Start of recording ¶
00:00:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the Services and Organisation Committee meeting for August 2020. Before we begin I'd like to pay our respects to the traditional owners of land upon which we meet, the Gubbi Gubbi or Kabi Kabi people, and acknowledge their, and pay respects to their elders past, present and emerging. There are no apologies today, no attendance, no presentations or deputations. Thank you Mr CEO. We'll move on with item 1. Reports for consideration of the committee. Item 1 is the appointment of the 2021 show holiday. Speaker 2: This is just something we get asked all year and the State Government gives us... We get all the public holidays, the public holidays and we write out to the Council and say what do you want for your show holiday
00:01:00 and then through my staff we liaise with the show committee and they identify the date, so it's a typical process we go through every year. Councillor Jurisevic: So a year in advance so that people don't get the wrong impression, for 2021 the proposed date is Friday the 10th of September. Any discussion, anything around that? Happy to move it. Second. Seconded by Councillor Wilkie. Councillor Stewart. No discussion? No, no. Those in favour? Councillor Wilkie: I'm sure we all sincerely hope that we, you know, we have a show. We're in a position to safely come together to celebrate Noosa Show Day in 2021. Councillor Jurisevic: It would be nice to have the show back again next year, mate. Councillor Lorentson: I'd like to add that I just hope this year that we take inspiration with what's happening in Brisbane when they've moved their show day from the Wednesday to the Friday. And what they're encouraging down there is everyone take a long weekend and help the tourism industry. So same message I'd like to get to the Noosa Shire community, go out, eat local, shop local and support our businesses.
00:02:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Have a long weekend at home. Councillor Lorentson: Have a long weekend at home. Best place to live. Councillor Jurisevic: Alright. All in favour? Thank you. Move on to item two. Tender. Awesome. Consideration plan. Council Facility Design and Construction. Alison, welcome to the table. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: And Kerry. Any questions or any? Frank, do you want to begin? Councillor Wilkie: So Alison, what we're proposing here is a different way of going to tender which keeps the location of the project confidential. Yes. Because it is going to be a domestic violence shelter and we don't want to give that location away. I fully support that approach. We don't want aggrieved spouses wandering through those facilities.
00:03:00 I note you've also, there's four prospective contractors that have been approached already. So it's still a competitive process underway. Yep. Yeah. That may be perhaps the question for the CEO. Can you just explain what a tender consideration plan is? Councillor Jurisevic: Took the words right out of my mouth. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 2: Yeah. This is a provision under the Local Government Act whereby if the Council passes a resolution, you can have a plan that basically says to go to tender but to prescribe a number of tenders. Yep. And it's used pretty rarely. I can't recall this in my time here. We haven't. I've seen and heard of it used in other councils.
00:04:00 Yeah. And it's primarily used for whether it's an element of confidentiality or an issue that you need to address. And it's a plan that allows you to get that balance between maintaining that confidentiality but still having to market testing in terms of the pricing where you end up with, in this case, it would be four tenders. Who all have a competitive pricing approach to make sure the Council still deals with the value of the money component. Yeah. Which is always important in a procurement process. Councillor Jurisevic: So it's still waiting the integrity of a procurement process but just a little different from a full open tender. Speaker 9: It still has the rigour around it of a tender. Yeah. But enables us to preserve those elements that we would want to see remain confidential. Because, say, if we were running this under an ordinary public tender process, we would, for example, have an on-site meeting of prospective tenders. Well, obviously, in this situation, that's not appropriate. Yeah. So, as Brett said, it's giving us balance. Councillor Wilkie: And those prospective tenders would be bound by confidentiality clause as well?
00:05:00 Speaker 9: Correct. Yep. Councillor Lorentson: Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 2: And similarly in most, you know, the open tender process, then the, you know, the location of the domestic violence refuge would be advertised. Yeah. And we all have to inspect and sell them. We just can't do that given the nature of it. Yeah. So this process will, as you said, get that balance between maintaining that confidentiality or that, you know, confidentiality around that location but also getting a number of tenders going through a competitive process to make sure we get value for money on the pricing itself. Yep. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. Yep. The funding agreement, which was, I think, the Works for Queensland grant. It's got a very tight timeframe. If the works are to be completed by 2021. 30th of June. Speaker 2: 30th of June 2021. Councillor Lorentson: 30th of June 2021. What happens if the project is not complete or if it's delayed due to COVID-related reasons? Speaker 2: Want me to answer that?
00:06:00 Yeah. Yeah. We hope that won't be the case. The majority of the funds that we will be providing will be given to the State of the Shire according to that same category, of different values. The State's made it pretty clear that they expect them to be finished on time and they won't be providing extensions. Councillor Lorentson: So there is no extension of time? Speaker 2: At this stage. If we went into lockdown something may be different? Yeah look, if there was a major lockdown or something like that, exceptional circumstances, the State may look at it. But they've made it pretty clear that the reason they're doing this program is to get the money out of the ground for the need. And they're putting pressure on councils across the state to get these projects out the door as fast as we can. Speaker 9: So we've built in elements to the tender to help us meet that timeline. So the tender consideration plan is one of those because it's much faster than a full tender process. But also, if you can imagine if you were looking at, say, designing a home and you engaged an architect to design a home and then go through the various approval processes, there would be lengthy time in that.
00:07:00 So what we're looking at is something that is a proper plan. And it's fabricated. And so without going into specific detail, that will shortcut the time. Councillor Jurisevic: That should facilitate, yeah, make sure to build time and it's only a little bit of a minimal time on site. Speaker 9: That's right. And that also limits some of the exposure to people coming on site. Mayor Stewart: How long are we looking at for that tender process? Speaker 10: Well, we're hoping to have the whole project wrapped up by the end of March. That's our intention. Mayor Stewart: So we've got a bit of wiggle room there. A bit of wiggle room, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: I mean, some of these prefab things can be done within four to six weeks of the timeframes. Councillor Lorentson: You've identified as an issue the whole of life costs, but that hasn't been factored in. And we'll be considering it as a budget consideration at our next budget.
00:08:00 Do you expect the cost, the whole of life costs on the project is sized to be big and is there opportunity for state funding? Speaker 10: So we have worked with a lot of our partners as well on the existing accommodation in place. So they've actually been helping us with all the maintenance and long-term asset refurbishment. And so forth over the facilities. Councillor Jurisevic: I was going to say, in seven years on council, I'm unaware of any maintenance issues coming up with regard to the properties that we've already facilitated. Speaker 10: So for these particular properties, they don't come through council as such. We've worked with our partners on them. Speaker 9: And in answer to the second part of your question, it is very difficult to get, say, for example, state funding for maintenance. So we will get capital funding. But maintenance funding is not available. It's not the responsibility of local government or the partner agencies. And in this case, the partner agencies have been investing their contribution as well to the project.
00:09:00 Mayor Stewart: And that will also be contributing to furniture, fixtures and fittings. Absolutely. Yeah. Speaker 10: Yeah. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Speaker 10: So part of the weighting criteria that we've also put in there is contribution to the community as well. So we're hoping that the people coming forward will look at that and bring something to the table. Mayor Stewart: Landscaping, gardens, things similar. Yep. Speaker 10: So anything above the money that we've got for Works for Queensland will be provided by our partners. So that's the intention. Mayor Stewart: So no cost to the rate payer in regard to this project at all? Speaker 7: No. No. Right. Speaker 9: Apart from, sorry, the time of the office. Yes. Of course. Mayor Stewart: But no capital. Speaker 9: No. So that's our contribution to it. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. So that's that for us, Ms Stewart. Councillor Wilkie seconding. Nothing further? All in favour? Thank you. Thank you. Karen, can I just ask- Yes. Can I just ask if you could mute your microphone?
00:10:00 We're getting a bit of feedback here and I'm just wondering if it's coming from your end. So you may talk, just unmute your microphone and speak up. But if you're not speaking, just, it might be your microphone on mute. Thanks, Alison. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Is that better? Speaker 8: Can you hear me? Councillor Jurisevic: We can hear you, but we were getting some feedback through, that was all. Speaker 8: Oh, it was off. It was off. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. Oh, okay. It's off now. Speaker 2: It's off now. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay, thank you. Item three, Community Services Department update. Kerry. Speaker 2: Kerry, just before we get into this report, I raised at the committee meeting this morning as well, we do these reports on a quarterly basis for each department, letting people know what's happened over the last couple of months, what's being worked on now, and what's coming up over the next three months. So we've been using this format for maybe three or four years now, and I just thought it was an opportunity to ask Council whether this format is working for you, whether there's
00:11:00 other ways in which it can be improved. And a lot of the reports that we do sort of outlines actions of what we're doing, but not necessarily the outcomes or the longer-term trends as well. So we're just trying to get some feedback from you in this round of meetings about what can be done better in terms of these regular reports. I raised it this morning at the Planning and Environment Committee, and Claire gave some feedback there. So either as we're going through at the end, I'll come back and ask you that question. And Kerry's been kind enough for the exec team to take this on as a project, to have a look at how we can improve these regular reports. Speaker 9: And I'll be coming, I sent an email around, but I'll be coming and having a chat to you about your thoughts around what you get out of it particularly, and what changes you might like to see. Councillor Jurisevic: It might be interesting, I noticed in your email there was a mention of KPIs, and there are no elements of KPIs. It might be interesting to see how we can relate the matters within here to the KPIs we're trying to deliver. I think that would be a benefit. As far as format goes and the detail in there, I find it quite good because knowing what
00:12:00 the projects are and knowing what's coming up and seeing what elements are being undertaken to deliver those projects or business-as-usual activities is always good. The level of detail, if there's anything in there that sort of flags something, it's easy enough to ask a question about it, or ask why is there something being done. I can't see anything about a particular issue in the reports that are coming through. So from my perspective, there's not a lot that could be improved, but again, we've only seen one format in our time on council, so if there's another way of doing it, it'd be interesting to... Speaker 9: My intention would be to provide you with some options, because depending on what your natural way of thinking, some people are great with a blank canvas, some people like to see options, and then that starts their thought processes and go, oh yeah, I like that, I don't like that. Could we have more of that, please? Councillor Lorentson: I'd like to ask a question, Kerry, for Rupert Street Precinct Development.
00:13:00 Yes. Current priorities on page 10, completing necessary processes as part of RICON liquidation. Yes. Could you explain that further for me? Speaker 9: So with the liquidation of any company, particularly a very large company, there's legal processes that are underway. With something as complex as this, those legal processes take a very long time. So we've, for example, provided an enormous range of documentation through to the liquidators that's complete. The liquidators have completed a body of work. We are now... In process with contractors that are making claims for payment. So that's a court process, and it's a natural part of the proper process. So we're moving through that process. I guess the hard thing when these things happen, when it happens in the moment, you know, people
00:14:00 want some surety about their lives, but the reality is the liquidation of a major company, it takes a very long time. And so, you know, we are now six months down the track. But, you know, there will be another six months of work as that process moves its way through. You gotcha. Councillor Jurisevic: So from a climate perspective? Speaker 9: So I guess there's two things. There's the liquidation of RICON, which kind of happens in the background. We're continuing to work through that process. And we're worried about the building going forward. And then there's the, our process going forward. So as you will recall, we changed our model to a, not a design and construct model, but to complete detailed design and go out for construction only. So we have completed that detailed design. And those documents are just being prepared as part of a tender set, ready for us to go
15 minutes in ¶
00:15:00 out to tender. And then there's the, our process going forward. Alongside of that, we're undertaking work for the contract, so the tender assessment and the contract component to help mitigate the potential of us being exposed again. Mayor Stewart: There are a lot of anxious subcontractors, as we know. How are we, how are those lines of communication going with those subcontractors? Speaker 9: So they are, some of them are, some of them are moving just through the process. They, it's part of the process. It's part of their business process to deal with some up and down. We communicate where we are able to. Obviously some of the communication is legal process and needs to go through that proper process. We encourage everybody to be, to follow the process where we have people that try to step outside the process and do something else. It slows things down for them.
00:16:00 And it actually takes energy and resources away from them. It takes energy and resources away from actually just moving through the process to get to an outcome for everybody. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks. My question in relation to the subcontractors is, what new provisions or safeguards has council put in place in its procurement processes to make subcontractors feel safe that they will be paid when working on local government jobs? I make reference to declarations that, you know, I know builders had to submit declarations saying that their subcontractors are going to be paid. I think there's enough case evidence to show that they're sometimes falsified. So PBAs, I think I've brought this up a few times, project bank accounts. What can we do? Speaker 2: Kerry doesn't look after procurements. No, that's COVID-19. I'll take that message. I'll take that message. For a question on notice. Speaker 9: So that's what I said before. We are implementing processes. So at the moment, that's the processes that are being looked at that will be included
00:17:00 in this. Councillor Lorentson: Really important, I think. We think the one job that would be safe would be a local government job. Councillor Jurisevic: My understanding is other councils have looked at this project bank account and they're no more convinced that they're going to be any greater benefit to the subcontractor at this point in time. So there's still some elements there to be looked at. Speaker 2: The issue with those, we've looked at it before, is that it's only the bigger contractors who then tend to go down that path and use that. And therefore the smaller contractors, the local contractors, might miss out on tenders to come. They actually force the market away from the local supply, which is maybe not the outcome we want in tenders anymore. So it's a balancing act around that. The issue is that the state government's got policy questions they've got to resolve that then apply across the whole Queensland. Councillor Lorentson: They're a professional as well, aren't they, being with PBAs? I don't know that much detail. Speaker 9: Well, I can say that there will be added safeguard measures in this Rupert Street, in the next
00:18:00 Rupert Street tender. What they look like, still that finer detail has to be worked out. But it will be more than the current processes that we have in place, which were good, strong processes. But you're right, where there are people who don't genuinely follow those processes, then that leaves council, our subcontractors, and the right payer exposed. Mayor Stewart: Kerry, is there some opportunity for those subcontractors who have lost out and are waiting on their money to engage with them, with this next developer? Or is there some ability to engage their services? Speaker 9: Well, we would be going out for a primary contractor for the work that needs to be done, which is the construction of the new community house and the green space.
