1. Rural Challenges of Asset Management
Mike Hausser, P.Eng
Manager of Public Works
Huron County

2. Huron County … Upper Tier with 9 Municipalities and Townships within
Services
Children’s Services
Economic Development
Emergency Services (Ambulance)
Health Unit
Homes for the Aged
Housing & Property Services
Library
Ontario Works
Planning & Development
Public Works
Ontario’s West Coast (100km of shoreline)

3. Huron County… a few metrics …
26,500 Residential Properties
8,300 Farm Properties
Population – 59,000 (2011) in 28,050 households
3,415 km ^2 area
$40M tax levy
775km of road – most of it posted at 90 km/hr
193 Bridge/Culverts (>3m)
Culverts < 3m …
Driveway entrances ~ 50,000
Guiderails – 47.5 km ( ??m needed)
2,973 signs in inventory … still counting
Urban drainage 27.8 km

4. Challenges Advantages Long term staff Local knowledge
Well rounded experience
Pride & Solid Work Ethic
Strong sense of ownership
Strong sense of value – cost is more ‘personal’
The ‘Usual’…
Asset Inventory
Condition Assessments
Policy on Service Levels
Technology
Information Management
Integration
Reporting
Staff resources are very limited
‘many hats’ – ‘too few heads’
Consulting Services lack the ‘advantages’ of staff
Cell Phone Connectivity
Knowledge Management
Retirement ‘wave’ fast approaching
Institutional Knowledge with retiring staff

5. Rural AM Resource Challenge…
Existing staff are fully consumed in day-to-day
Each individual has a very wide range of duties
Relatively little time for ‘change management’
Little time / funding available for training
Expertise in identifying functional requirements for functional/technological change process is very limited
Alignment of existing or new technology to business process change can be exceptionally difficult without significant external consulting support
Consultant can provide a report or an opinion, but generally not able to implement change – that is left to existing staff (who don’t typically have capacity to do it)
Technology often used focuses on single-purpose functions – locking information into isolation.

6. Funding – Levy Challenge…
Low density population – high volume infrastructure
Example:
Cambridge – 550 km of road / 120,000 people
Huron County – 775 km of county road / 59,000 people
Does NOT include # of km of local roads
Significant seasonal ‘through’ or ‘destination’ traffic
Assessment categories DIFFERENT than urban areas…
Limited ability to balance tax burden

8. Ontario Assessment Trends
Residential increases – 4.5% annually (last 5 years) -> 18% in next 4 years
Multi-Res – 7% (last 5 years) -> 28% in next 4 years
Farmland – 16% annually (last 5 years) -> 64% in next 4 years
Commercial – 3% annually -> 12%
Industrial – 3% annually -> 12%
Source: MPAC 2016 Assessment Update, Municipal Summary Report– December 2016

9. A few ideas to help rural/small municipalities…..
Teach what is needed
Examples of what works (not necessarily technology)
Leverage simple tools – spreadsheet, GIS, modules in existing toolsets
Council education tools/materials
Public Education tools/materials
…. Regulation …..
Dedicated AM funding for small municipalities for AM staff
AM Training (including travel expenses)
Full time staff ( or shared between lower/upper tiers )
Change management to work AM into existing processes/systems.

10. Discussion / Questions….