Ordinary Meeting of Council - 21
December 2021 - Open Minutes
Ordinary Meeting of Council
Open Minutes
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Meeting Date:
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Tuesday
21 December 2021
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Time:
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10.00am
– 11.33am (Adopt Annual Report/Bylaws)
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Venue
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Large
Exhibition Hall
Napier War Memorial Centre
Marine Parade
Napier
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Livestreamed via Council’s Facebook site
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Present
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Chair: Mayor
Wise
Members: Deputy Mayor Brosnan, Councillors Browne [via
Zoom], Chrystal, Crown, Mawson, McGrath, Price, Simpson, Tapine [via
Zoom], Taylor and Wright [via Zoom]
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In
Attendance
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Chief Executive (Steph Rotarangi)
Director
City Services (Lance Titter)
Director
City Strategy (Richard Munneke)
Director Community Services (Antoinette Campbell)
Director Corporate Services (Adele Henderson)
Acting
Director Infrastructure Services, (Debra Stewart)
Pou
Whakarae (Mōrehu Te Tomo)
Chief
Financial Officer (Caroline Thomson)
Manager Regulatory Solutions (Rachael Horton)
Manager
Community Strategies (Natasha Mackie)
Communications
Manager (Jess Soutar-Barron)
Team
Leader Parks Reserves and Sportsgrounds (Jason Tickner)
Senior Advisor Policy (Matt
Adamson) [via Zoom]
Māori Partnership Manager
- Te Kaiwhakahaere Hononga Māori (Hilary Prentice) [via Zoom]
Accounting Manager (Talia
Foster)
Corporate Accountant (Heather
Sharp)
Finance Accountant (Jaimie
McIvor)
External Auditor (Karen Young; Audit
New Zealand) [via Zoom]
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Public Forum:
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Bradley Graham
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Administration
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Governance
Advisors (Carolyn Hunt and Anna Eady)
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Karakia
The elected members opened the meeting with a karakia.
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Apologies
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Council resolution
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Dep. Mayor
Brosnan / Councillor Taylor
That the apology for absence
from Councillor Boag be accepted.
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Conflicts of interest
Nil
Public forum
Bradley
Graham - Skid Pads for Recreational Drivers spoke to the meeting in regard
to drifting which is the world’s fastest growing motor sport and local
people of all ages are interested in this sport. Not only doing burnouts
and drifting in their cars, but are doing it on the public roads. This is
because the prices to travel to the closest track are too high, registration
fees, accommodation expenses etc. are too costly for the younger generation of
boy racers to afford.
The problem
of boy racers on local streets is not getting any better and the current
policing models are not solving any issues. Convictions that go with loss
of traction of a very minor nature are making criminals of a large group of
Hawke’s Bay youth, limiting their ability to travel overseas and get
employment. Boy racers are people who just love cars.
Mr Graham
advised that he had met with Anna Lorck (Labour MP), Greg Murphy (super car
driver) and the Hastings District Council to discuss the practicalities of
developing a skid pad for cars in Hawke’s Bay. They were supportive
of the idea as was Inspector Matt Broderick (Road Policing and Fleet Manager)
and believed it would assist in getting boy racers off the public road.
His vision was
to change the boy racer culture and have an area they could go legally to
“spin the tyres”, have fees in place for locals so they can
frequent the pad regularly on certain dates, organising and holding a few
events for the year for locals and out-of-towners. The vision is for a
grass roots pad for the every day person to be able to participate.
Mr Graham was
not seeking funding but support from Council and the Police to obtain land they
could lease and believed if he had this support people would be more likely to
lease the land. The skid pad would be 20m x 20m and there would need to
be some parking for vehicles and this could be a paddock. He had tried
for the past twelve months to lease some land, however the boy racer name had
made it difficult and he wished to change the culture to make if family
friendly.
Council agreed
that Councillor McGrath would assist and work with Mr Graham.
Announcements by
the Mayor
The Mayor wished
everyone a safe and festive season and acknowledged that it had been a busy and
challenging year and thanked elected members and staff for their hard work and
the community who had assisted through various consultation processes.
Announcements by
the management
“Thinkfest” -
The Community Strategies Manager, Ms Mackie updated the meeting on the
recent “Thinkfest” event held on 20 November 2021 (International
Children Day). This event supported the development of the Youth and
Wellbeing Strategy and the Napier City Pilot Trust was acknowledged for their
participation and assistance in progressing the Strategy.
