Agenda of Operations Committee of Singleton Council

NOTICE OF MEETING

Notice is hereby given, in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 1993 that a meeting of Operations Committee of Singleton Council will be held in the Council Chambers, Queen Street Singleton, on Monday 5 July 2004, commencing at 5:30 pm.

AGENDA PAGE

Apologies

Confirmation of Minutes

1. Operations Committee 7 June 2004

Mayoral Minute

Disclosures and Declarations of Interest

Withdrawal if Items and Late Items of Business

Presentations

Public Access Session

Director Operations Report No. 16/04

1. Questions Without Notice - Mount Royal Road.............................................................. 4

Manager Community Services Report No. 6/04

1. Execution of Council's Seal for Variation to Lease - Hunter Prelude Early Intervention Centre and Council........................................................................................................................... 7

2. Hunter Area Assistance Scheme (HAAS)....................................................................... 8

3. Community Development Activities............................................................................... 11

4. Colleen Gale Children's Centre Occupancy and Activities.............................................. 12

5. Activity Centre Attendance and Activities...................................................................... 13

6. Youth Programs........................................................................................................... 14

7. Execution of Council Seal on documentation attached to the Community Services Funding Agreement for 2004/2005.............................................................................................................. 18

8. Execution of Council Seal for Funding Arrangements for Disadvantaged Area Subsidy Funding 20

9. Amendment to the Terms of Reference of the Activity Centre Advisory Committee........ 21

10. Colleen Gale Childrens Centre - Financial Status for 2003/2004.................................... 22

Manager Library Report No. 2/04

1. Central East Zone, Country Public Library Association (CPLA).................................... 31

Manager Parks and Facilities Report No. 8/04

1. Nowlan Park - Maintenance......................................................................................... 33

2. Nowlan Park - Steel Kangaroo Sculptures.................................................................... 35

3. Civic Precinct Committee - Library Project................................................................... 37

4. Senior Rugby League Ground Steering Committee........................................................ 38

5. Singleton Gym & Swim Advisory Committee................................................................ 39

6. Singleton Sports Council............................................................................................... 40

7. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Caretakers Cottage at Lake St Clair................. 41

8. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Netball Courts at Rose Point Park.................... 43

9. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Safety - Rose Point Park Carpark..................... 44

10. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Dalwood Acres................................................ 45

11. QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE - Dalwood Acres................................................ 47

Manager Water and Waste Report No. 7/04

1. Water and Sewer Reports - 1/05/04 - 31/05/04........................................................... 48

2. Questions Without Notice - Free Box Trailer Vouchers................................................. 51

3. Questions Without Notice - Survey for Garbage Services for Putty Area....................... 52

4. Questions Without Notice - Broke Water Supply.......................................................... 53

Manager Engineering Support Report No. 9/04

1. Engineering Support Jobs in Progress Report ............................................................... 54

2. Sale of Land Vol 2811 Fol 172 (1/958454) Disused Gravel Quarry, Glendon Road, Singleton 58

3. Plant Hire Quotations to 30 June, 2005......................................................................... 61

4. Quotations for Provision of Trade and Miscellaneous Services to 30 June, 2005............ 64

5. Questions Without Notice - Closure of Kent, Market and Short Streets......................... 67

Manager Works Report No. 6/04

1. Works Program Area Maintenance and Construction Progress Report.......................... 68

2. Hunter Councils Tender for Supply and Delivery of Stormwater Drainage Products........ 71

3. Questions Without Notice............................................................................................. 73

Questions Without Notice

Committee of the Whole

1. Hunter Councils Tender for Supply and Delivery of Stormwater Drainage Products

It is recommended that the Council resolve into Committee of the Whole with the press and public excluded to allow consideration of this item, as provided for under Section 10A(2) (d) (i) of the Local Government Act, 1993, on the grounds that the report contains commercial information of a confidential nature that would, if disclosed prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it

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GENERAL MANAGER

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Q77/04 Asking where Council’s duty of care lies in regard to accidents that may occur on the NP & WS crown section of the Mount Royal Road.

Before answering this question a point needs to be clarified. The Mount Royal Road is made up of

three (3) distinct sections, being;

1. Dedicated Public Road section under Council’s control and maintained by Council;

2. Crown Public Road section under Department of Lands control;

3. Crown Public Road section that is in the Mount Royal National Park under the Department of Land’s control and maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife Service.

Section 2 is the relevant part of the road that Council and residents in the area have been mostly concerned about. This section of the Mount Royal Road and Cassels Road was initially transferred to Council’s control on the 4^th April, 2003 and then returned back to the Department of Land’s control in July, 2003 (Gazette No. 109).

The relevant section of Mount Royal Road is now a crown public road under control of the Department of Lands. The Department of Lands is the road authority and accordingly Council has no duty of care as it is not the asset owner.

Q78/04 Requesting the cost of two (2) dozers, one (1) grader and water-cart required to effect the repairs to the crown section of the Mount Royal Road.

Again a further clarification needs to be made before answering this question.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service made an offer to Council to undertake work on the crown

public road section of the Mount Royal Road not normally maintained by the National Parks and

Wildlife Service (Section 2) using the following equipment for a period of thirty-six (36) hours;

· Case 850 G Dozer

· Case 850 H dozer

· Caterpillar 120H Motor Grader

· Case Vibromax Roller

· Water-cart

It has been estimated that the cost of the above equipment for the period specified without transport costs would be of the order of $12,000.

The offer was that they would undertake this work if Council arranged and delivered on site 900 tonnes of road surface material (gravel) which would be at a cost of approximately $12,000 if screened white conglomerate gravel from the nearest suitable quarry was used or $7,000 if uncrushed shale rock from a quarry at Carrowbrook was used.

However, it is the professional opinion of Works Program Area Staff and myself that the work detailed to be undertaken by the National Parks and Wildlife Service (“Primary Fire Trail” standard) is not the appropriate standard and would be washed away and in the same condition as the road is currently within twelve (12) months to two (2) years of the work being undertaken. This is because of the extensive clearing, formation work and drainage work required to bring the road to an appropriate standard before gravel is placed over the road formation.

Council should note that “Primary Fire Trail” standard is certainly not to the standard that Council has resolved to accept to enable the road to be taken over by Council as the Road Authority.

Attached as Attachment 1 is a copy of the Council Briefing Note provided to the Minister Assisting the Minister for Natural Resources (Lands) the Hon. Tony Kelly, MLC. Contained within the document is the estimated cost to bring both the unmaintained crown public road section of Mount Royal Road (Section 2) and Cassels Road up to the appropriate standard (as per Resolution of Council 24 June, 1996). It amounts to almost $1.7 million. Council’s Works Program Area Staff have advised that it would take at least $250,000 to bring the 3.5 km Section 2 of Mount Royal Road up to the standard acceptable to Council.

Q79/04 Requesting mediation with NP&WS and the owner of the quarry for supply of gravel for repairs to the NP&WS section of Mount Royal Road.

In answering this question it is assumed that the section of the Mount Royal Road detailed is

meant to be the crown road section between Councils dedicated road and the crown

road section in the Mount Royal National Park maintained by the National Parks and Wildlife

Service ( Section 2).

The owner of the quarry for the supply of the cheaper uncrushed shale rock is the Department of

Lands. It would be hoped that mediation would not be required between two (2) State Government

Departments.

Q80/04 Asking if any grants would be available for the upgrading of Mount Royal Road due to the area being a tourist attraction.

Council’s Works Program Area Staff have checked with the Roads and Traffic Authority, NSW Tourism and the Federal Government’s “Grantslink” Website and have not been able to find any grants that could be sought for the upgrade of the subject section of the road.

