Monthly Archives: January 2011

Buses, boats, roofs and computers

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Throughout today council will meet with city staff to hear what capital projects they want included in the 2011 budget.

Capital projects are either large purchases (like a boat) or improvements to city-owned facilities (like a new roof).

These meetings will be live blogged throughout the day, giving you a real-time look at the discussions that will have a direct impact on the 2011 budget and residential taxes.

Earlier discussions about the operating budgets for city departments are summarized here. That story also includes links to all the original live blogs of the discussions.

There’ll be presentations from transit, IT, the police and fire departments, library, public works and the department running the greenhouse gas reduction plan.

The meetings start at 9 a.m.

How to pay for it all?

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City staff have presented council with almost $4 million in capital projects and maintenance. There isn’t enough money to cover all that and council is now working with staff to see what kind of money is available to pay for the projects they decide should go ahead.

This post will be updated throughout the afternoon as council and staff discuss the capital projects part of the 2011 budget.

2:42 p.m.
Staff are now walking council through the various reserve funds available to pay for capital projects.

Capital Projects Reserve

Photo source: swimparallel; Flickr; Creative Commons.

Staff are considering increasing parking meters to increase the money in the capital projects reserve so the city can pay for projects. This reserve gets all its input from the parking meters

Kevin Cormack, city manager, says staff proposes profit from parking meters goes towards street type projects like paving, retaining walls and sidewalks.

Coun. Marg Stacey asks if that includes revenue from parking tickets. No, says Cormack.

The take-home message is current parking meter rates aren’t enough to cover current capital works budgets.

Everything else is generated by taxation.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth asks why they wouldn’t institute a one per cent infrastructure tax? She brought this up last year but the decision was they didn’t want to do that until they had a longer term plan.

“To me this gives a great case for why we should,” says Charlesworth.

Macdonald says it makes sense to use the parking meters because those drivers are the ones using the streets.

On parking tickets outstanding, there’s $200,000 out there. The city started sending out notices to people about outstanding parking tickets and Kelly Swetlikoe, a city staffer, says it has “drastically” increased their collection.

I’m in favour of funding these projects but what about our capacity to deliver? asks Mayor John Dooley. We had trouble finding contractors to do the paving work, the mayor notes.

Water Licence Reserve

Cormack says they have almost $1.3 million in projects from a reserve with $436,519.

Some of the presentations this morning were “nice-to-haves” says Cormack, and this budget can’t afford to support those.

If we want to fund all those projects, we’re going to have to borrow, says Cormack.

Staff and council are working their way through the various reserves that could be used to pay for projects. It’s clear there isn’t enough money in the pot to pay for all the capital projects. Council will have to decide which requests from staff to approve and which to deny.

Coun. Donna Macdonald notes they had committed to creating an arts in public policy fund, supported through three per cent of building permits sold. She notes that fund has not been created yet.

Kelly Swetlikoe, the city staffer working with council, says she’ll include that in the next project.

3:26 p.m.
Tomorrow council will hear from transit as well as pulling together the

Charlesworth says it makes sense to borrow for utilities because that debt is funded through user fees.

She’s concerned about borrowing for capital projects because that debt would have to be supported through future taxation.

Cormack says that’s entirely the case. The city borrowed money for the Baker Street Bridge project because it’s a 70-year asset. Future taxpayers should help pay for it, he says.

3:35 p.m.
Now the meeting is adjourned.

The cost of Nelson’s infrastructure

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Allen Fillion, head of the city’s public works department, walks council through his department’s plans to work on roads, sewers and other infrastructure.

(This post is a live blog of council’s discussions with city staff on possible capital projects. None of the dollar values mentioned are settled.)

1. Street paving – Price tag: $600,000

Allen Fillion, head of the public works department, says so long as the the city stays on top of repaving, it stays cheaper. If they let the roads go, it becomes more expensive to fix them.

In 2010 the city had a hard time doing some of the repaving because the contractors were busy with economic stimulus projects.

For 2011, the cost of repaving is expected to go up.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth asks if they should up the budget if they have this infrastructure deficit.

Fillion says he’s glad Charlesworth asked that. In the coming years he wants to assess all the roads to come up with a long-term plan for replacing the roads.

This can be done with a special truck they’d bring in to look into the roads using radar.

The street paving plan also includes $600,000 in 2012 and again in 2013.

2. Lakeside Rotary Park boat launch Price tag: $30,000
The Rotary club wants to improve the boat launch/dock at the park. They’re asking the city to pay part of that project. It’s expected the total cost would be $75,000 to $90,000.

Fillion says it would be good for the city to partner with the Rotary to improve the docks.

The Rotary is also looking for support from CBT and the two adjacent RDCK areas (E and F).

Coun. Donna Macdonald says they could consider paying for the dock with community initiative grants (which comes from the Columbia Basin Trust).

