MINUTES
OF THE Extraordinary Council Meeting of
City of Parramatta Council HELD REMOTELY VIA AUDIO-VISUAL LINK ON Tuesday, 7 April 2020 AT 6:30pm
These
are draft minutes and are subject to confirmation by Council at its next
meeting. The confirmed minutes will replace this draft version on the website
once confirmed.
PRESENT
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer and Councillors
Benjamin Barrak, Phil Bradley, Donna Davis, Michelle Garrard (Deputy Lord
Mayor), Paul Han, Steven Issa, Andrew Jefferies, Sameer Pandey, Dr Patricia
Prociv, Bill Tyrrell, Andrew Wilson, Lorraine Wearne and Martin Zaiter.
1. OPENING
MEETING
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer, opened the meeting at 6:30pm.
2. ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
OF THE TRADITIONAL LAND OWNERS
The
Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer, acknowledged the Burramattagal people of The
Darug Nation as the traditional custodians of this land, and paid respect to
their ancient culture and their elders past and present.
3. WEBCASTING
ANNOUNCEMENT
The Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer, advised that this
public meeting is being recorded and streamed live on the internet. The
recording will also be archived and made available on Council’s website.
4. OTHER
RECORDING OF MEETING ANOUNCEMENT
The Lord Mayor advised members of the public that the
meeting was being held remotely and if persons watching the meeting live were
to encounter technical difficulties to leave and re-enter the meeting via
Council’s website.
5. APOLOGIES/REQUESTS
FOR LEAVE OF ABSENCE
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SUBJECT: Apologies/
Requests for Leave of Absence
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2686
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RESOLVED (Han/Wearne)
That the apology received from Councillor Pierre
Esber be accepted and leave of absence granted.
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6. DECLARATIONS
OF INTEREST
There were no Declarations of
Interest made at this meeting.
7. MATTERS
OF URGENCY (if any)
There were no matters of urgency raised at this meeting.
8. Minutes of the Lord Mayor
8.1
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SUBJECT COVID-19
Relief & Recovery Package
REFERENCE F2019/03630
- D07355556
REPORT OF Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer
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2687
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RESOLVED (Dwyer/Zaiter)
(a)
That Council
commends our local doctors, nurses and health care workers for their immense
efforts to stop the spread of COVID-19, particularly workers at the Westmead
Health and Biomedical Research Precinct and all our health facilities, for
their incredible efforts to keep residents of Parramatta and Western Sydney
as safe and healthy as possible during this difficult time of global
uncertainty.
(b) That Council recognises that COVID-19
is having a significant impact on the community wellbeing and economy of
Parramatta, and Council has a responsibility to work with partners to
mitigate the social and economic consequences of this pandemic.
(c) That Council approve the COVID-19
Relief & Recovery Package, outlined in this Minute.
(d) That Council endorse:
a.
the implementation of the initiatives in
paragraph 10 of this Minute;
b.
the cost of the initiatives, estimated at up to $0.85M
this financial year.
(e) That
Council approve:
a.
the implementation of the initiatives set out
in paragraph 11 of this Minute;
b.
the cost of the initiatives, estimated at up
to $2.18M this financial year.
(f)
That Council note:
a.
City of Parramatta will seek to identify
savings and reallocate resources to minimise the cost of the Relief &
Recovery Package;
b.
the initiatives will be reviewed in June 2020
to assess the need to continue any or all of the initiatives in FY 2020/21.
(g)
That Council
delegate authority to the Lord Mayor and Chief Executive Officer to exercise
the powers of Council between meetings for any urgent or critical decisions
to be made relating to Council’s response to COVID-19, and to approve,
in consultation with the existing community grants committee the revised
community grants program (detailed in paragraph 11), including reviewing and
approving the new criteria, revised program and recipients in accordance with
s.226(o) and s. 377 of the Local Government Act 1993.
(h) That
paragraph 11(e) “Planning Approvals Acceleration” be
deleted from the Lord Mayoral Minute for further clarification.
(i) Further,
that 11(a) “Waiver of Licence and Hire Fees” be
amended to remove the comma after the word “temporary”.
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8.2
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SUBJECT Advocacy
for financial assistance to support the operation of Council's childcare
centres through the COVID-19 pandemic
REFERENCE F2019/03630
- D07358577
REPORT OF Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer
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2688
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RESOLVED (Dwyer/Prociv)
(a) That
Council write to the Prime Minister to request that the Commonwealth
Government amend the eligibility criteria for the JobKeeper Scheme to include
childcare workers employed in the Local Government sector.
(b) That
Council write to the Premier of New South Wales to request that:
i. the
State Government advocate to the Commonwealth Government to amend the
eligibility criteria for the JobKeeper Scheme to include childcare workers employed
in the Local Government sector;
ii. in
the event that the eligibility criteria of the JobKeeper Scheme is not
amended to include childcare workers employed in the Local Government sector,
the State Government provide commensurate financial assistance.
(c) Further,
that copies of the above correspondence be provided to key stakeholders,
including local Members of Parliament and advocacy groups.
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The meeting terminated at 6.55pm.
THIS PAGE AND THE PRECEDING 1 PAGE
ARE THE MINUTES OF THE EXTRAORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING HELD ON TUESDAY, 7
APRIL 2020 AND CONFIRMED ON 14 APRIL 2020.
Chairperson