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00:00:00 Councillor Wilkie: Absolutely. What have they told you about what they would want from a replacement service in the context of the changes that have happened over the last 15 years? As part of the consultation Speaker 6: with the community it was very clear that the demand to a print collection is still very strong however you can see our e-platforms and e-resources flourishing. I think nearly half or more than half of the current mobile library users access our e-resources now. However what became clear is they're really keen to still have access to friendly staff and the reader's assistance and still have a weekly Councillor Wilkie: visit as a community meeting point. And on page seven you've got some statistics there that show
00:01:00 that you've got less than since 2006 to 2019 there's less than half the number of loans from the mobile library taking place and it's the less than half the number of visitors visits to the mobile library as well. Yes absolutely. You've still got a hard core I think it was about 320 people who use the mobile library service only? Exclusively yes. So that means in the last 12 Speaker 6: months they haven't visited one of our library branches either Cooroy or Noosaville library. Speaker 12: One of those two figures though was that Cooroy library was built between 2016 and 2019. Speaker 4: Yes so it was certainly and we expected that it would by building a branch like in Cooroy that it would have an impact on the mobile library service and actually to a large degree we needed it too. The mobile library at that point could not cope with the number of people coming on board and I recall actually we were saying we had to park in
00:02:00 Cooroy how many days a week two or three days a week simply to cope with the demand. So by building Cooroy actually enabled the mobile library to go back to being what it should be which was a I guess an add-on service rather than the only service. Councillor Jurisevic: I assume the population in the Kingdom land has also increased in that time over 13 or 14 years so to see a diminishing uptake and use clearly clearly shows that the impact of the Cooroy library but also of electronic. Speaker 4: I think one of the questions that's been asked is given that the numbers have have decreased would that not mean that you wouldn't replace the service but that's looking at in isolation so our mobile library service if you compare it to other other libraries is still very very strong. I think the work that that Tracey and the team have done showing it's still an absolutely viable
00:03:00 service it just needs to be in a different format that's right yeah and Kerry to add to that is the Councillor Lorentson: opportunity with this replacement option which is the benefit of the viewers a light vehicle operating on a weekly schedule and two library kiosks isn't that an opportunity to also have an extension to extend the reach of library usage and as Frank alluded to re-establishing the relevance Speaker 6: of libraries and their importance in our community. So we we could see that there was strong support for alternative delivery modes so people would like library services to be able to align with their lifestyle now and take it out of the library branch and where once it was you know suitable or relevant for the community to visit the mobile library once a week now everyone has a much busier life so being able to have the weekly service and in addition have access to a 24-7 library kiosk
00:04:00 where for example they may forget that library service on their way home and then be able to access the kiosk for their reading materials over the weekend is a value-added service than what we Councillor Lorentson: have now. In reference to the two 24-7 kiosks, is there anything that you would like to add? The report identifies the two locations as being Pomona and Peregian. Can I ask how those two places were identified as the suitable locations and how will the kiosk, Speaker 6: where will kiosks be housed? So Pomona and Peregian have been identified as our two busiest locations and really have been the busiest locations through the whole time the service has been in place. So, we have identified the two locations as being Pomona and Peregian and that's both both in visitations and lines so what people are borrowing abroad. The kiosk we have identified potential locations and have had initial discussions with stakeholders so both of those would be located near the
00:05:00 community houses in those towns. And again very strong support for from those community groups to assist us in you know looking after those resources. Whether that's by you know a small amount of money, you know cc assistance with some cctv camera support or just daily monitoring. Councillor Lorentson: So housing one of the kiosk owners as a standalone sort of structure, is that still on the table? Speaker 6: It is. So at Peregian we're looking at the feasibility of having it tied into underneath the veranda in the out the back of the Peregian digital hub. That will be an activated area once the new Peregian community house becomes live I guess. In Pomona we're looking at a shade structure of some sort that will tie into the landscape there. There's quite a number of similar picnic structures
00:06:00 there that has enough weather proof to have access all the way around the machinery. A little bit there's a picnic structure just down from the Pomona community house that's what we're envisaging right Councillor Jurisevic: now something similar to that. Thank you Jane. I assume if you said well there's a Peregian within your community house being built then it could you know there's an opportunity there for a purpose Speaker 6: built area to be to be incorporated in the design. Well we were initially looking at the front near the bus stop of the Peregian digital hub. High visible area able to attract people that are coming past that could still be an option as we work through the process. However with the new community house now you know becoming a reality we realized that the internal space is going to be quite activated and it's another possible location that would have been suitable within this precinct
00:07:00 Mayor Stewart: itself is probably better parking available as well. I think clearly excuse me clearly COVID has had a significant impact on you know and an uplift in all the e-resources and do you see that continuing on even as we come out of COVID is that sort of the trend now I mean taking out that sort of COVID impact is that been the trend over the last few years that people are accessing more you know online and doing more resources that way? I think over the five or last five or six Speaker 6: years we've seen a gradual trend towards e-resources. COVID highlighted that and we were we we needed to allocated funding to boost that collection. Now we have a really great e-collection. People have become more aware of it but I see that strengthen in the future. Councillor Lorentson: It's funny Jane because I always think the opposite where libraries are places where people
00:08:00 gather. You know it's one of the last trusted places that you can gather and I'm hoping that that trend doesn't go upwards. I'm hoping that people still understand the community value in going to libraries and getting hard copies. I think you're right Amelia and I support that as Speaker 6: well. That's why we were so determined to keep the weekly visit because it came through very strongly from the community that they appreciated that weekly visit to have somewhere where they can connect with their friends and the community. The other elements to that are that we've had a lot of people come to this model is having programming as well come outside of the library branches and into the community which is another way so for example where we currently may do tech lessons within a library branch that's something that now we could possibly take in a partnership with the community houses in Pomona or Peregian. So we're building that connection and that you know the
00:09:00 social benefits of library services in different ways and the kiosk just provides a different you know convenience I guess for a different target market. Many families now are quite busy to be able to you know go into the library where they used to come in for story time or family gatherings in the visit and they might want that in addition to their weekly visit or coming to a program. So I think we're trying to have something for everyone in this model. I think one of the Speaker 4: advantages too is that with the current semi-trailer it's very limited as to where we can take that vehicle you know size the safety issues the parking issues you know Peregians are a very good example the number of times that the staff are attempting to come in there and simply can't get a park and so you know the the size and scale of that vehicle was one of the drivers to looking at a different model but I think what's interesting that's come out of it is that there's
00:10:00 a range of community organizations and places that would actually like a visit that it's not they need a weekly visit they might like a monthly or a three monthly visit it's never been something we've been able to consider before and this model allows great flexibility and being able to service a whole range of people we've not been able to do so before. So one question on that I've Councillor Wilkie: got the sense that you're saying it has the capacity for increased outreach as a result of a smaller vehicle. What are some examples of organizations that you'll be able to perhaps attend now that you couldn't previously? Speaker 6: So um following on from what Kerry said I guess with a smaller vehicle there's less time to travel to places there's less time that needs to be dedicated for maintenance very hard to maintain a big complex vehicle like a semi-trailer so that means that we have more time in our weekly schedule so we would like to provide the community with an opportunity to be able to to book us to
00:11:00 come to them. I can tell you what Frank was saying was an example of where we can go. Yeah so we can go to community kindergarten schools. Yes so we're hoping that what that means that booking option means that we can be booked to go to school fates to daycares to men's sheds to retirement villages a whole range because we have the flexibility we won't need to worry about the size of the vehicle. Councillor Lorentson: So because the vehicle is smaller one of the challenges you identified with the bigger model was the heavy combination license yes is that do you need that license to drive the smaller vehicle? Speaker 6: The preferred vehicle that we're looking at is a light rigid license so that goes up to I think eight tons it's a much easier license to gain and it means that a lot more staff would be interested to gain their license and it opens it reduces that resourcing issue of being able to find staff that carries carry that license as well as some library customer
00:12:00 Mayor Stewart: service experience. Tracey with the smaller vehicle we can carry about two and a half thousand items for say six thousand for the larger one yeah um obviously the kiosks carry about three hundred islands each is that correct so with the sort of I guess the the downsizing how do we what sort of resources will we keep what we throw out is that just based on what's been popular and or is that Speaker 6: determined by you or uh no uh it's a highly we're hoping for a highly curated collection that will meet the needs of the community and have a range for every everyone so um at the moment we have a reserved option as well which is becoming more and more popular so people can reserve their ideal items and we can bring them out on the weekly schedule because the collection has been reduced we're able to actually at the moment it's a floating collection and what that means is someone borrows from the library and returns to the mobile library it stays there until it's borrowed again
00:13:00 moved around so because it's a smaller collection we can create curate it better to suit the needs by being able to take off stock and put stock on for example if we're being booked to go to a retirement village or a school take stock off put more relevant stock on so it might be picture books Councillor Wilkie: any staff have a license to drive this vehicle currently yeah we currently have uh two permanent Speaker 6: part-time staff who are our normal mobile library operators we do have three other staff in the library service as backup staff and that's me as well included in that three do you wear a Councillor Jurisevic: baseball cap and drink just on the weekends Speaker 12: are there any other questions or information you need before monday it's been referred to general Councillor Lorentson: committee that sounds great one question um have you considered um using the mobile library service
00:14:00 as an opportunity for councillors um to travel alongside the drivers and get what i call you know on the spot feedback from community members and um is that something that has been part of your Speaker 6: conversation uh we definitely saw the value in it being a shared resource for council considering that it doesn't require the heavy combination so very keen to discuss that opportunity with you further i know instead of a christmas convoy we've been trying to i'm hoping that we can be in the library uh the christmas convoy this year Councillor Wilkie: we're quite used to getting on the spot feedback and i want to compliment you on the extensive consultation you've done on this because it's it's very dear to people's hearts as you know yeah i think that was important to us Councillor Jurisevic: seeing as it's been referred to general um is there any other um can i just ask a question
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00:15:00 Speaker 3: if you have to oh thank you um just a question around the procurement process regarding the electric possibility are you able to just give us a little bit of information on that sure so about 18 months Speaker 6: ago we did do a little bit of research into the electric version the market research at that time showed that it wasn't a feasible option the technology just wasn't available for the market so I think we will be investigating that as part of the procurement process this time. I'm hoping that the technology has improved and that it could be a feasible option for it. Speaker 4: The weight of the vehicle is quite considerable, so that's the challenge that's been put to
00:16:00 us that we've got a vehicle that's heavily loaded and is required all day, it's running every day, and whether that's what might be technically possible in terms of a lifespan of a vehicle, it might mean that you are having to spend too much to keep that vehicle operating and replacing it too often. It would seem when we did the initial market research, we were just too early, we're too on the gas wallet. Whether 18 months down the track things have advanced enough, it will certainly be part of the procurement, but I think the feedback that we're still getting is, it's hope. We're probably still a little bit early, so we need to kind of put that reality out there. It's where we would like to be. Yeah. Yeah. We think from what we're hearing, we might still be too early. Councillor Jurisevic: There's been a lot of advancement in the last 12 months as regards to those type of vehicles,
00:17:00 so it'll be interesting to see how that process does. Speaker 4: Yeah. That's why we are absolutely, Joe, still keeping it in the procurement mix, just wanting to be real about it. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: We need to keep it under the seven or eight days. Show solar panels on the roof. Yes. Speaker 6: That is an option. Yes. Solar panels. The market research showed with the solar panels that could fit that vehicle, we could get up to three or four hours of powered time. That means we could go to the Noosa show very easily and be operating with the air conditioning, have the computers running, have story time, all our usual practices. Councillor Lorentson: What's going to happen with the current vehicle? Will it be sold and what's at work? Yeah. Speaker 4: So we will have a disposal strategy. Obviously, there's the prime mover and the trailer. The prime mover probably still has useful life left in it, and it would be sold. The trailer has potentially, by the time we have finished with it, it would require
00:18:00 significant investment for somebody to make that an ongoing on-road vehicle. Yeah. Tiny home. Pardon? Tiny home. Yeah. I would imagine, I mean, it will go through our normal disposal process, but I don't think it's going to be as an attractive offering as the prime mover, but it will certainly be disposed of. It's not, for example, something that we are looking to retain. We would not, given the maintenance issues with it, we wouldn't see an alternate use for it here in council. Mayor Stewart: Thank you. Speaker 4: Thanks, ladies. Speaker 3: So, you said that the life of the asset of the new line renewable that you're looking at here, if it's not the electric one, what's the projected life expectancy for this before you are looking at replacing it? Speaker 4: We're looking at a similar lifespan. Probably not quite as much as the trailer that we have at the moment, but you'd be looking
00:19:00 at 10 to 15 years. 10. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Having said that- But cost-wise compared to a prime mover of that? Absolutely. Speaker 4: Having said that, given that it doesn't have the hydraulic pods, it may actually be that we get longer out of it. I guess one of the issues that we found with the existing vehicle is, for example, doing the road from here to Kin Kin, the twists and turns for the trailer, and the fact that the trailer's got a lot of shelving on the walls was an issue that was not, you know, when they went through the construction process, it was an issue. When they went through the design of it, that wasn't as apparent that it was going to be such an issue. So much will depend on what happens with a smaller vehicle in that process. So it may well be we get longer, obviously through the procurement, that will be one of the things that we explore.
