Finance and Performance Committee
Minutes of a meeting
held in the Council Chambers, 2nd Floor, 30 Laings Road,
Lower Hutt on
Wednesday 18 October 2017 commencing at 5.30pm
PRESENT: Cr C Milne (Chair) Deputy Mayor D Bassett
Cr G Barratt Cr J Briggs
Cr MJ Cousins Cr S Edwards
Cr M Lulich Cr L Sutton
Mayor WR Wallace (from 5.35pm)
APOLOGY: An apology was received from Cr Barry
IN ATTENDANCE: Cr L Bridson
Cr T Lewis
Cr G McDonald
Mr T Stallinger, Chief Executive
Ms K Kelly, General Manager, City Transformation
Mr B Kibblewhite, Chief Financial Officer
Mr D Newth, Financial Accounting Manager
Ms W Moore, Manager Strategy and Planning (part meeting)
Ms J Askin, Corporate Planner (part meeting)
Mr G George, Manager Trade Waste (part meeting)
Ms K Stannard, Divisional Manager, Democratic Services
PUBLIC BUSINESS
1. APOLOGY
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Resolved: (Deputy Mayor Bassett/Cr Milne) Minute No. FPC 17501 “That the apology received from Cr Barry be accepted and leave of absence be granted and the apology for lateness received from Mayor Wallace be accepted.”
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2. PUBLIC COMMENT
There were no public comment.
3. CONFLICT
OF INTEREST DECLARATIONS
Deputy Mayor Bassett declared a conflict of interest in relation to item 4b)
and took no part in discussion or voting on the matter.
Cr
Cousins declared conflict of interest in relation to item 4a) relating to the Hutt
City Community Facilites Trust (CFT) and took no part in discussion or
voting with regard to CFT.
Cr Milne declared a conflict of interest in relation to item 4a) relating to Seaview
Marina Ltd (SML) and took no part in discussion with regard to SML.
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Precedence of Business |
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Resolved: (Cr Milne/Deputy Mayor Bassett) Minute No. FPC 17502 “That, in terms of Standing Order 10.4, precedence be accorded to item 4b) dealing with Urban Plus Limited.” |
Mayor Wallace joined the meeting at 5.35pm.
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4. a) |
Recommendations to Council – 18 October 2017 Hutt City Council Annual Report to 30 June 2017 (17/1424) |
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Cr Cousins
declared conflict of interest in relation to the Hutt City Community
Facilites Trust (CFT) and took no part in discussion or voting when the
matter was raised. Mr Andrew Clarke from Audit New Zealand elaborated on the audit process and gave an update on where things were at. He advised the audit was completed and was expected to provide an unmodified opinion as he was comfortable that the financial and non financial information was correct. He elaborated on what still needed to happen before providing the audit opinion. He said that Council needed to sign the Letter of Representation and to adopt the accounts. He advised that there was one adjustment in the Letter of Representation which related to Urban Plus Ltd and that the adjustment was a non material change. He noted that other Councils had issues that may need further investigation with the setting of rates. He stressed that Audit New Zealand had reviewed Council’s rate setting and advised there was no major concern. In response to a question from a member, Mr Clark clarified that the threshold for material changes depended largely upon circumstances and the area involved. |
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Recommended: (Cr Milne/Mayor Wallace) Minute No. FPC 17403 “That the Committee recommends that Council: (i) approves the draft Annual Report and Annual Report Summary for the year ended 30 June 2017 attached as Appendices 1, 2 and 3 to the report, both subject to satisfactory resolution of the following outstanding items: (a) completion of final edit checking; (b) completion of any final audit adjustments; and (c) receipt of final audit clearance; (ii) notes that a public notice will be published in the Hutt News advising of the availability of the Annual Report Summary, attached as Appendix 3 to the report, copies will be made available in the city’s libraries, at the Customer Service Centre and on Council’s website, copies will be posted to rural ratepayers who may not receive the Hutt News, and an alert will be sent to our 1,500 e-newsletter subscribers; and (iii) appoints a subcommittee to sign off the final documents by 8 November 2017.” |
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b) |
Report on Urban Plus Limited for the Year Ended 30 June 2017 (17/1514) |
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Deputy Mayor Bassett declared a conflict of interest and took no part in discussion or voting on the matter. The Chief Financial Officer elaborated on the report. He tabled Audit New Zealand’s Independent Auditor’s Report of Urban Plus Limited (the company) issued on 17 October 2017 along with disclosure changes to the company’s Annual Report. In response to questions from a member relating to the reasons why the documentation was delayed, the Chief Financial Officer elaborated on the complexity of the company’s accounts as a result of the establishment of subsidiaries. He advised that the company now had a consolidated set of accounts. He acknowledged that officers could have been better prepared and there were resourcing issues at Audit New Zealand which had not helped the situation. He highlighted that the breach had been disclosed in the company’s Annual Report. |
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ReCOMMENDED: (Cr Milne/Mayor Wallace) Minute No. FPC 17504 “That the Committee recommends that Council receives the Annual Report for Urban Plus Limited for the year ended 30 June 2017, attached as Appendix 1 to the report along with the tabled unmodified audit opinion attached as pages 6-9 to the minutes and tabled disclosure changes to Urban Plus Limited’s Annual Report attached as pages 10-13 to the minutes.” |
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4. |
Hydrocarbon Discharges to stormwater affecting Seaview Marina (17/1516) Report No. FPC2017/4/132 (2) by the Manager, Trade Waste |
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The Manager, Trade Waste elaborated on the report. In response to questions from members, the Manager, Trade Waste considered that education was the key to fighting pollution incidents. He noted that of the 1,000 pollution incidents, 980 people did not know what they were doing would cause harm to the environment. He advised that officers had delegated enforcement powers from Greater Wellington Regional Council for certain breaches and the ability to motive people to do the right thing. He also advised that most businesses did not find the cost of protection significant as businesses understood there was no acceptable pollution anymore as it was not publicly acceptable. He highlighted that the responsibility of sumps was mixed, the polluter would pay for sump guards and Council would pay for street sumps. He also highlighted that there was an enormous scope for education in relation to litter been blown from recycling bins into the stormwater system. In response to a question from a member, the Chief Executive advised that a combined report from Wellington Water Limited and Council’s Trade Waste Team was the correct process. He noted that the report would cover future budget implications and would be written in time for the Long Term Plan. |
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Resolved: (Cr Cousins/Mayor Wallace) Minute No. FPC 17405 “That the Committee:
(i) notes and receives the report;
(ii) asks officers from Wellington Water Limited and Council’s
Trade Waste Division to report back on options for consultation in the next
Long Term Plan; and (i) investigate initiating a city-wide programme within existing budgets.” |
4. QUESTIONS
There were no questions.
There being no further business the Chair declared the meeting closed at 6.25 pm.
Cr C Milne
CHAIR
CONFIRMED as a true and correct record
Dated this 12th day of December 2017
