MINUTES of Council Ordinary Meeting

21 May 2019

Held in the Council Chambers, Administration Building

45 Roderick Street, Ipswich

The meeting commenced at 9.00 am

Pursuant to section 13 of Council’s Local Law No 2 (Council Meetings) 2013, the Interim Administrator invited the Interim Management Committee being Jan Taylor, Simone Webbe, Stan Gallo and Steve Greenwood to address Council on any matters before it.

The Interim Administrator advised that he is bound to declare Conflict of Interests and potential Conflict of Interests and that the members of the Interim Management Committee are not legally bound, however in accordance with the Interim Management Charter they will also declare Conflict of Interests and potential Conflict of Interests.

ATTENDANCE AT COMMENCEMENT	MEMBER’S ATTENDANCE: Greg Chemello (Interim Administrator) INTERIM MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE: Jan Taylor, Simone Webbe, Stan Gallo and Steve Greenwood
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY	Greg Chemello (Interim Administrator) Ipswich City Council respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners as custodians of the land.  We pay our respects to their elders, past, present and emerging, as the keepers of the traditions, cultures and stories of a proud people.
OPENING PRAYER	Let us in silence pray or reflect upon our responsibilities to the people of Ipswich. We meet today to serve our community, to use our resources wisely and well, to represent all members of our community fairly, and to make decisions that promote the common good.
APOLOGIES AND LEAVE OF ABSENCE	Interim Management Committee Member (Robert Jones)

Confirmation of Minutes of Ordinary Meeting

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting held on 16 April 2019 be confirmed. The motion was put and carried.

Reception and Consideration of Committee Reports

Economic Development Committee

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Economic Development Committee Report No. 2019(05) of 14 May 2019 be received and adopted. The motion was put and carried.

Growth and Infrastructure Committee

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Growth and Infrastructure Committee Report No. 2019(05) of 14 May 2019 be received and adopted.

DISCUSSION

Item 3 - North Ipswich Stadium Design Definition Report – the Interim Administrator commented that this is not a decision to spend $10 million on a stadium redevelopment. This is an in-principle decision to “set the ball rolling” for potential redevelopment of the North Ipswich Stadium. He stated that this is based on discussions that he and others have had with representatives from both rugby league and with football (soccer) organisations who are seeking national competition standard licences; an NRL licence and an A-League licence. One of the pre-conditions of both licences appears to be a stadium of a certain scope, and discussions have included how to secure two or three levels of governments and the private sector to commit to a stadium scope in this context. The Interim Administrator advised this is “getting the ball rolling” by council publicly stating that, if a certain number of things happen, then council ought to contribute $10 million towards a redevelopment. The provisos for that expenditure are: · There needs to be a strategic business case and a concept design that supports the development of the stadium. Both those are in progress but not yet complete. · There needs to be a commitment by the state and commonwealth governments of at least equivalent funding to the council. · There needs to be an agreement from the state that the land transfers to Stadiums Queensland as the custodian of the state’s major sporting venues and that means that all the subsequent capital and operating costs of costs of that stadium are met by the state. · There needs to  be a licence granted to one or both of those football codes. The Interim Administrator advised that all of these commitments and events will need to happen before the council would then commit $10 million. He stated that it really is council commencing the process and allowing both football and rugby league to talk to their national codes and talk to State and Commonwealth Governments about securing funding. He commented that the $10 million is council’s contribution of one third of the first stage of a multi-stage redevelopment of the stadium and that this was calculated through a master planning process. Item 10 – New Ipswich Planning Scheme – the Interim Administrator formally acknowledged and thanked John Adams for his work in leading the draft of the new Planning Scheme which will go out for formal public consultation next week. IThe motion was put and carried.

Communities Committee

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Communities Committee Report No. 2019(05) of 14 May 2019 be received and adopted. The motion was put and carried.

Environment Committee

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Environment Committee Report No. 2019(05) of 14 May 2019 be received and adopted.

DISCUSSION

Item 4 – Proposed 2019 Environment and Sustainability Events – the Interim Administrator advised that council has an events schedule endorsed by the Environment Committee for environmental related matters for this year. He advised that for next year, council is going to ask the Environment Community Reference Group for their views. He stated that this is a good example of how council will use the community reference groups to consider some of the matters around council. The motion was put and carried.

Governance Committee	The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the Governance Committee Report No. 2019(05) of 14 May 2019 be received and adopted subject to an amendment to Items 6 and 14.
AMENDMENT TO ITEM 6	PROPOSED NEW TRUSTEE LEASE OVER RESERVE FOR RECREATION PURPOSES AUSTRALIAN CRAWL (GOODNA) PTY LTD 19A TOONGARRA ROAD, LEICHHARDT The deletion of the current recommendation with the following recommendation: That further analysis of the Trustee Lease for the Leichhardt Pool be undertaken and the outcome submitted to a future committee meeting.
AMENDMENT TO ITEM 14	REQUEST FOR RATE CONCESSION AND/OR EXEMPTION FOR VEDANTA CENTRE OF SYDNEY That Recommendation E be amended by the deletion of the date 5 June 2019 and the insertion of the date 5 June 2015.
DISCUSSION	Item 1 – Policy Amendment - Public Interest Disclosure - the Interim Administrator advised this is a great example of this council addressing governance concerns and issues and thanked staff and members of the Interim Management Committee involved in preparation of the report. Item 2 – Review of Policies – ‘Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality Policy’ – the Interim Administrator advised this is a very comprehensive policy outlining the appropriate way for councillors and staff to handle Gifts, Benefits and Hospitality. He stated that, in his view, this is the most comprehensive policy in local government now in Queensland and thanked staff and members of the Interim Management Committee involved in drafting the policy. Item No. 9 – Proposed 2019-2020 Fees and Charges – the Interim Administrator commented that a substantial amount of work was done by council officers to review and update the fees and charges, many of which are tied to cost-recovery obligations under the Local Government Act and that he appreciated the amount of work this involved. The motion was put and carried.