Ms Mackie displayed a two minute
video of the “Thinkfest” which included responses to the questions “What
makes a good life?” and “What is important for a good life in
Ahuriri ?” and some of the comments that evolved included children
feeling safe, loved, respected connected and to belong was their vision for a
good life.
Infrastructure
Acceleration Fund – The Director City Strategy, Mr Munneke advised
that the second round of application (Request for Proposal) to the
Infrastructure Acceleration Fund for Maraenui Stormwater improvements was
submitted on Friday, 17 December 2021. If successful, Council could
expect to be notified in March 2022.
Christmas/New Year - The Chief Executive advised that Council facilities would officially
close at midday on Friday, 24 December 2021 and would re-open on Wednesday, 5
January 2021. Council would be contactable 24/7 during the holiday period
through the website napier.govt.nz.contactus.
Confirmation of minutes – There were no minutes to confirm.
Ordinary Meeting of Council - 21
December 2021 - Open Minutes
Agenda Items
With the agreement of the meeting Agenda Items were
taken out of order.
2. Budgets to be
carried forward to 2021/22
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Type of Report:
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Operational
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Legal Reference:
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Local
Government Act 2002
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Document ID:
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1362701
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Reporting Officer/s &
Unit:
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Caroline Thomson, Chief
Financial Officer
Rudolf Britz, Strategic
Finance Advisor
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2.1 Purpose
of Report
To seek
Council approval to carry forward budgets into 2021/22 or future years
depending on the timing of the programme.
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At the meeting
The Chief Financial Officer, Ms
Thomson spoke to the report advising that the total to carry forward from 2020/21
had increased compared to previous years due to Council completing $43.4m of
the $100m budgeted in the revised 2020/21 Annual Plan capital programme
($59.5m excluding carry forwards from 2019/20). Delivery of the Capital
Plan has been impacted by Covid-19 and the November flooding event.
It was noted that the 3 Waters
Reform Programme required the money to be spent by June 2022 and projects
were on track for this completion date. A sum of $918,000 had yet to be
tagged and as part of the condition of funding any unspent funds would be
returned if not spent. The Finance Team have a dedicated person monitoring
and tracking projects underway and were working with the 3 Waters Programme
Reform Team.
Regular reporting on the
projects would continue through the Sustainable Napier Committee.
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Council resolution
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Councillors Taylor / Price
That Council:
a. Approve
capital carry forward budgeted expenditure of $44,101,849 from 2020/21 into
2021/22 (or future years depending on the timing of the programme).
b. Approve
total operational expenditure carry forward budgeted expenditure of $2,581,304
from 2020/21 into 2021/22.
c. Approve
capital expenditure carry forward budgets for the three waters reform
programme of $7,059,988 from 2020/21 into 2021/22.
d. Approve
operational expenditure carry forward budgets for the three waters reform
programme of $2,602,831 from 2020/21 into 2021/22.
e. Note
that the total capital, operational expenditure and revenue carry forward of
the three waters reform program nets to zero.
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3. Napier City Council
Bylaws Review
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Type of Report:
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Legal and
Operational
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Legal Reference:
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Local
Government Act 2002
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Document ID:
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1399632
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Reporting Officer/s &
Unit:
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Rachael Horton, Manager
Regulatory Solutions
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3.1 Purpose
of Report
The purpose of
this report is to consider and respond to submissions from the community in
relation to Napier City Council’s (the Council) proposal to
re-make ten current Napier City bylaws that were revoked pursuant to s160A of
the Local Government Act 2002 (LGA) on 17 December 2021 (the proposal).
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At the meeting
The Manager
Regulatory Solutions, Ms Horton spoke to the report which related to the remaking
of ten Council Bylaws. Public consultation to renew ten bylaws,
which were revoked on 17 December 2021, had now been completed. Public
submissions opened on 22 November and closed on 10 December with a total of 14
submissions received from members of the public and public and private organisations.
All submissions
received had been considered and it was proposed to make minor amendments to
the Animal Control Bylaw and the Parks and Reserves Bylaw. The Cemetery Bylaw
and the Fire Control Bylaw reviews would be brought forward. Ms Horton
recommended adopting the remaining six bylaws.