It should be noted that Federal Government’s “Grantslink Website” contains all grants throughout Australia.

However this is the whole point of any lobbying. Council is looking for an appropriate grant (Ministerial) to upgrade the Section 2 of the Mount Royal Road (at least $250,000) to bring the road to an acceptable standard and then Council will take over the road as the Road Authority, noting that the road leads to the Mount Royal National Park and is advertised as such by the National Parks and Wildlife Service. We also must not forget the millions of dollars of royalties collected from timber taken from the area when it was the Mount Royal State Forest.

Q81/04 Asking how does Council continue to lobby for the maintenance of Mount Royal road if Council can not maintain the road.

Councillors should note that there is nothing stopping the National Parks and Wildlife Service, or

the Department of Lands from improving the road in concern.

Council Officers have already written to the Department of Lands requesting advice in regard to

what the special inter-departmental committee reviewing and reporting on the better management

of future crown road transfers has come up with. We are also investigating funding through the

Bushfire Co-ordination Committee. Council will also write to Local Members and relevant Ministers to lobby the State Government to do something on behalf of Singleton Council residents, ratepayers and road users that provides a solution to the Mount Royal Road and Cassels Road problem that does not severely affect the community (rate payers) of the Singleton Local Government Area. Council has also requested help from the Mount Royal Road residents on this matter when required.

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FOR COUNCIL’S INFORMATION

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Gary Woodman

Director Operations

Attachments

AT-1 View

Mount Royal Road

14 page(s)

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Attendance Statistics:

May Attendance 2004 May Attendance 2003

Male 93 98

Female 79 52

12 – 14 112 44

15 – 17 59 100

Over 17 1 6

Total 172 150

June Attendance 2004 June Attendance 2003

(as at 18.6.2004)

Male 49 97

Female 33 59

12-14 47 41

15-17 26 111

Over 17 9 4

Total 82 156

Issues/Activities:

Improvement of Public Aerosol Artwork (Hunter River Crossing)

On Saturday 5^th June, regional artist Jason Sar returned to Singleton to assist local young people with the completion of Singleton Youth Centre’s legal public aerosol mural at the Hunter River Crossing, Singleton. A distinguished professional aerosol artist with the Urban Artist Federation (based in Newcastle), Jason Sar spent the duration of the day working with young people to extend and enhance the existing aerosol art mural.

Originally designed by young people during the Singleton Youth Centre October School Holiday Program in 2003, as part of the ArtStart Skills Festival, the central theme of the aerosol mural explores notions of being a young person in contemporary society.

In addition to adjoining a three-tiered banner to cover past occurrences of rapid graffiti removal and to complete the mural, the ten (10) young people who participated in the improvement workshop were also provided with the opportunity to work one-on-one with Jason to further their artistic capabilities and skills development. Singleton Youth Centre is now pleased to announce that the Hunter River Crossing aerosol mural has been completed.

Regional Youth Development Officer’s Network (RYDON) Conference 2004

From Monday 21^st – Tuesday 22^nd June, the Singleton Council Youth Programs Co-ordinator attended the 15^th Annual Regional Youth Development Officer’s Network (RYDON) Conference at the Crown Plaza in Newcastle.

Attended by a magnitude of youth and community services from the Hunter, Central Coast, Upper Hunter and North Coast regions, the central focus of RYDON Conference 2004 was to work collaboratively with the objective of producing a draft Code of Ethics for Youth Officers and Youth Support Agencies working in NSW. At present, Youth Workers employed in NSW undertake duties with no formal guidelines or professional code at a State level.

The RYDON 2004 Conference was a valuable opportunity for the Youth Programs Co-ordinator to further explore a range of complex legal and ethical issues that arise in youth work, including confidentiality, privacy, duty of care, child protection, advocacy and support, self-care and Youth Workers roles and responsibilities.

With a range of youth services, regional Youth Development Officers, and guest speakers attending the event, including Kristy Delany from the Youth Action Policy Association (YAPA – the peak body for youth issues and policy in NSW) and Matt Stubbs, Director of the Tedd Noffs Foundation, the RYDON 2004 Conference allowed the Singleton Council Youth Programs Co-ordinator with the opportunity to increase knowledge of best practice and professional ethics, receive guidance on the development of staff codes of conduct and service policies, and to further extend vital network links through the region.

Winter School Holiday Program

From Tuesday 6^th – Friday 16^th July, Singleton Youth Centre will be hosting its second Winter School Holiday Program.

Designed with an emphasis on partnering skills development with entertainment, the Winter School Holiday Program offers young people aged 12 to 17 years with a variety of social, cultural and arts-based workshops to participate in including zine making, furniture art, creative cooking, calico bag making and mural production.

In addition to the regular centre-based workshops, on Thursday 8^th July, Singleton Youth Centre will be hosting a Music Industry Skills Development Workshop for all young people interested in music business, performance, working in the music industry or events management. Facilitated by Indent/Music NSW, the day-long series of workshops will include visiting guest speakers, and will provide young people with a practical and useful insight into the music industry. Key skills building will be undertaken by workshop participants in areas including events management, budgeting, risk management, publicity, and band/performer promotion.

Coming Entertainment Events

Through the recent service planning with Singleton Youth Centre staff, and through ongoing consultation with young people, the need for regular entertainment events on the weekends for young people living locally has been identified.

To address this, Singleton Youth Centre will be offering a range of fully supervised, drug and alcohol-free entertainment events to young people commencing on 16^th July with a free pizza and film night at the Centre. Also scheduled is an ‘Op Shop Ball’ dress-up disco on Friday 23^rd July and

tentatively a live local music night on Friday 30^th July.

Regular entertainment events, in addition to increasing the potential attendance of young people at Singleton Youth Centre, will provide young people with a safe and supervised venue for socialisation during the weekend periods.

User Groups

The Singleton Young Writers + Arts Collective has begun work on the fourth issue of their publication ‘scratchpad’. With a new aesthetic design being considered, the forthcoming issue will be based on the interesting subject of ‘bad hairstyles”. A deadline for this issue is yet to be confirmed by the Collective.

The Youth Action Committee continues to meet on a weekly basis, with the Singleton Youth Centre ‘Op Shop Ball’ – a dress-up disco, being the Committee’s current project. Scheduled for Friday 23^rd July, the ‘Op Shop Ball’ will be the perfect opportunity for young people to ‘frock-up’ and shake away the winter blues in a fully supervised, drug and alcohol-free atmosphere.

The Singleton Indent Events Team is now meeting weekly with the objective of planning a range of all-ages live drug and alcohol-free music events for young people living in the Singleton area. The Indent Events Team are currently working on a unique project concept that includes a series of two (2) live music events exploring contemporary music genres under the theme ‘Holy Moly, it’s Music!’. Dates for these two (2) events are yet to be confirmed. This project is funded through Indent New South Wales.

