Late Items Agenda of Council - Tuesday, 11 April 2023

Council 11 April 2023 Item 13.2

REPORTS TO COUNCIL - FOR COUNCIL DECISION

ITEM NUMBER 13.2

SUBJECT LATE REPORT: Delegations for Chief Executive Officer

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08929134

REPORT OF Governance Project Officer

CSP THEME: Fair

workshop/briefing date: nil

PURPOSE:

Council at its meeting held on 13 March 2023, resolved to make a formal offer of appointment to Gail Connolly as Chief Executive Officer for the City of Parramatta Council. Following Ms Connolly’s acceptance of the offer, Council is required to formalise the delegations for the Chief Executive Officer effective on her commencement date.

RECOMMENDATION

a) That Council revoke from midnight 23 April 2023 all previous delegations granted to the Acting Chief Executive Officer, Bryan Hynes.

b) That pursuant to Section 377 of the Local Government Act 1993, Council delegates to Gail Connolly from 24 April 2023, the functions of the General Manager (Chief Executive Officer) to exercise Council’s powers, functions, duties and authorities contained in legislation and the functions as specified in:

1. the Local Government Act 1993, the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 and any other relevant or related subordinate legislation; and

2. any other legislation, regulations or other subordinate legislation under which Council has powers, authorities, duties or functions.

c) That this delegation is subject to the following:

1. any limitations or restraints under the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 and any other legislation, regulations or other subordinate legislation relevant to this delegation;

2. any direction, limitations or restraints under any resolution made by Council relating to the exercise of any delegated power, function, duty or authority;

3. the General Manager (Chief Executive Officer) must exercise the delegated powers, functions, duties and authorities in accordance with and subject to:

a. the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 the Local Government (General) Regulation 2021 and any other relevant or related subordinate legislation; and

b. all and every policy adopted by resolution of the Council and current at the time of the exercise of the delegated powers, functions, duties and authorities.

d) That Council delegate to the Chief Executive Officer the acceptance of tenders to a maximum value of $500,000 (incl GST) per tender.

e) That Council delegate to the Chief Executive Officer the following road and traffic functions:

1. Line-marking (lane lines, separation lines, edge lines, barrier lines, etc;

2. Parking restrictions (excluding preferential and residential parking schemes);

3. Advisory sign posting; Works zones;

4. Taxi zones / bus zones (subject to consultation with relevant associations and bodies and Transport for NSW);

5. Angled and disabled parking;

6. Light traffic thoroughfares;

7. Regulatory signs (other than turn restrictions and one-way restrictions);

8. Marked foot crossings and children crossings (other than raised crossings or where road narrowing is involved);

9. Temporary road closures / on-the-spot road closures for annual events (as per RMS requirements and subject to Police approval).

f) Further, that regular reporting on decisions made under delegation, be provided by way of quarterly briefing notes to Councillors, reporting on tenders determined under CEO delegation.

BACKGROUND

1. The Local Government Act 1993 (the Act), and other legislation relevant to local government, authorises Council to undertake a range of functions. In most cases the relevant Acts grant those obligations and powers directly on the Council as a body.

2. Section 377 of the Act allows the elected Council to delegate, by Council resolution, authority to the Chief Executive Officer to make most of the decisions and perform most of the functions required for Council to operate on a day-to-day basis. The Chief Executive Officer in turn sub-delegates all or some of these delegations to relevant Council officers as they relate to their role.

3. According to section 377, a council may, by resolution, delegate to the Chief Executive Officer or any other person or body (not including another employee of the council) any of the functions of the council, other than:

a. The appointment of a general manager.

b. The making of a rate.

c. A determination under section 549 as to the levying of a rate.

d. The making of a charge.

e. The fixing of a fee.

f. The borrowing of money.

g. The voting of money for expenditure on its works, services or operations.

h. The compulsory acquisition, purchase, sale, exchange or surrender of any land or other property (but not including the sale of items of plant or equipment).

i. The acceptance of tenders to provide services currently provided by members of staff of the council.

j. The adoption of an operational plan under section 405.

k. The adoption of a financial statement included in an annual financial report.

l. A decision to classify or reclassify public land under Division 1 of Part 2 of Chapter 6.

