special council meeting - 24 mar 2020

City of Beaumont

Special Council Meeting Agenda

Tuesday, March 24, 2020 at 1:00 p.m.

Council Chambers, Beaumont Administration Office File: 0124-C02-A1

. CALL TO ORDER 2. ADOPTION OF AGENDA 3. BUSINESS ITEMS a) COVID-19 - Updates and Recommendations to Council

Special Meeting COVID-19

Attachment 1 - COVID 19 Beaumont Business Impact Survey Presentation

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4. CLOSED SESSION 5. ADJOURNMENT

*Denotes items that Administration proposes be considered for approval through the Consent Agenda process.

The above agenda is subject to additions and/or deletions prior to or at the meeting.

The agenda can be viewed at the City of Beaumont website: https://beaumontab.civicweb.net

With spirit | Avec esprit

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Approved By: Mike Schwirtz, Chief Administrative Officer

File: 0124-C03

SPECIAL COUNCIL MEETING AGENDA

MEETING DATE: March 24, 2020

SUBJECT: COVID-19 - Updates and Recommendations to Council

The City of Beaumont and the world are facing an unprecedented situation and health emergency with the spread of the COVID-19 virus. As such, Administration has had to adjust operations in order to respond and this has had and will continue to have financial implications for the organization as well as the citizens of Beaumont. In recognition of the financial pressures involved with this health emergency, Administration is recommending to Council a few different actions.

COVID-19 Budget RequestRECOMMENDATION: That Council approve an additional budget of $250,000 on a one time basis for 2020 to be funded from the Mill Rate Stabilization and Utility reserve.

REPORT:The first recommendation is that additional budget of $250,000 be approved on a one time basis for 2020 to be funded from the Mill Rate Stabilization and Utility reserve. This amount is intended to cover the additional costs associated with things like technology and supplies to allow employees to work from home, supplies to get the Emergency Coordination Centre up and running, additional street sweeping, additional solid waste collection and should the need arise the costs associated with quarantining approximately 200 people.

BUDGET / FINANCIAL IMPACT:There is a direct financial impact of $250,000 on a one-time basis for the 2020 operating budget. Again this amount is intended to be funded through the Mill Rate Stabilization and Utility reserves.

Beaumont Sport and Recreation Centre Project Update and Contingency PlanRECOMMENDATION:That Council approve an additional $300,000, to be funded with debt, to the Beaumont Sport and Recreation Centre Expansion capital project approved as part of the 2020 Capital Budget.

REPORT:As of March 18, 2020 Clark Builders advised that the COVID-19 Pandemic is expected to have a major impact on everything that had previously been considered “normal”. Clark Builders are currently waiting for responses from trade partners on the impacts that are expected as it relates to material deliveries and/or lost productivity due to self-isolation/quarantine. Once they hear back with some additional information they will update the schedule and provide. The site is still active at this time.

ADDITIONAL CONTINGENCY:Administration is requesting additional contingency funding in the amount of $300,000.

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The Beaumont Sport and Recreation Centre (BSRC) contingency was set $1,000,000 which reflects approximately 3.5% of the contract.

At the BR2 update to Council on February 25, 2020 the project was 80% completed 17 months into a two month schedule the $1,000,000 dollar contingency was 70% expended.

On February 27, 2020 Beaumont was advised of a significant change order that was submitted to cover the costs of right sizing the roof top Air Handling Units (AHU). Beaumont asked for a timeline on how this issue evolved. Below is summary of the timeline and events which lead to the condensing units not matching the cooling performance of the AHUs:

June 25, 2018Email sent to Excel Systems requesting final selections for condensing units noting common typical condensing units to match the associated AHU DX coils. AHU equipment schedule was provided.

July 6, 2018Condensing Unit and AHU coil performance selections came from Excel Systems. o AHU-1 pre/posting cooling coils are noted as 58kw (16.5 tons). Related CUs are selected 5

tons.o AHU-4 cooling coil total capacity is noted as 96kw (27 tons). Related CUs is selected as 10

ton.o AHU-5 cooling coil total capacity is noted as 22kw (22 tons).

Information received was transferred to equipment schedules and carried through design, tender and to construction. Noted the condensing unit schedule and AHU schedule are separate equipment lists.

December 18, 2018Condensing unit shop drawings are received for review. Submittal was reviewed based on the condensing unit schedule on the drawings. The sizes noted above are what were reviewed. The submittal was returned Dec 19, 2018, reviewed as noted.

January 15, 2019AHU shop drawings are received for review. Submittal was reviewed and noted as resubmit due to AHU-6 unit’s construction specifications.

February 26, 2019Resubmission for AHU’s is received for review. Submittal was reviewed and returned reviewed as noted on February 28, 2019. Unit cooling performance match AHU equipment schedules.

February 4, 2020Contacted by Montech (Mech. Contractor) regarding questions raised by refrigeration subcontractor. We revisited submittals, design specifications and calculations. Determined there was discrepancy in sizes between the related equipment.

February 6, 2020Change notice was prepared and issued for coordination to consulting team.

March 5, 2020Change costs received in CRX 104 from Clark via BR2.

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Beaumont approved change order #98 on March 6, 2020 for $309,655.46. This amount has completely exhausted the contingency funds; however this action was required as the construction timeline would be significantly impacted if not approved. It is unfortunate that this issue was not identified earlier or that another solution could have been determined. Beaumont will explore all possible options for cost recovery on this particular issue.

BUDGET/FINANCIAL IMPACT:There is a financial impact on the 2020 Budget and cost recovery will be determined at a later date.

