In his 2023 annual report, the Auditor General of the City of Trois-Rivières, Jacques Bergeron, looks at the fire safety risk coverage plan, the management and maintenance of fire hydrants, as well as the management of maintenance of the City’s vehicle fleet.
The Auditor General is becoming more critical of the management of maintenance of the municipal vehicle fleet. The overall obsolescence index of the vehicle fleet increased from 16.83% to 20.89% between 2023 and 2024. “The target to be achieved and deemed satisfactory by the guardian of the asset was set at 17%,” recalls the Auditor General.
If the overall physical obsolescence index was judged satisfactory in 2023, it dropped to poor in 2024, the report mentions. The replacement value of obsolete vehicles is estimated at $13.5 million, compared to $10.6 million in August 2023.
The mayor of Trois-Rivières, Jean Lamarche, indicates that this stems from political decisions ensuring that the budget allocated to the acquisition of new vehicles has not been increased for a year or two.
“So we live with the vehicles we currently have. Besides, we have certain vehicle purchases on the agenda today and we are going about it very strategically to obtain the best possible prices, he comments. When we do not increase the budget for purchasing new vehicles, we must expect to have more mechanics to do, more maintenance. »
Furthermore, the Auditor General describes as “concerning” the fact that the City “remains in a period of adaptation, learning and continuous improvement” with regard to the use of the SAP software package, eight months after its implementation.
“We have noticed that it is difficult to use SAP effectively and easily find your benchmarks to remain functional, particularly in terms of data analysis and monitoring,” writes the Auditor General. (…) The City must take the necessary means to ensure that its employees reach an acceptable and functional level of knowledge of SAP, within a reasonable time frame. »
Jean Lamarche, mayor of Trois-Rivières. (Photo archives)
Jacques Bergeron recommends that the City adopt management indicators allowing it to evaluate the operational performance of its mechanical workshop and its unit responsible for in-store inventory management.
“This is data that we had before, but which did not follow during the migration to the new system. We are currently in transition, explains Éric Angers, Deputy General Director – Proximity. The software is not optimal at this time, but we are working to rebuild the bridges between the SAP software package and the data we had on hand to review our indicators and have them in the same place. »
Mr. Bergeron also points out that the draft policy on inventory management, developed over the last two years by the Supply Department in order to effectively supervise the life cycle of inventory stocks, constitutes “a essential tool for decision-making and the proper functioning of inventory management.” He notes that this would provide greater transparency and facilitate monitoring and accountability.
The VG points out that data relating to vehicle maintenance and repair costs is difficult to obtain since it is not part of the management indicators recommended and monitored for decision-making purposes.
“We are of the opinion that [le coût des pièces installées et le coût de facturation liée aux rendez-vous chez les fournisseurs de services] are far from sufficient to establish the real costs of maintaining and repairing a vehicle. However, a complete portrait of these costs should be part of the management indicators recommended and monitored on a regular basis and be part of the reporting to the authorities,” maintains Jacques Bergeron.
Despite everything, the audits indicate that the measures currently taken by the City to ensure regular maintenance of its vehicles adequately meet the level of service expected of citizens.
Flowers for the Fire Safety Department
The Auditor General, however, is complimentary regarding fire prevention and firefighting. It specifies that the risk coverage plan in force contains “all the elements required in accordance with best industry practices and the requirements of the Ministry of Public Security”.
The Auditor General only recommends that the Fire Safety and Civil Security Department improve its accountability process by adding a report on activities carried out in terms of maintenance of protective equipment and accessories for emergency vehicles and the result of specialized workforce planning analyses.
Mr. Bergeron mentions in his annual report that it was an incident concerning an out of order fire hydrant, which occurred on December 2, 2022, which attracted his attention in this matter. The audit concluded that the process of maintaining and checking fire hydrants is well documented and that the incident “had no impact on the quality of the fire service response”.
“The quantity and distribution of fire hydrants correspond to the needs expressed in the City’s fire safety risk coverage plan and provide an adequate level of confidence,” adds Mr. Bergeron in his report.
It also highlights the “rigorous protocol for management and maintenance of the City’s fire hydrant network” and affirms that best industry practices are applied regarding preventive and corrective maintenance of the network.
The Auditor General notes, however, that the City does not have the assurance that the maintenance and verification work on fire hydrants in the private domain, which are not under the jurisdiction of the City, are carried out according to the same standards as those applied to fire hydrants under its jurisdiction.
Overall, the mayor is satisfied with the conclusions of the Auditor General’s report. “The report is still very positive on the management and maintenance of fire hydrants. For an elected official, it is also reassuring to hear that during the fire mentioned in 2022, the non-functional fire hydrant had no impact on the success of the firefighters’ intervention. »
