Prosperous Napier Committee - 29 August 2024 - Open Minutes
Prosperous Napier Committee
Open Minutes
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Meeting Date: |
Thursday 29 August 2024 |
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Time: |
10.10am – 11.05 (Open) 3.09pm – 3.30pm - (Open) 3.33pm – 4.15pm (Public Excluded) |
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Venue |
Ocean
Suite |
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Livestreamed via Council’s Facebook page |
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Present |
Chair: Councillor Crown Members: Mayor Wise, Deputy Mayor Brosnan, Councillors Boag, Chrystal, Greig, McGrath, Simpson and Taylor (Deputy Chair) Councillors Mawson, Price and Tareha (present until 11.05am) |
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In Attendance |
Chief Executive (Louise Miller) [via Zoom] Acting Executive Director Corporate Services (Caroline Thomson) Acting Executive Director City Services (Jessica Ellerm) Executive Director Community Services (Thunes Cloete) Procurement Manager (Sharon O’Toole) Senior Procurement Advisor (Bex Smiley) Commercial Director (Richard Munneke) Manager Arts, Culture and Heritage (Elizabeth Caldwell) Manager Communications and Marketing (Julia Stevens) [via Zoom] Manager Strategy and Transformation (Stephanie Murphy) Corporate Finance Manager (Garry Hrustinsky) Carbon Emissions Advisor (Michelle Duncan) |
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Administration |
Governance Advisors (Carolyn Hunt and Jemma McDade) |
Prosperous Napier Committee – Open Minutes
Table of Contents
Order of Business Page No.
Announcements by the Chairperson
Announcements by the management
4. Hawke's Bay Museums Trust Collection Management Agreement
6. Digital Business Strategy - update
7. Emission reduction targets and plan
8. Treasury Activity and Funding Update
Resolution to Exclude the Public
Order of Business
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That the apology for absence from Councillor Browne be accepted. |
It was noted that Ngā Mānukanuka o te Iwi representative, Evelyn Ratima was not present at the meeting.
Nil
Nil
Nil
Announcements by the Chairperson
Nil
Announcements by the management
Nil
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That the Minutes of the Prosperous Napier Committee meeting held on Thursday, 18 July 2024 were taken as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
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Agenda Items
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Type of Report: |
Information |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1785833 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Bill Roberts, Economic Development Manager |
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1.1 Purpose of Report The purpose of the report is to provide a verbal update to the Committee on the following items: · The Pulse Dashboard – Relocation · Regional Infrastructure Fund |
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The Chair advised that due to timing constraints on the day the meeting agreed that the verbal updates on the Pulse Dashboard and the Relocation and Regional Infrastructure Fund would be deferred to the Council meeting to be held on 26 September 2024. |
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Type of Report: |
Operational |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1780529 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Sharon O'Toole, Procurement Manager |
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2.1 Purpose of Report The current Procurement Policy was adopted 5 August 2021. The policy is required to be reviewed every three years. This report outlines the review and recommendations from the review. |
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The Procurement Manager, Ms O’Toole provided a brief summary of the report. The officer advised that the current policy still remains fit for purpose and moving the policy review date to November 2025 would enable sufficient time to allow changes to the Policy to be incorporated into the Procurement Transportation Strategy. In response to questions the following was clarified: · It was noted that the four wellbeings were currently referred to in the Policy and any legislation changes would be reflected in the review of the Policy. · The content of the current Policy allows for environmental wellbeing which would include the Emission Reduction Plan, and targets would be achieved through this. · To reflect the community’s expectation for locally procured suppliers there is a separate Procurement Guide which provides baseline guidance for procurement. Review of the Policy will provide an opportunity to remove operational material from the Policy and reflect it in the Guide for those planning procurement activities. The focus currently is on making changes to the operational support tool. · The Policy outlines the expectations rather than the processes and currently work is underway to look at systems, processes and documents and how they can be tailored to cover small and large procurements and specialised procurements. · There is a programme of work underway to look at operational support in regard to tenders and contracts, which is a large piece of work. · Primarily the reason for delaying the review date was to enable alignment to the Procurement Transportation Strategy, which was a requirement from New Zealand Transport Agency (Waka Kotahi). The Transportation Strategy is due for review in 2026. · The Chief Executive advised the current priority for the Procurement Team was around capital projects, as the strategic projects and delivery of the capital programme had been set as a priority by Council. In order to accelerate the capital delivery there was a need to improve procurement processes.
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Approve the recommendation to retain the current Procurement Policy and revise the next review date to November 2025. |
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Type of Report: |
Operational and Procedural |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1782274 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Richard Munneke, Commercial Director |
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3.1 Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to clarify and resolve: · the name of the proposed Napier City Council Controlled Trading Organisation · the number and composition on the board including the mix of independent and Napier City Councilor directorships. · the Investment portfolio that will be managed by the CCTO through a statement of expectation and accompanying delegations from Council. · Protection of the intergenerational inflation proofed value of the investment as a strategic asset of Council. · And to adopt an amended Appointment and Remuneration of Directors Policy.
