Mayor Jim Parsons likes the idea of being first out of the gate when it comes to making strides in asset-management planning in this province.
Corner Brook is the first Newfoundland and Labrador municipality to become part of the Federation of Canadian Municipalities Climate and Asset Management Network.
Gudrid Hutchings, MP for Long Range Mountains, announced Tuesday that the federal government will provide the City of Corner Brook with $52,000 for the development of an asset management plan.
The City of Corner Brook will invest $15,000 toward developing an asset management policy, strategy and governance framework that aligns with the city’s strategic goals and is grounded in the realities of climate change.
Parsons is happy to be part of a network of municipalities committed to sharing knowledge about innovative asset management practices.
Through sound asset management, he said, the city will improve decision-making processes, become more customer-focused and be able to mitigate the risks associated with climate change and how it impacts our infrastructure.
He said development of the plan will also reduce city’s service and asset costs through life-cycle costing and cost-benefit analysis.
“Asset management planning is also a commitment to each taxpayer by providing a road map and plan for investing tax dollars,” he said.
Hutchings believes climate change is a reality that can’t be ignored and she believes money spent on initiatives designed to improve asset management for municipalities from coast to coast is a worthy venture.
“We want to encourage innovation and how we fund and build public infrastructure, and we want to make our communities healthy and livable through green infrastructure investments and make sure we’re protected against natural disasters,” Hutchings said.