00:20:00 Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: I assume that the reason for the choice of the vehicle is that other library services are using something similar, and we've seen around the world that a vehicle of this type does suit the needs. Is that what we're talking about? It has the capacity to deliver the service? Speaker 6: You're right. There is a trend worldwide for downsizing vehicles for possibly to mitigate the identified challenges that we've listed in the report. We chose a light, rigid vehicle. It's similar to an ambulance kind of size, more than just a little van, which some councils are using just to give you a little, because we identified it was important to have a meeting space and be able to come inside to actually access that space. So that's the print collection. So this gives a little bit more width inside to be able to do that. Councillor Jurisevic: And likewise, library kiosks, these sort of mobile facilitations, sort of vending type machines, apart from the ones that we see in the community already with the facilitation for community type book borrowing, these sort of things exist in other locations that have
00:21:00 been operating for some time? Speaker 6: Absolutely. So the automated kiosks that align with those are the ones that have been operating for a long time. So that we can ensure good stock management, very popular overseas. Councillor Jurisevic: Just using the library card to access? Speaker 6: That's right. So just like a lolly machine, similar to a lolly machine, you have access with your membership card. You can tap it. Very nice, clear screen that you can scroll through and have a look at the resources inside, pick which ones through a couple of presses of the button, and it will come out the chute at the bottom. So it's very similar with returns as well. Councillor Jurisevic: But unlike a lolly machine, it won't give you tooth to go. Speaker 6: Yes. Speaker 7: Absolutely. Speaker 4: For those councils that have been with us, you'll recall we went through our radio frequency identification project, which was a big change for the library service, changing from bar codes to essentially little radio transmitter tags.
00:22:00 That initiative is what enables things like the kiosk. It can't use an old-fashioned technology like a barcode. So the kiosks absolutely use RFID. It means it doesn't matter. You can return an item. It goes in a box. It returns it from our system and puts it back out. So this is the fruit coming from the labours of that project. Councillor Jurisevic: Thanks, Karen. There have been no further questions that have been referred by. Sorry. Speaker 3: With regards to the kiosk, are the community houses, will they be invoicing council for rental of the space? Speaker 6: The proposed space that we're looking at is council land. It's not part of the leased area of the Pomona community house. Okay. Yeah. So it's out the front mall on the street. I know. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: I just want to compliment you also on the enormous task of converting to RFID. I'm feeling quite dewy.
00:23:00 Oh, no. Speaker 4: Thank you. Thank you, Craig. Councillor Lorentson: One last question. Maybe to the benefit of the viewers. Cost. How much funding has been allocated for the community outreach library? And is that... Have we got the money? Speaker 6: So the simple answer is we do currently have the money. There's $700,000 allocated in the capital works program to cover this replacement model. And $630,000 is the estimated cost. That's the total capital project budget for the proposed model. Councillor Jurisevic: And given that's the case, what sort of timeframe are we looking at? If this is approved by council during this round of meetings, what sort of timeframe are we looking at for implementation? Speaker 6: So we're hoping that it will be implemented in a staged approach, with the kiosk coming first and the suite of outreach programs being rolled out initially, with the vehicle being
00:24:00 built first. And then we're hoping that it will be implemented on the road by the end of... And on the road by the end of the year. Thank you. Great. That's by the end of the calendar year. Speaker 4: Sorry, calendar year. Calendar year, not financial year. So that capital works budget would be spent over two financial years. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: And there's been a request that this go to general committee. Can we move it? Can we move it? Thank you. Thank you, Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Stewart. All in favour? Thank you. Thank you, Councillor. Thanks, Gary. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, Councillor. Councillor Jurisevic: Item two, commercial high use permits tender process. Dennis? Hi, Dennis. You're two staying clear, eh? Any questions for Dennis? I believe this item's also been asked to be referred to general committee due to the significance of the item. Councillor Wilkie: If we were to consent to this, would we also, by necessity, have to change the commercial high use, sorry, the commercial use of community land policy from, indicate from a three-year
00:25:00 or a five-year term? Speaker 11: I think so, yes. Councillor Wilkie: Can we just add a clause as part of the recommendation, part of the motion? Speaker 11: Yeah. Well, I'd probably bring that back to the subsequent council meeting when the results of the tender are run. So I could even add that. Okay. And a draft policy for that meeting as well. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: In reference to the commercial use of community land policy, just a question. The policy's in reference to community land. Why does the policy not apply to footpath trading, dining markets, street performance, commercial leases, and events? Can you explain that? Just... Speaker 11: Let me think. I don't know. We have the local laws that specifically deal with those and we have policies about footpath Is that what you need to answer the question? Speaker 13: No, I can see.
00:26:00 I've known everyone. Look, this was, at the time, just seen as a specific area, if we recall back to 2014. This was a distinct area that needed specific management and a specific policy. The other areas that we're referring to there, weddings and so on, they're a different type of permit. This one here relies on traditionally expressions of interest, now tender processes, an extra layer of complexity to it than just an ordinary. Speaker 11: So essentially it doesn't seek to cover off on the approval process for those. Speaker 13: No. And they're annual permits, these other ones. Wedding permits are not. They're a point in time. Footpath trading is annual. Yeah. These ones here are now up to five years we're proposing. Councillor Jurisevic: So that would be the difference between the two. Yeah. This would cover multiple... That policy would cover multiple years. Yeah. Makes sense. Yeah. Mayor Stewart: I've got a question on the assessment criteria on page 17, Dennis.
00:27:00 We look at... Under the assessment criteria, track record is 50%. Yep. Current capital investment, 15. And everything else is 15. And then five, the environmental initiatives. When we go to the track record, does that give... And I'm just... This is just... I'm just... Yeah, I'm throwing it out there. Does that give the people who have the status quo an unfair advantage because 50% is track record? So are we, by looking at this assessment criteria, skewering against new initiatives because 50% of the weighting goes to those who already have a track record? Speaker 11: Yeah. Yeah. I think what it does is... To some extent it does, but it also requires that they've demonstrated a good track record over the time that they've been providing that service. So the quality of their services is really key to their track record. And we have had permit holders in the past that it was fairly obvious that that was sort of a bit over running the business and running the service.
00:28:00 So we have had previous permit holders fall away as their sort of interest in running the business. Yeah. But it also requires that if a new business is going to come in, that it's not just a paper submission that comes from them. They do have to have a demonstrable track record to be able to point to in their business history and pass that goes to the provision of the services. Mayor Stewart: So I'm probably wrong there. So I thought track record was their track record that they had in that business, say, but it... In that field. In that field. So it can be anywhere. Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: If I recall, we've had an operator come on as a surf school that has operated in Victoria before and not even... Beach High. Speaker 13: Beach High is a classic. Okay. They were Bondi and also another location in Sydney. Okay. So their track record spoke to somewhere else. Mayor Stewart: So track record isn't just... Speaker 13: No, no, no. Mayor Stewart: It's quite open.
00:29:00 Speaker 13: Claire, it's quite open. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. And we call for references. Speaker 11: Yeah. Mayor Stewart: And we check those. Yeah. Yeah. Right. Okay. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: I've got quite a few questions, actually. Just some notable changes. So the frenzy then, down at this point, we're looking at changing the term of the 10,000 10 years to five years. I would say that we're looking at changing the term of the 10,000 10 years to five years. So that's arguably something of iconic status. Can you explain why we've gone from the 10 years to five years? Speaker 11: The decision to award a 10 year permit was one made by the Sunshine Coast Council in 2011. And I think it's difficult to be sort of assigning iconic statuses to... Oh, I agree. Councillor Lorentson: I'm using that word recently. Speaker 11: Yeah. When I go through the list of the best 10 years to five years.
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00:30:00 So we're starting to look at different types of permits that we have on the beach. A lot of them have been there for a long time. Yeah, that's a good point. So to start differentiating between the permit holders, I think, is a slippery slope. So we're abandoning that previous 10 year offer that was made by that council, and just standardizing things to the extent we're able to, to five year permits. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Also, there's been an increase in fees. And we've included for the first time an adjustment that includes a nominal value for car parking space. Can you explain? Speaker 11: Yeah, that's a change for this round to sort of acknowledge that there are this small number of permits that we allow a car space to be occupied by. And obviously, in the Noosa Heads, Hastings Street precinct, there's a small number of permits. Rightfully, there's a value that should be assigned to that sort of nullifying a car
00:31:00 space for the term of the permit. So the fees have increased. And for those that involve nullifying a car space, which are our refreshment vans, and also the learn to surf schools, which are allowed to leave their trailers in a space, then notionally, there's that $4,000. There's a $5,000 provision within those fees for that space. And I think we probably all agree that that's still cheap, but it sort of has provided a price path from a low base where we were previously. Speaker 9: Thank you, President. Councillor Wilkie: Any other questions? Councillor Lorentson: No, I'm good. Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Frank. No, my questions were around unpicking what the track record criteria meant that mayors had the questions answered.
00:32:00 So I understand the track record could also be a double edged sword if they haven't been performing well and their performance is taut enough that can work against that. Speaker 11: Yes. And it's not to say that, sorry. Councillor Wilkie: And it's not restricted to the performance of someone on Noosa Lane Beach. You will be assessing their track record in other locations as well. Speaker 13: It's quite different to use of service. If the criteria was use of service, it's quite different, but it's not. Speaker 11: It's about performance. Yes. And there is that option if Council wanted to address those ratings. So we can look at that if you had reason to, but we've tried to strike a balance there. Councillor Wilkie: And in the past year, I've had a couple of cases where I've had to go to the police office and they've been very strict. And if potential applicants have contacted councillors during that process or attempted to lobby them, that's been exclusionary. They've been out of the process. Yes. That will apply again?
00:33:00 Speaker 11: Yes. So once it's live, we go under probity. And I think it's good for councillors to be aware that they're sort of not to engage with potential submitters because that would strike them out. It's worth putting that out there. Speaker 12: That's the same with other tenders. Yes. We're going out and looking for tenders. If a tenderer tries to lobby councillors, that actually disqualifies them. So we've done that before. Speaker 13: These ones seem to attract canvassing and lobbying from the businesses out there. So I think it's probably appropriate that we circulate something to the councillors that just goes live. Procurement had a very good procurement do's and don'ts fact sheet from a few years ago. We'll get that updated. And Dennis will send that back out. Councillor Jurisevic: And the councillors are now notified when tenders go live as well, which facilitates our knowledge and understanding as well. With regard to the uses on the beach, those activities that are there, is it envisaged that they will be the activities that we will accept?
00:34:00 Or are there opportunities for any new activities outside of that range? Speaker 11: So you'll probably recall that we've held some workshops. Councillor Jurisevic: It's a bit of a dology, Dixie, here, for the people that are listening. Speaker 11: Yeah. Between councillors and staff, we have thrown around various proposals that have come through in recent times. And page 17 lists a number of those, and they're quite frequent. So I guess part of the point of this report is to agree on what we're going out to market and offering. So it isn't a case of bring us your further ideas. It's saying we've considered proposals around town and sites, and these are the ones that councillors... Councillor Jurisevic: I guess that's the reason for my question, is to clarify that for everybody that may be... That's right. ...may be envisaging a new use coming to it. Those uses are the uses that seem to work on the beach and work well, and complement the existing business houses in Hastings Street.
00:35:00 Speaker 11: Yes. Yeah. I mean, I think it's critical that they're seen as a valued and valuable part of life on the breach, and not just sort of taken that they're something that's to stay forevermore if they're not sort of meeting the community needs. So it's important that they really do meet the needs of the community. Well, thanks, Dennis. Councillor Lorentson: Any other questions? I think the guiding principles in commercial use of community land, I think, states that really well. Yeah. Dennis? The commercial use activity must enhance the visitor and local experience of Noosa Shire. So it's protection of experience, and I think that's a great guiding principle in a lot of the decisions that we need to be making here in council. Yeah. Speaker 8: Tom, you've got a question? Yeah. Didn't you ask for more information or a track record on how often the kayaks were actually
00:36:00 used? Yes. Was there any more information on that regard? Because I see that it looks like it's already been determined that they're going to lose their car park. So I'm just asking if there's further information on that one. Speaker 11: The position that we ultimately took in the report was to be quite, for the next permit, to be explicit in that it's not to take up a car space. So whilst there's benefit in allowing that use within the bay, it's been observed to be a low level of use. So if and when that permit is used and tours are conducted in the bay, that the equipment and customers are brought in rather than nullifying the space at the woods permanently like it has done. Councillor Lorentson: Is there a condition or a requirement with the issuing of a permit that requires the
00:37:00 permit holder to give reports back to council in regards to usage? So that when we come back to this decision in five years' time, we've actually got data. So rather than speculation that it's observed that there's no kayaks being used, we've actually got some data that has been furnished by the permit holder. Is that something that we can do? Is that something we can look at including? Speaker 11: Yeah, I think we might, for that one specifically, if it was an issue. Councillor Lorentson: I think it's critical that decisions are made based on data. I think that's, just in fairness, someone who's committed life savings into a business, I think is owed that. Speaker 11: Yeah, the only change that we've proposed is that they don't leave a trailer with their kayaks there 24-7. Speaker 8: Reasonable. Did you ask them though? Did you ask him for his records that they do for the kayak, whoever you are? How often did you use your kayak?
