HomeMy WebLinkAboutINS-2023-437 - 2024 Water Infrastructure Program Summary and Rate Options
REPORT TO: Special Council
DATE OF MEETING: October 2, 2023
SUBMITTED BY: Bu Lam, Director of Sanitary and Stormwater Utilities, 519-741-
2200 ext. 4212
Greg St. Louis, Director of Gas & Water Utilities, 519-741-2200
ext. 4538
PREPARED BY: Christopher Leishman, Project Manager Water Infrastructure
Program, 519-471-2200 ext. 4026
WARD(S) INVOLVED: All
DATE OF REPORT: October 2, 2023
REPORT NO.: INS-2023-437
SUBJECT: 2024 Water Infrastructure Program Summary and Rate Options
RECOMMENDATION:
For discussion
REPORT HIGHLIGHTS:
The purpose of the Water Infrastructure Program (WIP) report is to assess the service
levels of the water, sanitary and stormwater utilities to ensure that the services
provided meet customer expectations and legislative requirements. The WIP review
ensures that the utilities are operated sustainability, risks are minimized, and that
critical services are reliably delivered and protective of the environment and public
health and safety.
The key findings of the WIP review are that infrastructure investments are needed to
avoid significant failures in the areas of trunk sewers and pumping stations, address
high priority infrastructure renewals not previous captured under previous WIP
programs, close inspection gaps, and meet legislative requirements for maintenance
(e.g., Oil/grit separators for stormwater quality).
Staff assessed the rate impacts between 2024-2027 for three options associated with
different levels of capital investments for the replacement of water, sanitary and
stormwater infrastructure through both the road reconstruction program, as well as
standalone asset renewals for highest risk infrastructure (e.g., trunk sewers).
Using the Council-endorsed WIP guiding principles, with a primary emphasis on
customer affordability, staff recommend rate option 3, or a 6.3% rate increase each
*** This information is available in accessible formats upon request. ***
Please call 519-741-2345 or TTY 1-866-969-9994 for assistance.
year for the next four years, which includes the associated resourcing requirements
of 11.5 FTEs.
This report supports the delivery of core services.
BACKGROUND:
The drinking water, sanitary and stormwater systems are critical infrastructure that deliver
essential services to the residents of the City of Kitchener. This infrastructure provides a
source of reliable & safe drinking water, conveys wastewater to Regional treatment
facilities, reduces flooding risk from climate related events, and contributes to the health
environment.
The Accelerated Infrastructure Replacement Program (AIRP) was launched in 2002.
The purpose of the program was to evaluate the age and useful life of linear water
infrastructure and plan for the replacement of approximately 260 km of end-of-life water,
sanitary and stormwater pipes through triple-funded projects by 2032.
In 2018, the AIRP was renamed the Water Infrastructure Program (WIP) and outlined
-year window,
2018 2022 for both capital investments and operations and maintenance programs.
The 2018 WIP involved engagement and direction from the Corporate Leadership Team
unchanged in this current iteration of WIP. These guiding principles are:
Ensure regulatory requirements are met or exceeded.
Consider the likelihood of infrastructure failure and the financial and service
delivery impacts.
Ensure the City is able to deliver consistent, quality service to customers today
and into the future.
.
Information about the Water Infrastructure Program (including what makes up
water utility rates and any rate changes) is clearly communicated to customers.
The program that was endorsed by council prior to setting the 2018 budget was:
Combined water utility rates of 6.5%, 6.5%, 4.5%, 4.5%, 4.5% respectively for a
5-year period spanning 2018 to 2022
An extended timeframe to close the infrastructure replacement gap from 2032 to
2044
Providing increased maintenance funding to the stormwater and water utilities,
$2 million and $1.3 million, respectively, over the 5 years to address critical
maintenance program gaps.
The primary purpose of the WIP is to establish utility rates that will ensure the three
water utilities are operating sustainably and that risks to the water utilities and residents
of Kitchener are minimized. The pandemic and other macroeconomic factors have
made achieving sustainable operations for each utility challenging. Impacts continue to
be felt today in the form of rising inflation (i.e., higher consumer price index (CPI)),
higher interest rates, increased fuel costs and supply chain challenges, which have all
led to higher expenses to deliver the same level of service.
