Mayor’s View – March 27th, 2008
No doubt the Easter break has been well received by all, councillor candidates included.
The new beginnings of Easter time are appropriate for the new Cassowary Coast Regional Council. By the time you read this the undecided councillors will have been determined and I extend congratulations to the successful candidates and thanks to the unsuccessful aspirants for taking their part in our democratic process.
I will be travelling to Brisbane with the acting CEO Mark Kelleher to meet with the Premier and other successful mayors elect on Thursday this week and will press our case for subsidies at the upper range of the percentages available for capital works. We will be pushing for state government assistance from existing schemes, notwithstanding that our circumstances warrant special consideration, given the error made by Treasury in wrongly counting $23.5 m of one-off cyclone Larry payment as recurrent annual funding.
The hall for Tully in the high school grounds will almost certainly require additional government funding, particularly from Education Queensland, simply because the resources of Council would otherwise be strained. Similarly the completion of the Town Hall in Innisfail will create budgetary pressures. I have inspected the progress and am very impressed by the auditorium. The $1.25 million approved by the then Administrator Graham Webb for the stage lighting and sound system, kitchen, bar and lift will create a first class fully restored and air-conditioned facility. For $11 million ($5 m from insurance, $3.5 m from grants and only $2.5 m from council) the community will have a facility valued in excess of $20 m, whereas before Cyclone Larry the building had a worth and book value of approximately $4 m.
The next major decision will be deciding on the fitting out of the basement level to accommodate some 56 council employees, presently located in three buildings in Innisfail, at significant rental costs. Hopefully this can be achieved for under $1 m, all other costs having already been approved. The basement level will be accessible by lift and stairs and is far too valuable for its present use as archive storage and a rabbit warren of offices towards the rear. Most importantly such expenditure should alleviate the pressure for a purpose built council office and civic centre for a generation to come. Utilising grant monies or interest savings, already available, will be critical to achieving this outcome.
I have alerted staff to my preference for selling the two mayoral six cylinder vehicles. Both are due or overdue for replacement. I am suggesting buying a smaller four cylinder vehicle with lower running costs.
Bill Shannon
Mayor elect