zoning. The assessment will include exploring opportunities
to combine resources to conduct a study and implement Inclusionary Zoning, since based on
data and prepare a municipal assessment report as a precursor to implementing Inclusionary
Zoning. Pending possible changes to the legislation, long-term resource/cost sharing may be
required to develop, implement and report on new zoning provisions.
Collaboration expanded to include City of Cambridge and Region of Waterloo; ongoing
communications established.
Background and other municipal practice research completed to assess feasibility.
Joint consultant selection and funding contributions to complete required financial impact
analysis, facilitated through the City of Kitchener procurement process; cost savings of
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up to $65,500 vs. sole procurement, as well as benefits in time savings and knowledge
sharing.
Key stakeholder meetings held with developers and affordability advocates to discuss
fiscal impact analysis preliminary findings, and to review pro forma assumptions against
real-world projects in the Region; Kitchener aligned this workwith its Affordable Housing
Strategy; Waterloo is preparing a similar workplan.
Kitchener Council received the financial impact analysis and background information in
October 2020; Waterloo and Cambridge councils will receive theirreports this Fall.
Subject to Council support, staff will then undertake detailed policy and program
development, community engagement and updated financial modeling; continued cost
sharing will be considered for this component.
Getting Around(previously known as ):Explore the cost and risks to
implement an app providing residents real-time access to information including progress on the
.
Kitchener has taken the lead on this initiative and piloted asolution internally over winter
2019/2020 and identified several improvements required.
Kitchener staff continued to work with vendor to improvethe applicationandarenow
underway withcontinued internal piloting forsnow eventsforwinter 2020/2021.
Staff are continuing to demonstrateapp to key internal stakeholders and developing a
risk management and communications plan; communication and data management plan
will be developed prior to the app being released to the public.
App will also be piloting by customer service external test groups prior to release to
general public.
Potential operational cost savings through reduced call volumes to the CCC related to
winter maintenance progress during full plow events.
One initiativeplanned for this year will carry forward into 2021, with progress dependent on
action by the Region of Waterloo; it is described below:
Stormwater Management (SWM) Facilities Risk Assessment:Undertakea SWM facilities risk
assessment to mitigate chlorides entering drinking water,through a partnership between the
Cities of Kitchener and Waterloo, and the Region of Waterloo.
Area municipalities met including Region of Waterloo, Kitchener, Waterloo, Cambridge,
Wilmot and Woolwich;Region advised some Source Protection Policy boundaries would
be changing and it was determined it would be better to hold off on risk assessments
until the boundaries are finalized to avoid redundant work.
The initiative cannot progress until Region of Waterloo issues finalized Source Protection
Policy boundaries and framework for municipalities to follow when conducting the SWM
facility risk assessments; timeline is unknown at this point.
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Broader Collaboration
Recognizing the merits of broader collaboration,the JSIC is committed to including other area
municipalities as project partners, pursuing-
and upper tier jurisdiction, and to recognizing municipal collaboration outside the formal annual
JSIC program. Recent examples of successful local and local-regional initiatives include:
Coordinated pandemic responseand recovery/reopening planning including
approaches, processes, templates, and communications to the public
Kitchener and Waterlooparticipatedin the Data for Canadian Cities Project and joined
theWorld Council on City Data(WCCD) Global Network,officially receivingISO
37120 Platinum-level certification. This international recognition isawarded to cities that
reach the highest standard in collecting, sharing, and using data to effectively make
decisions. City of Cambridge supported this collaboration, having receivedcertification
in 2016.
Area municipal CAOscontinue to identify broader collaboration opportunities to
improve service effectiveness and efficiency for citizens,with an emphasis on enhanced
collaboration between the Region of Waterloo and local municipalities.
Inaugural joint leadership meetingsbetween
and the Region of Waterloocorporate leadership team have establishedformal
ongoing communication and collaboration around key issues and opportunities.
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
the delivery of core service.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Capital Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Capital Budget.
Operating Budget The recommendation has no impact on the Operating Budget.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM
council / committee meeting.Both Cities maintain current information about active jointservice
initiatives and upcoming projects at: www.kitchener.ca/jointservicesand
www.waterloo.ca/jointservices.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
There are no previous reports/authoritiesrelated to this matter.
APPROVEDBY:Dan Chapman, Chief Administrative Officer
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