Owen Sound Committee - Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Meeting Transcript — June 10, 2026

00:00:11 Speaker 01: Good morning. It's June tenth, twenty twenty-six, nine a.m.

00:00:15 Speaker 01: This is the Service Review Implementation Ad Hoc Committee, calling it to order.

00:00:22 Speaker 01: Calling for additional business, if there's any.

00:00:25 Speaker 01: Nobody's hand is going up. Declarations of interest.

00:00:29 Speaker 01: Nobody's. hand is going up.

00:00:31 Speaker 01: Confirmation of minutes from April 8, 2026.

00:00:34 Speaker 01: I think we need to review them. Go ahead. I'll move those minutes. Call the question. All in favor? That's carried. Got no deputations. No public forum.

00:00:53 Speaker 01: Don't see anyone sitting there. No correspondence. We're down to 8A. A. Sorry, Michelle.

00:00:59 Speaker 01: I tried to go as slow as I could. No, I didn't. Report from Michelle. Go ahead. Chairman Body.

00:01:11 Speaker 02: So I'm here to present CM twenty-six zero two zero, which is an information purposes report providing an update on the two thousand and twenty-six organizational work plan.

00:01:24 Speaker 02: So from history, the work plan was presented. to committees in January.

00:01:29 Speaker 02: There were one hundred and fifty-seven projects.

00:01:31 Speaker 02: They were either continuing from two thousand and twenty-five or beginning in two thousand and twenty-six.

00:01:36 Speaker 02: Approximately seventy-two are multi-year projects, and that's important to note.

00:01:40 Speaker 02: We don't have projects that run specifically easily January December.

00:01:44 Speaker 02: Many years they're multiple years, but often they carry over between years.

00:01:50 Speaker 02: This report focuses on the status of projects being undertaken in two thousand and twenty-six.

00:01:59 Speaker 02: But I do want to highlight. 26, but I do want to highlight the vast majority of city resources are required to provide core services to the community,

00:02:02 Speaker 02: and that's one of the things we've been trying to balance.

00:02:06 Speaker 02: Is off with very few exceptions, most staff that lead projects are also in charge of providing core service.

00:02:11 Speaker 02: So, trying to find resource requirements that actually can fit and try to build a plan that's realistic has been an important part of this.

00:02:19 Speaker 02: The intent of the organizational work plan was to strike a balance between wanting to do it all and. the human resources capacity to deliver, historically staff completed work plans,

00:02:28 Speaker 02: but this was an opportunity to bring it together under a holistic view to provide an organization-wide.

00:02:34 Speaker 02: The timing aligned with the implementation of Project Team, the city's project management system, enabling data to be captured in one location, which helps us communicate and collaborate as we manage projects.

00:02:45 Speaker 02: It's important to note the annual work plan is not static; it continues to change throughout the year.

00:02:51 Speaker 02: Projects are identified. either through a council resolution, legislative changes that come up throughout the year, and then projects are also removed as we look at.

00:03:01 Speaker 02: We're trying to figure out: is that a project? Is that core service? Where does it live?

00:03:05 Speaker 02: There's two projects at the same facility.

00:03:07 Speaker 02: Can we bundle them together and run those projects together to make it more effective to run the project?

00:03:13 Speaker 02: So overall, with the additions and deletions, the number of projects remains at one hundred and fifty-seven at this time.

00:03:21 Speaker 02: We are continuing to learn as we go.

00:03:23 Speaker 02: As I mentioned, we're still working through how do we define clearly define what is a project and should be managed as a project, and what is an operational program,

00:03:32 Speaker 02: and it doesn't make sense to utilize the system in the same way to manage it.

00:03:37 Speaker 02: The current status of the 157 projects: 141 projects are currently planned to be completed within 2026.

00:03:45 Speaker 02: So, as I mentioned, there are projects that carry over between the.

00:03:54 Speaker 02: Projects that carry over between years, to date, thirty-eight projects are complete or substantially complete.

00:03:56 Speaker 02: Seventy-two projects are in progress, with twenty-five more projects in the initiation planning phase, and twenty-two projects have not yet started.

00:04:04 Speaker 02: And we are going to walk through the system a little bit later today to sort of give you a glimpse of how Project Team and how we're using it in various ways.

00:04:10 Speaker 02: But I wanted to highlight the important next steps of looking ahead, of using an iterative process with staff to finalize an organizational work plan for. 2027,

00:04:18 Speaker 02: and that really means digging into assessing every plan project to ensure that we have the resources required to present a realistic 2027 work plan to standing committees and council.

00:04:33 Speaker 02: With that, I'm happy to take any questions, and then I thought I'm just going to give you a little glimpse into the project management system and what that looks like and how we're using it. Any questions so far? Yep, you go ahead. To you, Chair.

