MOOSE JAW — Coun. Chris Warren appreciated the information about city hall’s activities during this year’s third quarter but believed that metrics were required to judge whether the city was meeting its targets.
City administration presented the Q3 report during city council’s recent meeting, with the document summarizing departments’ activities from July 1 to Sept. 30.
While reviewing the report, Warren asked directors whether they had “key performance indicators” (KPI) that they applied to areas — such as building permits — or standards or targets that they wanted to achieve with initiatives, such as the number of crosswalks painted or sidewalks rebuilt.
The report showed that during Q3, city hall issued 161 building permits worth $4.9 million, whereas in Q3 2023, those numbers were 125 and $58.1 million.
Furthermore, the operations department replaced 3.5 kilometres of water mains and feeder mains, 2,612 square metres of sidewalks, 163 linear metres of curbs and gutters, 89 pedestrian ramps, 51,535 square metres of asphalt restoration and 1,374 square metres of concrete work.
Also, crews painted 274 crosswalks and 47,881 metres of lane lines.
Warren thought it was great that crews painted 274 crosswalks but wondered how many the city had in total and whether it had painted them all this year. Having that information would keep him better informed about whether the city was on track with completing its initiatives.
Meanwhile, he understood that there were many complexities with projects but knew from other experiences how well KPIs worked. Such indicators helped tell the community’s story, identified gaps, demonstrated what employees achieved, and added or reprioritized resources.
City hall doesn’t have any KPIs with the building permit process, although that’s something staff are reviewing, said Derek Blais, director of community services. The problem, however, is that staff need time to work on permits but regularly receive inquiries from realtors and contractors, so permits aren’t approved.
“We have a few things we’ll be looking to implement here early next year, but until then, it will be a work in progress,” he added.
With infrastructure projects, the operations department relies on a condition assessment report to guide its work with repairing sidewalks or installing gutters, said Bevan Harlton, director of operations. To apply KPIs to projects, the department would have to rely on an asset management-type plan, which would be useful in advocating for the necessary infrastructure upgrades.
An assessment report that staff completed this year showed that 56 per cent of roads are in fair or below-fair condition, while the work crews perform on below-fair roads will keep those streets going for only a brief time, he continued.
Meanwhile, the operations department expects to upgrade sidewalks — either piecemeal or part of a full block replacement — based on 150- to 200-year replacement cycles, which makes it tough to keep up, the director added.
Thunderbird bridge
During Q3, city crews used 137.16 tonnes of asphalt to repair the Thunderbird Viaduct, a fact that Coun. Heather Eby appreciated since she and many others were excited about the work happening and the bridge reopening.
However, she noticed over the summer — and heard from residents — that the asphalt didn’t stick in place or do the job many thought it would. She understood people’s frustrations but pointed out that the city is limited in the equipment it can use on the bridge.
Crews applied that 137 tonnes by hand while working on a 93-year-old structure that has a 10-ton limit, so city administration appreciated the work they did with the resources they had, said Harlton.
Scouts Hall building
City hall had a structural assessment performed on the Scouts Hall building in West End Park to determine if it was safe enough in which to work, as it expects demolition to occur in mid-2025.
When asked about the report, Blais said it was needed to ensure contractors could enter the building to remove hazardous materials before demolition occurred, as department staff were unsure whether the structure was safe. However, the assessment says people can enter so that demolition will proceed.
The next regular council meeting is Monday, Dec. 16.
