supplementary agenda ordinary council meeting wednesday...

SUPPLEMENTARY AGENDA

ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING

WEDNESDAY, 22 APRIL 2009

Notice is given that the next Ordinary Meeting of the Roper Gulf Shire Council will be held on:

Wednesday, 22 April 2009 at Victoria Daly Board Room, Katherine Tce Katherine Commencing at 9am - 5pm

Your attendance at the meeting will be appreciated.

ORDINARY COUNCIL MEETING 22 APRIL 2009

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITEM SUBJECT PAGE NO

10 CEO'S REPORTS

10 .6 Re-establishment of Community Market Garden in Ngukurr ........................................... 4

14 GOVERNANCE REPORTS

14 .2 Animal Management Program........................................................................................ 10 14 .3 Local Board Meeting Procedures ................................................................................... 11 14 .4 Confidentiality and Privacy Policy................................................................................... 20

15 FUNDING AGREEMENTS

15 .3 Grass Roots Funding Agreement................................................................................... 24


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CHIEF EXECUTIVE

ITEM NUMBER 10 .6

TITLE Re-establishment of Community Market Garden in Ngukurr

REFERENCE \CORE SERVICES\GOVERNANCE\COUNCIL MEETINGS\2009 - 04 - ORDINARY SHIRE COUNCIL MEETING - 22 APRIL\REPORTS - 78763

AUTHOR Michael Berto, Chief Executive Officer RECOMMENDATION (a) That Council That Council note the report and accept the PFA for funding of

$180,000 from the Australian Govt. NTNER, CCF Administered Funding 2008/09 for the Market Garden Project in Ngukurr.

BACKGROUND ISSUES/OPTIONS/SWOT There is a strong desire within the community for this project to proceed regardless of the auspicing body. The Shire Service Manager has consulted with local people and has provided advice (from community people) in support of the project. This project will support the need for fresh produce in the community which will lead to improvement in nutrition and health of community people. There is wider support for the project including Urapunga Community. Training will be an important element of this project. The RGSC CDEP will be an integral part of this project where CDEP participants will learn about market gardening and general farming/horticultural techniques. The knowledge and skills learnt in this project will also be transferable to positions in municipal and sport and recreation (ground-keeping, etc) The RGSC has the capability to manage this project to achieve its expected outcomes. The Finance Dept of the Shire will monitor, provide the reports and acquittals for the funding. The CDEP and Technical Services Dept will provide the coordination/training and on-ground support for enabling the project. The project needs to be implemented (commenced) in the current financial year and this is not seen as an issue that may impact on the need for the shire meet its obligations to the funding body. Project description Refer attachment


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Funding The total funding sought is $180,000 (refer to indicative budget in attachment)

ATTACHMENTS: 1 Re-establishment of Community Market Garden in Ngukurr.PDF

Attachment 1 Re-establishment of Community Market Garden in Ngukurr.PDF

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GOVERNANCE REPORT

ITEM NUMBER 14 .2

TITLE Animal Management Program


AUTHOR Ariane McCormack, Manager, Governance RECOMMENDATION (a) That Council approves the Animal Welfare Management Program

BACKGROUND As discussed in the previous Council meeting. The RGS Animal Welfare Management Program has been created in order to start the process into the implementation of a system that will eventually become a Shire wide By-Law. Because it takes on average 3 years to approve a By-Law at the Ministerial level, it is important to put in place some type of control at this point. Several communities are struggling with a large amount of dogs, cats and feral animals. Some control needs to be consistently put in place. ISSUES/OPTIONS/SWOT Create a consistent program to control the amount of dogs born in communities. There are several diseases that can be transmitted to humans from dogs. Un-desexed dogs, and large amount of dogs do create situations where humans can be injured, especially children.

ATTACHMENTS: There are no attachments for this report.


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GOVERNANCE REPORT

ITEM NUMBER 14 .3

TITLE Local Board Meeting Procedures


AUTHOR Ariane McCormack, Manager, Governance RECOMMENDATION (a) That Council approves the Local Board Council Meeting Procedures Policy.

