Another long meeting but it allows you to judge the elected Councillor based on their actions and performance.
Councillor S Ring – 30/01/2024 – Governance Review of Fees and Charges
It is imperative that Councillors via the Finance Committee take a more proactive approach to reviewing new and increased fees and charges. There have been fees and charges introduced I believe are neither fair nor appropriates such as additional Fees for Administration applied to Food Premises Under the NSW Food Regulation 2015.
My motion was put and lost:
For Clr Ring, Mahoney, Coleman, Lesslie
Against: Clr Statham. Goodwin, Bryce, O’Conner, McGhie
Councillor S Ring – 30/01/2024 – Modification of Financial Delegation.
I sought to ensure greater transparency in the expenditure of the $1.09 million dollars in transition funds that have been generated because of the special rate variation. This would have required Councillors determining contract for consultants over $25,000.
My motion was put and lost:
For Clr. Ring, Mahoney, Coleman, Lesslie
Against: Clr Statham. Goodwin, Bryce, O’Conner, McGhie
Community Submissions regarding Council’s Draft Operational Plan 2024/2025
In addition to Clr Colemans motion to extend the date for submissions from the public – I added an additional recommendation to change the Community Engagement and Communication Policy iso that no items are exhibited over the Christmas period when Council is Closed and key personnel on leave.
The motion was put and won:
For Clr. Ring, Mahoney, Coleman, Lesslie, Bryce, O’Conner, McGhie
Against: Clr Statham. Goodwin,
Councillor E Mahony – 30/01/2024 – Sewer Management – Installation of Sewer reflux valves
Lithgow is not a third world country – however we expect some of our residents to accept raw sewerage entering their properties. The adopted resolution will see Council prepare costing on the introduction of reflux valves to affected properties.
This item will not be off the agenda as I am concerned until the problems are rectified.
The motion was put and carried unanimously/
Councillor E Mahony – 30/01/2024 – Council representation at the Lithgow Bushfire Management Committee
Bushfire management is a key issue for our community and reaffirming our support for the volunteers and ensuring that there are Councillors at each meeting is critical. I also added a point to Clr Mahoney’s recommendation requesting that reports on all meetings with the RFS are brought back to the Council meetings.
The motion was put and carried unanimously.
– Replacement of Second Grader
Staff having equipment to undertake the work that we as a community want is critical. However, the funds for the purchase are from the special rate variation item “Improving the Way we manage our assets. Which has two programs $396K for General Asset Maintenance Program and $517K General Asset Renewal Program (which was to increase the Playground renewals budget by 75%)
The purchase of the grader was brought forward because of the underspend of this years srv funds.
I questioned the impact on future playground works and was told there would be none. While ever I am on Council, I will continue to monitor the outcome of these two programmes.
The motion was put and carried unanimously.
Policy 9.20 Conflict of Interest
I successfully had this item deferred to an Information Session. Why? Because the advice of
ICAC it isn’t relevant for Councillors and the guidelines were written for staff. Do why include Councillors?
The motion was put and carried unanimously.
Contracts entered into during Christmas Shutdown – Donkey Steps and Browns
Gap Road Maintenance
This item was not just about undertaking critical works but the use of Clause 226(d) of the Local Government Act outlines that the role of the mayor includes “to exercise, in cases of necessity, the policy-making functions of the governing body of the council between meetings of the council, Mayoral function.
The mayor approved $1,401,717 ex gst for these works during the Christmas recess. I have found no example of a Council where a mayor has a delegated authority to incur expenditure in excess of $500,000 (for specific issues). The mayor has not beached the Act but a Mayoral delegation needs to be developed and adopted ASAP
The ambiguities in this section of the Act have been identified by the Office of Local Government and will be added to the next Legislative review.
The motion was put and carried unanimously.
Community Development Committee Minutes – 12 December 2023
The summary by the Administration fails dramatically to highlight for the community and councillors the loss of Approximately $21,000 for the most recent Opera Event and the fact that the April 2022 Event Lost about $7,000 page 8 of 11.
Matters of Urgent Business
Clr McGhie moved to bar Clr Lesslie from 3 Operations Committee meetings. This was a code of conduct issue that should have not been dealt with in either urgent business or open council
The motion was put and lost Watch the video clip if you don’t have 4 hours to spare
For: Clr McGhie Clr Statham.
Against: Clr. Ring, Mahoney, Coleman, Bryce, O’Conner, Goodwin,