Meetings/Events Attended:

Date	Meeting Description	Intended Outcome
21 May, 2004	Inspiration Speaker, Greg Wilson (Singleton RSC)	To represent Singleton Youth Centre at the ‘Inspiration Speaker’ Session for local young people hosted by Singleton RSC.
25 May, 2004	Singleton StreetSmart Volunteer Meeting (Guest Speaker)	To provide Singleton StreetSmart volunteers with an overview of programs and services delivered by Singleton Youth Centre, and to strengthen partnerships between Singleton Youth Centre and other local youth services.
28 May, 2004	Meeting with Singleton PCYC (Beat Graffiti Grants Scheme Project)	To plan for Singleton Youth Centre’s ‘Power Through Paint’ Crime Prevention session ( to be run with local high schools as a component of the Beat Graffiti Grants Scheme Project)
Date	Meeting Description	Intended Outcome
1 June, 2004	Meeting with Kath Fielden – DoCS (Better Futures Strategy)	To update DoCS on the progress of Singleton Youth Centre’s Better Futures activities.
5 June, 2004	Aerosol Art Mural Improvement (Hunter River Crossing)	To provide young people with the opportunity to engage in skills development and enhance the Singleton Youth Centre’s legal aerosol art mural under the Hunter River Crossing.
9 June, 2004	Local Government Week: Youth Forum Initial Planning Meeting (Lynne Bailey)	To plan and establish key activities for the development of a local Youth Forum (to be launched during Local Government Week).
	Meeting with Sue Barben (Department of Sport & Recreation)	To investigate potential partnership with the Department of Sport & Recreation in program delivery.
	Singleton Interagency Meeting	To represent Singleton Youth Centre at the Singleton Interagency, to information share, network and strengthen partnership with other local community services.
10 June, 2004	Local Government Week Committee: Youth Forum	To finalize key activities in the development of a local Youth Forum.
	OH&S Consultative Committee Meeting	To represent the Community Services Program on the OH&S Consultative Committee
	Meeting with Constable Judy Simpson (Beat Graffiti Grants Scheme)	To plan for Singleton Youth Centre’s ‘Power Through Paint’ Crime Prevention session (to be run with local high schools)
	Singleton Community Safety Committee	To act as a representative for young people on local community safety issues.

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FOR COUNCIL’S INFORMATION

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Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

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Executive Summary:

The purpose of this Report is to inform Council of the financial status for 2003/2004 for Colleen Gale Children’s Centre and strategies to achieve the outcome of Council’s Children’s Services being provided at minimal cost to Council. Currently the estimated shortfall in income for Colleen Gale Children’s Centre will amount to an operational deficit of approximately $95,000 in the financial year 2003/2004.

The budgeted occupancy levels at a number of Colleen Gale Children’s Centre’s various services have not been met and therefore the income received has been less than estimated. In particular the occupancy levels were not met in the Out of School Hours Services, Occasional Child Care and Mobile Pre-School. Even though fees increased extensively across all services in July, 2003 in order to cover increased expenditure such as overheads ($32,000), part employment cost of the Manager Community Services ($18,000), and loss of previous government grants, the anticipated operational deficit for 2003/2004 is estimated to be around $95,000. This is $37,000 less than the deficit last financial year which had an operational deficit of $132,000.

In addition to fee increases to cover increased expenditure, savings have been made in salaries by reducing one (1) full time permanent position and by halving the cost of casuals compared with the previous year. However, these savings have not entirely offset the loss of revenue due to lower than estimated occupancy levels. On the positive side, the Long Day Care Service has an anticipated income result of $288,062 which is $26,218 above the budgeted income of $261,844.

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Background:

Colleen Gale Children’s Centre is a multi purpose centre providing care and education for children aged 0-12 years. The programs offered are:

· Nursery – licensed for up to ten (10) children aged 0-2 per day;

· Long day Care – licensed for up to fifteen (15) children aged 2-5 per day;

· Occasional Child Care – licensed for up to five (5) children aged 0-5 per day;

· Pre-School – licensed for up to twenty (20) children aged 3-5 per day;

· Mobile Pre-School – licensed for up to sixteen (16) children aged 2-5 per day;

· Before School Care – thirty (30) approved places per day;

· After School Care – forty-five (45) approved places per day;

· Vacation Care – sixty (60) approved places per day.

This is the only multi purpose children’s service operating in the Singleton Local Government Area and the Centre has been running for ten (10) years with the latest addition being the Out of School Hours Care Services that commenced operating in the financial year 2000/2001.

The Centre’s income is made up of State and Federal grants, parent fees and Council contributions, and the majority of the Centre’s expenditure is employment costs followed by overheads, health and hygiene, consumables and utilities.

The Nursery, Long Day Care, Occasional Child Care, Pre-School and Mobile Pre-School receive part operational funding from the New South Wales Department of Community Services at approximately $140,000 per annum, and the Before and After School Care receive Disadvantaged Area Subsidy from the Federal Government, Department of Family and Community Services, on a year to year needs basis at around $8,500.

The Nursery, Long Day Care, Occasional Child Care and Out of School Hours Services (Before, After and Vacation Care) are eligible for claiming child care assistance from the Family Assistance Office on behalf of the families attending these services. In effect, families have their fees subsidised by the Federal Government’s Child Care Benefit program when attending either of these services. Child Care Benefit is means tested, however all families, regardless of income, can claim 16% of the prescribed rebatable fee. Currently the rebatable fee is $2.81 per hour.

Low income families earning less than $42,000 in combined income, utilising the Pre-School or the Mobile Pre-School are eligible to have their fees subsidised by the funding the Centre receives from the Department of Community Services for these services as they are not eligible for Child Care Benefit.

In addition, Council resolved to subsidise the large fee increase that commenced on 1 July, 2003 for low income families earning less than $42,000 at 95% of the fee increase. Council in effect have assisted a total of sixty-eight (68) low income families by subsidising their fee increase throughout the year 2003/2004 at a total amount of $12,000.

Council has subsidised the operational deficits at Colleen Gale Children’s Centre over the years and in March, 2003 Council undertook an in depth review of the operation of Colleen Gale Children’s Centre to the address these ongoing deficits. The review included a review of fees, market testing, staff review and budget analysis. The outcome of this review was that to run the service at minimal cost to Council a fee increase across all services at between 10-25% was required.

Management Plan:

The Management Plan objectives of the Colleen Gale Children’s Centre are:

1. To provide high quality, accredited, Early Childhood Programs to the Singleton Community;

2. To provide high quality Early Childhood Programs to the Rural Communities of Singleton and Muswellbrook;

3. To provide quality assured out of school hour care programs to the community of Singleton Local Government Area;

4. Childcare Services are provided at minimal cost to Council.

Council Policy:

Currently there is no Policy guiding Council’s operation of Children’s Services. To provide direction to the operation of the service, a Policy outlining Council’s position on direct service provision of children’s services would be beneficial.

Legislation:

Council has an obligation to address the needs of children according to the Council’s Charter which is contained within the Local Government Act, 1993 which identify Council’s role in relation to children as the following:

· To promote and to provide and plan for the needs of Children.

The Local Government (General) Regulation 1999 requires all Council’s in NSW to develop a social/community plan and report on identified access and equity activities in their annual reports. The Social plan must include data about the needs of the mandatory target groups, one (1) of which is children aged 0-11 years. This is also the age groups catered for by Colleen Gale Children’s Centre.

Sustainability:

Social: The programs provided at Colleen Gale Children’s Centre are directly aimed at building social capital by providing a range of services to meet the needs of children aged 0-12 years and their families.

According to the Policy Framework for Services for Children and Families for Local Government in New South Wales (2001) Children and Family Services provide significant benefits to the community. It is suggested that services for children and families:

o enhance the development of young children, resulting in improved life chances for individuals and reduced costs for society in such areas as child abuse, remedial education, behavioural problems, juvenile delinquency, crime and relationship breakdown;

o provide a way by which the community can support parents by ensuring the task of caring for and raising children is not solely that of the parents or the immediate relatives;

o assist parents, particularly mothers, to retain their skills, employability and career continuity, resulting in higher national productivity and economic output;

o ensure that parents on low income are not driven to place their children in unsafe, unstable or unsatisfactory environments.

Environmental: The Children attending Colleen Gale Children’s Centre are actively taught the principles of re-cycling and general care for the natural environment as part of the educational program. This gives them a good start in becoming environmentally aware community members.

