ERIN – Council here received an asset management levels of service report on May 18 and directed staff to develop an implementation framework for the objectives in the plan.
In November 2019 the Town of Erin retained Public Sector Digest to complete an analysis of community expectations of the town’s infrastructure programs.
The report was designed to support the town’s continued efforts in advancing its infrastructure program.
It included an examination of the town’s current infrastructure portfolio, currently valued at roughly $176 million, and findings from public engagement surveys on levels of service.
The project consisted of three project segments: internal review, public engagement and final report.
The public engagement included a two-hour virtual town hall attended by 23 residents, two staff members and one member of council.
The topics presented at town hall included the state and condition of Erin’s current infrastructure, the cost of providing infrastructure services, trends shaping the community, expectations, and priority areas.
Following the town hall, a levels of service survey was distributed to residents with a total of 183 responses.
The report found survey respondents were divided on whether the right investments are being made in infrastructure for current residents, with 46 per cent of respondents in favour and 36% in disagreement with the statement.
In assessing where the town should direct future investments, 45% of respondents suggested the town was making the right investments for its future, whereas 39% disagreed.
In response to the report presented, councillor Michael Robins said, “the messaging is pretty much the same as its been for the last three years.
“We have had a gap between what is the recommended, what I would describe is the required level and the actual level we are spending at.
“The way I look at it is that we’re pushing the responsibility of the replacement of our infrastructure to future generations,” he added.
“We’re using it today but we’re expecting the future people to pay for it and I don’t think that’s responsible.”
He continued, “that said, in order to actually pay for that, it would require an increase in the taxes which nobody wants but there has to be some pain in order to do it.”
Robins added that council needs to look hard at their ability to increase the amount of money spent on infrastructure.
“People can’t really relate to whether a culvert needs to be fixed.
“But if it breaks or if there’s an accident because it doesn’t work I think the people will suddenly decide that it’s a good thing to do. From my perspective it’s too late at that point.”
“It’s the same message that we’ve had for the last three years. We’re still not closing the gap.”
Councillor John Brennan responded in agreement.
“I’m glad we’re going to treat this as a living document to inform our decisions around budgeting and levels of service as we go forward,” he said.
“I think it’s important as well to understand that we didn’t get into this situation since last week, this is something that’s been building for the last 50 or 60 years.”
Brennan continued, “we’re not going to be able to solve this overnight and I think we have to make sure that we have that balance between…we need to get closer to what we should be investing in order to preserve the assets and reduce the risk.
“We also need to keep in mind the burden that we’re placing on the taxpayer in accordance with the levels of service, so it is going to be a balancing act.
“I’m glad it’s a living document but we can’t get there tomorrow.”
