Council Meeting

21 May 2019

Northland Regional Council Minutes

 

Meeting held in the Council Chamber

36 Water Street, Whangārei

on Tuesday 21 May 2019, commencing at 10.30am

 

 

Present:

Chairman, Bill Shepherd

Deputy Chairman, David Sinclair

Councillors:

John Bain

Justin Blaikie

Paul Dimery

Mike Finlayson

Penny Smart

Rick Stolwerk

Joce Yeoman

 

In Attendance:

Full Meeting

Independent Financial Advisor

Chief Executive Officer

GM - Environmental Services

Governance Support Manager

Part Meeting

GM – Strategy, Governance and Engagement

GM – Regulatory Services

GM – Corporate Excellence

GM - Customer Service - Community Resilience

Community Engagement Manager

Corporate Planning Manager

Strategy Policy and Planning Manager

Natural Resources Policy Manager

Online Services Officer

Communications and Engagement Specialist

Finance Manager

Financial Accountant

Policy Specialist

 

 

The Chair declared the meeting open at 10.30am. 

Apologies (Item 1.0)

There were no apologies.

 

Declarations of Conflicts of Interest (Item 2.0)

It was advised that councillors should make declarations item-by-item as the meeting progressed.

 

Receipt of Tabled Report (Item 2.0A)

ID: A1194776

Report from Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Moved (Shepherd/Smart)

That as permitted under section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 the following tabled report be received:

 

·         Amendment to Northland Regional Council Delegations Manual

 

Carried

 

Presentation - Rates Videos (Item 3.0)

ID: A1192432

Report from Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Communications and Engagement Specialist, Tamara Lee, and Online Services Officer, Jennifer Corbett, were in attendance and presented the three rates videos based on the ‘Big Three’; Pest Management, Floods and Land/Water.

 

 

Health and Safety Report (Item 4.0)

ID: A1188984

Report from Beryl Steele, Human Resources Manager

Moved (Stolwerk/Dimery)

That the report ‘Health and Safety Report’ by Beryl Steele, Human Resources Manager and dated 3 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Confirmation of Minutes - 16 April 2019 and 7 May 2019 (Item 5.1)

ID: A1188333

Report from Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Moved (Bain/Finlayson)

That the minutes of the council meeting held on 16 April 2019, and the extraordinary council meeting held on 7 May 2019, be confirmed as a true and correct record.

Carried

 

Receipt of Action Sheet (Item 5.2)

ID: A1190208

Report from Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Moved (Sinclair/Stolwerk)

That the action sheet be received.

Carried

 

Working Party Updates and Chairpersons' Briefings (Item 5.3)

ID: A1190488

Report from Sally Bowron, Strategy, Governance and Engagement Team Admin/PA

Moved (Dimery/Yeoman)

That the report ‘Working Party Updates and Chairpersons' Briefings’ be received.

Carried

 

Council Working Group Updates (Item 5.4)

ID: A1188227

Report from Nola Sooner, Land and Rivers Team Administrator/PA

Moved (Bain/Blaikie)

That the report ‘Council Working Group Updates’ be received.

Carried

 

Financial Report to 30 April 2019 (Item 6.1)

ID: A1188711

Report from Vincent McColl, Financial Accountant

Moved (Finlayson/Blaikie)

That the report ‘Financial Report to 30 April 2019’ by Vincent McColl, Financial Accountant and dated 2 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Secretarial Note: 

·         The Financial Manager provided a presentation detailing the actual results of council’s externally managed fund portfolio during April 2019 and comparison with budget.

·         The Independent Financial Advisor provided an update on the current financial situation and the need for council to put in place measures to ensure its work programmes were not at risk due to market volatility.

 

 

Regional Rates Collection - Update to 31 March 2019 (Item 6.2)

ID: A1190502

Report from Simon Crabb, Finance Manager

Moved (Dimery/Stolwerk)

That the report ‘Regional Rates Collection - Update to 31 March 2019’ by Simon Crabb, Finance Manager and dated 8 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Appointment of Northland Inc. Directors (Item 7.1)

ID: A1189405

Report from Dave Tams, Group Manager, Corporate Excellence

Moved (Shepherd/Finlayson)

1.              That the report ‘Appointment of Northland Inc. Directors’ by Dave Tams, Group Manager, Corporate Excellence and dated 6 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Moved (Bain/Blaikie)

2.         That Kris MacDonald be reappointed as a director of Northland Inc. Limited for a term of three years.

3.         That David Crewe be reappointed as a director of Northland Inc. Limited for a term of three years.

4.         That council continue to fund the additional two directorships to year ending 2021/22.

Carried

 

User Fees and Charges 2019/20 - Proposed alternative water take charge table (Item 7.2)

ID: A1191107

Report from Tess Dacre, Compliance Monitoring Manager and Kyla Carlier, Corporate Planning Manager

Moved (Yeoman/Finlayson)

1.              That the report ‘User Fees and Charges 2019/20 - Proposed alternative water take charge table’ by Tess Dacre, Compliance Monitoring Manager and Kyla Carlier, Corporate Planning Manager and dated 9 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Secretarial Note: Additional information was requested regarding the impact of retaining the current methodology for charging water permit holders.   Hence the remaining resolutions were left on the table and addressed following Item 9.0; being the last item of business in open meeting.  It was advised at this time that the outcome was a reduction in revenue in the order of $48,000.

