Week Eight

I completed the waste management request for proposal and handed a copy to Mark. Working on this project exposed me to some aspect of municipal engineering. I learnt how important it is to conduct a comprehensive strategic environmental assessment for capital intensive municipal development proposals. The assessment has to be guided by sustainability principles for the municipality to ascertain the impact of various cumulative effects such as cultural, environmental, economic, and social. Determining these impacts might help answer questions residents may have as well as prevent any backlash or angry response from citizens who may not perceive the benefits of this infrastructure. I learnt how to develop and write a professional engineering RFP as well as examined how strategic master plans are intrinsic to developing long-term solutions for an integrated municipal waste solid management needs.



The Trade, Investment, and Labour Mobility Act seminar was quiet educative but not really exciting. I found it to be educative because we discussed what contracts was all about as well as avoiding contracts that were under lien.

I conducted some meetings with the infrastructure Protection department at the Mirror Lake Centre. We discussed ways to improve the purchasing policy. An idea that was floated was to increase the current purchasing limit from $50,000 to $75,000. Moreover, we discussed how terms of reference is important to negotiate a request for proposal that is why it is important to ensure that when writing a RFP you state clearly what you want done.



I also consulted with the Fire Chief. We discussed the surveillance policy and purchasing policy. The fire hall had 8 cameras and seven of these cameras were positioned on the exterior of the building. The justification for having that many cameras outside the building is to prevent vandalism and theft. I believe the surveillance policy will come in handy to address some concerns departments have. Regarding the purchasing policy, it is fair to conclude that departments who have very few vendors for their equipment tend to stick with what is out there; however, servicing these equipments tend to be a key component and determinant in their decision making when choosing the best supplier.

I discussed the next project on the engineering list with Mark and Elvis. I will start working on the policy on highway corridor on Monday. I look forward to that. Also, I have completed about 60% of the purchasing policy that I am redrafting. The credit card policy guidelines might be a tough one to work on. It is tricky because of the sensitivities across various departments. I hope to talk to finance about it again next week.