For the final instalment of our mayoralty candidate series the focus shifted to infrastructure, which is perhaps the most important responsibility for a municipal government.

We asked, “From buildings and facilities to sidewalks, roads and the systems buried beneath them, infrastructure is arguably the most important responsibility of a municipal government. Where does infrastructure sit in your list of priorities and what plans do you have to drive maintenance and renewal of existing infrastructure along with additions to the City’s list of assets?”

Below are their answers. Remember to get out and vote on Oct. 26.

David Bosiak

Infrastructure affects people’s lives every day. It is the literal foundation we build our community on. We drive and walk on it. We turn on our taps, we flush our toilets, we play in our recreation facilities and our parks. We expect our infrastructure to meet our most basic needs. As such, it is the most important responsibility of a municipal government.

The City is well positioned to deal with the ongoing challenges of managing and operating our different types of infrastructure. This is primarily due to our current financial position of little debt, healthy capital and utility reserve funds, and the relatively good condition of much of our visible infrastructure. We don’t want to “get behind the eight ball” and constantly be trying to catch up, though. We need to make smart investments in our infrastructure and ensure it is keeping pace with our ever-changing needs.

One specific action that I will encourage new council and staff to address is our capital asset management plan. An asset management plan is used by municipalities to determine the life cycle management of its major infrastructure and provides an outline for infrastructure and equipment upgrades and/or replacement. It generally allows a municipality to ensure it has the resources and timeline to replace infrastructure when necessary and to keep the city operating in the most effective and cost-efficient manner possible.

An effective asset management plan helps save the city money. Major breakdowns usually have a ripple effect causing costly disruptions to city services and operations. A well executed plan avoids these situations by making sure the city’s infrastructure is in good working condition.

I will ensure that new council puts review of the plan at the top of our priority list. We need to keep it a relevant, current template that guides our city in making the appropriate repairs, upgrades and replacements at the most cost-effective time with the least disruption in service.

Adhering to a well-developed plan will allow us to regularly review our priorities, and measure them against grant opportunities from other levels of government. We must further ensure efficiencies found in sustainable development initiatives be maximized. Inputs from council as they meet with community members must be communicated effectively to administrative staff and vice versa. We have to continually revise and update this plan – and use it to guide our annual capital budgeting process.

Much of our city infrastructure is visible, and most of this is in reasonable to very good condition. The recent announcement of funding for upgrades to our lagoon suggests our sewage treatment system will have the capacity to serve the growing needs of our community for many years to come. We have a relatively new City Hall and our recreation facilities are in their “mid-life”, meaning they are in good condition but will require certain mechanical and system upgrades as they continue to age. Our public works shop is in relatively decent condition considering its age, but will require significant improvements soon. These issues must be identified in our plan and be addressed appropriately by council.

The city also has a considerable invisible network of infrastructure, most of it buried beneath our community. Some of this system consists of old and leaden pipes that need to be replaced or re-lined. Upgrades must be considered, which may ultimately save us money in the long run, as water main break repairs are a costly item in the city budget.

Can we do this all at once? Not likely. We have to be logical and plan, budget, execute, learn and focus on best practices. We will start this process by ensuring our asset management plan is current, and being used appropriately. We need to invest wisely.

If elected mayor on Oct. 26, I will ensure council and staff work together to provide citizens the best possible value for the infrastructure we all need, rely on and have come to expect from our great little city.

Kerri Riehl

We cannot move forward unless we have a solid foundation. There have been many changes within the last two years thrusting the city into an environment of great upheaval. Inflation is the highest it’s been since 1983. That changes every aspect of community and daily life for us all. Great change requires strategic planning. Once a strategic plan has been completed the next step is an organizational review. The City of Dauphin’s strategic plan was released in 2021 outlining goals and priorities to lead decision making between 2021 and 2024. The first goal of the strategic plan is a sustainable community. That encompasses everything mentioned in the question from buildings, facilities, sidewalks and roads.

The question is do we have the infrastructure planning, internal processes, analyses, and the blueprints for change in place? Have our priorities shifted since the strategic plan was developed? We can’t keep doing what we were doing two years ago. There have been drastic changes.

I was asked numerous times what I wanted to accomplish in my first 100 days as mayor, and this was my response. An organizational review. The city does a financial plan and a financial yearly audit. I don’t see that an organizational review has been completed. The two go hand in hand. The organizational review helps understand how work needs to be structured to achieve desired goals.

An organizational review is an assessment of jobs, tasks, and how positions are related and inter-related. It is a targeted effort to understand how work gets done now, what work is most important to accomplish, and how it may need to flow differently. It seeks to identify the levels and nature of the knowledge, skills, and abilities that the city has or requires if it is to match resources with priorities.

There are free resources to assist municipalities with an organizational review. The timing is right to view things with a fresh lens with the best and honest intentions. Any bias, positive or negative, must be parked. It is not an assessment of people or of their level of performance. It’s conducting a position analyses. This is not about targeting staff or reducing positions. It is about focusing the organization on excellence and the work and processes that support it.

For example, our roads and back alleys. They require maintenance and repair. We have excellent staff who can address this infrastructure. Is it finances? Do we have enough staff? Are there too many other critical priorities? Can we obtain services of other trades? Is it a lack of equipment? We have roads in town that are the province’s responsibility. These include River Avenue, Main Street, 2nd Avenue NW, and 1st Ave NE. The city is responsible for the parking lane and gutter. Imagine how that works for snow removal and the predicament this causes for our snow clearing staff. The snow piled in the middle of the road down Main Street is the province’s responsibility to remove. Is there not an opportunity to work with the province to address this which would facilitate a better solution for our city staff regarding snow removal? A win/win for both?
Some roads in town have a six-inch drop in pavement from the road to the gutter. Sidewalks need repair with large drops in some cracks. We need to consider mobility of our citizens. During a parade this summer a long-term citizen fell crossing the street from one side of the road to the other on Main Street. This individual tore their meniscus, hurt their shoulder and back. They still are receiving treatment 2-1/2 months later from infrastructure.

The city draft plan recently released has many great ideas and demonstrates a snapshot of where we are currently, and where they would like to go in the next 25 years. It doesn’t align with the cities’ first strategic plan’s goals that was completed a year ago. Does the strategic plan need to be redone even though it was implemented in 2021, or is this the new strategic plan?

Therefore, the organizational review is critical. It removes people and positions from the equation and identifies how to achieve goals. There has been a high level of staff turnover in key critical positions within city staff over the last four years. Mayor Irwin died in November of 2017. There will be four different mayors for the city in the last five years. We need consistency over time. At 54 years old, I am dedicated to seeing the long-term vision for Dauphin to become a reality. Change requires time.

We cannot blaze a path forward until we know where we are headed, how were going to get there, and determine if our current infrastructure can provide us with the solid foundation, we require to achieve our goals. How can we do better if we don’t know better?

I would appreciate your vote on Oct. 26. Thank you.