3. Baker Street Bridge sidewalk – Price tag: $284,000
Thuis would add a curb, gutter, sidewalk, lighting and railing on Baker Street Bridge over Cottonwood Creek.

This money would cover half of the work, the other half would come from the province.

4. Realighnment of the intersection at Bealby and Holland St. Price tag: $80,000
This is a really bad intersection that Fillion says they want to align it and make it a safer intersection.

Bealby Road has been falling towards the CPR tracks as the log cribbing below the intersection rots.

1:45 p.m.

Photo source: Amanda M Hatfield, Flickr, Creative Commons.

5. Storm sewer extensions and connections – Price tag: $40,000
Fillion says this is in the budget every year. It’s work they try to do in conjunction with other city work.

So as they’re digging in one area they add in new storm sewer sections or connectiosn to improve draingage.

6. Storm sewer upgrades and expansions – Price tag: $50,000
Upgrading the storm sewer system minimizes water damage to property. Improvements also divert water from the storm system which makes its way into the pipe system that leads to the sewer treatment plant.

7. Storm sewer drainage study – Price tag: $50,000
Fillion wants a consultant to look at the downtown core and Hall Street and how they can address flooding and drainage issues.

Coun. Donna Macdonald asks if they’re considering climate change effects.

Fillion says yes.

8. Sanidump – Price tag: $75,000
This is money to have ready should they find a location for a sanidump, which is a facility used by RVs to dump their toilet contents.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth says it might be a mistake to leap on this idea. She’s afraid it might be a lot of work and not well planned out.

Has there been thought given to figuring out if this sanidump fits into the city’s long-term goals, she asks.

The sanidump could be a feature at the new visitor’s centre (planned for the CP station).

“This is sounding like something we’re leaping into without giving a lot of thought to,” she says.

Dooley says it’s important to have a sanidump in the city, but if the Nelson and District Chamber of Commerce is not driving this idea, then they shouldn’t do it.

“I find this very short-sighted if they’re [the chamber] not on top of this.”

The mayor says if there isn’t a plan for this around the visitor information centre, “take it off the table.”

Kevin Cormack, the city manager, says he’ll talk with the chamber of commerce and see what their thoughts are.

Coun. Deb Kozak says there is a sanidump at the city campground.

9. Storm sewer, catch basin install – Price tag: $35,000
These catch basins direct surface water into the storm system, not the sanitary system. They can save operating costs at the sewer treatment plant by diverting water that doesn’t have to be treated away the from the sanitary system.

2:02 p.m.
9. Rosemont Park – Price tag: $50,000
Fillion says in 2010 they installed services. This money is to continue improvements and put in playing fields.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth says two weeks ago they talked about developing a parks plan. She notes they don’t have Cottonwood Park. What happened to that?

Cormack says not to focus on the individual projects but the dollar amounts and the various projects that have been proposed. Then council can plan out their parks better.

10. Davies Street Park trails – Price tag: $100,000
This money is already committed as the city has entered into some joint funding to thie park.

11. Davies Street Park Development – Price tag: $150,000
Like above, the money here is already committed due to join funding.

Council has some questions around parks. As noted above, Charlesworth would like to see a parks plan.

Cormack says the $250,000 for Davies Street Park (numbers 10 and 11) are committed. There is also the $50,000 (number 9) and another $30,000 suggested for Lions Par tree replacement that the city could work with.

Cormack says staff will meet on parks and get a sense of the kind of numbers that are available.

12. Greenhouse Gas Emissions plan – Price tag: $194,492
This is an extensive list of items, none over $40,000. These items include things like occupancy sensors in stairwells to control lights, new lights that use less power and work on the city’s vehicles to collect stats on their usage.

There’s also a line item for a corporate climate action coordinator.

Swetlikoe says some of these items will have a payback over 10 to 15 years.

2:27 p.m.

Councillors question need for new police boat

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The Nelson Police Department wants to add a new computer system to handle vehicle investigations. Deputy Chief Henry Paivarinta likens what they’re using now to stone age technology.

Paivarinta also puts forward the case for replacing the police department’s boat, which earns him some tough questioning from councillors.

Council also looks at replacing other vehicles for public works.

This post will be updated throughout the afternoon as council and city staff discuss possible improvements to city buildings and infrastructure. First is the Nelson Police Department.

The dollar values in this post are requests from staff and council has made no decisions yet.

12:35 p.m.
Deputy Chief Henry Paivarinta is here to talk with council about a new piece of equipment they’re looking at for vehicle accident investigations. Price tag: $21,500.

What’s happened is the police’s traffic analysts are using methodology that’s been extinct for years.

It’s an instrument that will provide precise measurements in a fraction of the time.

It comes in 2D and 3D capabilities.

It’s the industry standard. By acquiring it they’re mitigating the potential for civil liability, says Paivarinta. The current method leaves the police department open to risk of human error.

Once the equipment is set up at an accident scene, an officer can walk around the scene and the equipment will take precise measurements of the location of things like the curb, car, where a body ended up.

