Agenda of Council meeting - Wednesday, 26 May 2021

Minutes of a meeting of the Tararua District Council held in the Council Chamber, 26 Gordon Street, Dannevirke on Wednesday 28 April 2021 commencing at 1.00pm.

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 Nicholson - Chief Executive

Mr R Taylor - Manager - Democracy Services

Mr R Suppiah - Group Manager - Corporate

Mr C Chapman - Group Manager - Infrastructure

Mr M Maxwell - Group Manager - Economic and Community Development

Ms T Love - Group Manager - Operations

Mr C McKay - Finance Manager

Mr P Wimsett - Manager Strategy and Climate Change

Mr D Watson - Manager - Special Projects

Ms V Tomlinson - Woodville Districts’ Vision Chairperson

2. Council Prayer

2.1	The Mayor opened the meeting with the national anthem of New Zealand, and acknowledged the passing of Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh and Dave Cull, former Local Government New Zealand President.

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

Thanks are conveyed to Eric Bonny for his service and contribution to Council (both current and former authorities) as its Projects Engineer over thirty-six years working in the water supplies team, and in particular the attention he gave to managing Woodville and Pahiatua water supplies. Best wishes are extended for his retirement and future plans.

8. Confirmation of Minutes

8.1	*That the minutes of the Council meeting held on 31 March 2021 and extraordinary Council meeting held on 7 April 2021 (as circulated) be confirmed as true and accurate records of the meetings.* Crs Hull/Johns Carried

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

9.1

Emergency Management (Item 11.3.5.1)

9.1.1

Thanks are conveyed to Stephen Dunn (formerly this Council’s Emergency Management Advisor who is now Horizons Regional Council Emergency Management Coordinator - Resilience) for attending the Civil Defence Emergency Management community meeting in Pahiatua, and introducing Peter Sinclair as the replacement Emergency Management Advisor appointed to that position.

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 6 April 2021 (as circulated) be received.

Crs Peeti-Webber/Isaacson Carried

10.1.2

10.1.2.1

Carnegie Building

Council is working through the process to implement its decision to demolish the Carnegie building and retain the facade, with funding included in year one of the 2021/2031 Long Term Plan to progress its intentions and determine options for the site.

10.2

Eketāhuna Community Board

10.2.1

That the report of the Eketāhuna Community Board meeting held on 12 April 2021 (as circulated) be received.

Crs Peeti-Webber/Isaacson Carried

10.3	Pahiatua On Track
10.3.1	*That the report of the Pahiatua On Track meeting held on 7 April 2021 (as circulated) be received.* *Crs Peeti-Webber/Isaacson Carried*
10.3.2	Smith’s Track
10.3.2.1	Tararua Alliance is looking at the request from Pahiatua On Track to close Smith’s Track to vehicular traffic for the purpose of providing a proposed walkway and cycleway.

10.4	Woodville Districts' Vision
10.4.1	*That* *the report of the Woodville Districts’ Vision meeting held on 6 April 2021 (as circulated) be received.* *Crs Peeti-Webber/Isaacson Carried*
10.4.2	Term Deposit Analysis Report
10.4.2.1	Woodville Districts’ Vision Chairperson Vicky Tomlinson clarified a term deposit analysis was undertaken to make the society’s funds held in its accounts more transparent.
10.4.3	Solid Waste Management Services
10.4.3.1	Cr Peter Johns is requested to provide clarification at Woodville Districts’ Vision next meeting regarding Council’s proposed future intentions for providing solid waste management services in the district.

11. Reports

11.1

Review of Water Supply Bylaw - Initial Section 155 Determinations

11.1.1

That the report from the Manager Strategy and Climate Change dated 21 April 2021 concerning the review of the water supply bylaw - initial Section 155 determinations (as circulated) be received, and

That pursuant to Section 155(1) of the Local Government Act 2002, the Council determines that a bylaw is the most appropriate way of addressing the perceived problem of providing a dependable, cost-effective, efficient water supply system that maintains public health, safety and the environment, and

That pursuant to Section 155(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 2002, the Council determines that a standalone bylaw is the most appropriate form for a water supply bylaw, and

That pursuant to Section 155(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2002, the Council agrees that it is not anticipated the water supply bylaw will give rise to implications under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990, and

That the Chief Executive is instructed to prepare a new water supply bylaw that addresses the perceived problem of providing a dependable, cost-effective, efficient water supply system that maintains public health, safety and the environment, with an accompanying statement of proposal for Council to consider prior to a decision to consult, and

That it is noted that Council will revisit at the time the Chief Executive reports on the new proposed water supply bylaw whether:

(a) The draft bylaw is the most appropriate form of water supply bylaw under Section 155(2)(a) of the Local Government Act 2002; and

(b) The draft water supply bylaw gives rise to implications under the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 under Section 155(2)(b) of the Local Government Act 2002.

Crs Hull/Sutherland Carried

11.1.2

Manager Strategy and Climate Change Peter Wimsett indicated it is anticipated the process to implement a new water supply bylaw will take until the end of the year to complete, with Council emphasising this is a priority it requests be done expeditiously without delay.

11.2

Funding for the Replica Sedcole Flagpole in Pahiatua

11.2.1

That the report from the Manager - Democracy Services dated 21 April 2021 concerning funding for the replica Sedcole flagpole in Pahiatua (as circulated) be received, and

That Pahiatua On Track be granted the sum of $27,460 from the Heritage Protection Reserve Special Fund to construct and complete a replica Sedcole flagpole in Main Street, Pahiatua, thereby preserving this heritage feature as a prominent landmark of historic significance for the local community to mark civic occasions and important events.

Crs Hull/Franklin Carried

11.3

Road Closure Requested Under the Tenth Schedule of the Local Government Act 1974

11.3.1

That the report from the Alliance Director dated 19 April 2021 concerning a road closure application under the Tenth Schedule of the Local Government Act 1974 (as circulated) be received, and

That pursuant to Section 342 (1) (b) and the Tenth Schedule of the Local Government Act 1974, Council close the following road for the purpose of allowing Dannevirke Car Club to hold a motorsport event.

Road name: Tararua Road

Date of closure: Saturday 12 June 2021

Period of closure: 9.00am to 5.00pm

Conditions Applied to the Granting of this Road Closure

That Tararua Alliance in conjunction with the organiser will assess shortly prior to this event the condition of the road involved to determine its suitability for this purpose.
That if Tararua Alliance identify the road as being in an unsuitable condition arising from this assessment then they have the discretion to request the organiser to withdraw the road from the route of this event.
That shortly after the event has been held Tararua Alliance shall carry out a drive over of the road that was closed for this event to assess its condition.

Advisory Note

That should the Council incur any additional maintenance costs arising from the event then those expenses shall be recovered from the event organiser.

Crs Sutherland/Treder Carried

11.4	Staff Report
11.4.1	Akitio Updates
11.4.1.1	Group Manager - Infrastructure Chris Chapman is requested to include in future staff reports updates on Akitio foreshore protection consent, water system and wastewater scheme, noting these matters were discussed at this month’s Works Liaison Committee workshop briefing session.
11.4.2	Road Maintenance
11.4.2.1	It is noted the Tararua Alliance road maintenance teams have been extremely busy through the month of March, with some of the works including (but not limited to) filling 886 potholes, 6,950m2 of sealed pavement repairs, 201 kilometres of unsealed road graded, 15 kilometres of drain cleared and 150 kilometres of kerb and channel cleaned.
11.4.3	Building Consents
11.4.3.1	The number of building consent applications continues to increase, and Council has begun forwarding applications to its contractor to process remotely.
11.4.3.2	With ongoing significant demand improvement in processing timeframes is likely to be gradual, and subject to available resourcing to enable that to occur.
11.4.4	Dog Attacks
11.4.4.1	Group Manager - Operations Tina Love will discuss with Manager Regulatory Services Craig Lunn expanding the information included in the staff report regarding dog attacks, but taking into account the details provided cannot breach privacy considerations.
11.4.5	Marketing and Promotions Websites
11.4.5.1	The IT Alliance and communications team are working together to build, migrate and implement a new website over the coming six to eight weeks.
11.4.6	New Highway Walk
11.4.6.1	A walk which travels the route of the new highway will be held on 23 May 2021, and tickets are selling very well for this Woodville Lions/Woodville School fundraising event.
11.4.6.2	Cr Kerry Sutherland temporarily departed from the meeting at 2.23pm.
11.4.7	Customer Services
11.4.7.1	Key statistics for response times to telephone calls received are noted, with the way that information is included in the staff report to be revised regarding the details provided.
11.4.8	Sport Manawatu 10,000 Steps Workplace Challenge
11.4.8.1	It is noted the Sport Manawatu walk 10,000 steps a day workplace challenge is held next month.
11.4.9	*That the report from the Chief Executive dated 21 April 2021 concerning an update on key projects and items of interest to the Council (as circulated) be received.* *Crs Franklin/Peeti-Webber Carried*

12. Portfolio Reports

12.1

Mayor and Councillors Report

12.1.1

A copy of the Mayor and Councillors April report is tabled, and the information set out in that document is circulated for reference as an attachment to the agenda relating to these minutes.

12.1.2

Matters included in the Mayor and Councillors report are as follows:

· Connect Tararua powering up the towers celebration.

· 2021 CACTUS programme graduations.

· 2021/2031 Long Term Plan consultation roadshows.

· Local Government New Zealand Zone 3 conference in Hastings.

· His Royal Highness Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh state memorial service in Wellington attended by Mayor Tracey Collis and Cr Shirley Hull.

· Ruahine Kennel Association 125th anniversary show in conjunction with the Hawke’s Bay Kennel Association Championship Show held at the Dannevirke A and P Showgrounds.

· Anzac Day services in the district, Lest We Forget to commemorate all New Zealanders and Australians that served in wars, conflict and peacekeeping operations.

· Events attended by the Mayor.

· Councillors portfolio reports.

13. Mayoral Matters

13.1

Nil

14. Items Not on the Agenda

14.1	Nil
14.2	The meeting adjourned at 2.43pm, and resumed at 2.58pm.
14.3	Cr Kerry Sutherland returned to the meeting at this point of the proceedings.

15. Public Excluded Items of Business

15.1

That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this

meeting, namely:

· Proposed sale of Birch North forest

· Proposed purchase of 40 Denmark Street properties (land and buildings)

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*
*Proposed purchase of 40 Denmark Street properties (land and buildings)*	*To protect commercial and industrial negotiations*	*Section (1)(a)(i)*
*Proposed sale of Birch North forest*	*To protect commercial and industrial negotiations*	*Section (1)(a)(i)*

This resolution is made in reliance of 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)(i) The withholding of the information is necessary to enable the local authority to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations).

Crs Johns/Treder Carried

15.4

That open meeting be resumed.

Crs Sutherland/Johns Carried

There being no further business the Mayor thanked those present for their attendance and contributions, and declared the meeting closed at 4.00pm.