m. The fixing of an amount or rate for the carrying out by the council of work on private land.

n. The decision to carry out work on private land for an amount that is less than the amount or rate fixed by the council for the carrying out of any such work.

o. The review of a determination made by the council, and not by a delegate of the council, of an application for approval or an application that may be reviewed under section 82A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979.

p. The power of the council to authorise the use of reasonable force for the purpose of gaining entry to premises under section 194.

q. A decision under section 356 to contribute money or otherwise grant financial assistance to persons.

r. A decision under section 234 to grant leave of absence to the holder of a civic office.

s. The making of an application, or the giving of a notice, to the Governor or Minister.

t. This power of delegation.

u. Any function under this or any other Act that is expressly required to be exercised by resolution of the council.

4. In turn, section 378 of the Act allows the Chief Executive Officer to sub-delegate some or all the functions and powers to relevant employees.

ISSUES/OPTIONS/CONSEQUENCES

5. The existing delegation to the Chief Executive Officer was approved by Council at its meeting on 12 September 2022. It allowed the Chief Executive Officer to continue to accept tenders with a maximum value of $500,000 (incl GST).

6. The current arrangements are working extremely well with a high degree of transparency. On that basis, this report recommends that Council keeps in place the current tender acceptance and procurement exemption delegation arrangements. These matters can again be included for consideration at the time of the next review.

CONSULTATION & TIMING

Stakeholder Consultation

7. No consultation is necessary.

LEGAL IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNCIL

8. There are no legal implications that have been considered in preparing this report to Council.

FINANCIAL IMPLICATIONS FOR COUNCIL

9. There are no financial implications resulting from this report and the recommendations are intended to assist Council in continuing normal day-to-day operations. Councillors will continue to be made aware of tenders being accepted. The delegation to the Chief Executive Officer will take effect on Monday, 24 April 2023, and will be reviewed as circumstances require and/or no later than 30 June 2023.

Imma Smith

Governance Project Officer

Gwendolyn Hughes

Governance Manager

John Angilley

Chief Financial and Information Officer

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

There are no attachments for this report.

Council 11 April 2023 Item 14.1

NOTICE OF MOTION

ITEM NUMBER 14.1

SUBJECT Position of Lord Mayor

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08924114

FROM Councillor Lorraine Wearne

MOTION

Council resolves:

(a) That the current Lord Mayor Councillor Donna Davis be requested to resign from the position of Lord Mayor.

(b) The chamber does not support that the position of Lord Mayor is held concurrently with the position of an elected member of the State Government of New South Wales.

(c) An elected member of the City of Parramatta Council MAY concurrently hold the position of an elected member of the parliament of New South Wales in accordance with state law.

BACKGROUND

1. The elected Councillors should respect the community of the City of Parramatta which they represent and accordingly should exercise care that they are able to adequately represent that community.

2. They must

a. Avoid the obvious conflict of interests arising from serving in both positions;

b. Use their best endeavours to avoid the obvious difficulty in physically and mentally attaining and retaining over time, the capacity to give 100% to each role; and

c. Should be aware of their obligation to declare their conflict of interest on the many occasions when voting on conflicting matters would be required of them.

CHIEF FINANCE AND INFORMATION OFFICER RESPONSE

3. No staff response provided.

Lorraine Wearne

Councillor

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

There are no attachments for this report.

Council 11 April 2023 Item 14.2

NOTICE OF MOTION

ITEM NUMBER 14.2

SUBJECT Congratulating new and returning local State Members of Parliament whose electorates incorporate parts of the City of Parramatta

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08924039

FROM Councillor Dr Patricia Prociv

MOTION

(a) That the Lord Mayor write to the following new and returning local State Members of Parliament, whose electorates incorporate parts of the City of Parramatta, congratulating them on their success at the recent election.

a. Donna Davis, new Member for Parramatta;

b. Dominic Perrottet, returning Member for Epping;

c. Mark Taylor retuning Member for Winston Hills; and

d. The incoming Member for Ryde - yet to be confirmed.

(b) That Council acknowledge and thank the following former Members of Parliament for their service to the community, being;

a. Geoff Lee, former Member for Parramatta

b. Victor Dominello former Member for Ryde.

