Township of Guelph/Eramosa council has approved the 2022 Asset Management Plan and will be looking to fund it as part of the 2023 budgeting process.
Now the challenge, as it is for most municipalities, will be how to pay for it.
Over the years, there has been a process of expanding and detailing the inventory of what is now involved with the Asset Management Plan.
This involves adding municipal infrastructure and the specific aspects of that infrastructure to the inventory.
“There are three phases that I have kind of looked at,” Linda Cheyne, director of finance at the township said. “And the first one is the asset management plan for core assets, which is what we’re bringing forward today.
“There is phase two which brings in an asset management plan for all of the assets. So it’ll include everything in parks and rec and all of our buildings and anything else that is in there.”
“And then phase three requires council to set the levels of services that they want to see, and prepare financial strategies, and lifecycle management strategies for all the assets so that kind of ties everything together.”
Guelph/Eramosa is in a similar state as other municipalities, when it comes to the nature and condition of its infrastructure.
The plan shows that while 88 per cent of township assets are in acceptable condition, 54 per cent of them are over 25-years-old and 11 per cent of the assets will need to be replaced over the coming 10 years.
The plan gives a better understanding of what infrastructure needs to be fixed, but may not have the money to address each problem.
“At the end of the day it is going to come down to money,” Mayor Chris White said. “Putting the money in the right place and how much money you can acquire.”
“But at least with a plan, you can spend your money wisely,” White said.