00:04:52 Speaker 02: Just a quick question, Michelle.

00:05:15 Speaker 02: The projects that were listed that initiation and about to start, and some of them had the May date. So, are they started?

00:05:24 Speaker 02: Just like the washrooms downtown. To you, Mirbody.

00:05:26 Speaker 02: I can't speak to that specific project.

00:05:27 Speaker 02: It's not one of mine.

00:05:28 Speaker 02: Without looking it up, but as an example, project initiation.

00:05:30 Speaker 02: So, how we do it is project leads are asked. to update the status of the projects every month in the system, so that we can pull a reporting to see status and comments.

00:05:32 Speaker 02: So, because of the timing of when we pull the report and draft for coming for this committee, the latest the latest comments would be in May.

00:05:33 Speaker 02: So that's the comments you see in the report or in the attachment to the report.

00:05:38 Speaker 02: So generally, project initiation and this is something we say.

00:05:41 Speaker 02: I'm going to give you show you an example of one of my projects. and I say it's not started.

00:05:47 Speaker 02: I've already started doing some prep work for the project, but I haven't.

00:05:49 Speaker 02: I don't say it's really in project initiation planning because I haven't met with the full team.

00:05:54 Speaker 02: We haven't started working together to plan out all the things within the project.

00:05:58 Speaker 02: So there's a little bit of gray area between not started and project initiation planning.

00:06:05 Speaker 03: Scott, so would you like questions regarding the attachment projects at this time? I'm a little. unclear.

00:06:13 Speaker 03: Or are you just going to skip ahead to just showing the software?

00:06:18 Speaker 02: Through your body, I think it would be good for you guys to see the software and see a couple examples of the projects.

00:06:23 Speaker 02: But I'm happy to take questions on the attachment as well at this time.

00:06:28 Speaker 03: Okay, then I'll ask a few questions here because I don't want to miss the opportunity.

00:06:34 Speaker 03: And largely, my questions are related to operating.

00:06:43 Speaker 03: Related to operations department matters, which makes sense, as I'm on the committee and most familiar with these items.

00:06:51 Speaker 03: I've got to ask just before transit find my bus app integration with Google. Where are we at?

00:06:56 Speaker 03: This is something that goes back a couple years ago, with the start of the the last contract in terms of integrating the app to enhance the customer friendly experience.

00:07:07 Speaker 03: I realized when they backfill with a.

00:07:12 Speaker 03: Realize when they backfill with a for an out of service bus, we lose that capability.

00:07:18 Speaker 03: But is there something else here that's dragging this out where it stays in the work plan?

00:07:23 Speaker 02: Chair Murbody, so I'm going to speak to how I would look to find that data.

00:07:30 Speaker 02: I can't speak specifically to that project.

00:07:32 Speaker 02: It's not one I'm leading, so that might be best directed to the specific operations committee. where that would report into, but when I look in the system,

00:07:43 Speaker 02: I can see so the update is maybe proceeding with CONSAT.

00:07:46 Speaker 02: It's called CONSAT in a bag to ensure that the bus has received the live data, and that it's in progress.

00:07:51 Speaker 02: So, it doesn't tell me.

00:07:54 Speaker 02: It would have to be a conversation with the project lead of an update on that project.

00:07:59 Speaker 02: Quite frankly, if you want a detailed update on the project. Okay. Next question. I've.

00:08:06 Speaker 04: I've got circled here is under the Watermeer Replacement Program.

00:08:11 Speaker 04: I've got generating a large proportion of appointments was done after letters were sent out.

00:08:20 Speaker 04: We did implement charges for for going back and servicing these requirements after they refused the first time.

00:08:30 Speaker 04: Are these individuals now paying a surcharge, or the taxpayers?

00:08:34 Speaker 04: as a whole has contributed to the program for Neptune to go into all the residences, and if we are now utilizing our own staff to do it, are those individuals being charged for that?

00:08:48 Speaker 04: For that, and the taxpayers are basically, or if they're not, taxpayers are subsidizing them a second time. Through you, your worship.

00:09:00 Speaker 05: Currently, the individual property. owners are not paying for those services.

00:09:05 Speaker 05: We had decided on a cutoff time at which time we would start charging them for installation, as well as a monthly administration charge for continuing to require a manual read.

00:09:16 Speaker 05: However, the population outstanding right now, although some of those accounts are hard refusals, or even soft refusals,

00:09:24 Speaker 05: some of them are just it was difficult to access because of obstructions. not necessarily caused by the property owner, and so it has taken more time to schedule time.

00:09:37 Speaker 05: So we ultimately will, but that cutoff date we have not done yet,

00:09:41 Speaker 05: and we're actually in the process right now of sending registered letters to the outstanding accounts to verify which ones are actually hard refusals versus which ones have some other rationale for why we were unable

00:09:55 Speaker 05: to install the meter thus far. Three, Mirbody. I will.