00:38:00 Speaker 11: No. No, that hasn't been part of this process. And in a way, you know, this isn't about reinstating a permit. It's about offering it to the market as well. Councillor Jurisevic: So there is that perspective. There might be a way of rephrasing that question. If a tenderer came back and requested a car park, a necessity for a car park to facilitate something like that, would that be something we'd consider and look at the cost implications of? Speaker 11: I think if we dealt with that carrot, we'd have every permit holder saying, I'll open the base. Councillor Jurisevic: Again, if you've got, if you had no applicants under one condition but they all stipulated the condition for a particular type of use, you'd have to consider what the tender's actually going with, would you not? Speaker 11: Yeah, we would. I think there's provision for receiving those type of... Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. Thank you. Any further questions? So again, I think this has been referred to, been asked to be referred to the general committee because of the significance of it. Move, Councillor Wilkie. Seconded, Councillor Stewart.
00:39:00 All in favour? All right. Thanks, guys. Thanks, guys. You'll probably get grilled again on Monday. Speaker 12: All the questions have been answered. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, great. Mayor Stewart: We've nothing left for the general. Hopefully. Item three. Councillor Jurisevic: Hopefully, yeah. So there's a Chamber of Commerce and Industry incorporating exemption request for the provision of alcohol for temporary events during COVID-19 pandemic. You've asked this to be referred. I've asked for this to be referred because I don't necessarily agree with the recommendation. Councillor Wilkie: Has anybody got any questions? I do. So the question is, is it a requirement for a temporary event to be closed within a wire fence enclosure? Speaker 5: Not a wire fence. It needs to be... Not a fence. Well, they need to be able to manage the numbers and so to do that, they ideally need to fence it with an entry and an exit so they can actually determine how many people are there at any one time. Councillor Wilkie: Now, I understand that events on public land that want to sell liquor also are required
00:40:00 to have a fenced area. Speaker 5: Yes, usually. Yes, they need to have a determined area so other uninvited people can just attend it. Councillor Wilkie: So it's a combination of the two. It's liquor licensing requirements and also COVID requirements that takes place within a fenced area. Speaker 13: That's what it says in here. Yeah. It's to restrict public access. Speaker 5: They're actually using a small picket fence. It's more just as a barrier to stop... Yeah. ...outside people being able to just walk in. Councillor Wilkie: So even if it wasn't a liquor-licensed event, they would still require a fenced area? Speaker 5: Well, yes. They've got to be able to show how they can stop 2,000 people turning up instead of the number of... Speaker 13: So that was part of the criteria the reference group looked at, which was around, is it a free-range event where it's all comers or can it be controlled? And because it was able to be controlled, it went in its favour.
00:41:00 And fencing is a way of delineating an area for that purpose. Councillor Jurisevic: And also, under current COVID restrictions, there'd be a limit to the number of people per square metre, or is that only applied to dining? Speaker 5: No. There is... You can only have one person per... Councillor Jurisevic: So that was determined... ...two square metres. That was determined by the number of people that are expecting the area that they would be required to have at least partitioned off, so that for alcohol consumption. Mayor Stewart: Yes. Jill, on that, was that the determination, because I note that you recommend 500 or less, but not approve 700. So is that the determining factor of not approving 700, but approving 500 or less because of the square metre? No, no. Speaker 13: The defining factor is the position that council adopted at the special meeting on the 31st of August. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. So under the current COVID restrictions by the state, what is the limit... Is there any limitation on the number of people that can attend an outdoor event?
00:42:00 Speaker 5: Under the state, it's 1500. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask whether we've been consistent in our decision making? Have there been any approvals given for outdoor events with more than 500 people? No. Councillor Wilkie: No. How many events have been approved so far, up to 500? 37. 37. Okay. Thank you. And some of those include alcohol. Three. Yes. This is the third. Speaker 5: And none of those events haven't been on yet. This is one of them. No. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Speaker 5: Okay. All right. Any further questions? Councillor Jurisevic: Again, the item's been asked to be referred to the committee. I'll move that. Can I have a second there? Speaker 3: I'll second that. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you, Amelia. All in favour? Any questions, councillors?
00:43:00 Mayor Stewart: Michael, we're talking about significant discussions. We had significant, sorry, budget discussions last week in our special meeting for a couple of hours. Can you explain, and more for the viewers, how this budget consultation and this online budget tool will be different to what has happened in the past? Speaker 9: There hasn't been any in the past, so that's the answer. Okay. The difference is in the report. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: So this is a, I'm trying to term it in a way that's not, a bit of a first time attempt at a public consultation with regard to the budget process. And it will be a learning curve from here, depending on how this goes. And whether this works and whether this provides all the options. But I take it so it's a first time attempt based on what's happening with some other councillors, as I understand it.
00:44:00 Speaker 12: Yep. What are the other councillors, Michael? Which ones are doing stuff at the moment? Thanks, Brett. Next question. I don't remember that. Speaker 9: There's one there. Yeah, there's a couple of others. The next one? Okay. Yeah, the next one. Councillor Jurisevic: Does this happen in any other state? Do we know if it happens in New South Wales, Victoria, or? Not sure. Speaker 9: Not sure? Councillor Jurisevic: And by the sound of it, one of the reasons we're heading in this direction, not only from our own perspectives, but this looks like an initiative the state government is leaning towards. Brett? Speaker 12: Yeah, they've talked for a while about bringing in some legislative change to require councillors to do that. I think that's inevitable. We don't know exactly what that's going to look like yet, but we'll be ahead of the curve on that issue. Okay. Very good. Councillor Wilkie: So what I've seen of the tool, the online tool, it takes an educated approach for engagement and requires community members to balance the budget if they want to spend more in some areas.
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00:45:00 They may have to make decisions about what they may like to see less spent in other areas. And it explains how levies work, how the general rate works. It's very informative. I'm very impressed with what I've seen so far. I'm also pleased that there will be face-to-face consultation as well for members of the community who would like to meet with staff to understand how the online tool works. And also just to meet with councillors old school style and just talk face-to-face about what their concerns are, what they would like to see in the budget. So I'm very pleased that there's both a mixture of online consultation and face-to-face consultation. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Now, Michael, also the understanding that there's probably some areas here where adjustments can't be made because there are fixed elements to the budget, i.e. a fixed amount of money
00:46:00 that comes in through one source or a fixed amount of money to go out in certain instances. Is that correct? Speaker 9: Are you talking about the tool? Yes. Within the tool itself. That's correct. There'll be elements that come in. It can be adjusted or something can't be. It can or can't be adjusted. Correct. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: Can I ask, Michael, is the state government's going to mandate budget consultation for all councils around across Queensland? When that happens, will that budget consultation replace or override our face-to-face and online tools? Or will it be in a different format? So I'm just sort of wanting to know what happens. Does state override our process? Speaker 9: Well, they haven't defined what a process would look like, and they haven't produced
00:47:00 anything yet. However, it may override depending on whether they mandate in legislation a process that councils have to go through to engage. So we're not sure yet, but time will tell. Yeah. When they bring it out. When they bring it out, we'll have a look and say, well, we're already over above whatever Speaker 12: standard they might want or whatever it might be. Councillor Jurisevic: I suspect that they'd be looking at what councils have initiated. We can potentially look at that as the ... Benchmark. Is it not? It's a benchmark to see. Speaker 12: I've got a feeling it would be above whatever standard they might want. Correct. Councillor Wilkie: All right. It's informative, educative, extensive. Councillor Jurisevic: I look forward to seeing how the community engage with it and the sort of feedback that we get from the opportunity they are given to understand the complexity of a council budget settlement process.
00:48:00 We'll be going for it. Can I have a mover? Camelia? Councillor Stewart? All in favour? Thank you. Thank you, Michael. Item 5, Noosa Holiday Park's update report to the 31st of December 2020. Robyn. Speaker 1: Good afternoon, everyone. Hi, Robyn. Hello, Robyn. Yes, so the report is in relation to the first six months of the fund. From a revenue perspective, we enjoyed a really strong six months with the year to date revenue up to 31 December of 18% over the original whole year budget. And on the other side of the coin, the expenses were trending at 63% for the first six months, which reflects the variable part of the cost base. As you have higher than expected revenue and occupancy, things like electricity costs, pump out costs.
00:49:00 Costs also increase. The, I mean, the parks are within the tourism industry, which, you know, sort of kicked off again in June, July last year post COVID. And it was very uncertain as to how the industry would track. The industry rhetoric is that that six month period was probably a little bit anomalous. And whether that continues is, you know, we just kind of need to wait and see. It's probably a response to border closures, the lack of international travel. That looks like it will continue. But obviously, the border closures are reducing, although people are fearful of travelling outside of the state and then getting stuck elsewhere. Councillor Jurisevic: But from a bookings perspective, bookings are still strong at all of these. Speaker 1: Bookings are still strong, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: At all three parks? Speaker 1: Yes. And together with the park managers, we were very cognisant that whilst we had a captive market, it was a really good opportunity to introduce the parks to new consumers.
00:50:00 We get a lot of repeat consumers, but it was an opportunity to put it out through socials and marketing and Facebook and increase the customer base and make sure they have a good experience and then continue to return in the future. Councillor Jurisevic: I would think that would be true at all three of the parks. This holiday park in particular, there would have been Victorians closed out that we would have had through a period. So there would have been openings here that were normally booked 12 months in advance, as often happens there. Correct. At Noosa North Shore. Yeah. Having quite an increased uptake on that. Speaker 1: Yeah, there was a lot more upside to realise there because they typically trend at a lower occupancy rate. So there's more vacancy and there was such a high demand for caravanning and camping experiences that we were able to use up that available upside, a little bit more than Noosa River that has quite a high captive market anyway. From a COVID safe operation perspective, it's all been going well.
00:51:00 We have good systems and rapid response programs in place with the park managers to respond to border closures, get information out, cancel bookings if they're needed. Councillor Jurisevic: But as far as occupancy goes of all the sites, what's the capacity to book at the moment? Is it 100% of the park? Can 100% of the available sites be booked? Speaker 1: Yes, we've been at 100% occupancy availability since July at all three. Councillor Lorentson: So given the locations of these holiday parks, being by the river at Boring Point, how do we ensure that the parks are managed in an environmentally acceptable manner? Is there an environmental management plan that goes with the tender processes or? Speaker 1: Probably the most vulnerable site from an environmental perspective is Boring Point,
00:52:00 given the foreshore area. I might return to that. I'll just quickly address the other two. Noosa North Shore with the beach frontage, it doesn't get the high foot traffic and it's probably less vulnerable than Noosa Main Beach, for example. And we have a vegetation management plan there with land care. And we also undertake regular tree trimming and arborist reports twice a year to manage weeds and vine through the trees. Noosa River has a lot less vegetation issues. And I believe the foreshore area is under the remit of infrastructure services. Boring Point with the foreshore, yeah, it's just management of it, making sure that there's foot traffic down to the lakefront is through dedicated areas so that you don't get foot traffic across the park. Councillor Lorentson: So Noosa River Holiday Park, it's been identified as an area at risk from inundation.
00:53:00 Under our coastal hazard adaptation plan. What action has council done to ameliorate or reduce the risk of or protecting that asset? Because it's a major asset. Speaker 1: I might need to come back to that one if possible, Amelia. Yeah, I can follow that up internally. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Does anyone have a question? Oh, just to put things in perspective for people who might be listening. What do you do? I'm watching from home. You were predicting that there'd be an operating surplus at the end of 2021 of about $130,000. And currently, these three operations have gone to close to $1 million. Correct. So it's nine times. That's right. And so potentially close to $1 million by the end of the year. Speaker 1: Yeah, I keep a close eye on the forward bookings and they're looking very good.