00:19:00 And some of the planning, though, or the design has been? Yes. So the design work for completing the detailed design has been through one of the subcontractors that was previously engaged. Okay. And there may well be opportunity. It would be up to whoever is tendering to engage with those subcontractors. They can use their own subcontractors. We would not dictate which subcontractors, but certainly it would be an open tender process. And we would be encouraging all primary contractors and subcontractors to be looking at those opportunities. Mayor Stewart: But there certainly has been the opportunity for a few of those subcontractors to be engaged again. Absolutely. Yes. Absolutely. And being obviously paid on time. Absolutely. Speaker 9: And in fact paid under our new timeframe arrangements.
00:20:00 So they're getting their invoices paid faster in ordinary circumstances. Great. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll take the next one. Disaster recovery. Kerry. The monies that we have allocated or have been allocated through grants and grants and grants with regard to 1.27 million. Speaker 9: So the category D funding. Yes. The 1.275 million. Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: And how is that going with regard to what we've put out there? Speaker 9: Yes. So some good work that's been happening recently. One that I would like to point out is the psychological first aid training. So one of the things that we really identified during the recovery phase. So we started to see it with primary care. We saw it with Peregian and we saw it over the next evolutions was that the staff or the volunteers that were there to handle practical measures.
00:21:00 Whether it be to help people dispose of say food that's gone up in their fridge. Whether it was to organise a skip bin for them to put rubbish in. There was the practical nature of it but it quickly evolved into a space where they almost felt like they were having a hard time. They were having to provide quasi-counselling because they were facing somebody that's gone through quite emotional trauma and that was presenting right in front of their face. So we saw that in recovery. We also saw it in the evacuation centres where we had emotions going up and down and at times quite distressed people. And given the scale of what we were dealing with, we didn't have a psychologist on hand to deal with that. So one of the projects that has been to start to roll out psychological first aid training. So not to be an ongoing counsellor but just right there in the moment, what is the conversation
00:22:00 that you can have with that person to help them in that moment. So we've run the first round of that training. It's been highly successful. That was run with staff so that we could pilot it to see what was the trainer like, what was the training methodology like. Did the staff come away feeling like they had now a set of skills that they could implement. The feedback has been outstanding. So we're now going to be rolling that out further. And that training will go further to further staff and to community organisations because some of their volunteers were the ones right in the space of having to deal with that. Councillor Jurisevic: They'll be able to use those skills to manage counsellors better obviously. Speaker 9: So that's one element. Another one is that you might recall for those that were here, one of the features and huge issues that we had during evacuation was attempting to get bedding and get quantities of bedding for people in a very, very tight timeframe. It was very difficult and with each iteration where we thought we'd come up with a solution,
00:23:00 that next iteration of the fire, that solution wouldn't work because that bedding was no longer available. So we've gone through a process where we have looked at being able to purchase a bedding in a, like a refrigerated sealed container that's got solar lighting, et cetera. And we're going to put a stock of bedding in that. So particularly, for example, what we were able to get were blow-up mattresses. However, blow-up mattresses are only suitable if you have good mobility. And when we're in an evacuation centre, we've got people with all abilities and we need particularly to be able to have bedding that we can get people in. We've got people on the ground and off the ground, so camp stretcher size. So that process is moving its way through. So we'll have a stock file of approximately 200 beds and bedding. We've got things like disposable sheets that we can now get so that we're not having one
00:24:00 of the big issues we had at the end of the bushfires is a mountain of laundry and not nothing. White sheets all look the same. And then trying to work out where those white sheets belong to. Which hotel. Which hotel did they come from. So that's going to give us that sense of security so that for at least one evacuation centre, we'd be able to get 200 people on beds and then source other materials as required. So we've learnt lessons from being put in this situation. Absolutely. Probably only a while since we've been thrown in a situation where we've had to house as many people as this. Yes, absolutely. And the challenges that it faces. So that container will live at the landfill site. So if we were to set up an evacuation centre at Cooroy Library or a hall, we would be getting our contractor to come in and relocate either the container itself or the items
00:25:00 in the container to the necessary evacuation centre. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: So everything inside will be safe and sealed away. Speaker 9: That's right. Yep. Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: And hygiene. Now you mean. Speaker 9: So as you can see there's a whole range of projects. Some are now moving their way through to completion and the others are still going through fees. Councillor Jurisevic: No, we haven't by any means completed the spend of that budget. Speaker 9: No, that will go on for the two years. Yep. The other funding was the Category C funding. Right. And we have now appointed to that position and Cheryl Patterson will fill that position for the next two years. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. Speaker 9: And she's already well up and running. Yep. And currently planning a respectful recognition event to mark, which I can't believe, the first anniversary of the Peregian bushfires. Mm-hmm. Councillor Jurisevic: No emails today.
00:26:00 Yeah. And you mentioned what staff underwent through this as well. Obviously they were worked above and beyond and all the rest of it. Mr. CEO, what are we putting in place to make sure our staff have been counselled after this sort of an event as well? I mean, I'm sure that they have gone through, undergone some trauma through what they've seen and heard through this situation as well. Yeah. Speaker 2: And the same for COVID. Absolutely. And ongoing through the COVID-19 crisis. In a nutshell, we've established what we call the Wellness Project, just for our staff. The Wellness Project was established by our HR team and it covers a range of emotional wellbeing, health and fitness, connectivity, mental health, mental health, mental health, support, access to employee assistance programs and so on. That's available to all staff. I'm sure both of you worked on the requirements. Councillor Jurisevic: I think it was mentioned somewhere later in the... Yeah. One of the reports was here.
00:27:00 Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Well, good. Councillor Jurisevic: Anything else? Anything further? All right. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. I've got a couple of questions. Working with aged care and nursing homes, and we've sort of covered it just now, but how are the elderly coping with the burden of COVID information, Kerry? Speaker 9: Are you referring particularly to our clients through a nurse of community support? Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Yeah. All the community groups, community support. I'm talking just elderly and because elderly don't like change and it's just interesting Speaker 9: how they're working. But the answer would be to varying degrees. So, you know, if you're in a nursing home, if you're in a nursing home, if you're in a nursing home where some people actually thrive in change, it's something quite different that's happening in their lives, some of them, because of the lives they've lived, are highly resilient, and so have had built up skills through their life that they are able to manage
00:28:00 this well. Others, not so. And it very much depends on the specific circumstances. So, where we've got those people who are quite isolated in the community as well, we've got people who are very vulnerable, so maybe they don't have family support network around them. When you have public health measures which limit contact to pure family members, that leaves them quite lonely and exposed. So, very much depends on the individual. And so, the social welfare organisations continue to do active work in this space. Where the measures have changed. They have been released. We're seeing very different responses to that. So, some community organisations are relishing it. They're back. They're up. They're operational. They've taken it on like a personal challenge with their COVID checklists. And, you know, some people thriving in that space.
00:29:00 Other community organisations have gone, no, we still, we feel a bit uncomfortable about this. So, we're going to meet up maybe for coffee, but we're not going to have our regular activities. We've seen some that have started and then got a little bit concerned with what they saw, particularly what happened over the last couple of weeks in Brisbane. And they've backpedalled. So, we continue to work through them with our community development team, providing them up-to-date advice. Our environmental health officers provide practical advice and information. And we can certainly see it, for example, Council's wellness program, Aging Well program that we are rolling out at the moment. The take up for that has been enormous. And actually, this morning I was at the Leisure Centre and it was really interesting to see how alive the Leisure Centre was with activity and how well people were behaving in terms of
30 minutes in ¶
00:30:00 COVID-safe measures. So, I was really proud to see that. So, the answer to your question is varying degrees. There are certainly some people out there who still feel anxious. And we can absolutely see what happened yesterday about a little bit of hysteria and anxiety and not waiting for the facts. And it ramped up that sense of anxiety to me. So, I think it sits bubbling. Councillor Jurisevic: Can I just pass on some, yeah, some lovely comments that I've received about that Aging Well Noosa program from people that have engaged in it and telling me how effective it's been and how much it's enriched their lives. So, well done. Great program. Speaker 9: Very successful. And a lovely one because we've been able to roll that out right across the Shire, you know, from the coast right through to the hinterlands.
00:31:00 Cool. Very good. Very good. Speaker 8: Yes, Karen Finzel here. I just have a few questions regarding the libraries and galleries. Speaker 10: Yes, Karen. Speaker 8: Thank you. I noticed in the branch activities under libraries and galleries for the mobile service replacement plan, in the recent achievements, it listed the concept plans for proposed vehicle reviewed and finalised. So, I'm wondering if you can give us a little bit more detail on that. Can you tell me a little bit about that? Which vehicle's been finalised? Speaker 9: No, so the concept plans, Karen. So, that means the different options under consideration. And we've got a counsellor workshop in about two weeks' time, on the 18th of August. So, we'll be looking at those concept plans, talking through the different options available, and taking, particularly for the new vehicles, we'll be looking at those concept plans,
00:32:00 taking you through the background of the project, the work that's been undertaken to date, having a look at the different options that are available to us, before we then embark on the next steps forward. Speaker 8: Thank you. Are you able to tell me today what options have been proposed for the replacement vehicle? Speaker 9: Yes. So, we've considered a wide range of options. So, we've considered a wide range of options. I guess without going into too much detail, because it'll be covered in the workshop, but everything from replacing the current vehicle with a like vehicle, replacing it with different size vehicles, from a van to a light rigid to a medium rigid, replacing it not with vehicles, but with, for example, vending machines or staffless libraries, which operate via technology. So, a whole range of options.
00:33:00 Speaker 8: Thank you, I'm looking forward to that. With regards to community engagement and consultation over the last 12 months, how much community uptake and interest has there been regarding the mobile bus and people's interaction with that regarding the services that come with the current mobile library service? Speaker 9: So community engagement was a key element of the work that we've undertaken. It included things like surveys of all of our existing customers.
00:34:00 It also included engagement with groups that we would think might use the mobile library but currently don't. So to understand why would we think it's a service that would appear to be something that they would want to use but they're not using it, so the non-user, engaging with our business stakeholders. So there's a range of consultation with various stakeholders in the current locations that the current mobile library visits to understand what works for them, what doesn't work for them, what options might be available that they might be interested in supporting. So there's a range of consultation with various stakeholders that's occurred. Speaker 8: When you mention business stakeholders, does that include the education sector? It does indeed include Education Queensland.
00:35:00 Speaker 9: Currently at the moment, the school that remains using it at an active level is really probably federal. And this is something that we'll be talking to you about, when the mobile library was originally set up. A lot of our smaller businesses have been using the mobile library. A lot of our schools, particularly hinterland schools, didn't really have a fully functioning library service because of simply the size of their school. That's changed considerably now. And so you'll see over time as we've gone through iterations of the mobile library timetable, there's fewer and fewer school stops because they've got their own library services within their school at the moment. And so that they're not relying on the council mobile library service. And so that they're not relying on the council mobile library service. Councillor Jurisevic: I'd imagine the transition to digital technology will also be facilitating a lot of that
00:36:00 Speaker 9: through the school centre. Absolutely. And certainly, you know, many of the libraries now, particularly when the building education revolution came through, so one of the strands of funding for that was for learning centres, library learning centres. So many of the schools got funding for that. They put computer labs in their libraries, so they're able to access a lot of digital technology that they weren't able to access before. Thank you. Speaker 8: I do have a question regarding the social impacts for the broader community. I've been speaking with elderly people and young mums with children where they can't access timetables to transport, to take them to the wonderful other libraries within the Shire. How did you measure the impact that these groups will have with the services delivered through, say, these services? For example, in Kiosk?
00:37:00 Speaker 9: Well, we've certainly engaged with all of our existing members, as I said, and non-members. And we've taken that feedback on board. In terms of broader social impact, well, as I said, we've looked at non-users to understand why they're not using it. Mobile library is certainly an... And you'll see when we look at some of the survey data, is not purely around a vehicle that brings a physical resource. There's other elements around it, which is, for example, about a place that people come and have community conversations. So in planning the new mobile library service, what we've been looking at is how can we deliver that, but in a contemporary model? And how can we take into account some of the needs of the other users that have come forward, saying, well, actually, you know what? We'd be really interested in having a service as well. How can we participate in this service?
00:38:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I'm assuming there are other councils around that no longer use a large mobile library service and have gone to some of these contemporary services. And I'm imagining you've reviewed those and that'll be part of the workshop and these successes or failures. Speaker 9: So yeah, we'll take you through all of that. Absolutely, Joe. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Speaker 8: Another question. I'm just wondering if you'd please explain what a library outreach service is. Speaker 9: So outreach is a term that we use that's basically saying a service outside of a traditional branch library. So the branch library bringing the bricks and mortar, and outreach service being what services do we provide beyond that. Speaker 8: Thank you. I'm looking forward to the workshop so we can be fully informed about this subject, because the significant cultural and cultural impact that we have on the local community is paramount. So thank you for the time that you've been to that.
