Again, I'm not getting into the details of the application process, but traditionally, application processes at all levels of government across this country have been very project focused. It's about getting this project done and getting it in the ground, and this led to what you'll see colloquially described as somebody paving a road, and a few months later someone comes in and puts in a water main.
What we need to do is make sure that there is a longer-term vision. Some cities have very good asset management plans, and if they have a good asset management plan, let them run with it. If they don't, then maybe you have to be a little more prescriptive in the application process, and perhaps you have to be a little bit more rigorous in the screening of the project to see that they've done the due diligence.
One point that I think is important about an asset management plan is that it also makes you contemplate the life-cycle cost, or what I prefer to call the “total owner cost", of operations, maintenance, and what you do after its useful design life. Do you rehabilitate it or retire it? These things are often considerations that, under traditional granting programs, are about getting the shovel in the ground, and then instead of NIMBY we have NIMTO—not in my term of office—with respect to how it gets paid for over the next 20, 30, 40 years.