00:10:23 Speaker 02: I will answer this, but Kate will probably jump in only because I had to ask the same question.

00:10:28 Speaker 02: What was a three hundred and fifty?

00:10:31 Speaker 02: Same question: What was a three fifty seven?

00:10:34 Speaker 02: This is to do with so again.

00:10:35 Speaker 02: This is a great example, and I'm not going to speak to the details of the project.

00:10:37 Speaker 02: But this is a staff person who provides core service in tax billing, but is also has three projects on her plate.

00:10:43 Speaker 02: So she originally had two projects, one of which was assessment based management tracking policy, where this other the three fifty seven, which is a tax related thing,

00:10:55 Speaker 02: came out and needs to be. done this summer, so therefore the assessment-based project had to be pushed off because she can't provide core service and do both at the same time.

00:11:05 Speaker 02: But I'll let Kate speak to what a three hundred and fifty-seven is.

00:11:10 Speaker 05: An assess a three hundred and fifty-seven application is for special consideration to have your taxes reduced for some reason or other,

00:11:17 Speaker 05: and often it's for the sake of some sort of temporary thing that has limited your use of the property. we're aiming to create a more formal policy so that our tax collector has something to

00:11:32 Speaker 05: base on whether or not we're going to accept those,

00:11:34 Speaker 05: bring them to council, or deny them.

00:11:36 Speaker 05: So that's something that she's working on right now with our tax consultant. Okay, thanks for that.

00:11:44 Speaker 04: Two remaining ones, landfill alternatives.

00:11:50 Speaker 04: It does note in here that staff are recommending a. change in scope.

00:11:55 Speaker 04: The way it is situated on the books right now is to reevaluate the potential of reopening Genoa. That's it.

00:12:04 Speaker 04: But we haven't revisited that since that motion was carried.

00:12:08 Speaker 04: The county is undertaking the waste management plan.

00:12:12 Speaker 04: There's discussion in this paragraph here about the potential to reopen the site for for soils.

00:12:21 Speaker 04: Why do we not look at the the site as a whole?

00:12:26 Speaker 04: Because that's more concurrent with the direction of of council at the time. So you remember, body.

00:12:36 Speaker 02: I think if I could, if I could make a suggestion, the intent of this report and the status update is really to give you an idea of how we manage projects on a whole,

00:12:46 Speaker 02: how we report projects on a whole, and how we pull data together for. detailed information about a specific project such as that one and what that might look like and what staff are thinking,

00:12:56 Speaker 02: I think those should be referred back to the committee or to reach out to the SLT member where the project lives.

00:13:06 Speaker 02: Sorry, that word was escaping me.

00:13:08 Speaker 02: To really maybe have that brought forward to the committee then for discussion about that project.

00:13:21 Speaker 04: I did wonder earlier this would be an interesting attachment, just put on as a memo to the committees, just to help them see in real time where we're at.

00:13:30 Speaker 04: The last one I have is a question on the winter maintenance review.

00:13:36 Speaker 04: It notes the fire chief is the project lead.

00:13:41 Speaker 04: This is one I've been watching for several years.

00:13:44 Speaker 04: Even sometimes the low hanging fruit.

00:13:50 Speaker 04: The low-hanging fruit that occurs when I walk to the store, or walk to work, and I see the snow pile might go up Moors Hill twenty times the day prior,

00:14:00 Speaker 04: but there's a cul-de-sac where the snow is thigh deep, and I just I wonder, can we allow our staff just to think, or have we locked them in so rigidly or handcuffed?

00:14:18 Speaker 04: So rigidly or handcuff them that they can't just turn once and go down a street and clean it.

00:14:24 Speaker 04: So they don't do the same street 20 times.

00:14:26 Speaker 04: As an example, I know there might be more.

00:14:27 Speaker 04: It's more extensive the volume, the the report that you want to bring back.

00:14:33 Speaker 04: But for the residents that say I've never seen it as bad in the last few years,

00:14:39 Speaker 04: and we go out and we measure with a meter stick to see if there's 10 centimeters of snow on the street. before we'll plow Sixth Avenue West.

00:14:49 Speaker 04: Can we just find some low-hanging fruit to respond here instead of a project that I see just keeps getting kicked and kicked and kicked and it's not even started yet,

00:14:59 Speaker 04: or we're waiting for a lot more. I don't know.

00:15:01 Speaker 04: This I understand what you just said, and it's an operations committee thing, but this is the opportunity.

00:15:07 Speaker 04: It's an attachment to the report here today, and I just want to provide a response. to the people that say, "Do my taxes count as much when I live on Sixth Avenue West?