00:54:00 Very strong. Councillor Wilkie: So these holiday parks play an essential role in helping to keep rates low. If there's a $2 million surplus, that's perhaps a 4% equivalent in rates that we're going to define from elsewhere. Speaker 9: So it's- Without the activities, yes, that's correct. But we are currently budgeting a $3 million operating deficit. So hopefully that'll offset some of that at year end. Councillor Wilkie: Yeah, it's going to help us. The bottom line would look a lot healthier. I think it's important- And again, the budgets were worked conservatively Councillor Jurisevic: with knowing the impact of COVID. Yeah. Speaker 1: And we have really strong contract partners. They're critical. They're on the ground managing bookings, the guest experience. And it's important to commend and note the role that they play in having strong commercial operations. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: This is just a thought. We've got at the moment a serious or seasonal problem with illegal camping.
00:55:00 Given the popularity of these caravan parks and camping facilities, and knowing that they're profitable, I won't ask if, when will council be looking at investing more into developing caravan camping sites? Speaker 9: Well, that's a strategic project that we need to consider and we've got to look at that. We've got to think about resourcing and ability to deliver that sort of project over the next 12 months. So that's going to be a challenging one for us to work through. Speaker 12: The big opportunity in the future at some stage, whether it's next year, the year after, or five years' time, is John's Landing. What we do out there. But the strategy always was to settle down or finalise the North Shore one first, get all that vetted down. And then, obviously, we've had a COVID period. We've got to look at all the other competing priorities, but that's out in the distance, one that we can have a look at.
00:56:00 Councillor Jurisevic: And there are some works still going at Boring Point, I believe. Correct. We're going to have- There's still some works to finalise at Boring Point, so that's all they've got. Speaker 1: The work commenced last week on the refurbishment of the large amenities. Yep. Councillor Wilkie: I guess we have to take into consideration the capacity of these parks to take extra occupancy. Like Boring Point and North Shore haven't consistently hit the 50% occupancy mark yet. So there's still spare capacity there for people that want to find camping space. Councillor Jurisevic: That's right. And again, any new facility would have to consider the impact on the environment, the river-based access, the type of infrastructure- Yes. ... that you'd have to put in place and all the rest of it. So any new facility would have some major considerations before it was considered. Okay. Any further questions? Thanks, Robert. Thanks, Robert. Can I move on? I'll move on. Wilkie, seconded by Councillor Lorentson. Councillor Wilkie: Great report. Councillor Jurisevic: All in favour? Councillor Wilkie: Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Have a nice afternoon. Thanks, Robert.
00:57:00 Councillor Wilkie: Thanks, Robert. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. Item six, Corporate Services Department update. Any questions for Michael about how his area is going? Mayor Stewart: Michael, this all looks pretty good. What do you see as the biggest challenges for us coming up? Obviously, budget review, too, but as Brett would always ask, what keeps you awake at night? Speaker 9: At the moment, I'm sleeping very well. Councillor Lorentson: I've got to change that. Speaker 9: We haven't got a budget review, too, yet. Mayor Stewart: I'm sleeping in the morning. Speaker 9: So look, we're trying to manage as best we can at the moment, so the budget process will probably be a challenging one for all of us, which I think is probably the next big project on the horizon. Mayor Stewart: And is the challenge, I guess, trying to, we've all got some new initiatives that we want to put in place and, you know, champagne taste and a beer income, so to speak, in many respects. Is that what the challenge is? Speaker 9: It's all about managing priorities and within viable resources and that, yeah, that'll be the normal pressure we have during the budget process about what we do and what we can't do and then finding the middle ground in terms of our projects and initiatives.
00:58:00 Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Okay. Speaker 9: I think it's more of a bottle of champagne on a cordial ink. Councillor Jurisevic: One of the things I was interested in seeing, Michael, is... assisting one of our Shires that doesn't, probably doesn't have the facilitation for creating maps. Forgive me for the pronunciation, Bourn, Borough, Aboriginal Shire Council, creating maps for them to use in meetings on native titles, they had no GIS capability. Speaker 9: Yeah, that was an interesting initiative, that one, but obviously it's good to be able to help our, our cousins in... Councils that probably don't have the capacity. Councillor Jurisevic: The technical expertise, that's wonderful to see our staff working with other Councils and facilitating that.
00:59:00 From an IT perspective, how have we been going, cyber security-wise and all the rest of it, I see we're talking, still talking cyber security improvements, have we been challenged by attacks on the system, how's the system stood up? Speaker 9: Well, currently we've, yeah, we've got ongoing monitoring of our systems and we haven't had any, any breaches at all in, in this year, so we're, we're obviously part of the budget process, so we'll be looking at investing a little bit more in, in security given that the current environment is, it's a little bit worrisome from some of our resourcing, particularly in the security industry, telling us that there's, across the globe, there's a lot of IT security, there's a lot of IT security, there's a lot of IT security risk, with hack, a lot of hacking going on, so we need to be ever vigilant with, with our systems and... Councillor Jurisevic: What about across local Councils, have we got any comparison of how other Councils' security issues are arising, are they having challenges, more so than ourselves, with regard to older systems or systems that aren't being kept up to date?
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01:00:00 Speaker 9: Um, I'm not aware of, um, whether LGAQ or anyone has provided any sort of benchmarking on how other Councils... Councillor Jurisevic: But we are aware of other Councils, Brett, we're aware of other Councils, places some more key challenges... Speaker 12: I think everyone's got the same challenges, probably the thing that, uh, differentiates us is that we're better prepared in terms of we've got a lot of stuff in the cloud and good secure environments, um, some of the smaller Councils don't have that, they've got their own servers and they're quite vulnerable, so, um, we're in a pretty good position. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay, that's it from me, anybody else got any questions? Councillor Wilkie: I had a general question about fleet, Michael, is there, are you able to give us any, um, advice on how, um, the people in charge of fleet are looking at engaging electric vehicles where possible, is there a, is that a part of the decision making process in terms of procurement of fleet?
01:01:00 Speaker 9: There, obviously a lot of our fleet's heavy vehicles, um, and trucks and utes, which, um, you know, the work we have done is, the market's not mature in terms of providing good for service equipment in that space, um, but part of our normal replacement program, particularly with our light fleet, we're always looking at whether utes are the preferred option and whether they can be downsized to an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, so that's, we have to look at that. That's part of our normal process that, um, I think the government's got to step up in this space if they, if they want to see some heavy investment in electric technology, particularly vehicles, I think that's... Councillor Jurisevic: There's certainly talk in that, um, uh, in that ute type, uh, uh, field of hybrid vehicles being introduced by some of the larger manufacturers like Toyota's and the like in the next, uh, in the next 12 months, that's, uh, that's on the horizon, so it'll be interesting to see what those, uh, those offerings are and, uh, and, uh, and how feasible they are as, uh, as, you know, the type of vehicles, whether they complement our fleet and, uh, and can be facilitated within as those opportunities arise
01:02:00 Councillor Wilkie: One more question if I may, Mr Chair. Um, Michael, under business as usual and properly, I was curious to see if Tewantin RSL parked leather station. Forgive me if I haven't, if you've told us about it before, but what does that entail? Speaker 9: Um, yeah, I think it's that little enclosed space down here that's, um, it's used by the RSL, although I'm not sure who the... Speaker 12: It's been used by Bureau of Leisure and PRM. Yeah, so that is... Is this the bomb? It's... Yeah. Yeah. Just down the corner here. White square. Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: So when you look on the bomb website and you see the Tewantin rain gauge, weather, wind, temperatures, all the rest of it, that's, that's been... Speaker 9: Is the work responsible for the upkeep of that? No, it's just a... It's a 10-year... It's just a lease. It's just a 10-year arrangement for that piece of land.
01:03:00 Councillor Wilkie: Oh, I see. They lease the land. Yeah. Thank you. Councillor Jurisevic: Nothing further? Can I have a mover? Thank you, Stewart. Speaking of that, Councillor Crookie. Mayor Stewart: Thanks, Mike. Councillor Jurisevic: All in favour? Thank you. Thanks, Michael. Thank you. Thank you. Move on to the next item. Item seven. The capital program delivery status for February 2021. Alex and Brian. Welcome to the table, guys. Sorry. Some good news stories here. Some great projects. Some great projects. Thank you. How are we running with regards to delivery of this massive program and all of this additional funding that we've been given under COVID and all these other projects that we've undertaken, Alex? Speaker 2: Yeah. So far, so good. So, we're currently sitting at about 35%, which is a $12.3 million spend so far. I suppose, additionally to that, we've got 3.9 committed, which is another 11%.
01:04:00 So, sort of, yeah, we're 46% total. Councillor Jurisevic: So, 35% worries me two months into the second month, you know? I just said 31 December. Speaker 2: So, this was to 27 January? Councillor Jurisevic: You know, after the first month in, we're not... But typically, 30% to 40% is about that hit mark at the halfway point. Speaker 2: Yeah. So, loaded up with, I suppose, May and June are our sort of big spends for this coming year. Councillor Jurisevic: And there are some large-scale projects on the horizon that we have to be let, like the Bridgham Community House. Speaker 12: Which the council passed the tender there. Yep. Speaker 2: And then, Subron Street Slope Stability Project, that's another $900,000. We've still got a few. So, River Creek, Reef Street Roundabout, under the rehab program.
01:05:00 So, that's another $500,000. So, yeah, quite a few big projects happening. Councillor Wilkie: The way these projects are reported is always interesting. This is the money you spend on projects. This is the money you spend on projects. But there's more projects that have actually been completed, which the council hasn't been invoiced on as yet. So, haven't paid for as yet. So, delivery is actually ahead of the expenditure, isn't it? Is that how it works? Speaker 10: Yes, that's correct. And a good example of that is the Tingirra Bridge, where we've... Orealla Bridge. Orealla. Speaker 11: Yeah. Speaker 10: Sorry. Speaker 11: Yep. Speaker 10: The park threw me yesterday. Of course, it's Orealla. Orealla Bridge. Yeah. We're still waiting on the final invoices for that to kick off our defect liability period. So... Councillor Wilkie: That's an extra $3 million. Speaker 10: Two points. I don't know the full value of that, but it's quite a significant invoice so we can acquit the grant too. So, we should be expecting that any day.
01:06:00 Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Are there any other big projects that you're expecting invoices on soon? Speaker 10: No. More of them are just kicking off. More so. We've done a lot of planning in the first half of the year and now it's a construction phase. The Hinterland Playground will be a big one because there was a lot of planning work around that. So, we'll see invoicing coming in pretty quickly on that one. And the Peregian Beach Beach Community Council as well. Yes. That's right. For that. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. All the other councils are very excited about that. Mayor Stewart: There's a heap of... Real brink. Real green ticks all through here. Yep. Are we behind on anything? I mean, is it... Speaker 10: No. That's all financial. So, we haven't gone over budget yet. That's why the green ticks are there. So, through the Capital Works Executive, we look at that time management and we're seeing whether we're on time and budget. So, we're on budget for everything. So, at the... Sorry? Mayor Stewart: We're on budget for everything. Speaker 10: At the moment, yeah, we're probably a little bit behind. The forecast in our year-to-date budget is that there's a big spend for May and June.
01:07:00 So, we've really got to hope that the weather gods look after us and that we hit that target. We've got our planning in place. We've got recruitment going on to fill those vacancies and additional ones to cater for the Beckmans Road and Noosa Parade works that we're also kicking off as well this financial year. So, yes, there's a lot going on, but we've got it planned and we're aiming to hit our targets. By the end of June. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. It seems like a recurring theme that under risk, human resource and constraints. Sure. We've had a lot of resignations from key people, particularly in infrastructure. My question is, these positions have been built and we're outsourcing a lot of these projects. When we outsource these projects, do we outsource them to people who don't have access to them?
01:08:00 Do we outsource them to people that have resigned from council? And is there a danger in doing that? Is it precedent setting? Speaker 10: That's a good question. There is only one company that we're dealing with that is an ex-employee, but that employee didn't go out the door one way and back in. Actually went out and had spent time as a contractor, contracted to Main Roads and has also picked up some minor works with us and is now back in. They've picked up some additional works, but it's all been done through the procurement process and followed those guidelines accordingly. Fantastic. Councillor Jurisevic: There's one project that I wasn't quite sure about the facts and figures here, and that's the Tewantin Sports Complex Navy Cadets Building. The original budget is $150,000. The carryover budget for BR1 and BR2, $150,000. The current budget year to date hasn't changed at this point in time.
