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

 

 

SUBJECT:         Apologies/ Requests for Leave of Absence

 

2686

RESOLVED      (Han/Wearne)

 

That the apology received from Councillor Pierre Esber be accepted and leave of absence granted.

 

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

SUBJECT          COVID-19 Relief & Recovery Package

 

REFERENCE   F2019/03630 - D07355556

 

REPORT OF     Lord Mayor, Councillor Bob Dwyer

 

2687

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”.

 

8.2

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

 

2688

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.

 

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