New asset management plan approved

LEAMINGTON — The 2021- 22 Asset Management Plan took centre stage at the Leamington Council meeting of February 8 and the plan was approved unanimously.

The plan provides an update from Leamington’s first such plan which was enacted in 2013.

The new plan needed to be in place by July 1 of this year to meet all requirements set out by the province.

The new plan includes lifecycle activities of all of the municipality’s assets, including but not limited to buildings, offices, fire hall, machinery and equipment for IT and public works, fleets and land improvements such as playgrounds and trails.

According to the municipality’s financial analyst Katie Mc- Lean, the town’s tax-funded and rate-funded assets are funded well below future needs.

That means that more funds are needed for future upgrades and purchases.

“Leamington is the same as all other municipalities in this regard,” said McLean.

The current replacement cost of all of Leamington’s assets sit around $985 million, according to McLean, with 83 per cent of those assets in the plan in fair or better condition.

McLean went on to say that the average capital required moving forward would be about $27.5 million with an annual deficit of $15 million in capital funding to replace existing infrastructure.

The plan allows time to achieve these funding needs, with 15 years for tax funded assets, 10 years for water and pollution control centre, and 20 years for sewer related assets.

An update to the plan is due in 2024.

Mai Abdou of PSD Citywide, a company that specializes in such plans, presented a comprehensive breakdown of the assets and their lifespans.

Considerable attention is now being given to move toward a condition-based assessment for assets as opposed to the previous age-based assessments.

This will result in better management of assets that have aged but are still useful.

Councillor Paul Tiessen agreed with the plan.

“This is something going forward that is certainly important come budget time,” he said. “I’m really glad to see this.”

Deputy Mayor Larry Verbeke said that the funding needed is “kind of scary”, but is glad that previous financial people with the municipality put a nest egg aside.

In the end, council voted unanimously to approve the asset management plan.