The Council meeting on Tuesday night went swimmingly. I
suspect I will not always be able to say that.
The election of councillors to committees went fairly
smoothly, with only one vote required. That was for the third position on the
General Managers Performance Review Committee. I supported Cr Murray over Cr
Rankin merely because of the experience of Cr Murray.
One other minor hiccup occurred with the election of a
Council delegate to the Killalea State Park Trust. I had been chosen by the
other councillors but a last minute letter from the Minister saw a deferral of
this item. The contents of the Minister’s communication is unknown to the
councillors at this stage but I am confident all will be revealed in the
fullness of time. Those more cynical than myself might consider it has
something to do with Council proposing to appoint a member of the Save Killalea
Alliance to this position. After all, the Department has a history in this
matter. Cr Ben van der Wijngaart from Kiama was removed from the Board because
of his association with the Alliance. Watch this space.
Council also determined the fees payable to Councillors and
the Mayor. The Councillor fee was set at a rate roughly equal to the rate paid
to the previous Councillors, adjusted for CPI increases. This brought it in at
just over $16,000pa. Interestingly enough, I looked at most of the Councils in
the Departments Regional/Rural list. These Councils roughly align with
Shellharbour, in population and budget. I did not find any other Council with
such a small number of Councillors . All that I looked at had between nine and
thirteen Councillors. The small numbers are what have led me to serving on
eight different committees.
A tender to operate waste management/recycling services at
Dunmore tip was determined, with one part of the contract being given to
Mission Australia and the remainder of the tasks being performed by Council
staff. Mission Australia are an entirely worthy organisation who provide
employment to a large number of Aboriginal people. Sadly the unsuccessful tenderer
(Great Lakes Community Resources) also works with the marginalised, ie
refugees. Apparently there is an unemployment rate approaching 90% among this
group. I hope that in the future Council can find some way to work with both of
these organisations.
By the way, there is a briefing on Shell Cove, open to the
public, next Tuesday, 6.30pm at Lamerton House. See you all there.
