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Town of Erin Operational Review

Summary Report

June 2015

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Operational Review Objectives and Context 2015-2020 Strategic

Plan• Capital Challenges;

• Drinking water legislation compliance;

• Recreational facilities standards;

• Creation of an asset management plan; and

• Highway maintenance.

RFP Instructions• Confirm that existing

policies, practices and program delivery reflect “best practice”;

• Identify areas of efficiency;

• Identify opportunities for synergies;

• Assess resource needs; and

• Analyse the viability of Town services in their current state.

This Report


StrategyCorp’s Operational Review Methodology• Working-level staff presented to peers and discussed ways to improve the Town

• StrategyCorp staff analyzed the observations and findings of the Task Force and conducted benchmarking with other comparables


Key Parameters of Success

Better service-delivery & “customer” satisfactionOutcome: Better services

Greater operational integrationOutcome: “Synergies”

Improved efficiency and productivity Outcome: Savings

Better decision-makingOutcome: Good Management


The SCOPE Program

INVEST

STATUSQUO

CUT

GET…

More

Same

Less

What government gets Vs. What it spends

SpendLess………..………..…Same……………..…..More

Improved volume or

quality relative to

cost

Worse volume

or quality relative to cost

SCOPE identifies identify opportunities for productivity improvement along six categories:

1. Products and Services• Includes operation of facilities

providing services• Can include governance, regulation,

adjudication

2. Quality, in its various aspects• Including distinguishing ‘basic

services’ from ‘premium services’• Promptness, as well as value

3. “Consumer Choice”• Range, geographic scope and levels of

service• Including customization to consumer /

client needs

4. Unit-Cost and All-in Cost of Services

5. Overall Cost of Service-Delivery• Annually, and over time, including

overhead and depreciation• Including capital cost, on-going

maintenance, legacy HR costs

6. Focus on Needs of Client, Customer & Citizen• Not the preferences of those party

managing / delivering the service


Findings and ConclusionsStrengths…• “Middle of the pack” relative to

comparable municipalities …to degree that can be proven with current KPIs

• Staff are very experienced and engaged;

• Positive alignment with Council

Opportunities…• Continuous Improvement: Most

departments would benefit from a continuous improvement program

• New community and service-delivery partnerships to leverage in house capacity and meet unmet needs

• “One Erin” approach: There are still legacy process relating to service delivery, record retention, policy development and customer service.

• Productivity Improvement Targets: 3% of the gross Operating Budget for each of the next three years.

Weaknesses…• Insufficient performance metrics• Staff culture is not always open

to change• Deferred maintenance and

capital works will present major challenges


Service Standards & “Metrics”

Continuous improvements

Organizational and process improvements

Three Categories of Recommendations


2: Review service levels, establish service levels. Budget to meet approved service levels, and develop the capacity to manage against targeted and budgeted service levels.

7a: Improve financial management systems


“What you can’t count, you can’t measure, and what you can’t measure, you can’t manage.”


1: Combine maintenance activities of Roads, Water & Parks

3e: Create a staff ‘advocate’ to expedite worthwhile economic investments

5a: Single overall management responsibility for recreation activities / facilities

5c: Longer term: Consolidate major Town rec facilities

6: Consolidate facilities, asset & fleet management responsibilities, across all departments


“Operational improvements on their own will not solve or overcome the financial and development challenges that face the Town of Erin, or any other municipality. But a well functioning municipality, with a foundation of efficiently and effectively delivered local services is the essential foundation for doing more in the future.”


Improve processes and outcomes in :3a: building, planning, water & ec dev3b: fill permits, property standards

enforcement, burning permits, etc.3c: Better system-standards for services to

new properties, e.g. additions to tax roll3d: Redesign ‘front office’, including

customer-facing services & staff duties & work flow.

4: Improve staff capacity 5b: Improve fairness and promote

voluntarism through an improved fee structure

7: Improve admin operations, including:b) Records management & storagec) Management systems &

communicationsd) IT support

Continuous Improvement“Making operational improvements is neither a slash-and-burn exercise nor a one-time event: it is a process of productivity improvement and continuous improvement.”


Detailed Recommendations


1. Combine maintenance activities of Roads, Water and Parks into one Town ‘Operations’ Department

• Identified as opportunity by Council and SCOPE (similar equipment, suppliers, functions).