____________________________

Mayor

Woodville Districts’ Vision – ACTION LIST

As at: 4 May

#	Date of Meeting	Action	Owner	Due Date	Status/Update
1	~~7/7/2020~~ 3/11/20	Clarification is sought from Richard Taylor, Governance Manager regarding honorarium payments.	V Tomlinson	TBA	Chair and Treasurer to follow up. Chair and Treasurer agreed to defer until constitution has been finalised.
3	~~7/7/2020~~ ~~6/10/20~~ 3/11/20	A working party be established so the Society can move forward and lay the groundwork for a new constitution and community committee that is dynamic and engages with the community.	M Hoare/V Tomlinson	Ongoing Ongoing	4/8: Discussion/decision on the constitution be held over to AGM. AGM: Chair of AGM advised that the 2018 constitution will be adhered to, after she took advice from CE of TDC and Governance Manager. 1/9: Working group to be reformed. The working group will follow the correct process going forward. V Tomlinson update: two meetings have been held; progressing well. New members invited. The new constitution will be circulated for discussion before holding a Special General Meeting to registering.
9	~~7/7/2020~~ ~~6/10/20~~ ~~3/11/20~~ 1/12/20	Induction Pack for new members to cover historic items and ongoing projects.	V Tomlinson	Ongoing	Chair and Secretary to produce. A draft has been produced. To be edited before circulating to members for review On hold till some historic issues are resolved.
16	~~4/8/2020~~ ~~6/10/20~~ ~~3/11/20~~ 1/12/20 6/4/21	Mayor to investigate whether Chorus boxes can be painted.	~~Mayor~~ V Tomlinson	2021	Noted in TDC meeting. It is not a Chorus box; it belongs to Scanpower. L Gray-Stuart to make enquiries. Permission has been granted to paint boxes, in consultation with Scanpower. Chair to contact Scanpower to get details. Chair has spoken with Scanpower and they are happy for the box to be painted, in consultation with them. Chair suggested a competition with local school children. Matter to be further discussed in 2021. V Tomlinson moved that this item is managed by the Events Team. Second T Brackenbury/Carried
18	~~1/9/2020~~ ~~6/10/20~~ ~~3/11/20~~ ~~2/3/21~~ 4/5/21	Street Speakers – discussions with Eric Bodell (Radio Woodville) and business owners required.	V Tomlinson T Brackenbury	~~29/9/2020~~ ~~Ongoing~~ March 2021 May 21	Chair attended Radio Woodville meeting and discussed with members. Chair contacting business owners. Deferred to next meeting. Chair recommended deferring until next year as some business owners are not in favour and new business owners are coming in. V Tomlinson moved deferring to early 2021 Second: J Preston Carried Item discussed at meeting. (Noted in minutes) V Tomlinson moved that this is now taken up by Events Team. Committee agreed. T Brackenbury volunteered to follow up. T Bracenbury noted that the Events Team has now taken up this action.
21	~~1/9/2020~~ ~~6/10/20~~ 3/11/20	Gym Equipment in Square requires maintenance. A Chapman to be approached for assistance.	V Tomlinson	~~6/10/2020~~ March 2021	No action yet. Ongoing discussions. V Tomlinson moved that the gym equipment be delegated to the Recreation and Play Park Sub-Committee Second: M Stuart Carried
24	~~6/10/20~~ ~~3/11/20~~ ~~1/12/20~~ ~~2/2/21~~ ~~2/3/21~~ 4/5/21	Invitation to Colin Yonge and team to WDV meeting	V Tomlinson	~~1/12/20~~ ~~Feb 21~~ March 21 May 21	Replied: suggested December’s meeting. Waiting for response. Chair to meet with C Yonge. Report to come next meeting. Chair confirmed C Yonge will attend 2021 meeting as the feasibility study has just got underway (funded by Council). Chair advised C Yonge will attend the March meeting as the feasibility into the walkway was not yet finished. Chair advised that C Yonge is now leaving the Council, but also the study was not completed. M Maxwell from Council will present once report is completed, most likely May. 4/5: The Chair noted that the feasibility study has now been put on hold by the Council as Councillors discuss it further. Mark Maxwell will update the Chair in due course.
25	~~2/2/21~~ ~~2/3/21~~ 4/5/21	Recycling Centre Woodville: Continued investigations into possible options of either moving it, or reducing the disturbance to visitors using the camping grounds.	V Tomlinson	March 21 TBA	The Chair noted that options were still being considered and a possible interim solution, which she will be discussing with Council staff, is signage and or a gate to restrict the hours people can use the glass recycling section. On hold until TDC trial is complete
26	~~2/3/21~~ 6/4/21	80km Sign: J Smith volunteered to follow-up the CRM that was lodged and to contact NZTA if necessary regarding the 80km Sign that is currently lying down outside Woodville.	J Smith	April 21 6/4/21	The Chair noted that she had spoken with J Smith who had lodged the issue with NZTA twice. Still ongoing.
27	4/6/21	Concept Tree Sculpture: With the return of the concept tree sculpture, the Chair asked members to think, over the next month, where an appropriate place is to house it permanently, given it is a WDV asset.	ALL	May 21	4/5: Discussion held. The Chair to approach the Medicine Depot to see if they are happy to display the tree until a permanent/semi permanent home is agreed upon. This venue give members of the public access to view it.
28	6/4/21	Plaque for Sean Burgess: The Chair to discuss with family and Council regarding a plaque for the seat outside the flat Sean use to live in.	V Tomlinson	May 21	4/5: Mrs Burgess is agreeable to the suggestion but wants the community to decide on it. V Tomlinson moved WDV obtain a quote G Parkes However, it was suggested that a quote is not necessary as the cost should be minimal. V Tomlinson amended her motion to obtain a plaque in memory of Sean Burgess from a local supplier up to the value of $250 T Brackenbury/Carried
29	6/4/21	Water Tanks: The Chair to investigate and confirm the locations of the water tanks purchased by WDV and who they now belong to.	V Tomlinson	May 21	4/5: Location of one of the tanks is confirmed behind the rose garden (Vogel Street), though it is not currently connected to a building. Ownership of the second tank is still to be confirmed for clarity of the asset register

CLOSED ACTIONS – Please see Secretary or Chair of WDV for full closed list. It will be presented to Council every quarter to ensure records are kept up to date.

Woodville Districts’ Vision – Conflict of Interest Register

Name of Society Member	Description of interest	Has the Society been notified?	Date of disclosure	Steps taken by the society for dealing with the conflict	Society member action to address the conflict
Jane Hill	Co-founder of Woodville Wire	Yes	Exec Mtg 25/10/20	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Jane will abstain from any votes related to Woodville Wire.
Geoff Haglund	Partner of D Quinney, person who gets paid for the delivery of the Woodville Wire	Yes	6/10/20		Geoff will abstain from any votes related to Woodville Wire.
Geoff Haglund	Currently undertakes business with one of the shortlisted accounting firms.	Yes	6/4/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded	Geoff abstained from voting on the shortlist of Accountants
Denise Quinney	Receives money from WDV, via the Woodville Wire Sub-Committee, for delivery of newsletter	Yes	6/10/20		Denise will abstain from any votes related to Woodville Wire.
Natalie Burt	Partner of George who is coordinating the Traffic Management of Christmas Parade	Yes	6/10/20	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Natalie will abstain from any votes when her husband is involved in that motion.
Vicky Tomlinson	Chair of Holy Trinity Anglican Church Vestry	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Vicky will abstain from any votes related to Holy Trinity Church.
Janice Wiri (became a member after 2/2/21)	Member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Vestry	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Janice will abstain from any votes related to Holy Trinity Church.
Merril Hoare	Member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church Vestry	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Merril will abstain from any votes related to Holy Trinity Church.
Rev Rosie McMillan	Member of Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Vestry	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded.	Rosie will abstain from any votes related to Holy Trinity Church.
Turia Brackenbury	Chair of WRAP (formally known as WIFI)	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded	To be worked through on a case by case basis.
Malcolm Stuart	Member of WRAP	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded	To be worked through on a case by case basis.
Carole Wilton	Member of WRAP	Yes	2/2/21	Disclosed at meeting, noted/recorded	To be worked through on a case by case basis.

Dannevirke Community Board

Minutes of a meeting of the Dannevirke Community Board held in the Council Chamber, 26 Gordon Street, Dannevirke on Monday 3 May 2021 commencing at 1.00pm.

1. Present

Board Members P F Walshe (Chairperson), T J Hynes (Deputy Chairperson), W R Macdonald, K P Spooner-Taylor and Cr E L Peeti-Webber (Council appointed Community Board member).

In Attendance

Mr R Taylor - Manager - Democracy Services

2. Apologies

2.1

Nil

3. Public Forum

3.1

Nil

4. Personal Matters

4.1

Nil

5. Notification of Items Not on the Agenda

5.1	The following matters are notified as items of general business not on the agenda for discussion at today’s meeting: Electric barbecue for the Lower Domain Kapa Haka Festival Derelict vehicles Family anti-violence sign

6. Confirmation of Minutes

6.1	*That the minutes of the Dannevirke Community Board meeting held on 6 April 2021 (as circulated) be confirmed as a true and accurate record of the meeting.* Hynes/Macdonald Carried

7. Matters Arising from the Minutes

7.1	Town Signage (Item 3.1)
7.1.1	The Board’s preferences for images and colours to be used for Dannevirke town signage project are as follows: Southern Entrance - Town Clock Ruahine Ranges (reverse side) Northern Entrance - Upper Domain Cenotaph Ruahine Ranges (reverse side) Weber - Scott Fountain Ruahine Ranges (reverse side) Colour - Orange
7.1.2	The Board support the use of local suppliers where possible to undertake the work associated in relation to the town signage project, with it being noted all of the signs for the district are manufactured and designed in Napier and their installation may be offered to local communities to undertake if they wish or by Tararua Alliance.
7.2	Driver Licence Testing in Dannevirke (Item 7.1)
7.2.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes spoke to the Area Manager of VTNZ regarding the matters raised by the Hearing Association Dannevirke, and they are following up the concerns relating to their premises formerly being used free of charge for driver licence testing.
7.2.2	This is now undertaken at Tararua Community Youth Services premises, and signage has been arranged on Gordon, Hall and Ward Streets to provide directions to their venue to access that service.
7.3	Community Board Flag (Item 7.2)
7.3.1	The community board flag purchased to promote the Board’s identity was used at the Anzac Day community concert.
7.4	Anzac Day Community Concert (Item 7.4)
7.4.1	The Anzac Day community concert was very successful and well attended, with $746 received from the proceeds of admission donations given to support Dannevirke and Districts Returned and Services Association Welfare Fund.
7.4.2	A letter is tabled from Dannevirke and Districts Returned and Services Association President Roland Ellis thanking the Board for its donation, and conveying his appreciation and congratulations on the arrangements of this event.
7.4.3	Board Member Ross Macdonald noted Dannevirke Town Hall would benefit from providing a sound system available for use when hiring the venue for such community events.
7.4.4	The Board agreed that Board Member Macdonald obtain a quote to purchase a suitable sound system for this purpose, and the matter could be considered when the cost involved is ascertained.
7.5	Dannevirke 150th Anniversary (Item 13.1)
7.5.1	The Board is to consider its intentions regarding any plans or committee formed to arrange events to recognise the occasion of Dannevirke’s 150th anniversary next year.

8. Tararua District Council Report

8.1

That the report of the Tararua District Council meeting held on 28 April 2021 (as tabled) be received.

Peeti-Webber/Macdonald Carried

8.2

Carnegie Building

8.2.1

The Board note Council is working through the process to demolish the Carnegie building and retain the facade, with funding included in year one of the 2021/2031 Long Term Plan to progress its intentions and determine options for the site.

9. Reports from Board Representatives Appointed to Organisations and Assigned Responsibilities

9.1	Dannevirke Brass Band
9.1.1	Board Member Kim Spooner-Taylor reported Dannevirke Brass Band attended and played at various community services held to commemorate Anzac Day.
9.1.2	A variety community concert has been arranged on 23 May 2021 at 2.00pm in the St John’s Anglican Church as a tribute to acknowledge the passing of Gwen Fairbrother QSM, and her contribution to supporting Dannevirke Brass Band and the wellbeing of the Dannevirke community.
9.1.3	A cup of tea will be provided in the Dannevirke Brass Band rooms following that event, and board members are requested to assist with these arrangements.
9.2	Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce
9.2.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes reported an after five’s meeting with business coach Wayne Dellow was held in the MCI and Associates meeting room.
9.2.2	An after five’s meeting is to be held at Property Brokers new premises, and an invitation is open to new businesses to showcase their operations and activities they undertake through arranging future meetings for that purpose.
9.2.3	That the Board request Deputy Chairperson Terry Hynes as its liaison representative with Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce to discuss with them the arrangements for when the Dannevirke Christmas parade is held, noting this currently occurs on the same day and at a similar time to the Pahiatua Christmas parade. Walshe/Macdonald Carried
9.3	Tararua Community Youth Services
9.3.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes reported Tararua Community Youth Services has been undertaking holiday programme arrangements, driver licence courses and parenting programmes.
9.4	Dannevirke and District A and P Association
9.4.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes reported Dannevirke small holders auction was held at the A and P Showgrounds, with the day being inclement and having some impact on attendance at this event.
9.5	Dannevirke Information Centre
9.5.1	Board Member Ross Macdonald reported the position of part-time assistant to provide back up for the Dannevirke Information Centre Manager remains vacant, and an appointment to undertake that role is still to be considered.
9.6	Wheel Park Project
9.6.1	Council appointed Community Board Member Cr Erana Peeti-Webber reported Dannevirke Recreation and Play Committee has been considering suppliers that provide equipment to develop skatepark facilities, and looking at planning options and ideas from other places.
9.6.2	The relationship to work in conjunction with Dannevirke Multisport Hub Committee is to be formalised at their Annual General Meeting regarding this intended arrangement.
9.6.3	A sausage sizzle was held with children to get their feedback on what they would like to see provided in the design of this project, and this was well attended and assisted to progress the concept to develop a plan for a new recreation and play area at the Upper Domain.
9.6.4	A meeting is to be held with potential funding providers that could be requested to consider an application for financial assistance towards the costs of undertaking this project.

10. Correspondence

10.1

Nil

11. Wackrow Memorial Youth Award

11.1

The Board note the following proposed dates regarding the arrangements for the 2021 Wackrow Memorial Youth Award:

Nominations open: Monday 5 July 2021

Nominations close: Friday 30 July 2021

Judging: Monday 16 August 2021 at 10.00am or 5.30pm

Award Function: The Hub Tuesday 24 August 2021 at 7.00pm

11.2

Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes, Board Member Kim Spooner-Taylor and Council appointed Community Board Member Cr Erana Peeti-Webber will be the Board’s representatives on the judging panel.

11.3

Claire Chapman will be invited to continue as member of the public on the judging panel, and Aaron Karena from MCI and Associates is the proposed guest speaker for this year’s award function.

12. 2021/2031 Long Term Plan

12.1	Council appointed Community Board Member Cr Erana Peeti-Webber abstained from discussion regarding this item of business.
12.2	The Board considered the 2021/2031 Long Term Plan Consultation Document, and agreed to make a submission supporting the Council’s preferred option 2 of the right debate matters concerning recycling, community development, debt repayment and road financial reserves.

