help mitigate the cost impact of the pandemic or allow for redirection of much needed capital funding to other priority projects as well.
2. Projects which are linked to other initiatives such that it is best to complete all work at one time.
Leveraging synergies of other project initiatives helps to keep project costs lower by tendering larger pieces of work at one time, rather than several small ones, and in many instances minimizes duplication of efforts. Situations such as these are most often found when other utilities, such as WUC, have planned projects in areas where the City is also looking to complete road and/or sewer work. Less frequently situations such as the Community Benefits work being done may necessitate pulling forward City projects, such as was the case with completing sewer work on Sandwich St, prior to the road being replaced through the Community Benefits program.
3. Project is very large and will take several years to complete.
The City has been able to move forward projects such as Cabana, Riverside Vista, 400 City Hall Square, Windsor International Aquatic and Training Centre, and Banwell to name a few by precommitting future funding. This approach moves projects forward sooner and results in lower tender pricing due to larger portions of work being issued at one time, and with tenders being current it avoids the higher costs attributed with tenders being issued several years later.
4. Project is deemed to generate opportunities for economic stimulus, including but not limited to situations such as job creation and or business retention or attraction;
Several projects in the capital budget provide for incentive programs for business areas, brownfield development, tourism and event hosting, oversizing and/or other programs which create opportunities for existing or new business in the community. The ability to continue to leverage future funding, should the opportunities be presented, will allow for the potential benefits of these investments to be pursued.
5. Project is necessary for one or more of the following reasons:
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a. Asset has failed and must be replaced;
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b. Asset is close to failure and should it fail to operate would result in a significant risk to the City of Windsor;
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c. To meet legislative order or regulation.
There are situations where an asset has unexpectedly failed, by example the marina docks and peace fountain, which may result in the need for Administration to provide City Council with options to address the failure. These options may include repairing, replacing and or removing the asset from service.
In some cases, there are assets which may fail and if they do would create a significant risk to the City. As such, they will need to be repaired or replaced sooner than planned. By example, failures of some assets such as a pump station or equipment at a pollution control plant if left to run to fail may create significant challenges during a significant rain event which could create major issues including potential flooding.