Minutes of a meeting of the Tararua District Council held remotely via Zoom audio-visual link on Wednesday 29 April 2020 commencing at 1.08pm.

1. Present

Her Worship the Mayor - Mrs T H Collis, Crs E L Peeti-Webber (Deputy Mayor), A K Franklin, S A Hull, C J Isaacson, P A Johns, K A Sutherland, R A Treder and S M Wards.

In Attendance

Mr B King               -    Chief Executive (except for item 15.2)

Mr R Taylor           -    Governance Manager

Mr R Suppiah        -    Chief Financial Officer (until item 14)

Ms E Roberts         -    Revenue Manager (until item 14)

Mr C Whiley          -    IT Alliance Manager (until item 14)

Ms M Brenssell     -    Committee Secretary (until item 14)

Mr P Wimsett        -    Manager Strategy and District Development (until item 14)

Mr C McKay           -    Finance Manager (until item 14)

Mr H Featonby      -    Alliance Planning Manager (until item 14)

Ms P Peters           -    Local Government New Zealand EquiP (for item 15.3)

Mr S Necklen         -    Local Government New Zealand EquiP (for item 15.3)

2.               Council Prayer

2.1	The Mayor opened the meeting with the Council Prayer.

3.               Apologies

3.1

Nil

4.               Public Forum

4.1

Nil

5.               Notification of Items Not on the Agenda

5.1

Nil

6.               Declarations of Conflicts of Interest in Relation to this Meeting’s Items of Business

6.1

Nil

7.               Personal Matters

7.1

Nil

8.              Confirmation of Minutes

8.1	That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 February 2020 (as circulated) be confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting. Crs Johns/Peeti-Webber                                                                                  Carried

9.                Any Matters Arising from the Minutes not otherwise dealt with in the Agenda

9.1	Road Closures Requested Under the Tenth Schedule of the Local Government Act 1974  (Item 11.2)
9.1.1	Club Targa Incorporated have postponed their motorsport event intended to be held on 17 May 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
9.1.2	That event is now proposed to be held on 5 July 2020 if possible, and Club Targa has submitted to the Alliance a revised road closures application to advertise the variation to the date concerning the road closures requested for that purpose.
9.1.3	Following completion of the notification process the outcome will be reported to Council regarding the alternative arrangements proposed by the applicant, and noting a waiver will be recommended to the usual twenty-six weeks advance notice requirement for submitting a road closures application.
9.2	Community Remembrance Time for Victims of Christchurch Mosques Terrorist Attack  (Item 13.2)
9.2.1	On 15 March 2020 the district came together in the Council Chamber to join with the Muslim community to enjoy the bond of friendship, and commemorate the day New Zealand as a nation showed unity, compassion and love in response to terrorism and an act intending to divide us.

10.             Community Boards and Community Committees Reports

10.1	Dannevirke Community Board
10.1.1	That the report of the Dannevirke Community Board meeting held on 2 March 2020 (as circulated) be received. Crs Franklin/Wards                                                                                         Carried

10.2	Eketahuna Community Board
10.2.1	That the report of the Eketahuna Community Board meeting held on 9 March 2020 (as circulated) be received. Crs Franklin/Wards                                                                                         Carried
10.2.2	Downer Tararua Sports Awards
10.2.2.1	Due to COVID-19 restrictions the Downer Tararua Sports Awards have been postponed until next year, with a new date for arranging that event to be determined.
10.2.2.2	All nominations received at this time will be carried forward for consideration, and the period shall be extended to cover two years through recognising achievements in both 2019 and 2020.

10.3	Pahiatua On Track
10.3.1	That the report of the Pahiatua On Track meeting held on 4 March 2020 (as circulated) be received. Crs Franklin/Wards                                                                                         Carried

10.4	Woodville Districts' Vision
10.4.1	That the report of the Woodville Districts’ Vision meeting held on 3 March 2020 (as circulated) be received. Crs Franklin/Wards                                                                                         Carried

11.            Reports

11.1

Appointment of the Council's Electoral Officer

11.1.1

That the report from the Risk Manager dated 22 April 2020 concerning the appointment of the Council's Electoral Officer (as circulated) be received, and That Maria Brenssell be appointed as the Council’s Electoral Officer for the Tararua District to conduct its elections and polls in accordance with the provisions of the Local Electoral Act 2001 and regulations made under this Act. Crs Johns/Hull                                                                                                  Carried

11.2	Audit and Risk Committee
11.2.1	That the report of the Audit and Risk Committee meeting held on 17 March 2020 (as circulated) be received. Crs Isaacson/Franklin                                                                                      Carried