00:15:21 Speaker 04: Do I not pay as much as the the people that get their street plowed?"

00:15:27 Speaker 06: Through you, Mayor to Deputy Mayor Greig, I understand what you're trying to what you're asking for, and it's it's sort of the I generally call it just the common sense.

00:15:39 Speaker 06: Like, wow, that plow went by ten times. but we can't, you know, potentially get out of a driveway.

00:15:44 Speaker 06: That all relates back to the know your plan for snow. There's certain mandated, legislated.

00:15:51 Speaker 06: These are, you know, the arterial roads, collector roads, all the classifications of the roads of how they tackle things because of the amount of staff. But I do understand.

00:15:58 Speaker 06: Again, reiterate, I understand what you're saying about hey, is there, is it that rigid that you can't just do a perhaps a two-minute offshoot off off a one route to keep going on. something else.

00:16:11 Speaker 06: I'll take that information back.

00:16:13 Speaker 06: I know the team has been has been requesting it.

00:16:15 Speaker 06: I've been asking the director of public works and and that team also that we need to get that update through service review committee.

00:16:26 Speaker 06: Last I last I know I believe it's scheduled for September.

00:16:30 Speaker 06: I know the changeover in the manager level.

00:16:37 Speaker 06: Our most our manager now started the first week of December as as this current.

00:16:42 Speaker 06: Wicked December, as as this current season was started, so we put we purposefully pushed it back so he could get through a season and see how operationally it was working.

00:16:46 Speaker 06: But I think we are targeting the September meeting for that plan back.

00:16:53 Speaker 06: But the comments today, I'll make sure that they listen to these comments, and that they they take that into account.

00:17:00 Speaker 06: Oh, and sorry, and I'm being told the director of public works is the lead on that project.

00:17:03 Speaker 04: I appreciate that clarification because I certainly wondered why the fire chief would be. and I appreciate the response there.

00:17:10 Speaker 04: Some of these projects, I'm just sitting here and I'm like, it's taking a whole term of council to be able to bring this back.

00:17:18 Speaker 04: So I'm encouraged to hear September, but this is one I've been watching very effectively.

00:17:33 Speaker 01: A whole term term of council, son.

00:17:35 Speaker 01: That whole policy was put together by Dennis, not that many years ago, that we all approved.

00:17:40 Speaker 01: Those days that you get heavy snow after heavy snow after heavy snow, the major arteries are always the one that they focus on first.

00:17:48 Speaker 01: I've been amazed over the last couple of years how quickly they did get to the side streets faster than I expected.

00:17:54 Speaker 01: But and yes, some of those side streets are probably paying more per square foot because the value of their houses is a little bit more.

00:18:03 Speaker 01: But you got to move the most traffic first, not the ones with most wealthy houses, I suppose. But anyway, okay. Any other questions? Okay, back to you.

00:18:19 Speaker 02: So I just thought it would be good for committees to sort of bring back to the why of why we did this.

00:18:24 Speaker 02: So I brought my board that lives in my office because that's my my when I feel frustrated about our process or how we're not making further progress.

00:18:32 Speaker 02: I look at that board. and remember how far we've come.

00:18:35 Speaker 02: So, previous to implementing a project management system, we used a variety of forms that contained a lot of similar information.

00:18:44 Speaker 02: So, project leads were having to complete the same information into multiple forms.

00:18:49 Speaker 02: Those forms lived in various files.

00:18:51 Speaker 02: Some in the project files, of which the project lead kept.

00:18:54 Speaker 02: Some in divisional folders, and unless you knew how to search or what you were searching for exactly, it was very diff.

00:19:05 Speaker 02: Searching for exactly it was very difficult, particularly if we had a change in staff or a change in lead on a project to find that information.

00:19:12 Speaker 02: So that's just a little snapshot of where we were.

00:19:14 Speaker 02: And then, Christina, I'm actually going to walk Christina through a couple things in the system.

00:19:16 Speaker 02: So this is what the system looks like.

00:19:17 Speaker 02: This is when Christina is logged in as me right now, and there's a couple.

00:19:21 Speaker 02: So my view is a little different because I'm a system administrator, but for the most part, it's very similar.

00:19:25 Speaker 02: So, Christina, if you go up to the little drop down beside projects and just hold there for a second.

00:19:30 Speaker 02: So one of the nice things here is you can shortlist this first drop-down of projects.

00:19:36 Speaker 02: So I have mine shortlisted to only projects that I'm either leading or involved in or sponsoring in 2026.

00:19:44 Speaker 02: So I can do a quick search on them.

00:19:46 Speaker 02: But if you scroll down to the bottom of that, Christina, oh, you'll have to kind of move your screen a little.

00:20:03 Speaker 02: I think make your screen a hair smaller. View all projects.

00:20:06 Speaker 02: This lets you search any project in the system that you have access to.

