The District of Sparwood held their Annual General Meeting (AGM) on June 27. Available at the meeting was a 112-page report that recapitulated the District’s actions for 2015.
There were a total of 74 Corporate Strategic Plan (CSP) projects that were sorted by departments and were slated to start over the calendar year. Sixteen of these projects were completed and an additional 30 projects are in progress. There are five ongoing projects and 21 have been deferred. Only one project was removed.
The Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) Terry Melcer had three projects in 2015 in addition to her regular duties. A highlight project was Succession Planning, where it was the CAO’s responsibility to align Council’s vision with the District’s resources to have appropriate staffing and achieve Council’s strategic priorities. The project’s status is in progress.
Over the year, there were three internal promotions, and 14 senior management meetings with one senior management presentation to council.
Community and Facility Services had a total of 13 projects for the year, four of which are completed with six in progress, two ongoing and one deferred. Among the completed projects was the Playground Renewal Project, where playground infrastructure reaching the end of its useful life was replaced. Five playgrounds were installed including Central Park, Cypress Park, Juniper Park, Lions Park and the Leisure Centre Grounds.
Corporate Services had a total of 15 projects for the year. Seven were completed, five are in progress and three were deferred. A completed project was the Business Retention and Expansion Survey, where the department surveyed local businesses to gather data to guide the District’s projects in support of local business. The final report was brought to Council in the regular meeting on Mar. 2, 2015, with the recommendation to include the report’s findings into an economic development plan. The project has 65 survey responses with 44 new business licenses issued and 332 business licenses renewed.
Engineering has a total of 17 department projects and three were completed. Eight of the projects are in progress with two ongoing and four deferred. Of the completed projects was Aspen Drive Beautification where all overhead lines were removed and moved underground.
Finance had nine projects. Of these, one was completed and two are in progress. Six of year’s projects have been deferred. The completed project was the Capital Budget (CSP 4.3.5) where form templates were made for major requests and a capital budget was developed. 73 capital budget forms were completed for the project.
Fire Services has two projects, one is in progress and one is ongoing. The in progress project is Replacement of Rescue 1444 where the road rescue vehicle was to be retrofitted. The chassis of the vehicle was purchased in the fall of 2014 to replace the 1997 GMC Club Cab which needed to be replaced due to age and insufficient storage space for equipment like the Jaws of Life. The rescue unit has ordered the upgrade and the project is still in progress. The department responded to 124 emergency calls over the year.
Operations had eight department projects. Three of the projects are in progress, four were deferred and one was removed. A project that is currently in progress is the Waste Water Treatment Plant, where a contract was awarded to Ovivia to perform scheduled maintenance, as well as repair and replace any worn parts. A replacement drive unit was purchased with installation to happen in 2016.
Lastly, the Department of Planning had seven projects. One was completed, four are in progress and two were deferred. The completed project was the Official Community Plan Update. The update’s goal was to create a strategic planning document to reflect the community’s goals, vision and objectives. The bylaw was adopted on Sept. 28, 2015. There have been zero amendment applications to the project and the final open house was held in January.