Nelson City Council
Te Kaunihera o Whakatū
Held in the Council Chamber, Civic House, 110 Trafalgar Street, Nelson on Thursday 10 November 2022, commencing at 9.00a.m.
Present: His Worship the Mayor Hon Dr N Smith (Chairperson), Councillors M Anderson, M Benge, T Brand, M Courtney, J Hodgson, Deputy Mayor R O'Neill-Stevens (Deputy Mayor), K Paki Paki, P Rainey, C Rollo, R Sanson, T Skinner and A Stallard
In Attendance: Chief Executive (P Dougherty), Group Manager Infrastructure (A Louverdis), Group Manager Environmental Management (D Bush-King), Group Manager Community Services (A White), Group Manager Corporate Services (N Harrison), Group Manager Strategy and Communications (N McDonald), Team Leader Governance (R Byrne) and Assistant Governance Adviser (A Bryce-Neumann)
Apologies : Nil
Karakia and Mihi Timatanga
His Worship the Mayor Smith provided opening comments for the first Ordinary meeting of Council, noting his thanks to the Chief Executive and staff for their assistance in helping him to transition to the role of Mayor, with particular thanks to Nan Ward. He noted the change to electronic provision of meeting papers would save Council approximately $50,000 per annum and thanked members for their support to enable this.
1. Apologies
2. Confirmation of Order of Business
His Worship the Mayor Smith noted that as audit information had not been received from Audit NZ, Item 12: Annual Report, was removed from the Agenda.
There were no updates to the Interests Register. Councillor Stallard declared a non-pecuniary interest in Item 7: Mayor’s Report, with respect to the Library discussion. Councillor Paki Paki subsequently declared a non-pecuniary interest in this item if discussing Whakatu Inc, noting his only employment with Whakatu Inc was on matters with no association with Council.
There was no public forum.
5.1 28 October 2022
Document number M19894, agenda pages 19 - 22 refer.
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1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 28 October 2022, as a true and correct record. |
6. Statutory Declaration - Councillor Rachel Sanson
Document number R27314, agenda pages 23 - 23 refer.
Councillor Sanson made her statutory declaration, witnessed by His Worship the Mayor Dr Smith.
Document number R27322, agenda pages 24 - 28 refer.
His Worship the Mayor Smith presented his report and noted he intended to take the motion in parts.
He answered questions on the impact of removing the Library project from the Long Term Plan, including work to date, community needs and seismic strengthening work.
Following discussion His Worship the Mayor Smith proposed an amendment to his recommendation to clarify that removing the Maitai precinct library project from the Long Term Plan would be considered, with alternatives, through the Annual Plan 2023/24 process.
Clauses 1, amended clause 2 and additional clause 3 were moved by His Worship the Mayor Dr Smith, seconded by Councillor Skinner.
That the Council
1. Receives the report Mayor's Report (R27322); and
2. Directs that no further
expenditure be incurred on the new library project in the Maitai precinct
pending further direction from this Council; and that changes be drafted and
prepared for consideration of the removal of the project from the Long Term
Plan; and
3. Notes that consideration of the removal of the Maitai Precinct library project from the Long Term Plan and consideration of any alternative project will occur through the 2023/24 Annual Plan process; and
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Resolved CL/2022/148 |
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1. Approves the Receives the report Mayor's Report (R27322); and 2. Directs that no further expenditure be incurred on the new library project in the Maitai precinct pending further direction from this Council; and that changes be drafted and prepared for consideration of the removal of the project from the Long Term Plan; and 3. Notes that consideration of the removal of the Maitai Precinct library project from the Long Term Plan and consideration of any alternative project will occur through the 2023/24 Annual Plan process. |
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His Worship the Mayor spoke to clause 4 of the amended recommendation noting the significant amount of spending that had occurred and would be required following the August extreme weather event, noting it was important that Council was aware of its obligations and recognised the scale of the recovery process. |
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1. Agrees that an amendment will be required to the Long Term Plan 2021-31 as changes to the capital programme in 2023/24 and following years will be material due to the impacts on Council’s work programme of the August weather event and subsequent recovery process. |
8. Mayor's Report - Governance Structures
Document number R27326, agenda pages 28 - 47 refer.
His Worship the Mayor Smith presented his report noting changes for clarification had been made to the recommendation, including an additional clause to adopt the (tabled 1982984479-5331) Terms of Reference for three joint Committees as meetings were scheduled prior to the full Delegations Register being adopted in December.
He clarified that the Biodiversity Forum had recently amended their constitution to reflect that only one Elected Member be appointed, and confirmed that the member would be Councillor Stallard. The previous constitution had appointed three Elected Members.