BACKGROUND Local Boards have different meeting requirements than the Council. Most boards were looking for more guidance on how to run them. This document was created in order to provide better guidance to all Shire Local Boards. ISSUES/OPTIONS/SWOT

ATTACHMENTS: 1 Roper Gulf Local Board Meeting Procedures Policy.doc

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Roper Gulf Local Board Meeting Procedures Policy.doc

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LOCAL BOARD MEETING PROCEDURES

Introduction

1. This policy is aimed at helping new Local Boards establish a routine of meeting and ensuring a consistent process is delivered.

Minutes

2. It is preferred to have someone who takes minutes on a regular basis to ensure continuity. It is encouraged to have a volunteer from the Local Board to take minutes at the meeting. In the case no one is available, someone from the Shire Service Delivery Centre will be provided.

Procedures

Setting time and dates for the meetings

3. The Local Board should set up meeting dates for a period up to six months. Meetings can be done on a monthly basis or by decision of the Local Board. The resolution will set the day, the time for a meeting to take place.

Order of the Agenda

4. The following set agenda items are recommended to be followed by the Local Board. This structure can be modified on a need basis.

5. The suggested order in which the agenda is to be prepared shall include:

a) a list of the names of Local Board members present at the meeting. Proxys should be used in exceptional cases only. It is important to have the regular Local Board members present for the meeting;

b) formal opening of the meeting by the Chair of the Local Board;

c) apologies – Local Board members who have given appropriate reasons why they cannot attend the meeting and those reasons are deemed to be acceptable to the Local Board. A motion will be made to either accept or refused the excuse;

d) conflict of interest - a declaration of conflict of interest should be made if something in the agenda would cause probable conflict of interest of bias to a decision. The Local Board member should exclude themselves from the conversation and the decision making process;

e) previous minutes - a motion will be given that the previous minutes are a true and correct record;

f) business arising - any business arising out of the last minutes/action list, motions to be moved etc. Business arising should not be discussed until the previous minutes have been confirmed;

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g) Chair’s report – This is just an option for the Chair to address the Local Board;

h) Other reports – This can be done if someone would like to present something new to the Local Board. A Business Paper, some suggestions, etc;

i) Petitions - can be presented at the Local Board;

j) questions from members of the public – with or without notice;

k) general business – any matter not otherwise dealt with can be raised in general business, subject to any rules requiring notice. Presentations and question time will be maintained by the Chair;

l) confirmation of date and time of the next meeting; and

m) the Chair will formally declare the meeting closed.

6. Copies of the agenda must be made available to the public at the Shire Service Delivery Centre and other determined places chosen by the Local Board, as soon as practicable before each meeting.

7. The order of business should become the regular way of holding Local Board meetings. They may be altered for exceptional cases, but should be a consistent foundation for Local Boards to follow.

Chair’s reports

8. The Chair may prepare a report for the meeting of relevant issues that have been addressed. The aim of this report is to inform members of the Local Board.

Notice to be given of agenda items for a Local Board

9. Members of the Local Board should give important agenda items to the Chair at least five days before the next Local meeting. This will allow adequate time for researching the matter if necessary.

10. The notice must be in writing and signed by the member who wishes the matter to be considered and may include a petition.

Procedures for general business at a Local Board meeting

11. The Chair or a member may give notice at the beginning of a meeting requesting that matters to be considered during the part of the meeting be set aside and take place during general business.

12. Before giving notice, members, or the Chair must have regard to the nature of the matter and whether it will require a decision or is for information only.

13. Members must only give notice of matters for decision by the Local Board in the event of the matter not requiring much deliberation.

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14. Where a matter requires reasonable consideration or analysis, the Local Board shall consider deferring it to the next meeting.

Petitions

15. A petition may be presented to a Local Board meeting by a member.

16. Before presenting the petition the member must, as far as practicable, become acquainted with the subject matter of the petition.

