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HomeMy WebLinkAboutLakeshore Advance, 2013-12-11, Page 3Wednesday,tteceinber 11, 20'13 '• • Lakeshore Advance ‘3 Building empires in Lambton Shores Lynda Hillman-Rapley OMI Agency 1.11111111011 SI ares council wiII Took at bringing the service for \vater/wastewater delivery in house (respite the fart that staff explained that these are highly regulated services with profound conseguene•e. for non-compliance for system failures. At the December 5th regular meeting, Brent Kintner, Director of Community Services submitted a report to assist Council with considering the future serv- ice delivery options for water and waste- water, told for Council to make its decision regarding the selection of the preferred model of service delivery. The report was received stating that \vater and \vastewater services continue to She a contracted operation; and that staff )egln the process to BEP the water and wastewater services contract, to be imple- mented January 1, 2015; and that a budget of $25,000 be funded from the. water reserve to undertake the engagement of professional services to lead the Request For Proposal (REP) process. Council also made a motion that coun- cilor John Russell meet with staff to fur- ther explore the possibility of developing an alternative service delivery tnechanisnn for Water and 1Vaste \Vater using Lamb - ton Shows staff and/or other community partners, and report hark to Council early in the new year. Lanilton Shores owns two municipal drinking water systems and five munici- pal wastewater systems it Water Facltttles • 'lhe'(lk)I(I pump station O'Ihedforl res- ervoir o Northville Tower o Arkona Standpipe o Forest bulk water station o Northville hulk water station o North- ville pumping station o 330 kilometers of watermain o 788 fin' hydrants o 6450 water utility accounts and connections, complete with water meters Wastewater Facilities ■ Forest pollution control plant o Arkona treatment plant O'Ihedfolrl lagoons • Indian pulls treatment plant o (rand Bend lagoons o 8.1 kilometers of force mains o 73.3 kilometers of gravity S1't%eI'S a till(\ Inlailnll'1lalnl't' hub's 0 1( lift/pump stations The operation of these systems has let's rontructe'd to OMI (.1 12M11i11 since shortly after amalgamation. The torrent contract began in 2(K)8 with a seven- year term ending December 31, 2014. Recog- nizing this end date, and the potential to review delivery of water and wastewater services in Lambton Shores, Council has requested that staff' provide a report on the current industry trends for service delivery in this area, background informa- tion 011 the current contract with OM1, necessary steps forward, a11(1 alternatives for council to consider for moving for- want.'Ihis report is broken out into vari- ous subsections addressing each of these` areas respectively. Current Industry Trends in Water and Waste \'Vater Service l )eUvery Immediately after the Walkerton event in May MX) many municipalities decided to change film in-house to contact oper- ating authorities for at least their water systems, and in many cases the wastewa- ter systems as well. Both systems are highly regulated and require specialized operations staff with very specific qualifi- cations. Many lower tier municipalities are large enough 10 have municipal drink- ing water and wastewater systems, but fate- staffing issues related to having a limited number of staff members to over- see the systems. Normal operating regtirene'nts such as mandatory trailing, responding to abuornlal (ir•oslstaulces as well as covering for holidays and sick days are challenging with a small work force. Contract operating authorities have an advantage. i11 this respect as they can draw upon greater internal resources and staff from other local contracts. Retention of highly skilled operators is also difficult for small municipalities as highly skilled operators often use small municipalities as stepping stones in pursuit of jobs in larger centers with the resources for more competitive wages and benefits and opportunities for advancement. In his report, Kinsler said, "'There are a variety of factors that impact how if municipality decides to staff its water and waste'wate'r facilities. 'These factors can include quantity and quality of infrastruc- ture, complexity of infrastructure, internal staff knowledge and qualifications, regu- latory requirements, budgetary con- straints and desired level of service. Kinner says that staff does note the potentially positive benefit of contracting with an accredited operating authority in the event of Safe Drinking; Water Act (SDWA) infraction. As Council is aware, on January 1, 2013 Section 19 of the til )WA came into force, and imposes a duty of care onto every person who exercises decision- snaking authority over a munici- pal water system. 