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1. Receives the report Mayor's Report - Governance Structures (R27326) and its attachments (1982984479-5247 and 1982984479-5241); and 2. Notes that in May 2023, the Mayor intends to fully review the committee structure and allocation of roles in consultation with councillors, with the intention of any changes coming into effect on 1 July 2023; and 3. Endorses the allocation of the post-election 2022/23 councillor remuneration pool as follows: Deputy Mayor $65,000.00 Councillor $49,484.82; and 4. Approves the establishment of a Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee under section 105(9) Land Transport Management Act 2003, subject to similar approval being reached by Tasman District Council; and 5. Endorses the Terms of Reference for the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee (1982984479-5241); and 6. Notes that the delegations for the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee include responsibility to prepare a Regional Land Transport Plan, prepare a Regional Public Transport Plan and undertake a review of speed limits; and 7. Notes the Nelson City Council membership of the Joint Nelson Tasman Regional Transport Committee has been included in the governance appointments for the 2022 triennium; and 8. Notes the initial governance structure and roles for the 2022 triennium, including the appointment of Councillor Mel Courtney as Interim Chair of the Audit Risk and Finance Committee Group 1: Representation Appointments:
*These are new roles for which the Terms of Reference will be brought to the December 2022 Council meeting Group 2: Joint Nelson Tasman Committee/Group Appointments:
Group 3: Nelson City Council Committee Appointments:
Group 4: Forum Appointments:
Group 5: Taskforce Appointments:
; and 9. Adopts the Terms of Reference for the Joint Committee of Tasman District and Nelson City Councils, Civil Defence Emergency Management Group and Joint Shareholders Committee, noting that a full review of the Delegations Register will be brought back to the December Council meeting; and 10. Notes that the Chief Executive Employment Committee will have within its delegation the power to make recommendations on the recruitment and appointment of a Chief Executive, including the ability to establish a panel for interviewing; and 11. Directs Officers to advertise for up to two independent appointees to the Audit, Risk and Finance Committee, to be considered by the Committee with a view to making a recommendation to Council on the appointments; and · 15 December 2022 · 2 and 3 February 2023 – Annual Plan workshops · 9 February 2023 · 9 March 2023 · 13 April 2023 · 11 May 2023 · 8 June 2023 · 22 June 2023 – adoption of Annual Plan/setting rates |
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1 1982984479-5331 Joint Committee, Joint Shareholders Committee and CDEM Group Delegations |
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9. Elma Turner Library - Library Reopening Taskforce
Document number R27308, agenda pages 48 - 54 refer.
Group Manager Corporate Services, Nikki Harrison, took the report as read.
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1. Receives the report Elma Turner Library - Library Reopening Taskforce (R27308) and its attachment (1982984479-5255); and 2. Approves the establishment of an Elma Turner Library – Library Reopening Taskforce with the following membership which is to be made up of · Mayor Nick Smith (Chair) · Councillors Kahu Paki Paki, Tim Skinner and Aaron Stallard To be supported by such staff as assigned by the Chief Executive to enable a return to full provision of library services for Nelson City Centre; and 3. Approves the Terms of Reference for the Library Reopening Taskforce (1982984479-5255). |
10. Extreme Weather Event - August 2022
Document number R27296, agenda pages 55 - 67 refer.
Group Manager Infrastructure, Alec Louverdis, took the report as read and answered questions on the Maitai water main repair, noting it was operating as normal.
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1. Confirms a note of congratulations to Mr Louverdis, Council staff and contractors for the significant work achieved to reinstate the Maitai water pipeline. |
Group Manager Corporate Services, Nikki Harrison, answered questions on the procurement policy and confirmed to date there had been no charge (and no work) for stormwater and flood protection past Gentle Annie.
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1. Receives the report Extreme Weather Event - August 2022 (R27296) and its attachments (1590798627-103 and 1982984479-5256); and 2. Approves retrospectively unbudgeted expenditure incurred to 30 September 2022 on the clean-up and remedial works following the August 2022 extreme weather event of $6.1M; and 3. Approves the establishment of a Storm Recovery Taskforce with the following membership · Mayor Nick Smith (Chair) · Councillors Matty Anderson and Trudie Brand to be supported by staff as assigned by the Chief Executive to liaise on all matters relating to the August 2022 weather event; and 4. Approves the Terms of Reference for the Storm Recovery Taskforce (1982984479-5256), and 5. Notes that the recovery effort will continue with reporting to Council on a quarterly basis; and 6. Approves that expenses incurred to the end of June 2023 will be brought to the Council via Quarterly reports for retrospective approval; and 7. Approves changes to the Nelson City Council Procurement Policy, as detailed in Report R2729, for projects up to $2M; and 8. Notes the structure to address the ongoing issues relating to the extreme August 2022 weather event; and 9. Agrees that waivers on resource and building consent fees (other than the requirement for obtaining building consent for repairing wall linings to flooded properties), apply only to the end of the formal Civil Defence Transitional Recovery period; and 10. Notes that flood recovery assistance has been provided to the Kokorua rural residents as part of the August 2022 recovery event, and that Council consider as part of the 2023/24 Annual Plan that rates be charged to all rural properties for flood protection; and 11. Notes that in order to make the August 2022 recovery a priority and to attend to Business-As-Usual, additional resources and/or the use of consultants are likely to be required and/or projects may need to be deferred in the current financial year or as part of the upcoming 2023/24 Annual Plan. |
The meeting adjourned from 11.23a.m. until 11.33a.m.