To proactively address the financial impacts of the pandemic and to minimize
affordability challenges to Kitchener residents, Council passed a 0.9% utility rate
increase in 2021 and rate increases of 2.2% and 4.5% in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
These rate increases were purposely kept low to protect against affordability challenges
for Kitchener residents; however, the rates passed were not able to keep pace with
inflation in those years, and important programs to address critical infrastructure
replacement needs were deferred to future years. Additionally, some of the investments
planned during the 2018 WIP were similarly deferred, including the funding to address
maintenance gaps for the water and stormwater utilities (i.e., 40% of the funding
earmarked during the last WIP was not delivered).
These gaps have elevated risks associated with operating the utilities and have created
financial shortfalls that need to be addressed to meet established and legislated service
levels. The following tables show the 2018 WIP proposed rate and maintenance funding
increases, and the approved rates that were implemented.
Table 1: 2018 WIP Proposed vs Actual Utility Rate Increases (2018-2022)
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
Non-
Proposed Combined
6.50% 6.50% 4.50% 4.50% 4.50% WIP
Rate Increase
Year
Actual Combined
6.50% 6.50% 4.40% 0.90% 2.20% 4.50%
Rate Increase
Table 2: 2018 WIP Maintenance Funding (2018-2022)
2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total
Stormwater
$400,000 $400,000 $400,000 $400,000 $400,000 $2,000,000
Water
$260,000 $260,000 $260,000 $260,000 $260,000 $1,300,000
Sanitary $0 $0 $0 $0 $0 $0
Planned
$660,000 $660,000 $660,000 $660,000 $660,000 $3,300,000
Total
Actuals
$660,000 $660,000 $400,000 $0 $0 $1,720,000
Totals
Shortfall $0 $0 $260,000 $660,000 $660,000 $1,580,000
REPORT:
The WIP Project Team worked closely with multiple stakeholders to assess areas of
utility performance and associated investment needs for each of the three water utilities.
This included a review of overall targets for triple-utility asset replacements that have
been the hallmark of this program since its inception in 2002, but also other priority
needs that can best achieve long-term sustainability and risk mitigation for the utilities.
The key drivers of the 2024 2027 WIP review include the following factors:
Economic Drivers
Regulatory Drivers
Affordability Drivers
Economic Drivers
From 2021-2023, macroeconomic factors such as the COVID pandemic, labour
shortages, higher fuel costs, supply chain disruptions, and extensive inflation have led
to significant increases in the costs to deliver utility services in Kitchener and across
Canada.
Over the past several years, the Canadian economy has seen sharp increases in
inflation. The average Consumer Price Index (CPI) over the last three years has been
3.6% (2023 - estimated), 6.8% (2022) and 3.5% (2021), and the average for the 10
years prior was 1.78% (2011-2022). This shows a significant upward trend in costs
across seen similar impacts from inflation in
operations and maintenance and capital programs.
Operations and maintenance cost increases have been driven by higher fuel
prices, shortages of contractors to perform work, and material/equipment delays.
This has resulted in reductions in certain program/service areas (e.g., reduced
CCTV inspections, reduced pipe repairs, and reduced catchbasin/casting repairs)
and/or increased delays for the completion of maintenance works.
Capital cost increases have been driven by unit price escalations. For example,
tender values for triple funded utility replacements have escalated by almost 50%
between 2021 and 2023 (tender pricing trends can be seen in Attachment B).
This has resulted in significant reductions in the triple-funded road reconstruction
accomplishments for 2021 and 2022 of 5% and 21%, respectively. Planned
triple-funded road reconstruction work in 2023 is estimated to be 27% less than
what was modeled in the 2018 WIP.
Maintaining levels of service and meeting planned construction targets requires budget
increases to offset inflationary impacts. Without budget increases, customers should
expect additional service level reductions and reduced annual capital renewals.
Regulatory Drivers
The Provincial Government has developed several new regulations since the 2018 WIP
that impose new or modified responsibilities on all Ontario municipalities. These
regulations impact all three utilities, increasing demands on the utilities to
meet these new standards, including the need to collect/analyze data, meet service
delivery timelines, and in some cases, report annually on regulatory compliance.
Adherence to these regulations is mandatory and is the first Council-endorsed Guiding
Principal for WIP. Table 3 provides a listing of the regulatory changes that have
occurred since 2018 and their impacts to the utilities.
