Monday Sessions 2011

Train Your Brain

Brian Thwaites, Brainspeaker Inc.

This provocative and enlightening presentation will give that three-pound organ inside your head an adjustment you'll never forget. It's a memorable and entertaining performance that demonstrates how learning to use your brain better will significantly enhance the way you think, learn and communicate. And it will have an immediate and powerful impact on just about everything you do - both personally and professionally!

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PSAB 3150 Year 1: What Have We Learned?

Dana Vanier, University of British Columbia

Many local governments in British Columbia have adhered to the requirements of PSAB 3150 and have made the valuation of their tangible capital assets (TCA) available in their financial statements for the 2009 financial year. However, comparisons of the published 2009 numbers have not been made between the different types of municipalities in BC. More specifically, what are the differences between various local governments in BC and how do their published TCA costs and depreciated values of these assets relate to their population, annual budgets, average household income, etc?

Going from Start to Integrated Asset Management in Two Years - the Cranbrook Experience

Jamie Hodge, City of Cranbrook and Al Kostiuk, Altus Capital Planning

The City of Cranbrook, in the space of two years, has gone from limited asset data and a reactive rehabilitation process to a fully integrated sewer, water and roads planning program. Short- and long-range capital forecasting is driven by asset condition, growth needs and operational inputs. The collaborative efforts of staff, council and private sector all play a role. Technology combined with institutional knowledge built the base that Cranbrook will now build upon.

Development of a Decision Support System for Building Maintenance Management

Robert Langevine and Paul Specht, City of Edmonton

Given the current economic climate, budgets for maintenance and repair of public facilities are unlikely to meet the ever-increasing maintenance needs. Many projects are being deferred or delayed indefinitely. Public officials have not always been sympathetic to requests for increases in the maintenance and repair budgets. They are very skeptical about the methodologies used to define building deficiencies and to calculate the costs involved in repairing them. There is need for a framework within which maintenance and repair budgets can be developed with a great degree of accuracy, and maintenance activities can be prioritized more rationally. This will ensure that limited resources are more wisely allocated to achieve the best value for money.

Buildings Are Us - the City of Winnipeg's Building Asset Management Program

Kristine Corbett, City of Winnipeg and Susan Anson, VFA Canada Inc.

The City of Winnipeg's building asset management program has evolved over the last eight years from a manual, spreadsheet based system lacking specifics into a full fledged inspection based computerized asset management system. This presentation will describe methods of improving front line decision-making; the usefulness of a structured computerized asset management system (VFA.facilities); and how to incorporate sustainability criteria into your asset management program. The program continues to evolve into a more sophisticated corporate based asset management initiative that will incorporate defined levels of service, priorities and structure.

A Roadmap for Asset Management for Small Communities

Wally Wells, Asset Management BC and Bernadette O'Connor, Opus International Consultants

Asset Management BC was requested by our smaller communities to help with direction for carrying out Asset Management from the technical, financial and business practices view. We identified four medium to small communities as case studies as a basis to prepare an AM guide. We will present the background to this assignment with the consultant presenting the results of the study involving the four communities and the AM Guide produced.

Case Study: Past Experiences and Current Developments for Asset Management in Quebec

Alain Cazavant, CERIU

CERIU was established in 1994 to support best practices for infrastructure renewal and rehabilitation. In 2004, CERIU created a handbook for Asset Management with municipal, provincial government and industry collaboration. At the same time, the Province of Quebec developed renewal methodology for water and sewer to guide the approval of subsidized funding. Frustrations in the asset structural indicators led to a renewed effort between CERIU, the provincial government, and a committee of industry and city representatives to revise the guide to determine appropriate 'state' indicators, levels of service and new practices for renewal programs. This case study will look to the past, present and future to guide your Asset Management approach.

The Journey Begins: Integrating Condition Assessment and PSAB Data

Tim Henry, City of Abbotsford

As part of the PSAB 3150 solution for the City of Abbotsford, the ESRI GIS and SAP enterprise systems were integrated using RIVA middleware into a comprehensive data layer. Once PSAB compliance was achieved, the City embarked on a journey to utilize that PSAB financial data in other productive ways. Taking advantage of the new commonality in asset definitions (cost, condition, installation date) was a critical component of success. Extracting the pertinent information, and leveraging the data contained in the common data mart, the new data and procedures were used to help feed condition based information into the City's decision support system. This has allowed the City to leverage the effort expended gathering PSAB compliance data into bootstrapping their asset management efforts.

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City of Windsor - A Truly Corporate Approach to Asset Management

Melissa Urban, City of Windsor and Roop Lutchman, CH2MHILL

The presentation will be a walk-through of the projects origins, how the various asset areas at the City were all brought on board with the project, how the project itself unfolded and where the City has now positioned itself in embracing a corporate approach to Asset Management. In addition, an overview of the AM Policy, AM Roadmap and Strategies for Leading Change for the future will be discussed.

Extending PS 3150 into Asset Management in Smaller Communities - The Saskatchewan Way

Steve Brown, Saskatchewan Ministry of Municipal Affairs and Nicole Allen, Vemax Management

Building on the PS 3150 momentum in Saskatchewan, the presentation will highlight the dedication shared by key municipal stakeholders in Saskatchewan for extending PS 3150 compliance into asset management awareness for smaller communities. The presentation will discuss the strategies and projects undertaken in achieving PS 3150 compliance and how they are being used to create asset management awareness in Saskatchewan. The presentation will also discuss the details behind the asset management projects undertaken and how the project results are being communicated to municipalities in Saskatchewan.

Implementing Asset Management in Northern Saskatchewan

Randy Braaten and Ryan Cossitt, Saskatchewan Ministry of Municipal Affairs and David Watt, Associated Engineering

In 2009, a pilot project was developed to investigate the use of Public Sector Accounting Board (PSAB) PS 3150 Tangible Capital Asset (TCA) information for asset management purposes in northern Saskatchewan. Northern municipalities have invested resources in the creation of asset registries for PSAB PS 3150 TCA compliance. The information gathered is useful as a basis for developing asset management processes to assist municipalities in better managing their assets. The management committee responsible for overseeing northern municipal governance chose to invest in additional asset data collection and implement a web-based asset management system for northern communities, while completing mandatory PS 3150 compliance. The presentation details achievements and lessons learned.

The City of Hamilton's Evolutionary Growth in Asset Management

Kevin Bainbridge, City of Hamilton

The City of Hamilton has experienced truly evolutionary growth in Asset Management over the past 10 years. This presentation will focus on the major project initiatives, why they were done and what the Hamilton team learned to get them to the next step. This case study will be very valuable to municipalities who are looking for examples of how to start, where to go and how to get there.

Risk-Based Decision Making: The City of Edmonton Approach

Bradley Leeman and D. Philip Alex, City of Edmonton

How to best spend limited available dollars is a problem faced by municipalities all over. The City of Edmonton has been pursuing various strategies to assist City Council in understanding the effect of investment on infrastructure. The Risk-Based Infrastructure Management System (RIMS) will provide a quantitative analysis of the actual need for re-investment and the impacts of that investment. This presentation will provide details on the functionality of the RIMS model through case studies to showcase the City of Edmonton's use of RIMS to assist in long range planning. The presentation will also describe future plans for the model.

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