00:20:07 Speaker 02: So it's interesting in the system.

00:20:08 Speaker 02: We only tie users to the project that have direct involvement in the project, with the exception of finance and the strategic leadership team have access to all projects.

00:20:16 Speaker 02: So that way, staff aren't overloaded with projects that they're not involved with in seeing that, but that we can easily access.

00:20:24 Speaker 02: So in this method, you can search if you either have a project number, you can search on part of a name.

00:20:28 Speaker 02: So I just picked a couple of my projects in mind that we're going to pick on.

00:20:32 Speaker 02: We'll see how what it looks like in the system.

00:20:35 Speaker 02: So Christina, if you search digital, so you'll see here these are any projects that have digital.

00:20:43 Speaker 02: You'll remember I believe cloud-based solutions.

00:20:45 Speaker 02: That bottom project, don't click on it, Christina, but that's a project that came to service review back in April, and it's now noted as complete.

00:20:52 Speaker 02: The one above that, implement digital timesheets using Pearl.

00:20:56 Speaker 02: This is an outcome of that project that came forward in April.

00:20:59 Speaker 02: So we've set it up as a separate project in the system.

00:21:02 Speaker 02: So if you click on that link, Christina.

00:21:05 Speaker 02: So this takes you into the dashboard for the project.

00:21:07 Speaker 02: So when we set up a project, we tie the users to the project, and we identify who the project lead is, who the project sponsor is, and we start a status for that project.

00:21:19 Speaker 02: I have some favorite form type set up because those are the forms I use most often. but there's a lot of forms in the system that we can use.

00:21:28 Speaker 02: Just for a couple interesting things, if you click reporting budget and status, Christina, and then click that link.

00:21:37 Speaker 02: So just a couple things to note.

00:21:39 Speaker 02: So one is the you see all those circles across the top there.

00:21:42 Speaker 02: Those are people who are tied to the project or who who have access to the project.

00:21:47 Speaker 02: So this is where I go in and I make any status updates in my project.

00:21:51 Speaker 02: I can change my status. I can add comments.

00:21:53 Speaker 02: But the important thing is that at any time, any of those people on that project can go in and see where that project is at and see what my comments are on that project.

00:22:02 Speaker 02: Christine, if you go back to forms, sorry, on the left hand side, forms, and then go to project charters and races.

00:22:15 Speaker 02: So again, this is I think one of the greatest things that I really like about the system is there's things called. workflows in the system.

00:22:22 Speaker 02: So this is a project I mentioned.

00:22:24 Speaker 02: I have it as a not started status because we're going to kick off later this month.

00:22:28 Speaker 02: So what I've done as the project lead is I've initiated this project charter document, started to fill in some information.

00:22:34 Speaker 02: And if Christine, if you scroll down just a little bit, there, see that edit button.

00:22:39 Speaker 02: Go up just a little bit.

00:22:43 Speaker 02: So this is where I can make direct changes in the system.

00:22:47 Speaker 02: If you scroll down, Christine, I can identify my resources.

00:22:49 Speaker 02: Now, this project is a little bit different because it's an outcome of another project that identified we would move this forward.

00:22:56 Speaker 02: So we had a little more.

00:22:57 Speaker 02: We knew upfront who our resources would be.

00:22:59 Speaker 02: Often, when we're in the project planning stage, we don't know specific staff that will be involved with the project, but we may know a resource type.

00:23:06 Speaker 02: So I need someone from accounting, or I need someone from engineering, but I may not have a name,

00:23:11 Speaker 02: and then I can put it in the resource type as a placeholder until we work through that.

00:23:19 Speaker 02: If you scroll down a little bit more, Christina.

00:23:22 Speaker 02: So in this field, we also identify our stakeholders and whether they're a consult or inform. Keep going down, Christina.

00:23:26 Speaker 02: And then we also start to put in things like milestones.

00:23:29 Speaker 02: So milestones, along with dates for the things that we're planning to achieve on this meeting or on this project. My apologies.

00:23:35 Speaker 02: Scroll down a little bit more.

00:23:37 Speaker 02: We also identify potential risks to the project and severity of that risk.

00:23:43 Speaker 02: How we're going to measure for success.

00:23:45 Speaker 02: How it aligns. to the strategic plan and the rationale for the project.

00:23:49 Speaker 02: So, say it was a council request project, or say it was legislated that we do it.

00:23:56 Speaker 02: So, one of the nice things about this form is, and I thought we would just do it in the system.

00:24:00 Speaker 02: Is if you go up to click beside the save button, Christina, there's a drop down.

00:24:05 Speaker 02: So you see there's multiple options.