Table 3: Regulatory Changes Since 2018 That Impact the Three Utilities
REGULATION REG. NAME BILL IMPACTS
Asset Management Infrastructure for Jobs
Creation of Strategic Asset Management Policy &
O. Reg 588/17
Planning for Municipal and Prosperity Act,
update at least every 5 years (2023).
Infrastructure 2015
AMPs for Core Infrastructure Assets. Update at
least every 5 years.
AMPs for all non-core Infrastructure Assets.
Update at least every 5 years.
Document Proposed Levels of Service.
Lifecycle management and financial strategy.
On-Site and Excess Soil Environmental
Geotechnical investigations have increased 30%.
O. Reg 406/19
Management Protection Act, 2019
An Act to amend the Bill 93, Getting Ontario
Sanitary and stormwater have only 1 locator
Bill 93
Building Broadband Connected Act, 2022
(hired in 2014) for addressing 6,000 locates.
Faster Act, 2021 and
Locates have more than doubled since that
the Ontario
time.
Underground
Financial penalties to Utilities for not completing
Infrastructure
normal locates within 5 days. 2 days for
Notification System
emergency locates.
Act, 2012
All damages and delays will be recovered from
Utilities
Environmental Environmental
Responsible for the intake and review of ECA
O. Reg.
Compliance Approval Protection Act
applications for new capital works within the
208/19
Regulation in Respect
municipal boundary for sanitary and stormwater
of Sewage Works
infrastructure. Responsibility previously resided
Regulation (CLI-ECA)
with the Ministry.
Updated training requirements.
Creation of new business processes and
requirements for annual reporting.
New system and environmental monitoring
requirements
To meet the new regulatory changes, several investments in operational and
maintenance programming are required. The most significant investments are in
inspection programs, which allow the utilities to better assess asset condition, evaluate
and mitigate risks, minimize service disruptions for customers, and reduce impacts to
persons, property and the environment.
Affordability Drivers
Affordability is a Council-endorsed guiding principle of WIP and a central tenet for the
health and well-being of a community. As such, affordability has been a top
consideration in the design and development of the 2024-2027 WIP program.
Purposeful investments have been made in programs that directly assist residents to
stment program/policy, which helps
customers offset high water bills due to undiscovered leaks. This program has seen a
steady increase in the number of applications since 2020 and given the current state of
the economy, it is anticipated that applications for this program will continue to trend
upwards. Investments to directly expand the amount of funding available for this
program will allow more residents to apply. Similarly, as part of the 2024-2027 WIP,
staff will be examining other supplemental programs and best practices that can be
implemented to address affordability and equity challenges in our community.
Keeping rates affordable requires a delicate balance between investing to meet utility
needs while also assessing what programs can be slowly ramped-up or deferred to
minimize financial impacts to residents. With an affordability lens in mind, and
recognizing the significant inflationary impacts over recent years, the 2024-2027 WIP
includes balanced investments that:
- Direct funding to the highest risk program categories to minimize service
disruptions and mitigate against system failures. For example, capital renewals
for infrastructure categories like pumping stations and trunk sanitary sewers were
prioritized for investments as these have not been previously captured in WIP
and are in significant need for rehabilitation.
- Only apply moderate increases in programs that have already made steady
gains, such as the triple-utility replacement program (full road reconstructions),
which has already replaced much of the oldest infrastructure in the City over the
last two decades.
- Re-direct planned increases from lower risk programs to fund higher risk
infrastructure needs (i.e., diverting increases from the triple-utility replacement
program to fund higher risk trunk sanitary sewers, as described above). This is a
prudent measure to ensure limited funds are directed to the highest risk utility
programs as a priority.
- Defer expansion of service levels (i.e., implementing a similar service level to
current year) for a range of annual programs, including leaf collection, pipe-
flushing, valve turning, etc. While there are no planned reductions to these
programs, there similarly are no plans to expand services to these program
areas.
- Defer new programs such as Advanced Metering infrastructure (AMI), as the
capital and operating costs are beyond the ability of the utility to sustain.
