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00:00:00 Councillor Lorentson: Employment for many people. And I commend and support Council's initiatives in providing relief to local businesses, especially in providing support to assist local businesses with cash flow. In particular, small businesses that are facing extreme hardships and closures. I've just got a few questions I'd like to pose for the CEO with regards to the 100% rent relief package given to tenants of Council owned properties. In particular, the Noosaville Slipway, the Quamby Place Restaurants and the Digital Hub. Brett, just wanted to know firstly, was there an eligibility criteria? How did the tenants qualify for assistance? Did they have to show hardship? Have their businesses closed down? And who approved a 100% rent relief? Speaker 1: Okay, I'll answer the last part first. I approved all of that. That's my role. So these are all of the commercial leases that come in. We looked at across the Shire. So we didn't go and say, are you partly closed or not closed or whatever. We had a look at, and those ones in particular were restaurants. Those restaurants were closing at the time.
00:01:00 We just looked at, were they closing? Can we give rent relief? Can we get some immediate support out there? Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Did Council try to negotiate rent reduction that would cover the businesses that had not shut down? Did you consider wavering to account for, say, 50% of the rent? Did you consider wavering to account for 50% of the reduction in business or even look at a rent deferral that the tenant could cover over the period of his lease? And if not, did Council attempt to negotiate some community benefits for the 100% rent relief? I'm talking in specific businesses like the Noosaville Slipway. Speaker 1: The short answer is no. We decided we were going to give 100% to send a symbolic message to all the landlords in town, but that only applies through the 30th of June.
00:02:00 So the Council can look at what they want to do beyond the 30th of June, but that was full rent relief from the 1st of March to the 30th of June. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. In relation to the Quamby Place restaurants, can you firstly explain what Land Council actually owns and leases out to the restaurants and tenants? I've driven past, and the only public or community land that I can see is a park that's owned by Council. Is that correct? Speaker 1: Yeah, that's correct. It's actually the park. If you're looking at the Quamby Place sort of towards the river where the restaurants come out onto the right-hand side, that's actually on park land. And there's commercial leases on there for those. I can't remember what year they were put in there. It was quite a while ago. Okay. I'm thinking six, eight years ago. And they've been there on a commercial lease since that time. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. So I'm a little bit confused, Brett. Why were these restaurants allowed to lease park land and the waterfront restaurant was denied a permit to use some community land adjacent to their restaurant for an event?
00:03:00 There seems a little bit of inconsistency there. Can you please explain? Speaker 1: Not today, because the issue on the agenda today is about the issue of what relief has been applied to COVID leases. So the question about whether or not the leases at Quamby Place are different to what occurred at Waterside Park is not a matter for the agenda today. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. In regards to the digital hub, I'm a little bit confused again as to why rent plus outgoings have been waived 100%. Given that this is a community-run facility and would it be more suitable for state funding or a grant? Again, can you please explain? Speaker 1: Sure. So these are commercial tenants we have at the digital hub who are applying whether it's a permanent lease where they might lease a particular area or they might have a monthly subscription where they come in and use the facilities on a monthly basis.
00:04:00 That facility is effectively closed. So as the commercial land board, we made a decision not to use the facilities on a monthly basis. Councillor Finzel: I would just like to take this opportunity, Brett, to thank you as the Chief Executive Officer and undertaking the hard work and commitment that you demonstrated while undertaking the responsibilities of that role. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank Kerry and the team. I don't want to miss anyone out because I don't know everyone's name. So I'd just like to say, hopefully this is right, senior management and staff, everyone involved, to deliver outcomes in a timely manner while under duress is exemplary. And I'm encouraged to work with these meritorious individuals at this time.
00:05:00 Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: I'd just like to undertake to thank the CEO. Thank you for taking on the role at a difficult time through an election process and through a period of non-support by Council, where he's had to take the responsibility upon his own shoulders to make these decisions. They can't have been easy and they would have been challenging, I dare say, and we'll have an opportunity to review those in due course as the 30th of June comes nearer and through the budget process. So to yourself, to senior staff, for the decisions you've made, the courageous stepping up, and taking the role on, I'd like to give you our unwavering support and thanks. And I'm sure the community and those that have benefited from those decisions at this point in time would also thank you. Councillor Wilkie: I'd also just like to, I think, to Councillor Stockwell, Finzel, and Lorentson, and Joe, to nail it in terms of their thanks and their gratitude we owe to the staff.
00:06:00 It's been an enormous undertaking, so I'd also like to publicly show my thanks for that. The report notes that the full financial implications of these actions are not fully comprehended yet, and that they will be the subject of a future report, will be a public report, for Council, Councilors to consider and ratepayers to consider. I'd like to round up the question, will this be part of the upcoming budget process, or will the subject, will the report come up through another meeting round, Mr CEO? Speaker 1: There's probably two components in terms of the financial implications. One is the financial implications. It's on the current year budget, so the 19-20 budget, and we're still trying to work those out. And this report is only a very small part of that. As I said in the report, it's not intended to cover all the financial implications, because there are other financial implications as well. For example, you know, the loss of revenue from the caravan parks, the aquatic centre, the J, things like that. So we're still trying to work through to see what that's going to be with, you know,
00:07:00 financial reports, which you get a financial report every month, those sort of, that information will start to flow through that. And then what's the longer term financial implications, that's something we're going to have to consider through the budget process. And when the budget's adopted, we'll work out what, you know, which way we want to go there, whether we want to continue some of these things, not continue them, that'll be a decision for the Council. Councillor Wilkie: Okay, thank you. Councillor Wegener: I would like to acknowledge quickly how impressed I am, and I'm sure that the other councillors have been with the disaster management plan, and especially the use of the cloud, and how the work of former councils looking forward took the opportunity to think about what can happen in the future, putting all this information, all the computers, up onto the cloud, having it every, so everybody can go work from home and having that done before the disaster hit.
00:08:00 I mean, it just takes an amazing amount of forward thinking that has made our jobs a lot easier coming into Council. So I'd just like to thank you guys, all the councillors and mayors from the past that have, that set this all up, because, wow, it is, it's nice and it's very comfortable for, I think, all of Noosa to know how fortunate we are to be in the situation that we're in. Deputy Mayor Stockwell: I think we'll close briefly. I think the last point is a good one, that future thinking is really important when you look at what's coming rather than what's behind it. And the fact that all our processes can be accessed from, by staff, from home via the, the, the, the tech one processing we have adopted here since the amalgamation is really important one. I think also it's important to recognise that when we do show leadership and, and, and, and the CEO mentioned that showing leadership to other landlords, I think it also breeds a whole lot more goodwill in the community that we are in this together.
00:09:00 And I suppose the, the, the example that I could have mentioned, I will now, is the digital hub. It might, our commercial tenants may not have been there and our, and the, the shared space might not be operating. So it was turned in to a manufacturing facility using 3D printers to produce face masks for our emergency services. Now that's, that is what good local government is. It's making the best use of the resources available to suit the, the emergent needs at the time. And I think the, the strategies that have been in place since the last council meeting haven't done nothing good. But to highlight that to this community that the, the council will back them, whether they're, they're vulnerable, people needing assistance in the basics of life like food, water and shelter, to, to those who, who may have, well, you know, advanced degrees in, in aerospace technology and are looking to make Noosa its home.
00:10:00 Speaker 2: We've moved the vote to, motion to vote on the third and final agenda item. All those in favour? That's it for this morning. It's been short but sweet. Thank you everyone. Thank you for those who are watching. It's been a good start under very unusual circumstances. So I'd just like to officially declare this meeting closed.