SASKATCHEWAN MUNICIPAL ASSET MANAGEMENT
MEETING BY CONFERENCE CALL
DECEMBER 6, 2011, 9:00 A.M. TO 11:00 A.M.
PARTICIPANTS:
City of Humboldt Steve Brown, Director of Finance
James Moller, City Manager
City of Regina Teresa Florizone, Controller
City of Saskatoon Colin Prang, Infrastructure Strategic Services
City of Saskatoon Stephen Wood, Infrastructure Strategic Services
Town of Rosthern Nicole Lerat, CAO
Town of Macklin Kim Gartner, Administrator
Town of Shellbrook George Tomporowski, Mayor
Town of Dalmeny Shelley Funk, Administrator
R.M. of Buckland Wendy Gowda, Administrator
R.M. of Hillsdale Janet Black, Administrator
R.M. of Wilton Darren Elder, CAO; Jordan Schofield
SUMA Sean McEachern, Senior Policy Advisor
SARM Taya Hanson, Policy Analyst
Municipal Affairs Ryan Cossit, Jennifer Fink
Call to Order:
– Steve Brown moderated the meeting ,and called the meeting to order at 9:00 a.m.
1. Agenda:
– the agenda was approved by consensus, with no additions.
2. Minutes from October 20/11 meeting
- reviewed and approved by consensus
- Sean McEachern indicated that a final financial statement for the October 2011 workshop was not available at this time, but would be circulated when available.
3. Group Charter/Terms of Reference:
- group consensus that chair, vice chair & secretary/treasurer positions be established
- Chair – Kim Gartner accepted the nomination
- Vice Chair – Shelley Funk accepted the nomination (Teresa Florizone indicated that she would assist if needed)
- Secretary/treasurer – Steve Brown accepted the nomination
- Wendy Gowda indicated that at this time her involvement on behalf of RMAAS is as an observer, and that once the RMAAS is more familiar with the organization they would revisit the status.
4. Group Structure:
- Sean McEachern recommended that the title of the group refer to “municipal” to distinguish from other asset management groups that may exist or be formed in the province.
- the group consensus was to use “Saskatchewan Municipal Asset Management” for the name of the organization.
- the group consensus was to use the pdf Terms of Reference, with the positions of vice chair and secretary treasurer added
5. Group Communication:
- on line communication is the best method to communicate. A new web site can be set up within one week.
- Sean recommended that the new site be connected to the existing tca website, that the TCA site would continue at present due to demand.
- Steve Brown offered that Wally Wells from BC would be available to assist in setting up of the site.
- Wendy Gowda moved that the website be arranged as soon as possible. There was no opposition from the group, so the motion was passed.
- Suggestions from the group for communication included group emails using existing organizations, website, newsletters, and any other method that would be efficient & cost effective.
- Education – it was agreed that an education document be prepared for distribution by the end of January, 2012, in time for the SUMA convention. Kim Gartner suggested using Wally Wells for assistance, since he has written a number of articles that are posted on Asset Management BC.
6. Group Funding:
- Sean McEachern indicated that initial funding for this group was available from the $10,000 seed funding that had been provided by Municipal Affairs for asset management. The fund would pay for the website and communication costs.
- Gordon Sparks had applied on behalf of the group for funding through a University of Saskatchewan fund. To date there is no word on the status of the application.
7. Group Advisor:
- Wally Wells from BC offered his assistance for any work going forward for the short term
- Group will revisit the advisor role in January
8. 2011 Asset Management Workshop Followup:
- Feedback from participants was generally good. Some administrators thought that they would have a complete AM plan by the end of the workshop. Other comments were to have a “made in Sask.” workshop going forward.
- Consensus that more workshops are essential, and that education of elected is most important.
9. 2012 Actions:
- Education sessions already arranged – SUMA Convention (end of January) – City of Humboldt will present; SARM Convention (March) – RM of Wilton will present
- Other Actions needed: Education Paper for Elected
Communications to communities – electronic newsletter
Training for Administrators – both basic & strategic
Education workshops for Elected
Letter from Chair to municipal Affairs – to show capacity building
10. Go Forward Discussion:
- participants discussed ways to efficiently promote AM message to communities. City of Saskatoon indicated they already had much of the AM plan identified from a technical perspective, but still had challenges in gaining elected officials support and understanding of its importance. All agreed that it was very important to spread the message of AM value.
11. Next Meeting:
- January 16/12, at 8:00 a.m. – conference call