Outcomes from Council meeting
You can watch the livestream of the meeting on council's Youtube Channel and read the agenda on our website.
Minutes and Committees - Good updates across various minutes from previous meetings and committees including minutes such as the Regional Transport Committee, OMAG, and Bay of Plenty Civil Defence.
Vehicle access to beach at Waiotahe Drifts - There was a lot of public interest in the item on the Waiotahe Drifts subdivision vehicle access. Members of the public spoke on both sides of the discussion – those who wish to have the sub-division rules and council bylaws enforced and those who want vehicle access to the beach directly from the subdivision. The council paper outlines what rules are in place that currently prohibit vehicle access to the beach at that location. Councillors voted to hold a public meeting at the subdivision to try and help resolve the issue.
Long Term Plan – there were several council papers on the Long Term Plan. One outlined the council decisions and directions in meetings and workshops that have set the shape of the Long Term Plan. Another paper provided an outline of all steps taken to date (the LTP is an extraordinary undertaking). There was one final LTP report asking for a resolution to defer the adoption of the LTP (due to the legislation changes bringing Three Waters back into the council remit).
Riskpool – this was a technical discussion of previous insurance arrangements held by council through a local-government specific mutual fund. Because of how the initiative was set up, a “call” can be made on previous members for the fund years when there was more paid out in claims and expenses than there were member contributions. For Opotiki District Council this is (an unbudgeted spend of) $35,223.00 excl. GST. Councillors voted to cover these unanticipated costs.
Boat ramp, jetty and playground equipment – at the last council meeting in December last year, councillors agreed to proceed with a resource consent application to extend the existing jetty and relocate the children’s play area. Staff were also asked to consider the inclusion of an additional boat ramp and jetty to the south-west of the Coastguard building. The report provided information on the various options for how Council could proceed. Councillors voted to apply for a resource consent that is currently in the Masterplan and work with Coastguard on that. They also asked that up to $190k can be used to apply for another boatramp on the south western side of the Coastguard building. Funding available to build the boat ramp would be considered as part of the next LTP.