Coun. Marg Stacey asks how often they would use this. Paivarinta says there were two major incidents last year (one involving a crash with a RCMP vehicle and another a death at the Canal Flats) but it can also be used in more minor accidents because it’s so much faster.

Coun. Deb Kozak asks if the RCMP has one of these and couldn’t the Nelson Police Department use it.

Paivarinta says there is one but that RCMP traffic officer covers a large part of the Kootenays.

The police have moved some other major items they would like to purchase further down the priority list because they feel this equipment (called the Vista FX Total Station) is more important.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth asks if he’s explored using the RCMP equipment. If the Nelson Police Department and RCMP already have an integrated road safety unit, why not use it?

Paivarinta says the RCMP version of this isn’t part of the integrated unit and the officer that operates it is based out of Salmo.

Coun. Donna Macdonald asks how often they’d use it. Paivarinta says they’d use it more if it was available to them. Over the last 12 months, at least a couple of times.

Council asks Paivarinta to talk with the RCMP about the potential of sharing their equipment.

There’s also a potential for public works to use the equipment for surveying tasks. Coun. Kozak asks how this equipment is better than what public works has now.

Allen Fillion, head of the public works department, says the equipment they have now is 15 years old and due for replacement in the next few years. There are concerns around compatiability for his department right now. He wants to do some more digging to see if they could incorporate it and if they could, his department would use it often.

Council liked hearing that because they felt the $21,500 was a high price tag for something that could be used twice a year.

Mayor John Dooley says that while the Nelson police and RCMP have a good relationship, decisions at the head office in Ottawa can change the agreement “at the stroke of a pen.”

Paivarinta says while council may flinch at the price tag, it’s worth it to avoid civil suits against the police department.

Equipment pool

Now they shift to the city’s equipment pool, which includes the police department and public works.

Fillion, head of public works, starts.

1. A sewer rodding truck which is used to remove blockages. Price tag: $80,000

Coun. Bob Adams, former head of public works before he became a councillor, says the old truck is an antique.

“We’ve soaked it for all we could soak it for,” says Fillion.

2. Plow truck – Price tag: $130,000

3. Vactor truck – Price tag: $350,000

The deputy police chief had to defend their police trucks to council. Photo by Chris Shepherd.

4. Police truck – Price tag: $60,000

For all these pieces of equipment, Dooley says they have to evaluate the value of the vehicle they’d like to replace. Is it worth more to trade it in now for a deal on a new vehicle or better to go a few more years with the old vehicle?

Coun. Deb Kozak says around vehicle replacement, they look at the cost of running vehicles and she wants to be sure they’re worth it.

The question she’s often asked is why do the police need two trucks?

Paivarinta says there are some places in town you can’t get to without 4×4 ability.

He also says the equipment that goes into the trucks is a certain size. Shotguns, computers and everything needed to have a mobile office.

Kozak says she doesn’t buy the idea that police cars can’t incorporate that “mobile office.” Paivarinta says the trucks are needed to get around Nelson’s topography.

There’s no difference in cost between police cars and police trucks, says Paivarinta.

“Policemen aren’t getting any smaller but cars are,” says Paivarinta.

5. Police Zodiac jet boat – Price tag: $25,000
Kozak has several questions for Paivarinta over the need to have the boat.

Kozak says her understanding is there are three emergency boats used by search and rescue in the area. The police boat would add a fourth.

“What we need to talk about as a council and a police board is where we want our policing services delivered and how,” says Kozak.

She wants to see a log book for a police boat so they can assess how much it is being used.

Mayor John Dooley says they would appreciate having a boat. The city has a waterfront that stretches its entire length.

“We enforce the complete community,” says Dooley.

Kozak and Dooley are almost talking over each other about this boat. Kozak says the RCMP have a boat, the mayor disagrees.

“Our citizens use our water on a considerable base. Which is why future council’s had the foresight to protect it,” Dooley says. “I think this is a good purchase.”

“This is a very small investment for a community that lives on the water,” says Dooley.

Seventeen years ago the police boat was donated to the police department. The RCMP and Nelson Police Department share dock costs.

Paivarinta says they’ve been deployed to upturned canoes, they’ve delivered ambulance staff to accidents, been up as far as Six Mile, utilized on Canada Day to keep people away from the fireworks. They use the boat to handle squatters in the summer.

Paivarinta says he doesn’t want to give up service capability by not replacing the boat. If somebody drowns on the lake and the family comes to talk to me, I don’t want to tell them I couldn’t respond because I don’t have a boat.

Coun. Marg Stacey asks for clarification on the need to replace a boat.

Paivarinta says the inflatable pontoons don’t attach as closely to the rigid hull as they used to, so it ships a lot of water. It doesn’t start as well as used to.

Stacey asks if they could overhaul the boat. Paivarinta says it would be difficult given the age of the boat. She asks him to look into that.