00:39:00 Councillor Lorentson: You're welcome. Can I bring up Noosa Board Riders Club? Kerri? Yep. I understand that the Noosa Board Riders Club have submitted a concept plan for consideration. Has that been shown to the NAC management and what was their response? Speaker 9: Yes. So the Noosa Board Riders are keen to make sure that they're able to provide a service to the community. They're keen to establish, I guess, a home base, a clubhouse. We know that many community organisations want their own clubhouse. A clubhouse of your very own in today's day and age is a luxury, unless you have a block of land and can raise the funds to be able to build one. That's nice. Councillor Jurisevic: That's what most of our community groups have over the years. Speaker 9: Over the years, yes. Absolutely. We've seen community organisations spend years raising funds and doing a fantastic job to be able to build their own facility. Cooroy Genealogical Society did an amazing job in being able to do that.
00:40:00 Absolutely. And full credit to them. What we encourage, so for the bulk of organisations that can't fund their own facility, is first what we look at is existing facilities and maximising use of existing facilities. Yeah. Because there's no point in building a facility if you can't fund it. There's no point in building something over here if we've got a building here that's only, you know, used to say 10 or 20% because that whole building over here has to be maintained and looked after, repaired, et cetera. So we look at maximising the existing facilities. If then we determine we might look at a new facility, it would be a very rare circumstance that we build a facility for one community organisation and then what we look to do is say, okay, can we co-locate those facilities? Can we put them in a place that's like-minded facilities, like-minded organisation? So one of the proposals that has been put forward is potentially a facility possibly at the Aquatic Centre that could house community organisations that have an interest in water
00:41:00 sports and also provide some facilities there at the Aquatic Centre. Now it's in its very, very early days and obviously that would be a very, you know, very difficult thing. It's a long-term project, given everything that Council has on its books at the moment. You'd have to go through a whole range of consultation and then processes to obtain funding before it went ahead if it was to go ahead. So various stakeholders have been engaged, including the Aquatic Centre team, various teams. So, you know, earlier we were talking about the mobile library and concept plans, which are kind of options. This is very much, even before that, it's in very early days and we're working with stakeholders along the way. And through that process, other things might come out. Yeah. Great.
00:42:00 Councillor Wilkie: Just general comments in terms of feedback about the quarterly reports. I think they're an excellent way of giving a great overview of what every department is engaged in. I think people will be impressed. So I think it's a great way of giving a great overview of what every department is engaged in. And I think one of the reasons why councillors and former, previous councillors asked for this information was so that they weren't taken by surprise about what's going on that they hear from the community about certain programs and they're unaware because council staff are very, very busy all the time. In terms of oversight, a lot of these quarterly reports have initiatives that you look forward to seeing what's, where, the next installment. Yes. And some of the, some of the leaks aren't being made. Like I like to track certain, the progress of certain reports and things like that.
00:43:00 But I think it's important to look at the data and the statistics. For example, I know you're able to provide this information, but the update, the statistics for the local laws compliance in terms of dog attacks, there was a misprint, I think, the same data was printed as last time. Yes. So maybe you can bring us up to speed on the number of reported dog attacks. This is on page 20. Speaker 9: Yeah. Yep. It was a very good pick up by Councillor Wilkie. So the data for the local law statistics is as follows. So customer requests for the January to March period, I know, sorry, the April to June period was 818 customer requests. There was 17 dog attacks, 10 on people and seven on animals, 47 proactive patrols. In infringements. There were 1,458 infringements.
00:44:00 That's because you're easing off on COVID. Yes. Absolutely. So 1,294 of those were in parking. 91 were animals and 73 were other local law, general local law infringements. Councillor Wilkie: Sorry, what are those stats please? Animal infringements. Speaker 9: 91. Councillor Wilkie: 91. Yep. Speaker 9: And then 1,294 in parking and 73 in local law infringements. So Kylie, would we be able to correct, put an amendment on the court? Yeah. So can we just leave, make note of it? Yeah. So my apologies for that. Councillor Jurisevic: Can you send a copy of the updated figures? Speaker 9: Yes, I can send it through. So my apologies for that. Councillor Wilkie: That's all right. And in the May agenda for the previous quarterly report under waste management, we're talking about ATC, sorry, ATC, sorry. We talked about a final report on a waste feasibility study for a Wide Bay Burnett regional
45 minutes in ¶
00:45:00 organisational of council's report was received in order to assess if Noosa wanted to be involved. The proposed action was to present a report to council and retain the position on Noosa's ongoing involvement in Web Rock. Speaker 9: Yep. Councillor Wilkie: I may have missed it. Is it in here? Speaker 9: No. No. Okay. So while, so you, councillors might be aware that we've been participating in two regional working groups to look at the future of waste and particularly around a regional solution, whether that be anaerobic digestion or waste to energy or there's a whole range of options being considered there. So one of the part, the groups we've been working with is to the south. The one you're referring to is through the north with the Web Rock group of councils. So that group's well behind. The southern one. So they've been going through the early feasibility stage that the first report was prepared
00:46:00 and we had reviewed it. It was then a waiting for the new councillor. So obviously council elections occurred in March and it was a waiting for those new councils to come on board, settle in and then take up the process again. They're not all quite ready to do that. So and particularly looking at COVID. Those councils, it's, it's including councils from Gympie, Fraser, Cooroy, Cooroy, Ponderburg. So they've got a range of priorities that they're looking at before that process picks itself up again. Look, what were we seeing there? Very similar to what we'd seen in other studies. There's a range of options that investment for say a waste to energy option takes significant financial resource. Mm-hmm. So we're looking at both in terms of the capital and then the ongoing maintenance of that. And then you must take into account the geographic location to look at travel and whether then
00:47:00 there's value in that. So for us in terms of the WebRock one, it's a watching brief and we'll continue to participate in that process. We're not pushing that process because we can see that there are councils very much at different stages. And for everybody to be engaged, they all need to come on board. They need to come to that willingly. The process to the south, we've got past all of our elections, so that's kicked off again. And the waste managers in particular are meeting to look at some options in more granular detail. Councillor Wilkie: So the reference to the WebRock report will appear again in the quarterly update when it's released. We've got something to tell us. Yes. Speaker 9: So the reason it's not in there, we're not pushing it because we're not a central partner
00:48:00 to it. We're a fringe partner. It's up to them. They need to regain momentum. And I guess because we hadn't seen anything startlingly new in it, it was kind of what we'd seen before. So we're not pushing it. Okay. Speaker 2: A lot of . The one to the north point to stack up? Yes. The distance within the volumes. The distances are too great in the volumes. Volumes are too small. Yes. Whereas the south, the distances are shorter in volume at the higher . So it's like a game of poker, you have a chip in both games. Councillor Jurisevic: This is the challenge of the advocacy role that the council will be playing with the state environment minister and the waste levy and how those funds are spent to facilitate Thank you for joining us today, we're going to take a look at some of the elements that
00:49:00 Speaker 9: we've been looking at is the cell design and the design of the cell has a large impact on both the lifespan of the cell but also importantly the methane element and so we had been looking at a different way of constructing the cell to see whether it got more lifespan out of the whole landfill but also enabled us to capture the methane to a higher degree and faster. So that review has been undertaken but what it shows is that there are some engineering challenges with constructing the cell a different way and that those challenges, the work would have to go into meeting those may not outweigh then the benefit of actually the change in methane so they're reviewing what that then might mean, what elements we could take from
00:50:00 it. Councillor Wilkie: So basically it's still under review? Speaker 9: Yeah. The work continues on. So like all of these things you get another piece of the puzzle and think okay now what does that mean? Can we take some elements or do we need to go back to what we were originally doing? Councillor Wilkie: The Mayor also mentioned negotiations with Macadamia Farmer to use landfill mulch to supplement organic farming. Speaker 9: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: Is that viable? Speaker 9: Yes. So the green waste is something that we have been, we've got large volumes of green waste at the landfill. Councillor Jurisevic: Yes, with periodic stockpile. Speaker 9: And we've had stockpile issues which also gives us concern for example around potential fires of the heat within those stockpiles and while we have a contractor who comes and takes part of that stockpile.
00:51:00 It relies on them having a distribution for it and at times they have not had adequate distribution so the stockpile's got too large so they've now been working with a Macadamia Farmer to take that mulch and use that mulch. So that's a good outcome. Success. One last one. Councillor Jurisevic: Are there other conversations happening with Country Noosa with regard to those opportunities? Speaker 9: Looking at the different options. And one of the other, so there are grades of mulch and what we've been looking at is what options would there be if we took our mulch to the next grade. To actually reach Australian standards. To meet the standard. What work would go into it to have to achieve that and if we did that though would there be much greater avenue for use of it but also revenue for Council in selling it at that higher grade mulch. Okay. Or that opportunity. Councillor Wilkie: That'll do it. So I'll just say I love the extensive report. It'd be great to see some follow through on just tying them up. If it's still under review just say it's still under review or it's finished or it's just
00:52:00 so there's some follow through. And also something along the lines of what the Mayor and Jo was saying about the problem areas that like it's in terms of oversight. You know if it's a happy story we don't really need to know but what are the problem areas. Challenges. Challenges. The flams, the reef flams. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, and especially the projects that are falling behind. Speaker 2: I shared with the committee this morning one of the great sayings that our current chair of our audit committee, Scott Williams, told me once. He said, Brett, there's nothing interesting in good news, all the fun bits are in the bad news. That's what you can do something about. Councillor Jurisevic: I guess a traffic light system that we utilise in other elements may be something here. Yeah, you know, everything's on target and running to flam, but areas where, you know, that they're yellows and reefs, that sort of thing. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: And I think it's all about opportunities, just any brainstorming that happens in these
00:53:00 meetings and then a follow through in the next lot of reports. Kerrie, I want to go back to local laws and dog or animal infringements. Mm-hmm. Compliance and dog signage. They sort of work to me hand in hand. We just did a council community coffee... Hiya. ...chats out at Sunshine Beach. Mm-hmm. One issue that came to me quite a lot was lack of clear dog signage and I actually have spoken to Bill Anson in Local Laws about it and he expressed that it's something that we've identified as an issue but the expense, it's really expensive to get a dog signage. Can you give me an idea when that will be reviewed, or maybe Brett, whether that is identified as an area that we are going to be addressing, Kerry?
00:54:00 Speaker 9: Yes, so absolutely Phil's right. Dog signage, if we were to put up signs everywhere, it would be incredibly expensive. And they'd still be ignored. And they potentially would still be ignored. So this is where we step back to. We need to look at what is the behaviour that's the problem behaviour and look at what's actually driving that behaviour before we determine a solution. Because we absolutely have issues where people aren't following correct rules and there's signs right there. So the signage element wasn't a component of it. So this is where we really work on our education. Our education program so that people understand why they need to follow certain behaviour and then compel them to do it in other ways.
00:55:00 So rather than just blanket signage. And part of it is people understanding that unless the dog is, unless there is a specifically signed off leash area, then the dog should be on leash. And I think that's part of our messaging that probably hasn't got through well enough. Councillor Wilkie: I support the idea of a review of the signage. Sunshine Coast Council is doing this quite well I think at the moment. They've got, I've noticed new signs down in Coolum. I'm not saying we follow their example, but on the pavement. Lead by example. With our dogs on the lead. And it appears to, around Coolum especially, it appears to be working. It appears to be working. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Because I think the complaint Kerry is signage is sometimes hidden behind trees. There was one down at Sunshine Beach. And just. Were it overgrown or? Overgrown. Yeah.
00:56:00 But also just confusion. It's just not, it's not in the face. So you've got access number. Beach is open. And then you can walk down this path with a lead. You can't walk down this path without a lead. Absolutely. I think there's got to be a, just a conversation. Consistency. Oh I'm happy to take that on board and have a discussion with Bill. Councillor Jurisevic: You can't walk down any path without a lead unless it's in a dog off leash area. Councillor Lorentson: No that's not true. Councillor Jurisevic: Dogs are on a lead everywhere except for dog off leash areas. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: It's a blanket rule. Dogs on lead unless in a dog off leash area. Councillor Lorentson: So Sunshine Beach it's quite clear you can't walk down that path. Right. Unless your dog is on a lead until you get to the beach. Good. And that's where the dog off leash area begins. Yeah. But that's not made clear on any other signs along the coast. That's the only sign. Speaker 9: I'm happy to take it back. And it's always good to get a fresh perspective and how people interpret signs or etc. Yeah. So I'm really happy to take it on board and have a look at it. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And I think that's going to have an impact on animal infringements and a priority, a
00:57:00 current priority is exploring ways to achieve community satisfaction and I think that's a possible way. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Kerry I'd like to hear with regard to dog attacks. I'd like to get a little bit more feedback and maybe going back over time with regard to where they're occurring. Are they occurring in dog off leash areas? Are they occurring ... Why are they ... Are dogs getting out of yards and that sort of occurring in the neighbourhood? Are they occurring in dog off leash areas? Or are they occurring just randomly in Australia? Speaker 9: Dog attacks happen in all sorts of places and spaces. I think the ones that concern us particularly is the number that we see that happens on a footpath outside somebody's house. Because somebody's walking a dog past and the dog isn't ... Or what they've done is they've taken their dog for a walk. As they approach their home, because we're on our way home now, they take their dog off
00:58:00 their leash before they actually get inside their fence. So they might be at the neighbour's yard or whatever, take their dog off leash there and that's where we're seeing instances of dog attacks and people's responses. But I'm home. I'm at my home. Well, you're not actually inside your fence and this is where we're seeing behavioural issues. So that's an interesting one. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: By knowing where the problems are occurring, maybe that's where we can target the education Speaker 9: element. Yes. And this is certainly something I've been exploring with Phil. Do we have the ability within the data to be able to drill down and say, okay, it's this neighbourhood, it's this type of dog. So that's what we're hoping to see through better reporting is to be able to pull out and say, is it this particular dog? Because there's a lot of stereotypes out there where people say, oh, well, you shouldn't have a blue heeler because the blue heeler is going to be vicious.
