Corporate Services and
Economic Development Committee
Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique
and Council / et au Conseil
19 February 2010
/ le 19 février 2010
Submitted by/Soumis par : Councillor/Conseiller
Rainer Bloess, Innes Ward/quartier and / et Councillor/Conseillère Jan Harder,
Barrhaven Ward/quartier
Contact Person/Personne ressource : Rainer Bloess,
Councillor, Innes Ward / conseiller, quartier Innes
(613) 580-2472, rainer.bloess@ottawa.ca
SUBJECT:
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OBJET :
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That
the Corporate Services & Economic Development Committee recommend to City
Council:
1.
To
permit the City to contract the services of consultants to carry out technical
reviews of development applications in Barrhaven South, where necessary, to
address high volumes, without being subject to the specific provision of the
City's Purchasing By-law outlined in this report; and
2.
To
permit the City to hire Stantec Consulting Ltd. to undertake the 2010 update to
the Gloucester East Urban Community Infrastructure Servicing Study.
Que
le Comité des services organisationnels et du développement économique
recommande au Conseil d'approuver les mesures suivantes :
Councillor Harder’s comments
As a City we are growing by leaps and bounds. This is not mere conjecture; it is fact in the
case of Barrhaven. Our largest
developers have addressed the City with their concerns as to our ability to
service their sites in a timely fashion.
Internally we question our ability to “do it all”. This motion is strictly to confirm that
should we need an outside agency to support our engineering departmental review
of growth in Barrhaven. It is not just
Barrhaven, it is many communities in this City and it makes no sense to refuse
outside help when the result will be reduced pressure on City sites.
WHEREAS it is becoming increasingly difficult to find consultants that
are not working for developers in some capacity, given the relatively small
consulting community in Ottawa; and
WHEREAS the City occasionally utilizes the services of consultants to
assist in technical peer reviews of development applications to respond to
higher volumes of development applications than staff can review within
specified timelines, including legislated timelines pursuant to the Planning
Act; and
WHEREAS the anticipated development activity in Barrhaven South is forecast
to exceed normal levels to the extent that it may be necessary for the City to
utilize the services of consultants, in addition to existing staff resources,
in order to carry out technical reviews of development applications; and
WHEREAS Stantec Consulting Ltd. completed the Gloucester East Urban Community
Infrastructure Servicing Study Update for the City of Ottawa in 2005 that
outlined the servicing requirements for the entire East Urban Community (EUC)
to support the EUC Phase 1 area Community Design Plan; and
WHEREAS the Community Design Plan for the Phase 2 area of the EUC is
now underway which necessitates an update to the Infrastructure Servicing Study
given that the roadway layout has changed from what was considered in 2005; and
WHEREAS the City’s Purchasing By-law was amended during this term of
Council such that, “No person shall provide Consulting Services or Professional
Services to both the City and a private sector developer on the same or related
project”; and
WHEREAS the major landholder in the Phase II area has hired Stantec
Consulting Ltd. as their design engineers; and
WHEREAS, given the historical knowledge and modeling data held by
Stantec Consulting Ltd., the City would benefit from a lower project cost,
shorter production timeline and lower required level of effort from staff
should Stantec Consulting Ltd. be hired to undertake the 2010 update;
THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Corporate Services and Economic
Development Committee recommend that City Council approve that:
1.
The City
be permitted to contract the services of consultants to carry out technical
reviews of development applications in Barrhaven South, where necessary, to
address high volumes, without being subject to the specific provision of the
City's Purchasing By-law outlined in this report; and
2.
The City
be permitted to hire Stantec Consulting Ltd. to undertake the 2010 update to
the Gloucester East Urban Community Infrastructure Servicing Study.
Infrastructure
Services & Community Sustainability
The consulting community in Ottawa is a relatively small one. In order
to continue to generate positive revenues, consultants pursue all work,
and rarely choose to only work for either the City or land developers. The
trend over the past few years has also seen larger consulting firms acquiring
smaller firms, while other firms form partnerships and create
mergers. As a consequence, the already limited pool of consultants in Ottawa,
continues to become smaller. It has been and continues to be a challenge
for the City to find consultants with local experience and knowledge, but
who have not worked for developers. All indications are pointing to
an upswing in development pressures for 2010, which will have an effect of
making it increasingly more difficult to find firms with
experience in the Ottawa area who have no business ties with land
developers. Staff therefore, support the motion.
This item will be advertised in the local dailies as part of the Public Meeting Advertisement on Friday preceding the Community and Protective Services Committee Meeting.
There are no significant Legal/Risk Management Implications to this
report. To the extent the two assignments will require work to
be done by Professional Engineers, such Engineers are required by the following
sections of the Professional Code of Conduct of the Professional Engineers
of Ontario, as set out in Section 77 of Ontario Regulation 941, to
disclose any conflicts of interest to the City.
There are no financial implications
with the approval of the recommendations contained in this report.
Funding for the technical reviews of
development applications in Barrhaven South is available within Planning and
Growth Management’s operating budget. Funding for the Gloucester East Urban
Community Infrastructure Servicing Study is available within Capital Projects
Planning Studies Development and Servicing Studies Development.
Staff to take appropriate action as directed by the Committee and Council.