Minutes of a meeting of the Nelson City Council

Held via audio-visual link (zoom), and in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson

On Thursday 11 March 2021, commencing at 9.04a.m.

Present:                 Her Worship the Mayor R Reese (Chairperson), Councillors Y Bowater, M Courtney, J Edgar (Deputy Mayor), K Fulton, M Lawrey, R O'Neill-Stevens, B McGurk, G Noonan, P Rainey, and R Sanson

Present (when reconvened):   Councillors T Brand and T Skinner

In Attendance:        Chief Executive (P Dougherty), Group Manager Infrastructure (A Louverdis), Group Manager Environmental Management (C Barton), Group Manager Community Services (A White), Group Manager Corporate Services (N Harrison), Group Manager Strategy and Communications (N McDonald), Governance Adviser (E-J Ruthven), Governance Support (P Boutle), and Youth Councillors (R Armstrong and D Lawrey)

Apologies :             Nil

Civic House was unable to be accessed at the advertised meeting start time, due to protest action blocking entry to the building.  Time-bound items had to be considered, therefore the meeting convened via audio-visual link (zoom), in accordance with the Epidemic Preparedness (COVID-19) Notice 2020 Renewal Notice (No 3) 2020.

1.       Apologies

There were no apologies.

2.       Confirmation of Order of Business

Her Worship the Mayor advised that there would be a public forum presentation, however this would be delayed until Civic House was able to be accessed. 

The meeting was adjourned via audio-visual link at 9.06a.m, during which time Councillor Fulton left the meeting. 

The meeting was reconvened in person in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, at 10.00a.m.

Attendance:  Councillor Skinner joined the meeting at 10.00a.m.

There was a karakia timatanga.

3.       Interests

The following updates to the Interests Register were made:

· Councillor Edgar advised she had been appointed to the Nelson Tasman Regional Hospice; and

· Her Worship the Mayor advised she had stepped down from the Interim Regional Skills Leadership Group for Nelson Tasman.

No interests with items on the agenda were declared.

Attendance:  Councillor Brand joined the meeting at 10.03a.m.

4.       Public Forum

4.1      Tahunanui Business and Citizens Association

John Gilbertson of the Tahunanui Business and Citizens Association, and  Barbara Bowen, Principal of Tahunanui School, gave a presentation.  They were supported by Ainslie Riddoch and David Pattinson.

Attendance:  Councillor Fulton returned to the meeting at 10.07a.m.

Mr Gilbertson and Ms Bowen expressed their concerns regarding Council’s communications in relation to the Regional Public Transport Plan currently out for consultation.  They noted that the impact on Tahunanui bus routes had not been highlighted in communications, and the changes were not well understood by businesses and residents of Tahunanui.

They suggested that, in future, consultation documents contain a key words list to assist with understanding proposed changes, public meetings be arranged in affected suburbs, and a database of key stakeholders in each suburb updated to assist with communicating proposed changes.  They also suggested easier access to hard copy documents for residents who did not use online media.

A copy of the group’s speaking notes was tabled (A2591411).

Attachments

1    A2591411 - Public forum notes

5.      Mayor's Report

Her Worship the Mayor advised that, given the delays to the meeting relating to access to Civic House, this item would be withdrawn from the agenda.

The meeting was adjourned from 10.22a.m. to 10.50a.m.

6.       Elected Members' Reimbursement and Expenses Policy

Document number R15881, agenda pages 6 - 18 refer.

Team Leader Governance, Robyn Byrne, and Manager Governance and Support Services, Devorah Nícuarta-Smith, presented the report. Ms Byrne noted that clause 6.3 of the Policy would be clarified to state that requests for a lump sum communications allowance at the start the financial year in an election year would be paid on a pro rata basis. Ms Byrne and Ms Nícuarta-Smith answered questions regarding the manner in which event attendance was reported back under clause 10.5 of the Policy, reasonable costs of transport between elected members’ homes and the Airport, and the potential for the Policy to be amended in the future should Council provide devices for elected member use.
Resolved CL/2021/015
	That the Council 1.    Receives the report Elected Members' Reimbursement and Expenses Policy (R15881) and its attachment (A1546381); and 2.    Approves the updated Elected Members’ Reimbursement and Expenses Policy (A1546381); and 3.    Submits the Elected Members’ Reimbursement and Expenses Policy (A1546381) to the Remuneration Authority for review.
McGurk/Edgar Carried

7.       Elected Member Travel and Training Budget and Criteria

Document number R21376, agenda pages 19 - 27 refer.

Team Leader Governance, Robyn Byrne, and Manager Governance and Support Services, Devorah Nícuarta-Smith, presented the report and answered questions regarding the allocation of induction training costs.
Resolved CL/2021/016
	That the Council 1.    Receives the report Elected Member Travel and Training Budget and Criteria (R21376) and its attachment (A1743623); and 2.    Approves the updated Elected Member Travel and Training Budget and Criteria (A1743623); and 3.    Confirms the individual councillor travel and training budget at $5,000 for the 2019 - 2022 triennium as outlined in 6.5 of this Report (R21376).
Noonan/Brand Carried

8.       Exclusion of the Public

Resolved CL/2021/017
	That the Council 1. Excludes the public from the following parts of the proceedings of this meeting. 2. 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 are as follows:
Rainey/McGurk Carried

Item	General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Particular interests protected (where applicable)
1	Community Housing settlement	Section 48(1)(a) The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7	The withholding of the information is necessary: · Section 7(2)(i)      To enable the local authority to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations)
2	Roading properties	Section 48(1)(a) The public conduct of this matter would be likely to result in disclosure of information for which good reason exists under section 7	The withholding of the information is necessary: · Section 7(2)(a)      To protect the privacy of natural persons, including that of a deceased person ·    Section 7(2)(h)      To enable the local authority to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities

The meeting went into confidential session at 11.12am and resumed in public session at 12.02p.m..

Karakia Whakamutunga

A karakia whakamutunga was given.

Restatements

It was resolved while the public was excluded:

Recommendations from Committees

1	CONFIDENTIAL: Community Housing settlement
	That the Council 1.      Agrees that Report (R22684), and the decision remain confidential at this time.

2	CONFIDENTIAL: Roading properties
	That the Council 1.      Agrees that Report (R10199), Attachments (A2204394, A2188776 and A2188779) and the decision not be released from public excluded business at this time.

There being no further business the meeting ended at 12.04p.m.

Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings:

                                                   Chairperson          Date