Activity currently uncoordinated -- additional cost/lost opportunity for efficiency

Water system risk; deferred maintenance risk

• It is standard practice to combine roads and water/wastewater as combined public works (Puslinch, Centre Wellington, Guelph /Eramosa)

• Roads: Compared to Puslinch, Guelph/Eramosa, and Centre Wellington , Erin places in middle.

• Water: Compared to Guelph/Eramosa and Centre Wellington, Erin was average in cost/capita.

Erin is in top quartile among Ontario municipalities, but it applies “full-cycle costing” of water systems – which makes it appear more expensive than less progressive competitors.


1. Streamline staff scheduling in the Roads Department and perhaps related departments, with a view to reducing overtime hours and combine maintenance activities of Roads, Water and Parks

• Review of Roads Dept. schedules for past winter of suggests seasonal employees were not fully utilized.

16% of overtime hours were worked by full-time employees Could have been regular hours worked by seasonal employees in optimized

scheduling conditions. • Embrace Best Practices:

Ministry of Labour guidelines for “overtime after 44 hours” would reduce unnecessary overtime hours

OGRA Service Level Guidelines

• Roads overtime cost in 2013 was nearly $96,000, and $87,000 in 2014 Opportunity for $12,000-$20,000 in savings each year depending on weather

conditions (via better scheduling and embracing best practices)

88.8%

11.2%

Roads Department Hours Breakdown – Winter 2014-

2015

Regular Hours

Overtime Hours

78.5%

21.5%

Roads Department Over-time Hours Breakdown: Full-Time vs. Seasonal

Staff – Winter 2014-2015Full-Time Employee Overtime

Seasonal Staff Overtime

47%

53%

Roads Department Over-time Hours Breakdown by

work-week duration – Winter 2014-2015

Overtime Be-tween 40 and 44 hours in a week


1. Consider hiring either a Town Engineer, or an senior manager with training in engineering / project management, to oversee both public works and ‘parks’ operations and capital works • Significant projects ahead• Improve Management of capital projects, especially involving civil

engineering and fleet management. This may argue for a ‘director’ with engineering or engineering

technology training and experience, with overall responsibilities for all maintenance and capital works activities.

Improve project management Reduce current spend on engineering services. Better management of remaining spend on external engineering services

and project management. Examine opportunities to use County’s engineering department in capital

construction and project coordination.


2. Develop a comprehensive asset management plan for its transportation infrastructure needs.• Erin should implement a long-range plan for its infrastructure

needs, taking action to define any missing data and developing a comprehensive bridges and roads asset management plan.

• The Ministry of Infrastructure’s Building Together: Guide for Municipal Asset Management Plans is a useful reference for the creation of an asset management plan

Transportation Capital Indicators2013 MPMP Data

Puslinch Guelph/ Eramosa

Center Wellington

East Garafraxa

Town of Erin Average Erin as a % of Average

Adequacy of Roads: % of paved lane kilometres where the condition is rated as good to very good 46.3% 56.3% N/A 85.7% 47.5% 59.0% 80.6%

Adequacy of Bridges and Culverts: % of bridges and culverts where the condition is rated as good to very good

60.9% 93.3% N/A 100.0% 25.0% 69.8% 35.8%


Explore opportunities to transfer roads capital works projects to the County, in exchange for taking on additional maintenance responsibilities in areas of County responsibility.• The Town’s roads, bridges and culverts are generally not in a state of good

repair. 17 of Erin’s 48 bridges and culverts reviewed were in need of imminent

replacement, with an additional five requiring replacement over the next ten years. (Oct 13)

Cost of proper life-cycle maintenance of Erin’s bridges and culverts would cost roughly $10 million over the next ten years and $55 million over the next 50 years.

• The Town is not sufficiently equipped to handle the full task of roads capital management, and like many smaller municipalities relies heavily on the services of consulting engineers and contractors.

• We recommend that Town explore the feasibility of the County assuming greater responsibility for roads jurisdiction or roads capital projects, in exchange for the Town assuming additional roads maintenance responsibilities, both directly and through its contractors.


Review existing range and level of services, and matching them with staff and financial resources, with a view to meeting current priorities and ensuring that scarce resources are devoted to priority activities• While few doubt the merit of developing good performance data

and detailed service-levels, is this a luxury of larger municipalities? In practice, if the Town borrows from the pioneering work of other smaller municipalities, it should be possible to set performance standards for each of the key services provided by Erin, and to match the budgeted resources to the services, and to evaluate service delivery each year, or half the services every other year. (The challenge may be more the age of the Town’s financial systems).