00:59:00 Well, actually, the data suggests ... Fluffy for a name. Fluffy. Yeah. What is ... So it is that actually using the evidence that we have to help ... Councillor Jurisevic: That's what I'm asking, sort of putting down in that data to see where we need to facilitate change. Mayor Stewart: And the Chair and I, Joe and I, we saw ... We went to Tewantin last week and saw there's certainly opportunities to have additional spaces for dogs off leash. We saw potentially some that could be used. So maybe that's something to look at too, additional spaces for the dogs. Councillor Jurisevic: Sure. I'm a big fan of dog off leash areas being fenced. Like Brisbane is doing. Because that means that the dogs don't run uncontrolled. They've actually run within a controlled and confined space. In some areas, I think that would be beneficial. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: I'm happy to take that on board. Councillor Jurisevic: I don't mean everywhere. I think in some areas it would be beneficial. Councillor Lorentson: About when can they review areas that will allow dogs off the leash?
60 minutes in ¶
01:00:00 And I think it's in the program for the next ... Within the next two years. Yeah. So I've written a petition for Karratha's Park to be dog off leash. And that was the response. Yes, it will be considered. Yeah. But we've got to wait till the late August period, which is within two years. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, that was what I was asking with the dog attacks. Are they happening in dog off leash areas? I mean, you know. Speaker 9: Some do. Yeah. You know. I think there's a mistaken belief by some people that once a dog's in an off leash area, that they can just let their dog run wild. Whereas it's very clear you still have to have your dog under effective control. That means you need to be able to call your dog and your dog needs to either sit or come to you. So we do have some people who don't understand that and we see issues because of that. Mayor Stewart: So I'm just wondering, I'm conscious of time, just under local laws, it was 837 customer requests last quarter and this quarter we've highlighted 818.
01:01:00 What would that ... I mean, that's a lot of people calling into council. What is the majority of people calling for? Is it just general questions? Is it rates? Speaker 9: Is it ... No. So customer requests is where we're being asked to actually look at something. Mayor Stewart: So that's a lot. What's the majority of ... Barking dogs. Speaker 9: It's a whole range of things because our local laws deal with a wide range of areas. So it could be somebody with a car on the side of the road with a for sale sign on it. It could be a barking dog. It could be a complaint about signage out on a footpath. It could be an encroachment where somebody has built a structure on public land. A wide range of things. Speaker 2: So nothing stands out. Yeah. These are just calls about local rules. Yeah. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, but nothing specifically stands out in those local ...
01:02:00 Speaker 9: Oh, no. And once again, we need to get to the level of maturity where we can drill down and draw conclusions from the data, but generally it's right across the board. We will see peaks and waves. So certainly in our high tourist points, you know, when we're looking at, you know, we've got a lot of people here in town, we will get a lot more requests around parking issues. So overnight campers, you will absolutely start to see that go up. So it has peaks and troughs, but generally across the board. Councillor Lorentson: What percentage of all infringements issued actually get paid? Speaker 9: I don't have that figure on me. I'd have to get back to you on that. Some of them obviously go through the state process, penalty enforcement process. So we've got the two sets of data there.
01:03:00 Councillor Jurisevic: All right. If there's nothing further, councillors, can I have a mover to accept the report? Councillor Lotteson? I'll second it. Seconded by Councillor Wilkie. All in favour? Thank you. Thank you, Kerry. Speaker 9: Thank you for your time. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm impressed at your knowledge of waste after such a short period of time in the job, Kerry. Speaker 9: It's become a passion of mine. Now, who would have believed that I was going to say that? See? See? Mayor Stewart: It works. It works. Speaker 9: You know what I really, you know, I was so looking forward to attending my very first waste conference. Next year. We'll take you next year. Councillor Lorentson: Yes. Speaker 2: All right. Thank you. Thank you, folks. Speaker 3: Thank you. Oh, Michael's online. There he is. Speaker 2: Hey, Michael. How are you? Good day. Good. Councillor Jurisevic: Questions for Michael or with regard to the report?
01:04:00 Mayor Stewart: Michael, I've just got a quick question. It's on page 28 in regard to business as usual activities. Speaker 2: Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Yep. Mayor Stewart: Yep. Supporting staff working at home during COVID-19 and Brett you've talked about a lot about how some you know for the introverts they've loved it the extroverts they've really struggled um going forward what is the plan to sort of I guess get staff back to work or potentially if they say hey we're really happy with this setup we want to remain at home I mean we're starting to see a trickle you know it's getting busier than it was a few months ago here in council so what's the what's the plan or do we have a plan in that regard yeah i might answer that we Speaker 2: were starting to bring each area developing a plan to bring staff back slowly um we actually put that on hold a couple of weeks ago with what's happening in victoria right um it could be silly to ramp up and then ramp down again yeah have a bit of watching brief so to speak
01:05:00 um what we've also said for each of our areas is that um we're going to be flexible there's a lot of staff who are actually more efficient working from home they're actually higher productivity and it really depends on two things one is the nature of a person some people like just to be left alone other people need to bounce ideas back and forth and the second is the nature of the role some roles are actually you know good just to have that quiet time of work on them and others you do need to you know what do you think about this or whatever it might be so um we're doing that at what I call a local level each department each branch is just working through what's going to work best for them but we have flexibility we're going to be encouraging flexibility from how people work it's about how the job gets done not necessarily you'll sit on that desk to make food at 4 30 whatever it might be so taking a very pragmatic approach to that and that experience that we're having here is reflected across the state when I talk to other councils they're finding the same thing is that in some
01:06:00 areas productivity has gone up others have come down a bit depending on the nature of the person Councillor Jurisevic: well being flexible in the workplace is obviously you know can produce efficiencies but there's other benefits of course for the staff not having to travel to and from but also takes a bit of the burden off our road system and our parking areas as well so one of the good things that Speaker 2: a few michael and ict guys applied here is that we our systems enable us to have these choices but we also got to be careful that you know we didn't have hundreds of laptops sitting around when we shut down and some staff took their pcs home so it was difficult for them just to say well i'm going to come back to work two days a week and work from home three days a week so we're just going to have to work that through as i said we we're not rushing it we're just going to do it in a very cautious and sensible way to look at how we Councillor Lorentson: can we can optimize that work pattern and another opportunity i see is that when there are vacancies we've just opened our pool of potential applicants and there's probably a lot of
01:07:00 applicants out there who do need to stay home a couple of days a week um with their kids so um Speaker 2: opportunity there i think yeah i think it was pretty hard for when we had the homeschooling that was tough for all of us we were trying to juggle that and work and so on so that was a very um difficult period and i hope we don't go back there it's a watching brief Councillor Lorentson: michael can i ask a question um on page 26 and on page 28 recruitment process for new procurement and contracts advisor and on page 26 recruitment of two vacant positions within the financial services um my question is um are they new positions or we're just filling existing positions that have been vacated budgeted positions okay so we're the ones we're not putting on any new positions that aren't approved in the budget yep okay okay so they're two new budgeted
01:08:00 Speaker 6: positions that no they're not new positions they're included in the structure in the fte and they're budgeted they're vacant positions oh okay Councillor Wilkie: page 27 michael under ict security under current priorities eliminating vulnerabilities found by external review are you able to elaborate on what they are will that be giving too much away Speaker 6: um Councillor Wilkie: there was um as part of our normal processes around ict security we had an external firm do a vulnerability assessment which is in the briefing note in the um sorry the report there um there were um three generally three areas that they targeted one was um effectively the internet so any services we have that are exposed to the internet
01:09:00 Speaker 6: um the second area that looked at was our wireless network um and the third area they looked at was our internal network so there was three areas they looked at um the generally they found with our um internet services that they didn't find any vulnerabilities there which was good um each there is examples um you know our event calendar that's exposed to the public our cemeteries website so they didn't find any vulnerabilities there um they did find one issue regarding um an nbn router at the police beat at basic street which had the potential that it could be exploited if it was um potentially um um hacked so to speak but that's now being addressed so there's no issue remaining there and that was the So that was just software that hadn't been updated.
01:10:00 As you can appreciate, if software is not kept up to date, then there is the potential Speaker 6: of weaknesses being exploited by hackers and so on. Councillor Wilkie: Is that somehow linked to the council network, Michael, the police beat? Speaker 6: Yeah, so the equipment there is on council infrastructure, yes. Because council, the CCTV system there is on council, is council's assets. And yeah, so we look after that network. Speaker 6: The wireless network itself, they basically found there our staff access was pretty secure in terms of log on. So we have log on requirements for all of staff access to our wireless network. They did find that there were a couple of printers that didn't have passwords on which a malicious user could access.
01:11:00 So that's, again, they've been closed off, relatively minor things there. Internal network, that they basically connected to our internal network using a cable. So they sat in the office and looked at our internal network. We did find a few issues there that we need to address, mainly around access to the servers and some PCs. And that was through a Microsoft vulnerability that they detected. So that's now, we're dealing with that through, again, it's updating some software. And they did find some other things as well, just around some default passwords were being used with some of our equipment, which we now, we need to address. They found some weaknesses with their employee passwords being reused. So as you can appreciate, if there's a problem with that, we need to address that as well. If you use, say, Noosa123, and then your password needs to be changed, Noosa1234, that's
01:12:00 the type of thing where it can be a hacker can or software that's out there to crack passwords. That's easier to crack than a passphrase. And again, just some internal systems that were missing some upgrade patches, which we've now addressed. And the other weakness that we need to address, and this is more of a human issue, is staff saving sharing passwords in documents and emails on Council's drive. So that's potentially a risk as well that we need to address through our internal education programs. So look, generally, whilst there's always room for improvement in terms of major risks, Speaker 6: I think we're doing pretty well in that space. Councillor Jurisevic: What about with staff working from home, Michael? Does that add any additional security risk? Speaker 6: Generally, not, Joe, given that a lot of our systems are password protected.
01:13:00 And we have things like Technology One have security requirements. So look, there's no particular risk of, I'm not saying there isn't any risk, but in terms of hacking our systems, there isn't. Provided staff are working from home, there isn't any security risk. So if staff maintain good, strong passwords and don't share them, and don't click on Speaker 6: malicious emails that come through, then we have a fairly secure system. Speaker 2: This risk, cyber security, is a major risk for all Councils. I'm aware of other Councils who have been hacked. There's One Out West, which is six or eight months later still trying to put their database in place. And we do have attacks on a regular basis. There's a number of cases here that Justin and the team deflect. I had one. Someone tried to attack my email address while I was on holiday.
01:14:00 So someone has dialed in and tried to brute force my password. Councillor Jurisevic: I guess the smaller Councils with less funding are the ones that are more vulnerable. Speaker 2: So the good thing is we test. We get external experts in to make sure we're up to speed. If we've got any issues, we find them first. Councillor Wilkie: It's a very proactive regime. We've got Michael. You used to conduct, and I don't know if you still do, where you'd send fake emails to staff. I got caught out by a very official looking one. I clicked on it and found that I'd been scammed and had to do some training. Are you still doing that program? Are you still, and how many staff are you catching out clicking on these bogus emails? Speaker 6: Yeah, we did one a few weeks ago. And we had a little bit of issue with that. It was a little bit tweaked. It was tweaked a bit too much in terms of trying to identify where staff had clicked
75 minutes in ¶
01:15:00 on things. So I think it had almost every staff member failing, which we knew couldn't be right. Because I was on there as failing, and I knew that just doesn't happen. I hope. But yeah, look, that's, we're about to get there. Let's roll out another one. But generally, you know, our feedback from the security consultants is you're always going to have an element of risk around that, because the fraudsters get better and better at those emails. And it could be how your staff and us as individuals are looking at them as well. Like, if you look at an email on a phone, it could look a bit different to one on your desktop. Yeah, absolutely. So it's really just, you know, we're trying to educate our staff to be if in doubt, if in doubt, just send it to IT and they'll check it and see if it's valid. But there's also things as well now with a bit of smarts in our email system regarding
01:16:00 Speaker 6: if, for instance, if an email has a BSB or an account number, it flags a message for you to say, look, this is a potentially a malicious or fictitious email. And you might want to look at it in a bit more detail or contact IT. So look, it's, yeah, it's an ongoing education process. And usually we do it monthly or a bit, you know, every six weeks or so we do a phishing exercise. Mayor Stewart: Oh, sorry. Speaker 10: I've got a different topic. I'm happy with that. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, OK. Michael, I've got just a question about the rates. Obviously, that was a big issue for us in the budget. And the issue of the July 2020 rate levy. How are we looking? How are the trends looking for that? You know, are people paying their rates? Are they deferring? What's happening in that regard? Speaker 6: Yeah, Clare, we're getting a, in terms of payment, payments coming through, I checked
01:17:00 with Kelly a few days ago and we were about 2% below sort of, sort of last, the last rate run in terms of payments coming through. So, you know, there's a lot of, you know, people progressively paying, because some Speaker 6: people just like to pay their rates. You know, it's just how people are. They like to pay their bills when they receive it rather than when they're due. We have noticed a bit of an increase in arrangements to pay, but so far so good in terms of it's not potentially impacting on our, our cash flows and, and so on. So, look, I think over the next few weeks we'll probably see that, that trend will play out a bit more on both of those fronts in terms of payments flowing through and, you Speaker 6: know, what sort of rate arrears could we potentially be looking at. And that's. Councillor Jurisevic: I mean, that is a, that, that. Speaker 6: A million dollar question for part of the pun in terms of, you know, what does it mean for our cash flows and so on.
