Surplus transferred to General Reserve account
Council agreed to transfer a surplus of $450,145 from its 2017-18 financial year to its General Reserve account. The major reasons for the surplus were the stronger revenue activity for the Regulatory area, and increased revenue from rates penalties. The current balance of the General Reserve was $209,654, after and this addition, it will have a new balance of $665,839. The reserve gives Council additional funds should any one-off projects come along or there is an unplanned over-spend.
Confirmation of Council’s work programme
Councillors were given an update on capital projects at yesterday’s Council meeting to confirm the work programme for the 2018/19 year. They approved the following capital project decisions:
- Kaitangata Hall Demolition and Puerua Wastewater Treatment Plant projects will be carried forward to 2018-19 as they were not completed in the previous year.
- Two new projects are to be added in to the 2018-19 budgets. These are the Milton Sewerage Discharge Consent and the new roof for the Waipahi Hall.
- Council deferred a number of projects to the following financial year for a full list go to Council’s agenda on the website.
- Council has also removed some water projects as staff have identified that some schemes have significant issues to do with capacity, quality, and practicalities of scale and location that should be addressed and that further investigation is required.
- Council confirmed that opportunities for Water Services Scheme Reconfiguration, to improve efficiency and compliance, will be evaluated prior to major capital projects from existing budgets and note that construction on projects may be delayed while this work is completed. Council believes it is better to do the homework first than spend ratepayer money on capital projects that may not be necessary or may not be the most effective solution.
- Council approved a number of projects to be brought forward to into the Annual Plan 2018/19 budgets. These included, Owaka Water Treatment Plant $110,000, Lawrence Pipeline Renewal Programme $200,000, Milton Water Treatment Plant Resource Consent $30,000, Waihola Stormwater George Street $40,000, Lawrence Wastewater Plant Switchboard Replacement $55,000 and Rural Toilets Renewal Surat Bay and Jacks Bay $60,000.
Council also agreed to the Balclutha Streetscape Stage 2 project for the 2018/19 year including initial scoping work for Balclutha Bridge lighting, Balclutha Bridge entrances and the Rosebank Triangle.
Progress report presented to Councillors
The first quarter progress report was presented to councillors at yesterday’s Council meeting. In the past Council has had disjointed systems for budgeting and reporting. The new system makes it easier and more efficient to report regularly to Council. Once fully set up, the Balanced Scorecard, a reporting tool in Ozone, will allow integrated and live time financial monitoring and reporting. It also has the ability to provide information about the progress of projects and non-financial reporting measures - all in one place. It is expected to add value internally by helping provide information at staff, budget manager and manager levels. Importantly it will provide a mechanism to report to Council in a transparent and time-efficient way.
Our Place Waihola Community Plan adopted
Council adopted the final Our Place Waihola Community Plan and can now move forward with the priority projects identified as part the consultation. The focus of the Our Place Waihola project was to identify what Council can do to apply the Living and Working Strategy in Waihola. The formal process of developing the Community Plan began in early 2018 with improvements made throughout the process to ensure that the plan reflected community priorities. It also describes the key areas where Council will focus its support for the duration of the 2018-28 Long Term Plan. The final plan will be available on Council’s website in the near future. The following project groupings were approved:
- Milton – Waihola water pipeline
- Infrastructure & services: Sewerage and Stormwater
- Community and visitor facilities
- Development in and around Waihola
- Lake Waihola Destination Park
- Waihola Reserves Management Plan
Waihola Reserves Management Plan
Council formally adopted the Waihola Reserves Management Plan 2018. This plan establishes how the parks and reserves in the Waihola area will be managed and developed during the next 10 years and covers a wide range of work from drinking fountains and BBQ’s being included in future development options for parks to investigations into extending the existing footpath network. The final plan will be available on our website in the near future.
Initial consultation begins for Catlins
With the Waihola plan completed Council will now turn its focus into developing a draft plan for the Catlins area. Council approved a consultation strategy to inform and seek input from the community, based on reliable information and previous consultation, to support the development of the Our Place Catlins Community Plan. This consultation will take place over the summer months to capture feedback from a wide range of the people that live and visit the area.
Meeting dates confirmed
Council approved its meeting dates for 2019. Having a meeting schedule adopted enables the community to be aware of Council meetings. These will be advertised the month prior to the meetings. An approved schedule of meeting dates is required so that meetings can be publicly notified in accordance with the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987.
Councils accounts
Councillors got to have a good look over the Council’s accounts for the period ended September 30, being the first quarter of 2018-19) at yesterday’s council meeting. The report has also been updated with a new format thanks to the implementation of Council’s new financial reporting system.
Targa Rally concerns
Concerns about the running of the Targa Rally, held recently throughout roads in Otago, has prompted Council to send feedback to the organisers. Cr John Herbert raised his concerns as a late item at yesterday’s Council meeting. He said roads were not opened and closed at the advertised times which not only created safety concerns but also put the local people out that were trying to go about their daily business.
Contracts awarded
Contract 773 – was awarded to Fulton Hogan Ltd for the reseal and preseal repairs for 2018-21 for the sum of $8,394,481.50.