 

 

It was further moved (Stolwerk/Yeoman)

2.         That council support original table 3.5.3 ‘Water Takes Charges Scales’, as consulted on and presented to council for its deliberations on 7 May 2019, and as included as Attachment 2 to Item 7.2 [pertaining to the 21 May 2019 council meeting agenda], for inclusion in the final User Fees and Charges 2019/20 (Option 2).

3.         That Jonathan Gibbard, Group Manager – Strategy, Governance and Engagement, be given delegated authority to approve any minor formatting, accuracy and grammatical amendments to the final table.

Carried

 

Te Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party: Māori Technical Advisory Group - Additional Member (Item 7.3)

ID: A1191154

Report from Rachel Ropiha, Kaiarahi - Kaupapa Māori

Moved (Dimery/Blaikie)

1.         That the report ‘Te Taitokerau Māori and Council Working Party: Māori Technical Advisory Group - Additional Member’ by Rachel Ropiha, Kaiarahi - Kaupapa Māori and dated 9 May 2019, be received.

2.         That council endorse Te Rūnanga o Ngāti Rehia representative, Kipa Munro, as an additional member to the Māori Technical Advisory Group (MTAG)

3.         That a further two meetings be confirmed by council as per the Appointed Members Policy.

Carried

 

Amendment to Northland Regional Council Delegations Manual

(Tabled Item 7.4)

ID: A1194489

Report from Michael Day, Natural Resources Policy Manager

Moved (Yeoman/Sinclair)

1.         That the report ‘Amendment to Northland Regional Council Delegations Manual’ by Michael Day, Natural Resources Policy Manager and dated 20 May 2019, be received.

2.         That the Northland Regional Council’s Delegations Manual is amended as set out in Appendix 1 [pertaining to Item 7.4 of the 21 May 2019 council meeting agenda].

Carried

 

Chair's Report to Council (Item 8.1)

ID: A1188198

Report from Bill Shepherd, Chairman

Moved (Shepherd/Sinclair)

That the report ‘Chair's Report to Council’ by Bill Shepherd, Chairman and dated 1 May 2019, be received [with deletion of the Chair’s attendance at the Extension 350 field day at Phillips dairy farm].

Carried

Chief Executive’s Report to Council (Item 8.2)

ID: A1189602

Report from Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer

Moved (Shepherd/Sinclair)

That the report ‘Chief Executive’s Report to Council’ by Malcolm Nicolson, Chief Executive Officer and dated 6 May 2019, be received.

Carried

 

Secretarial Note:  Appreciation was extended to the transport team for the road safety initiatives implemented over the Easter period which had contributed to no fatal crashes in Northland.

 

Receipt of Committee Minutes (Item 9.0)

ID: A1188415

Report from Chris Taylor, Governance Support Manager

Moved (Bain/Smart)

That the unconfirmed minutes of the:

·        Regional Transport Committee – 3 April 2019

·        Property Subcommittee – 8 May 2019

be received.

Carried

 

Secretarial Note:  Following Item 9.0 council readdressed Item 7.2 ‘User Fees and Charges 2019/20 – Proposed alternative water take charge table’.

Business with Public Excluded (Item 10.0)

Moved (Shepherd/Sinclair)

1.              That the public be excluded from the proceedings of this meeting to consider confidential matters.

 

2.              That the general subject of the matters to be considered whilst the public is excluded, the reasons for passing this resolution in relation to this matter, and the specific grounds under the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution, are as follows:

 

Item No.

Item Issue

Reasons/Grounds

10.1

Confirmation of Confidential Minutes - 16 April 2019

The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, as stated in the open section of the meeting -.

10.2

Receipt of Confidential Committee Minutes

The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, as stated in the open section of the meeting -.

 

 

 

10.3

Human Resources Report

The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of deceased natural persons s7(2)(a).

10.4

Purchase of Whangārei CBD Properties

The public conduct of the proceedings would be likely to result in disclosure of information, the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities s7(2)(h) and the withholding of which is necessary to enable council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations) s7(2)(i).

 

3.              That the Independent Financial Advisor be permitted to stay during business with the public excluded.

 

Carried

 

Conclusion

The meeting concluded at 12.03pm.