01:18:00 Yeah. And what's, what's the level of hurt out in the community around the, you know, their ability to pay their rates. Councillor Jurisevic: I'd say it's an element, an element of a litmus test there to see how, how the community are coping through the COVID situation. Speaker 2: Michael, we'll probably know better about a week after the 60 day period, won't we? That'll be the, the best time. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Yep. On a different subject. The rent waiver provisions, Michael. I note on page 30 that council is going to develop an approach and framework for rent waiver provisions in accordance with the federal government's code of conduct and Queensland government regulations. I had a look at that mandatory code of conduct and it looks pretty fair to me. Yeah. And pretty good. Are we going to actually adopt that mandatory code or are we going to change it a bit? Speaker 6: Yeah. Look, we've, we've used that as a base and look, it is, it's all about fairness, isn't
01:19:00 it? It is. Amelia, in terms of, you know. Case by case. Absolutely. Giving the maximum amount of relief we can, provided of course the business or the operator can, you know, demonstrate the pain they're in. And that's where we are currently, you know, it's a one-on-one thing. We're, we're working with each one of our LSEs and so on to, to understand their position and, and provide, you know, generally provide that relief and then review it. So we'll probably look at a six month type release period and then, and do a review then. So it's, it's not too onerous on both parties as well to, to be able to do that assessment Councillor Lorentson: because there is a bit of work involved in that as well, so. So rent waiver and rent deferral is the preferred option than 100% rent relief. Is that the path we're going to take in keeping with the mandatory code of conduct, Michael? Speaker 6: Yes. It's all about, it's not wavering.
01:20:00 It's about providing that relief and then based on obviously impact on their turnover. Yeah. And so on. And then, yeah, it's, you can see sort of in those provisions there's a bit of a staged approach to. There is, yeah. To, to what relief they, they get provided. Councillor Lorentson: So, yeah, we're definitely running down that path and. Speaker 6: And do you expect to. It's all in your mind at the moment. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. And do you expect to receive more rent relief requests from our tenants? Speaker 6: Yeah, we are. We've seen that. Yeah. We've seen that already. So, and there is, just from the couple of conversations I've had with the team, there's, you know, there is some pretty severe impacts out there. There is. Councillor Lorentson: Retail and hospitality. Yeah. Huge. Yeah, there is. People are in a lot of pain. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: It's amazing how some businesses. Speaker 6: Obviously we budgeted for that. So, where we can provide that relief, it's, you know, we factored that into our bottom line already, which is good. So, the property, property is on to it.
01:21:00 Councillor Jurisevic: It's amazing how businesses, some businesses continue to prosper. Even more so in this environment. Yeah. And others, and others have been. Yeah. The up and down of this is just, is just really hard to, to, to get your head around. Mayor Stewart: It's the great divide. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: The challenge, the challenge, the challenge of COVID on, on a business, on council business activities. Here we go. Speaker 1: Yeah. So, normally I don't really do much of an update. It's generally just taking questions that you'd want me to run through a few things, or how would you like to structure it? Councillor Wilkie: The key points according to your cell phone. Speaker 1: Yeah. Sure. So. Councillor Jurisevic: How, how have we been tapping out there? Yeah. How the, how the holiday parks are tending to, to business? What the, what the level of activity is at the moment? So. Speaker 1: Yeah. So, this report is for the financial year that's finished, obviously.
01:22:00 Can I hear who's speaking? Speaker 8: I can't hear who's speaking. It's Robin. Councillor Jurisevic: It's Robin Mercer. Speaker 2: Can you hear her? Speaker 1: Thank you. Speaker 2: Yep. Speaker 1: Yeah. So, this report is focused on the financial year just completed. The largest impact period to probably talk to is from March through to the end of financial year, for obvious reasons. On March 26th, we followed the Queensland Health Directive and closed Boring Point and North Shore Campgrounds, and we reduced Noosa River to just essential travellers only, which was about 10 to 12 guests. So, people that had no fixed address or international travellers that were waiting to get home. And then we reopened on the 12th of June, again, in accordance with Queensland Health Directives. Following closure, we focused on getting COVID safe operational planning up and running and documented and figuring out what materials were needed to be purchased, working with managers. We also undertook expense assessment and cost rationalisation to try and keep the
01:23:00 overheads down during the closure period. And since reopening, things have gone well. We took a really conservative approach of opening with a very low occupancy in place, around 40% for all of the parks, and that was identified as one of the key control measures to be COVID safe initially, because you can just spread people around the park. And then from there, we did risk audits and gradually increased each park to about 80% occupancy, which is where we're currently at. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, I imagine the people in their own van are fairly well self-isolated anyway. It's only those communal areas or... Speaker 1: Correct. Yeah. And that was, in terms of operational planning and COVID safe planning, it was figuring out the communal areas. So, every second shower, every second toilet was shut off, hand sanitizers up everywhere, decals on the floor. We moved to, instead of people checking in and filling out paperwork there, it all shifted
01:24:00 online, and they actually had to do an online check-in. So, there's minimal contact. We moved to cashless as well. Did that present a challenge for many people? Councillor Jurisevic: Pardon? Did that present a challenge for many people? People on the road are pretty much tech savvy. Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. I did a few dummy bookings myself, and actually, over the holidays, stayed at Boring Point and North Shore just to have the COVID safe experience, took my kids. And so, I did that process myself and found it fairly straightforward. But it's a great capture of health information, traveller information, for contract tracing purposes, and just getting that all within a cloud-based system. Yeah, it's much better than paper. Councillor Jurisevic: I imagine there's an element of education in there also, in making sure that people are aware of what the current conditions are when they enter a... Speaker 1: Yeah, it sets the tone. And there's also terms and conditions that people have to follow. They have to comply with... So, it really sets the tone of what we expect from a guest at the campground. They can't come if they're unwell.
01:25:00 They can't come from a hotspot. It makes it front and centre. Mayor Stewart: I was just going to say, Robyn, talking about the 80%. Yeah. Last page of this report says, if COVID restrictions continue to ease, and obviously, Queensland we're doing so well. Yeah. Council will consider increasing current occupancy limits. So, what are we looking at for that? Are we looking at then to 90, to 85, to 100? Speaker 1: I think probably the next step would be to 90 or 100. Yeah. From my perspective, and in talks with the task force, we're waiting for that 14-day period from the border closure on Saturday. I think that's probably a key marker. So, we'll wait 14 days from there, see what the case levels are like, and see if there's any transmission occurring within Queensland. Mayor Stewart: So, September school holidays could potentially be... Speaker 1: Potentially, yeah. I mean, it's the year where nothing's certain, but that's definitely on the table of what we're working towards. We're just conscious that if we do that, we need to have a ramp down or a callback program in place. Yeah.
01:26:00 Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: With 80% being the limit, are we running, are each of them at full occupancy at 80%? Or have we got, like, pouring point typically doesn't run at that 80%? Speaker 1: Correct. Yeah. So, the Noosa River, which typically operates up around the 98%, they're running at that 80% limit. Councillor Lorentson: I must say, this morning, it was great. Always interesting. It was like school holidays. Yeah. Speaker 1: They run a strong occupancy all year round. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. It's good. Councillor Lorentson: It's good. Speaker 1: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: And so, North Shore and Boring Point are running less than capacity? They are. Speaker 1: Yeah. I think Boring Point for the month of July ran at about 70%. So, we have seen some strong numbers. Oh, that's cool. Yeah. There is high demand, too, because people are limited in where they can go. Absolutely. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: And the North Shore, obviously, has had an upgrade. Are you getting much feedback from the regulars there about how they're doing? Speaker 1: Yeah. All really positive. Yeah. Very much so. Yeah. The new bathrooms. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: They looked at facilities not long after they were done. Speaker 1: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: First class.
01:27:00 Yeah. Absolutely first rate. Speaker 1: They're excellent. Yeah. And we also took the opportunity while the campground was closed to do some levelling and put a sneak a few more sites in, in places, to try and get our inventory levels up. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: What is the number of maximum sites at North Shore now? Speaker 1: North Shore, there are 42 powered sites. Yeah. And, I mean, unpowered sort of free range, but you're probably looking at around 45. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Thank you. On page 36, Robert, under opportunities. Yeah. You write, an invitation to quote has been issued for a new brand development initiative. There's a phase of broader marketing project which seeks to capitalise on emerging opportunities. Can you explain that a little bit? Speaker 1: Sure. So, pre-COVID, we'd started to look at revising the website and also doing some rebranding. And that sort of got paused a little, and now we're revisiting that. So, it's probably timely just for the caravan parks.
01:28:00 Yeah. To get a bit of a fresher, more modern branding and positioning outlook. So, we've gone to market to basically get new logos, clear messaging of the value propositions, and then that will feed through to the new website platform that's being developed. Councillor Jurisevic: So, Central and Coast do a pretty good job with their holiday fraction. How's Central and Coast holiday? Yeah. Speaker 1: Or, Holiday Haven as well, down around Jarvis Bay there. They do a good job as well. Yeah. Lovely. Councillor Jurisevic: And that puts them all under one banner. Someone knows they've come to the one banner they've got. Yeah. Speaker 1: So, we'll retain Noosa Holiday Parks as the umbrella brand. Yeah. Yeah. And probably not have different logos for each of them. Maybe just a different colour or some sort of tweaking, but we'll definitely maintain that umbrella brand. Councillor Jurisevic: That seems to be the general consensus of the industry as a whole. I mean, they're all coming under an umbrella. Yeah. Speaker 1: There's a reason. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Speaker 1: There's a reason why local governments keep it like that. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: So, keep in touch with us. Speaker 1: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Anything further?
01:29:00 Happy to move it. Moved. Councillor Wilkie, seconder. Councillor Stewart. Thanks, Robyn. All in favour? Thank you, Robyn. Great. Thanks, everyone. Thanks, Robyn. Speaker 1: See you later. Councillor Jurisevic: Item six on the agenda, the Executive Services Department update. Welcome, Deb. Speaker 7: Hello, everyone. Hi, Deb. Councillor Wilkie: Deb, we were talking before about staff working from home. Is there a general percentage number of that, a number of staff who are still choosing to work from home or who are back? Speaker 7: Every department functions a little bit different. Each of the branches were asked to develop their recovery plan. Which looked at what arrangements were working, either working from home or bringing, starting to phase people back into the office. So, they are all a little bit different. We did say with the current situation with COVID and with Queensland closing its borders and that, it would just go slowly, slowly because you don't want to then bring people back into the workplace and then have to take them out again.
90 minutes in ¶
01:30:00 So, it varies. Councillor, it varies. So, I couldn't tell you an exact percentage. You can see from this building, though, that on the particular days, there's more in than not. So, you know, in our own department, you're probably looking at around about 70, in my department, probably about 60% working from home at any one time. Customer service staff, of course, are in the building, but the others are staggered. Councillor Wilkie: And the staff that can, can they choose whether they come in or not? Speaker 7: They don't just choose. They work with their manager about. What's an appropriate arrangement? Because you've got to make sure you've got coverage and availability all the time. So, it might be that physically in the office, they do need someone if there's a particular day where we need to do some filming, for example, in community engagement. But at other times, you can have staff working from home and it's a roster arrangement. It's really common. That's what seems to work. The other thing is that too, with staff working from home, staff have taken some of their
01:31:00 computers home. So, when you then come back into the office, there aren't the workstations there. So, you have to factor that in as well. Councillor Jurisevic: I know a number of staff are coming in on the days when there are meetings scheduled and they'll spend the day in the office on those meeting days, but other days they'll . Speaker 7: It's really important when you've got to collaborate and that's something that we've all had to fight, you know, after COVID going forward because it was a bit of a steep learning curve. It just happened and we all had to adjust, but we were lucky that we were able to do it with the cloud-based systems and everything. So, yeah. Deb, can I ask a question? Sure. Mayor Stewart: It's on page 40. It's about the business as usual activities. Yeah. It says the current priorities are creation of a council-wide litigation tracker, identifying all legal cases that council is currently engaged in for CEO consideration. Speaker 7: Page 40. Mayor Stewart: Page 40. Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. I've got it. Yes. Is that up and running?