The measures above are examples of some of the balanced financial planning
measures taken as part of the rate design for WIP 2024-2027. In some instances,
programs have been implemented over longer periods of time to minimize short term
impacts on rates. This approach will result in funding reductions of up to 60% in some
capital programs. For example, some single-utility capital programs (e.g., mainline and
trunk sewer rehabilitations), which were initially earmarked to be delivered in the next
five years, have had implementation timelines extended to 10-15 years. While there are
measured risks with a slower ramp-up of these programs, staff feel that risks can be
managed with increased maintenance programming, and service levels can still be
achieved, although there will be moderate service level reductions, but none that will be
significantly felt/seen by the average customer. These balanced approaches are a
necessity to protect the affordability of water services for residents of Kitchener.
2024-2027 WIP Program Gaps
The 2024-2027 WIP review focused on important program investments required to
address maintenance and capital program delivery gaps and to enhance customer
service and associated affordability program supports. Program gap areas have been
grouped into five broad categories as defined in Table 4.
Table 4: WIP Program Gaps
These investments look to reduce reactive maintenance and infrastructure failures by
increasing proactive maintenance. These investments will save money in the future as
preventative maintenance will reduce emergency reactive works, which can often cost 6-10x
Maintenance more than routine maintenance measures. Preventative maintenance also ensures greater
service reliability and helps assets meet or exceed their estimated useful lives. Investments in
this category include addressing gaps related to pumping station maintenance and condition
inspections of sanitary and storm mains, trunks, and maintenance manholes.
These investments address infrastructure replacement needs that fall outside the triple-utility
replacement program (e.g., sanitary trunk sewers, pumping stations, high-risk watermain
Single Utility Investments
replacements). Historically, single utility projects have not been appropriately funded in WIP,
as a comprehensive program of this nature has not previously been developed.
These investments look to fill
inspections), data collection and analysis programs to improve investments in asset renewals
Meeting Industry Standards as well as improve service levels to better align with industry standards. Investments in this
category will also develop and adopt legislated maintenance programs that currently do not
exist at the City.
These investments will mitigate the impacts from climate change, such as projects funded
through stormwater utility programs like the Disaster Mitigation and Adaptation Fund (DMAF).
Addressing Climate Change
Investments in weather stations will allow better tracking and response to storm events, as
Risks
well as the ability to utilize data to refine hydraulic models to build resiliency within the
utilities.
These investments will enhance customer service levels in several Council-endorsed strategic
Improving Customer Service
areas, such as affordability (expanded financial support programs), equity, and community
Levels
engagement.
Attachment A is a complete list of areas for investment outside of the triple-funded road
reconstruction funding. These investments have been grouped into the aforementioned
investment categories and include a description of the program, benefits, investment
levels and any associated full-time equivalent (FTE) positions required to implement
these new/expanded programs.
Triple Funded Capital Program Review
As part of the 2024-2027 WIP review, an analysis was conducted to see how much
additional funding would be required to reinstate the 2018 WIP targets and achieve the
260km of planned road reconstructions by 2044. The annual rate increase that would be
needed was projected to be 8.9%. This projection is shown as Scenario #1 in Figure 1
below and illustrates the level of funding infusion needed to simply get the utilities back
on track to what was planned as part of the 2018 WIP.
The 8.9% rate increase in this scenario would simply bring the utilities back in-line with
the planned target to replace end-of-life water, sanitary and stormwater assets by 2044.
The 8.9% rate projection does not include funding to address high risk infrastructure
outside the triple-utility program (e.g., pumping stations and trunk sanitary sewers), and
similarly does not include implementing programs to address regulatory changes that
have occurred since 2018, including the associated requirements for maintenance.
When these elements are factored in, the projected rate increase exceeds 12%
annually, for the next 4 years of WIP.
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WIP Year
2018 WIP ModelSCENARIO 1SCENARIO 2Actual WIP Accomplishments
Figure 1: WIP Scenarios Compared with the 2018 WIP model. Scenario #1 shows the program
increase needed to achieve the 2018 WIP targets (i.e., achieving replacement targets by 2044). As a
reference, Scenario #2 shows the current trajectory of the triple-funded program based on the current
(2023) financial state of the utilities.
The 12% annual increase described above was used only as a projection to guide rate
option development. It was clear to staff that 12% annual increase for the next four
years was not an affordable rate for residents, and similarly the rate did not align with
provide context for the magnitude of reductions in utility programs that would be
required in order to bring annual utility rate increases down as part of the 2024-2027
WIP.