6. Police trailer – Price tag: $4,000
This is for the police boat.

7. Nelson Hydro 4×4 truck – Price tag: $40,000
1:19 p.m.

Chinatown plaque costs up, fire hall needs major improvements

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This post is part of council’s discussion on capital projects for the 2011 budget. It will be updated throughout the morning as talks progress. This post wil look at the proposed capital projects from the public works department.

11 a.m.

Chinatown plaque

Price tag: $4,000
Allen Fillion, head of public works, talks with council about a proposed plaque for Vernon and Hall.

The Columbia Basin Trust has put up $1,500 to this project as well.

Cormack says the waterfront master plan has identified Hall Street as a major connector between downtown and the waterfront.

Coun. Marg Stacey asks why they don’t put the plaque on the wall. They’re cheaper and don’t get in the way of future plans.

Council asks for assurances the project won’t become more expensive. When the project was initially proposed at an October council meeting, it was $3,000.

Coun. Deb Macdonald asks why they’re being asked for such a huge proportion (100 per cent) of the project. The skatepark proponents offered to pay the whole cost she says.

Mayor John Dooley says the skatepark proponents offered.

Council suggests the city go back to the Columbia Basin Trust and ask for more money because the cost of the project has increased.

Fire hall renovations

Photo by Chris Shepherd.

Price tag: $230,000

This price tag is an estimate and would require a $160,000 expense in 2012.

Work to date on the fire hall showed there’s no insulation at all in parts of the second floor.

Work on the building already started to improve the wiring. Not proceeding with this project would mean an increased operating budget to cover utilities and less usable space in the fire hall.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth says she doesn’t understand how this project fits in with a feasiblity plan they were presented with.

She understood there would be some recommendations on which path the city would go down around capital upgrades to the fire hall.

How do you know where you’re going in terms of this building, she asks.

Grypma says the plan for the fire hall was supposed to go into the overall city plan for all the buildings.

Regardless of what the fire department does with the building, these improvements need to be done to ensure this building stays a building of value to the city.

The fire department has long-term plans to eventually move out of their current location. No future site has been selected.

Cormack says since they did some work, like repairing some walls, they found there was no insulation at all and they can’t ignore that fact.

Cormack says the improvements are a prudent expense.

Mayor Dooley says these improvements need to be done but it also looks to commit the city to using that building as the fire hall for many years to come. Letting the building fall apart isn’t an option, he says.

Coun. Donna Macdonald says they need to be aware of public sentiment about why they should put money into that old building. It will be a good payback in the long term, she says.

Coun. Kim Charlesworth asks about the $160,000 in 2012. Grypma says that is the rest of the fire hall and the ground outside the garages.

There were some occassions this winter where the fire trucks were starting to slip downhill as they were parking them.

That $160,000 could be reduced if they don’t work on the ground. The ground work would allow them to heat it, melting the snow.

Charlesworth asks about a earlier report (called the Fairbanks study) that suggested they make the building earthquake proof.

Grypma says it would cost $2 million to make the building earthquake proof. If they were to make the structural upgrades necessary, the steel beams that would be added would make it impossible to park the fire trucks inside.

Grypma says the fire hall is one of the most unique and beautiful fire halls in the province. It was built 100 years ago and functionally, the fire hall is lacking.

There is provincial regulations that say fire halls need to be earthquake proof so they can be used as centres to respond to major disasters like an earthquake.

Charlesworth says she would be more comfortable if they knew where they’re going with the building. How long are they planning on using the fire hall has a fire hall?

Grypma agrees with Charlesworth.

Kevin Cormack, city manager, says if they chose to go with a new fire hall, they need to look at whether it makes sense to put the police and fire departments in the same building. That’s a question they’re looking at and yet they’re upgrading the police station. Cormack says the work there is a prudent way to ensure the buildings stay functional and useful.

Dooley says the reality is the more work they do to the building makes it harder to decide they should build a new fire hall in the future.

He also wants a more accurate estimate of the costs to the budget can be as accurate as possible.

“For me right now, it’s too wishy-washy,” says the mayor.

Grypma says he’s been working with engineers and architects to get hard costs. He hopes to have that done before the capital budget is approved.

Coun. Marg Stacey asks when was the last time they had an earthquake in Nelson. Why do we have to follow those requirements?

Cormack says it’s a provincial statute they have to follow. They have an exemption for the time being because of the age of the building.

Coun. Deb Kozak says emergency services are important and will increase in the coming years. She wants them to consider the functionality of the buildings.

She’s heard from residents that protective services are expensive and there needs to be a clear rationale for increased costs.

11:33 a.m.
Charlesworth says given the uncertainty of the actual dollar figures and that tomorrow afternoon is when they’re going to make their decisions, which figure are they going to consider?

Cormack says they’re better off to budget higher so they don’t have to borrow or go into reserves to accomplish what they’ve set out to do.

