Consolidation of Records Storage Facilities and Services

The Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee recommends the adoption of the Recommendation of the Budget Committee embodied in the following communication (January21,1999) from the City Clerk:

Recommendation:

The Budget Committee on January 19, 1999, recommended to Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, and Council, the adoption of the report (January 15, 1999) from the City Clerk, wherein it is recommended that:

(1)inactive records of the City of Toronto and its agencies, boards, and commissions that do not require long-term retention be consolidated into a single records storage facility;

(2)as directed by the Budget Committee, the City's Real Estate unit continue to negotiate a lease with TEDCO, and report thereon to the Corporate Services Committee and the Budget Committee on the terms of the lease and its impact upon the operating budget for the City Clerk's Division in future years;

(3)in the event that negotiations are not satisfactorily concluded with TEDCO, the City Clerk with the assistance of Real Estate staff be authorized to issue a proposal call for a storage facility to be financed by the private sector on city-owned property for lease with a buy-back option;

(4)the 1999 Operating Budget target for the Corporate Records and Archives unit be adjusted to reflect a one-time expenditure of $389 thousands to meet service requirements associated with project delays as discussed in this report; and

(5)the appropriate City officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

The Budget Committee reports for the information of the Strategic Policies and Priorities Committee, and Council, having requested the Commissioner of Corporate Services to:

(a)give the subject project a higher prioritization and try to conclude the negotiations with TEDCO before the end of February, 1999; and

(b)report back to the Budget Committee as soon as possible respecting the Toronto Transit Commission's reported awarding of a contract for storage of records and archives.

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(Report dated January 15, 1999, addressed to the

Budget Committee from the City Clerk)

Purpose:

This report discusses the status of the consolidation of the city's inactive records storage requirements by way of a design build leased warehouse facility, with the Toronto Economic Development Corporation (TEDCO) as a lessor, as directed by the Budget Committee.

Funding Sources, Financial Implications and Impact Statement:

Funds in the amount of $1659.0 thousands were allocated for a Transition Project involving the consolidation of records storage facilities and services. In 1998, twelve positions were deleted in anticipation of the consolidation of records storage facilities by early 1999. Delays in implementing the consolidation, however, require a one-time adjustment to the 1999 operating budget target for the Corporate Records and Archives unit of the City Clerk's Division. This expenditure will allow the unit to deal with a growing backlog of records destructions , and will fund a reduced program of microfilming the records of building permit applications so that the original records may be destroyed to achieve interim space savings in facilities that are presently filled beyond their capacity. Approval of this transition project will incur operating costs for the lease and maintenance beginning in the Year 2000. A further report will be submitted on the impact on the operating budget as soon as negotiations with TEDCO are finalized.

Recommendations:

It is recommended that:

(1)inactive records of the City of Toronto and its agencies, boards, and commissions that do not require long-term retention be consolidated into a single records storage facility;

(2)as directed by the Budget Committee, the City's Real Estate unit continue to negotiate a lease with TEDCO, and report thereon to the Corporate Services Committee and the Budget Committee on the terms of the lease and its impact upon the operating budget for the City Clerk's Division in future years;

(3)in the event that negotiations are not satisfactorily concluded with TEDCO, the City Clerk with the assistance of Real Estate staff be authorized to issue a proposal call for a storage facility to be financed by the private sector on city-owned property for lease with a buy-back option;

(4)the 1999 operating budget target for the Corporate Records and Archives unit be adjusted to reflect a one-time expenditure of $389 thousands to meet service requirements associated with project delays as discussed in this report; and

(5)the appropriate City Officials be authorized and directed to take the necessary action to give effect thereto.

Council Reference/Background/History:

Prior to amalgamation, 12 records storage locations were used to store inactive and archival records. During 1998, records storage was consolidated into 10 locations. While the largest and most efficient facility operates at a ratio of 1 staff to 10,000 -15,000 boxes, smaller facilities operate with a ratio as low as 1 staff to 1,500 boxes.

Initially staff planned to reduce the storage locations to four facilities, which included the conversion of a city-owned two-storey office building at 160 Duncan Mill Road into a single-storey warehouse. Further analysis and more precise estimates from consultants, however, indicated that the renovation would cost more than the expense of constructing a new warehouse. In view of this analysis, the Duncan Mill project was stopped and other options were investigated throughout 1998.

A review of space requirements within the approved funding level of $1.659 thousands determined that it would be possible to consolidate inactive records that do not require long-term retention into a single facility of approximately 30,000 square feet. This records centre would meet the storage needs of City departments and municipal agencies, boards, and commissions well into the future. Archival records, vital records, and departmental records requiring permanent retention due to legal requirements will be housed at 255 Spadina Road. This building was constructed in the early 1990s with environmental controls that meet national standards for the long-term preservation of records, as well as a dedicated research area that allows public access to the records in an inviting and yet very secure setting. This building is one of a very few purpose-built archival repositories in Canada.

At the Budget Committee meeting of November 11, 1998, the City Clerk's Division presented a proposal for entering into a five-year renewable lease for space in a commercial warehouse to store the inactive records of the City and its special purpose bodies. Staff were directed to discuss the feasibility of a long-term storage solution with TEDCO. At the Budget Committee meeting of December 15, 1998, the City Clerk's Division was directed to report back in January 1999 with recommendations regarding a leased storage facility for inactive records. Negotiations with TEDCO are ongoing, and staff with the City's Real Estate unit are working to resolve some key outstanding issues regarding terms of the lease.