In responses
to questions the following points were noted:
·
Although some points had been raised in submissions in regard
to the Trading in Public Places Bylaw no changes were recommended. It
was noted that the Trading in Public Places Bylaw was there to control the
commercial activities particularly mobile shops and retailers to ensure
retailers have commercial value in places. It was working well and there
had been some changes to events recently to allow more mobile food businesses
to cater for events.
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Bylaws could not identify just one type of mobile shop ie an
ice cream truck as this would require a change in policy and it is considered
that the current bylaw is working well to protect retail shops from mobile
trading in close proximity and ensuring all mobile vendors have a fair
opportunity to trade..
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The fixed period of time an operator could stop of two hours
created a fair platform for all mobile vendors.
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Cats are currently not regulated by the Animal Control Bylaw
and submissions received in regard to regulating cat ownership could be
considered in the future as this would require a significant policy change
requiring robust consultation.
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At this stage it appears that only Wellington City
Council has a desexing programme that includes cat ownership.
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Council resolution
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Dep. Mayor
Brosnan / Councillor Taylor
That Council:
· Approve
the adoption of the following Proposed Bylaws coming in to effect from the
date of this resolution, incorporating the minor changes described above, as
well as a number of minor formatting and grammatical amendments, to the
previous editions considered by Council at its Emergency Meeting on 16
November 2021, and following consideration of public feedback:
§ Introductory
Bylaw 2021
§ Animal
Control Bylaw 2021
§ Cemeteries
Bylaw 2021
§ Fire Control
Bylaw 2021
§ Parking
Control Bylaw 2021
§ Parks and
Reserves Bylaw 2021
§ Public
Places Bylaw 2021
§ Public
Places Liquor Control Bylaw 2021
§ Tattooists
and Skin Piercers Bylaw 2021
§ Trading in
Public Places Bylaw 2021
· Determine
that the Proposed Bylaws are:
o The
most appropriate and proportionate way of addressing the perceived problem in
terms of sections 155(2)(b) and 155(3) of the LGA; and
o Not
inconsistent with the New Zealand Bill of Rights Act 1990 (NZBORA).
· Authorise
Officers to notify submitters and the public that the Proposed Bylaws have
been adopted and will become operative from 21 December 2021.
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4. Memorandum of
Transition for Coastal Hazards Service Delivery
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Type of Report:
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Information
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Legal Reference:
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N/A
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Document ID:
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1410085
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Reporting Officer/s &
Unit:
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Caroline Thomson, Chief
Financial Officer
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4.1 Purpose
of Report
This paper presents a proposed
Coastal Hazards Memorandum of Transition (“MoT”)
for
consideration.
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At the meeting
The Chief Financial Officer, Ms
Thomson advised that the Memorandum of Transition would provide a mechanism
for Napier City Council, Hastings District Council and Hawke’s Bay
Regional Council to confirm the agreed arrangements for implementing the Coastal
Hazard Strategy and the associated transfer of assets recommended by the
Funding Review.
This document will enable the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council to amend its Long Term Plan without
objection from territorial authorities under section 16 of the Local
Government Act 2002.
It is proposed that the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council would take charge of adapting the coastal
hazard risks and implement the Coastal Hazard Strategy.
The Hastings District Council
and Napier City Council will transfer their relevant assets to the
Hawke’s Bay Regional Council from 1 July 2024 to align with the
Regional Council’s 2024-2034 Long Term Plan. Hastings District
Council have endorsed the Memorandum of Transition and the Hawke’s Bay
Regional Council will consider it at their meeting in February 2022.
The Advisory Committee would
include representatives from Maungaharuru-Tangitū, Mana
Ahuriri and the Heretaunga Tamatea Settlement Trust.
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Council resolution
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Dep. Mayor Brosnan / Councillor Price
That Council:
a. Receive
the report titled “Memorandum of Transition for Coastal Hazards Service
Delivery” dated 21 December 2021.
b. Endorses the Memorandum of Transition.
c. Instructs the Chief Executive to execute
the Memorandum of Transition on behalf of Napier City Council following
satisfaction of consultation requirements under Clause 7 of the Hawke’s
Bay Region’s Triennial Agreement for the Triennium October 2019 –
2022.
d. Delegate authority to the Chief
Executive to approve changes to the Memorandum of Transition should they be
required by the Hawke’s Bay Regional Council and Hastings District
Council in consultation with the Napier City Council members of the
Clifton to Tangoio Coastal Hazards Strategy Joint Committee.
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The
meeting adjourned at 10.48am
and
reconvened at 11.17am.
