Title
Engineering Design Standards Variance Requests
Proposed Motions
1) That Council receive the Engineering Design Standards Variance Report as information and,
2) That Council approve the amendment to the 2015 Departmental Fees and Charges - Engineering Services - Schedule C, to include Engineering Design Standard Variance Requests fee of $1,200.00 per application plus associated costs.
Body
Administration Recommendation
Administration recommends that Council review the report, and receive it as information as well as approve the amendment to the 2015 Departmental Fees and Charges - Engineering Services - Schedule C.
Purpose
To inform Council that Administration has developed a process for stakeholders to put forward requests for variances to the County's adopted Engineering Design Standards. In addition, Administration has also developed a process to update an existing standard as new or changing information becomes available such as technological advances, environmental policies, best practices or other changes to design standard philosophies. The amendments to the Fee Schedule are to cover administrative costs of considering major variances that require extensive time and/or to cover costs of engineering consulting fees, legal fees and/or other related costs.
Summary
Effective January 1, 2015, the County will require all design and construction projects to adhere to updated engineering standards adopted early in 2014. These standards were developed and circulated with various stakeholders and for the most part, were well received by the County's partners through this process. One of the requests coming out of stakeholder consultation was a request for a formal process to challenge the standard, or request variances to the standards. Administration has prepared a few amendments to the Engineering Design Standards that will outline a process as to how a variance request may be forwarded for review including what can be expected upon submission of ...
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