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00:00:00 Mayor Stewart: I declare the post-election meeting is open at 10 o'clock, 10.01, and I'd like to officially welcome the new council for Noosa Shire Council for 2020. Welcome everyone and congratulations. I'm here to acknowledge the privilege to be at this table, and one none of us take lightly. This is our first council meeting under unusual circumstances, and it's an unusual situation with COVID-19, so there's no public presence at the moment, but we do welcome all those viewers who are watching from home. And I might ask our CEO Brett de Chastel to explain to everyone tuning in today about the special rules currently applying for council meetings now due to COVID. Speaker 1: Thank you, Mayor. Look, yes, it is an unusual world we're living in at the moment, and I just thought I might outline how the new meeting processes work in this environment. A couple of weeks ago, the state government passed a new regulation to deal with how councils can manage meetings.
00:01:00 Over the years, it's always been possible for individual councils to dial into a meeting if you're away or whatever you might want to do. But what they've done now is passed this regulation that the entire council meeting can actually be held by teleconference or videoconference if you wish to, or if you're going to have a face-to-face meeting. It's possible for workplace health and safety reasons, not to have the public at the meeting, but we must live stream or make the information available either by audio or by video, and we're doing by video. So that's the new world we live in. It's a bit unusual, but that's how the council meetings will work, and I've spoken to a few of my colleagues and other councils, and most of them are doing similar to us, having a meeting with the councillors face-to-face, but live streaming it and not having the public in attendance because of the workplace health and safety issues. So thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Thank you. Thanks, Brett. I note that all councillors are in attendance and there are no apologies. So if we look to the agenda, the first item on the agenda is the appointment of the deputy mayor.
00:02:00 I would like to move the following motion, that council note the report by the chief executive officer to the post-election meeting dated 17th of April 2020 and appoint councillor Frank Wilkie as deputy mayor in accordance with section 175 of the Local Government Act 2009. Do I have a seconder? Councillor Jurisevic: I'm happy to take that, Madam Chair. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: I'd like to state that I... Councillor Lorentson: I would like to respect and congratulate you, Frank. Speaker 1: Normally the mover of the motion would speak first, and the mayor's moved the motion, so she would normally speak first. And then it would be open. Sorry. Thank you. Just wanted to say we're normally open. Councillor Lorentson: Excited, yes. I'm excited. Mayor Stewart: I'd like to state that I think Councillor Wilkie has the experience, the credentials, and the commitment to the council. I think the council has the commitment to be our deputy mayor. Frank, you've served as deputy mayor for the last four years.
00:03:00 You have the confidence of this council, and you clearly have the confidence of the community. You were the highest receiving recipient of the votes in the county. So, you know, you've got longstanding experience. I think you bring a wealth of knowledge to the table, and I think you're a great person for the job. So, thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Mayor Kelly. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Madam Chair, might we just clarify that there were no other nominations? Mayor Stewart: Yes, thank you. Anyone else? Any more speakers? Keep going ahead. Councillor Finzel: Thank you everyone. And congratulations, Frank. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you, Karen. Councillor Finzel: I would just like to say, congratulations, as you're welcome back into the role of deputy mayor. Your election to this position by this newly elected council at our first meeting is reflected It is the collective of the trust and loyalty shown by the number of votes you received in the 2020 election that affords you a seat at this table. It is both an honour and a privilege that we share that with you in our role of governance.
00:04:00 And secondly, the appointment today charges you to act as an experienced and trusted advisor to expertly and faithfully mentor our Mayor Clare Stewart as she embarks on this journey with diligence and courage to lead the people of the Noosa Shire during this unprecedented time of COVID-19. Thank you, Frank, and all the best with your new role. Thank you. Thank you, Karen. Mayor Stewart: Any more speakers? Councillor Lorentson: I just would like to respect and congratulate you, Frank, and I value your experience in local government and also your commitment and support. Thank you for your support to community groups. Congratulations. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Anyone else? Mayor Clare, I'd like to respond. Thank you sincerely for your endorsement and trust and faith that you've shown in me.
00:05:00 I'd also like to thank my fellow councillors for their kind words. I will work hard to justify the faith and trust that you've placed in me. And also take the best advice from the CEO and other professional staff to ensure that this council is ably and responsibly represented in your absence, Mayor Clare. And again, I am deeply humbled and a responsibility I don't take lightly and it's extremely gratifying. So thank you very much. Thank you, Frank. Thanks, Clare. Mayor Stewart: I put this motion to a vote. All in favour say aye. Aye. Aye. The second item on our agenda this morning is the appointment of Local Disaster Management Group Chairman and Deputy Chairperson. Would anyone like to move the motion?
00:06:00 Councillor Wilkie: Yes Madam Chair, I'd like to move the motion that the Council note the report by Chief Executive Officer to the post-election meeting dated 17th of April 2020 and appoint Councillor Clare Stewart to the role of Chairperson of the Local Disaster Management Group and appoint Councillor Joe Jurisevic to the role of Deputy Chairperson of the Local Disaster Management Group and Chair for the Local Disaster Recovery Group. Mayor Stewart: Do we have a second? I'll second that. Thank you, thanks Brian. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you Mayor Clare. I do so because I feel that you are the most appropriate person to chair the Local Disaster Management Group. Mayors have proven themselves very steadfast in this role before. I have every reason to have similar confidence in you as do we all, so it's entirely appropriate that you chair this and I'm sure you'll execute your duties with great aplomb and skill and compassion and I know you'll be there for the community when they need you. Similarly, Councillor Joe, you've proven yourself to be a very zealous and enthusiastic Deputy Chairperson in this role.