'Otis includes municipal councilors.'Ihe effect of this section com- ing into force is that now council mem- len an. immediately exposed to personal liability in the event of a SI )WA infraction, and have the burden Of demonstrating due diligence to be absolved of any fault. "Council may be interested to know that the first jail sentence since the Walk- erton tragedy was laid on a Municipality of West Elgin operator earlier in 2013 after an MOE drinking water investigation.'Ihe municipality operated the system and 3 in-house operators were charged more than $1$12,((X) for Safe 1)riuking Water Act violations. Municipal council was not charged under Section 19 because the infraction occurred prior to the enforce- ment of Section 19. \Vest Elgin has since hired an operating authority to assist with the operation of their system, "said Kutner. Options for council to consider \vete to Renegotiate with OMI ; REP Contact to Operating Authorities or Option In- house Water/Waste Water Service 1)elivery. "It is staff's opinions that the disadvan- tages of inhouse service delivery out- weigh the advantages, in particular the increased exposure to liability under Sec- tion 1') of the S1)WA. As a result staff is recommending that water and waste water services continue to be it contracted operation. The approach of BFPing the contract (recommended below) will ensure that Lambton Shores receives the lest value for dollar in the services, while also taking advantage of the additional °Source protection committee revises proposed plans Lakeshore Advance A local source protection committee has nla(11' revisions to proposed plans to protect drinking water sources in the Maitland Valley and Ausable Bayfield source protection areas. The public is invited to review the changes and pro- vide written comments until January 21, 2014. '111e proposed plans will then be re -submitted, along with public comments, to the Ontario Ministry of the Environment for approval. The updated drinking water source protection plans are posted on11ne at www.sourcewaterinfo,on.ca. People can also inspect a copy of the drafts in person at the Maitland Valley or Ausa- ble Bayfield conservation authority offices during regular business hours. Maitland Valley Conservation Authori- ty's office is located at 1093 Marietta Street in Wroxeter. Phone 519-335-3557 for business hours. Ausable Bayfield Conservation Authority's office is located at 71 100 Morrison Line, east of Exeter and just south of I lighway 83. Phone 519-235-2610 or 1-8RO-21111-21110 for business hours. Written comments on the revisions to 1111' proposed source protection plans can be submitted until Tuesday, Janu- ary 21, 2014 at 4 p.m. local time. They can be seat electronically, by e- mail, to infooesourcewaterinfo.on.ca or they can he sent by land mail. Written comments 01) the revisions to the Proposed Source Protection Plan for Maitland Valley Source Protection Area can be dropped off at, or mailed to: Maitland Valley CONTINUED > PAGE 6 SIMON 1)FSJARI)INE ('1''P, ('LU, RNIB, ETM' (•,itj(kd Financial Planner, ClearmnS lllr ('iwlerwrlur 519-238-6399 55 Ontario St. N. Grand Bend • RRSP's,'I'1''SA's & Investments • Retirement Planning & Estate Planning "IN RraMu .1Lrc. INV 1000, ()r► porion it .roar wren." S'1'ERLI NG resources and securities provided by a third -Marty contactor, saki Kintner's lepwrt. "Should Council not accept the recommendation of this report, staff suggests that the lest way to determine the effective- ness of in-house service delivery is to develop a detailed internal service delivery model in pantllel with the RFI' process." Kintner said internal costing would be completed in parallel with the REP process and follow the sane' technical specifica- tions as external bidder's. For stalk) fully cost out the option of in-house operations, they need to be able to obtain guaranteed pricing for equipment and services that are needed for opera- tions. The in-house team would function apart from the staff working on the RFI' documents in an effort to maintain objectiv- ity and transparency in the bidding process.'lhis process is obvi- ously easier to accomplish in larger organizations, and the north for small municipalities is to hire u consultant like Watson & Associates to work with a small team of staff to complete the serv- ice delivery review. Professional fees to complete this work are estimated to be in the order of$'25,(XK). RECOMMENDATION Staff recommendation was that, "Water and wastewater oper- ations are critical services to the Municipality. They are highly regulated services with profound consequence for non-compli- ance for system failures. In particular the increased exposure to liability under Section 19 of the SDWA is new legislative territory yet to be tested by the counts. Stalk recommending that Council select Option 11 and water and waste wafter services continue to be a contracted operation:' Council did not go with this option. RNANCIAL IMPACT l aunbton Shores has not value tested the services contact on the open market since' shortly after amalgamation. At this point 11) time Stal(l'allllat (h'tillitely say 111a1 the. current cost of services is competitive. Staff is recommending that Council select Option 11.2 and RFP the water and waste'- water services contract. Ibis option will require the services of an engineering consult- ing firm to assist with administration of the I(FP process. Staff recommends (hilt Council ap)pioV(' a professional services budget of $25,(XX) to be funded fr11111 the water reserve to t'11stt1't' no impact to the operating budget. 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