Financial: Council will need to cover the estimated operational deficit of $95,000 within the overall Council budget for the financial year 2003/2004.

Council has committed to cover 75% of the total cost of overheads which for 2003/2004 amounts to $98,259. This is the first financial year in which Council has attributed overheads to the service. The Management Plan highlights that Childcare Services should be provided at minimal cost to Council. However, the social benefits of providing educational care and services for the children attending this service and their families could be considered to out way the costs to Council at this point in time.

To clarify the financial situation, a detailed financial review of Colleen Gale Children’s Centre’s budget and performance, including financial results over the past five (5) years, has been prepared below.

Revenue:

The anticipated shortfall of $95,000 in 2003/2004 is due to less revenue coming in than anticipated in the original budget.

Firstly, the Mobile Pre-School did not receive the budgeted income of $29,000 from the Army as the Army pulled out of the program in July, 2004. This left the Mobile Pre-School operational for only three (3) days per week during term one (1), and thereafter five (5) days per week in term two (2), and four (4) days per week term three (3) and four (4). To offset some of this reduction in revenue, permanent staff at the Mobile Pre-School covered for staff on leave at the Centre and Out Of School Hours Care as much as possible. Estimated loss of the Mobile Pre-School program: $40,000 (including the loss of Army grant).

The Pre-School has seen an increase in families on low income whereby the DoCS grant of $89,000 has off set additional anticipated income of around $30,000. A review will be undertaken with the aim to convert the Pre-School places to Long Day Care places, which is where the demand is, and to attract Child Care Benefit to these places which is a more cost effective way of assisting low income families. Estimated loss of Pre-School program: $30,000.

The Occasional Care program had less than anticipated occupancy and a subsequent loss of $5,000, and the Out of School Hours (OOSH) Services deficit is estimated at around $20,000 (less $65,000 on original budgeted estimates).

In relation to other revenue sources, the service received approximately $40,000 less in grants than previous years.

Expenditure:

Most of the expenditure at Colleen Gale Children’s Centre is staffing cost (80%), followed by essential spending on health and hygiene (including cleaning), food, consumables and utilities.

This means that there are very few areas where savings can be made. Nevertheless, only $35,000 was spent on casual staff while at the same time as one (1) full time permanent position (worth $34,000) was not filled upon vacancy. The Centre has also utilised Mobile Pre-School staff at the Centre and OOSH Services as much as possible as is evident in the low cost of casuals over the year. Staff sick leave cost the service $ 20,000 which is on par with the past five (5) years. It is important to note that all sick leave, rostered days off, carers leave, corporate induction days, professional development, training, annual leave and all other leave require casual staff, or other available permanent staff members, to fill in for the staff member on leave in accordance with Child Care Regulations on staff child ratios.

The additional expenditure this financial year, compared to previous years, is the charged overheads at $32,000 and part of employment cost for Manager Community Services at around $18,000. This is an additional cost of $50,000 in comparison to previous years.

The service has not over spent in expenditure but rather saved where possible. As previously stated, savings have been made by reducing the number of permanent staff by one (1) position and by utilising Mobile-Pre-School and Out of School Hour Care staff in other program areas instead of calling casuals.

Comparative financial results over the past five (5) years

	2003/2004	2002/2003	2001/2002	2000/2001*	1999/2000
Income	-756,000	-719,717	-740,246	-745,077	-546,327
Expenditure	966,000	834,859	828,818	766,266	651,689
Expenditure Less depreciation	948,800	702,724	812,599	751,491	642,187
Expenditure Less depreciation and 75% Over Heads	850,500	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A
Deficit	$94,800	$132,135	$72,353	$6,414	$95,860

*First year of OOSH

Casual Staffing - Expenditure variations

2003/2004	2002/2003	2001/2002	2000/2001*	1999/2000
$35,000	$66,912	$77,763	$52,135	$27,858

Example of Income variations from other sources other than fees over five (5) years:

	2003/2004	2002/2003	2001/2002	2000/2001*	1999/2000
Army	0	29,000	3,000	3,000	2,000
SNSS	12,000	16,997	25,565	11,543	1,626
DoCS (pre-school)	88,395	90,124	98,811	97,934	96,684
Federal Operational B/S	0	-2,038	8,507	11,264	44,806**
Federal Operational A/S	0	1,995	7,706	28,026	0
Federal Operational Vacation Care	0	1,784	6,892	18,321	0
SCAN	2,760	5,807	0	0	0
DAS	9,519	7,983	0	1,248	0
Contribution by Committee	0	0	0	6,627	0
Total:	$112,674	$153,690	$147,481	$177,963	$145,116

* first year of OOSH

** set up grant for OOSH

SNSS – Special Needs Subsidy Scheme (Federal)

B/S – Before School

A/S – After School

SCAN – Supporting Children with Additional Needs (State)

DAS Disadvantaged Area Subsidy (Federal)

Anticipated result in fee income per program in 2003/2004 comparable to budgeted income and Actuals for 2002/2003

Program	Anticipated result in fee income 2003/2004	Total Budgeted income 2003/2004	Actuals 2002/2003
Long Day Care	$288,062	$261,844	$209,814
Occasional Care	$26,452	$32,861	$37,042
Pre-School	$108,963	$140,666	$111,878
Before School	$11,080	$21,218	$11,933
After School	$67,351	$109,747	$59,484
Vacation Care	$27,966	$40,851	$32,645
Mobile Pre-School	$39,921	$65,727	$39,249
Total:	$569,795	$672,914	$502,409

Estimated Outstanding fees

Program	Outstanding fees to end 30 June current families	Outstanding fees to end 30 June non-current families
Long Day Care	$9,622	$7,992
Occasional Care
Pre-School	$3,684	$2,424
OOSH	$4,413	$3,740
Mobile Pre - School	$3,328	$2,698
Total:	$21,047	$16,854

Future Budgets:

To manage future budgets with the aim of Children’s Services being operated at minimal cost to Council, the following strategies are proposed:

1. Intensive marketing of the Out of School Hours Service to increase utilization to daily average attendance of ten (10) in Before School Care; thirty (30) in After School Care and thirty- five (35) in Vacation Care. Action to be taken: signage to installed to identify where the service is located; meet with parent bodies at the local schools to make them aware of the service; advertise the service in the local paper, in shopping centres and at health services.

2. Mobile Pre-School: Council has resolved to subsidise the Mobile Pre-School at an annual rate of $35,000 commencing 2004/2005. In addition, the service will be seeking corporate sponsorship for this service.

3. The current twenty (20) Pre-School places be converted to twenty (20) Long Day Care places by January, 2005 to meet the demand of Long Day Care and increased income from fees.

4. Marketing of the Occasional Child Care places through Inter-agencies, health services, hair dressers and other relevant services.

5. Review the fees policy.

6. Rigorous monitoring of expenditure.

7. Actively seeking sponsorship from industry that employs many of the families currently attending the Long Day Care Service.

Consultation:

Colleen Gale Children’s Centre Advisory Committee was established in September, 2003 with the aim to keep the fees at the Service at the lower end of the scale. The Committee has been informed and consulted on the ongoing financial results of the Centre.

Council has also been informed of occupancy levels in comparisons with budgeted occupancy levels on a monthly basis through the Operations Committee’s business papers.

Risk Management: N/A

Options:

1. Council could consider managing future budgets with the aims of Children’s Services being operated at minimum cost to Council by following the strategies contained within the Risk Management Section of this report.

2. Council could consider a second review of the Colleen Gale Children’s Centre to assess the future viability of the service without Council subsidy. However, such a review would more than likely have the same outcome as the review undertaken in March, 2003.

