Perry Township is a small…

Perry Township is a small northern rural municipality with a population of >2500. Capacity Challenges As a small northern rural municipality, the Township of Perry faces capacity challenges in regard to this regulation. For the Township of Perry there is a significant capacity challenge in order to meet the timelines for the Phases set out in the regulation. Those challenges include funding, staffing and expertise. The timeline for the implementation of the phases of the regulation will put a strain on staff resources. The regulation almost imposes on small municipalities the requirement to hire a full-time staff member to review, update and administer the Asset Management Plan regulation. Financial resources are already stretched to the limit in the municipality. Many municipalities can hire a consultant to complete the required policies and plans with funds provided by upper tier governments. However, if an outside consultant is hired to complete the Asset Management Plan it is a document that will sit on the shelf.

Requirement for sign-off by an engineer. Unless an engineer is on staff and involved in the Development and maintenance of the Asset Management plan (which is not the case in many of the 443 municipalities) the requirement will be a challenge that many municipalities will not be able to meet. It is unlikely that an engineer would be willing to sign off on an Asset Management Plan with detailed condition assessments in which they were not involved with.

Additional Support Required For small municipalities additional support and tools through templates and samples specific to small municipalities would be of greater benefit to staff. There are many companies out there trying to sell municipalities software and templates but these tools are very costly (cost prohibitive for small municipalities) and do not necessarily provide the required information for the municipality.

[Original Comment ID: 210218]