13. Chairperson’s Remarks

13.1

Nil

14. Items Not on the Agenda

14.1	Electric Barbecue for the Lower Domain
14.1.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes indicated the cost of purchasing an electric barbecue for the Lower Domain is around $10,000 to $12,000 with voluntary labour to undertake the project.
14.1.2	The Board previously proposed considering this project in conjunction with Dannevirke Host Lions Club who have agreed to provide voluntary labour and a financial contribution of $4,500 toward the costs involved.
14.1.3	It is agreed this matter be referred to the Board’s next meeting to consider making funding available in the 2021/2022 financial year to enable the project to proceed.
14.2	Kapa Haka Festival
14.2.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes reported Dannevirke Town Hall is to be hired for the Kapa Haka Festival on 16 and 17 September 2021, and a request will be forwarded to the Board seeking funding toward the venue hire charges that shall be incurred regarding that event.
14.3	Derelict Vehicles
14.3.1	Members of the public are asking what is Council doing about derelict vehicles on urban properties to address this long-standing concern, noting previous indications were given this matter would be resolved.
14.3.2	It is noted the District Plan includes powers for Council to deal with situations where derelict vehicles are an eyesore impacting on the amenity value of the environment, and Manager Regulatory Services Craig Lunn will be requested to provide an update on intentions to enforce that provision.
14.4	Family Anti-violence Sign
14.4.1	Deputy Chairperson Board Member Terry Hynes noted the family anti-violence sign at Bupa Rahiri Care Home on High Street has been the target of graffiti, and will follow up having this removed.

There being no further business the Chairperson thanked those present for their attendance and contributions, and declared the meeting closed at 2.37pm.

____________________________

Chairperson

Report

Date	:	20 May 2021
To	:	Mayor and Councillors Tararua District Council
From	:	Sarah Walshe Senior Financial Accountant
Subject	:	Third Quarter Financial Performance for the Period ending 31 March 2021
Item No	:	11.3

1. Recommendation

1.1 That the report from the Senior Financial Accountant dated 20 May 2021 concerning Third Quarter Financial Performance for the Period ending 31 March 2021 (as circulated) be received and the contents are noted.

Contents

Executive Summary

1. Recommendation

2. Reason for Report

3. Background

4. Dashboard

Detailed Report

5. Explanation of Significant Operating Variances

6. Summary of Service Performance Results

7. Capital Expenditure Report

8. Treasury Report

9. Debtors Report

10. Self-Funded Activities report

a. Forestry

b. Pensioner Housing

11. Summary Annual Report

12. Compliance Exception Report

2. Reason for the Report

2.1 The desired outcomes are:

· For Council to receive and comment on the Performance Report for the 9 months to 31 March 2021.

· To provide an indication of the year end result.

· Update and where required, seek variations for capital expenditure projects for 2020/21.

3. Background

This report is for the first nine months of 2020/21 financial year which covers the period 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021.

The structure and content of this report is consistent with the other quarterly reports. The purpose is to inform Council of the financial and non-financial performance and indicate expected year end results.

4. Dashboard

5. Explanation of Significant Operating Variances

The following table explains the significant operating variances in the Activity Dashboard above.

Report item # *(refer activity dashboard*)	Activity	Explanation	Signalled in Previous Quarter Report	Reflected in Long Term Plan
12	Roading	Overall, this activity shows a net favourable variance of $3.5 million. The funding Council received from the Provincial Growth Fund to 31 December for the Route 52 upgrade was $633,000 higher than expected in the Annual Plan. Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency funding was higher to date due to Council being able to carry out its maintenance programme earlier than anticipated. The district experienced a mild winter this year which enabled all maintenance activities (including pre-reseal repairs) to commence earlier than originally programmed. This has allowed the team to shift their focus to emergency works and renewals activities throughout the summer and autumn months. Council received $1.4m from Waka Kotahi in January 2021 because of a correction to the funding assistance rates (FARs) for the 2018/19 – 2020/21 financial years, with Council now receiving a FAR rate of 70% compare to 66%. This will be put into the Roading Emergency Reserve for funding of future emergency works. Council was also successful in securing an additional $1.6m of funding for the significant weather event in November 2020. This will be a combination of capital and operational costs. This is the last year of the 3-year block funding from Waka Kotahi, with any unclaimed subsidies lost. Staff are confident that Council will consume the full allocation of funding by the end of the financial year.	P	N/A
11	Footpaths	The unfavourable variance of $1.48 million is mainly due to timing of the capital subsidy from NZTA for the Pahiatua Main Street Upgrade project. It is anticipated that this will be claimed for before the end of the year.	P	N/A
14	Stormwater	The favourable revenue variance is largely due to Council receiving unplanned funding for the Three Waters Service Delivery Reform, of which $400,000 is currently allocated to stormwater for data collection. Whilst a favourable variance is expected at financial year end, the funding is expected to be consumed by the end of the calendar year.	P	N/A
15	Water Supplies	Overall, this activity has an unfavourable net variance of $1.27 million.Council budgeted for external funding of $3.8m a Shovel-Ready project application from the Crown Infrastructure Partners for the upgrade of asbestos cement pipes. This application was unsuccessful, meaning the associated capital project did not proceed. The Government has since launched the Three Waters Reform Programme and Council has signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to receive $5.02 million across its three waters services delivery. Council has received $2.59 million to date allocated across the 3 waters activities. Council received $529,000 budgeted in the previous financial year from the Ministry of Health as part of their Drinking Water Assistance Programme for the Pahiatua water treatment plant. Extraordinary maintenance costs incurred to date are currently $169,000 higher than budgeted mainly due to unplanned repair work undertaken at the Pahiatua weir. We have received an additional $62,000 in revenue from metered water charges. Year to date consumption is higher compared to the same period last year (2021: 458.405m3 \| 2020: 428,851m3). This activity will likely be unfavourable at year end due to the timing and allocation of the Three Waters Stimulus funding, not being successful in receiving funding for AC pipe replacements, and unbudgeted extraordinary maintenance cost. Increased water meter revenue, and increased maintenance has been reflected in the Long Term Plan.	P	P
6	Commercial Investments	Overall, there is currently a net favourable variance of $63,000. Council was successful in achieving funding as part of the Provincial Growth Fund shovel ready projects of $500,000 for roadside tree harvesting. The aim of this funding was to provide opportunities to local people. Any proceeds made from the sale of roadside trees was expected to be reinvested into further tree removals. Council received higher than expected honey income of $63,000. As a result, a minor favourable variance is expected at year end.	P	N/A
7	District Promotions & Development	Overall, there is a net favourable variance of $210,000. Council has been successful in obtaining significant unplanned external funding, with $100,000 of funding from the Provincial Growth Fund for the Right Tree Right Place project. Expenditure of $74,000 has been incurred to date for this research project as a result. Council also received $175,000 of funding for the Regional Digital Hub. Council had only budgeted to receive $48,000 this year for this project. This is offset by the operating costs for the new Digital Hub in Woodville. This will result in a significantly favourable budget at year end.	P	N/A
1	Community Support	Overall, this activity shows a net favourable variance of $63,000. Council received $250,000 of unbudgeted funding from the Mayors Taskforce for Jobs, offset by associated costs of $31,000. This has been offset by funding that has been budgeted for the Pahiatua verandah lighting of $160,000. Council will receive this upon completion of the works. In addition, there is the timing difference of when Council incurs expenditure for community grants paid. Council budgets for these evenly throughout the year, whereas some grants are paid to recipients in full early in the year. Overall, a favourable variance is forecast at year end relating to the Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs funding, however this is a timing difference of when the funding will be spent.	P	N/A
2	Cemeteries and Community Buildings	Both activities have a minor net variance to budget, but both revenue and expenses are significantly lower than budget due to lower utilisation of services. Significantly lower interments then last year (2021: 22 ashes, 35 adult burials \| 2020: 46 ashes, 44 adult burials) has resulted in both revenue and expense being under budget by $36,000. Facilities bookings were lower than planned during the year due to Covid-19 restrictions. We forecast both activities will continue to have lower revenue and expenditure at year end based on current utilisation trends.	P	P
3	Libraries	This activity shows a net favourable variance of $15,000. Council received $40k external funding from the National Library of NZ for a community Outreach Library Programme. Offsetting this is additional staff cost to operate the programme. Council also incurred costs relating to the Library branding project with unplanned funding being received from the National Library of NZ in April 2021. It is forecast that the revenue and expenditure variance will net close to zero by year end.	O	N/A
4	Parks & Reserves	Overall, there is a net unfavourable variance of $38,000. The timing of accounting for Domain Board revenue and expenditure makes up about $100,000 of variances to both revenue and expense. Council had budgeted to receive $48,500 in July from Tourism Infrastructure Funding for the Mangatainoka Toilet Block; however this funding had already been paid out in a prior year. A further $50,000 of funding was expected to be received prior to the end of the 2021 financial year, however as no further works have progressed to date a claim is not anticipated to be submitted until after year end. This has been offset by the $29,000 funding Council received for the Responsible Camping Funding Agreement, as well as $14,000 higher than expected camping fees revenue as the district benefited from New Zealanders spending their holidays in NZ. Insurance proceeds resulting from the fire at the Mangatainoka Grandstand of $227,000 was received in May. Due to the proceeds received from insurance, staff expect a favourable variance of around $150,000 at year end for this activity.	P	P
10	Health & Safety	Overall, there is a net unfavourable variance of $84,000. The main reason for the unfavourable variance relates to one-off issues requiring legal advice totalling $62,000. The issues requiring advice were: · earthquake-prone buildings, · Code of Compliance Certificate issue, · advice in relation to a boundary encroachment, · advice on freedom camping, and · Legal costs incurred for a liquor licence objection hearing. Expect this activity to be over budget at year end.	P	N/A
8	Animal Control	Overall, there is a net unfavourable variance of $54,000 Despite significant progress by the Animal Control team on following up on unregistered dogs (year to date there are 88 unregistered dogs, compared to 239 unregistered dogs in the first quarter), dog registration fees collected is slightly below budget by $7,000. Council will exceed budgeted dog registration revenue if all unregistered dogs are registered by year end. Advice sought for eight dog prosecutions and three barking dogs has resulted in an additional $23,000 unbudgeted legal expenses. These are being pursued to enforce the right dog ownership behaviours. This will result in an unfavourable year end variance for this activity.	P	P
9	Emergency Management	A favourable net variance of $70,000 has been achieved to date due mainly to receiving an unplanned one-off contribution from the National Emergency Management Agency for the Covid-19 Response. We forecast a favourable variance at year end.	P	N/A
16	Support	This activity shows a net unfavourable variance of $631,000. Council received the final funding instalment ($42,000) for the Dannevirke Rail Hub Feasibility Study in November. In addition, Council also received unbudgeted revenue from Waka Kotahi NZTA for the temporary rental of land in Woodville for the Manawatu-Tararua Highway project, as well as revenue collected from permit fees (permits to exceed mass limits on bridges). This is offset by a combination of: · The timing issuing invoices for on-charging of costs. ($95,000) · Timing of audit expenses relating to the 2021 LTP ($57,000) · An additional $41,000 required to deliver the LTP. · Additional staff resources and the implementation of the new staff structure ($240,000).	P	P
5	Swimming Pools	The unfavourable variance in expenditure of $100,000 relates to a temporary timing of the grant paid earlier to TACT than budgeted. This activity will meet the budget by year end.	P	N/A

6. Summary of Service Performance Results

6.1 Summary of Results

Council use a range of service performance measures to monitor the service levels delivered to customers. Table 2 below highlights the performance for the second quarter:

	2020/21 measures			% (out of 112 measures)	Last Year Results
Category	Council	Survey	Mandatory	% (out of 112 measures)	Last Year Results
Achieved / On Target	28	12	34	66%	77%
Needs Improvement	5	11	-	14%	-
Not achieved	7	-	2	8%	20%
Measured at Year end (including baseline year measures)	9	-	4	12%	3%

Table 2: Service Performance Measures Results

Excluding baseline measures and those measured later in the year, Council are on track to achieve 75% of its performance measures compared to 77% achieved last year.

6.2 Water and Wastewater Complaints – Qualification in 2019/20 Annual Report

In the 2019/20 Annual Report, an issue was raised with how Council were interpreting the Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) mandatory measures guidance in relation to recording complaints. Council, along with its after-hours service have been recording the initial request for service against these measures, but not all subsequent requests in instances where Council’s service crew were already responding to the event.

Management have altered the process for recording each notification from October 2020 to ensure every notification is recorded for the complaint measures, and only the first notification is recorded for the response time measure as per Department of Internal Affairs guidelines.

It is likely that some measures will see an increase in the number of complaints recorded due to this change. An example of this is the continuity of water supply measure that is not met. One event, being an emergency water shutdown to repair a water main, resulted in 8 complaints being lodged.

6.3 Council and Mandatory Performance Measures

Council uses a range of measures and targets to inform how Council are performing against agreed service levels. These measures range from complaints in the Customer Request Management (CRM) system to physical inspection of assets.

The Department of Internal Affairs (DIA) mandates 40 measures with Council setting the targets to be achieved.

The following highlights the critical mandatory and Council measures requiring improvement:

· Council will not comply with Part 5 (protozoal compliance) of the NZ Drinking Water Standards this year. Council aims for all plants to have 24-hour monitoring in place by the end of the financial year with the completion of the Pahiatua Treatment Plant, however 12 months of data is required to be available for assessment once UV disinfection was installed. Therefore, plants that were commissioned in the previous 12 months also will not comply.

· Council will not comply with the target of 5 wastewater schemes having a current consent. This is due to the ongoing consent renewal process for Pahiatua, Eketahuna, and also Woodville due for renewal.

· 2 businesses in Eketahuna have experienced flooding. Improvements to the stormwater network have been made in Pahiatua as part of the main street upgrade, with improved performance observed with the weather event in November. Solutions for Eketahuna are currently being investigated and are being included as part of the three waters stimulus funding programme.