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Ruling of the Chair: At this point the Chair advised that for the remainder of the items once the resolution had been moved and seconded she would not be accepting questions from the meeting. Any questions would need to be made prior to and during debate. |
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The Corporate Director, Mr Munneke provided a brief summary of the report outlining the scope and issues which formed part of the recommendations in relation to the setting up of a Council Controlled Trading Organisation. In response to questions the following was clarified: · Ms Thomson advised that in regard to appointments to the Board the Policy referred to elected members having served three years in office, however it also included flexibility to appoint an elected member after one year in the event of an appointment having to be made mid-way through a period. · Recommendation (b)(ii) refers to “select surplus NCC property” and refers to property surplus to Council’s requirements, with no understood or recorded purpose. The recommendation is “in principle”, enabling officers to investigate surplus land and come back to Council for a decision. · It is intended that in setting up the CCTO, workshops would be open to the public for transparency, except for commercially sensitive matters requiring discussion. . Once the entity is formed the business would be conducted by the CCTO outside of public scrutiny. · Part of the process includes a letter of expectation on the assets provided to the CCTO outlining what Council requires, and divestment of an asset would need to be included as a delegation of Council to the CCTO. · The current draft Policy does not clearly outline processes for remuneration and appointment. Approving the draft Policy will allow momentum to continue and any further changes can be made and brought back for approval. · The Policy includes three parts covering remuneration and skillsets for different types of Council Organisations. Part One refers to Council Controlled Organisations where the Council could be involved with another Council and organisation, remuneration and skills are set out. Part Two relates to a wholly owned Controlled Council Organisation, where NCC fully owns the CCO or CCTO and sets out the board appointments and remuneration. Part Three relates to a Council Organisation. There are slight differences in the structure of CCTOs.
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a) Approve Ahuriri Investments Management Limited (AIM) as the official name of the Council Controlled Trading Organisation to manage Napier City Council’s Investments. b) Endorse in principle the Investment Portfolio, being the investment asset classes that are suitable for the CCTO to manage to include: i. Parklands ii. Select surplus NCC property iii. Leasehold land portfolio iv. Shareholding in Hawke’s Bay Airport Limited v. Managed Funds c) Approve a maximum of 5 directors be appointed to the CCTO board of directors constituting: · 3 independent Directors including the Chair. · 2 elected members as directors only d) Adopt the amended Appointment and Remuneration of Directors Policy (Doc Id 1786178) Councillor McGrath voted AGAINST the Motion |
Point of Order raised in regard to elected members not being able to question during debate and breach of SO 21.3.
Point of Order not upheld - the Chair using her discretion provided clarity in relation to her ruling that questioning would take place during debate only and that following a Motion being moved and seconded there would be no questions. This was in order to keep the flow of the decision-making clear. |
4. Hawke's Bay Museums Trust Collection Management Agreement
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Type of Report: |
Contractual |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1784019 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Elizabeth Caldwell, Manager Arts, Culture and Heritage |
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4.1 Purpose of Report To seek Napier City Council approval to enter into a new Management Agreement with the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust (HBMT) for two years, expiring 30 June 2026 while the Hawke’s Bay Regional Collection Joint Working Group concludes its review of governance and operational arrangements for how the collection is to be maintained and governed. |
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The Manager Arts, Culture and Heritage, Ms Caldwell spoke to the report for the roll over and renewal of the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust Agreement for a two year period to enable the Joint Working Group to complete its work. Ms Caldwell advised that presentation by the Trust could be arranged for a future meeting and confirmed that a workshop was scheduled for September 2024 in regard to the new storage facility in Hastings.
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a) Approve that Napier City Council enter into a Management Agreement (Doc Id 1784024) with the Hawke’s Bay Museums Trust for two years expiring 30 June 2026. |
Councillors Mawson, Price and Tareha left the meeting at 11.05am
The meeting adjourned at 11.05am and reconvened at 3.09pm
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Type of Report: |
Operational |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1783644 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Stephanie Murphy, Manager Strategy and Transformation Jemma McDade, Governance Advisor |
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5.1 Purpose of Report This report seeks to provide information regarding the improved Council process for submitting on current initiatives open for consultation. |
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The Governance Advisor, Ms McDade took the report as read. The main purpose of the submission process was to ensure that all the opportunities and initiatives that are open for submission are captured by Council and considered for submission. In response to questions the following was clarified: · The submission process is already undertaken through the Governance Team and this process will ensure that a greater number of initiatives will be captured. · The flowchart can be amended to include Ngā Mānukanuka o te Iwi members when submissions are forwarded to elected members for feedback. · The list of agencies for sourcing initiatives is expanding all the time and will be updated regularly. Elected members can provide additional agencies to be added to the list. Councillor Taylor joined the meeting at 3.13pm.
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Endorse the centralized process for monitoring and reporting submissions made by Napier City Council on initiatives that are open for consultation.