01:09:00 Still sits at $7,000. With year to date actuals at $8,000 and remaining commitments, nothing like $150,000 at $2,000. Councillor Wilkie: What page is that? Councillor Jurisevic: That's on page 40. Speaker 12: Can you explain what we're up to with that? Councillor Jurisevic: Can we explain what we're up to with that and why those budget figures hasn't moved over into those columns? Speaker 10: Yeah. I originally thought of just doing a refurbishment on the building, but now it's going to be a complete demolition. So the original pricing was around removal of asbestos and doing refurb, and we got to the point where we're going, why are we doing this to a building that's not of that value? Not viable. So it wasn't viable, and now we're going back with our estimates to see whether we can find the project. Councillor Jurisevic: Okay. So the budget hasn't been allocated yet because the actual project hasn't ... No. The final project hasn't been undertaken. Speaker 10: That's correct. And it works for Queensland money. So anything that's- Councillor Jurisevic: That's why I'm watching it very closely. Speaker 10: Yeah. And if anything goes over, then it would be our spend, or we'd have to seek approval
01:10:00 to reallocate those funds if it wasn't viable for us to- Councillor Jurisevic: As I understand it, the asbestos has been removed from that building at this point? Yes, I believe so. So that would cover the $8,000 allocation that there's going there for asbestos removal. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: In regards to the Dog Beach SEMP, has the data collection been completed? Where are we up to with that? Speaker 10: Yeah. Good question. Do you want me to read that one? Yeah, yeah. Sorry. Alex's first report, too, by the way. You know about the SEMP report? No. Didn't want to throw him under the bus on that one. Look, what's happening with the SEMP is that we're negotiating with the agencies, the different government agencies for approval for those works, and it's just getting the stars to align, because there's four different authorities that we deal with when we're seeking approval from fisheries to Enviro, DERM, I forget the fourth one, but so we've got to get them all in the same room together as well.
01:11:00 But we've got really positive conversations going on. We're all going in the same direction. It's just a matter of process that we're working through and coming back and we'll get approvals. We've allocated construction money for next year. So everything's on track for where we should be with our negotiations and our planning of those works. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. It's been a while since I've been down there, but I went down there again not long ago, and I was surprised to see the amount of infrastructure that has actually fallen. Fallen into the, or fallen away. Yes. I wanted a better description. In the SEMP, are we looking at where and what levels of return of pathways and the like and where they're located? Speaker 10: Well, with the SEMP, there will be a retreat line that we'll agree to and where we'll only place or intervene with and place infrastructure and intervene to protect it going forward.
01:12:00 Mm-hmm. So we won't be putting any infrastructure back in zones that we can't protect, basically. Okay. Councillor Jurisevic: Good. Speaker 10: But that's all still to be finalised as part of the improvements. Councillor Jurisevic: I didn't think we had a final plan for this. No. No. Speaker 10: The good thing is that the erosion has, the rapid has really stalled. It seems to have stalled, yes. It seems to have stalled. So we've got time in regards to that. It's not like it's all consistently eroding in the one direction for us. Councillor Lorentson: Right. I would, I thought that this data and this project would have some urgency given that it looks at shoreline erosion. And I would also think the information collated with this project would be used to support our coastal hazard adaptation plan. Why hasn't it? Why hasn't it been complete and why wasn't it used in reference to the coastal hazard adaptation plan or used to inform the coastal hazard adaptation plan?
01:13:00 When I see a lot of overlaps with the information that's been collated from shoreline erosion to remedial actions to what's happening across states. To me, it's a critical thing. It's a critical piece of work and it seems like an important missing link to a plan that's come out to community. Sure. Can you give us some information? Speaker 10: Yeah, I can. We actually included all that in the SEMP when it was brought to council. We worked very closely as a team and worked with the other agencies. So when I say a team, we also had Rebecca and Grant Hinner involved in this whole thing. They were involved in the SEMP process. So we modelled it and we used the modelling that was used in the draft chat to inform what works that we needed to do as well.
01:14:00 So it is only sand. We're only talking about soft infrastructure. So it would come down to the fact that whether that works or not, whether we need to do it, need to put in more hard infrastructure to protect that down the track. But the solutions were proposed. We believe we'll deal with what that soft infrastructure will last. And then the CHAP timeframes may kick on and we may have to put more solid infrastructure. And what I mean by that is it may need to have rock wall or whatever it may be. We're proposing submerged sandbags and little groins to help build that sand back as the river moves. Councillor Lorentson: So grey infrastructure and sea walls and groins are part of the solution? Speaker 10: Only sand filled bags that are submerged.
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01:15:00 Councillor Lorentson: So the geotechnical sort of sandbags that are used in further south? Speaker 10: Yes, yes. And we've used them ourselves at the end of Dog Beach in the first stage there. At Munna Point as well? Yes, at Munna Point. And they've worked really well at Munna Point in fact. But that's the intent of what we'll do. And then they only have a limited life of 20 to 30 years. And that's when we would see the increase of climate change affecting us. And we'd have plenty of time to model what we needed to put in place for future beyond that too. So there's a short term gain and then there's a longer term strategy around that SEMP as well. Councillor Jurisevic: Thank you. As far as... I hate to harp on the same question. Sorry. So as far as human safety goes with the number of fallen trees down there, is there any plans to deal with them prior to that sand replacement program or is that a hard parcel? Speaker 10: Yeah, there hasn't been any sort of urgent reaction to that in any way.
01:16:00 And if there is a need to do a clean up then we'll look at that. And we haven't yet. Councillor Jurisevic: No, it's a large number of trees that we're over at the beach are preventing access around actually. Oh, okay. Speaker 10: So we're going to have to take that on board. Yeah. That'd be great. Can I go a step back? That'd be great. Councillor Wilkie: Brian, just to go back to the extensive hydrological computer modelling that's done for the SEMP, which involves the river now, the main beach and the river itself. And you're saying that that data, that the staff from strategic planning are working with your staff about and sharing the information, informing the coastal hazard adaptation plan. When will we, as councillors perhaps, see a report about the modelling and what it's revealed? Speaker 10: That's a good question. I need to take that on notice. So Daniel Wishaw, who works in our team, he provided council's expert advice on that.
01:17:00 But yeah, I can't answer that. I suppose that's been done by the planning department. Councillor Wilkie: I know it's informed their solutions that they've come out with. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: No further questions? I have one more question. Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry. Councillor Lorentson: No, no. Councillor Jurisevic: Don't apologise. Councillor Lorentson: The Lifeguard Tower Renewal Works. Sure. Has solar panel been installed at the Sunshine Beach Life Tower? The guys there are operating without a PA system. Can, I'm hoping the $57,000 allocated to renewals have gone into that? Speaker 10: That's my understanding that there's meant to be solar power there to provide power and enable... I don't know if you can see the camera that works there as well. But yeah, I'm not sure whether those works are done. I'll need to follow up on that and see where they're at with that. Councillor Lorentson: I don't think they have, Brian. If you could follow up, that would be excellent.
01:18:00 Yeah, sure. Thank you. Thank you very much. Anybody else? Councillor Jurisevic: There being no further questions, can I have a mover? Councillor Stewart? Seconder? Councillor Wilkie? All in favour? Thank you. Thanks, Brian. We'll move on to item eight. Don't go anywhere. Infrastructure services department update. Thanks, Alex. Well, I'll save the hard questions for next time. You almost got sent. You almost got sent. Thanks, guys. Any questions about infrastructure services? Any questions about infrastructure services? Mayor Stewart: Any questions about infrastructure services? We've got a question from Brian. I'm going to page 49. Delivery of 100% of the works to Queensland, the United Recovery Grant funded projects. So we've completed quite a lot. And we're just in current priorities. We're just finalising the ones down there. Because they have to be all completed by 30 June this year, don't they?
01:19:00 Speaker 10: That's correct. Mayor Stewart: Yes. So is there anything outstanding there? Are we on track for all of that? Speaker 10: We've applied under different sub-programs. And we are, in some of those cases, under budget. So we've still got a list. And we'll be reviewing those and bringing them forward again and getting approval to fill the voids where we're under budget. But we're on track. We're looking really good. I suppose the only one at risk is the Navy cadets on what the decision is to be done there. But other than that, no. Other than that, the others, we've got a very exhaustive list. And I've been accumulating for next year, it's growing as well. So we'll have no problem delivering those. The beauty of the works for Queensland is it's not just capital. It's maintenance works. So we've got a lot of miles from this money, which has been great.
01:20:00 Speaker 12: I ask that same question every month. Yeah. And part of it's because this is the first year we've ever got that funding. And if we want to keep confidence in the government to give it to us in the future, then we've got to deliver everything in this first year. So, yeah. Mayor Stewart: The toilets at U-Turn, that's in the next quarter. The shower block. That's not- Yes, it is. Yeah. So is that one that we- Speaker 12: That's underway. Mayor Stewart: It'll be finished by 30 June. Yeah. Okay. Terrific. Great. And we've got money. I know there was some talk, we talked about whether or not it could be used, potential grant lender, just for those grants, the other grants. The staff? Or is it? Speaker 10: No, it can't. It can't be? It needs to go down to the actual materials and services to do the work. Okay. Mayor Stewart: So it can't be used for labour on- No. Councillor Jurisevic: I can't tell you how pleased I am, Brian, to see finalising the policy process for planting in and managing structures in the road reserve. Finally- Speaker 10: Finally coming close to fruition. It's getting close. There's still a bit of work to be done there, but we're getting there. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: That's good. One of my pet peeves there, to sort out some of the issues there. The other one, I noticed the new design principles, considering next quarter, working with
01:21:00 Coles on redevelopment of the Wales club site, can you tell me what infrastructure services are doing with the developer with regard to redevelopment of the Wales club site? Speaker 10: I would assume that that's all just part of any pre-planning works, that how that would align in their master planning, because there is a- Councillor Jurisevic: Council standards? Yeah. Speaker 10: Essentially. Making sure that the look and feel still exists there when there's, because I believe there's- That's what I envisage. Councillor Jurisevic: That's why I was just clarifying. That's what it might be. Thank you. That's it from me. I think the rest are pretty well and still on target with all of those projects. Good to see so much being delivered, and fly away. Councillor Wilkie: You've mentioned the development of service management plans for Hastings Street, Noosa.
01:22:00 And out of curiosity, I'm curious to know, under the current priorities you're saying, incorporating lessons learned during the 2021 Christmas holiday period. Sure. What were some of the lessons learned? And what's likely to fall out of this? Speaker 12: I'll just touch on the process, how we did that. Speaker 10: Yeah. Yeah, sure. Sure. So just taking a step back, when you refer to the process, Brett, you've been the entire service plan process or- A bit later than how we did a review with the HSA the other day. Speaker 12: Yeah, sure. Speaker 10: So every year, so what we've done is gone out and condition assessed and pulled together all the services that we provide down in that precinct. And we then look at what happens during the holiday period. And up until the last 12 months, we've been modifying the standard services to increase and counteract where the tourist influx comes and how we deal with those issues. And we're aware we had waste management issues, particularly along the boardwalk, where our
01:23:00 bins were overflowing regularly. We had some servicing issues in different areas, whether it was- Public amenities. Public amenities and contractors. Contracted services of our streets. So we sit down with Hastings Street at the end, and we did that last week, and we looked at what were our lessons learned? What did we plan well and what didn't we plan well for? And we're just ironing those out now and looking at what potential initiatives we can bring into the Hastings Street precinct to overcome them better and improve that service, being our jewel in the ground, I suppose, precinct. Councillor Wilkie: So if we can get to some specifics, what's working well and what does need improvement? Speaker 10: What's working well is using council staff. We can be better reactive to council staff, and that's no disrespect to our contractors.
01:24:00 They're contracted for what we originally put a contract in place for, and they perform that work well. It's just that- When we have peak periods, and they don't have a contract to deal with that volume, and this year we've exceeded that. So in our contract, for example, is we had three toilet cleans per day, normally from two that we normally do during normal periods. And we've increased that again to four. And now the tweaking and the fine tuning is about four. So it's about what time of the day is the best time to do that, and similar with the bin empties as well. We're actually doing enough bin empties, we were just doing them at the wrong time of the day. And we're tweaking with that and working with the contractors and with staff. Councillor Jurisevic: The only other one there would be sand movement, the amount of sand that gets over the paths.