· The regulatory department continues to experience a significant increase in demand by way of enquiries and consent applications. The number of building consent applications has increased 20% with 73 alone received in March 2021 (347 applications compared to 288). Of the 283 issued, 69 applications did not meet the 20-working day deadline. Demand for subdivision consents has increased by 56% compared to last year (87 compared to 56).

· Council entered into a contracting arrangement for excess building consent processing to help improve processing timeframes. However, due to national demand on consent processing, this has only enabled two consents to be processed by the contractor.

· Although still on target, average wait times for incoming calls is higher than previous years. This is due to a combination of factors being staff absences and new staff being trained, and having to record every service request notification (even if it has been raised previously) as a complaint in the CRM system to resolve the DIA issue outlined above. Despite the increased wait times, Council has not experienced an increase in calls being abandoned.

· Forty-eight staff were heavily involved in operating the Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) as part of the water crisis and Covid-19. To allow staff to focus on business as usual, no EOC practice exercises have been planned for this year compared to the targeted 2 exercises.

6.4 Community Survey Scorecard

The third and final wave of the Key Research community survey is under way and due to be completed in May. Because of this, the commentary below is as reported in the 6-month report.

Key Research are exploring how to further increase community engagement such as exploring alternative survey methods other than the current phone method.

Of the 23 service performance measures agreed in the Long Term Plan, 12 are on target to be met with 2 of the 3 waves completed, compared to 15 achieved last year.

The two areas where satisfaction has fallen slightly, moving the result from on target to needing improvement are recycling services (79% vs target of 80%) and footpaths (75% vs 75% target). Improvements to the recycling services are being consulted on as part of the Draft Long Term Plan consultation. Footpaths are being impacted by the Chorus roll-out of fibre internet currently under way in Dannevirke.

The opportunity was also taken to seek feedback on other aspects of Council that are of strategic significance, and the notable results are:

· 82% Satisfied with Vision and Leadership

· 90% Satisfied with Mayor and 87% satisfied with Councillors

· 89% Satisfied with staff

· 84% Feel safe from dogs

· 84% Satisfied with managing and issuing building consents

· 83% Satisfied with the provision of dedicated walkways/cycleways

Satisfaction with rural roads is being maintained at 53%. The challenges Council have is compounded by the Gorge closure, severe weather events, funding allocations, rates affordability and New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) priorities. The most common reason given for dissatisfaction is potholes

This year, to further understand where residents are not satisfied with the roading network it was asked for an indication of the journeys they are most unsatisfied with. The common answers include:

· Saddle Road and Pahiatua Track (Under NZTA management)

· Pahiatua Main Street due to the main street upgrade

· Route 52

Council has been successful in obtaining $14.6 million to upgrade Route 52 from Wimbledon to the Central Hawke’s Bay boundary. This route is a common source of complaint as highlighted above due to its deterioration and increased logging trucks using this section of the network.

Feedback on recycling methods used by residents, along with the upcoming waste stream audit, will help inform decisions on how to enhance and encourage recycling services. Of residents surveyed in the 2^nd wave, 85% use the recycling drop off centre compared to 11% using regular kerbside recycling.

In the first wave, a significant decrease in residents satisfied with the availability of water was reported. This followed a significant drought last summer where total hosing bans and significant water conservation efforts were required. This has improved significantly in the 2^nd wave, with 88% satisfied.

Of the other survey measures requiring improvement from the first wave, significant improvements were noted in:

· Animal Control – 63% wave 1 (dog registration period), 92% wave 2 – combined result 78%.

· How well customer services handled your enquiry – 78% wave 1, 89% wave 2 – combined result 82%.

7. Capital Programme

7.1 Summary

As at the end of March 2021, and from a total budget of $34.1 million for the financial year 20/21, the sum of $16.5 million was spent on the capital programme.

Overall, Council is likely to spend less than the Annual Plan budget as indicated in sections 7.4 and 7.5. The majority of the overspend in section 7.3 is attributed to unplanned spending that is funded by external subsidy.

Of the 146 individual projects identified within the Annual Plan, there have been 44 projects completed. A total of 75 projects remain to be completed, predominantly made up of roading and footpaths which are expected to be completed and closed out at financial year end.

7.1.1 Not started

The Dannevirke Town Centre Pavers renewal project which had the status of not started last quarter report has now been set to deferred and will be carried over into financial year 21/22 under the Alliance programme of works.

7.1.2 Abandoned

A total of five projects (totalling $4.0 million) have been abandoned. This means that the allocated funding will not be spent this financial year, nor will it be carried forward into the new financial year. This includes the crown funded AC pipe renewals which was not successful in securing funding.

7.1.3 Deferred

22 projects have been deferred and are included in the Long-Term Plan. These are predominantly centred around consent renewals, wetlands and connectivity.

7.1.4 On hold

Only one project is currently on hold, which is the dissolved air flotation clarifier. This was originally brought in as a free trial, and until the wastewater treatment plant assessment project is completed under the three waters reform programme, the requirement for this equipment is uncertain.

7.1.5 Procurement

Ten projects are in the procurement stage of the project cycle. Only a couple of these will be completed by the end of the financial year, with the majority needing to carry forward into the next financial year.

7.1.6 Planning

A total of nine projects are still in the planning phase. This includes IT developments and renewals as well as the Mangatainoka toilet upgrade and the Pahiatua pool replacement. Delays to progressing these projects are due to design and services from our supply chain.

7.1.7 Delivery

Thirty projects have the status of delivery and are currently under way. The majority of the Tararua Alliance projects in roading will be completed at the end of the financial year and will not be carried forward. Pahiatua Town Centre upgrade should be finished by financial year end.

7.1.8 Only Spend if Required

Projects that carry the status of only spend if required (a total of 23 projects) are renewals or development that do not currently have scope or planned delivery, but are required for reactive works and will be used on an as needed basis. If these projects are initiated, the status will change accordingly.

7.2 Outstanding Projects and Associated Budgets

7.3 Overspend

There has been an overspend of $3.4 million in capital projects compared to the Annual Plan budget. This includes projects that have been added due to external funded becoming available. Roading and reticulation network overspends need to be viewed holistically across the entire programme of work as there will be underspend in other areas. Excluding fully subsidised projects indicated in the first table below, the overspend reduces to $1.4 million as indicated in the 2^nd table and is offset by underspends in section 7.4 below.

Project	2020/21 Approved Budget (000’s)	Unplanned Subsidy (000’s)	Actual Spend Year to Date (000’s)	Actual Spend less Programme Budget less Subsidy	Comments
Emergency Reinstatement	900	1,650	1226	1,324	Subsidised by NZTA. Flood damage – emergency works. Approved variation through NZTA
Pahiatua Water Membrane treatment plant		529	893	(364)	MOH freshwater funding of $529,389, leaving an actual overspend of $363,611
Dannevirke Water Treatment Plant Upgrade		1,550	116	1,434	DIA 3 waters reform funding of $1.55M. Project only just initiated
Woodville Water Treatment Plant Upgrade		970	62	908	DIA 3 waters reform funding of $970k. Project only just initiated
Total	900	4,699	2,297	3,302

Project	2020/21 Approved Budget (000’s)	Actual Spend Year to Date (000’s)	Actual Spend less Programme Budget	Comments
Saddle Road		20	(20)	Projects contribute to overall Roading Renewals budget which still has programme budget remaining of $2.7M
Structures Component Replacements	200	306	(106)
Traffic Services renewal	152	181	(29)
Pahiatua Main Street Stormwater Reticulation renewals	177	355	(178)	Total overall programme still has $1M of budget available
Pahiatua Main St Reticulation renewals	308	429	(121)	Total overall programme still has $1M of budget available
Dannevirke Soda Ash Conversion		55	(55)	Includes work completed on the Dannevirke Impounded Supply
Pahiatua Water Storage		31	(31)	Inflow and outflow meter installs on water supply
Leak Detection		52	(52)	Increased effort prior and during the summer months to assess and fix leaks within the district
Water Leakage Strategy and Implementation	50	68	(18)	Additional effort towards water demand and leak detection strategy
Akitio Upgrade		18	(18)	Additional maintenance on Akitio Water Treatment Plant
Pahiatua Wetland Development		33	(33)	Costs toward consenting
Woodville Wetland Design	30	257	(227)	Consists of land purchase not budgeted for
Portable dewatering plant	20	44	(24)	Trial costs
Eketahuna Discharge consent renewal		216	(216)	Includes Eketahuna, Pahiatua and Woodville consenting costs
Dannevirke Wastewater Dose pumps		27	(27)	Pump replacements
Dannevirke Wastewater Treatment Plant		12	(12)	Minor capital renewals/upgrades
Pensioner Housing Unplanned Renewals		65	(65)	Additional refurbishment work completed due to vacancies in unit(s). This is programmed to occur after every vacancy if renewals are scheduled within the near future or maintenance is required prior to re-tenanting
Library Furniture & Fittings	10	16	(6)	Additional furniture required due to breakages
District wide Town CCTV Renewals	67	71	(4)	Minor overspend
Photocopiers	18	26	(8)	Minor overspend due to required replacements
Telephones renewal		23	(23)	Telephone upgrade component
Animal Control Renewals		14	(14)	General animal control renewals and developments
Hardware development		39	(39)	Unplanned spend
Water Supplies - 67 Wakeman Street Property Dev		39	(39)	Exterior paint of house and other minor repairs for resale
Lindauer Walkway		32	(32)	Budgeted for Year 1 of LTP
Total	1,042	2,429	(1,397)

7.4 Underspend

Some projects have underspend on their approved budget due to projects being completed, no longer being required, or are covered under other projects. These projects have the status of completed or abandoned.

Project	Total Approved Budget (000’s)	Underspend amount (000’s)	Comments
Woodville Water Storage	650	615	Used for backwash project for Woodville Water Treatment Plant.
CIP Funded AC Pipe Renewals	3,834	3,769	This project was abandoned as funding request was unsuccessful.
Pump station	165	152	Reactive works with budget unlikely to be spent in this financial year
Eketahuna Landfil Capping	-	9	In credit by 9k
Community Buildings Unplanned renewals	50	12
Dannevirke Town Hall renewals	90	31
District wide walkway development	20	20	Will not be used this financial year
Eketahuna Domain renewal	5	1
Dannevirke Campground accessible toilet and new cabins	70	14
District wide campground renewals	31	30
Woodville Toilet Resurface	30	30
Dannevirke Library renewals	5	3
Woodville Sports Stadium earthquake assessment	5	5
Mangatera new area	30	19
District New Berms	14	7
Eketahuna pool replacement	2	2
Pahiatua Pool renewal - sealing pool	24	6
District wide plumbing & electrical renewals	5	5
CCTV development	37	1
Total	5,067	4,731

7.5 Carry Forwards

As Council is nearing the end of the financial year, key projects have been identified with certainty that they will be carried forward into FY 2021/22. It is important to note that there will be further spend against these projects over the final quarter of this financial year, this figure will likely decrease. The key projects are listed below.

The total amount proposed as at the Quarter 3 report to carry forward into the 2021/22 financial year is $6.797 million. The potential carry forward amount is due to projects spanning over multiple years. Confirmation of the carry forward budgets will be tabled through the next (year-end) report.

Project	Total Approved Budget (000’s)	Carry forward amount (000’s)	Comments
Route 52 renewal	5,367	4,000	Multiyear project not expected to complete until 2024
Aften Court New Units	900	888	Delays with building consent issue resulted in delays in construction. Expected to complete early FY 20/21
Eketahuna Wastewater Treatment Plant Investigation	80	74	Consent conditions not yet finalised which this project is dependent on
Eketahuna Wetland Development	100	100	Consent conditions not yet finalised which this project is dependent on
Pongaroa Discharge consent renewal	50	50	Still in progress
District Telemetry Wastewater	150	150	Will be used as part of the treatment plant upgrades to implement new telemetry at the plants
Norsewood Wastewater Consent	50	39	Still in progress
Mangatainoka Toilet upgrade	197	190	Design still under way with development now not planned until the new financial year
Dannevirke Civic Centre	300	82	Engineering and civil procurement under way. Construction not expected to start until the new financial year
Pahiatua Service Centre Building	900	859	Engineering and civil procurement under way. Construction not expected to start until the new financial year
Pahiatua Pool Replacement	500	365	Assessments still being undertaken. Construction not expected to start until new financial year
TOTAL	8,594	6,797

8. Treasury Report

8.1 Treasury Strategy

The Long Term Plan (LTP) projects significantly increased debt levels peaking just under $80 million. However, one potential scenario arising from the three waters reform has the potential for significantly lower debt levels than forecast in the Draft LTP, meaning caution is required when considering fixed rate hedging for managing interest rate risk.

The Treasury Risk Management Policy allows Council to pre-fund maturing debt within 18 months of maturity. This provides certainty and ensures Council is not exposed to credit margin volatility on the day of the maturing debt. Council has $2 million of debt maturing on 14 April 2022.

8.2 Potential Three Waters Reform Impact on Debt forecasts and Interest Rate Management Decisions

The Three Waters Reform Programme currently under consultation proposes removing drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets from Council's balance sheet and transferring these assets to a new operating entity(s). It is assumed that water related debt would be either transferred or repaid under the transaction, but this is yet to be confirmed. Council has invested heavily in water and wastewater over the past decade, meaning that a significant portion of current Council debt relates to three waters.