17. The member must state the nature of the petition and then read the petition.

18. The petition must be worded in respectful language.

19. Each page of the petition must restate the whole of the petition.

20. The signatures on a page not complying with paragraph 19 must not be taken into account by the Local Board when considering the petition.

21. A person must not attach to a petition:

a) a signature purporting to be that of another person; or

b) the name of another person.

22. If a petition is presented at an ordinary meeting and was not included in the agenda for the meeting:

a) a person present at the meeting and associated with the petition, may make a statement, explanation, submission, or comment regarding the petition only if first invited to do so by the Chair; and

b) no debate on, or in relation to the petition must be allowed and the only motion that may be moved is that:

(i) the petition be received and noted; and

(ii) be referred to the Council if it’s needed through a Councillor to bring to the next Council meeting.

Motions to be dealt with in the order they appear in the agenda unless otherwise determined

23. The Chair shall start the meeting by asking members present at the meeting to move motions in the order that items are appeared in the agenda (as well as any other motions that arise during consideration of those items).

Motions to have a mover and a seconder for debate to commence and Councillors must speak about the agenda item

The Chair will invite members to move a motion.

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24. A member will move a motion, and may speak in support of the motion. The Chair has the authority to stop the person from talking if the length of time becomes long winded.

25. The Chair shall only allow debate on a motion if it is seconded, requesting initially for a member that may wish to speak against the motion to speak for a maximum of five minutes for, or against the motion.

26. A motion that is not seconded must be recorded in the minutes as having lapsed.

27. A member speaking about a motion must confine his or her remarks to the matter being considered.

Motions not to be withdrawn without consent

28. When a motion has been moved and seconded, it becomes subject to the control of the Local Board meeting and may not be withdrawn without the consent of members.

A member may move an amendment to a motion so long as it still relates to that motion

29. When a motion has been moved and seconded, a member may move an amendment to it.

30. A member who moves or seconds a motion must not move or second an amendment to a motion.

31. Any amendment so moved, must not negate the intent of the original motion.

32. The Chair shall rule that any proposed amendment that attempts to negate a motion, or replace an amended motion with the original motion, is rejected.

Council may only deal with one amendment to a motion at a time

33. Once an amendment has been moved, no further amendment can be considered until that amendment is disposed of, either because it lapses, or is seconded and put to the vote.

The amendment, if voted on and carried, becomes a motion

34. Once an amendment is put to the vote and carried, the motion, as amended, then becomes the motion before the Local Board.

35. Following the carriage of an amended motion to the vote from members present at the meeting.

Limitation as to the number and duration of speeches

36. The Chair has the control as to the time a mover should speak for. It is usually no more than ten minutes.

37. Someone who opposes the motion should speak for no longer than five minutes.

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Chair to maintain order, to decide who can speak first and to have priority when speaking

38. The Chair must maintain order, and may, without the intervention of any other member, call any member to order whenever, in his or her opinion, it is necessary to do so.

39. If two or more members attempt to speak at the same time, the Chair must decide which of the members may speak first.

40. The Chair may, at any time during the debate on the matter, indicate an intention to speak.

41. If the Chair indicates an intention to speak, a member speaking or proposing to speak to the debate must be silent until the Chair has been heard.

Members of the Local Board must address other members politely at meetings, and may request the Chair to bring order to the meeting

42. Members must not make personal remarks or suggest improper motives about any other members or Shire staff at a meeting.

43. A member who considers that another member is out of order may call upon the Chair to maintain order.

44. The call for order must be dealt with immediately, without further discussion, in accordance with Roper Gulf Shire Council’s Code of Conduct.

How the Chair shall deal with calls for order from members

45. Where a member calls for order, the Chair must rule on the call by determining whether the comments made by a member are out of order.

46. Where the Chair rules that a member is out of order on more than three occasions at a meeting he or she may request the member to leave the meeting.

47. If the Chair decides that any motion, amendment or other matter (including a matter he or she considers is objectionable) is out of order, it must be rejected and not be considered further.

