HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen, 2016-02-18, Page 7THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016. PAGE 7.
Early Jan. report led way for new agreement
The big announcement
Both staff at North Huron and Morris-Turnberry and the general public were informed last
week that there would be an amalgamation of services to help reduce costs and increase the
attractiveness of the two municipalities to developers. Shown are Morris-Turnberry Mayor Paul
Gowing, left, and North Huron Reeve Neil Vincent, right, making the announcement to the
general public at a special press conference at the North Huron Wescast Community Centre
on Tuesday, Feb. 9. (Denny Scott photo)
Continued from page 1
concept report outlining how the
services would be shared. The
document would look to find cost
savings and more effective and
efficient services to both
municipality's ratepayers as well as
look to finding efficiencies between
the two sets of staff providing the
same services within the
municipalities' borders.
Six services were looked at for the
concept review: public works, the
building department, drainage, fire
services and fire prevention, water
and sewer services and
administration services including
payroll, asset management, accounts
receivable and accounts payable,
preparation of annual financial
documents, administrative support,
information technology and health
and safety committees.
The report outlined total mergers
for the public works departments,
building departments and drainage
departments of the municipalities.
Fire suppression and fire prevention
services are already shared between
the two municipalities and water and
sewer services were tagged as being
possibly joined through contract
later on. The administration services
merged were those that followed
public works, drainage and building
services.
The report was completed Dec. 17
and approved by North Huron and
Morris-Turnberry Councils on Jan. 5
and Jan. 7, respectively. Chambers
and Michie were then directed to
prepare a cost analysis report to
accompany a proposal of shared
services.
The report was based on
implementing shared services over a
two-year pilot period, however the
cost analysis looked at a three-year
period due to increased costs at the
outset to organize the project.
The two councils discussed the
issue in closed sessions of council
which included looking at revising
organizational structures within the
municipalities which will see a new
Director of Public Works hired to
oversee the services of both
municipalities.
Vincent said that the new director
would be trained more on operations
than hands-on experience and could
have some engineering experience
and that advertisements had already
been sent out seeking the right
applicant for the position.
He also stated that Morris-
Turnberry's current director Gary
Pipe and North Huron's current
director Kelly Church would be
slotted into the new organizational
structure under the new director.
Gowing said that the new
organizational system would rely
heavily on the experience of
individuals like Pipe and Church.
"Both will be key individuals and
will help make this process
successful for both municipalities,"
Gowing said.
The proposed public works
organizational chart includes the
new director, a manager of
operations and drainage
superintendent, two foremen, one
lead hand, existing operators and an
administrative assistant.
Operators will report to their
foreman (one for Morris, East
Wawanosh and Blyth and a second
for Wingham and Turnberry) who,
along with the lead hand, will report
to the manager of operations who
will report to the director.
The entire process is supposed to
prevent job losses by re -assigning
extra resources according to Gowing
and Vincent.
Vincent explained that, in the
future, when staff look at retiring or
moving to other positions, their
responsibilities will be considered
and possibly spread out among
current staff to continue to see more
efficiencies as a result of the
merging of services.
At the meeting with staff, it was
explained that input from existing
staff is vital to making the new
program successful.
After analyzing gaps in the current
structures of the municipality,
several changes were suggested
through the report including
relocating some of the merged
services to one location for both
municipalities.
As for the location of the merged
services, early reports indicate North
Huron's municipal office will house
the director of public works,
manager of operations and the
administrative assistant
Morris-Turnberry's municipal
office will host the building
department including one chief
building official and one building
inspector/property standards officer
and the drainage operations for the
two municipality, though drainage
files will remain with their
respective municipalities throughout
the pilot period.
Water and sewer services will be
considered at a later date and both
in-house and contract options will be
considered.
According to the announcement,
the next steps for the pilot program
include meetings with staff, new job
descriptions where necessary, new
contracts for employees and the
creation of a formal procedure to
communicate with staff. This will be
accomplished through an
implementation team that will be
selected from staff.
The cost analysis report indicates
that approximately $600,000 to
$700,000 will be saved through the
implementation of the project by
2018. Vincent broke that number
down into tax figures, stating that it
would represent an approximate five
per cent tax levy savings.
When asked if this was the first
step towards an amalgamation of the
two municipalities, neither
municipal leaders provided a
definitive answer.
"This is not being viewed as an
amalgamation," Gowing said. "This
is a shared service arrangement.
When it comes to municipal council,
there are two clear roles. One role is
to govern and set services while the
other role is to provide those
services. If someone visits
amalgamation in the future, this kind
of work will help with those
discussions but it is not a
consideration at this time."
Vincent agreed, stating that this
was only a merger of services and it
might set the stage for more services
to be shared in the future.
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