MINUTES OF A MEETING OF THE FINANCE AND CORPORATE BUSINESS COMMITTEE HELD ON THURSDAY, 14 DECEMBER 2006 AT 1:00PM

The chairman opened the meeting at 1:00pm in Level 15, 1 Greys Ave, Auckland and adjourned until 1:10pm.

The chairman reconvened the meeting at 1:10pm in the Council Chamber, Town Hall Building, 301 Queen Street, Auckland.

1. APOLOGIES

   That the apologies from Councillors Caughey, Fryer and Simpson for non-attendance be accepted.

   CARRIED

2. CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

   That the minutes of the Finance and Corporate Business Committee meeting held on Monday, 11 December 2006 at 9.30am and Annual Plan Direction Setting meeting held on Monday, 11 December 2006 at 1.30pm be confirmed as true and correct records.

   CARRIED

3. EXTRAORDINARY BUSINESS

   3.1 REVIEW OF EXISTING SIGNAGE AND BILLBOARDS LEASES & LICENCES BETWEEN THE COUNCIL AND THIRD PARTIES

   That an extraordinary item (item C8) be considered in the confidential section of the Finance and Corporate Business Committee meeting regarding the review of existing signage and billboard leases & licences between the council and third parties. This matter was referred from the 14 December 2006 Planning and Regulatory Committee confidential section of the meeting for consideration at the 14 December 2006 Finance and Corporate Business Committee confidential section of the meeting. The reasons for confidentiality are set out in item 9 (exclusion of the public) from the open section of the meeting.

   CARRIED

4. PUBLIC FORUM

   4.1 METROWATER CHARGING AND PRACTICES - MS P BRIGHT

   Ms Bright addressed the committee and tabled papers regarding Metrowater.

   [ATTACHMENT 4.1]

   That Ms Bright be thanked for her attendance.

   CARRIED

   The chairman moved:

   That item 8 be taken at this point.

   CARRIED

5. REPORTS REQUESTED/PENDING

   That the report of the Committee manager dated 1 November 2006 as amended be received:

   Row No.	Date Requested	Target Date	Report Name	Comments
   2.	22 & 23/6/06 Combined Committees - item 10.2 K(ii)	Dec 2006  to TBA	Carparks and community centre funding	Report into increasing funding for carparks and community centres. Report on carparking policy. When is it intended to give free 30 minute parking on the ground floor level of council carparks in the CBD? Increases in short-term carparking and reduction in early-bird parking, amalgamating carparking buildings. This report was to go to the November 2006 Transport & Urban Linkages Committee.
   3.	12/10/06	Dec-06 defer to Feb 07	Transfer of ARTNL Assets to ARTA : Outcome	That the committee wishes to see this matter resolved urgently and that the outcomes be reported back to the Nov 2006 FCBC meeting. Officers advise there has been no further progress to date on this matter and are requesting the matter be deferred to February 2007.
   4.	25/05/05	Dec 2006 defer to March 07	Review of Development with Vision Board	The committee requires the board be reviewed after 12 months of being in operation. The Board did not commence until Feb 2006, and will therefore report back to March 2007 FCBC meeting.
   5.	5/03/06	Dec 2006 deferred TBA	Current policy re leases for not-for-profit organisations	Current policy on not-for-profit organisations in both commercial and community leasing situations. This matter is to be considered by the Arts, Culture and Recreation Committee and the Community Development & Equity Committee prior to the Finance and Corporate Business Committee considering it. Deferred due to this item being withdrawn by General manager Arts, Community & Recreation from the Arts, Recreation & Community Committee agenda for 6 December.

   CARRIED

6. UPDATE ON RATES REBATES

   That the Finance and Corporate Business committee note that:

   1. 4,295 rates rebate applications, worth $2m had been approved to 30 November 2006 for Auckland City ratepayers and that approximately $130,000 of the $850,000 council budget has been utilised
   2. an ongoing communications campaign is under way and aims to maximise rebate applications, and the resulting benefit to ratepayers
   3. officers plan to analyse application numbers and the responses to the communication campaign in February 2007 to develop a communication plan with the aim of achieving 7,000 applications by 30 June 2007.

   CARRIED

7. LOCAL GOVERNMENT RATING INQUIRY

   1. That the Finance and Corporate Business Committee note that the Economic Development and Sustainable Business Committee under its delegations passed the following resolutions at its 1 November 2006 committee meeting:

   1. that council make a submission to Government on the Local Government Rating Inquiry.
   2. that the Economic Development and Sustainable Business Committee appoint three members and that the Finance and Corporate Business Committee appoint two members to a working party to make recommendations to the two Committees and then to Council on this inquiry.
   3. that the Deputy Mayor, Bruce Hucker, Councillors Northey and Armstrong be the Economic Development and Sustainable Business Committee's representatives on that working party.

   2. That the Finance and Corporate Business Committee appoint two committee members to the Local Government Rating Inquiry working party, being the Chairman of the Finance and Corporate Business Committee, Councillor Walsh and His Worship the Mayor.