Nelson and District Youth Centre

The roof needs to be replaced and soon, says Allen Fillion. Christine Schmidt, who runs the centre, says they’re looking at adding a second storey to that building and believes they can “limp along” with the current roof.

Cicada Place, a youth housing facility, did do a study some time back that looked into using the roof for housing.

Coun. Donna Macdonald has some historical context. She says housing on the roof didn’t happen when Cicada Place was built because the council of the time wanted the building to retain its potential for industrial use.

Parkade

Resurfacing – Price tag: $70,000
Fillion says they did reno work in 2010. Work done in 2010 was based on a report done in 2007. What they found was the surface had deteriorated even more than anticipated. They didn’t do all the work necessary.

“If we don’t do the work this year we’re exposing ourselves to even higher costs in the future,” says Fillion.

The risk is water and salt getting into the concrete and causing damage.

This project would also look at fixing tsome beams in the structure. The resurfacing would be done on the top level of the parkade.

Macdonald asks about the business plan for the parkade. Are they breaking even? If they aren’t, maybe they should reassess the plan, she says.

Fillion says he has had that thought before. They’ve never done a formal business plan. It brings in $50,000 a year in revenue. Every five years they have to sink in large investments like this. The year-to-year upkeep runs roughly $7,000 a year.

Dooley says they should discuss the cost of parking. Larger communities are much more expensive.

The current operator sets the parking prices, says Fillion. The contract with the operator comes up in the next year.

Coun. Deb Kozak asks about how much of the revenue that’s directed elsewhere.

Cormack says the $50,000 goes into general revenue.

Civic Centre

Energy audit – Price tag: $30,000
This is to do an energy audit like what they did for the library and city hall. It will give them a plan for what’s really needed in the long-term.

Fillion says this is a good estimate and could be a bit high. It’s based on what they paid for the earlier audits.

Macdonald asks if it makes sense to spend this money if they don’t know what the city’s plans are for the building.

Fillion says it does because the Civic Centre isn’t going anywhere.

Capitol Theatre

Plans for the Capitol came out of the city’s greenhouse gas emission study. In the plans are $39,480 for an improved heating system and $12,000 for another part of the heating system.

These costs will save the operator an impressive amount of money, says council.

Charlesworth asks why staff haven’t included a line item in the budget for evaluating all the city-owned buildings.

Swetlikoe says an integrated proposal hasn’t been developed yet. On the operating side of the city’s budget some of these things are being looked at.

11:58 a.m.
Lunch time. After lunch, the police department.

Fixing up city buildings

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This post will be a live blog of council’s discussions on improvements to city-owned buildings. This post will be updated throughout the morning.

City hall

The first section is work on city hall, 310 Ward Street. Some of these projects will be reimbursed by the province, which also uses the building.

Jon, from public works, will walk council through this part of the meeting.

Cormack says they have no specific reserve fund for buildings. They usually use their water licence fund to pay for upgrades to buildings.

The value of city buildings is recorded as almost $34 million.

Jon says there was a report done last year which looked at the condition of the buildings and the possible energy savings that could be done. This report looked at city hall and the library. Out of that report come these recommendations.

1. Cooling tower replacement. Price tag: $33,131.15
This is basically a radiator for the building. The one on city hall is at the end of its life. Without it, the building will get hotter and hotter and hotter, says Jon.

The province will share in the cost of this item. The price tag is actually $106,875 but the price tag listed above is the city’s share.

Jon says they’re assuming the province will share in this cost. There as been some decreased communication with the province on greenhouse gas emission projects (like this radiator). Jon notes the lease on the building says the province has to share in the costs like this project.

Coun. Macdonald asks about other parts of this project which lists adding variable speed fans to the system.

Jon says that isn’t included in the $33,131 price tag. Jon looks through the records in front of council admits he isn’t sure where that should fall in the documents.

Swetlikoe says that’s her fault. She wasn’t sure where some items should go in the records and there’s a line item farther down the spreadsheet for the fans: $1,512. (It isn’t clear if that’s the city’s share or the total cost)

Kozak asks if staff are looking at any grants to do some major renovations to city hall.

10:06 a.m.
Jon says none of the projects are massive overhauls of the building. They’re aimed at making the existing system more efficient.

Jon says they should have done more back when the province used more of the building (and would have therefore paid a greater share of).

2. Card access $5,000
This will allow the city to use a cardlock system to make the building more secure.

There are a lot of keys floating around in the community to this building, says Cormack.

This cost will actually be paid for out of the 2010 budget.

3. Rear basement door replacement Price tag: $17,437
This improvement improves the accessibility of city hall, especially for people with mobility issues.

That price tag is the city’s share.

There are two sliding doors at the basement entrance to city hall. The doors are old and not well placed and make it hard for people to get into the building, says Jon.

They also would like to add a wheelchair ramp to the parking lot.

This would mean cutting down a tree behind the building. (Jon makes some comment about not telling anyone in the community and the city staff and councillors who know me look over at me, wondering if I’m going to report what Jon suggested)

Council and staff now discuss some options to cutting down trees, including finding other ways to access the building.