(c) Further, that Council writes to and congratulates Chris Minns MP, who was elected as Premier of NSW on 25 March 2023.

BACKGROUND

1. The 2023 New South Wales State election was held on Saturday, 25 March 2023 to elect members of the 58th Parliament of NSW.

2. This motion seeks to acknowledge and congratulate the new and returning local State Members of Parliament whose electorates incorporate parts of the City of Parramatta Council local government area, being:

a. Donna Davis, new Member for Parramatta

b. Dominic Perrottet, returning Member for Epping

c. Mark Taylor, returning Member for Winston Hills

d. The incoming Member for Ryde is still to be confirmed.

3. This motion also acknowledges and thanks the following former Members of Parliament for their service to the community, being:

a. Geoff Lee, former Member for Parramatta; and

b. Victor Dominello, former Member for Ryde.

4. In August 2021, the NSW Electoral Districts Redistribution Panel made its final determination of changes to the names and boundaries of some electoral districts. Boundary changes reduced the number of local State electorates covering City of Parramatta. This means Julia Finn, returning Member for Granville, and Lynda Voltz, returning Member for Auburn, serve electorates that no longer incorporate areas from the City of Parramatta.

5. Council also congratulates Chris Minns MP who was elected as Premier of NSW on 25 May 2023.

6. The City of Parramatta looks forward to working with all of our new and returning Members of Parliament, and the new State Government, to ensure our City and communities continue to flourish.

CHIEF OF STAFF RESPONSE

7. The NSW Electoral Commission estimates the declaration of results for the Legislative Assembly to be completed on Friday 14 April. If so resolved, these letters will be drafted utilising existing resources within the Office of the Lord Mayor and Councillor Support.

FINANCIAL AND RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

8. There are no financial implications of this motion.

Dr Patricia Prociv

Councillor

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

There are no attachments for this report.

Council 11 April 2023 Item 14.3

NOTICE OF MOTION

ITEM NUMBER 14.3

SUBJECT Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 - $200 million additional funding

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08924394

FROM Councillor Dan Siviero

MOTION

(a) That the Lord Mayor, Councillor Donna Davis write to Donna Davis, Member for Parramatta, Chris Minns, Premier of New South Wales, and Jo Haylen, Minister for Transport for NSW, conveying the views of Council.

(b) That the City of Parramatta Council note the NSW Government’s announcement in January 2023 (if elected) would fund an additional $200 million towards the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2. We welcome this announcement but express concern that this does not fully commit to the entire project.

(c) That the City of Parramatta express concern that this does not fully commit to the entire project. Accordingly, we call on the NSW State Government to fully commit and fully fund the Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 project during its first term of government.

(d) Further, that all Councillors be provided a copy of correspondence sent by the Lord Mayor.

BACKGROUND

1. Nil

ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CITY PLANNING AND DESIGN RESPONSE

2. Staff contacted the Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) Interface Manager for Parramatta Light Rail Stage 2 regarding full funding of the Project, beyond the current bridge and connections over the Parramatta River between Wentworth Point and Melrose Park. TfNSW had no further information on funding. Staff regretfully have no visibility on the potential for full funding of Light Rail Stage 2, however will continue to advocate for this important Project.

FINANCIAL AND RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

3. Nil

Dan Siviero

Councillor

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

There are no attachments for this report.

Council 11 April 2023 Item 15.1

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

ITEM NUMBER 15.1

SUBJECT DEFERRED ITEM FROM OCM 27 MARCH 2023: Damaged Stormwater Drains/Pits

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08929087

FROM Councillor Kellie Darley

MOTION

(a) That Council provide a list of stormwater drains/ pits we know need to be repaired, an estimate of how long they’ve been damaged for and when they are estimated to be repaired?

(b) Further that Council provide information on whether there has been increasing number of damaged stormwater pits/ drains over the last few years, what the likely reason for this is and what Council is doing to address this situation.

BACKGROUND

1. In August 2022, Councillors raised concerns about a number of long-term damaged stormwater pits that were in need of urgent repair. The damaged pits are regularly reported to Councillors with concerns on safety, functionality including localised flooding risk and the ongoing visual amenity of safety barriers and cones.

EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR CITY ASSETS & OPERATIONS RESPONSE

2. Council has 23,292 stormwater pit structures within the LGA. There is currently a backlog of approximately 141 damaged pits on Council’s list for repair. The percentage of damaged pits is approximately 0.6% of the total pit network. The estimated cost to repair these is approx. $916,500. Please find attached a list of the total number of damaged stormwater pits (Attachment 1).

3. The majority of these pits are damaged due to heavy vehicular loading, with many of these due to development activity. The backlog of pits repairs has built up over the Covid-19 period. In general Council will receive approximately 50 new reports of damaged pits per year.

4. Each pit is evaluated by staff to determine priority for re-construction which is largely based on public safety. It is then classified as a high, medium, or low priority for repair.

5. We anticipate that we will complete an additional 50 high priority pit repairs by the end of financial year, please find attached our priority pit repair list (Attachment 2). Please note that the priority repair list is a working document and the timeframe for pit repair can change depending on safety significance. The 50 pit repairs are the maximum that could be undertaken within existing resources and contractor availability. The estimated cost for the work required in the 50 stormwater pits is approximately $312,000 and is being funded under the Stormwater Drainage Renewal Program. Staff response to be provided.

FINANCIAL AND RESOURCE IMPLICATIONS

6. The repair of 50 stormwater pits can be achieved within existing budget and staff resource.

Kellie Darley

Councillor

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer

Attachments:

1 ⇩	Damaged Pit List - last updated 5 April 2023	3 Pages
2 ⇩	Currently Planned Damaged Pit List - last Updated 5 April 2023	1 Page

Council 11 April 2023 Item 15.2

QUESTIONS WITH NOTICE

ITEM NUMBER 15.2

SUBJECT Questions Taken on Notice - 27 March 2023 Council Meeting

REFERENCE F2022/03176 - D08928947

REPORT OF Governance Manager

QUESTIONS TAKEN ON NOTICE FROM THE COUNCIL MEETING OF 27 March 2023

Item	Subject	Councillor	Question
6	Confirmation of Minutes	Noack	What actions have been taken to the Petitions tabled by Councillor Noack in the past three or four meetings?
14.3	Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point.	Prociv	What are the processes that Council has to follow in order to deliver a pedestrian crossing?
14.3	Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point.	Garrard	Could staff approach the developer and ask for the following: · Could the developer start the works early? or, · Could the Council do the work for the developer and the developer cover the costs of the work?
16.2	Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency	Pandey	Is the project over 50% over budget? Staff will look at the details and provide the breakup of the contingency.
16.2	Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency	Siviero	Could staff provide some forward view of any significant variations that will come up after the current budget? Noting that there is still a quarter to go.

BACKGROUND

1. Paragraph 9.23 of Council’s Code of Meeting Practice states:

“Where a councillor or council employee to whom a question is put is unable to respond to the question at the meeting at which it is put, they may take it on notice and report the response to the next meeting of the Council.”

STAFF RESPONSE

Item 6 - Confirmation of Minutes

During discussion on Item 6 - Confirmation of Minutes, Councillor Noack asked the following question:

What actions have been taken to the Petitions tabled by Councillor Noack in the past three or four meetings?

Acting Executive Director City Planning and Design

The matters raised in the petitions concerning the proposed development of the mixed-use land at Burroway Road, Wentworth Point that were reported to Council on 13 and 27 February and 13 March 2023 will be addressed in the report made to Council on the assessment of the current Planning Proposal for that site. At this stage the Planning Proposal is still under assessment and it is anticipated it will not be reported to Council for consideration until June 2023 or later.

Item 14.3 - Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point.

During discussion on Item 14.3 - Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point, Councillor Prociv asked the following question:

What are the processes that Council has to follow in order to deliver a pedestrian crossing?

Acting Executive Director City Planning and Design

There are several items and processes that need to be considered for the provision of a raised pedestrian crossing as listed below:

1. Design standards (TfNSW, Council, Austroads, and Australian Standards) for a particular site need to be considered.

2. Pedestrian counts are required and vehicle speed surveys may also be important. Consideration is given to making it a ‘shared pedestrian and cyclist crossing’ or designing for a standard pedestrian crossing to be converted to a shared crossing in future.

