Welcome to the first E-Newsletter for 2021.
Council Choses New Name for Private Road at Taieri Mouth
Council has rescinded a previous decision made on 29 October 2020 to name a private road at Taieri Mouth ‘Sydnee Heights’. Instead, they have chosen to name the road ‘Totara Close’.
Since that October decision, the original developer of the subdivision (and the current landowner of a portion of the private road that will be on their private land) contacted Council with advice that the development and road name had always intended to be "Totara Close" and that they objected to the new approved road name.
There are three roads in the District using the word ‘Totara’: Totara Avenue, Totara Island Road and Totara Street. They are more than 40 kms away from this Private Road and it would not be considered a conflict.
Council’s road naming process was carried out correctly and notification provided to contact addresses for all immediately adjacent owners to the road.
However, as it is a private road and the approved name had not been actioned and implemented to date, Council today chose to consider the objection and the proposed alternative road name.
The developer’s reasons to name the road Totara Close was because there is an old track through the middle of this subdivision which was used from 1860 onwards for access from Taieri Mouth to Waihola. It was the known as the" breakneck track" due to the treacherous track from the hill to the river. When clearing the old man pines as they developed the block, they noticed regenerating totaras both sides of the old track.
All correspondence has made it clear that there was no fault attached to the original proposal and indeed Council was grateful for the proposer contributing to the process.
Notification of Weight and Speed Limits on Bridges
Council has completed its annual bridge inspections and has agreed to specific weight and speed limits on some bridges in the Clutha District.
The bridges with imposed limits were because they had been identified as being susceptible to damage or increased deterioration, should they be subjected to “normal” open road loads and speeds.
Bridge 149 at Whitelea Road, Bridge 183 at Romahapa Road and Bridge 459 on Tuapeka West Road have all had strengthening and repair work carried out in 2019/20 and 2020/21 and have been removed from the list.
The restrictions to Bridge 390, Kelso Settlement Road and Bridge 471, Matheson Road have been increased, as a reflection of the need to have these bridges closed and removed.
No further additional bridges were required to be added as part of the annual inspection.
These bridges and their limits will be publicly notified and will be available on Council’s website.
Testing for Lead in Water
As has been well-publicised, Dunedin City Council have recently found elevated levels of lead in some drinking water. This has inevitably raised the question about whether the same could be happening in Clutha.
Heavy metals in drinking water can originate in naturally occurring minerals deposits in the source catchment or can occur when plumbing materials that contain lead corrode.
Historically our Water Safety Plans have not identified lead as a high risk in our catchments. When we have tested for lead the levels recorded have been significantly below the maximum acceptable levels.
However, Council is currently part-way through a programme to replace aging lead-jointed concrete pipes in Milton. With the information that we now know about the DCC incident Councillors decided that we will undertake a limited testing regime to confirm our situation.
The testing regime will be:
• a one-off surveillance round of testing for heavy metals in the raw water and reticulation of all District water supplies, and
• a three-month programme of testing for heavy metals in the raw water and reticulation of Milton District water supplies.
Draft Submission on the Incoming Water Services Bill.
Clutha District Council has joined the other territorial authorities of Otago and Southland to prepare a joint submission to the Government Health Committee on the incoming Water Service Bill.
The Bill aims to address inconsistencies in drinking water service delivery nationally, following the 2016 Havelock North contamination incident.
The Bill is one element in the wider Three Waters Reform Programme under which new multi-regional water entities will take on delivery of water service.
There are concerns that the move could lead to confusion about responsibilities under the new Bill, while the transition of authority took place. This concern is addressed in the draft submission.
The submission also calls for a longer transition period to the new regime. At the moment there is a lack of detail around the timing of the transition and a risk that work, resources and skills used to adapt to new regulations later this year quickly becoming redundant once the new entities were in place.
Also of concern are potential skill shortages as capacity issues already exist for technical expertise in the Three Waters field. The Government is asked to consider the development of a skills strategy to address this problem.
Contracts Awarded
The realignment of the Mt Cooee Landfill Drainage (around railway) was awarded to Thomson Earthmoving, $882,237.10.
A total of three tenders were received with prices ranging from $882,237.10 to $1,541,850.57+GST.
The refurbishment of Council’s Rosebank Office was awarded to Amalgamated Builders Limited, $1,535,879.23.
The refurbishment is a contract for the construction of improved customer services spaces, the addition of meeting rooms, HVAC system improvements and other minor alterations to the administration building at Rosebank Terrace.
This contract was advertised on the Government Electronic Tender Service (GETS) which is monitored by contractors across the country.
Council approved a budget of $2.33 million for this project as part of the 2020/21 Annual Plan deliberations.
At the time the tenders closed, no confirming tenders were received. Submissions were received from two tenders and these were evaluated.
Negotiations were entered into with the lowest tenderer being Amalgamated Builders Limited for $1,535,879.23. The balance of the budget is allocated outside this main construction contract and includes items such as contingencies, asbestos removal and dump fees, contract management, design and specialist services fees and project management costs.
Amalgamated Builders Limited have undertaken this type of work around Otago and Southland and they have also included a significant proportion of local sub-contractors as part of their tender.
This project is expected to be completed in September 2021 and as such some funding will need to be moved into the 2021/22 financial year.
Rural Water Scheme Pipe Renewal work was awarded to Southern Trenching and Excavation Ltd, $512,800.07.
A total of four conforming tenders were received from contractors across Otago and Southland, with the prices ranging from $512,800.07 to $1,000,533.41+GST.
The Engineer’s Estimate for this contract was $563,257.25+GST and the final approved budget for the work was $630,000+GST.
Southern Trenching and Excavation Ltd have undertaken pipeline renewal works for Council previously and have performed well to date.