MINUTES
Ordinary Council Meeting
11 February 2020
Ordinary Council Meeting Minutes 11 February 2020
MINUTES
OF Mackenzie District
Council
Ordinary
Council Meeting
HELD AT THE Council
Chambers, Fairlie
ON Tuesday, 11
February 2020 AT 9.30AM
PRESENT: Mayor Graham Smith, Deputy Mayor James Leslie, Cr Anne Munro, Cr Stuart Barwood, Cr Murray Cox, Cr Emily Bradbury, Cr Matt Murphy
IN ATTENDANCE: Suzette Van Aswegen (Chief Executive), Paul Numan (GM Corporate Services), Simon Mackenzie (GM Operations), Jo Hurst (Management Accountant), Connie Giquel (Executive Advisor to the Mayor and Chief Executive), Arlene Goss (Governance Advisor Temp) and one member of the media.
The Mayor opened the meeting and welcomed everyone.
There were no apologies.
There were no visitors to the Council meeting.
There were no declarations of interest.
The Mayor read out the following bereavements and a minute’s silence was observed:
MACDONALD, Donella of Fairlie – Died in Scotland on December 17, 2019.
Born in Fairlie on February 10, 1933. Student and teach in the South Island in the 1950s, daughter of the late Donal and Connie Grant, sister of Ishbel Fraser and the late Nan Grace Anne Bray, wife of the late Patrick MacDonald, mother of Connie, Donald, Colin and Ruaraidh. Dearly loved by her Scottish and NZ families.
INCH, Lorna Mary Symes of Lake Tekapo – Died January 18, 2020.
Stewart would like to express heartfelt thanks to family, friends and neighbours for their kindness, support, flowers, cards and expressions of sympathy after Lorna’s passing. Special thanks to members of the Lake Tekapo Lions Club and their partners for their support.
SIMPSON, Guy of Lake Tekapo– Died on Monday January 27, 2020 at home surrounded by his close family. He lost his courageous battle with cancer. Dearly loved husband and soulmate of Jackie and much loved and adored father to Maisy.
MASSAM, Mary Patricia of Twizel – Died peacefully in Dunedin Hospital surrounded by loved ones on January 14, 2020 aged 76 years. Adored wife of the late Dave. Loved mum of Peter and Jackie, Robyn and Shem and Annemarie. Dearest grandma of Mary, Trinity, Xavier and Sefton. Loved friend to many.
THORN, Patricia May of Twizel – Passed away suddenly and unexpectedly at home in Twizel on Sunday January 12, 202 aged 67. Much loved and cherished wife of Allan, mum of Debbie. Sarah, Aaron, Kelly and Jon. Adored and much loved Nannie to Anika, Max, Xavier, Lexi, Oliva and Harper.
GLASS, Ben of Albury – Passed away February 10. Loved husband of the late Isobel and father of Graham and Elizabeth.
KENTON, Billy – Long term resident of Tekapo.
