There were no apologies.

Pursuant to Section 46A(7) of the Local Government Official Information and Meetings Act 1987, the Chairman called for late items to be accepted.

There were no late items.

The minutes of the meeting of the Tirohia-Rotokohu Drainage District Committee held on Friday 29 October 1999 were attached.

RESOLVED

THAT the minutes of the meeting of the Tirohia-Rotokohu Drainage District Committee held on Friday 29 October 1999 be taken as read and confirmed.

TRDD99/7 Rasmussen/Brown CARRIED

There were no matters arising.

The Drainage Manager’s report was attached for the Committee’s consideration.

RESOLVED

THAT the Drainage Manager’s report be received

TRDD99/8 Johansen/Brown CARRIED

The Drainage Manager advised that no drains had been sprayed this financial year. The spraying programme was due to start at the end of November 1999.

The 1999/2000 mechanical cleaning programme had been revised to incorporate the priority 1 drains to keep within budget. It was proposed to clean the Rotokohu Canal from the state highway to the end, the Kauoiti silt trap, Nicol and No 1 Siphon drains to an estimated expenditure of $3,896, compared with the budget of $5,290, with a portion of the Rotokohu Canal between the Tirohia and the state highway to utilise the remaining budget.

A summary of pump hour’s operation for the current year was attached for the members’ information.

No further information had been received in respect of Environment Waikato’s options for diesel generation. The cost of diesel conversion options for pumps was still being investigated.

The Drainage Manager advised that all the Drainage District Committee’s had appointed members to the Rate Review Working Party. Baseline information on the current rate systems was being collated.

The financial report for the three months ended 30 September 1999 was attached for members’ information

RESOLVED

THAT the financial report on the operations of the Tirohia Rotokohu Drainage District Committee for the three months to 30 September 1999 be received.

TRDD99/9 Rasmussen/Brown CARRIED

Discussion was held on the rate increase needed for the 1999/2000 year.

Attached was a report from the General Manager on new legislation allowing ratepayers to take over land drainage schemes.

The document was intended to help ratepayers understand the issues involved in deciding whether they wanted to take over their scheme, and the legal requirements and procedures that must be followed to make it happen. It also made some suggestions abut how some aspects of the process might be managed to try and avoid objections and the delays they could cause.

A discussion on advantages and disadvantages of the proposal was held.

Members felt that the current drainage scheme in the Tirohia-Rotokohu Drainage District was being well run by Council and suited ratepayers.

RESOLVED

THAT the information be received

AND THAT the Committee confirms that it is happy with the services received from Council.

TRDD99/10 Peters/Brown CARRIED

It was noted that a breakdown of expenditure in accounts would be helpful for member’s information.

The Drainage Manager would look into this.

The meeting closed at 2.35 pm.

CONFIRMED

J M Hill