Week Nine

The purchasing and the credit card use policy were completed on Wednesday. I engaged with almost all city departments to redraft this policy; however with the credit card policy I had to engage the finance department more to ascertain what limit was reasonable and determine who should ensure the compliance with the policy. Through my work on this policy, I have learnt how decentralized the purchasing process is. It is decentralized because of the unique and specialized need of individual departments; nonetheless, certain capital purchases can be centralized because of the level of expertise required in the procurement process. The credit card use review also revealed how important it is to review this policy. It is significant because it confirmed that not all departments needed the maximum credit limit the old policy had, as well as it redressed the existing internal controls for the card use.



I met with the Director of Municipal Planning and Development to discuss my next project: The Development Standards for the Highway 13 Entry Corridor. We discussed the expectations of the policy which includes enhancing the visual aesthetics of the entrance corridor and developing precise specifications for the development that needs to be done in terms of landscaping, lighting, fencing, and signage. As well, part of my task was to design and develop a policy document that will be easily comprehended by the council members for them to go along with the policy.



I conducted research on the following: East Gateway Structure Plan, Government of Alberta Corridor Development, Intermunicipal Development Plan, West End Corridor Urban Design Guidelines for the City of Edmonton Planning and Development, Yellowhead Corridor East Design Guidelines, The Engineering Departments’ in-house research for Entrance Corridors, and some other relevant municipal design guidelines.

Learning Outcomes:
• The five key aspects of urban design and some design elements for entrance corridor designs which includes, but not limited to, edge, nodes, pathways, landmarks, districts, signage, lighting, fencing, theming, landscaping, access and eggres, conservation natural areas.

• The importance of always communicating in a clear, concise, and easy to understand manner irrespective of the target audience you are communicating with. Communication is important because most of the councillors come from different backgrounds and experience. The key here is to sell your policy which entails the councillors understanding the policy and for them to make the right decisions to approve the policy.

• City of Camrose is a winter city. What this means is every design project has to incorporate provisions for the winter weather.

• The need for branding. What is easily identifiable with Camrose as a city and ensuring there is consistency in the image that is portrayed to visitors when they come through the Highway 13 entrance corridors.

Bibliography
Government of Alberta: Corridor Development
http://www.transportation.alberta.ca/604.htm

East Gateway Structurre Plan
http://www.camrose.ca/index.aspx?nid=220

Engineering Services:

Intermunicipal Development Plan
http://www.projectupdate.ca/camroseidp.html

East Gateway Area Structure Plan
http://www.camrose.ca/index.aspx?NID=220

West End Corridor Urban Design Guidleines for the City of Edmonton Planning and Development
http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/documents/InfraPlan/West%20End%20Corridor%20Urban%20Design%20Guidlines.pdf

Yellowhead Corridor East Design Guidelines
http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/planning_development/entrance-features-national-des.aspx

Ninth Week

A picturesque view of Highway 13/48 Ave Entrance Corridor:



A collage of how a future entrance corridor for Highway 13/48 Ave could look like as per enhancements for signage, boulevard, and landscaping:

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.