1. Adoption
of Annual Report 2020/21 and Summary Annual Report 2020/21
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Type of Report:
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Legal
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Legal Reference:
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Local
Government Act 2002
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Document ID:
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1401929
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Reporting Officer/s &
Unit:
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Caroline Thomson, Chief
Financial Officer
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1.1 Purpose
of Report
To present the Napier City
Council Annual Report 2020/21 and Summary Annual Report 2020/21 for adoption by
Council.
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At the meeting
The Audit opinion for 2020/21 was tabled at
the meeting (Doc Id 1417376) and
included an emphasis of matter and a qualification relating to three
non-financial performance measures. Circulated at the meeting were final
changes to the Annual Report (Doc Id 1417845).
The Chief
Financial Officer, Ms Thomson advised he
purpose of the report was to present the Annual Report and Summary Annual
Report for 2020/21. Under the Local Government Act the Annual Report is
required to be adopted prior to 30 October each year. However, last year the
government passed a Covid legislation bill to extend the deadline for
adoption to 31 December 2020 and they have passed the same legislation again
this year to extend the adoption dates out to 31 December 2021.
Ms Thomson reported an overall operating
surplus of $27.7m and a balanced budget
position for the year ended
30 June 2021. The total revenue of $164m was above budget by $42m. This
was mainly due to the significant uplift in investment property gains of
$21.6m, 3 waters reform funding received from Department of Internal Affairs
of $7.2m and Tourism activities performing better than anticipated.
Total expenditure of $136m was above
budget by $14m due to higher depreciation from uplift in asset values the
previous year, November flooding costs and costs associated with Parkland
development.
Ms Thomson advised that Audit were satisfied that the
financial statements fairly reflect Council’s activities for the year
and its financial position. The emphasis of matter paragraph referred
to the potential impact of the 3 waters reform for Council.
The qualified audit opinion related to three performance
measures whereby audit were unable to determine that the reporting on these
measures was materially correct. The performance measures impacted related to
the fault response times for recorded for water supply, wastewater and
stormwater. As part of Audit’s testing they identified a number
of discrepancies relating to response times and recording of complaints and
have assessed the number of errors are above their threshold for materiality.
The disclosures in the Annual Report and summary
report include Council’s proposed remedial actions.
Audit New Zealand Director Karen Young joined the
meeting via Zoom and was available to provide more detail on the issues
raised in the audit opinion.
In response to questions the following points were
noted:
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In regards to the performance
measure and complaints it was noted that this was a new measure implemented
last year and a number of Councils around New Zealand had difficulty with
compliance.
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Discussion was being held with
the Department of Internal Affairs to determine if the performance measure
could be modified.
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If the performance measure is
not modified Council would be unlikely to be achieve this measure in the
future as it is very difficult to meet with the ways the complaints are
categorised that created error.
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The main reason for non-conformance
is the mis-categorisation of complaints that flow into different areas.
Training and review of local systems would assist in improvements.
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Council has changed the
complaints process this year to improve matrix, ability to respond and for
better compliance going forward.
ACTION The
Chief Executive will provide an update report on the Complaints System and
operation.
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Council
resolution
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Mayor Wise / Dep. Mayor Brosnan
That Council:
a. Receives the report
titled “Adoption of Annual Report 2020/21 and Summary Annual Report 2020/21”
dated 21 December 2021.
b. Note the 2020/21
Annual Report has been considered by the Audit and Risk Committee.
c. Note the
Auditor’s report includes an emphasis of matter paragraph drawing
attention to Government announcement to introduce legislation to establish
four publicly owned water entities from 1 July 2024.
d. Note the qualified
Audit opinion on the activity group statements relating to incomplete
information about response times and the number of complaints for some
services.
e. Note that the Audit
opinion will be provided at the Council meeting of 21 December 2021, with the
Audit Director for Audit NZ available to talk to the opinion.
f. Adopt the
Annual Report and Summary Annual Report for Napier City Council for 2020/21
subject to any grammatical and minor changes and any changes due to the
requirements of the audit process.
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Attachments
1 Audit New Zealand's
opinion tabled at the meeting (Doc Id 1417376)
2 Circulated Final
Changes to the Annual Report at Council meeting (Doc Id 1417845)
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The
meeting closed with a karakia at 11.33am
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Approved and adopted as a true and accurate record of the
meeting.
Chairperson .............................................................................................................................
Date of approval ......................................................................................................................
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