Utility and Tax Relief Analysis for Residential and Non-ResidentialRECOMMENDATION:That Council approve a deferral of utility bill payment for 90 days with no penalties or disconnection for non-payment during this time.

That Council approve an extension to the deadline for the payment of property taxes to August 31, 2020 with no penalty.

REPORT:In order to provide some financial assistance and relief to home owners and small business owners operating in Beaumont, Administration is recommending Council follow with the suggestion announced by the Provincial government and allow city utility account holders the option of deferring payments for up to three (3) months. Per regular, bi-monthly scheduling all bills will continue to be distributed to customers. No penalty fees or service disconnections will be applied to any accounts in arrears during this time. Account holders will be asked to eventually pay any deferrals but Administration will set up flexible payment arrangements to provide time to do that.

Administration is also recommending that Council approve a 60 day deadline delay (to August 31, 2020) on property tax payments. Specific details on the process still need to be worked out but similar to the utility bill recommendation there would be no penalty fees applied to any accounts in arrears during this time.

BUDGET / FINANCIAL IMPACT:There is the possibility of other financial implications that are difficult to quantify and confirm at this time. With the deferral of utility payments the City of Beaumont will have an impact as it relates to the city’s cash position. There is also the possibility that the franchise fee revenue the city would typically receive from the utility providers will be outstanding as well.

With the deferral of the payment deadline for property taxes the most significant financial implication is the impact this would have on the city’s liquidity. This liquidity would be severely impacted if the provincial government still requires municipalities to make the payments required for the education requisition. If this were to happen the city may have to access an operating line of credit with its financial institution in order to make the required payments.

Beaumont's Business Needs Survey and Proposed ActionsRECOMMENDATION:Information only.

REPORT:Since March 18, 2020 the Economic Development team has reached out and contacted 80 businesses directly. This touch-point is intended to be a short five (5) minute call to understand the impact to-date of COVID-19, to inform the businesses of the resources that the City is making available on our

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website and to also understand what questions they may have so that we can prepare to assist and provide information/resources in the coming weeks.

The City is also working closely with the Beaumont Chamber of Commerce to ensure that between our two (2) websites we can provide local businesses with timely and relevant information on supports and programs. The City is focusing primarily on supports from the provincial and federal governments, while the Chamber is also including info on many of the developing non-governmental programs/support. We have agreed to collaborate through these challenging times.

With the insight we have been gathering, we are now working with various service providers/groups to find applicable webinars/educational programs to address many of the questions we have heard from businesses.

Our team is continuing to actively monitor new programs/supports for small business so that we are prepared and are working with our Communications Team to keep our website updated with this information.

ATTACHMENT: 1. Summary of the results of the calls to-date.

Renewal/Maintenance Projects RECOMMENDATION:Information Only.

REPORT:At the February 25, 2020 City Council meeting, Council approved the 2020 Capital and Operating Budgets. With the emergence of COVID-19 health emergency Administration has had several discussions as to next steps regarding these budgets. At this point in time Administration plans on moving forward with the capital and operating budgets as approved.

In deciding to move forward with these budgets Administration has gone through a prioritization process, specifically for the capital projects, which evaluated the projects in relation to compliance, safety risk, community benefit and rate of execution. This prioritization process will assist in determining what projects may need to be deferred if circumstances change in the future. For the remainder of 2020, Administration will provide Council with regular progress updates on the projects including the status and forecasts to the end of the year.

Continuation with the capital and operating budgets provides a substantial opportunity to stimulate the local economy. Administration will endeavor to further ensure this economic stimulus occurs by including in tender packages that contractors, where possible, request services from local Beaumont contractors. In addition, Administration will also review the weighting of the scoring criteria used to award contracts.

As well as continuing with the approved capital and operating budgets, Administration is also looking at opportunities to use the existing circumstances and facility closures to perform maintenance or building renewal projects. In some cases the maintenance or renewal projects may be included in the existing approved budgets. In those circumstances where there is no approved budget Administration will return to Council to discuss and seek approval if it is believed these projects are of a higher priority than others already approved or if it can be completed in addition to work already planned for the year.

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Finally, in order to be prepared if the federal or provincial government announce economic stimulus programs, Administration is working on a prioritized list of additional projects that could take advantage of funding. These projects could include things like LED lighting, solar panel instillation, boiler replacements, or other energy efficiency initiatives.

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City of BeaumontEconomic DevelopmentCOVID-19 Business Impact March 23, 2020

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TBC • 220

Since March 18, we have reached out and spoken with over 82 small businesses in Beaumont. The majority of these businesses have been ‘storefront’, with some home-based businesses included.

1

Survey Overview

Some of the Industries included: • Spirits (liquor)• Restaurants• Retail• Automotive• Dentistry• Real Estate

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TBC • 220

Survey Overview

We found that:• The majority of businesses contacted have not considered any sort of

business continuity plan (~20% have some sort of plan in place)

• As of the date of the call, only 14% of the businesses had accessed additional financial resources to sustain business operations; and 11% had already been in contact with their Financial Advisors/Institutions

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TBC • 220

Impact on Revenue

17

108

27

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

(0 - 20%) (30 - 50%) (50 - 75%) (75 - 100%)

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usi

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Revenue Decrease Impact

Business Revenue Impact

• A few businesses have actually experienced sales increases over this period

• Some businesses did not provide details on any revenue impacts

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TBC • 220

Impact on Employment

20 (24%) 43

Number of Businesses thathad to release employees:

Total number of Employees that have been released

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TBC • 220

The assessed level of preparedness in the

Beaumont Business Community

Severely Unprepared72%

Largely Unprepared2%

Not Prepared enough13%

Well Prepared9%

Fully Prepared4%

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special council meeting - 24 mar 2020

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