Officer’s Reports

Provision of Insurance Brokerage Services (inclusive of policy placement)

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: A.       That Tender No. 13074 for the Provision of Insurance Brokerage Services (inclusive of policy placement) be awarded to the recommended tenderer as detailed in the Evaluation Report. B.        That Council (Interim Administrator of Ipswich City Council) enter into a contract with the recommended tenderer as detailed in the Evaluation Report for the Provision of Insurance Brokerage Services (inclusive of policy placement) for an initial period of twelve (12) months and an option to extend for an additional period of twelve (12) months. C.        That the Chief Executive Officer be authorised to negotiate and finalise the terms of the contract to be executed by Council and to do any other acts necessary to implement Council’s decision in accordance with section 13(3) of the Local Government Act 2009.

The motion was put and carried.

Councillor Expenses Reimbursement and Administrative Support Policy

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: A.          That the existing Ipswich City Council Expenses Reimbursement Policy detailed in Attachment A, be repealed. B.           That the new Councillor Expenses Reimbursement and Administrative Support Policy detailed in Attachment B, be adopted. C.           That the ten (10) existing electorate offices be closed permanently, prior to the end of the 2018/2019 financial year. D.          That the net operational savings from the closure of the existing electorate offices and revised councillor support, be redirected into strategic community initiatives, with the advice and views of the recently established community reference groups.  Recommendations on how the funds will be used and allocated will be outlined in a report to be presented at a future meeting for consideration. E.           That an integrated customer service centre be added to the Springfield Central Library and the new ‘to be constructed’ Rosewood Library. F.           That prior to the opening of the ‘to be constructed’ Rosewood Library, the former office facility located in John Street, Rosewood be reconfigured as an interim library hub and customer service centre. G.          That property services branch undertake negotiations to terminate the leases on the nine (9) remaining offices.

DISCUSSION

The Interim Administrator advised that this is an extensive review of a policy, the most substantive public implications of which are the proposed closure of the ten existing divisional offices. He stated this council is the only council apart from Brisbane with individual divisional offices configured in this way in Queensland.  The Interim Administrator commented that Gold Coast has a range of offices which are also customer service centres so people can go in and pay their rates and do their business at the Gold Coast. He stated that the cost of running council’s individual offices costs about $2 million per year.  He noted that council is yet to receive the state government’s decision following council’s review of the divisional boundaries, but understood that the multi-councillor divisions model has been supported in-principle by the state and is being investigated by the boundaries commission. He stated that it was clear that those ten divisional offices are not relevant to the future structure of divisions but more importantly it’s the way that governance needs to be delivered in the city and the way that modern councillors need to work. The Interim Administrator commented that council is now looking at having integrated customer service centres in Rosewood, Ipswich and Springfield with the ability for future councillors to meet with residents at any of those offices or at coffee shops or at the residents’ homes. He stated that with IT systems, mobile phones and tablets, councillors will have connectivity so there is not the need any more for a series of dedicated offices for councillors around the city. The Interim Administrator advised that part of the return to elected governance reform agenda of this council during the next ten months will be equipping councillors with policies and procedures, IT equipment etc. and arrangements for them to undertake their role flexibly and that this is the best example of the implications of this revised policy. The motion was put and carried.

Cameron Park - Future Use of Parkland and Facilities - Repeal

The Interim Administrator of the Ipswich City Council resolves: That the previous decision of Council, as per the Officer’s Report; Cameron Park - Future Use of Parkland and Facilities, adopted at the Council Ordinary Meeting of 29 January 2019, be repealed.

DISCUSSION

The Interim Administrator advised that a report was considered at the January meeting and that this report is proposing the repeal of the previous resolution that council sell Cameron Park to a sports club. The Interim Administrator stated that the report to council is self-explanatory. He stated that in meeting with representatives of Swifts it became clear that the sale to Swifts would drive Swifts down a certain path and that path is a significant expansion of the premises with significant increase in the number of poker machines. The Interim Administrator advised that he was not making a comment about the appropriateness of that or otherwise as he did not have a view about that, but that the key thing was that the decision of council would drive Swifts down that path and that council and the club hadn’t engaged with the community. He stated that he does not have a clear view of what the community’s expectations and views would be. The Interim Administrator advised that he didn’t want the decision by council to dispose to Swifts to be standing and that this was why council needs to rescind the previous decision and undertake discussion with Swifts about the options. He stated that there are obligations on both parties under the lease agreement that need addressing and that council officers are actively engaged with Swifts on these. The motion was put and carried.

MEETING CLOSED

The meeting closed at 9.13 am.