00:24:07 Speaker 02: So when I create a document in the system, I can save it, which is just basically like when you're writing an email and you save it as a draft, so I can. work in it,

00:24:15 Speaker 02: or I can save and share it to the users on the project, or I can save and start a workflow, and that's what we're going to do today, Christina.

00:24:25 Speaker 02: So we've set up for a lot of the forms and the systems.

00:24:28 Speaker 02: We've set up these workflows.

00:24:30 Speaker 02: So capital detail sheets have workflows. Project charters have workflows. Change orders have workflows.

00:24:37 Speaker 02: So what this does is, based on the users that we've tied to the project, is I'm going to select this workflow as a lead and.

00:24:43 Speaker 02: I'm going to start it, and it's automatically going to flow it to the sponsor for them to review, and then it's going to flow it to the team members for them to review,

00:24:52 Speaker 02: and they can make edits to it, and then we'll come back and we'll finalize it.

00:24:57 Speaker 02: So it's a really, and you can go ahead and start the workflow if you want, Christina.

00:25:02 Speaker 02: So now, if you scroll down a little bit more on this screen, keep going down, you'll see in the middle there. workflows, and if you do that drop down,

00:25:14 Speaker 02: so I can see where it is in the workflow at any time.

00:25:17 Speaker 02: So anybody can come into this and see where something is in the workflow.

00:25:20 Speaker 02: This has been particularly handy related to how we use workflows for change orders on contracts.

00:25:26 Speaker 02: It's really streamlined that process.

00:25:30 Speaker 02: So an important note is when you create a workflow.

00:25:33 Speaker 02: So you know how I said that now it's going to go to the project sponsor.

00:25:37 Speaker 02: So not only does it move it in the system, but it sends an email. to the project sponsor.

00:25:41 Speaker 02: So in this case, Tim is the sponsor on this project.

00:25:43 Speaker 02: So he just got an email with a notification so that he can directly click into there.

00:25:48 Speaker 02: It'll take him into this charter, and then he can review it and take a look at it.

00:25:52 Speaker 02: And then he can either approve it or he can fail it back to me. Reject. Um.

00:26:02 Speaker 02: I think on this project, I think the only other thing that and you guys may not find it interest this interesting. Sorry.

00:26:08 Speaker 02: So if I'm going. into too much detail, stop me.

00:26:10 Speaker 02: But the system has been.

00:26:12 Speaker 02: If you go back to forms on the left-hand side, Christina, and you go to meetings, and this seems like such a simple thing, but I will tell you,

00:26:21 Speaker 02: having one place where notes from meetings are captured related to that project, and if you see there on the right-hand side, you see a little head that says seventeen,

00:26:31 Speaker 02: that tells you all the people that document shared with.

00:26:34 Speaker 02: So it's not that the meeting notes are living in my files. or that nobody else can access, and then I have to email them out to everybody, and then everybody's getting an email copy,

00:26:43 Speaker 02: and they may be saving them somewhere else.

00:26:45 Speaker 02: They're in here, and we can easily reference all the same material at the same time.

00:26:53 Speaker 02: So that's one thing that I have found really helpful with the system.

00:26:56 Speaker 02: There's lots more functionality in the system, but I'm just giving you sort of the high level.

00:27:00 Speaker 02: And then the one other project we'll look at, Christina.

00:27:03 Speaker 02: So if you go back up to that, where the to the left-hand side, the little drop-down beside implement digital timesheets using Pearl, and we're going to come back down and view all projects again,

00:27:14 Speaker 02: and we're going to look up Asphalt, everybody's favorite project.

00:27:20 Speaker 02: We're going to look at the two thousand and twenty, the twenty-six one, the very the second from the bottom.

00:27:30 Speaker 02: So this is a little different in terms of a project, but it's a capital. project, so you know it's capital detail sheets, which will come forward at budget meeting in another couple weeks.

00:27:40 Speaker 02: But Christina, if you click on that capital detail sheets, so previously staff created a PDF with a with all this information, and you can click on that link again, Christina.

00:27:51 Speaker 02: So previously staff created a PDF.

00:27:53 Speaker 02: Again, it was saved on a Cheryl drive.

00:27:56 Speaker 02: If you wanted to make a change, you had to go and manually make a change.

00:27:59 Speaker 02: When staff wanted to pull them out to put them in the presentation for council, they had to fly.

00:28:02 Speaker 02: For council, they had to flatten all the PDFs and compile them.

00:28:06 Speaker 02: So, if you scroll down, this has all the information that those old PDF sheets had, but we just built it into a form in the system.

00:28:13 Speaker 02: So, again, it lays out the projected budget for that, and then it'll scroll down.

00:28:20 Speaker 02: You'll see the funding source, and then you scroll down and you'll see how it aligns to the strategic plan, and then you'll see the matrix that was a part of every project.

