by Barry Kelly
technology
Revolutionizing Capital
Planning & Development
at Niagara Region
Sound infrastructure is essential
to a sustainable economy and society.
It's a smart move for municipalities
to have a comprehensive multi-year
capital plan that they can use to guide
their budgeting process. With a solid
plan in place, municipalities can pro-
mote effective infrastructure manage-
ment and development, determine
where investment is needed, reduce
future operating costs, and prevent
unforeseen infrastructure failures.
Niagara Region, comprised of
12 municipalities, has improved the
effectiveness of its planning and de-
velopment processes by leveraging
advanced digital mapping technology.
Using powerful visualization, the
region has introduced a better way
of communicating capital projects to
decision makers. As well, it has de-
veloped an integrated set of tools that
allows planners to efficiently manage
development in support of intelligent
growth.
Visualizing a 10-
Year Capital Plan
Niagara Region has developed a
comprehensive 10-year capital fore-
cast that is updated yearly. The plan
forecasts that a $1.5-billion invest-
ment needs to be made over the next
decade to maintain, renew, and en-
hance infrastructure across the region.
Councillors are responsible for ensur-
ing that costs for public works proj-
ects stay within this set ceiling, and
that expected needs are prioritized
BARRY KELLY is the Public Works Indus-
try Manager for Esri Canada.
A Certified Engineering Tech-
nologist, he has over 25 years of
experience in both geographic
information system (GIS) and
computer-aided drafting (CAD)
disciplines. He has worked with numerous organi-
zations in improving infrastructure stewardship to
support their business.
based on the region's growth manage-
ment strategy.
The regional public works depart-
ment regularly provides councillors
with information on project costs, es-
timated funding from various sources,
and projected future annual capital
costs. To help them understand this
complex information, they developed
Niagara Connections – an interac-
tive, digital mapping application that
makes it possible to clearly visualize
the 10-year capital forecast and asso-
ciated financials.
The custom application uses geo-
graphic information system (GIS)
technology, which brings together
dynamically connected maps, charts,
graphs, photos, and videos of the
region's capital projects. It serves as
a key information tool for Niagara's
capital planning and ensures that
decisions made are aligned with re-
gional policy.
Tom Jamieson, Manager of GIS
Services, says, "We used to spend a
considerable amount of time pulling
information together from multiple
tools for presentation at budget meet-
ings. Niagara Connections brings
together different visualization meth-
ods so that all information can be ac-
cessed from a single source."
With the tool, users can view vid-
eos and images of assets through a
web-based interface to assess their
status, as well as analyze how capital
assets including roads and bridges
may deteriorate over time.
Bob Steele, Associate Director
of Public Works for the region adds,
"We usually have only a few minutes
to present to council, so we need to
get our point across quickly. Niagara
Connections presents complex infor-
mation in a simple way that makes
it easy for councillors to make deci-
sions, as well as understand the rami-
fications of those decisions. Through
the tool, we've obtained successful
buy-in for a number of key projects
that will significantly benefit Niagara
residents."
The application facilitates collab-
orative discussions and has become
an integral part of the region's budget
meetings, supplementing traditional
slide presentations of project updates.
The tool not only enables councillors
to identify exactly where projects are
located in their municipality; it also
helps them understand why they need
to be pursued. To prioritize the proj-
ects, the application uses a weighting
system based on the region's guiding
principles of compliance, sustainabil-
ity, risk, enhancement, and growth.
June 2012 Municipal World 23