The rate options proposed in the following section have been developed with
affordability as a key priority. Significant effort has gone into balancing utility program
needs with risks, and implementing strategies to keep annual rate increases as low as
possible by deferring capital programs and/or delivering programs over longer
timeframes. While deferring projects/capital programs does introduce greater risks to
the utilities, these risks are manageable through the implementation of maintenance
programs.
Rate Options
Rate Option 1 8.6% annually for next four years:
A reduction of road reconstruction accomplishments (2024-2027)
by 15% annually, from 2018 WIP targets
Includes programs to meet legislative requirements, industry standards,
and address capital/maintenance gaps
Includes 2.2% Regional increase
2024 annual cost increase to homeowner of $105.
Rate Option 2 7.6% annually for next four years:
A reduction of road reconstruction accomplishments (2024-2027)
by 25% annually, from 2018 WIP targets
Includes programs to meet legislative requirements, industry standards,
and address capital/maintenance gaps
Includes 2.2% Regional increase
2024 annual cost increase to homeowner of $93.
Rate Option 3 6.3% annually for next four years:
A reduction of road reconstruction accomplishments (2024-2027)
by 33% annually, from 2018 WIP targets
Includes programs to meet legislative requirements, industry standards,
and address capital/maintenance gaps
Includes 2.2% Regional increase.
2024 cost increase to homeowner of $77.
Figure 2 provides a visual comparison of the three proposed rates set against the 2018
WIP model and projections. Note: the starting point for all three rate options already
assumes the current state of the utilities in 2023, which is a reduced road reconstruction
level of service. None of the proposed rate options will allow the utilities to achieve the
2018 WIP goal of closing the infrastructure gap by 2044.
Figure 2: Rate Options as Compared to Rate Scenarios and 2018 WIP Model
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WIP Year
A comparative summary of all 3 rate options can be found in Table 5.
Table 5: Summary of Proposed Combined Rate Options
Rate Rate Rate
Option 1 Option 2 Option 3
Total Combined Rate Increase 8.6% 7.6% 6.3%
City Combined Rate Increase
6.4% 5.4% 4.1%
Regional Rate Increase 2.2% 2.2% 2.2%
2024 Cost Increase to Household
$105 $93 $77
Annual Metres of Road Reconstruction (Average - 4
~6000 ~5300 ~4700
Years of WIP)
Reduction in WIP Accomplishments From 2018 WIP
15% 25% 33%
Model
Meeting Current Legislative Requirements Yes Yes Yes
STRATEGIC PLAN ALIGNMENT:
This report supports the delivery of core services.
FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS:
Capital Budget The report proposes new utility rates for 2024 and includes any impacts
to the Capital Budget.
Operating Budget The report proposes new utility rates for 2024 and includes any
impacts to the Operating Budget.
COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT:
INFORM This report has been
of the council / committee meeting.
PREVIOUS REPORTS/AUTHORITIES:
INS-17-070 Water Infrastructure Program Summary and Rate Options
APPROVED BY: Denise McGoldrick, General Manager Infrastructure Services
ATTACHMENTS:
Attachment A WIP Areas of Investment
The below is a complete list of areas for investment outside of the triple-funded road reconstruction funding. These
investments have been grouped into the forementioned investment categories along with associated investment
requirements and fulltime employee (FTE) needs.
WIP Areas of Investment
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New funding requested
INVESTMENT
DESCRIPTION FTE UTILITY(S) 2024 2025 2026 2027
CATEGORY
Inspection and Monitoring Programs This includes the development and implementation
of various inspection programs for mainline sewers, trunk sewers, and forcemains. This
includes expanded CCTV data collection and new Manhole/Zoom Inspection Program for the
collection of condition data of gravity sewers and manholes (main & trunk). Investments will
also be made in the installation of network-wide flow monitoring equipment, as well as
resourcing to support analysis, detection of flow anomalies, project scoping, prioritization
and planning.
Key benefits:
Meet legislative requirements.
3 SAN/STM 1,025,000 1,630,000 1,575,000 1,675,000
Ensure sanitary capacity can support service demands and anticipate/mitigate
service disruptions and risk of spills/property damage.
