Sun Peaks Mountain Resort Municipality (SPMRM) is currently assessing the municipality’s assets to implement an asset management plan.
Asset management is tailored to the specific needs of individual local governments according to a report, which the municipal director of operations Clint Burton shared with council April 14. The process involves taking stock of all municipality-owned assets to financially prepare for upgrades and maintenance.
Asset Replacement Forecast
In 2025, SPMRM completed an Asset Replacement Forecast which highlighted a value of over $160 million in 4,476 assets. Now, the municipality is working to determine which assets are under strata, potentially $6 million worth.
The assets owned by the municipality include water systems, pipes, roads, facilities and infrastructure.
During a council meeting Burton shares that just five asset classes – stormwater pipes and collards, firewall building and equipment and street and sidewalks total close to $17 million in replacement value, plus an annual investment for the life cycle.
These are assets that do not bring in revenue, Burton explained.
The infrastructure owned by the municipality is significant; Sun Peaks maintains nearly 16 kilometres of roadway, more than 15 kilometres of stormwater pipes, 20 kilometres of wastewater sewer mains, approximately 18,000 square metres of road surface, 19 kilometres of water supply mains and hundreds of maintenance manholes and service connections.
“I’m actually far more concerned about water assets in our water infrastructure,” Burton said.
Any failures in the municipality’s water systems would cause an immediate impact across many of the municipality’s services, he added.
Within a decade, the water and wastewater infrastructures are expected to require replacement, a predicted cost of about $7 million for wastewater infrastructure and over $17 million for water infrastructure.
Wastewater reserves, funds set aside for the management of this infrastructure, total approximately $850,000, and water reserves total around $100,000 with an addition of about $20,000 annually. This represents a one-year change in reserves according to the proposed 2026 budget.
“Our current rate of saving reserves is lower than necessary to meet our projected replacement profiles,” Burton wrote to SPIN via email.
A five-year year forecast would be “more appropriate” to look at, Burton added. SPIN reached out to municipal director of finance, Cheryl Taylor-Gale for these numbers but did not hear back prior to publication. This article will be updated if more information is provided.
The Sun Peaks Arena chiller is an additional major cost that will need to be replaced at an estimated cost of $1.5 million. The chiller was purchased second hand, so the remaining life is unknown, but expected to be in the next few years.
In regards to the municipality’s roads and curbs, their estimated replacement value equals about $24 million, posing one of the largest long-term infrastructure expenses for the municipality.
What’s next?
Burton looked into the asset management programs between various communities including Ashcroft, Merrit, Gibsons and Lake Country, which all have a dedicated leader or chief overseeing the programs.
“Best practices do say that having an employee to lead the asset management program within the organization is the best way to go, and that does align with recommendations from the auditor general for local governments,” Burton said.
Moving forward, the next phase of the asset management plan is for the municipality to determine ownership for the infrastructures, identify what is strata-owned and focus on long-term financial planning and funding.
This includes confirming replacement costs and insurance values for high cost assets, verifying and updating service life intervals for assets with high annual lifecycle investment requirements and ensuring those figures align with financial records including depreciation schedules.
The municipality is also revisiting its asset inventory to include recent purchases and retired assets.
Staff will perform a criticality assessment to determine which assets should be taking priority for future financial planning. Based on their importance to municipality services, replacement schedules will also be implemented.
It is becoming increasingly more important for formal asset management plans when applying for grant funding opportunities, and Burton said grant applications are likely to require long-term planning documents for infrastructures and financial strategies to receive funds.
As Sun Peaks continues to advance further into the planning process, continued investment and knowledge of ownership will be critical to maintaining roads, utilities and public facilities and infrastructure for long-term success, he added.
“This is a problem that is solved with time and money, but it’s also an issue that pays dividends with time and money,” Burton said.
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