MINUTES OF A meeting of the Corporate and Strategic Committee

Date:                          Wednesday 17 August 2011

Time:                          1.00 pm

Venue:

Council Chamber Hawke's Bay Regional Council 159 Dalton Street NAPIER

Present:                     J Aspinall

AJ Dick

T Gilbertson

N Kirton

E McGregor

M Mohi

L Remmerswaal

K Rose

C Scott

E von Dadelszen

F Wilson (Chair)

In Attendance:          A Newman – Chief Executive

H Codlin – Group Manager Strategic Development

P Drury – Group Manager Corporate Services

L Lambert – Group Manager External Relations

M Adye – Group Manager Asset Management

L Hooper – Acting Governance & Corporate Administration Manager

1. WELCOME/APOLOGIES/NOTICES

Chairman Wilson welcomed everyone to the meeting.

Councillor von Dadelszen gave notice that Maori Committee representatives were not always receiving copies of the agendas for the committees they were on, or notice of meetings being scheduled.

C&S1/11       Resolution

1. That the apology from Mr Mohi be accepted.

von Dadelszen/McGregor

CARRIED

2. CONFLICT OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS

There were no conflict of interest declarations.

3.	Confirmation of the Minutes of the Corporate and Strategic COMMITTEE Meeting Held on Wednesday 13 July 2011
C&S2/11	Resolution That the Minutes of the Corporate and Strategic Committee meeting held on Wednesday 13 July 2011, a copy having been circulated prior to the meeting, were taken and confirmed as a true and accurate record. Scott/von Dadelszen CARRIED

4.

Matters Arising from the Corporate and Strategic COMMITTEE Meeting Minutes Held on Wednesday 13 July 2011

Item 7 – Shared Services Initiatives. It was suggested that a copy of Harry O’Rourke’s report be given to McGredy Winder & Co as information relating to the Shared Services report being written for Council. It was further requested that copies of the O’Rourke report be distributed to Councillors. Item 11 – Public Transport Update. It was queried whether Public Transport services were adequately ‘communicated’ and it was noted that copies of papers presented to Council and the Regional Transport committee on Transport issues were distributed to Mayors and other TLA staff.

5.	Action Items from Strategic Planning and Finance Meetings
	Mr Newman updated the Committee on the status of the Actions on the list. In relation to the Visit to Shanghai, Mr Newman would have Mr Bassett-Foss’s report circulated to Councillors. The item relating to Rates Relief has been reported to Council and so will now be removed from the list.
C&S3/11	Resolution 1.      That the Committee receives the report “Action Items from Strategic Planning and Finance Committee Meetings”. Scott/Gilbertson CARRIED

6.	Call for General Business Items
	There were no items of General Business put forward.

7.	CHBDC Wastewater Project
	Mr Adye covered the background to this project and the issues related to Council policies. The loan would be drawn down once the resource consent process has been completed, and construction of the irrigation system is about to commence. Council’s current criteria for funding from the regional Wastewater fund include that loans be:  made only to convert existing settlements from onsite wastewater systems to a community based reticulated wastewater system (that is, no funds are available for “new” developments); and used in coastal settlements where there were existing contamination issues arising from onsite wastewater systems or in areas that, with further development, were likely to develop such problems. Mr John Freeman (CE CHB District Council) spoke about the proposed system.  The rationale for asking for this loan funding was to bring the system’s implementation forward one year in order to meet the resource consent requirements relating to upgrading the wastewater treatment plants by the 2014 deadline. Councillor Kirton moved an additional recommendation, which was proforma seconded by Councillor Remmerswaal, to:  Instruct staff to bring back to Council an option for the proposed staging of irrigation and storage that would advance the timeframe from 2011-2017 to 2011-2014. The motion, when put, was lost 3 For: 6 Against.
C&S4/11	Resolutions The Corporate and Strategic Committee recommends that Council: 1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted policy on significance and that Council can exercise its discretion under Sections 79(1)(a) and 82(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community and persons likely to be affected by or to have an interest in the decision due to the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided. 2.       Makes available a short term loan from Council’s fund for improvement to wastewater systems on the following basis.  The loan be: 2.1      $800,000 interest free for 1 year, repayable within 1 calendar year from date of advance (note Council will forego $3,200 of interest per month) 2.2.     Made to Central Hawke’s Bay District Council 2.3 Made to allow for irrigation infrastructure for the treatment of effluent from the Waipawa urban area to be constructed and commissioned on the Waipawa forest block owned by HBRC .2.4     Responsibility for the construction and subsequent operation of the irrigation system, including compliance with relevant resource consents, remain with Central Hawke’s Bay District Council, with this set out in a legally binding agreement between the two parties. 3. That options for the funding source for the loan be brought to the next Council meeting. Dick/von Dadelszen CARRIED

8.	Environmental Action Awards
	Mr Broadley provided the Committee with an overview of the proposal to replace Council’s Hawke’s Bay Environmental Awards, last staged in October 2009, with a new event. The proposed event would be called the Environmental Action Awards and would celebrate community action identified from current Council work programmes, or through nomination. It was suggested that the number and scope of awards, as well as judging criteria needed to be carefully crafted and have input from Councillors. The awards would be staged biennially with support from Hastings District Council, Napier City Council and the Department of Conservation. It was suggested that Wairoa and Central Hawke’s Bay should be invited to participate in the ‘regional’ awards as well.
	Resolutions The Corporate and Strategic Committee recommends that Council: 1. Agrees that the decisions to be made are not significant under the criteria contained in Council’s adopted policy on significance and that Council can exercise its discretion under Sections 79(1)(a) and 82(3) of the Local Government Act 2002 and make decisions on this issue without conferring directly with the community and persons likely to be affected by or to have an interest in the decision due to the nature and significance of the issue to be considered and decided. Councillor McGregor moved an amendment to recommendation 2, which was seconded by Councillor von Dadelszen. 2.     Supports the holding of the Environmental Action Awards in November 2011 jointly with Napier City and Hastings District Councils, with additional support from the Department of Conservation; and that Wairoa and Central Hawke’s Bay district councils be invited to participate in the awards for a modest financial contribution. The amendment, when put, was CARRIED and hence became the substantive motion. 3. Agrees that the Environmental Action Awards be held every two years, with venue and organising Council to be rostered. McGregor/von Dadelszen CARRIED

10.

Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes from the Corporate and Strategic Meeting Held on Wednesday 13 July 2011

C&S5/11

Resolution

That Council excludes the public from this section of the meeting, being Agenda Item 10 Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes from the Corporate and Strategic Meeting Held on Wednesday, 13 July 2011 with the general subject of the item to be considered while the public is excluded; the reasons for passing the resolution and the specific grounds under Section 48 (1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution being as follows:

GENERAL SUBJECT OF THE ITEM TO BE CONSIDERED	REASON FOR PASSING THIS RESOLUTION	GROUNDS UNDER SECTION 48(1) FOR THE PASSING OF THE RESOLUTION
Confirmation of Public Excluded Minutes from the Corporate and Strategic Meeting Held on Wednesday, 13 July 2011	7(2)(i) That the public conduct of this agenda item would be likely to result in the disclosure of information where the withholding of the information is necessary to enable the local authority holding the information to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations).	The Council is specified, in the First Schedule to this Act, as a body to which the Act applies.

Gilbertson/Rose

CARRIED

The meeting went into public excluded session at 2.55pm and out of public excluded session at 3.00pm.

Closure:

There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 3.00pm on Wednesday 17 August 2011.

Signed as a true and correct record.

DATE: ................................................               CHAIRMAN: ...............................................