3. Council could resolve to subsidise the Colleen Gale Children’s Centre’s operational budget as a Community Services Obligation through rates at $50,000 per year, with annual reviews, on top of the $35,000 annually for the Mobile Pre-School and 75% of over heads. This would enable a more realistic budget for the Colleen Gale Children’s Centre to operate on up front.

4. Council could investigate to sell the operation of Colleen Gale Children’s Centre to a commercial operator. However, it would be unlikely that any commercial operator would retain the Out of School Hours Care Services and the Mobile Pre-School. These services are the only services in Singleton Local Government Area that provide pre-school education for the rural community and out of school hours care in town. In addition, thorough investigation would have to be carried out in regard to the legalities of the selling of a public operated asset that has been established through funding from all tiers of Government over the years.

Conclusions:

The anticipated deficit of $95,000 for Colleen Gale Children’s Centre is spread across program areas with the Mobile Pre-School with a deficit of $40,000 (less fees than anticipated and loss of Army grant); the Pre-School with approximately a $30,000 shortfall in fees due to the off set of DoCS money to cover fees for low income families as per funding agreement; approximately $5,000 less income than anticipated for Occasional Child Care and a deficit of around $20,000 in the OOSH services, although income from fees was $65,000 less than budgeted income. This means that the shortfall in OOSH has been off set by savings in other areas and by the under estimated income for Long Day Care by around $26,000.

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Recommendation:

That Council adopt the following strategies with the aim that the Child Care Services are provided at minimal cost to Council on top of the approved annual subsidy of $35,000 for the Mobile Pre-School and 75% of allocated overheads:

1. Intensive marketing of the Out of School Hours Service to increase utilization to daily average attendance of ten (10) in Before School Care; thirty (30) in After School Care and thirty five (35) in Vacation Care. Action to be taken: signage to installed to identify where the service is located; meet with parent bodies at the local schools to make them aware of the service; advertise the service in the local paper, in shopping centres and at health services.

2. The current twenty (20) Pre-School places be converted to twenty (20) Long Day Care places by January, 2005 to meet the demand of Long Day Care and increased income from fees.

3. Marketing of the Occasional Child Care places through Inter-agencies, health services, hair dressers and other relevant services.

4. Review the fees policy.

5. Rigorous monitoring of expenditure.

6. Actively seeking sponsorship from industry that employs many of the families currently attending the Long Day Care Service.

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Lotta Jackson

Manager Community Services

Gary Woodman

Director Operations

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a) Singleton Water Supply

	1/05/04-31/05/04	2003 Figures
Total Throughput from dam in May was	165ML	183ML
Consumption
Town	134ML	153ML
Army	7ML	10ML
Abattoir	16ML	16ML
Mount Thorley	8ML	4ML

The trend in treated water consumption for Singleton town is shown on the attached ATTACHMENT 1.

As compared to the previous three (3) years, the graphs show that this year’s cumulative treated

water consumption (up to and including this month) was still the lowest.

New Services

Twelve (12) new services were installed this month

Service Repairs

Thirty-five (35) service repairs were carried out this month, including three (3) complete renewals.

Hydrants M & R

One (1) hydrant was repaired this month:-

Pelerin Avenue

CBD Streetscape

Servicing of valves and hydrants and, installation of new pipes for future main and service upgrade in John Street were in progress this month.

b) Mount Thorley Water Supply

	1/05/04-31/05/04	2003 Figures
The total amount of water pumped to the mines was	206ML	149ML

The trend in raw water consumption at Mount Thorley is shown on the attached graph ATTACHMENT 2.

As compared to the previous three (3) years, the graphs show that this year’s cumulative raw water

consumption (up to and including this month) was only less than the same period for the 2002/03

year.

c) Jerrys Plains Water Supply

	1/05/04-31/05/04	2003 Figures
Consumption	1.59ML	0.90ML

The trend in water consumption at Jerrys Plains is shown on the attached graph ATTACHMENT 3.

The graphs show that this year’s cumulative consumption (up to and including this month) was

again higher than for the same period in the 2001/02 financial year. As envisaged, the increasing

trend in consumption has continued as the village is now serviced with treated water.

d) Sewerage System Report

1/05/04-31/05/04

2003 Figures

Sewerage Treatment Works

- Flow Volume

80ML

103ML

Effluent Reuse

Total estimated effluent reuse for this financial year is 1042 megalitres.

Sewer Main M & R

Ten (10) sewer chokes or problems were attended to this month:-

11 Lawson Avenue (main & installed shaft)

John Street (Reece Plumbing, finalised cutting of junction)

4 Cunningham Parade (main, dig-up repair)

7 Howe Street (main & installed shaft)

65 Castlereagh Street (shaft)

19 Market Street (main)

10 Deakin Avenue (main & installed shaft)

40 Elizabeth Street (main)

6 Sister Luke Place (main & shaft)

38 Barton Avenue (main)

Low Pressure Sewerage System At Maison Dieu Industrial Estate

Construction of the low pressure sewer reticulation system was continuing this month.

One (1) sewer POD was installed this month:-

5 Magpie Street

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FOR COUNCIL’S INFORMATION

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Attachments

AT-1 View	Cumulative Treated Water Consumption for Singleton Town Only	1 page(s)
AT-2 View	Cumulative Mt Thorley Raw Water Consumption	1 page(s)
AT-3 View	Cumulative Water Consumption for Jerrys Plains	1 page(s)

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1.	Kelso Street Stormwater Improvements Design
a.	Construction of Apex Park caisson	20%
b.	Seeking new price for amended caisson design	98%
c.	Negotiations with Ada Street land owner for site for infiltration basin	40%
2.	Retreat Stage 10 Survey and Design (Land Development)
a.	Tender documentation.	0%
3.	Singleton Rugby League
a.	Final Design.	80%
4.	Other Capital Design Works
a.	Bowmans Creek culvert design 1. Boundaries to be established adjacent to culvert by a Scott, Crisp & Hamblin. 2. Construction setout.	80% 0%
b.	Goorangoola Road 3.6 - 4.6kms from “Big Post” road reconstruction 1. Design check 2. Construction set out 3. Boundaries to be established by a registered surveyor.	80% 0% 70%
c.	Elderslie Road near Glendon Lane- road reconstruction and realignment Project complete.	100%
d.	Pioneer Rd Eastern End- Dyrring Rd to ch 750- road reconstruction and realignment. 1. Land acquisition	60%
e.	Long Point Road- road reconstruction and realignment. 1. Construction setout. 2. Land acquisition.	0% 0%
f.	Bowman Street- Stormwater drainage/ road reconstruction design. 1. Construction set out	0%
g.	Carroll Street – kerb and gutter design 1. Stage 2 set out 2. Construction	0% 100%
h.	Streetscape Stage 5 1. Almost 4 out of the 9 areas are now complete with works continuing on schedule 2. Contractor is working well, with all businesses happy with the works and the finished product 3. Payment claims to date are in accordance with the schedule of rates tendered	50%
i.	Billy Brook bridge design a. Detail survey b. Design	100% 10%
j.	Barney’s Gully bridge investigations - Levels taken on bridge deck.	100%
k.	Burgmann’s Bridge – bridge investigation - design of horizontal alignment	5%
m.	Singleton skateboarding park- survey and design.
n.	Mc Dougalls reserve – fire station cycleway design.
o.	Visitor Information Centre redevelopment.
p.	Double Crossing –survey and design.
q.	Pioneer Road design
r.	Stanhope Road culvert design
s.	Dunolly gravity sewer design
t.	Lamb’s Valley Road Bridge abutment design
u.	Jerry’s Plains Road Mt Thorley Project Complete.	100%