01:32:00 No. We're looking at it at the moment. It's something that we were asked to do so that we can actually coordinate across council. We haven't finished that. We've been asked to prepare to do that. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Do you have a timeframe on that one? Speaker 7: No. I don't at this point, but I can easily provide that information outside of this meeting and get back to you on that. Mayor Stewart: I think that would be so valuable, not only for our council, but it would also be good to compare to other councils and see where we're at in regard to litigation and other councils are as well. Speaker 7: Yeah. We need to coordinate with the other departments. We have previously looked at, and I've previously prepared a report to the Audit and Risk Committee on our expenses, legal expenses across council, because we can pick that up from our cost centre coding. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It'll just mean that we just need to make contact with the departments. Yeah. I'd expect probably about eight weeks or so. Yeah. Okay. But I can come back to you on that.
01:33:00 Thanks. Thank you, Deb. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, to follow on from that, I'm assuming that every one of our insurance claims gets looked at and the risk assessed and whatever the nature of the cause potentially there has a reduced wherever possible. Speaker 7: Yeah. And this litigation, just for your information, is not just about insurance claims. We have litigation across a number of issues, a number of fronts, so it's really about pulling that together so we can get a clearer picture of that. We don't have an in-house legal service, so we do rely on external services, so that way. So that was also part of it, to get a picture about how much and the reliance on external providers that way. Councillor Lorentson: And Deb, is there an opportunity for an in-house lawyer? I know that Wake Sykes Field is about to retire, and I know we've identified some great employees down in Brisbane, but Richard? Yeah. The conversation's got to be had on an economic, for economic reasons, and just the practicality to have a planning and environment specialist working in-house.
01:34:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I was going to say, you're looking for a job before you. Councillor Lorentson: Sorry? Possibly. I'll make a lot more money than children. But serious, dealing with all seriousness, is that something that council gives some consideration to? Speaker 7: Well, I know the CEO is looking at this matter. We have, again, referring to that report to the Audit and Risk Committee, looked at what we were sending on legal services. And when you sort of try to balance that, you're probably coming close to whether or not we should have an in-house service because of the cost. However, having said that, given the variety of the legal, of the litigation, that, you know, you probably have more of a generalist if you're looking at an in-house. Yeah, and then, so if you need specialist advice, you have to go external. Anyway, in years gone by, we did have in-house.
01:35:00 We did have in-house, but I know that's something that the CEO is looking at. Councillor Lorentson: I think we're, we're, um, conversations. We had that conversation a little while back, actually. Speaker 2: And one of the things about legal costs, a lot of our legal costs aren't actually, I'll call them lawyer costs, but they're experts and specialists and things like that. Yeah, true sense, yeah. Um, so it's really about what would we spend if we had a, on a, on a solicitor for one of the appraised and paid it out in the legal costs and stuff like that. And the second is that, um, how do you get the best bang for the buck? You want to get a specialist who does nothing but planning an environment court, for example, but then all the other stuff goes to a couple of lawyers, you know, invading and leasing and, you know, prosecutions, whatever it might be. Or you get a generalist who can do a lot of that basic stuff, but then oversee to make sure we're getting good value for money on the, on the specialist court that we have to do. So that, that is probably the model that we're looking at. Mayor Stewart: Great, yeah, it's a broad, it's a big span. I mean, you've got planning environment, you're industrial, you've got governance, I mean, yeah, no, it's going to be a real general, yeah, yeah, sure, yeah, lawyer.
01:36:00 Councillor Lorentson: Um, Deb, mental health impacts of COVID on workers' compensation claims, um, has there been any COVID related claims lodged? Um, not that I'm aware of. Is that something that's potentially a risk if this COVID, um, situation escalates? Speaker 7: It is, it is potentially a risk. However, what I would say is we recently did a pulse survey where we went out and asked our staff how they, how they were impacted, how they were travelling, were they getting the support they needed and the communication and information they needed, and the response was actually very positive. So people are actually in a good place. However, having said that, they have said that their health is still a top priority. Um, the issues around the economic impacts are also a priority at the moment, they're travelling okay, so depending on how long this goes for and how people then react, you know, you know, with a longer timeframe to it, um, there may be a change, but we are, what we are doing is following through with some further surveys, some quick, short surveys, cold and pulse surveys, um, to keep a, to keep, um, a track of that.
01:37:00 And we've got some really good resources that we offer, um, on our, um, intranet site, we call it the wellness project. Oh, okay, so, so yeah, at the moment, everyone's travelling pretty well, um, but it is something that we're keeping our eye on, so. Councillor Lorentson: And so the psychological injury is treated the same as normal psychological injury, whether it's COVID related or not? Speaker 7: It would probably come out more as, uh, a stress type matter, uh, a stress type matter, but as I said at the moment, we haven't had one. Councillor Lorentson: So that wellness program is critical in engaging in sort of, in sort of, managing that too. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, I'd assume a lot of that, a lot of that could be, you know, family impacts of, uh, partners being impacted while we're doing work situations, children, children having to work, uh, study at home, and all of those sort of things. Speaker 2: Just a quick, a couple of them that we've had a chance to go into our internet of internal work, and actually there you've got, I mean, it'll take you to all the different areas of the wellness project that we're having a look at.
01:38:00 Councillor Lorentson: I've spoken to one of the staff that was making random phone calls to, um, and explained a little bit about the wellness program, and brilliant, just a brilliant program, yeah. Mayor Stewart: Deb, my question's not dissimilar to that sort of track. The mentoring program and the young employees program, I know that, I know they've both been put on hold, I mean, bearing in mind that there certainly are for our youth and, um, our young employees, you know, COVID has an impact and, and the mental health can't be underestimated, um, when are we likely to see some of those programs being able to be re-engaged? Speaker 7: Um, timing, timing, timing is difficult, um, with, when we can actually rel, sort of have a softening of the social distancing will be really helpful, because even though we might be able to maintain social differencing, distancing, some people don't feel comfortable coming into meetings or in environments where there are other people, so we have to recognise that.
01:39:00 Um, we will be picking these programs up again, because they are really important programs, um, I was also going to inform you, we have a new people and culture manager now, his name is Brent Stephens, he's only started, been in the, on, on board. Oh, he's lovely. On my list of questions. Yeah, for, for about a week and a half, and he still keeps coming back, which is really reassuring, so, to work each day, so, um, that's, that's one of the things on his list to, to reinvigorate that and touch base, but as I said, some people still don't feel very comfortable about coming back and having close interactions, but that's something, and, and we're still running some things, for example, our local government, our Teams Challenge recently, which has some young people on that team. That was, that was an interesting exercise as well. Yeah, yeah, so, so, there is still some stuff happening, but we, we do need to pick that up again, so. Councillor Jurisevic: It's a bit, a bit hard to mentor someone and sort of come home with me, because I'm working from home today. No, no. Yeah, that doesn't quite work, does it? Speaker 7: Yeah, it's not a good look, Jo. No, no, we wouldn't do that. We wouldn't do that.
01:40:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Deb, I've got one silly one. Sure. Page 40, I love, I love three-letter acronyms, but I couldn't work out ELC under Governance and Risk Management. Speaker 7: Oh. Councillor Jurisevic: What, what, what did I, what, what can't I calculate there? Speaker 7: The, the leadership team, the, the leadership team, the executive leadership team. I'm sitting there scratching my head going, what have I missed? There you go, something simple, I knew it was something simple, I just couldn't remember what it was. It's often now just called ET, but, yeah, it was executive leadership team. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah, is there anything for you? Ah, yeah, page 40, the six administrative action complaints, just to clarify, they usually occur when a, a, a resident or a ratepayer is unhappy with the decision made on an operational level or a way a matter, matter is handled, is that generally what they're about? Speaker 7: Ah, it's when we receive a complaint and action's been taken to try and resolve that complaint and the person may not be happy with that and ask for a review. And in our policy, we have a, a, a tiered approach to it where then it'll get further reviewed by, often, if it's a, if it's a complaint that's come in and been addressed by a staff member, that may get reviewed by the manager of the area.
01:41:00 If it still escalates and they're still not happy or it could then go to a higher level and it might go to a director level or myself, it's usually two to three tiers, but, um, yeah, administrative action complaints. Councillor Wilkie: And then if, if, if they're still unhappy, it can be escalated to, what, an ombudsman or, yeah. Speaker 7: Yeah, that's right, that's right. And, um, we're very conscious of that, so we do put a lot of effort into, into those reviews because, um, we do know that if they do, were to go to the ombudsman, um, the ombudsman would then contact council and, and ask us for how we have responded as well and we have to show due diligence that way in how we've handled the matter. Councillor Wilkie: And you've, it's great that you've mentioned, um, the trend, like, you know, how it compares to last quarter for right to information applications and the administrative complaints, but just generally, you mentioned there were six administrative complaints last quarter, how many are, are there each quarter?
01:42:00 I mean, there was three the quarter before, six this quarter. Speaker 7: Yeah, it can, it can vary, like, we have noticed an increase in our, and, and in our complaints. Generally, um, um, it, particularly at a time when we have a new council, we have with the planning scheme and a number of controversial type issues, and we've also noticed, um, an increase, and it might be that people have a little bit more time to focus on what's important to them at the moment, um, uh, with COVID as well. So, um, normally sit around the, you know, just the three, but, but the six, it's not unusual depending on what's happening within council. Speaker 2: I mean, across Queensland, I'll trust there's a council at the moment, like some of my colleagues, and everyone else has said the same thing, they've noticed there's a kick up in the number of complaints, I mean, I don't know the reason, but it might be that people have more time to think or see things differently, a little bit more anxiously. A little bit more anxiously, more frustrated. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah. Mayor Stewart: Yeah.
01:43:00 And similarly for RTIs, there's been an increase of 100%. Speaker 7: Oh, hmm. Yeah, we're only just managing that. Yeah. On some of the more complex ones, we have to get some, um, assistance from, um, legal who specialise in this area, but, um, we're, yeah, we are managing it, but they're increasing as well. Councillor Lorentson: Um, Human Rights Act, can we have just a quick conversation about that? It came into effect January 2020, um, my first question is, um, what's our, what's local council's role, what's it required to do with the Act? Speaker 7: Um, well, the Act covers, um, there's a, there's approximately 21 or 22 areas under the Act, um, that we have to be aware of. Um, it's really about, um, when council is making decisions, that we have to consider human rights, and it might be things like disabled access. It might be things like, um. When we procure goods and services, that we do through, do that through suppliers that, um, don't use slave labour, for example, you know, overseas or whatever.
01:44:00 So, there's, there's about 21 or 22 areas. Um, we have recently just been, um, or we're in the process of being audited by the Human Rights Commission to, to look at how council has responded and what we're doing. And, um, for example, we did training earlier in the year, um, on human rights. We've done a review of all of our policies, which we'll be further coming to council with to look at what, um, we need to do in our policies to make sure we comply. Um, so, um, there's a number of things that we need to do to be able to, to, I suppose, meet the, um, objectives. And it really comes back down to that when we're making the decisions that we consider the human rights, those 21 or 22 areas. Not all of them will apply in our decision making. But it's being aware. Councillor Lorentson: So... Did I answer that well enough for you?
105 minutes in ¶
01:45:00 Yeah, you did. Um, so, so I went through it and just had a look at a couple of the protections. And one of them is our right to freedom and association. So, I thought, you know, how is that applicable? Um, our response is to COVID. I thought what's happening in Melbourne, um, is that, you know, can it be challenged that that response down in Melbourne may unjustifiably limit, you know, our human rights? And if, if it can be challenged, what are the repercussions? Like, what happens if you're in breach of one of these human rights? Um, do you get compensation? Um... There's a state, there's a state... Mm. State, yeah, yeah. Mm. Doesn't apply. But I, but I'm using, but I'm using that example that if we go into shutdown, um, we potentially... Speaker 2: Well, the good news is that it's not our decision to go into shutdown. It's the state government. State decision. So we have to deal with that as part of that process. Yep. Um, it only applies or only affects our decisions we might make. Mm. Um, if there's a state health directive, we would be covered by that.
01:46:00 So I don't think that would give us any concern as a local government. Yep. If it's something the state government might have to consider in terms of how and when they make their decision. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. And property rights? That was another one that I had a look at. That, um, restrictions on uses of property rights. Um, again, we must act to make decisions with, which are compatible with those rights. So they're the sort of considerations we now have to think about, um, not being in breach of... Mm. ...those rights when we look at planning legislation. Speaker 2: Well, a good example of that might be if we ever wanted to do resumption of land. So that's an example where you have to have a project. How do you make a decision? I'll turn to this other one. I'm taking someone's land. So, you know, was there another way of... Yeah. ...disposing or depriving someone of that land? Yeah. Yeah. When you go through a process... Yeah. ...continue to use that land. Is there another alternative? If there's not, then you might be able to go down the acquisition of land, that process.
01:47:00 But you have to think of that beforehand, before you go through that process, rather than just going straight there. That might be an example of a land right. Councillor Lorentson: Fantastic. So it just enshrines or gives further protections to residents. Speaker 7: And it's very new. It's very new. Yeah. So... And I think it's... If you look to the intent of what it's trying to achieve, like, you know, some of those questions I couldn't have answered, so I'm very glad the CEO's been able to respond to that. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Because I'm just thinking, how do we apply this in just everyday council life? Yeah. Speaker 2: I mean, we've done a lot of staff training for the super managers about, you know, if this is here, and what it might mean. But I think it'll take a few years to... Really get your... Councillor Jurisevic: I think we had that conversation when it was first mooted as to how we were going to... Yeah. That's what I... We were trying to get our heads around what the implications were. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Yeah. And we've done a lot of stuff that what does it actually mean to us? Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 2: They're very welcome in practice. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So in answer to the question, is there any one example that comes to mind about how it will change the way council does things currently?