11. Establishment of a Local Government Reform Taskforce
Document number R27324, agenda pages 68 - 73 refer.
Group Manager Strategy and Communication, Nicky McDonald took the report as read.
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1. Receives the report Establishment of a Local Government Reform Taskforce (R27324) and its attachment (789843239-48); and 2. Approves the establishment of a Local Government Reform Taskforce with the following membership · Mayor Nick Smith (Chair) · Deputy Mayor Rohan O’Neill-Stevens · Councillors Matthew Benge, Trudie Brand, James Hodgson, and Aaron Stallard; and 3. Approves the Terms of Reference for the Local Government Reform Taskforce (789843239-48), and 4. Directs staff to prepare a submission, for approval by Council, on the proposals contained in the draft report of the Review into the Future of Local Government, taking into account guidance provided by the Local Government Reform Taskforce. |
12. Nelson Local Body Elections 2022 Professionally Conducted Random Poll
Document number R27316, agenda pages 74 - 84 refer.
His Worship the Mayor Smith advised he had a strongly held view that the voting system belongs to electors, not Elected Members, and following the substantive change to the 2022 local body election he supported a random poll being held to provide feedback.
Group Manager Strategy and Communications, Nicky McDonald, Manager Governance and Support Services, Devorah Nícuarta-Smith and Manager Strategy, Pip Jamieson took the report as read and answered questions on STV and the Māori Ward, confirming there could be no change for the 2025 election.
Following discussion the recommendation was amended to agree the Local Government Reform Taskforce would be responsible for confirming topics for the poll.
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1. Receives the report Nelson Local Body Elections 2022 Professionally Conducted Random Poll (R27316) and its attachment (839498445–13186); and 2. Approves the commissioning of a professionally conducted random poll on the Nelson 2022 Local Body Elections; and 3. Agrees that the Local Government Reform Taskforce be delegated responsibility for the topics of the polling questions |
Document number R27288, agenda pages 85 - 94 refer.
This item was removed from the Agenda as audit information had not been received from Audit NZ.
14. IRIS NextGen shared environmental data platform
Document number R27278, agenda pages 95 - 103 refer.
Group Manager Environmental Management, Dennis Bush-King, Chief Information Officer, Jane McLeod and Manager Science and Environment, Jo Martin took the report as read and answered questions on the quality of data and benefits of the new platform, costs, and cost recovery.
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1. Receives the report IRIS NextGen shared environmental data platform (R27278); and 2. Approves unbudgeted expenditure of $210,635 in 202/23 ($164,671 Capex and $45,964 Opex) to progress Council’s participation in the Iris NextGen shared environmental data platform. |
15. Uniquely Nelson Annual Report 2021/22
Document number R27188, agenda pages 104 - 134 refer.
Group Manager Strategy and Communications, Nicky McDonald, Uniquely Nelson Chairperson, Chris Butler, and Chief Executive, Simon Duffy, presented the report and answered questions on previous reporting on retail sales figures, vacant properties in the CBD and working collectively.
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1. Receives the report Uniquely Nelson Annual Report 2021/22 (R27188) and its attachments (839498445-7431 and 839498445-8307); and 2. Approves the Uniquely Nelson Annual Report as sufficient to provide Council with an overview of its activities during the 2021/22 year. |
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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: |
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Item |
General subject of each matter to be considered |
Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter |
Particular interests protected (where applicable) |
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1 |
Mayor's Report - Confidential |
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)(g) To maintain legal professional privilege |
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Section 17A review - Venue maintenance, marketing and management |
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) |
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3 |
Reappointment of Trustees to the City of Nelson Civic Trust |
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 |
The meeting went into confidential session at 12.54a.m. and resumed in public session at 4.49p.m.
Karakia Whakamutanga
17. Restatements
It was resolved while the public was excluded:
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CONFIDENTIAL: Mayor's Report - Confidential |
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Agrees that Mayor's Report - Confidential (R27328), the decision and tabled documents (1982984479-5291 and 1982984479-5291) be released from Confidential. |
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CONFIDENTIAL: Section 17A review - Venue maintenance, marketing and management |
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This item was deferred to the Council meeting on 24 November 2023. |
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CONFIDENTIAL: Reappointment of Trustees to the City of Nelson Civic Trust |
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This item was deferred to the Council meeting on 24 November 2023. |
There being no further business the meeting ended at 4.49 p.m.
Confirmed as a correct record of proceedings by resolution on 15 December 2022.
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That the Council 1. Confirms the minutes of the meeting of the Council, held on 10 November 2022, as a true and correct record. |