00:07:00 You've accumulated great success. You've gained a lot of skill and experience over time. You've made reference to Mayor Bob Abbott, previous Mayor Bob Abbott, and having learned from him, you're very fortunate to have been in that role and I entirely think you are the most appropriate person for that position as well and I'm sure you'll serve the community well in this regard. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Frank. Would anyone else like to say anything? Thank you, Clare. Councillor Finzel: Congratulations to Mayor Clare. I would like to take this opportunity on behalf of us all to express our conviction in your ability to demonstrate strong leadership and courage in the position. You are a clear communicator who can be trusted to deliver information during these unparalleled times with empathy and understanding to the residents of the Noosa Shire. Congratulations.
00:08:00 Thank you. Thank you. And also to you, I would like to say congratulations on being elected into this role. And I thank you that you bring your knowledge and proven experience to the table. These attributes are vital and valued as this council collectively lead the Noosa Shire through the pandemic and the subsequent group of crushes. So we value what you bring to the table. Thank you. Thank you. Anyone else? Councillor Jurisevic: I would just like to provide that it is passed. I would like to just pass on the faith that those around the table have in moving forward. I would like to continue to honour the role of Deputy Chair of the LDMG and the Chair of the Disaster Recovery Group. And I intend to fill that role to the best of my ability for the next four years. Thank you. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Frank, thank you very much for the endorsement and thank you very much to everyone here. I'd just like to say I take the role incredibly seriously. These are trying unprecedented times. We have a lot of work to do and we have to get our community through, which I have complete
00:09:00 faith that everyone at this table will work hard to do. Joe, thank you very much. I'll take a lot of guidance and support from you and I look forward to working with you over the coming years in that role. And so thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Frank, did you write up a letter? Councillor Wilkie: No, thank you. All right. Mayor Stewart: Put this motion to a vote. All in favour? Aye. Records show unanimous. Thank you, everyone. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'm happy to move to the next motion, yes. Lovely. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: So the third and final item on the agenda this morning is Coronavirus Pandemic CEO Decisions under Delegation 20th of March 2020 to 14th of April 2020. Brett, would you like to talk about this report for a few minutes? Speaker 1: I'll happily second it. I'd like to speak to this report, if you don't mind, councillors. It's been interesting, that. I recall the last council, one of the last decisions the previous council made was to put in place a delegation to myself as CEO to deal with all of the decisions that are
00:10:00 going to be needed to respond to the COVID pandemic in between the two councils, so between the last meeting of the council and the first one now. And in hindsight, that was a pretty good decision in terms we got to respond quickly to what we needed to do. In exercising that delegation, I probably came to two conclusions pretty quickly. One is to try not to bind the new council beyond 30 June, so you would make some decisions through the upcoming budget process that will look at what the long-term response is. And the second was not to make any decisions that would impact what I call the rates notice, you know, rates and charges, things like that. That's the decision I think the council should be making, not the CEO and the delegation. But in making the decisions I've made over the last month or so, I've really broken them into three elements. One is decisions about supporting our community, and particularly our community organisations who are doing it pretty tough out there. The second is immediate support for small business in particular. What can we do as an organisation to help them get through this period?
00:11:00 And the third is decisions in terms of the operation of the organisation and support for our staff through this period as well. So the decisions I've made have been based on that. And in my report, I've got an attachment which outlines all of those decisions I've made. As I said, it was certainly an interesting time the last month, and I am particularly glad that I can hand that decision back to the incoming council. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Do you have a question for the second, if I may? With regard to the second item down there, Council commercial property and industrial lease fees, the waive for the period of the 1st of March to the 3rd of June, can you explain the elements of the fees relating to the leases, Sunrise Shops Digital Hub, and property management payment? Speaker 1: Yeah, sure. So as you're aware, one of the things we thought was important that we lead as an organisation as a landlord, so where we have some commercial leases, we looked at waiving both the rental
00:12:00 and obviously tenants often play outgoing players. So what we've said is that we will waive that in full from the 1st of March through to the 3rd of June, and obviously the council can look at what we want to do beyond that time. So for Digital Hub, that covered all of our tenants down there, because that facility is effectively closed. For the Sunrise Shops, that covers all of the tenancies in the Sunrise Shops. We'll have that four-month rent-free period. For the other properties, for the leases, so that's the Subway down on the Noosa River near Chapman Park there, Quambie Place, which are the leases going into the park area there, near the restaurants, those coming out there, and the Eco Cottages is the block of land, the industrial block of land we leased a couple of years ago to, I think it was Eco Cottages is the name of the company, where they were next door and they're leasing our industrial site.
00:13:00 Councillor Jurisevic: So they're the ones we've waived. Speaker 1: In doing that, we also tried to put the message out through the Business Roundtable to other landlords that the council's leading by example here, and we call on other landlords to do the same thing. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I'll speak to the motion. Councillor Jurisevic was out of order, but that's okay. So, yeah, I do want to take this opportunity to both thank the CEO and all the staff who worked hard for the job they have done. Not only was it during an election period where things are normally fairly quite hectic, but a one in 100 year pandemic occurring after our last meeting of council, and with Noosa having the first cluster of incidents in Queensland, it was a hugely significant effort to get to where we are now locally. The decisions to very quickly respond to both the needs in the community and into business
00:14:00 was exemplary by staff. The quick decisions to try and reduce the financial burden for some of our existing clients, as well as one of the things that perhaps are not out in public to a great deal, is to redirect our own staff into meaningful roles into not-for-profits in the community to provide the level of support that they need. So, there is a real social service that is required to take the community, and particularly the vulnerable, through that very difficult period we've had over the last month. I think there is particular mention needs to be made.