01:48:00 Yeah. IR recruitment? Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. In the recruitment area, it's about being very careful about not being discriminatory and, you know, biased. Councillor Wilkie: There are policies about that already, I think. Speaker 7: There are. And there's the discriminate... Like, there is. There is. Yeah. There's a Discrimination Act, et cetera. And we, in our own policies, look at those sorts of biases and discrimination as well. But it does take it to another level. Speaker 2: Yeah. So it does, you know, I think what it does is give people who agree that it's different out here. So if you currently have an agreement on an industrial relations matter, you go off to the, you know, the... The IRC. The IRC. The IRC. But this might give you... And that's a fairly high threshold rate until you get to that point. This might give you an easier and lower threshold to be able to take a complaint on that you're discriminating against, or even likely to be discriminated against, even though you're through an industrial right to be discriminated against. So it probably gives people much more capacity or more options. And probably a slightly lower threshold to be able to go for it.
01:49:00 Speaker 7: And the Commission does administer the Discrimination Act as well, and that's often the course that if people do go to the Commission because they feel that they've been discriminated against in an employment process, it's on the basis of the contravening the Discrimination Act. And the Commission has a role to play to help to try and conciliate some sort of suitable outcome. But however the person can choose not to go to the Commission, they can choose to pursue it through legal avenues, through a court system, et cetera, or to the Commission. So there's some different pathways there as well. Councillor Wilkie: So you said it's state legislation, then? Yeah. Speaker 7: The Discrimination Act is, yes. Councillor Wilkie: Is it in effect in other states? Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. Most of the states have similar types of legislation. At a federal level as well? Oh, gee. Councillor Wilkie: An overarching? I don't know. Speaker 7: I don't know. Yeah. I can't tell you that. There's normally a suite of legislation, and it probably covered, like, the used to, the legislation used to have about, probably about eight or ten acts that, when you bundled them
01:50:00 together, looked at the discrimination aspect of it. But I can tell you now, from the Queensland point of view, that the Queensland Discrimination Act covers, picks up most of that now. Councillor Wilkie: Mm-hmm. You mentioned the Your Save, the Your Save portal's been upgraded. Mm. What's the most noticeable change there? Speaker 7: What's the most noticeable improvement? Oh, gee. I can't, I'm sorry. I can't tell you the specific thing, the specifics of it, other than to say that the, I'm sorry. I have to come back to you on that. I'm sorry. I know that the, one of the reasons, like, we pay for that service, and it allows us to, yes, it's a portal to allow people to have comment on, the community to have comment on, and we can put all our documents there. But I think it's improving in the functionality. But I'd have to come back to you on what areas. So I can, I can come back on that. I'll just sketch it. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Nothing further? All good. Thanks. All good. Thanks, John.
01:51:00 Thanks, Amelia. Okay. Cigna. Thanks, Claire. All in favour? Thanks, Deb. Thanks, Deb. Thank you. And we move on to item seven, capital program delivery status. Actual expenditure, 25.9 million. Committed expenditure, 4.8. Is that? Because the committed expenditure isn't included in the full year budgeted spend, only achieving 84% as opposed to our target of 90. Is that because that then is a rollover into the following year? Speaker 4: Yeah. I guess it's essentially purchase orders that are being created. And for work to be done.
01:52:00 Councillor Jurisevic: But work not completed before the end of financial year and invoiced. Speaker 4: That's correct. And they'll come into the budget review process in BR1 at the general. That was it? No. Next month. Yep. Councillor Wilkie: Sorry, Frank. You had something? I just had a, just hoping you can help me understand what I'm looking at on, say, on page 52, the system of the red crosses and the green ticks. Oh, yeah. Sure. So, just to take Orealla Crescent overpass refurbishment as an example. What does the red cross mean in that case? Speaker 4: It means that the budget's been exceeded. And because we failed to have a budget review three, we normally do one in March, March, April, yeah, in finding additional funding if required or not, we would adjust the budget accordingly. In this case, we didn't have a BR3, as we refer to it.
01:53:00 So, that's gone over budget and it'll be adjusted again at the budget review process next month. That's only in the expenditure beginning. Mayor Stewart: Sorry, Joe. Is it over budget 28%? Speaker 4: Well, what's probably happened is that we've got the budget over a multi-year program. So, whilst the budget could be, is on target for two years, we've spent more in the lead up than what we had planned. Because we never had a chance to adjust it in March. Probably jumped ahead of program. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: You've spent more because you're actually doing, you've achieved more in earlier stages. Speaker 4: It's good. Speaker 2: It's a good over. I'll just give you an example. Imagine if you had a two-year project and you put $1 million in year one and $1 million in year two. That project would kind of expand and cover that two years. So, in this case, you might say, well, we've actually spent $1.2 million in year one because we're running ahead of time. And if the project is going to come in and finish, you might spend $800,000 in the second year. You'll still come in, but it's a timing question about you'll have more up front than you'll have at the back. Councillor Jurisevic: The timing.
01:54:00 You're worried about, is this the end of the project? And then you put it... Speaker 2: Then the question is, what if you come in and the $1 million in year two is a minimum of 2.2 instead of 2.2. That's the issue. Mayor Stewart: So the Cooran Tablelands is another cross and it's 100 and it says annual budget 164.44% of your budget spent actuals. Speaker 4: Yeah. And I can probably add to that. Do you want to go, Craig? Speaker 3: And what we're doing is predicting how much we're going to spend every month and it's a guesstimate because we didn't have BR3. Again, it's a very similar process where we thought we were going to spend $10,000 and $20,000 and $30,000. We might have spent $40,000, $50,000. So it's really just a cash flow. Mayor Stewart: So again, we're ahead of schedule. Yeah, okay. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, you had an original budget of $100,000. You then had a review down to $50,000. So you weren't anticipating doing as much work in that period, but you ended up doing $82,000 worth of work in that period. Speaker 4: And a lot of it has to do with resourcing.
01:55:00 Councillor Jurisevic: So if you hadn't done a budget review, it wouldn't look the way it does. Speaker 4: Yeah, and it's really important to have those budget reviews because what actually comes in throughout the year, and we've seen that already with some stimulus packages, but we'll also get some success with other grants. And what will come in past budget review one is more funding. And we're trying not to increase our bottom line of what we've got to deliver. So we'll modify and reprofile the delivery of projects over and out into another. Into the next financial year? Councillor Jurisevic: Well, you can. Speaker 4: Yes, and we tend to use that process through on a month-to-month basis in reviewing projects through the Capital Works Executive. And then at the budget review, we bring these up. Speaker 5: I might just add that we often have to do projects at this time of year. So there is this confusion. And it's simply because this is the quiet time of year when there aren't as many tourists around. So we tend to do a lot of these projects now, while the traffic is lighter, and that, unfortunately, means that they do cross over the financial year period, unfortunately.
01:56:00 Councillor Wilkie: So to go back to the Oralla-Crescent overpass, or the bridge, does that mean there is still $2 million to spend on the bridge, remaining commitments? Speaker 4: Yes, without looking at this year's profile, I would say that yes. So this is based on last year's program. Councillor Wilkie: Yes, so it's close to a $4 million project. Yes. And is it just pure coincidence that the Kin Kin-Wapunga Lane bridge renewal and the Cooran Tablelands Road bridge renewal, the remaining commitments are about $12,980? Or is that a typo? Speaker 3: We would have engaged a contractor for those two projects. So we would have went out to the market for two bridges, and we would have engaged them and probably split the purchase sort up. Because they're very similar bridges. They're very similar bridges, the timber bridges, going for concrete bridges, so we would have got a package, two-for-one. Councillor Wilkie: So the Red Cross can mean different things depending on the project, not in the case of the budget, this is like an overrun, in terms of, you haven't actually blown the budget, you just spent earlier than anticipated.
01:57:00 Yes. Speaker 6: So, all right. Speaker 5: With the Cabinet Works executive reports that we look at, that is broken down into more details to what is, what that cross is, whether it's budget, timing, scope, and so we look at that at a high level. This is just a summary, so what you get is a simplified version with only one traffic light, whereas we get to see a range of different traffic lights so that we can track that and keep control of it. Councillor Jurisevic: Yes. And then the one that flags for me, which looks the most odd, is the Shire Gravel Reshooting Annual Program, considering this is the end of financial year report. We start off with an original budget of $410,000, a review of $410,000, a year-to-date actual
01:58:00 $437,000, which gives you the blowout of 106.76%, so a 6% over budget, but remaining commitments of $183,000. Councillor Lorentson: What page is that? Councillor Jurisevic: That's on page 53. The orange. It looks odd, but I'm assuming that's the projects we brought forward for Hastings Street. Speaker 4: It's a rolling program. That was the Hastings Street stuff brought forward? No, that's gravel reshooting, so that's the Hinterland gravel roads. Oh, gravel, sorry. So that would be aligned to just rolling into this year's program as well, so part of knowing that we've already got a budget to roll into, so that's why some of those commitments are showing up. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay, so some of those commitments are showing up, because they've actually ... so the work orders are probably gone in. Yeah, exactly. To facilitate that commitment. For this year, yes. Okay. Councillor Wilkie: So can you help me understand, back to page 52, on the canals and waterways, why a zero, some zero projects get zeroes next to them get a tick, and there's two with a zero that get a cross?
01:59:00 Speaker 4: That would be because there's no remaining commitments, however, there is overspend from the year-to-date actuals on the third column. And is there grant funding? Grant funding. Councillor Jurisevic: So the flood forecasting system was targeted at $47,500, but it came to $75,000. $575,000. So it's an over budget. But it's complete, because the $75,000 was the total total spend. Speaker 4: And similar with the O-boats, Gympie Terrace, where there's been extended investigations around that project in regards to contamination around the site. So it's actually gone through the CWE, and it's, again, there's more money in future years to flag the works on that project. Councillor Wilkie: Those are the others that come in under. Speaker 4: Yep. Councillor Wilkie: Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: Any further questions? Councillor Lorentson: On page 68, review community engagement activities, provision of advanced notification.
120 minutes in ¶
02:00:00 That's the next item. That's the next item. Oh, yeah. Sorry, that's the next item. Speaker 4: Yeah, sure. I was going to go to 58. Councillor Lorentson: 56, sorry. OK. Quick question. Hilton Terrace. And I'll flick this question over to you. Sure. And I think, Brian, can you explain actual budget to where we've finished with Hilton Terrace? Speaker 4: Sure. Craig, do you want to? Yeah. On page 56. 56. Councillor Lorentson: 56. Transport. Transport. So Hilton Terrace budget, original budget, 1.8. 1.8. New today, 2.25. 2.25. The main commitments, 802. We're on budget? Speaker 3: My understanding is, yes, we are, so current budget is 3.6, year-to-date actual is 2.25. Yes. Yes.
02:01:00 So we're predicting savings on that project. Savings, yeah. Swings and roundabouts. Speaker 2: And Bish, probably ahead of time or on time? Speaker 3: Probably spot on time. OK. Speaker 2: Yeah. Speaker 3: Could be a week or two, though. OK. We had five or six days wet weather. Yeah. Yeah. I think we've allocated some of these funds for Gympie Terrace, because we went slightly Councillor Wilkie: over on Gympie Terrace. Speaker 4: I'm not quite sure on how that's working, but- So it's within the same program. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Is there any projects that's really giving you grief at the moment? You're struggling with? All of them. Bring my mind back. Yeah. Speaker 3: So we're halfway with the bridge contractors feeling a lot better. So the relationships improved, so the projects improved. So I think we'll just see the home run now on that. Everyone's feeling better about that project.
02:02:00 Councillor Jurisevic: I'm imagining the challenges of your S1R and trying to manage the traffic through that. Speaker 3: That went okay. Councillor Wilkie: What was the issue with the bridge contractor? Speaker 3: You know, when you're losing money, you're worried about your house, you get a bit anxious. Yeah, I suppose the contractor at first, he didn't, it's not really until you get out of the ground, because that's where your big costs are. He's out of the ground. That's where the risk is. Yeah, he's got his bridge deck units on. He can see the next project. So relationships are improved. Everything's improved. Thanks, guys. Councillor Jurisevic: Anything further? Speaker 3: Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: All good? Can I have a mover to accept the report? Thank you, Amelia. Seconder, thank you, Frank. All in favour? Well done. Thank you. Thanks for saying those heados. Carl, Infrastructure Services Department update. By the way, councillors, questions for Carl?
02:03:00 Councillor Lorentson: I'll start with page 68, Carl. Yep. Review community engagement activities. Provision of advanced notification where consultations needed while one continuous improvement activities. My question is, will we as a council have an opportunity to workshop and brainstorm some ways to improve community engagement activities? Speaker 5: That is typically an operational matter, but, you know, I mean, if councillors really do want to get involved in the nuts and bolts of how we go about our projects, I'm happy to discuss that. But we are improving our processes, especially since I've been here, I've noticed a big change. We now engage an external consultant and they are getting familiar with the council processes now. So I've noticed there's an improvement in that.