   CARRIED

8. ST HELIERS BAY BOAT RAMP

   Colin Davis, Chairman, Eastern Bays Community Board, was in attendance to speak to the St Heliers Bay Boat Ramp item on behalf of the Board.

   1. That Mr Colin Davis, Chairman of the Eastern Bays Community Board be thanked for his attendance at the meeting.
   2. That the Finance and Corporate Business Committee agree to fund $48,000 to investigate cost effective solutions to improve the usability of the boat launching facility at St Heliers Bay adjacent to Tamaki Drive (opposite Goldie Street) noting that this may result in an overspend in the operational budget by $48,000.
   3. That the reduction of the Eastern Bays small local improvements projects budget by $48,000 for the 2007/2008 financial year be approved.

   CARRIED

9. EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC : LOCAL GOVERNMENT OFFICIAL INFORMATION AND MEETINGS ACT 1987

   1. That the public be excluded from the following part(s) of the proceedings of this meeting.

   The general subject of each matter to be considered while the public is excluded, the reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter, and the specific grounds under Section 48(1) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 for the passing of this resolution are as follows:

   Item No.	General subject of each matter to be considered	Reason for passing this resolution in relation to each matter	Ground(s) under section 48(1) for the passing of this resolution
   C1.	Peer Review of The Edge Ticketing System Business Case and Procurement Plan	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C2.	Auckland Festival Trust - Request for Funding Assistance	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C3.	Auckland Town Hall Organ - Organ Construction Company Selection	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C4.	Auckland Netball Centre Operational Funding	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C5.	Leaky Building Claims Update	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C6.	Update on the Direction Setting Process for Metro Water Limited's Statement of Intent for the Three Year Period Commencing 1 July 2007	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C7.	Delegated Decisions	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)
   C8.	Review of Existing Signage And Billboards Leases & Licences Between The Council And 3rd Parties	Good Reason to withhold exists under section 7	Section 48(1)(a)

   This resolution is made in reliance on Section 48(1)(a) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987 and the particular interest or interests protected by section 6 or section 7 of that Act which would be prejudiced by the holding of the whole or relevant part of the proceedings of the meeting in public are as follows:

   Item No.	Reason to withhold information under section 7
   C1.	To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information. In particular, the preliminary business case from THE EDGEŽ contains commercially sensitive information with specific breakdowns of expenditure (both operational and capital) revenue, and profit forecasts. Both the business case and the officer's report contain information provided to council and THE EDGEŽ from external suppliers in the market that is commercially sensitive and provided to us on the basis that the information remain confidential.	[Section 7(2)(b)(ii)]
   C2.	To enable the Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations). In particular, the report on the activities of the Auckland Festival Trust contains sensitive financial information of the additional amounts the Council is being asked to negotiate with the Trust with in the form of additional funding assistance for the Trust.	[Section 7(2)(i)]
   C3.	To enable the Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations). In particular, the report on the tender acceptance of the preferred supplier following the tender evaluation process contains commercially sensitive information, and the financial information contained within the report would preclude council from being able to negotiate with potential contractors.	[Section 7(2)(i)]
   C4.	To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information. In particular, the report on the operating activities of the Auckland Netball Centre contains commercially sensitive information with breakdowns of operational and capital expenditure and revenue items and profit forecasts, that Auckland Netball Centre has provided to Auckland City in confidence.	[Section 7(2)(b)(ii)]
   C5.	To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information. In particular, this report relates to settling disputes that are currently before the courts.	[Section 7(2)(b)(ii)]
   C6.	To enable the Council to carry on, without prejudice or disadvantage, negotiations (including commercial and industrial negotiations). In particular, negotiations are continuing with Metrowater as to development of the next Statement of Intent and these could impact on the commercial arrangements Metrowater have with suppliers and other providers. This report is seeking councillor input before negotiations being with Metrowater.	[Section 7(2)(i)]
   C7.	To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information. In particular, the detailed financial information contained in the report, if released, would prejudice the commercial position of council or the other parties involved.	[Section 7(2)(b)(ii)]
   	To enable the Council to carry out, without prejudice or disadvantage, commercial activities. In particular, the detailed financial information contained in the report, if released, would place council at a disadvantage in carrying out its commercial activities.	[Section 7(2)(h)]
   C8	To protect information where the making available of the information would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied or who is the subject of the information. In particular, the information contained in the report, if released, would prejudice the commercial position of council or the other parties involved.	[Section 7(2)(b)(ii)]

   CARRIED

   2. That Mr Robbie Macrae Director, Performing Arts, from THE EDGEŽ and Mrs Louise Gardiner, EDGEpoint Project Manager be permitted to remain for confidential item C1 as they have knowledge pertinent to the subject and will be able to assist the committee in its decision making process.

   CARRIED

   3. That Mr Stephen Hamilton, Chairman of the Town Hall Organ Trust be permitted to remain for confidential item C3 as he has knowledge pertinent to the subject and will be able to assist the committee in its decision making process.

   CARRIED

   There being no further business the Chairman declared the meeting closed at 2:50 pm.