• Banff Example


3a. Improve customer service and the business climate • Turnaround time for Erin’s buildings department in approving / not approving

building applications was within the average of its peers for 2013, and below the provincial standard for residential, small and large commercial applications. (MPMP)

• The number of completed building permit applications is lower in Erin than among its peers in all categories.

• Volume of applications relative to the staffing level suggests the potential for productivity improvements.

• This might include staff taking-on new or wider responsibilities, in such areas as property standards enforcement, enforcement of fill regulations, expediting resolution of outstanding non-compliance cases and commenting-agency input, and facilitating the preparation of ‘complete applications’ by applicants for various planning and building approvals and permits.

• .

Percentage of Complete Building Permit Applications (by Category):

Town of Erin Puslinch Guelph / Eramosa

Center Wellington

Weighted Average

Erin vs. Average

Houses (not exceeding 3 storeys/600 square metres) 57% 90% 72% 96% 85% 67%

Small Buildings (not exceeding 3 storeys /600 square metres) 79% 100% 17% 88% 82% 97%

Large Buildings (large residential/commercial/industrial/institutional) 55% 100% 73% 92% 83% 65%


Planning Functions

• Council has often heard public calls for a review of municipal planning services.

• As part of 2015’s budget process, StrategyCorp produced an independent review of the various planning servicing options.

• We concluded that the process would be improved if the Building Department assumed the responsibilities of: site plan review and agreements; minor variance applications; site alteration permits and complaints; development and subdivision agreements; and, administrative tasks.

• This reallocation of work has been complemented by contracting the Town’s planning functions to the County, while ensuring local presence and input.

• The preliminary results from these changes appear very beneficial to the Town and its planning process clients, including cost savings, increased efficiency and effectiveness of service-delivery, and ultimately improving customer service.

3a. Improve customer service and the business climate - Greater efficiency and effectiveness in building, planning, water, and economic development


• Build on recent Ec Dev efforts to increase tax assessment base through more customer-service-oriented processing of permits, etc.

• Institute Ec Dev benchmarking and best practices, aligned with the Town’s strategic priorities, to facilitate performance measurement


Enhance role of Building Dept. in property standards enforcement, fill regulations, dispute resolution and facilitating “complete applications” for permitting.• SCOPE identified concerns re: site alteration and fill permits

• Processes a deterrent to compliance• Problems exacerbated through insufficient enforcement by Town.

• Staff suggested increased enforcement, and the use of bonding or including an allowance for road damage in the fee for fill permits.


Ensure that MPAC adds taxable properties to the tax roll on a more timely basis, supported by through cooperation among the Town’s building, finance and water departments in monitoring and reporting of illegally occupied properties.

Background and Consultation• The SCOPE Task Force expressed concern about tax collection for new

building developments. Owners occupy new homes before proper building permit approvals and conditions have been met. As a result, the Town is unable to collect taxes in a timely manner, or not at all, since MPAC uses legal occupancy as a trigger for adding properties and businesses to the assessment roll.

• Staff reported that MPAC is often slow to respond to requests from the Town to inspect these inhabited incomplete dwellings, often taking one-and-a-half to two years to investigate. In addition, taxes payable following an MPAC assessment are not always backdated to the original move-in date, resulting in permanent lost revenues for the Town.


Enhance enforcement for illegal fills, and include protection from roads damage as part of fill permits, either through requiring bonding or the introduction of additional fees to offset the cost to repair roadways resulting from fills• While more enforcement would require more staff time,

consultations revealed that the buildings department could benefit from increased automation of the buildings application process. For example, through providing an online portal for building permit applications, one which requires the completion of all mandatory fields before an application could be submitted, the buildings department could save a great deal of time in following-up with applicants related to missing application information. Provision of a simple and clear paper-based checklist for buildings applications could also help to this end.

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3c. That the Town adopt the policy to include the installation of water lines, where applicable, during the site plan approval process and/or severance process, in consultation with the buildings, water and roads departments.Background and Consultations

• Under current Town processes, water servicing is put into place before site plan approval, without cross-departmental communications or verifications.

• As a result, watermain stops are often located in places that are later approved for driveway construction, resulting in stops being covered by driveways, which bad practice.

• Advance water hook-ups also increase the likelihood that properties will be occupied before all compliance conditions are met and before they can be added to the assessment roll.