Jon says people often end up using the parking lot behind city hall, which is where they end up using the basement doors.

4. Reflooring the main floor Price tag: $8,437
This would be the area open to the public on the main floor. This price tag is the city’s share. The province would also chip in.

Jon also says they’re talking with the province about redesigning the main floor to make it easier for people navigate the area, finding their way to provincial or municipal services as needed.

The hope is to reduce the amount of staff time spent helping people find what they need.

5. Refinish lobby interior of the main, second and basement floors Price tag: $25,500

The city has never done much to “stamp” the building’s interior with the city’s brand.

310 Ward St. is still called the provincial building (or the White Elephant) but the city hasn’t put effort into branding it, says Jon.

This item to refinish the lobbies is meant to deal with the appearance. The lobbies don’t have to be refinished, says Jon.

The plan is to have the city’s crest laid in tile on the floor.

Kozak asks if there are any future plans to work on the lobbies that could impact the floors. Aside from the basement doors (mentioned earlier) there are no plans for the lobbies, says Jon.

Jon offers to take council on a quick tour of the building during one of their breaks. He wants to take them to the fifth floor, down to the boiler room and look at the exterior.

Stacey says she wants to have a conversation about aesthetics.

Cormack says this item is a “nice to have.”

6. City hall exterior cleaning, repairing and possible refinishing or recladding Price tag: $75,000 to $350,000
Jon says he’s had many comments that the exterior of the building is looking a little dirty.

The exterior has never been painted and Jon says once you paint, you never stop. It requires ongoing upkeep.

Jon would like to hire a consultant to look at the exterior envelope of 310 Ward St. to look at options: clean and repair?; repair, clean and paint?; cover the stucco with metal?

There is a concern about cleaning the building and the risk that could lead to mould growing in the walls.

Jon says they could paint the building a new colour or have large murals.

Dooley says some cities have looked at having large murals on their buildings that change on a regular basis. He’d like Jon to consider that in the discussions.

The mayor also asks for them to look at improving the insulation.

Jon says 310 Ward was built 40 years ago “when energy was free.” In the 1970s they weren’t thinking as much about energy efficiency but that said, 310 Ward St. isn’t terribly inefficient.

10:39 a.m.
The $75,000 would include cleaning, repairing and a consultant fee. Once staff get the consultant’s report then council can make a more informed decision.

Jon says this building is going strong “but it looks pretty bad.”

Dooley says he’d like to flag this item as one to pull. He would prefer the consultant’s report first before they go and clean and repair the envelope. What if the consultant’s report says the envelope needs to be completely overhauled?

Jon asks if there’s a sense that 310 Ward St. is an architectural landmark? He wants to know how deep he should go with this investigation.

Macdonald says she’d like to look at opening up the front to create a community centre.

Cormack says the consultant will look at the larger property. There is underutilized space on this property.

10:47 a.m.
They’re taking a five-minute break.

Editor’s note, Feb. 1: This story was corrected to report the city turns to the water licence fund, created through money paid to the city for dams, to improve its buildings. Initially, the story incorrectly reported it was the water reserve fund.

IT wants to improve efficiency

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9:07 a.m.
This post is a live blog of Nelson council’s discussions on the capital projects for the 2011 budget. Check back regularly for updates as the morning progresses.

None of the dollar values listed below have been approved. They are all requests at this moment.

Photo source: sampsyo, Flickr, Creative Commons.

Today could either be intersting or overwhelming. The agenda for today comes with a 12-page spreadsheet full of numbers detailing the 2009 and 2010 budgets along with projections up to 2015.

In attendance today are Councillors Bob Adams, Margaret Stacey, Deb Kozak, Kim Charlesworth, Donna Macdonald and Mayor John Dooley. No Coun. Robin Cherbo yet.

From staff is Kevin Cormack, city manager; Dave Wahn, city planner; Kelly Swetlikoe, finance (I think.); and Frances Long, manager of legislative and administrative services.

The transit portion of today’s presentation has been moved to tomorrow.

Simon Grypma, chief of the fire department, and Bob Slade, deputy chief, just joined the meeting.

Swetlikoe explains the meeting, which will follow the spreadsheet order, starting with the IT (information technology) department.

Cormack says some items are in the equipment replacement fund and won’t be included in today’s discussion. So that other equipment has already been “paid” for because the money was set aside earlier.

Swetlikoe gives council some background for today’s talks. Because of provincial legislation, cities have to include the amortization of equipment and buildings into their budget. This was meant to get cities to start more long-term budget planning and preparing for when equipment and buildings wear out.

(Third coffee of the morning done. Two at home, one from the city)

IT

Long tells council what they’re seeing for IT is reduced from previous years and they removed a major project to allow them to settle on what they really need.

1. The first item for IT is network switch upgrades. Price tag: $16,450. The switch is needed to preserve the computers.

This will upgrade the library’s Internet connection to the city. Their current system is a bottleneck.