MAINTENANCE;
Allows for data-driven operations, maintenance, prioritization and capital program
SINGLE UTILITY INVESTMENTS
development, ensuring targeted/efficient spending.
Reduces risks of sewer surcharge/backups during wet weather.
Ensures the system can continue to deliver reliable services to customers as
designed/intended.
Pumping Station Maintenance and Asset Replacements Ensures funding to achieve base
operations and maintenance service levels and capital replacements/improvements to
pumping station equipment/facilities. Investments also include resources and equipment
(e.g., crane truck) to deliver daily maintenance to extend the life of infrastructure and
prevent service disruptions/failures.
Key benefits:
2 SAN 583,888 200,000 1,050,000 200,000
Reduced service disruptions for customers
Minimize risk of failures which could result in spills to the environment.
MAINTENANCE
Ensures pumps and other station systems run at optimal levels, and equipment is
maintained and/or replaced at end of service life or point of failure.
Ensures response time during system emergencies are met.
\[NEW\] Legislated and Preventative Operations and Maintenance Programs Support for
the sanitary and stormwater utilities (SSU) to address program growth, increased service
requests, workorders and workload. Includes investment in resources to create and delivery
legislated and preventative maintenance programs.
Key benefits:
50% SAN,
Improved service delivery and crew oversight to support program delivery.
4 233,848 0 199,572 0
50% STM
Higher customer service with more timely delivery and oversight of core programs
MAINTENANCE
Proper filing and tracking of paperwork to ensure legislative requirements are met.
Capacity to implement new preventative maintenance programs.
Reduced service level disruptions for customers.
\[NEW\] Sanitary Condition-based Renewal Projects (Mainline and Trunk Sewers) -
Condition-based mainline and trunk (pipes >375mm) sanitary pipe replacements. Poor
condition trunk sanitary sewers are currently the highest risk infrastructure in the City.
Investments will include multiple modes of work, such as full excavation/replacement, re-
lining, etc. The full extent of priorities will be addressed over 10 - 15 years. The highest risk
projects will be addressed in the first 4 years.
SAN 2,500,000 2,750,000 5,000,000 7,000,000
Key benefits:
Will target highest risk infrastructure for replacement before failures occur, reducing
overall system risk.
Mitigate against service disruptions for customers.
SINGLE UTILITY INVESTMENTS
Reduce risk of spills and/or property damage.
Sanitary Condition-based Renewal Projects (Pumping Stations) - To address funding needs
identified in the Sanitary Master Plan for Moore, Oxford, and Manchester pumping stations,
which require immediate work and/or are the highest risk stations in the network. Additional
works for the remaining pumping stations will be captured in future WIP programs.
Key benefits:
SAN 619,000 304,000 1,790,000 1,790,000
Will target highest risk infrastructure for replacement before failures occur, reducing
overall system risk.
INVESTMENTS
SINGLE UTILITY
Mitigate against service disruptions for customers.
Reduce risk of spills and/or property damage.
Water Risk-based Projects Addresses 10 high risk "water only" replacement projects
identified by Asset Management and the Water Utility.
Key Benefits:
To address projects with poor condition water mains where other water utilities and the
WATER 163,600 390,000 903,000 1,851,500
road surface are in good to fair condition.
Targets system locations that are of highest risk for failure/service disruption.
INVESTMENTS
SINGLE UTILITY
Removes pipes that have a high break occurrence and/or unreliable material types.
SCADA Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) provides enhanced monitoring
(real-This
phase of work will provide for building upgrades, where needed, and the implementation of
new SCADA systems in all Kitchener sanitary pumping stations.
Key benefits:
SAN 800,000 800,000 0 0
Provides more effective control and monitoring of pumping stations so operators can
STANDARDS
manage systems more effectively, and in real-time, even while not on-site.
MEETING INDUSTRY
Mitigate the risk of pump and station failures, which could result in service disruptions,
sewage back-ups into residential homes/ businesses, and/or spills to the environment.
\[NEW\] Develop New and Improve Existing Sanitary and Stormwater Maintenance
Programs Implement corrective and preventative maintenance programs to help
identify/prioritize internal maintenance activities. This includes resourcing to implement
new legislated maintenance programs for OGS and LID that are a requirement under the
1 STM 571,980 250,000 50,000 50,000
-
Key benefits:
STANDARDS
MEETING INDUSTRY
Will achieve legislative compliance for stormwater maintenance.