01:25:00 Speaker 10: Yeah. Well, I can't stop the northeasterlies, but we are looking, and we do have some- Councillor Jurisevic: But from an element of maintenance, how frequently we need to attend to? Speaker 10: We are proposing to put a movable sand break, like a seating, around those areas where Haybill is, just so we can, when we do get persistent northerlies, we can stop that all blowing into the surf club and car park. So that's some of that. Councillor Wilkie: And they do pay extra for these ? Yeah, yeah, yeah. Speaker 10: My word, we definitely have to, and a lot of it comes from the levy. Councillor Jurisevic: And basically street pay a levy to ensure that. Anything further from it? Councillor Lorentson: No, thank you. Amelia? Traffic management. In fact, next quarter we're going to be evaluating results from the 2020-2021 Peak Period Traffic Management Plan. That's going to be a conversation around the traffic controllers, the effectiveness, and whether they're worth the $75 million. $75,000 we allocate. I'd love to be part of that conversation, and I think it's important that we also have
01:26:00 residents who live in Little Cove to be part of that conversation. I think we really need to assess whether they're effective or not. Speaker 12: Right. And probably adding the Hastings Street Association. Councillor Lorentson: Hastings Street, yeah, but I think the residents probably have more to say than Hastings Street Association. They're the ones that are in and out. Yeah, yeah, yeah. The traffic controllers, the people that are in and out, they're in and out four or five times a day. The businesses, the owners, they're indoors. I really question the use of rate payers' money for the traffic controllers. Sure. Okay? Speaker 10: Well, look, Council, we've got a separate report reviewing what's just gone ahead and what we're planning for Easter as well. So that's coming up. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: I've got one more question. Yeah. Can you tell us a little bit about what we're doing with the schools? My son has to take a bike to school on Friday because Noosa Council are doing something in
01:27:00 conjunction with the school. Sure. And I just, it's the first I've heard of it. So, yeah, just, yeah, give me more for the viewers at home too. Speaker 10: It's really just touching on the Go Noosa program that we're rolling out and looking at behaviour change. Yeah. Encouraging, encouraging. We're trying to encourage schools to take the pressure off the road networks and put the bikes back on the pathways that we've built for them. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. And also trying to do that safely. Getting groups together. Speaker 10: Encouraging. Yeah. They run through the safety programs too. Where to park, how to cross the road, mounting, dismounting, and the like too. Mayor Stewart: So across all the primary schools? Speaker 10: I believe it's just a, I think it could be, but I'm not quite sure. A number of them might. Speaker 12: Yeah. Just work it through them one at a time. Yeah. Mayor Stewart: It does go through them. Speaker 12: Yeah. Mayor Stewart: Fantastic. Speaker 12: My kids always did that when they were the same age. Mayor Stewart: Yeah. Yeah. Got an email about it.
01:28:00 So, yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Last question I've got, Brian. Asset management plans. We must be coming close to the end of them. How many more have we got to go? Speaker 10: We've got one major one to go. Councillor Jurisevic: One major one. It's a few miles. Speaker 10: That's it. Oh, no. We'll probably, it's a bit like painting the Sydney Harbour Bridge. We'll be going back to the start. Back to starting it. But parks and playgrounds is the final one that we need for our major asset classes. Are we going to finish this financial year or this year? The intent is to get it done by the end of this financial year. Councillor Jurisevic: Tremendous. No further questions? Move, Councillor Stewart. Second, Councillor Orniston. All in favour? Speaker 10: Thank you, Brian. Thanks, Brian. Thanks a lot, Brian. Councillor Jurisevic: Now, the CEO is on a tight time schedule. So if nobody has any objections, and I'm sorry, Deb and Kerry, we might move on to items, the last two items, and just put you on hold for a moment, which are the two items that the CEO has put together. Page 76. Page 76 is the Tourism Noosa 2019-20 Annual Report. Speaker 12: And on this one, I've arranged for the Tourism Noosa guys to come to General Committee and give a short overview of what they've been up to.
01:29:00 Okay. I hope you answered any questions in the meeting. Mayor Stewart: Did Tom, did Councillor Wegener refer this to General? Speaker 12: No, it wasn't. It's one that will always, a bit like what we did with the Biosphere Reserve, when we have major reports from some of the big ones, we put it through the General Committee. But he has referred it to us. Speaker 13: I didn't see that. Speaker 12: Tom did. Tom did, yeah. Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: I'll second it. Okay. So we're going to move on. In Councillor Wilkie, you're seconded. In Councillor Stewart. Yeah. There are no questions for the CEO? Councillor Wilkie: No, given that we're getting a presentation late Monday. Yeah, I think so. We'll get to Monday. Councillor Jurisevic: All right. Okay. All in favour? Yep. Thank you. Then we'll move on to item 12. Speaker 2: Might be . Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Operational plan progress report for the second quarter. Speaker 12: This is my regular quarterly report on where we're up to with our 35 initiatives in the operational plan. We'll also provide some information about KTIs. All that's imposed in the report.
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01:30:00 Just we'll be happy to take questions or anything if you want to draw out. Mayor Stewart: I'm going to ask you what you ask everyone that keeps you awake at night in regard to this. Speaker 12: Oh, that's a good question. Probably what keeps me awake at night as CEO is the volume of what we've got on at the moment and the expectations on that volume of material. Speaker 7: Okay. Speaker 12: Got a lot of balls in the air. We're trying to keep everything going. So far, so good. Touch wood. But it'd be pretty easy to drop one or two balls over the next six months, I'd say. Councillor Lorentson: Okay. On page 87, Brett. Yep. The number of customer requests has increased and is at an all time high. Yeah. Is that an indication of better community engagement or is it because we've got more unhappy residents? Speaker 12: That's a great question. I think it's the fact that, and by the way, I speak to my colleagues, CEOs at other councils, and what we see here is being replicated in other places.
01:31:00 People are more willing- Yeah. ... to get onto their local council to find a solution to a problem. Councillor Jurisevic: More people at home as a part of COVID. Speaker 12: It could be that. That's what we speculated. We have people at home and they see things and they want to get them fixed or whatever. But the numbers we're seeing here are being replicated in other councils as well. Everyone's saying the same thing. The number of requests is going up everywhere. Councillor Jurisevic: So the nature of requests to do with repairs to council facilities or additional council sites or facilities or what? How do the nature of requests in that increase? Speaker 12: They don't change that much in terms of what people ring up about. It's dogs. Yeah. So people might be at home more over the last six months. They're hearing dogs bark or that type of thing. It's trees. Trees overhanging from parks or worrying about bushfire type issues. Markets and bins. Brakes is the other one. So we had a longer. We had a two month break period where people rang up over a longer period rather than a
01:32:00 shorter period. Or they might have had concerns about whether they could pay their rates. So they're ringing up. And the fourth one is the perennial one also is garbage bins. I didn't put the garbage bin out because I got the wrong day and I'm going to pick it up. So there's a lot of that. They're the four big ones. And certainly the volume has been picking up everywhere. I'd like to think it's because people are more engaged. But I can't actually. And they're happy. They could be both. But I can't actually answer that categorically. I don't know. Okay. Yeah. Speaker 7: Thanks Brett. Councillor Jurisevic: The red marks in the not commenced barrier. Are there any that you don't think will take place in this quarter, in this, in this remaining part of the. I think they'll all commence. I don't think they'll finalise. Speaker 12: The one that, a couple of them are, as you're aware, one of our directors is off on sick leave at the moment. That's pushing back our placemaking team. I'd like Kim to be back before we got into that.
01:33:00 And the other one is really contingent. The community engagement staff is contingent on how we go through our corporate planning process. And I'm probably a little bit behind. But I'd like to be on that one as well. So they're the only two, Joe. I think that would give me any concerns. Councillor Lorentson: The partnership with the major conservancy, that's behind schedule too. Has that got anything to do with the state permits, Craig? Speaker 12: Amelia, I'd have to go and check with Craig on that one. If I could come back to you. I'll check on that. Councillor Lorentson: Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: All right. Councilor Stewart the second. All in favour? Thank you. We'll go back to the top of my page, back to item 9, community services department update for the second quarter.
01:34:00 We're going to swap the CEO and the acting CEO. Speaker 12: You're going to ask the man questions now. Councillor Wilkie: Kerry, under page 63 under local laws, you've got 527 restricted activity camping actions. In the last quarter there was 189, so that's a significant jump. Does that indicate that there's a bit of a crack down going on or there's more illegal camping going on? Speaker 4: Illegal camping is a cyclical issue. It will go up and it will go down, certainly at the moment. Brett was referring to the types of customer requests that might come in. Within the local laws area at the moment illegal camping is a high volume. Councillor Wilkie: We're getting emails from the residents. Yes. Especially about camping around the national park.
01:35:00 Speaker 4: Absolutely. So it's that time of the year, we've got good surf rolling through. At the moment people have more mobility than they have had over the last nine months. So we've got people travelling around from interstate. So there's a lot more people who are able to be out on the road and we're a highly attractive destination in that space. Councillor Jurisevic: It's interesting. Traditionally we tend to blame that on the backpacking. The backpacking market, which is an element of overseas component to it. There's far less people coming in from overseas and far less of that. Speaker 4: No. So I understand what you're saying. However, a number of people remained within Australia. So it would be fair to say that these are travelling people on, you know, you're looking at your typical bands and things. So we've certainly seen a spike in illegal camping.
01:36:00 We obviously take a hard approach to this given we know the impact on local residents, whether it's through noise, hygiene, amenity, parking issues, etc. That, you know, while we obviously welcome people to our community, they may not understand the impact that they're having on residents. So we take a number of approaches to this. You know, we have our local laws officers out very early in the morning doing camping patrols. We target hotspots. We work in conjunction with, for example, Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service. An interesting one is that it came to our attention that for some people they thought that the fine was of a nature that it was worth splitting. Amongst a van of people to be able to camp by the beach and took that calculated risk.
01:37:00 The nature of the legislation is that actually people presume we're fining the vehicle. We're not. We're fining the activity. So we're enforcing the activity, which is illegal camping, whether you are in a vehicle or whether you are in a tent. Our strategy at the moment is to enforce compliance on every person. So if there were four people illegally camping, even if they were in the one vehicle, they will all receive an infringement notice. Councillor Wilkie: Has that been a change of strategy then? Speaker 4: It's been a slight, you know, we've changed strategies around based on what we see is driving behaviour. Obviously, we all take a compassionate approach. So some of our illegal campers aren't necessarily illegal campers. They might be backpackers wanting to park, to be next to the surf, to be first in the surf.
01:38:00 They might well be highly vulnerable people who are homeless. Councillor Wilkie: So what do you do in that circumstance? Speaker 4: So in that circumstance, we're not immediately issuing an infringement. In fact, what we're wanting to do is get those people connected into service very often. If they're in a vehicle, you know, there's, I guess, a range of homeless people. And within a vehicle, they at least have the security of a vehicle. And we're not wanting that to slide any further. So the key role that our local laws officers will undertake is to gently develop a relationship with them because they're often frightened of authority, fearful of what's going to happen, develop that relationship and get them linked into services because ultimately what we want to do is get them into a place of security. So depending on what is happening on the streets, we will take an appropriate response. The spike at the moment is absolutely majority to do with travelling people who are wanting to be closer.
01:39:00 And you know, Councillor Lorentson, you raised the issue of potentially more campgrounds. There's been a lot of research into this. And you've got to absolutely understand the drive in behaviour. As to determine a response and those communities that have provided more camping grounds, what they've found is that a lot of these people aren't going to camp anywhere that they've got to pay, no matter how small it is, because they are fundamentally wanting to preserve all their money for other activities. Some of them that would pay a small amount aren't going. So if there was a free campground, they will not stay there if it's at a bit of a distance from the place they want to be. So if they want a riverside view or want to wake up with a beach view, be right by the surf,
01:40:00 if that means a 15 minute drive, then they won't go to the free campground. Councillor Jurisevic: The best free camp spots are the ones that have something to entice people to associate with it. To be a destination of its own. Lots of regional centres have them and they have them beside a river or beside at least some sort of scenic amenity. Speaker 4: So we continue to work with, I guess, both our local stakeholders in addressing our problem here. It's not a problem that's unique to us. Any of the tourism destination places face this. But we also work with local governments to understand what's been effective elsewhere and whether that's something that we can implement here. But it certainly is a spike at the moment. And we have extra patrols trying to manage it and extra infringements each week. Councillor Wilkie: Just while we're still on local laws Kerry, last quarter there was 28 reported dog attacks, this time it's 13.
01:41:00 Is that within the usual range? Yes. Any dog attacks are distressing. I'm worried that seven were on people. Yes. Are we doing enough in that space to educate the community dog owners about responsible dog ownership? I mean, whenever it happens it's always traumatic. It is. Whether a small pet is torn apart in front of the owner's eyes or an elderly person is attacked. It is, it's very traumatic. Speaker 4: It's traumatic for the, whether it is the person experiencing it, whether it's somebody caring for them, whether it's the owner of a pet or simply by somebody that's observed it. It's traumatic. You know, we look at what's behind these. And there's no commonality often apart from, you know, there are some patterns we see.
01:42:00 For example, off leash. So often people say to me that, you know, my dog, I trust my dog. It's fine. That often is behind people. But I would never have believed my dog would have done that. And look what's happened. Councillor Wilkie: It's often the first time the dog goes with it. They say it's the first time they've seen a dog attack another dog. Speaker 4: Yes. Yes. And sometimes it can simply be that the dog that was off leash is the victim. And has come into too close of contact with another dog who was on leash. So off leash behavior is a big issue. And I know our community sometimes doesn't understand why it's so important. But we know that when dogs are on leash, the incidence of attacks is greatly reduced. One of the highly problematic areas we see is very adjacent to residents.
01:43:00 So people will walk home. They'll unleash their dog before they enter their home. They'll take their property. And that's where the issue occurs. Or they open their gate to go out to their car or a friend's car that might be out on the street. The dog comes out. Everyone thinks it's fine. It's just in front of their house. And that's where it occurs. Once again, it's an off leash area. When dogs are on leash, we have much reduced incidence. Councillor Wilkie: Is that what we can do? Speaker 4: So last year, we weren't able to undertake the education program that we normally would. And we know that that education program is highly effective. So our target is our up and coming generation. Through the schools. Through the schools. Yeah. So both from kindergarten right through, you know, primary.