Commentary• If the Town were to implement policy to include the servicing of water lines during the

site plan approval process, it would ensure cross-departmental communications between the building, roads and water departments related to site plans and water servicing, and would help avoid driveways being built on top of water line curb stops where possible.

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3d. Erin improve its front office design based on the recently improved designs at neighbouring jurisdictions;

• That any redesign of the Town office include the opportunity for residents and taxpayers to discuss some issues in a more confidential setting.; and,

• That the Town streamline customer-facing services, with a customer-centric focus, including improve signage and ‘way finding’ in the office and from the roadway, for both the Town office and Roads Department clients


3e. Create an ‘advocate’ or ‘champion’ to advocate and expedite worthwhile economic investments

1.Supplement the County Economic Development program with in house resources and procedural improvements;

2.Create a permanent ‘stand alone’ economic development function, reporting directly to the CAO/Town Manager;

3.Create an Economic Development Advisory Committee, appointed and mandated by Council, and reporting to the CAO/Town Manager to advise EDO;

4.Measure Economic Development function annually; and5.Cooperate with County of Wellington.


4. Staff development, performance evaluation, succession planning, & continuous improvement1. Develop and conscientiously implement a standardized performance

review process across the entire organization;

2. The performance review process should begin with a confidential, annual goal-setting and review process for the CAO, led by the Mayor and members of Council, and including a joint evaluation of senior staff performance;

3. Enhance employee recognition efforts: to reward new, productivity-enhancing ideas, to acknowledge exceptional staff performance, and to motivate employee achievement;

4. Undertake succession planning to ensure the organization is positioned for long-term success; and,

5. Increase participation in performance measurement surveys to develop performance measurement benchmarks upon which to compare itself to similar lower-tier municipalities and develop processes to measure and foster continuous improvement.


5a. Integrate and streamline the Recreation functions in the Town – Management and Ops• During the Task Force meetings and interviews with senior staff and Council, there

was a proposal to combine the management of the two arenas as one department, to emphasize enhanced internal collaboration.

• It was also pointed out that the recreations department spends a great deal of time maintaining the Town’s baseball diamonds and soccer fields, providing a level of service that is beyond the cost charged for rental of the fields.

• When compared to its peers, Erin is reported to provide nearly four times the amount of outdoor recreation facility space per capita than average, although this may be a Ministry reporting error. However, Erin does provide nearly 50% more indoor recreation facility space to its taxpayer base per capita than its peers. This is a possible area where Erin could be over-serving its population.

Recreational Participation and Capacity2013 MPMP Data

Puslinch Guelph / Eramosa

Centre Wellington Town of Erin Average Erin vs.

AverageParticipant Hours for Recreation Programs:

Total participant hours for recreation programs per 1,000 persons

969.8 5698.7 23851.8 0 7630.1 0%

Indoor Recreation Facilities: Square metres of indoor recreation facilities per 1,000

persons (municipally owned)145.0 379.6 545.0 646.8 429.1 151%

Outdoor Recreation Facility Space: Square metres of outdoor recreation facility space per

1,000 persons (municipally owned)377.3 127.3 43.8 14053.0 3650.3 385%


5a. Integrate and streamline the Recreation functions in the Town – Management and OpsRecommendations

1.Combine management of the two arenas into one recreations department to streamline management and offer more efficient service; and

2.Simplify and reduce the premium maintenance standards of its outdoor recreations facilities, following other municipal best practices, so that staff can be redeployed to higher value-add service delivery areas.

These recommendations complement the earlier recommendation in this Study, dealing with ‘outside’ maintenance activities:That the Town combine maintenance activities of Roads, Water and Parks into one Town ‘Operations’ Department, with the name to be determined by the Council on recommendation from the CAO


5b. Recreation functions: Revenue Collection and Tracking

1. That the Town adopt a policy requiring user groups to pay full rates up-front and to apply for reduced rental rate grants through Council; and,

2. That the Town implement a stricter booking, payment, cancellation and rescheduling policy for rental of its recreational facilities, with clearly defined conditions made publicly available on its website.

AnalysisStrategyCorp reviewed permit applications, fee payment terms, and general terms and conditions for facility rental at several other municipalities. The review included the practices of the City of Guelph, Guelph/Eramosa, Orangeville, Puslinch, Centre Wellington, East Garafraxa, and even explored whether very large municipalities, such as the City of Toronto, had developed efficient systems to serve a range of clients and customers.


