To:	MayorLarry DiIanni and  Members of Council
From:	Gerry Davis Director, Capital  Planning & Implementation Public Works	Telephone: Facsimile: E-mail:	(905) 546-2424 x4621 (905) 546-4432 gdavis@hamilton.ca
Date:	November 24, 2005
Re:	State of the Infrastructure (City Wide) (CPI.05.AST.06)

In December 2004, UMA Engineering was retained to produce a Life-Cycle  State of the Infrastructure (SotI) Report for Public Works Assets, as well as a State of the Infrastructure (SotI) Report Card for those assets.  The overall objective was to prepare a Report Card that outlines the current status of specific assets as well as a projection of the state of these assets in 2020 and 2050 should the status quo be maintained.

The  final report has now been completed and outlines observations and recommendations, where applicable, aimed at continued sustainable asset  management practices in water and wastewater while expanding these same principles to other assets that are mainly supported by levy revenues.  There is a great deal of work left to do, and the SotI Report Card basically lays out an approach that could be used for the development of more detailed asset management plans in the future, based on principles  of service levels and life-cycle analysis.

The  SotI Report Card is also in an easy-to-understand format, with an open  and standardized structure for ease of regular updates.  It should further be noted that this is not an expenditure plan, but rather it is  a funding plan at the strategic level.  The SotI report is also  comprehensive enough in three asset categories (water, wastewater and  roads) to allow for further decision-making at the tactical and operational levels.

In November 2003, the National Guide to Sustainable Municipal Infrastructure published a Best Practice for Municipal Infrastructure  Asset Management.  It stated that the framework for an asset management  plan can be described in terms of seven questions:

1. What do you have and where is it? (Inventory)
2. What is it worth? (Costs/replacement rates)
3. What is its condition and expected remaining service life?  (Condition and capability analysis)
4. What is the level of service expectation, and what needs to be done?  (Capital and operating plans)
5. When do you need to do it? (Capital and operating plans)
6. How much will it cost and what is the acceptable level of risk(s)?  (Short- and long-term financial plan)
7. How do you ensure long-term affordability? (Short- and long-term  financial plan)

The  SotI Report is structured along these lines, which the City has already adopted in its assessment of water and wastewater sustainable financing  needs.  The report has also used as guidelines the City's own policies  of sustainability as defined in Vision 2020, the Best Management Practices advocated by the National Infrastructure Guide in which City staff have actively participated in the past few years, various  infrastructure management manuals developed by the Australian and New Zealand governments, the format used by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) in assessing infrastructure in the United States, as  well as a number of other research and management studies in various parts of the world.  The report also lays out draft Performance  Indicators and Levels of Service where possible, areas that require further study, and data gaps.

The  following assets were included in the study (with Water, Wastewater and Roads being reviewed in greater detail as requested by the City):

1. Water: pipes, pumping stations, storage facilities and  treatment facilities (centralized and communal systems)
2. Wastewater: pipes, pumping stations, storage facilities and  treatment facilities
3. Roads: streets, sidewalks, bridges and culverts, signs, signals, markings, street lights
4. Storm: pipes, pumping stations, storage facilities and/or treatment facilities (ponds)
5. Solid Waste: landfill, transfer stations and any other  centralized facilities
6. Buildings: arenas, pools, recreation centers, and other buildings currently in the RECAPP system (estimated 300)
7. Open Spaces: parks, trails, fields
8. Transit: rolling inventory, facilities
9. Fleet: balance of fleet inventory that is not included in specific programs

The  public works assets were evaluated on the basis of the following  criteria:

• Condition and performance
• Need versus capacity
• Funding versus need

  The process and/or format used in the development of the SotI report shall be continued, applied to additional assets and/or maintained in  order to monitor our current state of infrastructure.  In order to view  the complete report, please follow the link provided below.

  http://www.myhamilton.ca/NR/rdonlyres/B8C4C708-8CD9-4CBD-B2E0-EF60CBEBCAD7/0/SOTIReport.pdf

If you should have any questions in this regard, please feel free to contact this office.

______________________

Gerry  Davis Director, Capital Planning & Implementation

 Public Works
Copy to:
Glen Peace, City Manager
Scott Stewart, General Manager Public Works
Joe Rinaldo, General Manager, Finance & Corporate Services
Jim Harnum, Senior Director, Water & Wastewater
Beth Goodger,Director, Waste Management
John Mater, Director, Fleet & Facilities
Don  Hull, Director, Transit
Bryan  Shynal, Director, Operations & Maintenance