Continuous improvement: maintaining, enhancing, and preparing for the future

My next priority to review is Continuous Improvement: maintaining, enhancing, and preparing for the future.

Trail is now 125 years old, and with that comes a lot of responsibility when it comes to maintaining our infrastructure. Over the past four years, I’ve learned a lot more about the challenges that come with managing our assets, prioritizing projects, and making sure we are being responsible with taxpayers’ dollars.

Understanding our infrastructure needs

The Water Master Plan update is an important piece of this. We need to understand where our water infrastructure is today, where the gaps are, and what needs to be prioritized.

I also believe every neighbourhood in Trail deserves to be considered fairly when we make infrastructure decisions. We currently use decision optimization technology to prioritize road repairs, and I think there is an opportunity to expand that approach to our broader asset management system. Using the information we have to help determine where our greatest needs are can help us make better decisions about where to invest and also ensure fairness.

One project that is important to me is the Glover Road access to West Trail. It was identified as one of council’s strategic priorities, and I believe it deserves continued attention. West Trail is one of Trail’s oldest neighbourhoods, and an important part of our community’s history and heritage. Reliable, safe access matters to the people who live there, and we need to keep working toward a solution.

Maintaining what makes Trail unique

Infrastructure isn’t just roads, water, and sewer. Trail’s rock walls and covered staircases are part of what makes our community unique, and many are also part of our heritage. We need to think about how we maintain these structures and plan for their future as part of our broader asset management work.

Finding efficiencies

I also think we can sometimes get more done by looking at projects together, instead of looking at them one at a time.

The Missing Link project on Groutage Avenue is a good example of this approach, coordinating road work with water and sewer upgrades. When we can coordinate this type of work, we can reduce duplication, limit disruption, and make better use of our resources.

The Charles Lakes Drive twinning project is another great example. The City was successful in securing a $4.53 million grant for this important water infrastructure project. That is a significant investment in Trail, and I think we should continue looking for opportunities to coordinate projects like this with other plans, including our Active Transportation Plan, wherever it makes sense.

Be ready when the opportunity comes

One thing I’ve really come to appreciate over the last four years is the importance of being prepared.

Trail has been successful in securing grants for projects such as the Trail Memorial Centre, Riverfront Centre, and development approval improvements. Grant programs can be very competitive, and often have tight timelines. If we have projects well planned and shovel-ready, we are in a much better position to apply when the right funding opportunity comes along.

We can’t control when a grant program opens, but we can control how prepared we are when it does.

Supporting growth

Continuous improvement is also about creating an environment where people want to live, work, and invest. That means continuing to look at housing and development, supporting our local businesses, and encouraging new investment in Trail.

My priority is simple: maintain what we have, look for efficiencies, be ready for opportunities, and make responsible investments in Trail.

The last four years have given me a much better understanding of how our City works, where the challenges are, and, importantly, where there are opportunities to keep making Trail better.