Under the proposal, management estimates that gross external debt could be $28.3 million lower from 30 June 2024 (assumed transfer date) when compared to the current, draft 2021 LTP debt forecast, with peak debt being lower by $39 million in 2026/27. The relevant debt forecasts are set out in the chart below:

This scenario modelling is important to ensure that decisions made in relation to Council’s interest rate management strategy does not cause future inflexibilities in the event of a significant change to debt forecasts. Under the LTP forecasts, Council sits at policy minimums and would need to increase fixed rate borrowing as debt projections increase. However, under the model excluding three waters, interest rate fixing would for a part be between medium and maximum fixing limits. These are shown in the graphs below:

LTP Forecast Scenario:

Excluding Three Waters Scenario:

Management is mindful of increasing interest rates in the future and the impact this would have on funding increased interest expense. Consideration is being given to moving from policy minimums for fixed interest borrowing, to mid-range levels of fixing, whilst also considering the impact three waters reform could have on Council’s debt levels. The proposed strategy to fund principal debt repayment in the draft LTP also provides Council funding options to manage the impact on ratepayers from increasing interest rates.

8.3 Economic Update

The Official Cash Rate (OCR) is currently at 0.25% in response to Covid-19. Newly released economic indicators show that the expected economic fallout of Covid-19 has not reached the levels expected. A further reduction in the OCR is now unlikely provided New Zealand can avoid another Covid-19 outbreak. Longer term rates are starting to show signs of upward movements, which is an indicator of future rate movements.

Although interest rates are still predicted to remain low for several years, consideration will be given to managing interest rate risk in the mid to long-term given Council’s forecast increase in debt.

8.4 Current External Debt Position

The following table summarises Council’s external debt position as at 31 March (all held with Local Government Agency):

	Opening 1 Jan 2021 ($)	Drawn/ (Repaid) ($)	Closing 31 Mar 2021 ($)
Core Borrowing	42,000,000	-	42,000,000
Short Term Borrowing (Commercial Paper/MOCL)	-	-	-
Pre-funding	3,000,000	-	3,000,000
Total	45,000,000	-	45,000,000

The following charts show Council’s current funding profile, and compliance against the maturity bands set in the Treasury Policy:

8.5 Interest Rate Risk Management Strategy

Based on the current Long-Term Plan debt profile, Council complies with policy limits on interest rate risk management as shown below. However, further fixing will be required this calendar year to maintain policy compliance against these limits due to forecast debt increases, and the four swap instruments below maturing.

Using the scenario tool within Council’s treasury management dashboard, a potential strategy being explored is to enter into a forward start fixed rate swap of $2 million to replace the four maturing swaps above maturing June 2024. The estimated interest rate achieved could be 0.74%, a significant improvement on the rates of the maturing instruments. The impact of such a scenario is shown below:

8.6 Debt Financing Cost

Interest expense is significantly lower than budget, being $180,000 lower than budget. This is due to Council’s effective interest rate of 2.1%, being lower than the budgeted rate of 2.8%.

8.7 Compliance with Financial Prudence Debt Limits

Item	Borrowing Limit	Actual
Net external debt as a percentage of total revenue	<150%	57.49%
Net interest on external debt as a percentage of total revenue	<7%	1.35%
Net interest on external debt as a percentage of annual rates income (debt secured under debenture)	<10%	3.16%
Liquidity (external term debt+ committed loan facilities +cash and cash equivalents to existing external debt)	>110%	147.88%

8.8 Cash Flow Management and Liquidity

Cash and cash investments for the quarter ending December was $16.9 million, being higher than budget by $13.6 million. This is mostly due to:

· the $3 million pre-funding outlined above,

· $3 million loan taken out on 21^st of December (reported in 6-month report).

· Received $6 million in February 2021 from MBIE for the first phase of the Route 52 project.

9. Debtors Report

9.1 Council continues to manage the rates debtors by classifying them into categories based on risk. This allows staff to take a risk-based approach to managing rates debtors.

Council use internal resources and MWLASS Debt Management Central Services (DMC) to manage/collect rates debtors in arrears.

9.2 Arrears Debtors

Council had 1,783 rating units in arrears at 1 July 2020 with 1,580 clearing their arrears at 31 March 2021 leaving 203 with an arrears balance. Total collected and approved write-off from 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021 was $607,330.

Debtor Arrears Collected to 31 March 2021

Date Collected	No of Debtors	Arrears Levy Owing	Arrears Interest Owing	Total Arrears Owing	Total Arrears Collected
1/07/2020	1,783	$1,250,610	$513,632	$1,764,242
30/09/2020	408	$ 946,567	$501,395	$1,447,962	$316,280
31/12/2020	276	$ 824,409	$491,377	$1,315,786	$132,176
31/03/2021	203	$ 704,139	$452,773	$1,156,912	$158,874
Total Collected & Approved Write Off 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021					$607,330

Table 1.1

Debtors by $ Value as at 31 March 2021

·	· No of Rating Units as at 1/07/2020	· Arrears & Penalty as at 1/07/2020	· % of Debt Owed as at 31/03/2021	· No of Rating Units as at 31/03/2021	· Arrears & Penalty as at 31/03/2021
· -$ 10,000-$ 0	·	·	·	· 1,580	· -$ 9,439
· $ 0-$ 500	· 1,316	· $ 82,982	·	· 54	· $ 10,830
· $ 501-$ 1,000	· 195	· $133,636	·	· 23	· $ 17,165
· $ 1,001-$ 2,000	· 103	· $153,115	· 6%	· 32	· $ 48,648
· $ 2,001-$ 5,000	· 114	· $351,056	·	· 48	· $144,693
· $ 5,001-$10,000	· 20	· $136,297	·	· 6	· $ 40,467
· $ 10,000-$25,000	· 5	· $ 69,178	·	· 3	· $ 50,787
· >$25,000	· 4	· $145,207	· 24%	· 1	· $ 34,799
· Sub-total	· 1,757	· $1,071,471	· 30%	· 167	· $347,389
· Maori Land	· 6	· $ 44,693	· 4%	· 6	· $ 44,693
· Legal Proceedings	· 9	· $383,089	· 40%	· 16	· $459,546
· Abandoned Land	· 11	· $264,991	· 26%	· 14	· $305,284
· Sub-total	· 28	· $692,771	· 70%	· 36	· 809,523
· Total Arrears	· 1,783	· $1,764,242	· 100%	· 203	· $1,156,912
·	· Arrears Collected 1 July 2020 to 31 March 2021				· $607,330

· Table 1.2

9.3 How Council Manages the Debtors

Direct debits are Council’s preferred payment option as once it is set up there is limited receipting required by Council as this is processed in bulk by the different types offered. Staff are always looking at different ways of reaching out to those who are missing paying their rates. A direct debit authority form is issued within the rates notice twice a year with a brochure explaining the benefits of spreading over the year and never missing a payment no matter what is happening at the due date etc. Council have 4,510 of the 9,960 rateable rating units (45%) on direct debits currently.

9.3.1 Rates Rebates

In 2019/2020 staff processed 742 rates rebates with $419,499 paid by the Department of Internal Affairs. The rates rebate is for low income earners which they must apply for each rating year. To date in 2020/2021 staff have processed 596 rebates with $344,399 paid to their rates.

Staff will follow up with a letter to remind those who applied last year to get their application to us and enter a reminder in the Bush Telegraph.

9.4 Managing by risk categories

Council identify the rating units with arrears under the categories set out in tables 1.2 above.

9.4.1 COVID-19

Of the 35 rating units affected by COVID-19 Council had 11 with a balance remaining at 30 June 2020. Council have one remaining with a balance from 2019/2020 who is on a payment plan to complete by 30 June 2021. The other ratepayers have all caught up with arrears and current rates for 2020/2021.

Due to COVID-19 staff stopped sending overdue reminder letters after instalments 3 & 4 2019/2020 and Instalment 1 2020/2021 and did not apply penalty. Staff sent out the first friendly reminder letter in December 2020 after COVID-19 following the Instalment 2 due date.

Council are applying penalty to those who have not paid any portion of Instalments 3 and 4 2020/2021.

Debt Management Central (DMC) were asked to hold off on following up on the formal demands where staff had previously advised their mortgagee of arrears and they have not paid Council. Staff have advised DMC in December 2020 to continue to make the formal demand.

9.4.2 Overdue letters

Council’s normal process is a friendly reminder is issued after Instalment 1 and notification of the arrears being placed with DMC if still no payment received to clear the rates after Instalment 2. Staff have changed the overdue letter from a lot of words to a more visual letter using flags of where they are in the options available to Council to recover rates. This has had a better response.

9.4.3 Debt Management Central (DMC)

If Council have had no response to these two letters after Instalment 3, staff place the current instalment amounts with DMC. Although the current rates do not become overdue arrears until 1 July of the following year, DMC issues a letter which does in some cases result in full payment or an agreement plan. Some of the agreements are managed by Council if they approach us prior to sending the arrears to DMC to manage.

9.4.4 Agreements

Ratepayers who are on agreements have had their payments calculated on current rates, arrears and penalty at the time of the agreement to meet the agreed timeframe.

Council also include a percentage to allow for future current rates while the agreement is completed. This means that upon completing the payment plan the debtor would be current. Any payment received is allocated to the arrears penalty first, then rate arrears and then to current penalty and rates. This does mean that current rates and penalty with payments not allocated in the years of the agreement are then transferred to the arrears balance at the end of each rating year. Council continue to apply penalty throughout the agreement period. Those on agreement when completed or if the agreement is going well after two years will have their penalty remitted.

9.4.5 Formal Demand

Any ratepayers who have still not responded to any letter and has a current mortgage interest on their record of title, DMC will issue a notice of intent to make a formal demand on the mortgage on behalf of Council to both the ratepayer and the mortgagee. Three months after the notification if payment is still not made DMC will make the formal demand to the mortgagee to clear the balance outstanding.

9.4.6 Rating Sale/Abandoned land

Council’s other options are to take legal action through a rating sale or if the ratepayer is unable to be found or known to be deceased and the land not transferred to an executor sell through the abandoned land process.

9.4.7 Maori Land

Council have 6 rating units that are Maori Freehold titled land that staff cannot find the owner/s, or they have advised they are no longer using the land. Council is following the process for Maori Freehold land under Sections 91 to 117 of the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

9.4.8 Legal Proceedings

Debt Management Central have been progressing 9 rating units where a formal demand hasn’t been made on the property. These will progress to a rating sale if payment is not made in full. This can take over a year to complete with the processes required in the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 Sections 59 to 76. Of the nine rating sales two have now been resolved through the rating sale process with sales in February 2021. Council have had one sell independently in January 2021 with rates and penalty paid up to date. Council have also approved another 6 rating units for rating sale.

9.4.9 Abandoned Land

Of the 11 Abandoned Land rating units, 6 have no Record of Title applied to the rating unit – these may have been destroyed in the Napier Earthquake of 1931 and not replaced by Land Information NZ.

Council will be approaching Land Information NZ to see if they can assist in getting a Record of Title for the land to enable Council to sell the rating unit.

Staff will be working with DMC to get the remaining 5 rating units sold under the Abandoned Land process prescribed in the Local Government (Rating) Act 2002.

· 3 rating units in Eketahuna

· 1 rating unit in Pongaroa

· 1 rating unit in Dannevirke

Staff have now identified 3 more rating units to go through this process.

· 1 rating unit in Norsewood

· 1 rating unit in Woodville

· 1 rating unit in Eketahuna

Due to projects staff were working on with the Long Term Plan 2021/2031, sub-divisions, revaluation and notice of sales we have not been able to progress the Abandoned Land as outlined in the second quarter report. Staff will update Council in the fourth quarter report.

10. Self-Funded Activities

10.1 Forestry - Summary for the 9 months ending 31 March 2021

The forestry activity has made a profit of $50,000 for the 9 months ending 31 March 2021. This is predominately a result of honey income received of $71,000 offset by rates and insurance for the year. Our roadside trees project funded from the Provincial Growth Fund was completed at the end of March with the funding received for this project and the reinvestment of funds from proceeds for the sale of trees removed meant Council was able to spend a total $823,000 on this project.

Forestry Reserve balance at 31 March was $847,000

10.2 Pensioner Housing - Summary for the 9 months ending 31 March 2021

The pensioner housing activity is currently operating at a surplus of $101,000 for the 9 Months ended 31 March 2021. Although the surplus for the period is slightly less that Council had budgeted ($17,000). This has been driven from the budgeted rent increase unable to be implemented until January 2021 with the Government putting a freeze on rental properties increases as part of its recovery plan for Covid-19.

Total revenue was $338,000 against a budget of $353,000. The reason for the unfavourable variance is per above with the freeze on rental increases imposed by Government in its response to Covid-19. The demand for these units is significantly high and Council has a waiting list for these units. Expected revenue is anticipated to be less than budgeted at year end.

Total operating expenses of $237,000 was slightly higher than the year to date budget of $234,000. This is due to the timing of maintenance works carried out in the units, and slightly higher than budgeted insurance costs for the year.

The current reserve balance at 31 March 2021 is $1,088,000

11. Compliance Exception Report

11.1 Financial Prudence Benchmarks

No non-compliance noted.

11.2 Investment Policy

No non-compliance noted.

11.3 Liability Management Policy

No non-compliance noted.