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Resolution 2020/1 Moved: Cr Anne Munro Seconded: Cr Stuart Barwood Carried |
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The Mayor spoke about the Mayoral Forum Food and Fibre Innovation Programme. There was a concern expressed that young people were not entering the agricultural sector. $200,000 would be put into encouraging young people to enter farming, done in partnership with Lincoln University. The Mayor updated councillors on the current status of the Pukaki Airport Board. He and the chief executive met with members on 17th January. The chairman has tendered his resignation and the board has been disestablished. They have agreed to hand over all information to Property and Commercial Manager Mark Samways. The Mayor recognised the good work the board has done. The chief executive would like to invite them to the next council meeting to celebrate the work they have done. Yesterday the Mayor met with Arowhenua and Waihao runanga and it went well. He was happy to have a way forward with runanga. Discussions took place on the relationships runanga have with DOC and with council staff. The Mayor was congratulated on his achievements in working with runanga. He said it was a council-wide effort. Council respects runanga and “holds them with integrity”. The Mayor thanked councillors for going with him to Queenstown to meet with Queenstown Mayor Jim Boult and Queenstown Lakes District Council executives. |
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The chief executive took the report as read. She thanked staff who worked all weekend operating the emergency operations centre during the recent fire at Burkes Pass. She notified the councillors that Council’s audit director, John Mackey from Audit New Zealand, has been moved away from the Mackenzie and a new audit director has been appointed. The Mayor asked for an update on vacant staff positions. The chief executive noted a list of applications for the position of General Manager Operations has been compiled. The position of planning team leader is currently being advertised. Other positions were also updated. There are difficulties attracting staff to some positions, such as building control officers. The recent meetings in Fairlie and Twizel between council staff and local builders were productive and the builders thanked council for organising the meetings. Concerns were expressed around continuity of service, timing of inspections, fees and charges and consistency in how the inspectors do their work. It was important to build a team in-house to ensure consistency. Councillors were concerned that council was receiving more building consent applications than could be processed within the timeframe. Upcoming consultations from central government were noted. Simon Mackenzie was asked for an update on the Three Waters Bill. This has been delayed but is expected to go through Parliament by May or June, followed by changes that staff were already working on. |
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Resolution 2020/2 Moved: Deputy Mayor James Leslie Seconded: Cr Emily Bradbury 1. That the report be received. Carried |
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This report invites Council to ratify the draft Canterbury Local Authorities’ Triennial Agreement 2020–22. The Mayor said this agreement had provided real value in the past, and it would be a shame if Mackenzie was not part of the Mayoral forum. The forum has identified that it wants more senior government ministers at meetings to deliver on issues affecting local government. That would be the thrust this year. MP Dr Megan Woods, Minister of Energy and Resources, would be speaking at the next Mayoral Forum in early March. |
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Resolution 2020/3 Moved: Cr Anne Munro Seconded: Cr Stuart Barwood 1. That the report be received. Carried |
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Resolution 2020/4 Moved: Deputy Mayor James Leslie Seconded: Cr Anne Munro 2. That Mackenzie District Council ratifies the Canterbury Local Authorities’ Triennial Agreement 2020-22. Carried |
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Resolution 2020/5 Moved: Cr Matt Murphy Seconded: Cr Murray Cox That the information be noted. Carried |
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Management Accountant Jo Hurst joined the meeting to speak to this report. Matters discussed included the following: Grants have been received from tourism funds. Council’s finances were in good shape. The Mayor asked for a review of insurance. Paul Numan said staff were regularly looking at insurance and making sure it was fit for purpose, and Council had been updated at a recent meeting. He believed council’s insurances were well positioned. The Mayor asked if notifications were received of any changes in insurance terms or increased prices. Yes. Capital expenditure has a gap between budget and money spent to date. A delay in the water treatment plant in Fairlie was part of the reason. Simon Mackenzie said he did not believe this would be delivered by 30 June. He therefore expects spend to be 25% under at the end of the financial year. The chief executive said most of the spend is from the reserves so could be carried over to next year, but when the money came from rates you cannot carry it over without placing it into a reserve account. Council needed to get better at project managing big projects. Discussion took place on the use of consultants. The chief executive suggested a workshop to show councillors where and when consultants were normally used. In the regulatory area consultant costs were recovered from users. Cr Cox asked if there was any risk of losing subsidies in roading. No. The Mayor asked about subsidies for street lighting from NZTA. The replacement of street lights was still a work in progress. The deadline to do this work is June 30 and staff are waiting for lights to arrive. Jo Hurst was thanked for the financial report and for attending the meeting. |
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The purpose of this report was for Council to adopt the terms of reference for the following standing committees: Engineering and Services Committee; Commercial and Economic Development Committee; Planning and Regulatory Committee; Strategy Committee; and Audit and Risk Committee.
