Council Meeting
1 April 2020
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Steve Christou (Mayor) |
Councillor |
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Eddy Sarkis (Deputy Mayor) |
Councillor (arrived 6:42pm) |
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Ned Attie |
Councillor |
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George Campbell |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Greg Cummings |
Councillor |
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Glenn Elmore |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Paul Garrard |
Councillor |
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Ola Hamed |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Kun Huang |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Lisa Lake |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Joseph Rahme |
Councillor |
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Suman Saha |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Michael Zaiter |
Councillor |
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Tom Zreika |
Councillor (via web conferencing) |
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Hamish McNulty |
General Manager |
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Melissa Attia |
Director People & Performance |
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Daniel Cavallo |
Director Environment & Planning |
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Peter Fitzgerald |
Director Works & Infrastructure |
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Richard Sheridan |
Director Finance & Governance |
Also Present:
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Charlie Ayoub |
Executive Manager Corporate Services |
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Colin McFadzean |
General Counsel (via web conferencing) |
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Carol Karaki |
Governance Coordinator |
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Laith Jammal |
Governance Officer |
The opening prayer was read by the Mayor, Councillor Christou.
The Mayor, Councillor Christou opened the Meeting with the following Acknowledgement of Country:
“I would like to acknowledge the traditional owners of this land – the Darug People, and pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.”
National Anthem
At this point in the meeting the Mayor, Councillor Christou asked all of those in attendance to stand for the playing of the Australian National Anthem.
Notice of Live Streaming of Council Meeting
The Mayor, Councillor Christou advised that the open session of this Council Meeting will be recorded and streamed live on Council’s website. This recording will also be archived and be made available on Council’s website. Recording of the proceedings of this Council meeting are not permitted without the prior approval of Council.
Apologies/Leave of Absence
Nil
Declarations of Pecuniary & Non Pecuniary Conflicts of Interest
There were no declarations of interest.
Confirmation of Minutes
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Min.644 |
C04/20-407 Minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council - 18 March 2020 |
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That Council confirm the minutes of the Ordinary Meeting of Council held on 18 March 2020. |
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Min.645 |
MM04/20-26 Mayoral Minute - Coronavirus Support for Local Businesses and Community |
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Resolved (Christou) That Council during the Coronavirus period approve the following: 1. Waive all outdoor dining licence fees until 1 January 2021 and from today credit any outdoor dining licence fees paid in advance. 2. Amend Council’s Hardship Policy to include all business and residential rates assessments impacted. Council will waive any new interest charges for any late rate payments during this period. 3. Implement rent deferral arrangements on a case by case basis for lessees impacted by the Coronavirus who operate out of a Council owned facility. 4. Implement Deferral of Section 7.11 and 7.12 contributions to prior to the issuing of an Occupation Certificate without interest penalty or CPI being charged. 5. Refund all cancelled bookings of Council’s parks and sporting facilities with the expectation that sports registration fees are refunded to families for applicable winter seasonal hire arrangements. 6. Refund all cancelled bookings for all other council venues or facilities whereby the function or event cannot go ahead. 7. Write to the relevant State and Federal Ministers seeking financial and other hardship support for local businesses. 8. That Council write to all local State and Federal Members of Parliament, requesting their strong support and advocacy on behalf of Council in the provision of any stimulus packages, to assist with the ongoing financial impact borne by Council in its response to Coronavirus. 9. Council delegate to the Mayor and General Manager to implement the above and to revoke or amend these changes once the Coronavirus issue has subsided or restrictions are relaxed in accordance with Government directives. 10. Council delegate authority to the Mayor and General Manager to implement the advice received from the Government with respect to subsidies for Childcare Centres. |
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Min.646 |
MM04/20-27 Mayoral Minute - Council Meeting and Briefing Arrangements - Coronavirus Pandemic |
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Resolved (Christou) That: 1. Council conduct Ordinary meetings on the third Wednesday of each month subject to their practical and legal success in implementing, other than in January when no meeting is to be held. 2. Public forum addresses be dealt with by way of written/email submissions to council, with submissions circulated to all Councillors prior to the Council meeting commencing, where possible, and read out at the meeting by the Mayor. 3. Council to conduct Councillor Workshops when and if required on a Councillor voluntary basis and also provide detailed briefing notes to Councillors at their discretion electronically. 4. Council delegate to the Mayor and General Manager to revoke or amend these changes once the Coronavirus issue has subsided or restrictions are relaxed in accordance with Government directives. |
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Min.647 |
Matter of Urgency – Councillor Lake |
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Councillor Lake raised the following matter of urgency:
That the Mayor write immediately to the Premier and the NSW Minister for Local Government urging them to include local councils in any future economic stimulus measures to be introduced by the government and also to provide additional adequate funding for community organisations to ensure the most vulnerable in our community can access food, shelter and support.
The Mayor advised Councillor Lake that the matter had been adequately addressed in item MM04/20-26 and he did not believe the matter of urgency raised was of great urgency and required a decision of the current meeting in accordance with the Code of Meeting Practice. The motion was put to the vote.
The Motion to have the Matter of Urgency be considered on being put was declared LOST.
A division was called, the result of the division required in accordance with Council’s Code of Meeting Practice is as follows:
Councillor(s) For the Motion: Campbell, Elmore, Hamed, Huang, Lake and Saha. Councillor(s) Against the Motion: Attie, Christou, Cummings, Garrard, Rahme, Sarkis, Zaiter and Zreika. |
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Min.649 |
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That the funding allocated to the Mayoral Community Fund for 2019/20 be increased from $30,000 to $50,000 with funds to be drawn from the savings arising from the cancellation of community events due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. |
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Min.651 |
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At this stage of the meeting being 7:45pm, the Mayor advised that in accordance with Section 10a of the Local Government Act 1993 the meeting would move into Closed Session, with the members of the press and public excluded from the closed session and access to the correspondence and reports relating to the items considered during the course of the closed session being withheld. This action was taken as the items listed were within the following provisions under Section 10a of the Local Government Act:-
(2) The matters and information are the following: (d)(i) prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it. |
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Min.652 |
Open Session |
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Resolved (Sarkis/Elmore) Council returned to Open Session at 8:04pm to resolve the below Confidential Items:
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The Mayor, Councillor Christou closed the meeting at 8:06pm.