00:28:32 Speaker 02: So one of the nice things is we used the system this spring to do the capital sheets for this summer's budget meetings for the five-year plan.

00:28:41 Speaker 02: So all the capital projects for the next five years have been loaded into the system.

00:28:45 Speaker 02: And then one of the things is we created a workflow.

00:28:48 Speaker 02: So as a project lead created a capital detail sheet, then they workflow it to their director, who's generally the sponsor, for them to review.

00:28:57 Speaker 02: They could edit again and knock it back or approve it.

00:28:59 Speaker 02: Lock it back or approve it on, and then it automatically flowed to staff that Cheyenne to compile into the budget document and to work with Kate on the overall budget.

00:29:10 Speaker 02: So this is one area where we found it very helpful.

00:29:13 Speaker 02: Now anybody can go in that's tied to the project and look and see the details of the capital detail sheet at any time.

00:29:21 Speaker 02: So if you go on the forms on this one, Christine, on that left hand side.

00:29:26 Speaker 02: So one of the things that's often you can click contracts.

00:29:31 Speaker 02: So often when we have, sometimes on operating projects, but mostly on capital projects, we often have contracts where we go through a bid opportunity process.

00:29:42 Speaker 02: So now when we do a contract, they actually the way to request a bid opportunity is through the system.

00:29:48 Speaker 02: But then once that contract is awarded, purchasing actually loads it in here, and that's for a couple reasons.

00:29:55 Speaker 02: One to prepare us for future enhancements. to the system, but also so that we can better manage any change orders to a contract.

00:30:02 Speaker 02: So you can see on this one, there's two contracts in the system.

00:30:06 Speaker 02: And then if you go back to that the forms, and we'll just take a look change orders.

00:30:12 Speaker 02: And I picked this one only because I knew there's a change order pending on it.

00:30:16 Speaker 02: So what happens is we created one of the things we were finding with change order before, and I'm speaking a little bit my history in procurement,

00:30:23 Speaker 02: but I'll try and tie it back to project management. but a project lead is working on a project.

00:30:29 Speaker 02: They're dealing with a change order on a project.

00:30:32 Speaker 02: There's emails flying back and forth between the contractor and them and city staff.

00:30:36 Speaker 02: And then we're trying to get it to procurement, and then procurement's reviewing it to see whether or not it's within the allowable limit for a change order,

00:30:44 Speaker 02: or whether or not we need to come to committee council for approval.

00:30:46 Speaker 02: And in the midst of that, you may have emails flying around that have multiple attachments, multiple versions of attachments.

00:30:53 Speaker 02: So one of the nice things is now in the system.

00:30:55 Speaker 02: A project lead, when they have a change order, they initiate it in the system.

00:30:58 Speaker 02: They can attach any documents from the contractor that may relate to it, and then we flow it through our workflow.

00:31:04 Speaker 02: So first it goes to the sponsor to take a look at, and then it flows to procurement to assume to validate whether it's in within within budget and within the allowable limit,

00:31:14 Speaker 02: and then they process it through accordingly.

00:31:17 Speaker 02: That's probably all very boring to you guys, but it's very exciting for me. Anyways, that's just. that.

00:31:22 Speaker 02: I just wanted to give you a quick couple look at how we're using the system.

00:31:25 Speaker 02: I would highlight like we're still learning as we manage different projects in different ways.

00:31:30 Speaker 02: We're learning which forms work best and how we may use it in the future.

00:31:35 Speaker 02: But one of the nice things about the system is that we will be able to integrate with contractors.

00:31:40 Speaker 02: So contractors are given a different type of access to the system.

00:31:43 Speaker 02: We link them to a project, so all that back and forth of sending drawings back and forth and documents back and forth will all be done. right within the system, and the nice part is,

00:31:54 Speaker 02: is then if we have a change in lead, they're not trying to struggle to figure out where they're at on a project.

00:31:59 Speaker 02: Everything's all in one place, tied to it.

00:32:03 Speaker 02: Okay, I think I've talked enough.

00:32:08 Speaker 02: Sometimes people like me get old, and you start looking at all the work that goes into just. maintaining it does that become overwhelming sometimes?

00:32:23 Speaker 01: Like there's got to be a lot of input to put into here.

00:32:29 Speaker 01: Obviously, there's an efficiency when you get to the end, but I just think that it's overwhelming all the data that you must have put in to be able to get that information back out.

00:32:47 Speaker 02: No, I think that's a honestly a great segue, and I should have highlighted this right off the bat.

00:32:51 Speaker 02: I can't say enough about Cheyenne Hugheim in asset management.

00:32:55 Speaker 02: She was a massive help in trying to help me figure out how we would use the system for capital detail sheets and how we would flow that information for,

00:33:02 Speaker 02: and getting that five-year plan to all those projects in and the details in.

