The Town of Sundre lacks current, accurate and predictive technical information on the condition of buildings it owns or is responsible for, the manager of community services recently told council.
"There are some very, very serious concerns in regards to some of the buildings as they are aging," Ian James said during the March 7 meeting.
Also lacking are details on repair and maintenance requirements for town-owned facilities as well as the level of compliance of the public assets in regards to various regulatory health, safety and building codes, he said.
"Administration has noted that due to this lack of information, the town is putting itself at financial risk for multiple and unplanned facility repair issues occurring that may be of great expense, and for legal action by any member of the public who files a complaint if any facility is deemed to be in non-compliance with various provincial codes," he said.
As the town's new manager of community services, James said he was tasked last November with looking into issues pertaining to the condition of facilities the town owns or is responsible for.
"My research found that the town does not have recorded information on file as to when the last professional facility assessment inspection was completed on any of its facilities, and there is no facility management plan in place to guide regular maintenance of the facilities depending on their location and use."
However, James said that last November he was given an informal list of potentially required repairs on town-owned facilities that was put together by community services staff last spring and summer.
"I've also noted additional visible repairs and maintenance requirements that were seen as critical to the continued use of certain facilities," he said, adding, "Some of these repairs were carried out in December."
Administrative staff views the risk of liability to the town as being high because due to a lack of professional technical data, community services staff have to work reactively when town-owned facilities require repairs, rather than plan proactively in reducing the risk and ultimately the overall cost of maintaining those facilities, he said.
"It is not known why formal facility assessment inspections have not been carried out on a regular basis on town-owned assets previously, or why a facility management plan has not been created."
However, as staff are currently working on collecting data on all town-owned tangible capital assets for capital planning purposes, the detailed information on the condition of these facilities is now required for this project, he said. Additionally, an assessment will provide the data required for immediate and future facility repair requirements and to start the creation of the facility management plan to ensure regular maintenance of all town-owned facilities is planned, conducted and tracked, codes and regulations are adhered to and budgets are created to implement the plan, he added.
The facilities listed for the property condition assessment are the fire hall, the town office, the arena, the community centre and the town shop. In response to the situation he outlined, James told council he was directed to obtain a quote to undertake the inspections.
The community services department secured a quote of about $6,000 from one of the oldest companies to provide residential, commercial and government building inspections, he said, adding that if approved by council, the funds would come from the town's infrastructure reserve.
"Once completed, the report will be presented to council by administration with recommendations for any immediate required repairs to facilities and the associated costs."
Longer-term maintenance and repairs highlighted within the report will become part of the future facility management plan recommendations so anticipated work can be budgeted in advance instead of catching council off-guard, he added.
"It is highly recommended that we have up-to-date information because guidelines change regularly," he said, adding the report will also facilitate planning for future capital expenditures.
"All the places I've worked, they've always had this," he answered when Mayor Terry Leslie asked him how many municipalities have such reports handy.
Coun. Myron Thompson said, "I think we all understand the importance of preventative work and a maintenance program of this type, so I'll make the motion."
Council carried his motion, and the mayor said James' report provided council with plenty of background information that made it easier to come to its decision.