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6. Digital Business Strategy - update
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Type of Report: |
Information |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1783045 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Duncan Barr, Chief Information Officer |
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6.1 Purpose of Report This report provides an update of the work being undertaken on the Digital Business Strategy.
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The Acting Executive Director Corporate Services, Ms Thomson took the report as read. The plan has been discussed at length with the Executive Leadership Team in regard to priorities and workload. |
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Note the actions and progress as outlined in the report “Digital Business Strategy – Update”. |
7. Emission reduction targets and plan
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Type of Report: |
Operational |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1783971 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Michelle Duncan, Carbon Emissions Advisor |
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7.1 Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to recommend emission reduction targets for Napier City Council and share the draft Emission Reduction Plan (ERP) setting out how NCC will reduce its own emissions and facilitate a reduction in community emissions.
This follows on from the paper presented at the June Prosperous Napier Committee meeting and elected members support for planned approach. ELT has reviewed the draft emission reduction plan twice and this is our recommended approach.
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The Carbon Emissions Advisor, Ms Duncan provided a brief summary of the report on emission reduction targets and the draft Emission Reduction Plan. In response to questions the following was clarified: · Ms Duncan confirmed that Page 81, point 30 on Low Carbon Transport could include in that box the wording “Promotion of walking, cycling and active transport.” · There is currently no regional remission reduction plan underway by any of the Councils. The Climate Action Joint Committee was originally looking at some regional emission reduction, however the work programme for that Committee is now mainly focussed on climate adaptation. |
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Receive the report titled “Emission Reduction Targets and Plan” dated 29 August 2024. b. Approve i. The recommended Long- term Emission Reduction Target: Net Zero by 2050 ii. The recommended Interim Emission Reduction Targets: 63% reduction by 2035 iii. The draft Emission Reduction Plan (Doc Id 1784188) |
8. Treasury Activity and Funding Update
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Type of Report: |
Information |
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Legal Reference: |
N/A |
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Document ID: |
1783721 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Garry Hrustinsky, Corporate Finance Manager |
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8.1 Purpose of Report The purpose of this report is to update the Prosperous Napier Committee on Council’s treasury activity. |
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The Corporate Finance Manager, Mr Hrustinsky spoke to the report which provided an update on Council’s treasury activity. Since the report was written the Reserve Bank has cut interest rates by 25 basis points, with the OCR rate reducing to 5.2%. This will have an impact on lower term deposit rates and borrowing rates. Further borrowing is expected in the next few months but is well within the forecast $67m. |
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Receive the report titled Treasury Activity and Funding Update dated 29 August 2024. |
9. Rates Remission in Response to Significant Extraordinary Circumstances (Voluntary Buy-Out Programme)
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Type of Report: |
Legal and Operational |
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Legal Reference: |
Local Government (Rating) Act 2002 |
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Document ID: |
1783270 |
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Reporting Officer/s & Unit: |
Garry Hrustinsky, Corporate Finance Manager |
9.1 Purpose of Report
To seek approval from Prosperous Napier Committee for a rates remissions for properties involved in the Category 3 voluntary buy-out programme for the 2024/25 financial year. This is in response to Significant Extraordinary Circumstances from the impact of Cyclone Gabrielle on Tuesday 14 February 2023.
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The Corporate Finance Manager, Mr Hrustinsky spoke to the report seeking an extension of rates remission for extraordinary circumstances involved in the Category 3 buy-outs. The remission was requested last year so NCC was consistent with Hastings District Council, who were managing negotiations on behalf of both Councils. The remission will cost approximately $13,133 for the 2024/25 financial year and would be sourced from unbudgeted funding. The remission relates to eleven properties that are uninhabitable. |
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Committee resolution
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The Prosperous Napier Committee: a. Approve a remission for qualifying rating units for either the full 2024/25 year (i.e. all instalments) or if/when property buy-out occurs – whichever is earliest. b. Approve unbudgeted funding up to $13,133 for the purpose of Rates Remission for Significant Extraordinary Circumstances (Voluntary Buy-Out Programme). c. Note that the remission will be sourced from unbudgeted funding and will impact on Council’s year-end position. |
There were no minor matters to discuss.
Resolution to EXCLUDE the Public
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That the public be excluded from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting, namely: 1. Rates Remission for Special Circumstances 2. Procurement Planning Report |
The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public was excluded, the reasons 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 were as follows:
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General subject of each matter to be considered. |
Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter. |
Ground(s) under section 48(1) to the passing of this resolution. |
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1. Rates Remission for Special Circumstances |
7(2)(a) Protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of a deceased person |
48(1)(a) That the public
conduct of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting
would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good
reason for withholding would exist: |
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2. Procurement Planning Report |
7(2)(h) Enable the local authority to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities |
48(1)(a) That the public
conduct of the whole or the relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting
would be likely to result in the disclosure of information for which good
reason for withholding would exist: |
The meeting moved into the Public Excluded section at 3.33pm
The meeting closed with a karakia at 4.15pm
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Approved and adopted as a true and accurate record of the meeting.
Chairperson ......................................................................................................................
Date of approval ............................................................................................................... |