00:33:06 Speaker 02: I also think it's a good opportunity to highlight to thank the project leads.

00:33:10 Speaker 02: It's been a learning curve when you're used to dealing with thirty different pieces of paper that all get saved in different places. to shift.

00:33:17 Speaker 02: You know they have to learn a system and how to navigate in a system and and how to keep that system updated.

00:33:22 Speaker 02: It is one of those things where when people say you know it it looks like it's taken a lot to put the data in.

00:33:29 Speaker 02: Yes, but I will tell you, compared to trying to fight through to find files on projects, it's night and day more effective.

00:33:37 Speaker 02: And a really good example is we had a staff member change, and before that. for them to get up to speed on those projects that they were taking on would have taken months.

00:33:50 Speaker 02: Literally, I went into the system, overrode the previous person, and put this new person in.

00:33:56 Speaker 02: And then she has access to all those projects, and she's like, "Oh, okay.

00:34:00 Speaker 02: Here's what I have to work on." Like it, it really.

00:34:03 Speaker 02: So yes, it is a significant amount of work to to get everybody you know navigating it, and it is a little bit of lessons.

00:34:09 Speaker 02: Like we don't handle projects all the same way.

00:34:12 Speaker 02: A construction project. is not the same as a software implementation, not the same as a service review project,

00:34:17 Speaker 02: and so trying to manage what we use in the system for each of those types of projects and bringing everybody on board so that we're all doing it the same way—that is time-consuming,

00:34:27 Speaker 02: but well worth it for the organization. Go ahead. I have to go.

00:34:34 Speaker 07: I was supposed to open the store at 9:30, so I just wanted to see if we were going to vote on this or if I can just go. Okay. Anyone else?

00:34:44 Speaker 06: Tim, I thought you had your hand up there, and I interrupted you. Go ahead. Thank you, Mayor.

00:34:50 Speaker 06: Just forty-five seconds, and and both you and Michelle just touched on this.

00:34:53 Speaker 06: I just wanted to say thanks again to Michelle for leading this.

00:34:56 Speaker 06: This this piece of cloud-based software, for lack of lack of words, was built by us for us.

00:35:06 Speaker 06: We aren't trying to fit our system into something.

00:35:08 Speaker 06: It was built for our.

00:35:10 Speaker 06: Hours, days, months, weeks, working with an outside company to build this for us for what we need, and Michelle touched on those points: the oversight, the one source, the understanding where we're going.

00:35:21 Speaker 06: Like the modernization of our of our capital project and projects now puts us at the next level.

00:35:28 Speaker 06: Where now, when the teams are in there, and and I've experienced that through council calls or or other people calling to say, okay, so and so manager might be leaving. okay.

00:35:39 Speaker 06: Well, where are these twenty projects?

00:35:41 Speaker 06: And it was like, just you can imagine going into somebody's office with stacks of paper, and trying to find that stuff without you know having this one sort of source of truth.

00:35:50 Speaker 06: Having this one source of source of truth will just bring so much better oversight to what we're doing. It's incredible. So again, thank you.

00:35:58 Speaker 06: I know this was very administrative, focused, and operational, but we talk a lot through service review over the past couple years about implementing new software, whether whether it's cloud.

00:36:07 Speaker 06: Software, whether it's cloud permit and this and this, so I think just giving you a glimpse of, hey, we spoke about that a year and a half or two years ago. Here's the final product.

00:36:15 Speaker 06: Again, just gives you a sense of how does this progress and how are we using it.

00:36:19 Speaker 06: Can I have a motion to?

00:36:26 Speaker 08: Yeah, I will move the recommendation.

00:36:29 Speaker 08: And yes, thank you for the the update.

00:36:31 Speaker 08: And I agree with Scott that this should be attached to the committee.

00:36:35 Speaker 08: Just. for information purposes, so people can can follow along and where the projects in each division are at this point in time.

00:36:42 Speaker 08: But looking forward to seeing as we learn the capacity of the system, where it takes us. So good work.

00:36:51 Speaker 01: So call the question all in favor, and that's carried.

00:36:55 Speaker 01: A couple things that jumped out for me today: the fact that we're getting so many things done, the fact that we are implementing change in how we do it,

00:37:03 Speaker 01: even you know that this. process of service review and the updates and and and things like this.

00:37:12 Speaker 01: And can we sell that program to other municipalities and recoup the cost?

00:37:17 Speaker 01: So at nine, we have no matters postponed.

00:37:20 Speaker 01: Ten, we have no motions, which notice was previously given.

00:37:24 Speaker 01: Eleven, no correspondence, discussion of additional business. We didn't have any. No notices of motion.

00:37:30 Speaker 01: So with that, we'll say at nine thirty-eight, we've. completed the business of the morning, and we're we're adjourned. Thanks.