Will improve downstream water runoff quality and improve environmental outcomes.
Ensures timely coordination of sanitary and stormwater maintenance programs to
mitigate against service failures/disruptions.
Tracks and monitors maintenance program to enhance efficiencies and cost-savings.
\[NEW\] Improve Data Management and Risk Prioritization - Helps the utilities with growing
data holdings through new and expanded inspection programs, performance metrics,
analysis, and program development.
Key benefits:
Supports data-driven decision-making.
STM/SAN/
1.5 0 187,500 0 0
WATER
Supports planning and prioritization to ensure highest risk projects/programs are
identified and funds can be appropriately allocated to address them.
Ensures proper frameworks are developed to collect and analyze data, develop
dashboards and track/report on performance.
MEETING INDUSTRY STANDARDS
\[NEW\] Installation of Weather Stations - Purchase and install 10 - 15 weather stations to
monitor changing weather patterns and the intensity/impact of individual storms that hit the
City, which will support planning for, and response to, extreme weather events. 2024 costs
are to purchase and implement stations. Maintenance costs are factored in thereafter.
Key benefits:
Will provide near-real-time weather tracking information to coordinate City response
during major storm events.
STM 170,000 50,000 0 0
Data collected from weather stations can inform/calibrate models to better identify
system vulnerabilities so they can be prioritized and addressed (e.g., areas prone to
CHANGE RISKS
flooding when certain precipitation thresholds are met).
ADDRESSING CLIMATE
Data can inform the modification/development of emergency response plans for major
storm events.
Data can support emergency response and/or planning for other City divisions (e.g.,
Roads, Parks/Forestry, and Facilities Management)
\[NEW\] Raising Water Air Relief Valves/Chambers - Water air relief valves within chambers
that have been installed in areas prone to flooding will need to be relocated outside of
chambers.
WATER 25,000 25,000 25,000 25,000
Key benefits:
G CLIMATE
ADDRESSIN
CHANGE RISKS
Reduce the risk of drinking water contamination.
Ensure access for maintenance during flooding events.
\[NEW\] Equity/Affordability Study & Customer Affordability Programs - Working with EDI
Staff to develop new and supplemental affordability programs to provide assistance to
customers who have challenges with paying for utilities. This funding also supports a
doubling of the current leak adjustment policy (current funding = $100K/yr). A review of the
current utility rate model will also be conducted and revamped as need to incorporate
greater affordability/equity objectives in addition to financial sustainability objectives. These
initiatives will ultimately examine approaches/programs to provide more equitable services
to customers.
Key benefits:
STM/SAN/
50,000 150,000 100,000 0
Ensuring services are accessible and affordable for the most under-represented and
WATER
vulnerable populations within the community.
Creating new programs to help low-income and under-represented groups improve their
access to utility services.
Advances customer affordability and equity objectives, while also supporting water
IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE LEVELS
conservation.
Ensuring equal opportunity for all residents to participate and provide input on utility
services, program development and decision-making.
\[NEW\] Enhanced community engagement - To bring utilities in-
engagement standards/objectives. Funding will support initiatives such as relationship
building with First Nations, education and outreach initiatives, updated branding/
communications, and implementing best practices to ensure effective participation and
feedback is received from residents on utility programs and services. This funding will also
partially fund seasonal resourcing to support engagement activities when needed.
Key benefits:
STM/SAN/
100,000 100,000 150,000 200,000
Builds rapport and trust between the utilities and the community.
WATER
Supports greater education on utility services, which could mitigat+e system impacts
(i.e., no flushable wipes in the toilet) and reduce service interruptions and/or
maintenance costs.
Ensures residents have an opportunity to be informed and participate in decision-making
on utility services, program development and capital projects that impact their
IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE LEVELS
community.
Investment Totals: 6,842,316 6,836,500 10,842,572 12,791,500
Attachment B WIP Tender Costing Analysis
WIP tender pricing is tracked and monitored by Engineering Services Division. Pricing is
tracked for per metre overall tender costs.
WIP Program Tendered Costing Analysis, Total Price per Metre