Perth council approves system upgrade, debates new legislation, and advances water project

HEDDY SOROUR

Perth Moves Ahead with IT System Upgrade

The Town of Perth is proceeding with a financial system upgrade, transitioning from Microsoft Dynamics GP (Great Plains) to Microsoft Dynamics 365 Business Central. The project comes with an upset limit of $90,000, which will be funded through reserves.

The current system, Microsoft Dynamics GP, will no longer be supported after 2029. The upgrade will be sole-sourced from Endeavour Solutions, the same firm assisting the county and several neighbouring municipalities with similar migrations.

“The new system has a lot of capabilities and a lot of internal controls that Great Plains doesn’t have and that will make it a lot easier to actually just pull out exception reports. It will allow different users within the town to look at financial information without manipulating it,” said Nev Jande, Director of Corporate Services/Treasurer.

This move is part of a joint initiative with the county and nearby municipalities to leverage cost-sharing opportunities and achieve long-term operational efficiencies.

“Our current system is on a server at town hall, which is scheduled for replacement in the next couple of years at tens of thousands of dollars. This new system is cloud based and doesn’t require any hardware on site, so there is some saving to IT to offset this,” added Michael Touw, Perth CAO.

Legislative Concerns Voiced by Council

Perth’s Committee of the Whole received Bills 17 and Bill 5 as information at the June 10 meeting, but not without expressing serious concerns regarding the new legislation.

“I think both bills are absolutely terrible legislation. They encroach upon the authority of municipal government, the planning profession and have negative implications with regard to climate change, endangered species and heritage. I think it’s horrible legislation,” said Councillor Gary Waterfield.

Councillors Jim Boldt and David Bird echoed Waterfield’s remarks.

“I understand what Premier Ford is trying to do, wanting to build 1.5 million units, but at what expense?” said Boldt.

SAGR Project Addition Still Under Budget

A last minute addition has been made to the Submerged Attached Growth Reactor (SAGR) project at the town’s water treatment lagoon. Shortly after awarding the contract to Louis W. Bray Construction Ltd., Director of Environmental Services Grant Machan received a recommendation from Nexcom, the company that developed the SAGR system.

“The last minute addition by Nexcom strongly recommends that we add additional blowers or upsize the existing blowers along with the infrastructure needed to support them at a a cost of $330,000,” said Machan.

The additional cost brings the total project to $3.9 million—still under the approved $4.1 million budget.

“At 72 percent funding we’re essentially getting $330,000 in value for $90,000 and this will give us the ultimate build out to 10,500 people,” said Machan.

The town has secured funding from the Housing Enabling Water System Fund for 72 percent of the cost of the expansion, and will draw the remaining 28 percent from the water and wastewater reserves which currently sits at $8 million.

Seeking funding to keep children safe

The Town of Perth is applying for funding to help cover transportation and registration costs so local school children can take swimming lessons at the Perth and District Indoor Pool.

“Transportation costs have been a barrier for schools taking part in the swim program,” said Cathy McNally, director of Community Services.

The town is asking for $5,108 from the Jumpstart Grant Program to help pay for bus transportation and registration fees for some students in grades one to six.

McNally pointed out that swimming lessons supported by the school board help remove barriers and promote equal access to sports. By offering these lessons through schools, the Perth & District Indoor Pool can give all children—regardless of background, income, or ability—a chance to learn important water safety skills in a safe and inclusive environment she said in her report to committee.

“The reason the swim program at the school board started, years ago, was because so many children were drowning,” said Perth Mayor Judy Brown.

Invisible climate action plan rejected

Members of Perth’s Committee of the Whole have rejected a motion to add the Corporate Climate Action Plan to the town Strategic Plan, on the recommendation of the Climate Change Advisory Panel (CCAP).

According to Mayor Judy Brown, the CCAP has not as yet developed the action plan.

“I’m having trouble putting something into our strategic Plan that we haven’t even seen. The motion is premature, we need much more information” said Ed McPherson, deputy mayor.

The matter was deferred till October to give the CCAP time to develop a plan and present it to council for consideration.