HomeMy WebLinkAboutADMIN-2-97f,
THE CORPORATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF CLARINGTON
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REPORT
Meeting: Council
Date: January 27 1~
Report #: ~~ Filg.~: -
Subject:
Co-operative approach to the provision of
Municipal Services
REPORT #2
File # r p 3 c' ~~
Res. # _
By-Law #
Recommendations:
It is respectfully recommended that Council approve the following
1. THAT Report Admin. 2 -97 be received;
2. THAT the Chief Administrative Officer with the appropriate Staff, be directed to
continue investigations with the City of Oshawa on the cost of services that could be
provided on a co-operative basis with Clarington, and report back to Council;
3. THAT Staff investigate and report back on the possibility and potential costs related
to the use of the Oshawa City Hall for use as a Municipal Emergency Operations
Centre;
4. THAT Staff investigate with the City of Oshawa and the Province, the potential for
the funding of a joint project under the Joint Emergency Preparedness Plan, and if
allowed, prepare and submit an amended application to the J.E.P.P. for such a
project; and
5. THAT the Chief Administrative Officer of the City of Oshawa, Mr. J. Brown, and
his Staff, be thanked for the co-operative participation in the discussions relating to
the co-operative provision of municipal services to date, and informed of Council's
direction to proceed with cost analysis and future recommendations.
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Background:
1.0 The Chief Administrative Officer verbally reported to Council in 1996, that some
preliminary discussions had taken place with Chief Administrative Officer of Oshawa
regarding the potential for a co-operative approach to the provision of municipal
services. Council endorsed the initiative and directed that Staff continue these
discussions.
1.1 The City of Oshawa Staff were very receptive to the idea and discussions focused on
the sharing of some services, the enhancement of some services for Clarington and
the potential for some cost recovery of services for Oshawa.
2.0 The following summarizes the preliminary results of those meetings:
1. Fire Dispatch: There is a potential for both municipalities to save money if
Oshawa provides central dispatch services for Clarington. Oshawa currently
provides dispatch services for Scugog, and they have the capacity with existing
hardware to include Clarington. There would be some minor cost related to
software and data input. Under this scenario Clarington would not require
upgrades to existing hardware that would be required in the near future, and
subject to negotiations, the cost of the four dispatch personnel could be
redirected to other areas or reduced. Oshawa would reduce their overall
costs by charging on a "cost for service" basis, and they would be able to
proportionally cost share future capital expenditures.
2. Fire Services -Cross Border: Some discussion took place with regard to both
Oshawa and Clarington analyzing Courtice area services and the placement
of a station in a location to provide the most effective response time to
residents of both communities. This is consistent with the Provincial directive
to initiate "automatic" response.
3. Computer Services/G.I.S.: Oshawa is receptive to sharing on a "cost for
service" basis; software, information and assistance in the area of computer
technology. This extends to the geographic information system which
Clarington is currently implementing. The G.I.S. that Oshawa has employed
may not be compatible with Clarington's proposed system, however staff are
currently making arrangements to visit with Oshawa staff and investigate the
opportunities.
4. Financial System/Budget Program: Oshawa has developed or purchased a
new general ledger system which they have suggested may be of interest to
Clarington. At this time, the Clarington financial system is custom designed
and offers more integration than what Oshawa's system offers, however, we
have suggested that we will remain "in touch" and will investigate further
when Clarington is at the point of moving to a generic system.
,•
5. Human Resources: This topic was discussed and Oshawa has concurred that
it is more difficult to offer assistance in an area that is as unique as human
resources. In addition, they suggested that Clarington is in a beneficial
position by managing human resource issues, negotiations, etc., without a
separate department and the associated costs.
6. Municipal Operations Centre for Emergencies: Oshawa was asked to
consider the possibility for Clarington to use the Oshawa City Hall as a
Municipal base in the event of either a nuclear emergency or a severe non-
nuclear situation. This would alleviate the need for Clarington to pursue
construction of a new facility for this purpose, and any upgrades required for
Oshawa could be a shared cost for them. The potential for Provincial aide
under the Joint Emergency Preparedness Plan (JEPP) may be more secure
under a joint initiative. This opportunity is being further explored, with the
intention to discuss it further with representatives from the Province.
2.1 The discussions indicated an immediate opportunity for sharing or providing some
services on a co-operative basis. It is recommended that staff continue with the
investigation of cost and particulars of service delivery related to the services
identified above, and any others that are brought forward by staff, and report back
to Council.
3.0 In addition to the above, the following services are already administered on a Region
wide or a co-operative basis by Council endorsed agreements:
• Co-operative Buyers Group -joint tendering and bulk purchases
• Insurance -Area Municipal Group Purchase
4.0 The Chief Administrative Officer, on the initiative of Mayor Hamre at Regional
Council, will also be participating in a Region wide "Who Does What" committee .
This committee will investigate the general service delivery functions and will
potentially be making recommendations on the appropriateness of responsibilities
assigned to the upper tier and the lower tier municipalities.
4.1 It is not anticipated that the above initiative with the City of Oshawa will conflict
with the mandate of the C.A.O./ Regional committee, rather it may offer some
guidelines or examples for their consideration.
Respectfully submitted,
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W. H. Stockwell,
Chief Administrative Officer