Paul Numan outlined some changes to the documents that were suggested at a councillor workshop. He said the following changes would be made in response to councillor feedback:
1. Strategy Committee – remove the wording at 4.3.4.1 “to initiate and progress any change to or review of the District Plan under the Resource Management Act”
2. Planning and Regulatory Committee – include the wording at 4.3.3.1 “to initiate and progress any change to or review of the District Plan under the Resource Management Act” and amend the meetings frequency to six weekly basis or as required (from quarterly).
The Mayor said it was important that the meeting frequency for all committees would have “or as required” added. Regarding the responsibilities of the Commercial and Economic Development Committee, the Mayor questioned whether the Alps2Ocean cycleway was a commercial operation. After some discussion the councillors agreed this would fit better under asset management and should move to the Engineering and Services Committee. The Mayor read out the chairs and deputy chairs of each committee. Cr Leslie asked if Bruce Mincham, who is the independent chairman of the Audit and Risk Committee, had seen the terms of reference for Audit and Risk. The chief executive said Mr Mincham had seen them and wrote to her that he did not feel comfortable being in control of the performance review of the chief executive. This could be delegated to the deputy of Audit and Risk, or to a sub-committee. This discussion could take place at the Audit and Risk Committee meeting. |
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Resolution 2020/6 Moved: Cr Emily Bradbury Seconded: Deputy Mayor James Leslie 1. That the report be received. Carried |
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Resolution 2020/7 Moved: Cr Anne Munro Seconded: Cr Murray Cox 2. That Council adopt the attached terms and references of the Engineering and Services Committee, Commercial and Economic Development Committee, Planning and Regulatory Committee, Strategy Committee, and Audit and Risk Committee with the changes noted in the minutes of the Council Meeting on February 11, 2020. Carried |
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The purpose of this report was for Council to adopt proposed street names for Stage 3 of Mackenzie Park Subdivision in Twizel. Cr Leslie expressed concern about the potential for vandalism of signs saying Canal Place. He said there were already several signs around Twizel that had been vandalised in that way. Councillors discussed whether an alternative name should be used but decided not to take that path. |
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Resolution 2020/8 Moved: Cr Stuart Barwood Seconded: Cr Matt Murphy 1. That the report be received. 2. That the street names, Hydro Avenue and Canal Place, as proposed by the developers for the Mackenzie Park Subdivision – Stage 3, be approved noting they have written approval from Te Rūnanga o Arowhenua. Carried |
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The following documents have been prepared in accordance with previous resolutions of the Council and/or the provisions of the Local Government Act, 1993, and other relevant statues. This is a regular report to inform councillors of documents executed under the Common Seal of Council by the Mayor and Chief Executive. |
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Resolution 2020/9 Moved: Deputy Mayor James Leslie Seconded: Mayor Graham Smith That Council notes the following documents have been executed under the Common Seal of the Council:
Carried |
8 Community Board Recommendations
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9.2 Minutes of Tekapo Community Board Meeting - 4 December 2019 |
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Council noted there were no resolutions from the Tekapo Community Board requiring further action. |
There were no committee minutes to receive as this was the first meeting of the triennium.
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Resolution 2020/10 Moved: Cr Stuart Barwood Seconded: Cr Emily Bradbury That the Minutes of the Council Meeting held on Tuesday 17 December 2019 be received and confirmed as an accurate record of the meeting. Carried |
RESOLUTION TO EXCLUDE THE PUBLIC
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Resolution 2020/11 Moved: Cr Anne Munro Seconded: Cr Matt Murphy That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting. The general subject matter of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under section 48 of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:
Carried |
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Resolution 2020/12 Moved: Cr Emily Bradbury Seconded: Mayor Graham Smith That Council moves out of Closed Council into Open Council. Carried |
The Meeting closed at 11.25am.
The minutes of this meeting were confirmed at the Ordinary Council Meeting held on 24 March 2020.
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CHAIRPERSON