01:44:00 Young people are highly effective in helping educate their parents. Yeah. Yeah. Yes, they are. They are highly effective. And they are our dog owners of the future. So we invest a lot of energy into that. The next stage that the team are looking at is going into our retirement village community because they are, I guess, of a couple of matches. They're often the ones that we're particularly concerned about that they, for example, if their dog, if there was another dog that was aggressive towards their dog, they would try to step in and physically try to resolve the situation. Trying to talk to them about why that can be very dangerous. Trying to talk to them about what steps they can take to look after themselves and look after their pets. And to help them understand why on leash is so important because, you know, some are coming from a generation where they don't understand why that's important.
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01:45:00 So that will be the next stage to go into retirement villages. Thank you, Karen. Councillor Lorentson: I've got a couple of questions. Yes. Going back to the illegal camping, Kerri. Yep. 527 infringement notices. How many of those were actually paid? Speaker 4: I would have to take that on notice, Amelia, and get that information for you. So our payment process is that somebody can either pay here within council or if it isn't paid by a certain date and isn't appealed, then it would be referred to the council. So some of those would go through to SPUR and then would be paid through that enforcement process. Councillor Lorentson: I think one of the challenges or complications with our deterrent system is that a, you know, people, illegal campers often don't pay. I don't know the facts behind that, but that's what I'm led to believe.
01:46:00 And also issuing the ticket was really hard. It was really quite difficult. So I've spoken quite in depth with local laws about this issue. Has, you mentioned before, we're allocating extra resources over the Easter period and Christmas period. The issue of closing the National Park is potentially a problem where we're moving the problem into residential streets. So that's something that we've got to really think carefully about. How about wheel clamping? Has anyone given any feedback on that? Is there any discussion to just putting a clamp on illegal campers' wheels? Speaker 4: So the issue that you first referred to around the complexity of compliance, it is a complex issue as to whether somebody is illegally camping or parked. It's a small technicality. So if you were not able to identify that they were illegally camping, nor could you then
01:47:00 clamp their vehicle. So we work constantly with Queensland Parks and Wildlife Service over the National Park issue. It's one aspect of our illegal camping. The bigger issues are actually in the residential streets, particularly from Noosa Heads right down through to Peregian, Sunrise, Sunshine, down to Peregian, so it's residential streets. We use a variety of sources to understand where the hotspots currently are. And so we don't just put on additional resources for Christmas and Easter. We certainly do have them then, but if we're aware of hotspot or we can see a spike through this, then we will apply additional resources. We don't have an approach where we do the same thing every week.
01:48:00 Otherwise, that becomes well known and then our strategy is not effective. So they monitor what's occurring and modify the strategy to be able to mitigate what's happening to our residents. Because at the end of the day, the impact on the residents and the impact on the environment is our priority. And so they'll take a range of strategies to try to address it. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: I just want to acknowledge, Kerry, you and your team and all the complex and sort of broad issues that I'm sort of going through this last night or early hours of this morning going, well, this is- It's a wide department. Councillor Jurisevic: It's probably the most diverse department. Mayor Stewart: Yeah, it is. I mean, you've had stoolies, you did all the Christmas, the Christmas convoy. I mean, you've got the local laws, the dogs, and then more recently, the disaster area and all that entailed. Speaker 4: A quarter is a long time in the life of communities.
01:49:00 Mayor Stewart: And the libraries. We've just talked about the libraries. Yeah. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, everything. You haven't mentioned the most important part of council, waste management. Mayor Stewart: Oh, sorry, Joe. Waste management. So I just want to acknowledge and thank you and the team. And please pass it on because it is a very, very broad range and in-depth range of things that you will deal with. Speaker 4: So I think the most important part of this is that I was able to go and spend some time at Noosa Community Support, which is probably one of the more or less visible areas of the department. And it was really wonderful to talk to the staff because they were one of our areas that didn't get to go into lockdown. They continue to provide services. They continue to go in home to provide care. But this- Councillor Jurisevic: Those people couldn't have stopped being vulnerable just because COVID was here. Yeah, right. But they're still there. Speaker 4: I think what the great thing was though is that they were able to talk really positively
01:50:00 about the experience of continuing to provide service and how important that was, but also the new, the change in service that they were able to implement because of it, because they weren't able to have the numbers of people that they ordinarily would and how some of those services are now still continuing because of the value that they gave to their clients. So that was a positive thing. Yeah. It's nice. It's nice. Mayor Stewart: No, thank you. Thank you very much for the hard work you all do. Councillor Jurisevic: Well, I couldn't leave it without a waste issue. I mean, I'm delighted to hear on the, that our neighbours to our south are starting to look at the community consultation with regard to their food waste in their green bins. Yes. Which then leads me back to the MOU and the discussions we've been having with other entities within our region with regard to how food waste is handled and ultimately food organic waste is managed across the region and probably whether a regional solution can
01:51:00 be sourced. And I'm gathering that the fact that they're having that discussion is an opportunity for us to further communicate those, that MOU or MOU, if not specifically that MOU, but the chance to have that discussion. Yeah. To investigate where they go and whether there's scope for a regional solution to the problem. Speaker 4: So certainly at the moment, the waste managers from the various councils are continuing to work together on what options there might be regionally, with particular view to work with some of the going in Morton Council regarding events. Councillor Jurisevic: I know it's in Morton, but yeah, the Prince Archibald Coast now up to the plate as well, which is good to see. Speaker 4: Yep. So, yeah. So critically for us is our new waste strategy. And the first phase of that work has been complete. Councillor Jurisevic: I've got a next question. Speaker 4: Yep.
01:52:00 So our consultant that we have on board, MRA, have done a fantastic first body of work, which is around, you know, looking at the industry, looking at the trends. The next phase that we will move into is community engagement. And that is slated for mid-March. And that's going to be the first phase of that work. But we'll need to be timed carefully with the community engagement process around the budget. So that will be that next piece of work, before we then start to develop the strategy properly. Councillor Wilkie: Great. While we're on waste, in terms of recyclables, do we know where nurses' recyclables end up? Speaker 4: Specifically? Councillor Wilkie: Yeah. Speaker 4: I'd have to take that on notice from you. I think that Ian's input on that, it will depend on the actual recyclable stream. Obviously, our... Councillor Wilkie: Markets change all the time. Speaker 4: They absolutely do.
01:53:00 And, you know, we... So in terms of reuse and recycling, we do separation here in Noosa. And so a lot of that stream goes off in different directions, whether it's mattresses or IT equipment. So that will all go to the different processes. Yeah. Yeah. And then, you know, providers working or suppliers working in that space. And then they will produce product from that, and that goes back into the economy. The waste, recycled stream that's coming through, what people know as their yellow recycling bin, goes to Sunshine Coast, Smurf. And from there, once again, streams are separated, and it goes on in its different way. We obviously then have our paper stream, which goes through visits. So they're all getting divided up. You know, the key to success in good reuse is being able to divide the waste streams so that you've got better opportunity to reuse and recycle that element.
01:54:00 Councillor Jurisevic: Of course, there's a new diversion mechanism in place. Yes. Container deposit scheme now. Absolutely. Yes. Where purer, cleaner products are being sourced. And those are able to go to markets. Yeah. And some of those are potentially contaminated sources. So it'll be interesting to see how the success of that scheme is going. Speaker 4: One of the big issues that Australia as a whole is currently grappling with is being able to manage that recycling within our country rather than sending it offshore. Councillor Wilkie: Yes. Speaker 4: And we've had a change in policy here where we're not sending it overseas. Councillor Jurisevic: We still have to look at circular economy and our role in taking back products that are created from recycled material for use in council activities. Speaker 4: And as we move through the waste strategy process, we'll be having bigger conversations about what that national and state framework and policies, what that means to us here locally
01:55:00 and how we need to consider it and take it into account when we're developing our local options. Councillor Wilkie: And how are we tracking the contamination of recycling bins with other waste? Speaker 4: So we didn't do an audit last year, COVID. However, you will see in the budget, the draft budget for 21-22, we're proposing to be able to do another audit. We think that that is critical with bringing in a new waste strategy that we've got benchmark data that we can test the strategy against. So we will be... Combined with the education program as well. Yes. So we'll be doing that. Absolutely. So that's a piece of it. Councillor Wilkie: But we've got results. Speaker 4: It did. Absolutely. Unfortunately, the way that it was framed in the media didn't come off very positively. But at the end of the day, the actual pilot program was highly effective.
01:56:00 And what it showed is that if you can concentrate your efforts on a small group of people so that they're understanding what the behaviours that they need are and what they need to do, why it's so important, what's happening for them that makes it difficult, if you concentrate on that and you get change there, that has a much greater impact than just general education, which in the whole scheme of things just becomes a blur. So those couple of pilots were highly effective and we would be looking to roll that out further. Councillor Jurisevic: And those pilots are indicative of the sort of systems that have been put in place by councils that have been resourcing from the state governments to facilitate those sort of programs over years in New South Wales, South Australia and Victoria in particular, where inauditing has been going on for a long, long time and it has driven the behaviour change.
01:57:00 Speaker 4: The waste strategy will have a whole component around education because we're dealing with it all day, every day. It's complex for the general public. They just want to know what to do with the waste. They just want to know what they can do. Which bin do I put it in? So trying to provide education that has meaningful impact is what we're aiming for. Councillor Lorentson: Kerry, just yes, last question from me. Sorry. No problem. Page 57, about the right-hand claims, finalised resolution about standing right on claims. My question is, did the Queensland Building and Construction Commission cancel the Builders' Company licence? Speaker 4: I couldn't comment on that, Amelia. I'd have to take that on notice. Thank you. Councillor Wilkie: Any further questions? Yeah, just on a human level, the Christmas COVID convoy was very well received and those
01:58:00 of us that went on it, which is all of us, could see the impact it had on families and children. In areas of the Shire that perhaps wouldn't, they would rarely see anything like that, or perhaps the kids would rarely see a Santa as well. So I just wondered whether that's going to be something that will be considered for next Christmas as well, regardless of whether we're in COVID restrictions or not. Speaker 4: Yes. So I guess this is one of those aspects that's been such a positive out of last year, that we have seen that changing the model of how we might deliver the festive season has had huge benefits. Absolutely. And not just council coming together with community, but- Council coming together. All of those essential service providers all coming together, linking with community and celebrating the end of the year was hugely successful. Feedback was outstanding. And so we have included it in the consideration for the draft 21-22 budget to be able to replicate
01:59:00 it. And obviously there are learnings out of it and improve upon it for the future. Councillor Wilkie: I don't care what any other council says. Speaker 4: I'm voting for it. I think you've had enough support on that one. Joy to be involved. Joy to be involved. Obviously there's many budget considerations to make. But certainly we saw from the feedback both on the days how that was received, but also following afterwards, people talking about coming together and that it was a fantastic almost release after such a difficult year. People just to be able to- And what was actually a very simple way. Councillor Lorentson: The element of surprise, I think, was one of the ingredients in making it such a well-received event. Could we do it in October?
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02:00:00 I'm kidding. I'm sorry. Councillor Jurisevic: I think that's a little bit like hot cross buns that come out in January. Speaker 4: I'm a terribly mean mother that says to my son, no, there's nothing special about them if you can have them all year. Councillor Jurisevic: Which is why we want the official reading for the community engagement hour in that sphere with the relevant trader organisations. Speaker 4: Yes, so we certainly can see room for growth in it. And now that the community's experienced it, they can see it in all sorts of different ways. So I would say watch this space. Excellent. Councillor Jurisevic: Congratulations. Nothing further? No, nothing at all. Another mover? Councillor Stewart? Seconder? Councillor Wilkie? All in favour? Thank you, Kerry. Great work in your department as always. Mayor Stewart: Thank you, sir.
02:01:00 Thanks, Kerry. Councillor Jurisevic: Final item for discussion today is item 10, Executive Services Department report with Deb. Deb. Speaker 7: Hello, Deb. Hello. Should I go and sit over there? Councillor Jurisevic: Sorry if I'm making you wait till the end. No, you're fine. Speaker 7: That's okay. Councillor Jurisevic: Any questions at all, guys? Councillor Lorentson: Rule 69, Litigation Tracker. Can you explain what our Litigation Tracker is and how many cases? Speaker 7: Okay, so what the Litigation Tracker is, is that what we've done is we've made contact with all areas of council to identify where they're engaging with legal, legal services and to make sure that we have a handle on the types of cases but also the quantums of those cases and the costs of legal services. So that information is getting collected and is being provided through to our CEO.