NEW PROJECTS – SURVEY AND DESIGN

1.	Singleton Rugby League
	a. WBM Consulting have been requested to provide a flood impact study on the proposed Dunolly site.	100%
	b. Adjustments made to layout plans.	100%
2.	Middle Falbrook Road Survey
	a. Detail Survey	95%
3.	Dunolly LATM Scheme
	a. Notify residents of resolution of Council	95%
	b. Prepare concept plans for presentation to RTA	30%
4.	Doyles Creek Causeway Investigation	100%

ROADS & CONTRACTS MATTERS

1.	Tender /Quotation Preparation
	a) T2004.002	Library Furniture & Fitout:- a) Shelves b) Workstations c) Chairs d) Miscellaneous e) Removal
2.	Contract Preparation
	a) T2004.005	Supply and lay asphalt
	b) T2004.005	Prepare Data Base and input data re: standing order for period of 12 months.
3.	Contract Administration
	a) CBD Streetscape Project Stage 4 & 5	Contract works for Stage 5 of the Streetscape Project started 17 May 2004. The areas of work include; Munro St., both sides of Pitt St., the car park side of William St., John St from Campbell to Hunter St. on the South side, in front of the Albion Hotel, John St. from York to Gas St., and lastly Gas to Argyle St. Project to end August/September.
	b) C2003.006 – Construction of Library Building	Construction phase due for completion August.
4.	Road Matters - Acquisitions
	a) Pioneer road widening proposal	Agreement reached for acquisition awaiting final survey.
	b) Standen Drive road widening proposal	Negotiation complete. To commence. Plan lodgement procedure.
	c) Elderslie Road – road widening	Negotiation complete. Quotes to be obtained for survey.
	d) Goorangoola Road – road widening 3.6 – 4.6km from Big Post	Not commenced.
	e) Hebden Road – 3 sharp curves from Picton Lane.	Not commenced.
	f) Hebden Road – road widening	Negotiations with land owner commenced
	g) Long Point Road – road widening	Not commenced.
	h) Middle Falbrook Road – road widening	Not commenced.
	i) Stage 4 Streetscape – Acquisition of land at Railway Station	Negotiations with land owner ongoing.
	j) Goorangoola Road – Double Crossing – Acquisition of land for bridge replacement	Negotiations not commenced awaiting design details
	k) Cessnock Road – Commonwealth land	Not commenced.
	l) Doyles Creek road opening – acquisition of land for road realignment	Negotiations with landowners for acquisition ongoing.
	m) Acquisition of Council Land Lot 1 DP958454	Offer to purchase land received and subject to Council resolution.
5.	Road Closures
	a) White Mining Application – closure part Old New England Highway	To be processed under new agreement with Department of Lands
	b) Wambo Mining Application – Closure of roads Warkworth	Application with Department of Lands for processing.
	c) Pikes Gully and Liddell Station Roads – proposed closure	To be processed under new agreement with Department of Lands
	d) St Patricks Parish application for closure parts Kent, Market and Short Streets	Plan and 88B returned signed and with Council’s Planning Department for Certificate prior to lodgement with LP1.
	e) Shellden Pty Ltd - Part of Old North Road	Further endorsements required by Department awaiting replies to requests for concurrence and plan prior to Department’s endorsement.
	f) PPK – Part of Broke Road – realignment of road due to mining operations	Awaiting preparation of plan for road opening
	g) Pikes Gully/Mitchell Line Roads – road closure proposal due to mining activity	In principle approval from Department Lands awaiting survey completion to be carried out by Property owner.
	h) Eui Pty Ltd – Part of Lambs Valley Road	Application to Department Lands in progress.
	i) Hebden Road – near rail crossing – land acquisition and road closure	Plan ready for lodgment with LPI awaiting documents to be presented to LPI by property owners
	j) Hebden Road – Conveyor – Road deviation and closure	Awaiting lodgment of plan for road opening by Property Owner before commencing road closure procedure.
	k) Dunolly Road – Road closure for development of rugby league fields	Application to be processed under new agreement with Department of Lands
	l) Lemington Road – Road deviation and closing	Awaiting lodgment of plan for road opening by Property Owner before commencing road closure procedure
6.	Other Matters
	a) Utility Notifications	Ongoing
	b) Section 138 applications – Use of Council Road	Ongoing
	c) Short Term Temporary closings for blasting	Ongoing
	d) Road status searches and general enquiries	Ongoing

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FOR COUNCIL’S INFORMATION

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Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

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Background:

Each year quotations are sought for the casual hire of plant for the ensuing twelve (12) month period. The nature of the quotations received is that of a “standing offer”. Council does not guarantee any minimum or maximum amount of work for any quotation. The plant hire rates provided are valid until 30 June, 2005 and shall be registered on Council’s data base for plant hire for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005. The following table includes the names of the companies that provided quotations for this period.

NO.	QUOTATIONS RECEIVED FOR PLANT HIRE YEAR ENDING 30 JUNE 2005
1	ECONOMY SWEEPERS PTY LTD
2	DICKSON PLANT HIRE PTY LTD
3	COATES SHORCO SYKES
4	MCGREE EARTHMOVING PTY LTD
5	COX PLANT HIRE PTY LTD
6	AH PLANT HIRE
7	ROAD & RAIL CIVIL PTY LTD
8	KINGSTON INDUSTRIES PTY LTD
9	SCHREIBER ENTERPRISES PTY LTD
10	AUSTRALIAN GRADER HIRE PTY LTD
11	COATES HIRE OPERATIONS PTY LTD
12	HUNTER VALLEY SWEEPERS
13	NG & LS MOORE
14	MH & JY REID BACKHOE HIRE
15	CONPLANT PTY LTD
16	VALLEY GEOTECHNICAL (NSW) PTY LTD
17	P & C ROACH CONTRACTING & PLANT HIRE PTY LTD
18	JW & MA UPWARD
19	MUSWELLBROOK CRANE SERVICES PTY LTD
20	DANNENBERG EARTHMOVING PTY LTD
21	STABILISED PAVEMENTS of AUSTRALIA PTY LTD
22	AMACK EARTHMOVERS PTY LTD
23	COLLEX PTY LTD
24	NATIONAL PLANT & EQUIPMENT PTY LTD
25	BOOTHS HIRE PTY LTD
26	RS & G H THOMPSON HAULAGE PTY LTD
27	SPIDER CONTRACTING
28	M & D NEWMAN
29	SINGELTON EARTHMOVING GROUP
30	LOVETT’S CESSNOCK EARTHMOVING
31	HUNTER SLASING & MOWING SERVICE
32	KING EXCAVATIONS PTY LTD
33	MACS LAWN CARE SERVICE
34	DARACON GROUP
35	J & L PLANT HIRE PTY LTD
36	ARMOUR TRANSPORT
37	MEGA MULCH & LANDCARE PTY LTD
38	WESTBOUND INDUSTRIES PTY LTD
39	SHEARER CONTRACTING PTY LTD

Management Plan:

There is no impact on the Management Plan as a result of the recommendation in this Report.

Council Policy:

The guidelines within Council’s Procurement Policy have been followed.

Legislation:

All subcontractors must comply with all Commonwealth and state legislation requirements.

Sustainability:

Social:

There is no social impact on the community regarding this matter.

Environmental:

There is no environmental impact on the community regarding this matter.

Financial:

The quotations are accepted as “Standing Offer” and as a result there is no financial impact as a result of accepting the quotations submitted.

Consultation:

Not Applicable.

Risk Management:

The owners of the plant hired by Council must comply with Council’s Occupational Health & Safety Policy. Council is the Principal Contractor.

All Subcontractors are required to supply current certificates of insurance for workers compensation and public liability.