3. A concept plan is prepared. Pedestrian crossings involve street lighting, signs, line marking, and new kerb ramps as a minimum. Pedestrian crossings usually involve providing a raised concrete crossing (for safety reasons) which requires drainage work, new asphalt, and the concrete threshold.

4. An initial cost estimate is undertaken.

5. Funding is then considered. This can be through grants. If a project is successful in its first attempt at an application then on average there is a 2 year period from the project being identified until it is constructed. The other option is through the development contributions plan. These plans are reviewed approximately every 5 years.

6. When funding is obtained then detailed design, consultation, and approval through PTC and Council in undertaken.

7. The final step is procurement and construction.

Item 14.3 - Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point.

During discussion on Item 14.3 - Notice of Motion: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point, Councillor Garrard asked the following question:

Could staff approach the developer and ask for the following:

• Could the developer start the works early? or

• Could the Council do the work for the developer and the developer cover the costs of the work?

Acting Executive Director City Planning and Design

Current status, Council Officer is coordinating contact with the developer. This matter is related to NOTICE OF MOTION: Street crossing on the corner of Hill Road and Burroway Road, Wentworth Point from Council Meeting 27 March 2023, resolution number 4235. A report will be provided to Council at the next Council Meeting on 24 April 2023.

Item 16.2 - Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency

During discussion on Item 16.2 - Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency, Councillor Pandey asked the following question:

Is the project over 50% over budget? Staff will look at the details and provide the breakup of the contingency?

Item 16.2 – Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency

During discussion on Item 16.2 - Charles Street Square - Design Services Contract Contingency, Councillor Siviero asked the following question:

Could staff provide some forward view of any significant variations that will come up after the current budget? Noting that there is still a quarter to go?

Acting Executive Director City Planning and Design and Executive Director Executive Director City Assets and Operations

The Charles Street Square project has a total budget of $12.126M supported by $4.65m in external grants from the NSW government. There are two key contracts within the project, the design services contract awarded to Spackman Mossop Michaels, initial value $1.06m and the construction contract, awarded to Regal Innovations, initial value $8.49m. Other project costs include project management, site investigations, archaeology, supporting consultancies, authority fees and contingencies.

In relation to the Design Services Contract, at the time of award a contract contingency of 15.1% was nominated in the budget, for a total contract forecast cost of $1,221,549. Since that time, an additional 5.7% ($61,035) has been required to cover variations to the scope of the contract. This amount has been drawn from the construction phase contingency. It is proposed to raise contract contingency by a further 4.1% ($44,000) to fund future variations, if needed. Overall, if all contingency is fully utilised, this represents a 9.8% increase to the final forecast cost of this contract ($1,326,584) compared to 2018 forecast final cost reported to council. Therefore, the design services contract is not 50% over budget.

In relation to the overall project, the current forecast final cost is approximately 4.87% ($590,716) over current budget. This total forecast includes cost to date, work yet to be invoiced and additional contingency for potential future variations. The principal cause of the increased cost is associated with working over and adjustment to Sydney Water assets. The recommended additional contingency within this final forecast is $298,288 (2.5% of current approved budget) for future variations in construction and on-costs. With high-risk ground works now completed and off-site fabrication underway for major components, the remainder of the build is considered lower risk. This is subject to internal review currently and a recommendation will come to Council to address any shortfall.

In relation to completion dates, there have been program implications arising from rain, flood impacts, Sydney Water approvals and latent ground conditions. Adjustments to the completion date have been progressively advised to the community and the NSW Government project funding partners. In our current project communications to the public, the completion is listed as June 2023. However, this is at risk, and completion is more likely to be 31 July 2023. Once confirmed, communications will be updated.

The project will deliver a high-quality riverside public space comprising landscape, civil and building components. The project is technically complex, including interface with TNSW Ferry Wharf operations and infrastructure, site contamination management, historic and aboriginal archaeology, major utility services in proximity, and located within a high hazard flood zone. Upon completion it will provide a renewed river gateway arrival experience and a new destination for workers, residents and visitors to the City Centre.

Bryan Hynes

Acting Chief Executive Officer