02:04:00 But there's, yeah, you know, there's always room for improvement with communications. So. Fantastic. Councillor Lorentson: I think at ground level, Carl, when it impacts a community, when roadblocks and disturbances impact a community, I, and this is my opinion, I think that conversational workshop with councillors who are, you know, the face of a community, I think that's really important. Speaker 5: Yeah, so we've got, we've got, we've got, our project manager goes out and door knocks with the consul, the community council. So they go out and they door knock those people, they talk to them. There are issues around freedom of information that we are now trying to get clarification on as to being able to send information directly to residents or property owners. So there's, there's some confusion, there has been confusion over that in the last few
02:05:00 months as to whether we're actually allowed to do that and we're getting legal advice on that. It relates to freedom of information, but of course I would say that the average person would really appreciate getting a letter from council saying we're going to be doing some roadworks and this is what that work entails and this is the implications for you. At the moment we do letter drops. Now if you've got, if you're using your property as a rental, you don't get to hear about those, that you don't necessarily get that information. So that's something that we're looking into. So there is room for improvement there definitely, and we're seeking legal advice on that. Councillor Lorentson: And how much notice, when does the letter drop, if you would give them a month's notice? Speaker 5: It varies. It depends on the project. So it's all about scale. You know, I mean, if we're doing a bus stop, we probably wouldn't do the same level of community engagement as we would for a larger project such as a whole road.
02:06:00 Yeah. So it really does vary. And we often do consultation with the community right the way through the planning and the design phases as well. It's interesting though that a lot of people aren't as interested at those early stages because it's somewhere off in the future and it's only when it starts really impacting on them on the day that they start getting concerned about it. Councillor Jurisevic: I've got to say the feedback on social media from those people that were most impacted on Hilton Esplanade that were actually residents in the area. It was very impressive. They were sitting down there in their deck chairs with their beer and they were watching Speaker 5: all the works going on, all the asphalting works, and they actually applauded the guys when they finished work at the end of the night. So I wish I'd had a camera there for that because I thought that was a really good news
02:07:00 story. That shows that people are. Speaker 2: And come back to you. You were commenting about the nature of the work. So if we're doing gravel re-shooting in the hinterland, you probably don't need to do a lot of contemplation on that compared to a major project that's going to shut up. A bridge. So if we close a bridge and it's the only access into that street, you know. We've got the re-seals coming up out around Cooroy. Cooroy, Maryborough and places like that. So then you might give advice to people that in this period it can be affected. But it's not really design or element that you need to consult too much further than informing people. Yeah. That's a very different thing to, for Punga Lane would be a good example. Yeah. Shut that bridge. Yeah. And then shut that road. Absolutely. Speaker 5: And we've already started those. So we're just coming up with the options analysis of what sort of bridges we will use in those areas. We have engaged a comms specialist and they are going to be going around a door knocking. We've already spoken to somebody down there that's got a B&B.
02:08:00 So we're starting that communication very early on and we will look at whether, what options we can put forward for them. Might be they say, look, we're okay to walk down the road. And we'll leave our car on the other side of the bridge. And so long as we can walk through the creek line there, we're okay with that. So it just depends. But we really try to incorporate a lot of that into our designs. The constructability has to take into account the community as well. So, but the other thing as well is people often think that we can just chop and change and do night works. Night works, you typically get a 20% reduction in cost. The work that gets completed. Productivity. Productivity. So we start getting a real increase in the cost as well. And you can't keep chopping from, they do day works here, night works there, day works there. We're not allowed to. And also because you need to get people into their natural sort of sleep patterns. So you either start off with doing night work.
02:09:00 So a lot of our asphalting works are done at night and we typically will do one crew and they will be doing all night works and they will go through and do that. So we can plan that, but we can't halfway through the job just go, whoa, we're not going to do this as day works anymore. We're going to do this as night works. We just can't change that. And also there's, there will be a huge cost impact from the contractors. Councillor Lorentson: So the night works that happen in Sobon Street on the 19th of July, that I had residents asking me about whether there was any notification given. There would have been. There would have been. Speaker 5: There would have been. Yes. Yeah. Is that Sobon Street as in Orealla Bridge or is it actually the Sobon works that we did earlier, which was for the slip? Councillor Lorentson: No, this is on the 19th of July. I had these people ask. They weren't notified. Speaker 5: There would have been letter drops. There would have been. And it would have been incorporated in that.
02:10:00 And we've got a questions and answers page associated purely with that project. So that information would have been on there. We try and come up with what are the questions. We anticipate the questions that the community is going to ask and we try and answer them so that people can plan. So, you know, we don't want to disturb people's sleep unless it's absolutely necessary. Speaker 8: So. Councillor Jurisevic: Clearly road works on major, major arterial roads as well. There's always going to be disruptive. Yeah. And impact. Speaker 5: You're either going to disrupt the traffic during the day or people at night. So. And when you have a look at major works in the cities, they, you know, they really don't care that much about local residents and so on. They really don't. It's just we've got a job to do. That's the attitude. We've got a job to do and we're going to do it as efficiently as possible. We try. Yep. So we try and look after people as much as we can and let them know. Councillor Jurisevic: Anything further? Councillor Wilkie: Carl, on page 62, the business improvement review of the branch, can you give us an update
02:11:00 on how that's moving along? You've mentioned the detailed assessment of recommendations to determine future actions, but you've done some things, haven't you? And there's more to happen. I know this does involve staff and that's an operational decision. Speaker 5: Yeah. This is, this is a wide-ranging report. I got a report back from a consultant. And what we had to do was decide whether the items they felt needed to be addressed, whether that was suitable for a different council, but maybe not for Noosa. So we've had to look at it and say, is this suitable for Noosa's situation? Also trying to figure out which ones are we going to tackle first? So that it's a bit like the 80-20 rule. You can do 20% of the tasks that are in there and you can actually get 80% of the benefits.
02:12:00 So what we've done is we've actually brought in another consultant just while I was away to just do another review of that from a local perspective. And I'm coming up now with a program of what is required to be done and the prioritization, the order of that, how long it will take, and I'll be taking that to the executive team for discussion. Councillor Wilkie: Can you talk about the sort of outcomes you'd like to see flowing from this review of the civil operations? Speaker 5: I think probably the main area, it is civil operations. I think probably the culture and morale of troops in the field. So some previous results from staff surveys wasn't that great. So we are looking at how we can improve our systems. And one of the areas is improving maintenance planning, and I think a lot of it stems from that.
02:13:00 There's also, there's a range of different areas that we want to target, but I think maintenance planning, improving cultural morale, reviewing the structure, and whether we've got the right people in the right places and whether we're working as efficiently as possible. So it's about improving efficiency, giving them the tools they want. We've also got an aging population or workforce. And so we do need to have a look at certain things that are associated that from a workplace health and safety perspective, but also we want to give them the tools. And a lot of them aren't used to using computers, you know, they're out in the field all the time and they don't know how to use that technology. The technology is here. Yeah. It's here. It's here. Yeah. And we need to. And so you can't just thrust a, you know, an iPad at somebody and say, here, use it. You've got to train them in that. So there's also a degree of training that we'll, so we're looking at how we can improve
02:14:00 things there so that we get an efficient workforce and a happy workforce. That's really what we're aiming for. Councillor Wilkie: And you've got some sort of a timeframe, a change of culture can take quite a while. Are you setting yourself a timeframe? Speaker 5: Well, the timeframe that I've discussed with Brett is three to five years. And that started a year ago. So what we did was we got that review done. We had a look at it. And then it was a case of going through that and figuring out what we can do. The other thing that's got in the way is COVID. Yeah. So I would have liked to have had a lot more meetings with the staff to discuss things. Unfortunately, with COVID, we're not allowed to get people together to go through and work out, you know, what their concerns and issues are. And it's, you know, I mean, I've been doing the toolbox talks where I go and stand there with a microphone and talk to them out in the depot car park.
135 minutes in ¶
02:15:00 But it's not necessarily the best way to win over hearts and minds when they're really meters apart from each other. Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: It's no small undertaking. Speaker 5: No, it isn't. It isn't. Councillor Wilkie: It involves the outdoor workforce. Speaker 5: Definitely. They're front facing. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Yeah. Speaker 5: So I've probably dropped down a few levels now. I've started with the coordinators. Now I'm working with the supervisors and having discussions with them. I'm going to their supervisors meetings and just listening to what their concerns are and looking at ways that we can improve things. So, but it's all feeding into that body of work. But to be honest with you, culture and it's a bit of a gnarly ball of string and it's like, you know, what do I do first? So, and that's where we've been really trying to figure out, because if you get it wrong, you can actually make it worse. So we've got to be very careful. Councillor Wilkie: So this other consultant that you mentioned, well, he'd be giving you advice on how to
02:16:00 manage- Speaker 5: Yes. He's given me his final report on that, but now it's a case of my reviewing that. I'm not an outdoor specialist. I've never been in charge of a grading crew. So, and I've just got to accept that, but I'm treating it like a project and I am working at, I understand the basics of it, but I haven't actually done work my way up from the tools. So, what I'm having to do is get advice from other people who are experts at this and then put that into a plan that we can do, that we can work forward, move forward with. So, and I'm doing that in conjunction with Alan Hull and also with the coordinators and with the supervisors. Councillor Wilkie: And do you see any resourcing implications for that? For this work? Speaker 5: In what regard? Sorry. Councillor Wilkie: Well, in terms of the increased efficiencies, improving the culture-
02:17:00 Speaker 5: I'm hoping there will be savings. Definitely. Savings. Councillor Wilkie: Savings. Okay. Speaker 5: Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. So it's not as though you will need to, in a budget review, require more resources to put into this project? Speaker 5: No, I don't think there'll be more that will be required. We might do things. I don't want to work harder. I want to work smarter. So I'm trying to find ways that we can do things better. And to be honest with you, it's probably the uptake of technology that's one of the sticking points for me at the moment is how do we- Yes, we've got the technology. How do we use it more efficiently in the field so that they don't have to come into the depot before they go out. They actually go direct from home, straight to field. We've saved ourselves 20 minutes, half an hour there. Councillor Jurisevic: But technology doesn't dig a hole and technology doesn't see the road. That's right. Yeah. Still need the physical knowledge and know-how and expertise to actually- Councillor Wilkie: Well, can you let the crews know that they are appreciated? Yeah, sure. Yeah. Yeah.
02:18:00 I'm sure they'd love to hear that. We've got a lot of comments from people all the time when they see them working on the roundabouts and the verges. They are appreciated. People do notice what they do. Speaker 5: They also get the abuse though which is a real shame, especially the ones working in the road. People have been mildly delayed but some of the abuse they get, especially the Parks and Gardens crew when they're working in the road verges, nobody should have to deal with that. And that does impact on morale and that's something that we have to deal with. You're trying to do your job. Yep, that's right, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Nothing further? Can we move on? Speaker 5: Quickly. The Noosa Spit Shoreline Erosion Management Plan, the SEMP. Yes, same. Did that come before us? Have we seen that? Speaker 2: This term or last term? Speaker 5: Last term. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, yeah. Yeah, I think it did. Last term, I think it was towards the end. Not towards the end. Speaker 2: It has been through Council, Tom, but I think it was before the election. Okay, I was just curious about that one.
02:19:00 Speaker 5: Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: There was an interesting comment came up with regard to management of the river now through the oyster comments the other day. I think, is that what you're sort of alluding to? No, no, no. Oh. Speaker 2: I'd love to see that play out. Speaker 5: Yeah. Thank you. I'm happy if you want to get in touch with me and I can provide you with a comment. Councillor Jurisevic: All right. Sorry, we've had a mover. I'll move it. Councillor Wilkie, Councillor Stewart's second. All in favour? Thank you, Councillor. Excellent. Thank you. Okay. Speaker 5: See you later. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Thanks, Carl. The Operational Plan Progress Report. Now, we've had a request for this report to go to General Committee because of the significance of it. If there are any questions or further information that Councillors may need, obviously, I'm aware. While we've got it in front of us. You're getting a lot. You're getting a lot. Speaker 2: I think Brian wants the next one to go to the General Committee. Councillor Jurisevic: Frank wanted this one and Brian wanted the next one.
02:20:00 Speaker 2: Thank you, Tony. I'm going to play it now. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. No. No. And I do recall, looking at this general, previous general committees, I don't know whether it's gone to... Speaker 2: I think it's appropriate that all councillors see that. Councillor Wilkie: All right, there's no further questions. Councillor Jurisevic: Can we have a mover? I'll move that. Mayor Segner, Councillor Wilkie, all in favour? So we'll refer that to the general committee. Thank you. Item 10, year in review. Speaker 2: This one, Graham, I think. So what have we been up to? Councillor Jurisevic: Again, this one is the request for this to go to the general committee, due to the significance of the report, so that all councillors may... Speaker 2: I'll do it again on Monday, but one of the comments is Kerry Pontini, who put this report together for me, I don't know about that. Oh, no. Councillor Wilkie: She's put your name on it. She did. Speaker 2: She did a great job. Councillor Wilkie: She did a great job all your way, too. Councillor Lorentson: She did a fantastic job. We didn't miss you.
02:21:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Was he away, was he away, was he? Mayor Stewart: I've heard the motion that it goes to you. I'll second it. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Thank you, councillors. All in favour? Yep. Yeah. Speaker 2: It's overwhelming. Speaker 3: It's... Seriously. Councillor Jurisevic: All right, that's been the last item on the agenda. I'll do the meeting closed. Thank you for your time, councillors. Thank you.