In brief - summary of the council meeting on 19 March 2024

You can watch the livestream of the meeting on council's Youtube Channel and read the agenda on our website.

Minutes and Committees – Council endorsed the minutes as a ‘true and correct record’ across several previous meetings and committees including the Coast Community Board, Ōpōtiki Marine Advisory Group (OMAG), the Mayoral Forum, Regional Transport Committee, and several committees of council (Risk and Assurance, Strategy Planning and Regulatory, Performance and Delivery).

Papers also included the regular reports from the CEO and Mayor.

During the public excluded section of the meeting, councillors voted to release workshop meeting notes to the public. These are available on the website.

Public submissions – there was a great turnout of members of the public to the meeting with several speaking or holding signs asking about the proposed reductions in services at Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi and isite / events. Mayor Moore thanked them for taking the time to attend and present their views. He also acknowledged the significant feedback received and noted in the LTP paper (discussed below).

Long Term Plan – Councillors provided their final budget and direction to staff to allow the preparation of the Draft LTP that will be available for formal public consultation in June and July of this year.

The paper outlined some of the steps taken so far. The LTP is an extensive undertaking and you can read the CEO’s summary of the process (up until February) on the website.

At the February meeting, council endorsed savings in places that will be less visible to the public (no capital works, revaluation and depreciation delayed or reduced). To further reduce the rates burden on Ōpōtiki ratepayers, councillors directed staff to reduce levels of service with a focus on isite and events, parks and reserves, economic development, and Te Tāhuhu o Te Rangi (the library), keeping the rates rise to 10.5%.

In February and March there was significant feedback from the community (summarised in the council paper and including some awesome artwork from Ashbrook students!). Councillors took this feedback on board as they worked through the process, directing staff to find savings in engineering services to reduce the impact in other areas.

As outlined in the council paper, council revoked the previous recommendations and provided new direction, seeking the savings in other areas includingreducing the day-to-day operating budget across engineering services. They also endorsed a new set of recommendations for the budget to enable the LTP to be finalised, including the Financial Model, key underlying documents and the financial model.

Policies for review – the agenda had several policies and strategies for review. The CEO outlined the importance of these documents as they provide a structured, consistent and transparent approach to each issue.

• Rates remission and postponement policy. This policy outlines the process and approach to waiving or reducing the amount of rates owing by a ratepayer due to hardship etc.
  Primarily, the updated policy brings together four (previously separate) policies into one place and updates some sections in line with new legislation. It also removes ‘rates postponement’ as under current policies, if someone is eligible for postponement, they would also be eligible for remission (except in circumstances where someone has entered a payment plan with council).
  Council adopted this draft and it will shortly go out for public consultation. Keep an eye on Connect | Hono Mai for more information.
• Treasury Risk Management Policy. This policy outlines council’s risk management approach to the treasury function, as well as council’s investments. There are some minor changes but not significant or operational content. Council adopted this policy. It does not have to go out for public consultation but you can read it online.
• Property Strategy. This provides a clear and transparent approach to council’s property portfolio – that is the purchase, lease, management and disposal of council properties. It is an internal document to assist with council decision-making. Council adopted this strategy.
• Complaints Policy. There was significant discussion about this item and this policy was adopted unanimously. This policy will support the customer charter being developed by staff which sets out what customers can expect when working with Council. The Complaints policy makes it clear what a formal complaint looks like and how it will be dealt with. Council adopted this policy.
• Policy Review Cycle. Audit NZ recommended the creation of this process to ensure that Staff have developed a Policy Review Cycle to ensure regular reviews of council policies so they stay up to date, effective, and legislatively compliant. Council adopted this process.

The complaints policy formalises processes already in place and provides a clear and consistent approach to a formal complaint raised by a member of the public. It is different to a ‘service request’ or a LGOIMA, a suggestion, a formal process like a building consent, or a phone call about an everyday matter. It is a formal process that sets out timelines, roles and responsibilities inside council when a member of the public is dissatisfied with a council action, process, decision, or staff member.

BOPLASS SOI and half-yearly report – council is a member of BOPLASS and the CEO outlined some of the benefits for council of belonging to this organisation. “As a small Council we see significant value in BOPLASS managing procurement processes, gaining savings from bulk procurement and administering contracts. We certainly see savings in financial terms but there is also value in terms of saved staff time in running the processes, and applying expertise in due diligence processes that is not available within our staffing.”

Matariki Festival funding – Council approved two people to apply for event funding on council’s behalf in order to run the annual Matariki celebrations. During discussions, a more general note was made that across Ōpōtiki events each year, only approximately 20% of funding needed to run events came from council. The rest was made possible through generous funding from organisations such as Aotearoa Gaming Trust, The Lion Foundation, One Foundation, Trust Horizon, Community Matters Lottery Fund, and Matariki Ahunga Nui Fund.