Norfolk County does not have a shortage of projects.
We have roads to maintain, bridges and culverts to repair, water and wastewater infrastructure to upgrade, buildings to maintain, recreational facilities to plan for, and infrastructure needed to support future growth.
The challenge isn't creating a longer list. The challenge is deciding what needs to be done, what needs to be done first, what we can afford, and what we can realistically deliver.
That is where I believe Norfolk needs to change its approach to capital planning.
My proposal is straightforward: look ahead 15 years to understand what is coming, build a realistic 5-year plan around what we can actually deliver, and use the 1-year capital budget to commit to the work we are prepared to get done.
I call it 15–5–1.
15 Years — Know What Is Coming
Municipal infrastructure does not suddenly become old.
Roads deteriorate. Bridges and culverts age. Buildings require major repairs. Water and wastewater equipment reaches the end of its useful life. Recreational facilities eventually need rehabilitation or replacement. Growth creates new infrastructure requirements.
Most of these needs can be anticipated.
A 15-year asset-needs outlook would give Council the longer view. What infrastructure is approaching the end of its useful life? What major rehabilitation will be required? Where will growth require new infrastructure? What facilities will require significant investment? What costs are coming that future Councils and taxpayers should know about?
It should also help us identify opportunities for preventative maintenance before rehabilitation turns into replacement.
This is not a 15-year promise to build everything on the list.
It is a 15-year warning system.
The farther ahead we can see a problem, the more options we have to deal with it. We can plan reserves, pursue grants, coordinate projects, prepare for growth and make better decisions about when money should be spent.
That is how we begin moving from reactive government to planned government.
5 Years — A Plan We Can Actually Deliver
The five-year plan is different.
This is where the long-term picture gets turned into priorities and reasonable projects that Norfolk has determined it can actually deliver.
That requires Council to make choices.
My starting order for capital priorities would be regulatory and mandatory requirements; health and safety; asset failure risk and preventative maintenance; investments that reduce future operating costs; infrastructure required for growth; and community benefit.
Projects further down that list are not necessarily unimportant. But Council has to establish what comes first.
When everything is a priority, nothing is a priority.
A major project should not simply move into the five-year delivery plan because somebody wants to see it there. Before Council makes that commitment, there should be a reasonable scope, credible cost estimate, funding strategy, expected schedule and an understanding of whether the organization has the capacity to deliver it.
And the business case cannot stop at the construction cost.
If a project creates ongoing staffing, maintenance or operating requirements, those costs need to be understood before the project is approved. Otherwise, Council isn't seeing the true cost of the decision.
The same applies to the infrastructure we already own.
If we bring more roads and infrastructure into the system, we also have to make sure we have enough boots on the ground to maintain them. Building or acquiring an asset without planning for the people required to operate and maintain it is not a complete business case.
There is another limit that needs to be recognized: delivery capacity.
Having the funding for 50 projects does not mean an organization has the ability to design, tender, manage and construct 50 projects at the same time.
Engineering capacity matters. Procurement capacity matters. Project management matters. Contractors and outside resources matter. And the staff who will eventually operate and maintain what we build matter.
A realistic capital plan therefore has to be based on both what Norfolk can afford and what Norfolk can actually deliver.
That is the fundamental change.
Instead of putting everything into the plan and seeing what gets completed, establish the priorities first and build the five-year plan around our ability to deliver them.
1 Year — Commit and Deliver
The annual capital budget is where planning becomes accountability.
When Council approves funding for a major project in the coming year, residents should be able to see what is being done, why it is a priority, what it will cost, how it is being funded, who is responsible for delivering it and when it is expected to be completed.
Then we measure it.
Major capital projects should have clearly defined performance measures. Those measures should be SMART — Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-Based.
“In progress” is not a performance measure.
If Council approves a major project, there should be identifiable milestones and results against which its progress can be measured.
A road reconstruction project might have targets for design, tender, construction start, completion and budget. A new facility might have milestones for design, procurement, construction and opening. An investment intended to reduce operating costs should eventually demonstrate whether the expected savings were actually achieved.
The objective isn't to create more paperwork. It is to establish, before the work begins, what success looks like.
Putting a project into a budget isn't the achievement.
The accomplishment is the result.
Put the Capital Plan Where People Can See It
Residents should not have to search through hundreds of pages of budget documents or wait for a Council meeting to find out what is happening with major projects.
I want the Capital Delivery Report available online through a public dashboard.
For major projects, residents should be able to see information such as the approved budget, current financial forecast, funding source, project stage, status, target completion date and whether the project is on schedule.
If a project is delayed, say so.
If the completion date changes, show the new date.
If the cost changes materially, show the financial impact.
And explain why.
Projects will sometimes be delayed. Costs will sometimes change. Unexpected problems will happen. Good management does not mean pretending otherwise. It means identifying problems early, explaining what happened and taking corrective action.
That dashboard should be kept current, while staff provide Council with a formal Capital Delivery Report every quarter.
Council should be able to see what was approved, what has been completed, what remains on schedule, what has fallen behind, what is over or under budget and what action is being taken when a project gets into trouble.
That gives Council the information it needs to govern and gives residents the ability to see the same overall picture.
Protect What We Already Own
The 15-year outlook also gives us an opportunity to change the way we think about maintenance.
Too often, the discussion begins when an asset is already in poor condition and the expensive options are all that remain.
If timely maintenance can extend the useful life of a road, bridge, building or piece of equipment, that investment needs to be weighed against the much greater cost of allowing the asset to deteriorate until reconstruction or replacement becomes unavoidable.
Being frugal does not mean always choosing the cheapest option today.
It means spending money at the right time to avoid the most expensive option tomorrow.
That is why a good capital plan cannot simply be a construction plan. It also has to be an asset-preservation plan.
Creating the Capacity to Accomplish Things
I want Norfolk to build things.
I want better recreational facilities, reliable infrastructure, stronger communities and the infrastructure necessary to support economic growth.
Fiscal responsibility isn't about balancing the books so we can point at a spreadsheet and celebrate.
It is about getting our finances, priorities and delivery capacity under control so we have the ability to build the recreation facilities, infrastructure and community improvements people actually want.
That is what 15–5–1 is intended to accomplish.
The 15-year outlook tells us what is coming.
The 5-year plan establishes what comes first and what we can realistically deliver.
The 1-year budget commits the resources and establishes measurable expectations for getting it done.
Then we report the results.
15 years to understand. 5 years to plan. 1 year to deliver.
It isn't about planning less. It's about planning better, protecting what we already own, measuring what we accomplish and creating the capacity to do more.
Because a capital plan isn't the result. What we actually deliver is.