Comments and/or Discussion and/or Justification:

Records Storage Options:

The City has four options for storing inactive records. First, it can purchase the service from the private sector. This alternative was used to manage part of the storage requirements in the former cities of North York, Scarborough, and Toronto. North York terminated this arrangement in 1998 due to problems with service delivery. Second, the city can renovate an existing building. Third, the city can lease warehouse space from the private sector. Fourth, the city can build its own facility or seek a developer to finance the construction under a lease buy-back arrangement.

The first issue is whether or not the city should be in the records storage business. The rates charged to the former cities of Toronto and Scarborough for commercial storage services have been compared to the storage costs for the proposed commercial leased space, as well as to the unit costs for transactions (such as records retrieval, re-filing, accessioning, disposal, and delivery) that were provided from the former Metro records centre program at 255 Spadina Road. In other words, the most efficient transaction costs in the amalgamating programs, combined with commercial warehouse lease costs, have been used for the comparison with alternative service delivery. This comparison showed that the storage costs are comparable, with a slight advantage to the public sector as GST is not charged by the City. In addition to storage, 12 units of service were used to compare transaction services. Former Metro pay and benefits rates were used as the basis for the City's labour costs. A City-operated records storage facility provides savings for transaction services ranging from a low of 43 per cent to a high of 93 per cent when compared to current private sector contract costs. This comparison shows that it is in the financial interest of the City to operate its own inactive records storage service.

Real Estate identified a number of potential city-owned properties for conversion to a records centre. None were suitable for this purpose due to concerns over floor-loading capacities, suitability of floor plans and the height of interior space to accommodate maximum storage densities, building facilities such as loading docks and mechanical systems, and ease of access to the sites.

TEDCO is interested in developing an 85,000-square-foot warehouse in the Portlands, which would meet the City's storage requirements for inactive records and would provide space to other tenants. While this option is attractive to the City Clerk's Division, it is not possible to make a specific recommendation in favour of TEDCO at this time as negotiations are still in progress. To ensure that the outcome of the negotiations reflects the current market, it is recommended that if negotiations are not successful, a proposal call be issued for a design built facility to be leased with a buy-back option.

Impact of Project Delays:

The original transition project approved in 1998 anticipated that a facility would be operational by early 1999. Reduced staffing associated with consolidation of storage facilities for inactive and archival records were realized in 1998. Implementation of the unit's organizational design was based on the assumption that a new records centre would be ready for occupancy by January 1999.

The physical consolidation is now delayed approximately one year, creating significant pressures upon available space as well as short-term service delivery problems. Plans to end microfilming services in early 1999 must now be partially deferred for a year. Continuing a reduced microfilm service in 1999 to alleviate the space shortage and service demands requires 5 person years at a cost of $219 thousands. Investing in this project will ensure that information from building permit application records are available to staff and the public, while conserving space for storage through the destruction of the paper-based records.

The other space impact relates to a backlog of records eligible for destruction. Due to decreased staffing, it is no longer possible to process destructions on a timely basis. The backlog from 1998 and the planned destructions for 1999 are in excess of 10,000 cartons. Processing these destructions and integrating box descriptions from the seven former records centre programs into a single system will require four person years at a cost of $170 thousands. Investing in this project will mean that only those records that require retention will be moved to the new facility, and that all boxes will be moved with accurate content descriptions, retention information, and standard bar code labels. This is important to maintain the continuity of retrieval services during a very large and complex move. The move will involve 100 to 125 tractor trailer loads of inactive boxes and will require a 24-hour operation for records relocation in order to maintain retrieval services as records are being moved.

Benefits of Consolidation:

Working out of two locations rather than ten makes locating requested records easier for Records Centre staff. Distribution of files through the corporate mail hub is simpler, and file circulation management is facilitated and more easily controlled. Routing of records back to the Records Centre for re-filing is simplified and will result in fewer misfiles, or lost-in-transit problems. The standards for automation are more easily implemented in one facility than in a multitude of locations with little staff supervision, making on-line requests for records more reliable and more convenient. Accountability for retrieval and circulation is simple and clear to customers. Staff absences and after-hours emergency retrievals are more easily covered, which will improve service delivery for the Records Centre program.

Conclusions:

At the direction of the Budget Committee, negotiations are proceeding with TEDCO for a records storage facility which meets the needs of the City Clerk's Division. The Real Estate staff will be reporting to the Corporate Services Committee and the Budget Committee once negotiations are finalized. In the event that negotiations with TEDCO are not satisfactorily concluded, it will be necessary to issue a Request for Proposal for a privately financed, constructed and managed leased facility with a buy-back option.

Delaying the move into a records storage facility for approximately a year presents operational problems for the Corporate Records and Archives unit of the City Clerk's Division. Staff reductions in 1998 were based on the early availability of a new facility. In order to offset the service impact of a one-year delay, it is necessary to continue a reduced microfilming program and to expedite a backlog of records disposals. This results in a one-time expenditure of approximately $389thousands. The operating budget target for the Corporate Records and Archives appropriation should be adjusted accordingly.

Contact Name:

Michael Moir, Director, Corporate Records Systems and City Archivist, Tel: 392-9673;

Fax: 392-9685; e-mail: mmoir@metrodesk.metrotor.on.ca.