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1. MANAGEMENT OF HYDRANTS ON PRIVATE PROPERTY GESTION
DES BORNES-FONTAINES SUR LES PROPRIÉTÉS PRIVÉES |
COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATION
That Council approve the management of
hydrants on private property as described in this report.
Recommandation DU Comité
Que le Conseil approuve la gestion des bornes-fontaines sur les
propriétés privées, comme il est décrit dans le présent rapport.
Documentation
1.
City Operations and Infrastructure Services and
Community Sustainability Deputy City Manager’s report dated 12 January 2012 (ACS2011-COS-EPS-0003).
Report to/Rapport au:
Community
and Protective Services Committee /
Comité des services communautaires et de protection
and Council / et au Conseil
12 January 2012 / le 12 janvier
2012
Submitted
by/Soumis par :
Steve
Kanellakos, Deputy City Manager / Directeur municipal
adjoint, City Operations / Opérations
municipales
and/ et
Nancy Schepers, Deputy City Manager / Directrice municipale adjointe
Infrastructure Services and Community Sustainability /
Services d’infrastructure et Viabilité des collectivités
Contact Person/Personne-ressource :
Susan Jones, General Manager/Directrice générale, Emergency and
Protective Services/Services de protection et d’urgence (613) 580-2424 x. 25536
Susan.Jones@ottawa.ca
and /
et
Dixon Weir, General Manager/Directeur général
Environmental Services / Services environnementaux
(613) 580-2424 x22002, Dixon.Weir@ottawa.ca
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SUBJECT: |
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OBJET : |
Gestion des
bornes-fontaines sur les propriétés privées |
That the Community and
Protective Services Committee recommend that Council approve the management of
hydrants on private property as described in this report.
Que le Comité des
services de protection et d’urgence recommande au Conseil d’approuver la
gestion des bornes-fontaines sur les propriétés privées, comme il est décrit
dans le présent rapport.
Background
Ottawa has approximately 3,000 to 4,000 hydrants located on private property that are the responsibility of the property owner. These hydrants are subject to Ontario Regulation 388/97, the Fire Code, which prescribes various inspections and maintenance that must be carried out on an annual or more frequent basis. It is the responsibility of the hydrant owner to ensure that the requirements of the Fire Code are met.
In the 2006 Audit of the Fire
Services Branch, the Auditor General recommended that the City “re-assign
responsibility for all hydrant inspections to Drinking Water Services and
re-instate inspections of hydrants on City and privately owned hydrants on a
cost-recovery basis”. The management
response to the Auditor General’s report agreed that Drinking Water Services
could resume some level of involvement in the management of private hydrants,
but advised that this would have financial implications and potential liability
implications.
Subsequently, Drinking Water Services examined
this matter in greater detail, and in 2008 recommended
to Committee and Council (Report Ref N°: ACS2008-PWS-WWS-0006) that Drinking Water
Services and Ottawa Fire Services could work cooperatively to monitor the location of private hydrants and
promote inspection and maintenance through a private hydrant program and by-law. The proposed program was to consist of four
elements:
DISCUSSION
After closer examination of this proposed program and a cost-risk-benefit analysis, it has been determined that the expense associated with developing, implementing, and monitoring a maintenance program for hydrants located on private property far outweigh the expected benefits.
Ottawa Fire Services
In accordance with the Fire Code, owners of private hydrants are responsible for the annual inspection and maintenance of their hydrants. Ottawa Fire Services is responsible for inspecting hydrants on a complaint and request basis, and inspecting all sites with “vulnerable occupancies” as defined by the Fire Code such as nursing homes and hospitals.
Fire Services confirms that instances of deficient private fire hydrants are very rare. Fire Services has only one recorded instance of non-compliance since 2007. Given the current legal mechanisms in place for a low rate of non-compliance, Fire Services for the purpose of meeting its public safety mandate, does not feel that a by-law is warranted at this time. The investment originally allocated to this program could be better used in other Fire Prevention programs.
Fire Services will continue to conduct proactive inspections of vulnerable properties and to use public awareness initiatives to ensure property owners with private hydrants are aware of, and in compliance with, their responsibilities under the Fire Code.
Drinking Water Services
Maintenance of fire hydrants usually requires the operation of public infrastructure. This work has the potential of negatively impacting drinking water service delivery through either a short term deterioration of water quality or occasional failure of public infrastructure. However, the number of instances in which this has occurred are extremely rare and manageable.
Drinking Water Services will continue to monitor disturbances to the public systems caused by maintenance and operation of private hydrants. If in the future, the impact on public drinking water services created by private hydrant maintenance increases, Drinking Water Services will examine the possibility of requiring mandatory training for private hydrant maintenance service providers.
Financial Analysis
The original report approved by
Council in August 2008, recommended a program that called for the mandatory registration
and tagging of private hydrants as well as the mandatory training of persons accessing
or performing work on hydrants in Ottawa.
The report estimated a one-time capital budget of $130,000 to establish the program, confirm the location of all existing hydrants and to set up the recommended reporting and tracking systems – plus an annual operating budget of $45,000 required to implement the model.
The following draft fee structure was proposed to allow for cost- recovery of all start up costs and a portion of annual operating costs:
·
One-time hydrant registration fee
($50/hydrant)
·
Annual hydrant worker training and
certification ($20/registrant)
·
Fire Inspection Fee ($75/hydrant)
·
Construction Inspection Fee
($100/hydrant)
Conclusion
Given the low incidence of malfunctioning private fire hydrants coupled with the low number of adverse drinking water quality situations, Ottawa Fire Services and the Environmental Services Department have determined that a private hydrant program and by-law imposing costs and burden onto property owners is not warranted at this time.
There are no specific rural implications associated with this report
Staff from Emergency and Protective Services,
Ottawa Fire Services Branch, and Environmental Services Department collaborated in
the development of this report. Staff
met with the Office of the Auditor General to apprise the
office of the proposed disposition of this item.
LEGAL IMPLICATIONS
There are no legal
implications associated with this report.
There are no risk management implications
associated with this report.
There are no financial implications associated with the recommendation of this report.
ACCESSIBILITY IMPACTS
There are no accessibility
impacts associated with this report.
Technology
Implications
There are
no technology impacts associated with this report.
City
Strategic Plan
Not Applicable.
The Emergency and Protective Services Department and Environmental Services Department will action any direction received as part of consideration of this report.