11.4 Accounting Standards

No non-compliance noted.

11.5 Rating Remissions Policy

All remissions provided were compliant with policy.

11.6 Specific Policy on Giving Security

Council has not provided any guarantees to date.

11.7 Local Government Act (LGA)

Council received a modified audit opinion for the 2019/20 Annual Report.

This has resulted from interpretation of when to record CRM’s as a complaint for the water and wastewater measures being the mandatory water measures required by Department of Internal Affairs. Staff and the after-hours service record the first call to an event only as a complaint, with after-hours only logging an information request for subsequent calls, and Council’s internal customer services only recording subsequent notifications if requested by the customer.

The audit team has indicated that every call must be logged as a complaint (e.g. if ten people call to notify Council of one leaking pipe, then staff should record ten complaints against drinking water pressure or flow). In addition, only the first call should be measured for response times to the event (e.g. water leak).

However, this creates significantly greater administration work as staff will need to then identify and link every call notification to the first notification in a manner that records the total number of complaints, but not the response time.

The qualification on this issue will mean Council will have a modified Audit Report for the next three years until the issue is fully cleared (both current and comparative results).

Attachments

Nil.

Report

Date	:	19 May 2021
To	:	Mayor and Councillors Tararua District Council
From	:	Bryan Nicholson Chief Executive
Subject	:	Staff Report
Item No	:	11.5

1. Recommendation

1.1 That the report from the Chief Executive dated 19 May 2021 concerning an update on key projects and items of interest to the Council (as circulated) be received.

Reason for the Report

This report is to update the Mayor and Councillors on key projects and items of interest over the period from 21 April 2021 to 20 May 2021.

Infrastructure Group

General

Staff across the infrastructure group are busy. With the end of the financial year closing in, various business as usual programmes and projects are being completed. Pressure due to district growth and associated residential development demands is increasing. There is also a huge amount of external changes occurring which staff are actively monitoring to understand how Council best respond. This includes changes to Waka Kotahi’s One Network Framework model for road, the Department of Internal Affairs led 3Waters reform, increasing compliance requirements, and potential changes to New Zealand’s waste recycling model.

Several roles in the Infrastructure Group are being, or will soon be, advertised as a result of staff movements and increased staff requirements. The Utilities Manager and Utilities Engineer roles are critical to fill, due to the quantum of projects and changes occurring in the sector.

A two-day workshop is planned for development of a refreshed strategy for the Tararua Alliance. This is intended to focus on confirming the strategic objectives of both parent organisations, supporting clarity in direction and priorities, and to enable increased performance in delivering the outcomes expected by our community.

Staff are assessing options for three key items at Akitio. Following approval by Council to support the Akitio Beach Community and Ratepayers Association with a resource consent enabling further protection of the foreshore, staff are in discussions with stakeholders including Horizons Regional Council regarding their likely requirements. Based on discussions to date it is expected that these will be to a significantly higher standard than historic, and than that initially expected. An assessment of options for wastewater treatment is currently being completed and an initial report is expected in June. Also, following concerns raised and requests from stakeholders regarding the village’s water supply, further assessment of the scheme is planned. This will identify required maintenance and renewal needs, as well as potential improvements, as is expected to be completed before the end of the calendar year as resources allow.

Transportation

Maintenance

With autumn in full swing, cleaning up areas of heavy leaf fall is a focus for town presentation and to ensure stormwater networks are free of potential blockages. Wind is also causing increasing trees and branches to fall on the road, requiring urgent attention to reduce disruption to travel.

The majority of the sealed pavement maintenance programme has been completed for the season. This included close to 40,000m² of repairs across the network, an increase of around 50% compared with last season, the result of cost savings realised through operational efficiencies in some activities. Nearly all pre-resurfacing repairs have now been completed on the 2021/22 resurfacing sites.

Emergency Works

Engineering designs and physical works of repairs is progressing well despite increasing challenging weather.

Work has commenced on Castlehill Road, to repair a dropout in the road through significant dewatering and constructions of a material stabilised earth wall. Work has also started on Route 52 (121 section) to repair dropout in the road. The existing road is narrow in places, presenting challenges, so significant earthworks are being completed to shift the road by approximately two metres. A material stabilised earth wall will also be constructed to provide for stability and sufficient road width.

Emergency works repairs sites planned for construction over the coming months are located on Rimu Road, Ormondville Te Uri Road, Managhei Road, River Road (Akitio), and Arthur Street in Pahiatua. Repairs for these include retaining walls of various types and earthworks. Planning and designs for these sites are well underway.

Road Renewals

The district reseal programme is now complete. 340,000m² of chip seal resurfacing has been completed across the district to ensuring underlying pavements are protected from water, reducing the rate of deterioration, and to ensure adequate surface texture to support road safety.

The sealed pavement rehabilitation programme is nearing completion. The last site on Weber Road is nearly complete with sealing the only remaining activity.

The minor drainage renewals programme will continue through the next two months. This is largely focused sites programmes for resurfacing in 2021/22 and 2022/23, to give the pavement time to dry out prior to resealing.

Corridor Management

1. During April, 16 temporary traffic management sites were audited and all were of good standard. 81 Before-U-Dig requests were received and processed. 37 corridor access requests were received, with 28 were approved and 13 cancelled or on hold for various reasons.

District Water Status (at 15 May 2021)

Wastewater Reticulation Maintenance

Inspections of the wastewater pumps stations across the district has been completed. This included clearing fat build-up and checking pump operation.

Wastewater Reticulation Renewals

The sewer main relining programme for both Pahiatua and Woodville has now been completed, with approximately 650 metres of pipe relined. This required a temporary bypass pumping the entire flow of the wastewater in Woodville so the liners could be installed.

This work was completed over 1.5 weeks, as opposed to an estimated 3 months if traditional trenching and pipe replacement had been completed. Relining also minimises the disruption to the community.

Wastewater Pipe Relining (left) and the Temporary Wastewater Bypass in Station Street, Woodville (right)

Wastewater Resource Consent Renewals

Progress is being made with the Environment Court regarding the wastewater discharge consents for Eketahuna and Pahiatua. Granting of these consents appears to be imminent.

The court has acknowledged:

· TDC's "considerable efforts to provide wastewater solutions that are appropriate for the communities served, accommodate the views of tangata whenua, are affordable and satisfy the relevant regulatory requirements"

· The "very significant efforts" of TDC and others to meet the Court's further information requirements in a timely manner

· TDC's "positive response" to the Court's comments

· The "prudent and responsible manner" that TDC adopted in selecting the most appropriate treatment methods

The Court was also satisfied that:

· Land discharge was not an option in the short term, and the likelihood it would be practicable in the future was low at best.

· TDC had consulted directly with both Rangitāne and Kahungunu, sought to work collaboratively with both iwi over a significant period of time to find an acceptable way forward.

· TDC had consulted in a way that has enabled both iwi to participate in a meaningful way.

Progress is also being made for the wastewater discharge consent for Woodville, where staff recently attended a hearing at Horizons Regional Council’s office in Woodville

The hearing went relatively smoothly with most consent conditions agreed to by all parties. It is expected that Woodville’s consent renewal process will be less onerous due to the progress made with those for Pahiatua and Eketahuna.

Facilities

Solid Waste

Road markings have been installed around the Dannevirke Transfer Station. These will help with public safety and directing customers to the correct drop off areas and have been working well. Staff have also received positive comments from customers who use Dannevirke Transfer Station, remarking on how tidy the area is now looking.

Staff recently met with counterparts at Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, to discuss the refuse disposal at the Waipukurau Landfill and share ideas for solid waste management improvements. A visit to the landfill was also included, where significant improvement works are being completed to ensure the longevity of the facility.

Parks & Reserves

In preparation for ANZAC Day, staff and contractors worked collaboratively with community groups to attend to final remedial work to deliver spaces for their communities. Dannevirke parks and reserves contractors noted receiving positive comments from RSA members. The ban rotunda at Dannevirke’s Upper Domain was also repainted in time for ANZAC Day as graffiti has been an issue.

Cemeteries

The last of the scheduled painting works has seen both of Eketāhuna Mangoaranga and Marchant Street cemeteries picket fences freshly painted. District RSA sections were also prepared for ANZAC Day services.

Pensioner Housing

Following on from annual pensioner house inspections, local contractors have started identified remedial work required. Additional work being completed includes remaining insulation within Dannevirke flats and ventilation installation within Woodville flats.

Tararua Alliance

Customer Management

Performance Dashboard

Name

Frequency

Comments

Alliance Team

Safety

Monthly

Results for April total number of SBOs reported this month was 86

Workplace

Health

6 Monthly

Loss time injuries (LTI) 0

Medical treated injuries (MTI) 0

Environmental incidents 0

Near Miss Reported 0

Timely Communications

Monthly

Monthly Response for Roading being 95% and 3 Waters 98%

Effective Communication

Monthly

Customer Surveys completed Jan recorded a score rating 3.64 out of 5. Slightly lower than previous as we are struggling with callback surveys . Will possibly need to look to other avenues to guage feedback

Minimise Operational Impacts

3 Monthly

One Compliment received for April 2021 and no complaints received.

Compliance with TMP

Monthly

· Over the month of April 81 Before-U-Digs were received and processed.

· Sixteen TMP audits were undertaken with six being other contractors working on the network and 10 TA sites. Two externalAll sites were of a high standard

· During April thirty seven corridor access applications were received and processed, of these twenty eight were approved with thirteen cancelled. The cancelled applications were mostly related to NZTA applications.

Zero Harm – Environment

Monthly

No environmental issues to report.

Economic Development, Communications and District Marketing

Town Signage

Angela has been presenting to the Community Boards/Community Committees and community groups to invite them to choose colours and images for the signs for their towns.

Business Support

Angela has engaged with past clients again at their request. This is what we want business operators to be able to do – when a new issue arises, they can ask for assistance again.

Food Secure Communities Plan

Angela continues to provide support for the contractor undertaking the research for this project and we have involved our communications staff to produce infographics that explain the food support systems that currently exist in each town.

Jobs and Skills

Mark is connected into the collaboration group that has begun, where all people in the district that have a role in supporting employers and jobseekers get together to coordinate their efforts.

Mayor’s Taskforce for Jobs (MTFJ)

April saw 20 young people assisted into work across a range of local employers.

Housing

Mark, Angela and a great contingent of Councillors visiting Abbeyfield Palmerston North to hear from the Executive Office of Abbeyfield NZ and the Palmerston North house committee chairwomen about how the properties are developed and run on a day to day basis, and to have a tour of the property.

Communications

Key Projects

Draft Long Term Plan (LTP) 2021-2031 – Public Consultation

Public consultation for the draft LTP closed on Wednesday, 12 May 2021 at 5pm.

The Consultation Roadshow kicked off on Monday 12 April in Dannevirke, before heading to Woodville on 19 April, Pongaroa and Herbertville on 29 April, Eketāhuna on 3 May, Pahiatua on 5 May and finishing in Norsewood on 6 May.

During the Roadshow, Mayor Tracey Collis, Tararua District Councillors and Council Staff hit the streets with arms full of Consultation Documents and a lunchtime BBQ.

The Roadshow was designed to enable residents to meet with Council and have discussions about the Long Term Plan for the Tararua District. It is also an opportunity for people to share with Council their ideas and challenges surrounding the things that matter most to them.

For example, in Pahiatua several residents shared their idea for a fenced dog exercise area. While in Dannevirke, residents were particularly interested in learning more about the right debate item “Recycling” and how they could have their say.

Items of Interest

Banks Phasing Out Cheques

A communications strategy has been completed and materials have been disseminated on 10 May 2021.

Materials include:

· Poster

· Media Release

· Facebook Cover photo

· Website Homepage Slider

· Facebook Post

· All Staff email

· Form Cover Page (To be developed)

· Information sheet for front line staff (To be developed)

Warning messages have been added to the bottom of the multiple documents (invoices) prewarning of the disestablishing date.

Marketing and promotion support for community events and organisations

Event Name	Event Organiser
Lions Den Garage Sale 2021	Dannevirke Lions
Spin In	Dannevirke Spinners and Weavers
Anzac Day Services	Various
Tararua Funding Information Evening	Eastern and Central Community Trust

Website

The Contract for our new website provider has been signed and the communications team is in the process of updating the website structure and content with input from the content pages respective departments.

Starting 12 May, the Tararua IT Alliance and Communications team will work together to build, migrate, and implement the new website over the coming 6-8 weeks.

Tararuadc.govt.nz website statistics

Number of visitors for the
month of April

Top pages visited

7,091 2.6%

1. Cemeteries – Record Search

2. Property and Rates

3. Homepage

Tararua.com website statistics

Number of visitors for the
month of April

Top pages visited

1,066 221%

1. Home

2. Play (local events)

3. Walk the New Highway (Event)

Publications

Recently completed

§ Consultation Document for the Long Term Plan

§ Draft Long Term Plan 2021-2031

§ Draft Fees and Charges 2021-2031

In progress

§ Long Term Plan 2021-2031

§ Fees and Charges 2021-2031

Upcoming

§ Form updates regarding banks phasing out of cheques

Events

Tararua Funding Information Evening

Community funding organisations have come together to host a Funding Information Evening at The Hub, in Dannevirke on Thursday, 13 May at 5.30pm.

The funding information evening, which is free to attend, aims to connect community and not-for-profit groups and organisations with funders who can provide information and advice about the funding opportunities available in the Tararua area.