5c. Recreation: Consider integration of town recreation facilities when existing facilities reach the end of their useful lives or require major refurbishing • If the Hillsburgh community becomes less dependent on the

local arena as a community hub, arena consolidation may make sense, from perspectives of facility quality and amenities, and tournament hosting, as well as fiscal and economic development impacts.

• To this end, the Town should consider developing a “recreation master plan”. It should address the long-term recreation needs of the Town and the capacity for its current facilities to provide for those needs. The plan would clarify the future capital requirements for the Town’s recreational facilities, notably the arenas, and provide guidance for taking the best approach to recreations planning, including capital budgeting for future expenditures.


6. Consolidate facilities management, asset management and fleet management responsibilities1. That the Town streamline processes for routine and major

maintenance of all Town facilities, including sharing of information and collaborative procurement efforts;

2. That the Town develop and implement upon a comprehensive basis, a facilities maintenance strategy to extend the life of capital assets; and,

3. That the Town, perhaps through the Treasury function, record and identify the potential for maintaining and leveraging ‘intangible’ assets, such advertising opportunities, as well as processes and databases facilitated by information technology

Background and ConsultationsDuring interviews and Task Force meetings, concerns were raised about the condition of the Town’s capital asset inventory, and the capacity of the Town to finance needed capital maintenance and upgrades. Staff also suggested that increased capacity and/or sharing of equipment and vehicles could be an area where Erin could reduce costs for external contracting and deliver services more cost-effectively.


7a: Improve administrative operations - Improved financial management systemsRecommendation

1. That the Town move away from a bookkeeping approach to financial management, and acquire a financial management system that can provide additional budget setting, planning and monitoring capacity, including the creation and monitoring of performance objectives.


7b. Records management

Recommendations

1.That the Town identify options for an organizational system for records management, in line with municipal best practices;

2.That the Town explore the development of a Municipal Code, to bring together and modernize its ‘non-planning’ legislation and regulations in a single, easily consulted and easily amended location; and,

3.That the Town address and remedy the health and safety risk from the current records management storage system.


7c. Improve administrative operations - Management systems and communications Recommendation

1. That the Town promote increase staff participation through: use of additional internal project-specific team meetings; continue regularly scheduled senior management meetings, following the Council meeting cycle, to review Council reports, and with reporting-out to affected staff; and, creation of avenues for cross-departmental communications to encourage “best practices” across the organization.


7d. Better IT support to Town operations

Recommendation1. That the Town engage a competent staff member to provide

information technology support throughout the municipal organization (all locations) and to advise Council and senior staff on new applications, software, technology, and system and data security.



Continuous improvements


• Opportunity: 3% annual productivity enhancement appears reachable.

• Not a cut in budget or in taxes – an offset for inflation, or a catch up for deferred maintenance.

Overall Result of Recommendations


Recommendations 1. Combine maintenance activities of Roads, Water and Parks

2. Review and establish existing service levels, budget to meet those approved service levels, and develop the capacity to manage against those targeted and budgeted service levels.

3. There is need to continue recent efforts to improve staff-level customer service and the municipality’s business climate; among the measures needed are:

a) Greater efficiency and program effectiveness in building, planning, water, and economic development

b) Review processes for fill permits, property standards enforcement, burning permits, etc.

c) Incorporate better system-standards for municipal services to new properties, including additions to the tax roll

d) Redesign of 'front office' / customer-facing services and associated staff duties

e) Creation of an ‘advocate’ or ‘champion’ within the staff complement to advocate and expedite worthwhile economic investments

4. Initiate an integrated, consistently applied program of staff development, performance evaluation, succession planning, and continuous improvement

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Recommendations5. Integrate and streamline the Recreation functions in the Town:

a) Management and Operations – including:i. Single overall management responsibility for recreation activities /

facilities across the Town;ii. Distinguishing ‘outside’ maintenance activities from facilities

operation and recreation programmingb) Standardized, regularly reviewed fee structure, with improved processes

for collecting and tracking bookings and associated fee revenues; c) Over time, consider greater integration of major Town recreation and

leisure facilities, when existing facilities reach the end of their useful lives or require major refurbishing, including the participation of other public authorities, voluntary groups and complementary private entities

6. Greater consolidation facilities management, asset management and fleet management responsibilities, across all departments, to create a “One Erin” approach to service delivery and use of equipment / facilities

7. Improve administrative operations, including:a) Improved financial management systemsb) Records management and storagec) Management systems and communicationsd) Better IT support to Town operations, in both timeliness and application /

software support, and to aid contemporary customer-services

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