A ten-year asset management plan is in the works for County buildings, bridges and equipment.

Guided by Director of Finance and Information Technology Arryn McNichol, work sessions are helping both councillors and the community grasp the full magnitude of the County’s assets and consider Level of Service (LoS) options ahead of 2026 budget deliberations.

The County owns and manages 94 facilities that support municipal services. The list includes 63 “community-use” facilities, 20 operations buildings, 8 fire halls, a pair of administrative buildings, and the H.J. McFarland Home. 

The overwhelming majority, 84 percent, are Heritage Buildings. The replacement cost for the entire slate is estimated at $205 million.

Retaining all buildings at the current LoS would require an annual investment of $2.8 million. Priorities for maintaining buildings start at emergency repair and critical maintenance, followed by accessibility and then heritage. 

Council could save around $500,00 if it reduced the number of buildings it owns by 25 percent and over $1 million if it cut the number of public buildings in half, but both divestment options have implications for the current level of service.

The County owns 94 
buildings:
63 “community-use” facilities, 
20 for physical operations, 
8 fire halls,
a pair of admin buildings,
and the 
H.J. McFarland Home. 
The vast majority 
are designated heritage structures. 

The County’s array of equipment runs the gamut from the Jaws of Life tool used to extract a victim from a motor vehicle accident to a tablet used by a librarian to servers and hardware that provide high speed internet to a number of front facing buildings and facilities. Replacement cost for equipment is pegged at $5.8 million.

The municipality has invested $4.8 million over the last three years to upgrade and replace equipment. Moving forward, Mr. McNichol said maintaining the array at fair condition or better will require an annual investment of just over $1 million.

The County maintains 25 bridges (including park / trail bridges) and 24 structural or box culverts worth a combined total of $66.3 million.

Overall, the Bridge Condition Index (BCI) Value in Prince Edward County is at 69.9 which is virtually equal to the County’s goal of 70 for higher.

“We are in good shape and we are right by the BCI numbers we want,” said Manager of Engineering Dave MacPherson. “We do have bridges in poor conditions and those are the ones we should be focusing on.”

A recent Watson & Associates report estimates the annual cost to achieve the 70 or higher BCI is $1,225,000.

Ontario legislation dictates municipalities must maintain core assets such as bridges to a certain LoS although the target figure is up to councils.

Council will meet Thursday, June 12 for its final work session, on its fleet vehicles as well as parks and recreation.

The public can view the discussion papers by visiting the County’s website and make their opinions known through the Have Your Say portal.