Options: N/A

Conclusions:

It is considered that Council should accept the quotations received. The nature of the quotations received is that of a “standing offer” for the casual plant hire requirements of Council for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005.

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Recommendation:

That Council accept the quotations received as a “standing offer” and registered on Council’s Plant Hire Data Base for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005.

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Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

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Background:

Each year quotations are sought for the provision of trade and miscellaneous services for the ensuing twelve (12) month period. The nature of the quotations received is that of a “standing offer”. Council does not guarantee any minimum or maximum amount of work for any quotation. The service rates provided are valid until 30 June, 2005 and shall be registered on Council’s data base for provision of trade and miscellaneous services for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005. The following table includes the names of the companies that provided quotations for this period.

No.	Contractor Name
1	Ben Carter Licensed Plumber & Drainer
2	Smart Touch Decorators Pty Ltd
3	RCB Electrical
4	Richard Hails Moretti Pty Ltd
5	Trane Australia
6	Refrigeration Muswellbrook
7	John W Phillips Plumbing
8	Whizzcad Pty Ltd
9	P & J Verdon Control Services
10	Cleanlink (NSW) Pty Ltd
11	JC & HA Bedford
12	Nationwide Air Conditioning Sales & Service Pty Ltd
13	Skilled Engineering Limited
14	P & S Howe T/as Wastewater Management 2000

Management Plan:

There is no impact on the Management Plan as a result of the recommendation in this Report.

Council Policy:

The guidelines within Council’s Procurement Policy have been followed.

Legislation:

All subcontractors must comply with all Commonwealth and state legislation requirements.

Sustainability:

Social:

There is no social impact on the community regarding this matter.

Environmental:

There is no environmental impact on the community regarding this matter.

Financial:

The quotations are accepted as “Standing Offer” and as a result there is no financial impact as a result of accepting the quotations submitted.

Consultation:

Not Applicable.

Risk Management:

The subcontractors/consultants engaged by Council must comply with Council’s Occupational Health & Safety Policy.

All Subcontractors are required to supply current certificates of insurance for workers compensation and public liability.

Options:

Not Applicable.

Conclusion:

It is considered that Council should accept the quotations received. The nature of the quotations received is that of a “standing offer” for the provision of trade and miscellaneous services for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005.

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Recommendation:

That Council accept the quotations received as a “standing offer” and registered on Council’s Provision of Trade and Miscellaneous Services Data Base for the period 1 July, 2004 to 30 June, 2005

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Mark Smith

Manager Engineering Support

Gary Woodman

Director Operations

Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

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(a) State Roads Improvement Program

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Golden Highway (SH27)	1.5 to 2.3 km from Mt Thorley	Rehabilitation of 800m section of road involving widening and strengthening of pavement, sealing and asphalt wearing surface.	100% complete.

(b) Regional Roads Improvement Program

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Elderslie Rd (RR453)	6.50 to 8.40 km from SH9	Rehabilitation of 1.9 km section of road involving improvements to horizontal alignment, widening and strengthening of pavement and sealing.	100% complete.
Broke Rd (RR181)	10.09 to 11.55 km from SH27	Rehabilitation of 1465 m section of road involving pavement widening, strengthening and sealing.	100% complete.
Glendon-brook Rd (RR128)	12.74 to 13.84 km from Elderslie Rd intersection	Rehabilitation of 1100m section of road involving pavement widening, strengthening and sealing.	85% complete.

(c) Local Roads Improvement Program

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Corinda Drive	1.0 to 2.5km from Bell Rd	Rehabilitation of 1500 m section of road involving pavement widening, strengthening and sealing.	100% complete.
Judan Road	0.9 to 1.5km from Carrowbrook Rd	Upgrading of 600m section of existing unsealed road to sealed standard involving strengthening of pavement and sealing.	75% complete.
Lisbon Close	0.0 to 0.1km from Casey Drive	Rehabilitation of 100m section of road involving strengthening of pavement and sealing.	100% complete
Bowman Street	0.0 to 0.1km from York St	Rehabilitation of 100m section of road involving removal of K & G, strengthening & shaping pavement to provide a central dish drain, installing stormwater drainage and sealing.	To commence
Kirkton Road	0.90 to 2.40km from SH9	Upgrading of 1500m section of existing unsealed road to sealed standard involving pavement widening, strengthening and sealing.	To commence
Old North Road	2.04 to 3.44km from Hermitage Road	Upgrading of 1400m section of existing unsealed road to sealed standard involving pavement widening, strengthening and sealing.	To commence
Standen Drive	1.0 to 1.8k from SH9	Reconstruction of 800m section of road involving improvements to horizontal & vertical alignment, widening and strengthening of pavement and sealing.	15% complete

(d) Army Contributions

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Cessnock Rd (RR7767)	4.66 to 4.96 km from Broke Rd	Rehabilitation of 300m section of road involving widening and strengthening of pavement and sealing.	100% complete.

(e) Stormwater Management

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
South Singleton Catchment	Stage 1 Shaw St to Edward St	Upgrading of the stormwater drainage system through the installation of an infiltration caisson in Apex Park and laying of additional and upsized stormwater pipes	Caisson commenced.

(f) Land Development Roadworks

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Gardner Circuit	From Ch 320 to Bridgman Road	Connect road to Bridgman Rd. 21,000m³of earthworks, construction of a major culvert, drainage, K&G, pavement & wearing surface.	Road complete. Services 90% complete.
McMahon Way	180m north of Gardner Circuit	Construct new road including earthworks, drainage, K&G, pavement & wearing surface.	Road complete. Services 95% complete.
Road No. 1	Off McMahon Way	Construct new road including earthworks, drainage, K&G, pavement & wearing surface.	Road Complete. Services 95% complete.

(g) Urban Streetscape

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
John Street	Various (Stage 5)	Paving of footpath & installation of pram ramps.	Paving commenced Pram ramps and driveway adjustments 90% complete.

(h) Transport Facilities

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Elizabeth & George Streets		Construction of bus parking bay in Elizabeth Street and new bus shelters in George Street, and improvements to footpaths.	To commence.

(i) Footpath/Kerb & Gutter Construction Program

Road	Location	Nature of Work	Status
Carroll Street (eastern side)	Howe to Springdale Drive	Construction of approximately 150m of kerb and gutter.	80% complete.
Howe Street (northern side)	McDonalds to Brisbane Street	Construction of approximately 120m of footpath	75% complete.

(j) General Maintenance

Carried out on State Roads, Regional Roads, Rural Local Roads and Urban Local Roads where required including the following:-

Maintenance	Road/s
Asphalt Mill & Resheet	John Street – Pritchard Park to Hunter Street
Hand Patching	Bridgman, Milbrodale, Lemington, Stanhope & Lambs Valley Roads
Gravel Road Maintenance	Putty Valley Road
Roadside Maintenance	Stanhope, Elderslie, Standen Drive, Bell & Hermitage Roads

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FOR COUNCIL’S INFORMATION

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Attachments

There are no attachments for this report.

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Works Report No. 6/04

Questions Without Notice

Author: Greg McTaggart and Les Morgan

FILE:

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Details:

The following report is in response to the outstanding Questions Without Notice, which relate to the Works Program Area of responsibility.

Q. 11/04 (Cr Howlett) 2/2/2004 “Requesting the traffic committee request the RTA to extend the 60km/h sign at McDougalls Hill.” File No. RD00900

This matter has been investigated and a report has been prepared. This report will be forwarded to the meeting of the Local Traffic Committee to be held on 15^th July 2004.

Q. 54/04 (Cr MacBain) 27/4/2004 “Advising that the lights at the Saleyards seen from the corner of Glendon Road as you travel to Singleton need checking and possible redirection. File No. RD00033

The road through the saleyard complex was being used as a detour whilst the section of Glendon Road between Gresford Road and the southern saleyard gate, was being reconstructed as part of the Redbournberry Bridge project.