Long says the upgrade wouldn’t affect customer service.

Coun. Kozak asks how much communication goes between the city and the library. A fair bit. Cormack says the switch is also at the end of its life.

Kozak says they just spent a pile of money on upgrading computers at the library and she wants to understand the details.

2. Network wiring. Price tag: $65,000
This is for the public works building, which is using computer wiring that was installed 15 years ago.

Improvements here will allow for faster processing and data transfer.

Cormack says once the new wiring is done the city will be set for many years.

This would be the first of a multi-year project.

9:25 a.m.

3. Computer/Printer replacement program. Price tag: $60,000
This is part of the city’s five-year program to switch out old printers and computers.

Macdonald notes the sheets accompanying each of these requests also includes information on ongoing operating budgets associated with the capital improvements.

Swetlikoe says the idea is to reflect the operating impacts of capital improvements so the city budgets accordingly.

This is part of a multi-year project

4. Virtualization of servers. Price tag: $22,100
Long says this makes the existing servers more efficient, both in terms of energy and computation.

5. Council chambers – upgrade audio system Price tag: $8,000
This will relace the existing sound system in council chambers (Which would be great from my point of view. There’s an odd interference that comes from the speakers at times.)

6. Pooled software purchase. Price tag: $40,000
Long says they don’t have a lot of options on some of the software purchases because some of the software is obsolete and they’re unable to follow industry standards with what they have now.

7. Records management Price tag: $15,000
Here they want to hire a consultant to help them improve the city’s record management. The consultant will help them decide how to do this.

Couns. Charlesworth and Macdonald ask for clarification as they feel this is a major priority for the city.

Long says they’re not sure just how they’re going to change records management. The option is to go fully digital and get rid of paper or have some things digital and still keep the paper. There are questions around having records that cannot be altered.

City staff spend a lot of time searching for records.

Swetlikoe notes the City of Nelson’s paper record system doesn’t meet current standards.

Coun. Kozak asks when they expect to hire a consultant. Long says they’ll arrive in February.

Cormack says staff have improved their system already. They’ve adopted some new standards for paper filing. Anything new is put into this system. It’s the past records that need to be taken into the new system.

Long says the new system will also make records searchable by the public, which would take some of the work load off city staff. (That would be an amazing resource for residents.)

Coun. Stacey asks about property disputes that have been around for years. What things will be included in the retroactive filing?

Long says staff have a lot of work to do on the paper side. There are records out there they don’t even know about.

“We really have a lot of work to do to get our paper house in order,” says Long.

Swetlikoe says part of the new system is just learning what records actually have to be kept.

Kozak asks about the library upgrade (which relates to the network switch item.)

Charlesworth asks by the Nelson and District Youth Centre isn’t included in this IT section. Staff say that will fall under the youth centre’s capital budget.

9:47 a.m.
Kozak says records management is a huge issue. She understands it’s the lowest “ask” for the capital budget but she feels searching for records is a huge time sink for staff and she wants some major advance done on this before the November municipal election. She doesn’t want this passed onto the next council.

Long says the intent is to have work by the consultant done long before the fall elections.

Dooley says it’s great to see these capital projects laid out with some sense of a plan behind it.

Next buildings and facilities

Stephen Harper! The Musical

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PRESS RELEASE from the Capitol Theatre

  • What: Theatre – Stephen Harper! The Musical
  • When: Sunday, Feb. 6, 8 p.m.
  • Where: The Capitol Theatre, 421 Victoria St.

Photo submitted.

Award-winning playwrights The Shehori Brothers bring you Stephen Harper! The Musical. After taking a beating in the polls following the latest parliamentary scandal, the PM and his advisors need to find a way to turn things around before the looming election. Against Harper’s better judgment his team devises a winning strategy: create a musical about the Canadian Prime Minister’s life, but not for Canadian audiences, rather for Broadway.

The touring troupes at The Second City have been the springboard for generations of the comedy world’s best and brightest. Its alumni list includes: Tina Fey, John Belushi, Bill Murray, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, John Candy, Martin Short, Julia Louis Dreyfus, Chris Farley, Mike Myers, and more. In addition to stellar talent, Second City’s other chief export is comedy that is both hilarious and thought provoking; smart and silly; sophisticated and wild. Drawing from the vast archives of material that Second City has created over 40 plus years, The Second City touring companies are also creating on-the-spot, topical comedy that changes with every performance.

The diversity of Second City performances are matched by the diversity of its venues, as the company has taken its act on the road to theatres, festivals, colleges, and performing arts centers in every state of the union and to international audiences from Singapore to Vienna.

Tickets are $25 for adults, $20 for full-time students and are available online.

Ultrasound services cut in Nelson and Castlegar

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An “extreme shortage” of ultrasound techs means Interior Health is cutting two different kinds of ultrasound service in Nelson and Castlegar until they can hire more people to run the machines.