11.3

Changes to the Local Government Funding Agency Documentation

11.3.1

That the report from the Chief Financial Officer dated 23 April 2020 concerning changes to the Local Government Funding Agency documentation (as circulated) be received, and That Council delegate to Mayor Tracey Collis, Councillor Sharon Wards and the Chief Executive authority to sign the necessary Deed of Amendment and documents forwarded by the Local Government Funding Agency to enable its borrowing programme to be extended to include borrowing facilities for Council Controlled Organisations. Crs Johns/Isaacson                                                                                          Carried

11.4

Amendment to the Rates Resolution for the 2019/2020 Financial Year

11.4.1

It is requested the paragraph of the rates invoice insert regarding payment of rates be reviewed to make the wording clearer to understand.

11.4.2

The suggested alteration for that purpose is along the following lines:

“Anyone who would like to spread their payments over the rating year, and those ratepayers who pay by eftpos and cash, please look at completing the direct debit authority form included with your rates notice”.

11.4.3

That the report from the Revenue Manager dated 23 April 2020 concerning an amendment to the Rates Resolution for the 2019/2020 financial year (as circulated) be received, and

That Council approve the following specific amendments to the Rates Resolution for the 2019/2020 financial year:

Penalties for all rates other than water metered rates       

That Council resolves pursuant to Section 57 and Section 58 to authorise the     following penalties to be added on unpaid rates:

	Instalment Due Date	Rates Penalty Date
26 June 2019 Resolution	31 May 2020	1 June 2020
Changes approved	31 May 2020 (no change)	No penalty applied

For water metered rates

That Council resolves pursuant to Section 58(1)(a) to authorise the following penalties to be added on unpaid rates:

	Instalment Due Date	Rates Penalty Date
26 June 2019 Resolution	20 April 2020	21 April 2020
Changes approved	20 April 2020 (no change)	No penalty applied
26 June 2019 Resolution	20 July 2020	21 July 2020
Changes approved	20 July 2020 (no change)	No penalty applied

Crs Sutherland/Johns                                                                                       Carried

12.             Portfolio Reports

12.1	Mayor’s Report
12.1.1	A copy of the Mayor’s report dated 29 April 2020 is tabled, and the information set out in that document is circulated for reference as an attachment to the agenda of the meeting relating to these minutes.
12.1.2	Matters included in the Mayor’s report are as follows: · COVID-19 · Drought · Anzac Day · Forestry · Regional Chiefs · Letters of support and congratulations · Events attended by the Mayor · Councillor’s portfolio reports

13.             Mayoral Matters

13.1

Donations to District’s Returned and Services Association

13.1.1

                   That for this year Council donate to the Anzac Day poppy funds of the district’s Returned and Services Association to acknowledge and look after the welfare of their servicemen and families, and

                   That the following donations be provided for this purpose, recognising this year’s Anzac Day poppy fundraising collections could not proceed due to the COVID-19 lockdown:

· Dannevirke	$1,000
· Norsewood	$   500
· Woodville	$   500
· Pahiatua	$   500
· Eketahuna	$   500

   And that these funds be provided from savings in the budgets for costs that will not be incurred for Anzac Day services and community support assistance through the International Representatives Scheme.

Crs Johns/Peeti-Webber                                                                                  Carried

14.             Items Not on the Agenda

14.1	Nil
14.2	The meeting adjourned at 1.35pm, and resumed at 1.55pm.

15.             Public Excluded Items of Business

15.1            That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely:

Chief Executive's Performance Review

Chief Executive’s End of Term Review                                         

The general subject 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 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution follows.

General subject matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Ground(s) under Section 48 (1) for the passing of this resolution
Chief Executive’s Performance Review	To protect the privacy of natural persons	Section (1)(a)(i)
Chief Executive’s End of Term Review	To protect the privacy of natural persons	Section (1)(a)(i)

This resolution is made in reliance on Section 48 (1) (a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by Section 6 or Section 7 of that Act or Section 6 or Section 7 or Section 9 of the Official Information Act 1982, as the case may require, which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public are as follows:

s7(2)(a)      The withholding of the information is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of a deceased person.

And that Pamela Peters and Scott Necklen of Local Government New Zealand EquiP are permitted to remain at this meeting after the public has been excluded because of their knowledge to facilitate item of business 15.3 regarding the Chief Executive’s End of Term Review process.

	Crs Hull/Johns                                                                                                 Carried
15.4	That open meeting be resumed. Crs Johns/Hull                                                                                                 Carried

There being no further business the Mayor thanked those present for their attendance and contributions, and declared the meeting closed at 5.15pm.

____________________________

                       Mayor