Sent: Wednesday, May 22, 2024 2:05 PM
Subject: Information request - Rotoma and East Rotoiti Sewerage Scheme
I refer to your Official information request of 14 May 2024 regarding the Rotomā and East Rotoiti Sewerage Scheme, and provide the following responses to your requests:
1. Please provide the Detailed Budget for the Rotoma & East Rotoiti Sewerage Scheme used to calculate the Long Term Plan scheme capital cost of $56,214,000, (excl GST), showing actual and forecast costs.
As per our earlier responses provided to LRCA, the break-down of the RRSS scheme is as outlined in the table below:
Scheme Element | 2024/34 LTP Projected Actuals | Notes/Comments |
Treatment Plant
| $13.5m
| All consent compliance conditions, land agreements
|
Rotoma (catchment & pipelines)
| $13.1m
| From grinder system to pre-treatment system STEP plus 12 kms of pipes mains to Rotoiti and PS
|
Mains system/network
| $10.6m
| Within East Rotoiti and to Curtis Rd mains and pump stations
|
East Rotoiti on property, submains, land easements and pumps
| $14.8m
| From grinder system to pre-treatment on-property Biolytix, submains, and easement connections.
|
Planning/Legal etc
| $4.2m
| Consenting, design, cultural management, legal etc
|
Total | $56.2m | |
The totals are the projected actuals for the scheme and include the tenders - based schedule prices to complete the remaining whenua Māori properties and the marae installations.
There are some risks to those remaining tasks arising from the Māori Court decisions and the decisions to be made by the Marae Committees. Council will continue to update the community of any significant changes to these matters.
Please note that these matters have been communicated with the Association since 2020 including the efforts in progress to secure the Minister’s agreement to provide more Crown funding to the scheme.
2. What were the detailed costs associated with the development of the initial Wastewater Treatment Plant which had to be abandoned and the associated Environment Court action. Have these costs been included in the Long Term Plan scheme capital cost of $56,214,000, (excl GST).
The aborted 2012 scheme costs are not included in this scheme. Council has absorbed these costs of roughly $3.0 million.
3. What is the detailed total cost of the Wastewater Treatment Plant and associated service infrastructure that services Rotoma and or East Rotoiti schemes which the Lake Rotoehu scheme will share? What is the detailed cost breakdown of these costs that have been allocated to the Lake Rotoehu sewerage scheme. Have these amounts been included or excluded from the Long Term Plan scheme capital cost of $56,214,000, (excl GST).
The Rotoehu community opted out of the proposed scheme in around 2014 and the Reference Group excluded them from the proposal subject to future decisions of the Bay of Plenty Regional Council to enforce its On-Site Effluent Treatment Plan. No budget exists in the Long-term Plan for Rotoehu (ie: no costs within the $56.2 million is dedicated or attributed to Rotoehu).
The initial pipeline towards Rotoehu has been paid through the Three Waters reform funds. Those costs are isolated from the RRSS scheme.
The infrastructure and WWTP for the RRSS has been designed to enable up to 800 properties and the sewerage generated from those. The current existing properties are about 630 with the scheme costs overall attributed to 770 properties ie: making allowance for additional 140 properties. Council will be holding the attributed costs to these additional 140 properties until building consents for each have been applied for and connected. Then each property will pay the applicable targeted rate.
The WWTP has the appropriate capacity as above. Its capacity is determined by the average daily flow, the plant peak flow and the peak wet weather flows. The Plant has appropriate capacity for all these levels of demand and the designed total properties. If in the future more treatment capacity is required this will result in additional chemical treatment and UV treatment. These will be operational costs shared by the entire district.
4. What are the detailed costs associated with the implementation of sewerage services for the school, the Marae and other public facilities in the catchment area, which have been included in the Long Term Plan scheme capital cost of $56,214,000, (excl GST), showing actual and forecast costs.
Marae are not required to pay the capital cost of connection but will be required to pay the ongoing annual operating costs. The Resource Consent and Ngāti Pikiao Heads of Agreement anticipated that 7 Marae installations will take place. The capital costs of those will be shared between all 770 beneficiaries of the scheme. At the time of seeking tenders for the East Rotoiti on-property systems, a design scope for those Marae had been included and agreed by the procurement team that included the Iwi Group.
The tenders have resulted in the offers to deliver the design installations with an overall net price of around $460k. Each Marae has different demands. Nevertheless, the tendered costs are included in the projected overall cost for the scheme.
All other ratepayers are required to pay the capital cost of connections, including schools.