Photo source: gregor_y, Flickr, Creative Commons.

Starting on Tuesday, Feb. 1 in Nelson echocardiography (heart ultrasound) will no longer be available. As of Thursday, Feb. 3 in Castlegar, no form of ultrasound will be offered.

Thalia Vesterback, director of diagnostic imaging for Interior Health East, says Interior Health has given doctors a heads up about the shortages.

“The technologist who’s gone off on leave did go off earlier than anticipated, that might be a bit of why it looks like a sudden panic.”

Despite the short notice to the public, Vesterback says Interior Health was aware the shortages were coming and has been trying to fill the vacancies. In the meantime, the health authority is looking to use contractors to fill some of the service gaps.

Heart ultrasound no longer available in Nelson

Interior Health will continue to provide the “vast majority” of ultrasound service in Nelson, however the echocardiography service (heart ultrasound) will be cut.

“That is because of the specialized training that’s needed to do that kind of study and the shortage of technologists we have in this region who have that skill set.”

Patients who need an emergency heart ultrasound will have to go to Trail, an hour down the highway from Nelson.

Vesterback says the majority of heart ultrasounds are not part of treatment for emergencies like heart attacks.

Other ultrasound services will still be available in Nelson.

Castlegar’s ultrasound shut down for now

Castlegar’s ultrasound will be shut down because they don’t have an ultrasound technologist to go to Castlegar on a regular basis.

Castlegar patients needing ultrasound services (not heart ultrasound) will have to go to Nelson or Trail.

This is not the first dilemma for the ultrasound in Castlegar. In October 2010, Interior Health announced plans to move the city’s ultrasound to Trail. The news sparked protests among the public and the city council even closed the road leading to the Castlegar and District Community Health Centre to all truck traffic in an effort to stop the equipment from leaving.

Interior Health backed away from moving Castlegar’s ultrasound but has said it can only guarantee the equipment will stay for a year.

Vesterback repeated what she said last year: that the ultrasound machine is not leaving the community.

Priority is supporting acute care in Trail, Nelson

Vesterback says Interior Health’s priority is to provide staffing for the acute care offered at Kootenay Boundary Regional Hospital in Trail and Kootenay Lake Hospital in Nelson.

So the emphasis on using their ultrasound techs is to send them to Nelson and Trail.

IH looking at contractors to as a temporary measure

Interior Health is looking at alternative ways to fill the vacancies, including bringing in locums and finding contractors to work in Nelson and Castlegar. The health authority is reviewing a list of applicants – both individuals and companies – to a call they put out for ultrasound technologists. Vesterback says they’ll use these contractors to keep their wait lists down.

Just who are the contractors? Vesterback says she doesn’t know a lot about them. Interior Health would prefer to hire people to become permanent members of their staff, Vesterback says, but there are ultrasound technologists looking to work temporarily in different places and then go elsewhere.

Will using contractors be more expensive? Vesterback says part of the process in evaluating the applications from contractors is looking at the total costs and balancing that against meeting the needs of patients.

Vesterback says she’ll look at staffing levels over the next six to eight months and where they’ll need to use contractors to fill the needs. Wait times will play a role in that decision process.

Filling the vacancies

The problem lies in finding technologists to run the ultrasound machines.

“We have an extreme shortage of ultrasound techs across Interior Health and across the province,” says Vesterback. In fact, she says, the shortage is worldwide and the health authority has been struggling for years to fill the vacancies.

Interior Health has 14 vacancies listed on their website.

Vesterback traces the shortage to the fact not enough ultrasound technologists are being trained. There is hope, in the long term, however. Vesterback says changes to the curriculum at BCIT means that institute should start turning our more of the needed technologists.

The first grads aren’t expected until 2012 and even then, Interior Health will have to compete with the rest of the world. Vesterback says she’s heard about job postings from Australia for ultrasound techs.

Landlords donate to former Kerr residents

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The West Kootenay Landlords Society has made a large cash donation of $1,750 to assist the victims who lost their homes in the Kerr’s Apartments fire.

“We recognize the community has really come together in helping the victims of the Kerr fire and as members of the community, we felt we had to do something to help these tenants as they try to get back on their feet. As I understand it, very few of the residents there had tenants insurance, which means that they will be starting from scratch,” says Trevor Jenkinson, president of the society.

Many WKLS members had already made personal contributions to the victims of the Kerr before the hat was passed around during the last meeting. “We had some extra funds that we had decided to donate and then a lot of members stepped up with additional donations at the meeting” Jenkinson said. “Even though we don’t have any connection to the Kerr, I’m quite impressed by the individual generosity of our members.”

“Hopefully, this will help those people displaced by the fire to replace some lost items and help them find a new home a soon as possible”.

WKLS is a non profit organization of local rental property owners and managers that promotes good landlord-tenant relations by providing support, education and advice.

For more information on WKLS, you can call 1-877-255-9823 or visit their website.