02:02:00 And I'm assuming then that... Fantastic. Yeah, he's monitoring that and... We'll let the term inform... Councillor Lorentson: Sorry, I'll just finish. So will that inform council's plan to look at putting in-house... Lawyers? Speaker 7: It will. It's very... Its primary purpose is really to keep track of the financial, the costs of it. The issue around legal services, whether it be in-house or not, we are actually... We've got a draft scope prepared to go out and get a piece of work done to actually look at that very issue for us. I know that we've discussed it and raised it with the Ordinary Risk Committee before and we've done some internal reviews ourselves, but this is actually a piece of work. It's associated with the review of governance. We are going to undertake a review of governance because I've drafted a scope for that. I'm just waiting on the sign-up from the CEO on that. And then we will be bringing someone in to assist us with that. The legal services is the other piece of work that's going to be done in conjunction with
02:03:00 it in the same scope. So, yes. Councillor Lorentson: And will the results of the litigation tracker, will that be available for the public to look Speaker 7: I suggest you actually speak with Brett about that, about what information can be shared, because within that there may be some confidential information that we can't divulge, but I'm sure that he will look at that and there'll be an element that we can actually divulge. Thank you. Mayor Stewart: Claire? With that information, Deb, we've talked a lot about if we do have an in-house review, a general counsel, or specific to say P&E, will that, I guess, the scope of all the information provided from the legal tracker help determine what that would look like if we did have someone in-house or what that job description would be? Speaker 7: Look, I really think that this is my perspective on it. What the review will identify for us is a more generalist type legal resource because
02:04:00 we have staff. We have staff who have to enter into, you know, different sorts of contractual arrangements and different agreements and they do need legal advice on that or may have to make decisions where they need legal advice. When you start looking at the planning area, it's very much a specialist area and I know now that we have a number of legal counsel that help provide support to us in that way, but I think it's probably going to look more at the general type legal advice as opposed to planning and advice. But again, that's a matter to be decided by counsel and more work to be done in that area. So, that's where I sit. Councillor Jurisevic: Consideration for the cost of the process. Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Because there are advantages and disadvantages to in-house. And, you know, one of the things that we wanted to get a better handle in is the types of advice that's being sought because, you know, if you're looking for specialist advice, you
02:05:00 often have to go to different providers, different legal counsel because they're experts in that area. A generalist internally may not have that and we may still need to go externally on some things, but there is, when you look at it, there is a, you know, fairly consistent demand for legal services within counsel operationally. Mayor Stewart: So, do we know what other counsels our size are doing? Do they have in-house general counsel? Do you know that? Speaker 7: Look, I can't tell you exactly. I know that, you know, within Sunshine Coast Council they have legal practitioners on board as part of staffing. Smaller ones, of course, we run into this issue where they probably do buy in the service. So, I couldn't tell you exactly. I couldn't tell you exactly. Councillor Jurisevic: There's a sufficient need for the legal advice that doesn't require that outside. Speaker 7: Yeah. And the larger counsels have higher demand and then also more resources.
02:06:00 Councillor Lorentson: And there's a cost advantage to data, even if you've got a generalist practitioner. A generalist practitioner can actually provide a concise briefing for a specialist. That's right. That's exactly right. And also free up people like Kerry Coyle and Kim in planning. So, although they're not specialists in planning and environment, they still value that. And generalists. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah. Speaker 7: And you've got then requests going through a central area. So, you haven't got different areas of the council going out to get similar types of . Councillor Lorentson: Once you've got the knowledge, you've got the . On page 72, Deb, increased content on Instagram. Why Instagram? And are you trying to attract a younger demographic? Councillor Jurisevic: Well, they're not on Instagram anymore either. Councillor Lorentson: I just found that quite interesting. So, it is, are you the right person to ask this question? Or is this a question needs to be directed to Ken?
02:07:00 Speaker 7: Probably need to take this back to Ken. We are like, we are promoting the use of different channels, social media wise. So, I'd probably go back to him. It's very, it's a very effective way of getting images out there and getting engagement as opposed to words. So, I'm assuming it's along that lines, but I'm happy to go back to Ken and come back to you with that. Thank you. Councillor Lorentson: And another question probably for Ken, Deb. Yes. Is in regards to the monthly double page, Your Noosa. Yes. In the Noosa today. How do we gauge success and how do we know whether the community want us to continue for that? What are you putting out there? We're about to approve, as part of our budget process, community engagement programs. And I'd like to have some information on that as well. And I'd like to have some information on whether or not we need to continue that. Speaker 7: Okay. I'll back that back to Ken as well. That'd be great. Thank you.
02:08:00 Councillor Jurisevic: The one that attracted my eye was the insurance claims. Speaker 7: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: About 22 covered liabilities received only for personal injury from slips and trips on council footpath. Speaker 5: Yes. Councillor Jurisevic: Is that in line, is that, that's an increase of eight from a quarter, but what's typically around the sort of numbers we get? Speaker 7: Yeah, it is. It is. Sometimes the weather can impact it. Things are a little slippery and things like that. Councillor Jurisevic: I mean, 10 slips and trips on council footpaths in a quarter, things. Speaker 7: In a quarter. Councillor Jurisevic: Yeah, it seems, is that in a quarter? Is that into the half year? Speaker 7: Increase of eight from last quarter. Councillor Jurisevic: Increase of eight. Yeah, that's over 25 claims received. All 25 is an increase of eight. But obviously slips and trips on council footpaths will be input, input straight down to infrastructure services and they'd see if there's a need to. Yeah, they do. And. Need to attend to those, those paths in, in any agency or. Speaker 7: And you know, what included, could be included with that as some trips, you know, just general sorts of trips or off, or stepping off paths and things like that.
02:09:00 So. I'll probably make up. Councillor Jurisevic: I'm probably curious to, to find out what, what constitutes a council, council's liability in those areas. But I can talk to you offline about that, I guess. Yeah. Speaker 7: Well, we have, we have insurance coverage for it. There are some minor claims that we settle outside of that, depending on their nature of the claim and, and the, and the. Councillor Jurisevic: I guess that's what, I guess that's the, the information there, the nature of the claims and why, why council becomes liable for them. So, there you go. Councillor Wilkie: Any further questions? No. You're on insurance claims, Mr. Chairman. Three council motor vehicle claims received. Does that mean council vehicles were hit, or were they. Trees falling on them? Were they involved in collisions that were there, fault of the council drivers? Speaker 7: It could be both. I'd have to look at the details of those individual claims to be able to tell you that. That's all. Councillor Jurisevic: They could be trees falling on a car and in a car park or something? Speaker 7: They could, they could be reversing into something, et cetera, and that.
02:10:00 Councillor Wilkie: The other one that caught my eye, Deb, was vexatious complaints policy. My question is, what will that enable you to do if you have a policy like that that you can't already do? Speaker 7: Okay. Well, we have, we have a complaints policy and we have an administrative action complaints policy where if a matter can't be resolved, there are various levels that the, that the complaint can be escalated to. So, if it can't be resolved by a council officer, it might then go to the manager. And if they can't resolve it, it might then go to the director or to the CEO or often myself in that regard. Yeah. But what can happen is you can have a person who might make a complaint that's not actually based on, on fact or be based on a real issue and they may not accept what we have to say and they may continue to come back. Vexatious is made up virtually. Yeah. So, yeah. So, it enables us then to deal with the complaint, that type of complaint. Otherwise, we do have to step through the administrative action complaints process and it takes considerable
02:11:00 resources because. Councillor Wilkie: They have to treat it as genuine. Speaker 7: As a genuine complaint, even though it's not. It would allow us to deal with it more appropriately. And look, a final point that a community member can go to is if they're not satisfied with us, they can go to the ombudsman. But you have to go through that whole process to sort of get to that point. The vexatious complaint policy allows us to deal with that. Councillor Wilkie: So they allow you to do that, but they still have a right then to go to the ombudsman? Speaker 7: Of course they do. Anybody does. They can go directly and not even go through our process. Councillor Wilkie: You can intercept it in an earlier phase. It won't have to be as close to the manager than the director before it goes to the ombudsman. Councillor Lorentson: And this vexatious complaint, I'm thinking this is more to address people who are litigious in nature that are continually complaining
02:12:00 and holding up councils' time. Is that what I'm thinking? Speaker 7: If it's a genuine... If it's a genuine complaint, we go above and beyond to investigate it, you know. So it doesn't matter if they're litigious. We will always go the extra mile in reviewing the complaint. But it really is for those situations where a complaint isn't based on real factual information, where the person may be extremely difficult to deal with or quite not treating council staff the way they should be treated, for example, you know, as well. So it's really getting to that. But since we do go above and beyond in looking at if there's a genuine complaint and if the person is following correct procedures in how they're lodging the complaint and providing us with the information and working with us, there's no... We will always go above and beyond on that. Councillor Wilkie: Anything further? I would compliment you, Gail, on the customer service staff.
02:13:00 And as Amelia pointed out, the customer service requests are at an all-time high. Oh, they are. But the time for response is quite low, so that's a testament to the start. Speaker 7: Yeah. Our little... Our average time in processing is taking a little bit longer because our new systems have caused a bit of that. But yeah, the numbers are extremely high. The numbers are at where they were when we first set up as a new council, and we always thought at that time it would peak and then drop down, but what we're seeing now is it's just a consistently high number of calls and requests coming through, so they do a wonderful job, our customer service people. Yeah. Councillor Lorentson: And you're advertising, I think, for customer service people. Speaker 7: We always are. Because we have to... Because of our span of hours, we go beyond a normal staffing day, so we have to be able to have coverage of that. And, well, we do that with a mix of permanent and casual people. But also, too, many of our staff in the customer service area move on to other roles
02:14:00 within council, so we're constantly recruiting. Yes, a lot of them are overqualified. Councillor Lorentson: Some smart people in customer service. Speaker 7: Yeah. It's great because... Councillor Lorentson: It's a starting point in capital. Speaker 7: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And the time and investment, the time that we put into that, into training new staff, is a plus for the organisation, because then as they move through, they're well-trained and, you know... Councillor Wilkie: Organisational. Organisational. The organisation. Speaker 7: Yeah. Yeah. Councillor Wilkie: Deb, one of the... Some of the feedback we often get from people is through... People have put a request into the mail system, mail, and there's a number. Speaker 7: Yes. Councillor Wilkie: And then they often may not hear much. Has there been much thinking about how we can keep people in the loop about where their request is? Speaker 7: It relates back to... And I sat in for a little bit of Brian's conversation around numbers of requests that we're getting generally. We've got very high request... Numbers of requests coming through, so it's taking us longer to get through processing
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02:15:00 some of those. And ideally, yes, there should be feedback back, but we have got a backlog of requests, but we're actively managing that, and we're actually going through and looking at requests beyond certain, you know, 30, 60 days, et cetera. But yeah, it is an issue. We're aware of that, and we are looking at how we can improve that. Like, for myself, I don't have a lot of requests in my department, but people like Brian's areas where the increasing numbers of complaints around parks, roads, you know, they're high areas where we're getting lots of requests coming through, instead of complaints, instead of requests. So, requests coming through. We're looking at how we can better manage that. We're getting better systems. We've got a new dashboard that's really easy to use, that managers are just being taken through now, where we can actually look at our requests, the nature of the request, when it was first lodged, the action that's being taken, so we can proactively manage that better at a department level. So, you know, we're looking at that as a way of saying, you know, to assist councillors,
02:16:00 we need to make sure that we've got our request system working well so that you know that, you know, what you can expect to be able to provide advice back to your constituents. Like, you will hear that within a month, within a week, or within a certain time frame. Councillor Jurisevic: One of the external resources that we utilise, well, is Snaps in Sol, and I know the guys in IT have been developing our own online customer request, so how's that, is that up and operating? And how's it being received, if it is? Speaker 7: The request system, it is operating, but they are looking at, T1, our software provider, are looking at introduce, the possibility of us introducing a more united model, where we look at our IPAN system, which is virtually our customer service provider, and we're looking at information resource base, and pulling that together with the information on our internet, and how we can improve that, because that also then gives us an improved customer
02:17:00 request system. So, that's a project that they're scoping at the moment. Excellent. But they're continuing to make improvements. It's, you know, we've just progressively got... Councillor Jurisevic: I knew it was a project that was on the cards. It's on the cards. Councillor Wilkie: It's in its earliest, this is in its earliest stages. And what's the 2,000 requests a month for trees alone? Is that... Speaker 7: Oh, I'm trying to remember off the top of my head. I know that... It's a very high number. I know that parks is very high. Parks and roads are very high, because I was looking at that when we did our dashboard training this morning. So, they're quite high. Councillor Jurisevic: We know the tree crew are going through a lot at the moment. And trees, yeah. Speaker 7: Yep. Councillor Jurisevic: We know that they're probably accepting it. Thank you, Amelia. Seconder? Councillor Wilkie? All in favour? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Jeff. Thank you, guys. Councillor Lorentson: Meeting closed at 3.50. Speaker 2: Beautiful. Councillor Lorentson: Thanks, guys. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.