As the city of Coquitlam prepares for its annual budget process, council will have to consider a bevy of funding requests from various city departments. Senior managers are asking for close to $2 million for new staff to assist with everything from economic development and tourism to building inspections and public safety. Here is an outline of funding requests and the rationale for the spending that went before council during two days of finance committee meetings. Council will now have to choose which requests to accept or deny as they prepare the 2020 budget and the five-year financial plan.
CITY MANAGER
$154,900: Community Planner
• The new full-time position is being requested to meet the growing social demands in the city's urban centre.
$154,900: Business Services Manager
• The new full-time position will support the engineering and public works department while providing support for senior management at city hall.
$98,000: Professional Training/Memberships/Events
• The additional funding is required for employee professional development. Training budgets are not adjusted for inflation and have fallen behind industry best practices, according to the funding request, while city budgets for events has not increased in 12 years.
$30,000: Human Resources Auxiliary labour dollars
• Money would be used to help the human resources department manage fluctuations in workload.
DEPUTY CITY MANAGER
$132,900: Two bylaw enforcement officers
• Two new bylaw enforcement officers would focus on parks, dealing with issues such as fire safety and homelessness response. The hiring of the two new staff members was endorsed as a pilot program by council last summer.
$85,600: Corporate communications
• As the city continues to move toward more digital communications to engage the community, a new staff person is required to manage and respond to residents.
FIRE RESCUE
$154,900: Business Services Manager
• A full-time civilian position to assist with planning, supervision and technical work for business functions. The business services manager would also support budgeting, reporting and analytics with a focus on performance management, according to a staff report.
LANDS & FACILITIES
$92,500: Building Technician
• A full-time building technician is required to support facility upgrades and capital projects that are planned or underway.
$60,000: Menstrual products and dispensers in civic facilities
• The city is rolling out an initiative that will see menstrual product dispensers installed at civic facilities. According to a staff report, there is a one-time installation fee of $35,000 and an annual maintenance cost of $25,000.
PLANNING & DEVELOPMENT
$204,500: Economic development funding for tourism
• Currently funded through casino revenues, the tourism program has grown in recent years following the launch of the city's tourism website and social media campaigns. According to a staff funding request, additional money is required to bolster the program and keep up with demand for activities associated with the tourism program.
$85,800: Construction Site Officer
• A new full-time construction site officer is required to mitigate the impacts of development on existing neighbourhoods. Job details include education and outreach with builders and inexperienced developers.
$75,500: Business Development Co-ordinator
• The new full-time position would assist with economic development programs and strategies focused on business retention and expansion, research and statistical analysis and updating marketing materials.
$61,400: Building Inspector
• A spike in the number of inspections performed by city staff makes the addition of a new full-time building inspector necessary to keep up with the trend.
ENGINEERING & PUBLIC WORKS
$300,000: Increase in extreme weather budget
• After the Extreme Weather Budget was overspent three years in a row, the engineering department is requesting additional funds to respond to snow and ice events.
$150,800: Road Maintenance
• With 55 new lane kilometres added in the last decade, a new full-time road maintenance person is required for increased street sweeping
$116,000: Mechanic
• Another full-time mechanic is necessary for the city's fleet maintenance, with $99,000 going to labour and $17,000 going to one-time tool costs and other expenses.
$87,500: Engineering Utility Permits Technologist
• The new position would assist with the increasing number of utility permits from third parties and utilities, such as BC Hydro, FortisBC and Telus. The new hire would also monitor construction and the coordination of design work.
$103,400: Senior Environmental Sustainability Specialist
• The new position would support the energy manager in helping the city achieve its climate action targets, which include tracking progress, creating strategies and policies and providing education and outreach.
$70,000: Budget increase due to inflation
• Materials and contractors costs have climbed 20% since 2009 and additional funds are required in the budget to adjust to the change.
PARKS AND RECREATION
$116,400: Parkland Encroachment Technician
• The position would support the city's efforts to manage encroachments into parkland. The position was previously funded as a half-time auxiliary level between 2016 and 2019.
$77,600: Special Event Co-ordinator
• As the community has increased in size, city events have become more complex. As a result, the parks department is requesting a dedicated staff person to assume a lead role in planning festivals such as Canada Day and Kaleidoscope.
$74,000: Operational Needs at Dogwood and Glen Pine
• The new position is required to accommodate growth in Coquitlam's 50+ population and create more diverse programming for drop-in programs and clubs.
$49,700: Seasonal Traffic Control Supervisor (Aux.)
• Changes to WorkSafeBC regulations around traffic control makes this part-time position necessary, according to the parks department.
FINANCE & TECHNOLOGY
$131,000: Project Manager
• A dedicated staff person would be used for the implementation of existing and future information and communication technology projects.
COQUITLAM RCMP
$220,900: Two Mounties
• Would bolster the detachment's traffic services and road safety initiatives as well as provide additional coverage to the Coquitlam RCMP's Mental Health Liaison Unit.
