2013-05-28-council-agenda - Taupo District Council

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Chief Executive's Report Summary
May 2013
The 123 submissions received on the draft Annual Plan represent a wide range of interesting and
sometime as challenging perspectives. There is a real mix of submitters seeking Council funding for
a variety of projects, with a number looking for Council to tighten the belt even further.
I'm particularly pleased to see the youth involvement in this process. I believe this is real testament to
the excellent work of our community engagement team working with and enabling the youth. The
workshop on the Youth Action Plan early in May reinforced this and shows there are opportunities to
encourage and enable greater youth involvement in all our decision making.
The report released by the Local Government Infrastructure Efficiency Expert Advisory Group has
triggered more debate in local government circles. The Government commissioned this group to
review how the infrastructure that local government manages could be delivered in the most costeffective
manner to support a growing economy. Their report identified the need to simplify and
integrate the statutory framework that governs how infrastructure is planned. They couple this with a
strong push toward greater collaboration or consolidation to introduce greater scale, suggesting that
there is a recurring theme around small councils facing difficulties and cost in maintaining
infrastructure expertise.
In my view, there is a continuation of the Government's message about the benefits of regional scale
planning and service delivery that has been reflected in other areas of reform. The report discusses
the value of delivering water and land transport infrastructure at a regional level, however there
remain questions around delivery of these services relating to the catchment boundaries that
traditionally define regional government. There is a suggestion that water and transport services
could be better delivered through council controlled organisations or business units that are at arms
length from council. This contrasts with the recent Price Waterhouse Coopers report that reviewed
Council's water services and identified that we are delivering a high quality service very efficiently and
that there would be no benefits replacing this with a regional service delivery model. This is an area
that we will continue to monitor very closely over the coming months as Government considers the
many recommendations in the report.
This month also heralded a significant step forward for the relationship between Council and Ngati
Raukawa. Representatives from both Council and Iwi came together at the inaugural joint
management committee overseeing the development of a joint management agreement. This
meeting is very significant in helping to establish a stronger relationship between the Council and
Raukawa. Fostering this relationship and extending its influence beyond the narrow confines of the
joint management agreement will be a focus at both Council governance and officer level.
The majority of projects are progressing well. Of the project milestones, 85% have either been
completed or are on track, including:
Work on Stage 2 for the Taupo Water Treatment Plant upgrade is well underway with ground
improvement works completed. Installation of the in-ground flocculation tank and associated
pipework is underway.
. Stage 1 of the AC Baths refurbishment has been completed on time. The baths now features
a new roof, vapour barrier, ceiling, mezzanine ofHces and upgraded changing rooms.
Construction work for Stage 2 has started with the contract having been awarded to Watts &
Hughes Limited.
Work on the Titoki Rising Main has been largely completed with reinstatement of footpath &
carriageway sections.
. Testing is underway to identify an alternative process for arsenic removal for the upgrade of
the Waitahanui Water Treatment Plant. Initial test results were inconclusive. The second test
has been completed with no firm conclusion.
Stage 1 of the construction work for Turangi town centre revitalisation has been completed on
programme.