Police update Councillors
Clutha District Councillors were given an update by New Zealand Police about the response following the Mosque tragedy in Christchurch at today’s Council meeting.
Clutha Police Area Response Manager Stan Leishman said Police were pleased to be part of the Civic Remembrance held at the Balclutha War Memorial Hall for the Clutha community.
He said the “community reassurance” would continue in the coming weeks and Police were focusing on having a visual presence including at schools and places of religious worship.
Police had also been visiting local rifle ranges, gun and clay bird shooting clubs.
They are looking into what the continuing threat would be and following up on all of the information that has been coming in since the attack.
Senior Sergeant also said there would also be increased security at the up and coming ANZAC services in the district.
Mayor Bryan Cadogan said he really appreciated the support of the New Zealand Police and what they were doing to protect the community.
“I like to see that you’ve got the ability to protect yourself and I have no qualms about you having a side arm.
“I am pushing to get the Clutha Station manned 24/7 and please know I’m doing this to support you and your staff.”
Subdivision proposal turned down
A proposed subdivision of the carpark at 11 Ross Place, Lawrence has been turned down by Council as landowner of the carpark.
The Lawrence Athenaeum and Mining put forward a proposal to transfer the land and buildings at 11 Ross Place and capital improvements for a nominal payment of $100 with the condition that the Institute carry out drainage and building protection work within 12 months of the proposal being settled.
Council’s initial conversations with the Athenaeum was around subdividing off the carpark only which is shared by Council, the Hotel and the Athenaeum.
However, when the proposal came in it included the buildings.
The Property and Forestry Committee recommendation to Council said reservations had been expressed about the future use of the land and buildings and whether subdividing off the carpark would reduce future options.
The Committee is responsible for determining the status of Council-owned property, and currently it is categorised as “no category” and ordinarily Council would be looking to sell land and buildings.
It was possible that the outcome of an Information Centre Review for Lawrence might suggest using the land, but it would be a major process to contemplate shifting our current service centre and/or library.
Asset transfer set-up loan written off
Council agreed today to write off the asset transfer set-up loan to the Otago Rural Fire Authority of $34,491.72.
Fire and Emergency New Zealand (FENZ) took over management of rural fire responsibilities from the Otago Rural Fire Authority (ORFA) and its associated assets on 1 July 2017.
As part of the transfer, Council resolved to enter into an agreement with FENZ to use Council’s rural fire assets which are the Waihola and Papatowai fire stations.
In a report to Council, of specific interest to Council was the principle that response assets acquired substantially through fundraising or community donations should be allowed to be retained by the community that made the greatest contribution toward the acquisition of those assets.
Council has outstanding loans to the ORFA totalling $117,461.63 that are currently still on its books – an asset replacement loan balance of $79,392.85, which originally funded a replacement rural fire tanker, and Council’s contribution to the initial start-up loan of $34,491.72.
At its meeting on 29 June 2017 Council considered writing off the loans but decided to seek full repayment of the loans.
FENZ said there were no further options available to Council in terms of addressing the outstanding loans as it is not able to refund any loans, nor has it been funded to pay for any asset transferred to it as part of the amalgamation.
As ORFA has now been dissolved, there was no longer any debtor, particularly for the $34,491.72 set-up loan.
The remaining $79,392.85 asset replacement loan will remain on the books and is budgeted to be repaid over the balance of the 25-year repayment period – amounting to approximately $5,000 per year, however the asset (the tanker) is being used for the same purpose as when it was owned by ORFA.
Funding approved to purchase banners for the Milton main street
Council has approved a funding request of $1,728 to allow the Milton Area Promotions Group to purchase 16 banners for the main street of Milton.
The Group applied for the funding through the George Melville Fund to build up four sets to interchange throughout the year.
The Group said the flags could easily be changed by themselves without incurring any extra cost.
The balance as at 30 June 2018 was $152,000 which included $4,000 interest for the 2017/18 financial year.
MOU set up between Council and Community Hub Trust
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) will be set up between the Clutha District Council and the Clutha Community Hub Charitable Trust (the Trust).
In a report to Council the trust requested that the MOU between the Trust and Council would record the principles and objectives expected to underpin their ongoing relationship.
The MOU described in general terms the project to develop a Community Facility; the Balclutha War Memorial Hall.
The draft MOU presented to Council for agreement went further than the original agreed Project Information and therefore needed Council agreement as it placed project management responsibilities onto the Trust rather than the current Community-led group, after successful completion of the business case step.
Council noted it would need to be comfortable that the MOU covers the relationship post the business case, noting that the majority of the Project Information was addressing what should be covered by the business case.
Councillors had issues with some of the wording detailed in the MOU and will take several amendments back to the trust to finalise the MOU.
Contracts Awarded
Contract 797 – RWS Pipe Renewal (+100mm) 2019 was awarded to Wilfox Ltd trading as Roxburgh Excavation for $1,822,867.15.
Five tenders were received reflecting an increased interest in work on offer in South Otago. The Engineer’s estimate was $2,215,808.11 with the budget for the works of $1,694,669.00.
The Contractor has not yet been given all individual pipelines to construct as some are still to be confirmed by Scheme committees.
The tender price included a $200,000 Provisional Sum that allows for a variation to be included should additional renewal work be identified during the contract period.
Meetings approved
Council agreed to the following meetings:
• Annual Plan 2019/20 Hearing Session 1 – Thursday 2 May 2019 – 4.00 – 5.00pm and 6.00 – 7.00pm (following Standing Committees).
• Annual Plan 2019/20 Hearing Session 2 – Wednesday 8 May 1.00 – 4.00pm (if required).
• Council Workshop – Thursday 16 May 9.00 – 10.45am.
• Annual Plan 2019/20 Decisions – Session 1 – Thursday 16 May 11am – 12.30pm with session 2 to follow as part of the existing Council meeting beginning at 1.30pm.