Capital Projects Update

Over the past two and a half years since the re-organization and project management changes, Council receives updates on our significant Capital Projects three times a year. This approach enables Council to monitor projects more effectively, improve communication between departments and Council, and provide better information to residents of Edmonton on the progress of our capital projects. In interest of keeping you informed about how the city is doing around project management, I have provided updates on the results so you can keep track of our performance and ask any questions. Given the recent findings from the Current planning Reserve Audit, I thought I should provide some additional information that relates back to these project management changes. This particular project dates back to 2012 when Administration only reported on the balance and status of the Reserve to Council as part of their annual budget document. In October 2015 when the project management changes took place, Administration provided additional reports to Council which included information on the Reserve balance, the risks associated with the balance, and a breakdown of all expenses. The video below will talk about a number of the changes made as well as how those changes would have likely helped with many of the issues raised in the Current Planning Reserve Audit:https://youtu.be/UuV44w_U1bMAt the March 20th City Council meeting (item 6.1)  Integrated Infrastructure Services released the fourth quarter capital projects update. The Capital Financial Update focuses on the four year approved 2015 to 2018 Capital Budget and reports the status of significant capital profiles against budget and budgeted completion date. You can find the full update on the Building Edmonton Online Map which highlights each capital infrastructure project being delivered by Integrated Infrastructure Services on behalf of the City of Edmonton. This includes facility, LRT, open space, and transportation projects in neighbourhoods and on streets. The map provides project information including scope, budget, and schedule, as well as current status updates and contact information for each project.

Of the 88 major capital projects, 84% are on or ahead of schedule and 100% on budget. As mentioned in the video, I did put forward a motion at the April 11th Audit Committee meeting to get a separate audit on the eServices program which was identified as a serious issue in the Current Planning Reserve Audit.

The purpose of this additional audit is to determine if the many changes made over the last three years would have caught this or if there are additional changes need to be made within our Administration and for us as City Council. While I’m confident that most of what has been changed would address a situation like this from occurring now, I do not want to make that assumption without the City Auditor verifying this. We are fortunate to have an excellent Office of the City Auditor so we should allow them to use their expertise to help us improve.   

Written by A. Knack and K. Machin