At its regular meeting on Nov. 3, Airdrie City Council unanimously endorsed a recommendation of the Community Services Advisory Board (CSAB) that will see all forms of registration for programs at Genesis Place Recreation Centre begin at 7 a.m. on the set registration date.
Previously, walk-in and phone-in registration began at 7 a.m. but online registration began at 12:01 a.m. The earlier registration time for online is a default feature of the computer program and has been in place since 2008, according to Manager of Genesis Place Greg Lockert.
According to Lockert, having all forms of registration begin at 7 a.m. will ensure a fair system for all since registration is done on a first come, first serve basis.
“Genesis Place does all of our registrations on Sunday,” Lockert said. “We did a benchmarking exercise where we looked at registration systems at other facilities to see how they were doing their registration process. Most facilities are using three avenues of registration – online, phone and walk-in – and the majority of those are set up so all those avenues are available at the exact same time.”
Lockert said the change for online registration time to 7 a.m. will be instituted for winter/spring programs. Registration for these programs commences Dec. 7.
Assets will be managed
Council voted to approve a request from Community Infrastructure staff to support the implementation of an Advanced Asset Management Program for consideration in the 2015 Capital and Operating Budget deliberations, on Nov. 3.
Asset Management Co-ordinator Georgia Mayson provided council with information about how the City’s assets are currently managed and staff’s recommendation to implement a program that would better oversee how this is done.
An asset management plan outlines policy to ensure that the full service life of infrastructure assets – such as transportation networks, water distribution networks and sewage collection systems – are attained, and that maintenance, rehabilitation and/or the replacement of assets are cost-effective, according to the Alberta Urban Municipalities Association.
“Once we develop an Asset Management Policy, that will be the foundational piece towards the program design,” Mayson said. “We previously did a needs analysis that figured out what the needs are of each specific business unit. Once we move forward, we’ll create a program around those gaps or needs that we determined through the analysis.”
The recommendation will still require approval through the budget process, however, Mayson estimated the cost of the new program at $253,700 for operating costs, including the hiring of two contract positions, and $408,400 for capital costs, including the purchase of new computer software and consulting fees.
Council approved staff’s recommendation with Deputy Mayor Allan Hunter opposed.