The lights at the Saleyards were considered when planning for this detour was undertaken. However, the risk to motorists was considered minimal due to the significantly reduced speed limit, the traffic control measures put in place and the relatively short length of time that this detour was in place.

As these road works are now complete and the detour has been removed, the mentioned problem is no longer evident.

Q. 59/04 (Cr McNamara) 27/4/2004 “Can a report be produced updating Council on the Standen Drive road straightening program. File No. RD00082

As outlined in item 1 of this report, reconstruction and straightening of the remaining winding section of Standen Drive has commenced and should be completed by August. The delay in commencement of this project was the result of the need to acquire land from two adjoining land owners.

Q. 72/04 (Cr Robinson) 3/5/2004 “Requesting investigation of extending the 60kph speed zone on Maitland Road travelling east.” File No. RD00900

This question of Cr Robinson was supported by correspondence from F. and J. Ingold and I. and C. Moxey, which was addressed directly to Cr. Robinson. This correspondence among other things advocated the introduction of a lower speed limit than 100km/h to precede the 60km/h speed zone encountered as you enter the Singleton urban area on the New England Highway from the south.

The subject piece of the New England Highway is currently being assessed by the RTA for a section of 80km/h speed limit to precede the existing 60 zone. If the RTA proceeds with the installation of such a zone it will have to be at least 800 metres in length. Both Ingold’s and Moxey’s addresses would then fall well within this new 80 km/h zone.

Q. 74/04 (Cr Doughty) 24/5/2004 “Requesting clear perspex upgrade to the Lawson Avenue bus shelter.” File No. RD02060

There is no bus shelter in Lawson Avenue. The closest bus shelter to Lawson Avenue is in Blaxland Avenue, immediately south of Wakehurst Crescent.

Council is currently searching for a contractor with the appropriate expertise to repair the perspex in this shelter, or if possible replace the back of the shelter with steel sheeting.

Steel sheeting will reduce vandalism at this shelter, thereby, reducing Council’s maintenance costs.

Q. 75/04 (Cr Moore) 24/5/2004 “Requesting that the Traffic Advisory Committee consider “No Parking” or “No Stopping” on alternate sides in each block in York Street starting at the existing “No Standing” zone in front of the High School.” File No. RD01530

The Singleton Traffic plan developed in the early 1980’s proposed parking restrictions on the southern side of York Street for its entire length. This has been partially implemented with full time or part time parking restrictions being in place from George Street to midway between King Street and Sussex Street and from the unnamed laneway, behind John Street, to midway between this lane and Bowman Street.

The remainder of the street requires investigation and research to determine current levels of parking in York Street and its effects on traffic so an up to date appropriate parking control plan can be developed.

Q. 82/04 (Cr Nichols) 24/5/2004 “Requesting a status report on the crossing on the Golden Highway at Col Gee’s property.” File No. RD00902

This question refers to the recommendation of the Local Traffic Committee meeting held on 26^th June 2003 and the following resolution of the Operations Committee meeting held on the 4^th August 2003:

“That this matter be referred to the RTA to provide a grade separated cattle crossing, and additional signage referring to the responsibilities of drivers in respect of driving in the area, when stock are on or in the vicinity of the road, the provision of an 80km/h speed limit and barrier lines on the Golden Highway at No 2799 and further, that Council seek support from the Dubbo-Newcastle Road Link Committee for the provision of traffic aids.”

Since this resolution the following has transpired. It is important to note that as Jerrys Plains Road is a State Highway, Council must have the concurrence of the RTA before any work can be carried out:

6^th August 2003 - Letter from Council to Mrs D Gee informing the complainant of Council’s above resolution.

7^th August 2003 - Letter from Council to the RTA forwarding a copy of the minutes of the Local Traffic Committee’s (LTC) held on 26^th June 2003, highlighting the LTC’s recommendation in regard to this matter, and Council’s above resolution.

1^st September 2003 - Letter from Council to the RTA clarifying Council’s resolution on this matter.

25^th March 2004 - Letter from Council reminding the RTA of Council’s previous correspondence on this issue and seeking information on the current status.

As no response has been received from the RTA to date, another reminder letter has been forwarded.

Q. 91/04 (Cr Sharrock) 7/6/2004 “Asking if a railing will be installed as a safety measure in the vicinity of the high embankment 8km east of Broke on the Broke – Fordwich Road.” File No. RD07767

Cr Sharrock has confirmed that the road he referred to east of Broke is the Cessnock Road (Regional Road 7767) not the Broke-Fordwich Road. Priority one for this road has been the upgrading of the pavement by strengthening and the provision of a smooth wearing and driving surface. This has been completed in recent years and with the increasing traffic on the road we are now looking at further safety improvement.

Although the section of road referred to is on a straight it is considered desirable that some improvements, such as a more forgiving roadside environment, be made.

However, before we can do anything, there is a need to acquire land from the adjoining land owner (Department of Defence) so that we can widen the road.

Currently, the toe of the fill batters are on the fence line and this is where we need to commence earthworks to either flatten the batters or widen the formation width to allow the erection of a safety barrier along the shoulder of the road.

Acquisition of the land for road widening is currently with Engineering Support and the status of progress is regularly reported to Council along with all other priorities.

Once we acquire the land it is hoped we will be successful in securing funding through the REPAIR Program to complete the project. As this road is a Regional Road, the REPAIR Program is the major source of funding for such projects on these roads. However, it should be noted that all projects on Regional Roads have to compete against all those submitted by all Councils in the Hunter Region on a priority basis with limited funding available.

Of course we will also be looking for opportunities to fund the work from other sources.

Q. 94/04 (Cr Nichols) 7/6/04 “Asking if provision of a Bus Stop at Jerrys Plains had been referred to the Local Traffic Committee and if a date had been set for the meeting as the matter was urgent.” File No. RD00902

This matter has been investigated and a report will be forwarded to the meeting of the Local Traffic Committee to be held on the 15^th July, 2004.

Q. 95/04 (Cr McNamara) 7/6/2004 “Requesting that the Giveway sign on the corner of Howe and Adair Street, Broke be replaced.” File No. RD05060, RD05010

An instruction has been issued for the replacement of this sign and it should be replaced before this meeting is held.

AT-1 View	Rugby League Project Minutes No. 7	2 page(s)
AT-2 View	Minutes - Senior Rugby League Steering Committee No. 8	3 page(s)

*DATE*	*DETAILS*
09/03/04	Date final plan received from Surveyor
12/03/04	Copy of plan sent to St Patrick’s Parish for concurrence and negotiate sale proposal details to be reported to Council
22/03/04	Report to Council
27/04/04	Sent to St Patrick’s Parish Church for signatures to plan
05/05/04	Plan sent to Department of Lands for pre examination and concurrence to plan
09/05/04	Advice received from Department of Lands that plan is satisfactory and awaiting original for signature
18/05/04	Plan received from St Patrick’s Parish
18/05/04	Plan forwarded to Department of Lands for signature
21/05/04	Report to Council
25/05/04	Plan received from Department of Lands
25/05/04	Plan forwarded to Council’s Planning and Development for certification prior to lodgement with Land and Property Information

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Director Operations Report No. 16/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	the Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Community Services Report No. 6/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Library Report No. 2/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Parks and Facilities Report No. 8/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Parks and Facilities Report No. 8/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Water and Waste Report No. 7/04

SINGLETON COUNCIL Minutes Item	Operations Committee of Singleton Council - 5 July 2004

	Manager Engineering Support Report No. 9/04