Tararua District Council is providing support to the event – e.g. sponsorship of the venue, assistance with promotion and attendance as a presenter.

Tararua Sports Awards

The Tararua Sports Awards were held on Friday 7 May at the Dannevirke Town Hall.

The annual sporting awards, organised by Sport Manawatu and Tararua District Council, provides the opportunity to celebrate and recognise the success of local athletes, coaches, clubs, administrators, and officials from the Tararua District.

With eight categories including the coveted Supreme Award, the evening recognised finalists across a wide variety of sporting codes. Due to COVID 19 the awards were not held last year, so this year’s awards included 2019 and 2020.

The night began with a special presentation. Dannevirke businessman Suresh Patel was inducted into the Manawatu Legends of Sport, for his service to sport in Tararua.

Local hockey star Megan Hull was the big winner of the night, taking away Sports Person of the year and the Supreme Award. Megan could not attend the awards due to being in a Black Sticks training camp in Auckland. Her parents accepted her awards on her behalf. Megan also sent through a video which was played after her Supreme Award win where she spoke about how proud she is to be from the Tararua District.

It was a great night celebrating our local sports successes.

Tararua i-SITE Visitor Information Centre

TARARUA I-SITE REPORT – April 2021

Welcome Packs

There were 27 packs sent out during March 2021, 9 of these were sent to purchasers outside the Tararua District.

Creative Communities

There were 25 applications received for the March funding round totalling nearly $60,000 with $22,986 available. A meeting was held in April to decide allocations.

New Highway Walk

Tickets are selling well, well over half of the 1000 tickets have been sold as at end of April. Most of the tickets sold are to people from other regions.

Familiarisation Tour

i-SITE staff recently explored southern and northern Tararua with an emphasis on some of the walks promoted in our Walk and Cycle guide. This is important to do regularly to ensure that staff are giving accurate information to our visitors and experience themselves.

Nothern Tour

(Tamaki Road End) (Johanna’s World)

(Wop Wop Wetlands)

(Dannevirke Mountain Bike and Walking Trail) (Daves Den)

Southern Tararua

(Putara)

(Awapikopiko Reserve) (Pahiatua Railcar Museum)

Tararua i-SITE and Information Centre statistics April 2021

Visitors have increased due to ticket sales for the New Highway Walk.

DigitalSpaces

Total number of people that have worked on the project this month:

10 (Mix: Full Time: 1, Part time: 9 - Contractors: 3, Consultants: 6, Direct employees: 1)

Recent progress (opening hours, number of people attending training, number of training sessions, hosted):

IT: Interactive screen Microsoft software installed for presentations.

Opening Hours: 8.00am to 5.00pm.

Activator

After expanding her knowledge on different platforms to be able to offer businesses one on one support, Toni put her knowledge into practice. The first was helping an entrepreneur take product photos and teaching her to alter them with the result below. The next was helping another business design business cards and then helping them to set up an account with Vista Print to be able to order more themselves in the future.

Training

This month we have held 2 trainings, the first was an Introduction to Business Seminar run by IRD and had 8 people attend. This training covered IRD online services, business structure, income tax, expenses you can claim and record keeping.

The second training is a Starting a Business Workshop run by CEDA in conjunction with Tararua REAP and had 3 people attend. This training covered viability of a business, business structure, business strategy, business plan.

Equipment

The camera equipment was used this month to take photos of some products and then used the computer stations to touch up the photos. When getting the portable light set up to use we realised that stand didn’t come with the light. This has now been purchased and ready for the portable light to be used for filming.

There has been some interest in the video camera this month so Toni has been familiarising herself with this equipment to show people how to use it.

Hosted/Users

General Users – 54

Had a steady stream of general users over the last month.

Tararua Health Group, Supported Lifestyle Services and Sport Manawatu all held staff meetings at the Digital Spaces meeting room.

Risks/notable issues

None

Product photography done with a local small business:

Operations Group

Regulatory

Building Services

Quality Management System

The building team held their monthly Building Consent Authority (BCA) Operational Meeting with Quality Manager, Steve Mazey.

It was proposed and agreed to rationalise the next annual strategic management review of the quality management system, to align with the assessors’ (IANZ) current expectations. The review will be completed prior to Council’s accreditation audit in November.

Building Consents

This month, Council received 40 building consent applications. Of those applications, 6 were for new dwellings. The total value of building work for consents issued was $4.5m.

Demand for new dwelling consents remains strong, with an average of 10 applications per month. If this trend continues, total demand could reach 120 by the end of this calendar year.

Table – Applications for Dwellings by Location

Location (Valuation Area)	Total 2015	Total 2016	Total 2017	Total 2018	Total 2019	Total 2020	From 1 January 2021
Dannevirke	12	9	15	28	24	34	19
Rural	9	5	10	19	17	25	7
Urban	3	4	5	9	7	9	12
Woodville	5	6	7	10	11	10	7
Rural	2	2	2	4	5	5	1
Urban	3	4	5	6	6	5	6
Pahiatua	7	9	11	9	13	26	8
Rural	2	4	6	5	6	11	1
Urban	5	5	5	4	7	15	7
Eketahuna	5	4	3	3	4	5	9
Rural	4	1	1	3	1	2	5
Urban	1	3	2	0	3	3	4
TOTAL	29	28	36	50	52	75	43

Table – Building Consent and Inspection Statistics

Category	Total 2018/19	Total 2019/20	From 1 July 2020/21
No. of Applications Received	393	401	387
No. of Applications Processed	383	378	344
% Processed within Time	86.7%	92.3%	71.8%
Total Value	$15,928,540.00	$28,105,788.00	$28,233,026.00
No. of Inspections Requested	978	1,137	1,279
No. of Inspections Performed	1,375	1,715	1,700

Staffing

Council advertised a Senior Building Officer role, to fill an anticipated retirement vacancy in the team. Recruiting in advance of a vacancy will help to avoid a future gap in our technical capacity.

Animal Control

Public Education and Information

During the month, 4 articles were published in the Bush Telegraph.

Three articles provided information about the preferred dog owner scheme and timeframes for successful applications to be eligible for a discounted annual registration fee.

One article provided information about the benefits of dog registration and reminded owners this was an ongoing annual requirement.

Annual Dog Re-registration

To date, 6,619 dogs have registered in the district with 82 dogs (1.2%) remaining unregistered. This is a reduction of 1 unregistered dog since last month.

Compared to the number of unregistered dogs in May 2020 (85), the current results represent a 3.5% increase in compliance.

Dog Attacks

Table – Reported Dog Attacks (People and Animals) by Location

Location	Total 2018/19	Total 2019/20	From 1 July 2020/21
Ind/Com Nth Ward	0	1	2
Ind/Com Sth Ward	0	1	0
Non Rateable	0	0	1
Rural North Ward	4	6	6
Rural South Ward	3	15	5
Road or No Property Address	12	11	13
Urban North Ward	20	11	18
Urban South Ward	11	17	16
TOTAL	50	62	61

Staff are investigating if there are any practical opportunities to refine reported complaints, to exclude duplicate reports. This would provide a more accurate reflection of actual attacks.

Environmental Health and Licensing

Alcohol Licenses

No licensing applications have required a public hearing. There have been no appeals to the Alcohol Regulatory and Licensing Authority.

Environmental Health

Environmental Health staff have audited 5 food safety plans for compliance. No inspections were undertaken for compliance with health regulations.

Council’s service provider (Palmerston North City Council) has been advertising two Environmental Technical Officer roles, to fill an existing vacancy and a recent resignation.

As a result of the two vacancies, there will be a temporary reduction in capacity. We are investigating options for filling this gap and will review arrangements if necessary, following completion of their recruitment process.

Illicit Dumping

Table – Reported Illicit Dumping by Location

Location	Total 2018/19	Total 2019/20	From 1 July 2020/21
Ind/Com Nth Ward	10	16	9
Ind/Com Sth Ward	6	9	2
Non-Rateable	6	6	18
Rural North Ward	3	5	3
Rural South Ward	6	2	1
Road or No Property Address	91	105	66
Urban North Ward	4	6	5
Urban South Ward	8	3	4
TOTAL	134	152	108

District Planning

Resource Consents

This month, Council received 9 resource consent applications; 6 were for subdivision and 3 were for land use.

Staff have met with the Tararua IT Alliance and agreed on the specifications required to report on resource consents by town (similar to building consents). A timeframe for developing a report to provide this information will be advised in due course.

Technical capacity is under pressure from demand. To increase technical capacity, we have increased use of our planning consultants, transferred administrative duties from planners to a part-time temporary administrator, and assigned some planning duties to other skilled staff.

Table – Resource Consent Statistics

Category	Total 2018/19	Total 2019/20	From 1 July 2020/21
No. of Applications Received	72	101	105
Subdivision	49	85	93
Land Use	23	16	12
No. of Applications Processed	73	91	83
Subdivision	52	73	76
Land Use	21	18	7
% Processed within Time	98.6%	93.4%	90.4%

Staffing

Council has started advertising a Planning Officer role, to fill a recent resignation from the team, and will soon have an advertisement placed for a permanent administration support resource.

Programmes and Projects

Dannevirke Multisport Complex

· The three stakeholder workshops required for the project are to be held this month -

o Monday, 17 May @ 7 PM – Code Workshop - Location: TDC Chambers

o Tuesday, 18 May @ 7 PM – DVK Community Workshop - Location: TDC Chambers

o Wednesday, 19 May @ 7 PM – Norsewood Community Workshop - Location: Norsewood War Memorial Community Centre

o Up to nine one on one meetings will be held with codes requiring further discussion from the workshop.

· Dannevirke Multisport Complex Inc. held their AGM on 5 May and agreed to bring the Recreation Committee in as a sub-committee.

· GLG currently 80% of way through analysing secondary data, strategic and demographic analysis.

· Draft Detailed Seismic Assessment (DSA) for the Dannevirke Sports Centre has been received from BECA, awaiting final assessment.

· Once workshops conducted, GLG to complete issues and options analysis and site analysis.

· GLG to complete draft needs assessment this month.

· Next project steering group meeting is scheduled for 20 May.

· TDC and Mayor & Councillors will continue to be kept up to date via Works Liaison Committee.

Pahiatua Swimming Pool

· Site survey has been completed, now waiting on the report.

· The Alliance was approached for civil works but are unable to undertake anything for 3 months due to workload with Route 52. Toby Mason (CREATE) has suggested staging consent for building and then the external works afterwards, so we can move on and wrap up the building for consent. He is to approach Council to see if it’s an available option.

· Sprung have been asked to provide the necessary calculations to justify the sprung system for compliance with the New Zealand Code.

Solid Waste

· Outstanding data is currently being collected from the two kerbside trials which will inform the Section 17a review.

· Educational opportunities have been identified as part of the two trials currently being set up.

· Further work is being done to assess viable options for food waste disposal

· The Section 17a review will be presented to the Works Liaison Committee for discussion before being referred to Council to confirm its intentions, bringing the initial project to a close.

Communications Team

· The first Full Service Solid Waste Trial concluded in Woodville at the end of April and the trial has progressed to Pahiatua.

· A media release was published in early May along with an educational video to try see an uptake in usage. Overall feedback was positive and a minor usage increase was noted.

Earthquake Strengthening

· Dannevirke and Pahiatua Service Centres RFP process is 95% complete for the monitoring and control portion of the construction phase.

o A workshop with the preferred respondent as the final phase (Interview stage) is scheduled for Friday 14^th May and if successful the contract will be drafted for sign off and pre-construction planning will commence.

· The Pahiatua Town Hall/Library detailed seismic assessment is scheduled to be delivered to Council by the engineers (Strata Group) by 28^th May 2021.

o We will assess the result and plan the next steps accordingly, but it is assumed that strengthening work will be required.

3 Waters Reform Projects

Dannevirke Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

· Civil design is due on 14^th May 2021. Civil works quotes will be obtained after the design is completed, and works are expected to begin in June 2021.

o The Filtec Alliance agreement has been signed and the project has officially commenced.

o Peer review has been completed; we await final comment from GHD engineering.

o Long lead items have been procured.

Woodville Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

· Total Outrun Costs (TOC) are currently being discussed and sign-off is expected by 24^th May.

o Awaiting the civil design from the engineering group WSP before quotes for construction can be obtained.

o Peer review has been completed; we await final comment from GHD engineering.

o Long lead items will be ordered once the TOC has been agreed and signed off.

Eketahuna Water Treatment Plant Upgrade

· Design of this project is currently on hold.

· Site investigation carried out 22^nd April identified:

o Further investigation required to ensure long term solution for current issues with the plant before design can commence.

o It is unlikely this project will run over the projected end date and design work will commence once any outstanding issues have been resolved.

Pongaroa Water Treatment Plant

· This plant is undergoing full commissioning.

· Required equipment has been sent from Auckland with delivery expected in the next week.

o These parts will be introduced into the current plant design to see whether it provides a solution for the issues currently experienced.

o Assessment will occur to identify whether this provides a sustainable solution before moving on to phase 2 - connecting residents to the Council supply.

Pahiatua Town Centre Upgrade

· The project overall is going well, we met our obligations regarding the use of the northern section of the central island for ANZAC day. We have a busy month ahead of us, with both AC to footpaths and road intersections

· The remaining scope of work has been reviewed and we are tracking well financially overall. We are confident the final forecast is accurate based on completing the full scope of works. The additional cost is based on variations/additional work.

