29 July 2020
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: Petition relating to Marguerita Street options
Enquiry
I just had an update from Peter Baars who distributed a petition around Marguerita St in support of option one (status quo). He's collected them all now and says it reached 680 signatures.
Can you please confirm if the council has yet received Peter Baars' petition?
What the next steps are for the council to process this petition? [If not yet received - can you please lay out the usual process?]
Can you please also tell me how many signatures were gathered from the petition presented last year from Glenbrae residents and what specifically that petition asked for? [mentioned by Stavros here]
Response
From Infrastructure Group Manager Stavros Michael:
Mr Baars delivered the petition to staff on Monday 27 July 2020.
Given this is an active piece of consultation we will treat the petition as feedback received with multiple submitters. All the feedback received, including petitions received from the public, will be available to elected members alongside a report and recommendation prepared by staff. Elected members will consider the recommendation and report (including the associated feedback) at a committee meeting. Should elected members decide to proceed, they would go on to make a final decision at a full Council meeting.
The petition, which included both residents of Glenbrae Village Residents' Association and residents who live in the Marguerita Street area, requested that Council urgently progress solutions to stop large trucks moving around the residential area of Marguerita Street. The petition referred to illegal parking issues and ground vibrations as resident's main concerns.
The petition gained 57 signatures. ________________________________________________________________________________________
Media: Local Democracy Reporter
Topic: InfraCore capital injection
Enquiry
I have some questions arising from the agenda item on the Infracore capital injection for this week's council meeting.
"InfraCore has worked to realign the conditions of the collective agreement, implement a standalone workflow management and financial system, reset expectations and values amongst the workforce and build a management team capable of taking the organisation to the next level."
Can you please explain this (particularly the bits in italics) in more simplistic language and the exact (or estimated) costs of each of these points?
Does it mean employee remuneration increased to align with a new collective agreement and management team hires were over budget? Please clarify.
What benefit is it to the council / ratepayers to increase its shareholding when it is already the sole shareholder?
Is the council 'bailing out' Infracore?
Could Infracore's current financial situation have been foreseen, mitigated or avoided?
Can you please clarify that the council is borrowing the $750,000 to fund this capital injection? What area of the budget is it coming out of?
Response
From Council's Chief Financial Officer, Thomas Coll:
Can you please explain this (particularly the bits in italics) in more simplistic language and the exact (or estimated) costs of each of these points? Does it mean employee remuneration increased to align with a new collective agreement and management team hires were over budget? Please clarify.
Working in collaboration with Union partners, InfraCore has streamlined the collective agreement into a tiered structure that enables better management of the business, based upon wage tiers within.
During the 2018 financial year, InfraCore implemented a new financial system which encompasses the field management add-on NextService. InfraCore is now a fully mobile and agile workforce, with the ability to dispatch employees to jobs efficiently, enabling better outcomes for the community. InfraCore respond to around 400 reactive jobs a month (across the infrastructure and recreational spaces contracts).
During the 2020 financial year, InfraCore rolled out three new values for the organisation being Dynamic, Authentic, Accountable. These values have been driven by the Senior Leadership Team, through the appointment of the Chief Executive, Matt Scott in July 2019. The realignment in workplace values has seen an improvement in employee engagement (as measured through an employee engagement survey) and increased metrics from a health and safety perspective. During the 2020 year, the Senior Leadership Team was also realigned. There was no additional overhead spend as a result of this realignment.
InfraCore are working in partnership with Rotorua Lakes Council to deliver efficient business outcomes while also delivering positive social good via employment opportunities. For the 2020 financial year, InfraCore met all non-financial KPI's in relation to the Service Level Agreements held with Council. The current unaudited position, draft, for the year ending 30 June 2020 indicates a small net surplus result.
What benefit is it to the council / ratepayers to increase its shareholding when it is already the sole shareholder?
InfraCore provides services that benefit the wider community through the provision of the maintenance of the 3 waters network, as well as the provision of maintenance for the parks and recreational spaces. The investment for capital will enable the purchase of new machinery, which will in turn reduce the increased repair costs seen in the current fleet.
Is the council 'bailing out' Infracore?
InfraCore is budgeting a breakeven position for the FY2021 year, including introducing social initiatives for employment opportunities.
Could Infracore's current financial situation have been foreseen, mitigated or avoided?
The current unaudited position, draft, for the year ending 30 June 2020 indicates a small net surplus result.
Can you please clarify that the council is borrowing the $750,000 to fund this capital injection? What area of the budget is it coming out of?
The $750,000 capital injection was communicated and agreed to by Council as part of the annual plan budget setting process and will be funded by general rates.