· External funding is still to be sorted in its entirety, with the sponsorship process now under way.

· Weather will be a risk during May, as any delays within these months will have an impact on the final completion date. Vandalism or theft is a potential risk regarding our finished work.

· Consultation continues with local businesses. Site staff are and have been in continuous contact with them as and when needed. This has created a very good relationship with the majority of business owners

· Although the Pahiatua upgrade is advancing to completion date, activity is still high on site working mostly on footpath reinstatements and kerb and channel replacements.

· Work is well under way at the end of Wakeman Street installing electric vehicle charging stations to support electric vehicles.

· Prior to ANZAC day the site around the cenotaph was completed and the Alliance received great feedback regarding how the site looked and how the feature lighting added to the dawn parade.

· A large pavement programme is booked for mid-May for all car parks to be fully re-instated.

Cenotaph ready for Dawn Parade.

Communications Team

· The upgrade is nearing completion and works are expected to be completed in June 2021. Planning for an opening event for the community will be discussed at the next Project Team meeting on Friday, 14 May 2021. An update on this will be provided in the next report.

Ongoing

§ Weekly updates to email newsletter recipients

Upcoming

§ Planning for an opening ceremony

Huarahi Tuhono - Weber to Wimbledon

· The focus for project development for the month of April has largely been focused fully establishing the Project Management Team.

· A local community member has been recruited to the Project Management Team. This appointment improves our ability to communicate with the residents and landowners.

· Our site office has been established, thus allowing for improved site management.

· There have been continuing efforts throughout the month to develop the social outcomes for the project, with meetings being held with key stakeholders as well as local organisations who can support the employment and training objectives.

· Design work has slowed this month with our Project Engineer away. In the interim, the other design resource within the Alliance has been supporting the project.

· Our Project Engineer now fully transferred over to the project from the TA’s Road Renewal Engineer role. This has allowed us to increase the geo-technical exploration work, with the testing of the local Angora Rd rock the priority.

· Deferral of establishing the 2nd & 3rd work crews while we undertook future design and material testing continues to put pressure on the project with the completion of isolated improvements on Section 2 required by December 2021 to meet timelines. To respond to this there will be either increased resource onsite through winter, or increased resource onsite from October to December.

· On 7th April a Contractors Information Session was held at Oringi, to provide a briefing of the project to local contractors. This was an open invite made via an advertisement in the Bush Telegraph and direct correspondence with existing Alliance contractors. The session had good attendance with 18 contractors attending. We are now working to further develop the Procurement Strategy in line with the social outcomes requirements.

Communications Team

· The project, made possible with funding administered by the Provincial Development Unit (PDU), will invest $14.6m in badly needed safety and resilience upgrades on this vital 26km stretch of Route 52.

Completed since previous report:

§ 15 April: Core Team Meeting

§ Website has been updated

§ Contact cards for on-site staff

Upcoming:

§ 20 May: Second meeting of the Project Committee

§ Comms to all staff to ensure general awareness of project

§ May: Project update

§ Establish email newsletter

Aften Court Pensioner Housing

· Project has been delayed due to final legal discussions over contract that ran into Christmas shutdown.

· The contract has been signed. Building consent has been granted. Building to start as soon as possible.

· Land use resource consent took longer than expected.

· Procurement signoff has also taken extra time. Legal contract discussions between parties has taken over 2 months. This has resulted in a likely completion date of September 2021.

Libraries

Executive Summary

In the first half of April, a series of showcases at each Library branch highlighted all things available at your local library. It was the perfect opportunity to introduce the Virtual Reality technology purchased through the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme. This technology will be available for people to experience on a regular basis from next month.

We conducted a stocktake and are currently working our way through the items missed by the RFID Wand. Once we have notified Kotui of all items that are on the shelf from that list, we will have a list of missing items to search for in every branch.

In the second half of April, the school holiday programme was run. This was aimed at the older primary school children as it was the opportunity to programme a Lego Mindstorm ‘puppy’. The Library Team created the puppy and the children who attended programmed it to sit, walk, bark, and more. 49 children from throughout the district took part in the programme. Next school term, there will be a Lego robotics programme after school in some of our branches.

The District Librarian received the results of our branding workshop. The team have been encouraged to provide feedback on the Philosophy – aka the Brief – and the first draft of our Library brand. We expect to have a design presented to us near the end of May. This work has been made possible through a grant from the New Zealand Libraries Partnership Programme.

School visits to Tararua District Library branches include Dannevirke High Schools’ Mead Centre, St Josephs, Eketahuna School, and Dannevirke South School.

Planning

With the imminent change to a chequeless banking system, the Administration Librarian has been involved in ensuring our lost book refund process and petty cash process have been future-proofed.

National Simultaneous Storytelling Day takes place on the 19^th of May this year. This occurs online after a successful virtual storytime last year. Planning is under way to include the Little Ears participants and the district’s schools in the event.

This year’s Children’s Winter Reading Programme planning is well under way. A response from the Eastern and Central Community Trust is expected by the end of June for funding of this programme. Meanwhile, the booklets and promotional material are being created.

With the end of the “Maths is Fun’ programme delivered in the Tararua District Library by Wairarapa and Tararua REAP, the Senior Librarian is looking for alternative suitable programmes to run in its place during the school holidays between Terms 3 and 4.

The Book Clubs of Dannevirke have approached the Dannevirke Library to host an author visit next month. Cynric Temple-Camp is a pathologist working at Palmerston North Hospital. He has agreed to visit one Thursday evening to give a talk about the “Potpourri of Death”. Planning is under way.

The Outreach Librarian and the Senior Librarian have been planning playgroup visits in conjunction with Tararua REAP for Term Two. This follows on from the successful visits in Term One by the Outreach Librarian and the team from Tararua REAP. It is an excellent opportunity for us to further those connections with Playgroups in the Dannevirke and Woodville areas.

The Marketing/Event/Promotion group within the Library Team is working on a Membership Drive and Meet the Team promotion for the month of May. The Membership Drive will include a prize draw for all new members that month. A Boarding Pass – to travel the world from Tararua District Library – will be advertised in the Bush Telegraph as well as available in all our branches. This will be used to enter the “traveller’s” details to go in the draw. The Meet the Team promotion will occur with posters in each branch and on our Facebook page.

The Senior Librarian is planning the after-school robotics clubs following on from the school holiday programme. This will include some more training for those team members who will be supervising the clubs.

Delivery

Library Events & Programmes

The library team enjoyed meeting community members who came to our showcases. We have had several new members and downloads of our Library App and the Epukapuka App as a result. One person at Woodville was delighted to find out we have the Ebsco Trusted information available through our website as she is currently studying extramurally. Through this database she will be able to access many serial articles she will need to complete her course. We had some very enthusiastic patrons who enjoyed the VR Technology. The opportunity to ‘travel’ to other parts of the world was appreciated. Seeing the Northern Lights, dancing with an alien, and the rollercoaster ride were some of the other experiences enjoyed by visitors.

The Senior Librarian spent some time travelling to our branches teaching other team members how to programme the Lego ‘Puppy’ in preparation for the school holiday programme. As expected, the children who attended were able to extend the programming and had the puppies performing all sorts of other moves. We are delighted there were a number who expressed their keenness to attend an after-school Robotics Club.

Statistics as at 31 March 2021

Please note: Last year’s statistics include the impact of Covid-19. Last year we were closed for the entire month of April. Our cumulative totals are beginning to reflect this with an upward trend this month.

Customer Services

· Customer Services are investigating how we can record First Response Resolution. A First Response Resolution is when Customer Services are able to help the customer in the first instance. We believe this is not only important for the customer experience, but also helps take pressure of the whole of Council. This saves resources by not putting a CRM through and/or taking up another department’s time.

· Customer Services has found Wastetrack a very handy tool. Wastetrack is a programme that is being used for the recycling trial. If a resident has not put out their recycling; a photo would be taken, and this instantly shows on Wastetrack. Customer Services is then able to explain why recycling has not been picked up. This is a great example of a First Response Resolution.

· We are currently looking at Customer Services Standards to be implemented for the whole organisation. This is a work in progress.

Strategy and Climate Change

EV Charging Stations

The Pahiatua charging stations are now ready for installation with the Pahiatua Town Centre upgrade including new kerb and channelling, A/C footpath and road marking. ChargeNet New Zealand under agreement will act as Council’s retailer for the site of the two 50 kilowatt fast chargers. Provision has been made for future chargers and expansion for a bigger transformer in the future. Electric vehicle development in the world is now accelerating with lower cost of vehicles and increased mileage all now likely. This will speed up future adoption, so councils are going to be a key part of working with electricity companies to enable infrastructure to be developed.

The proposal to have an Eketahuna charging station is progressing. This is a Charge Net New Zealand investment and Council is facilitating its installation along with EECA, PowerCo and Scanpower. The business case for such investment is difficult when access to transformers and unallocated capacity in them mean that upgrades are required. We are hopeful that the business case is now stacking up for Eketahuna and may have an update in June.

Attachments

Nil.

6.1	Anzac Day (Item 6.1)
6.1.1	Very well attended Anzac Day community services were held in Eketāhuna and the Anzac Memorial Bridge at Kaiparoro.
6.2	New Residents Welcome Afternoon Tea (Item 6.2)
6.2.1	Details are to be placed in the community newsletter and Bush Telegraph regarding the new resident’s welcome afternoon tea held at the Eketāhuna Club on 13 June 2021.
6.3	Town Signage (Item 8)
6.3.1	The Board’s preferences to be used for Eketāhuna town signage project at each entrance are to include the white kiwi as the image with blue and green as the sign’s colours.
6.4	Town Centre CCTV Security Cameras Monitoring System (Item 12.1)
6.4.1	Eketāhuna Our Town Committee is applying for funding to upgrade the existing security cameras monitoring system in Eketāhuna.

8.1	Newman Reserve Board
8.1.1	Board Member Terry Carew reported at the Newman Reserve Board Annual General Meeting held on 14 April 2021 discussion included considering funding the cost of replacing a power pole and repairing the swimming pool at the reserve.
8.2	Great Eketāhuna Ball
8.2.1	The Great Eketāhuna Ball was very successful and well received, with $1,500 raised to support Eketāhuna Health Centre.
8.2.2	This event was greatly enjoyed by those attending, and it is intended the Great Eketāhuna Ball will again be arranged next year.

13.1	Esther Bunning Anzac Day Flags
13.1.1	Artist Esther Bunning created Anzac Day flags, with one of the flags depicting the Anzac Mounted Troopers riders at Armistice Day in formation along the Anzac Memorial Bridge at Kaiparoro.
13.1.2	While Eketāhuna Community Board had not been contacted or approached to purchase these flags the Eketāhuna and Districts Early Settlers Museum Society acquired some for display in the town.
13.1.3	Community groups and organisations had helped to raise the flags in recognition of the horses of World War One, and they featured in six Wairarapa towns.
13.1.4	The flags featured horses, riders and children’s art, with support provided from Eketāhuna and Districts Early Settlers Museum Society, Masterton District Council, Carterton District Council, Greytown Community Board, Property Brokers Featherston and Martinborough Community Board.

10.1	Board Member Denise Clifton declared a conflict of interest in the applications of Eketāhuna Community Radio Society and Eketāhuna and Districts Early Settlers Museum Society, and abstained from discussion and determining the amount of funding granted to those organisations.
10.2	Board Member Terry Carew declared a conflict of interest in the application of Eketāhuna Menz Shed, and abstained from discussion and determining the amount of funding granted to that organisation.

10.3	*That the following grants be approved for disbursement from the Eketāhuna Community Board’s General Assistance Grants Scheme for the 2020/2021 annual funding allocation.* Name Project Amount *Granted* *Eketāhuna Community Equipment and public liability* Radio Society insurance $ 767.17 *Eketāhuna and Districts Digital collection catalogue* *Early Settlers Museum* Society $1,450.00 *Eketāhuna Golf Club Water rates relief $1,055.00* *Eketāhuna Lawn Tennis* *Club Turf and pavilion insurance $ 350.96* *Eketāhuna Menz Shed Build extension to store materials $1,000.00* *Friends of the Anzac Walkway and Anzac Bridge* *Memorial Bridge surrounds maintenance $ 170.00* *Eketāhuna Bowling Club Rates remission $ 610.38* *________* Total amount granted $5,403.51 And that the grants allocated to Eketāhuna Community Radio Society and Eketāhuna Bowling Club are subject to receiving from them a copy of their balance sheet or statement of income and expenditure for the recent financial year that has been reviewed independently. McGhie/Treder Carried

11.1	Resident Joe Sweeney conveyed to board members his concern about the significant rates increase Council is proposing for the forthcoming financial year and beyond, and its impact on ratepayers with low fixed incomes.
11.2	The Board considered the 2021/2031 Long Term Plan Consultation Document, with Council appointed Community Board Member Cr Raylene Treder abstaining from discussion regarding this item of business.
11.3	The Board agreed to make a submission supporting the Council’s preferred option 2 of the right debate matters concerning recycling, community development and road financial reserves.
11.4	The Board agreed to support option 3 of the right debate matters concerning debt repayment that proposes to repay debt at a compounding rate of 3% of rates each year.
11.5	This will enable Council to achieve its debt target sooner, and build some headroom in order to be prepared for unknowns that are potentially likely to occur in the future.