Rescinding or altering resolutions

48. A resolution of the Local Board may be altered or rescinded if a notice of motion is carried at a meeting to have the matter dealt with at another meeting, and this is done within three months of the original notice of the resolution being passed.

Motions to improve the handling of matters at a meeting

49. A member may move a motion to have a matter put on the vote only after the Chair has:

a) first queried whether members wish to speak for, or against, the particular motion to do with the matter; and

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b) at least two members have had the opportunity to do so.

50. If the motion to put a matter to the vote is lost, debate on the matter must be allowed to continue for at least ten minutes before the Chair can allow a similar motion for the matter to be put to the vote.

51. If the motion to put a matter to the vote is carried, the Chair must immediately put the motion to do with the matter to the vote.

52. A member may move a motion to have debate on a matter put off to the next Local Board meeting and have the meeting move to the next item of business:

a) if the motion is carried, the Chair must ensure the matter is included in the agenda for the next meeting: or

b) if the motion is lost, the Chair must continue to allow debate on the matter until it is put to the vote

Members absences from, and attendances at, Local Board and special meetings

53. If a quorum of members is not present at a meeting in accordance with clause 64 of the Local Government Act 2008, the Chair must postpone the meeting to a date, time and place as he or she thinks fit.

Public attendance and participation at meetings

54. Members of the public, including journalists, shall be allowed to attend Local Boards, unless the Local Board chooses to close them for confidential reasons.

55. A member of the public must not take part, or attempt to take part, in the proceedings of a meeting of the Local Board unless invited to do so by the Chair.

Grounds for closure to public

56. Public will be asked to leave the meeting when the Local Board is dealing on the matters and information following:

a) personnel matters concerning particular individuals;

b) the personal hardship of any resident or ratepayer;

c) information that would, if disclosed, confer a commercial advantage on a person with whom the Local Board is conducting (or proposes to conduct) business;

d) commercial information of a confidential nature that would if disclosed:

(i) prejudice the commercial position of the person who supplied it

(ii) confer a commercial advantage on a competitor of the Local Board; and

(iii) reveal a trade secret;

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e) Information that would, if disclosed, prejudice the maintenance of law;

f) Matters affecting the security of the Local Board, members, Shire staff, or Council property; and

g) advice concerning litigation, or advice that would otherwise be privilege from production in legal proceedings on the ground of legal professional privilege.

Public rights to make representation

57. The Local Board, may allow members of the public to make representations to or at a meeting, before any part of the meeting is closed to the public, as to whether that part of the meeting should be closed.

Grounds for closing part of meeting to be specified

58. The grounds on which part of a meeting is closed must be stated in the decision to close that part of the meeting and must be recorded in the minutes of the meeting.

Details to be specified

59. The grounds must specify the following:

a) the matter that is to be discussed during the closed part of the meeting; and

b) the reason why the part of the meeting is being closed, stated in para 57.

Public access to decisions made in closed sessions

60. Resolutions or recommendations made at a closed part of a Council meeting must be made public by the Chair as soon as practical after the closed part of the meeting has ended.

61. While discussions in the closed part of the meeting remain confidential, the separate nature of a resolution or recommendation allows it to be made public immediately after the closed part of the meeting has ended, whilst ensuring that confidential information are not revealed.

62. Any person is entitled to inspect minutes containing resolutions or recommendations from the closed parts of the meeting.

The Chair is to maintain order when the public is participating in ordinary, special or committee meetings

63. The Chair may invite questions, submissions or comments from members of the public at a meeting of the Local Board but is not obliged to do so.

64. If the Chair considers a question, comment or statement of a member of the public at a meeting of the Local Board is offensive, irrelevant, and unduly long or deals with a confidential matter, the Chair may rule the matter out of order and proceed to deal with it or the next item of business.

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Procedures for Local Board special committees

65. Committees of the Local Board shall follow the same procedures as provided for Local Board meetings unless the committee resolves otherwise.

66. Minutes of committee meetings shall be included in the agenda of the following Local Board meeting as a recommendation for Local Board to adopt in whole, or part, or be simply noted with no further action required.

Changing these procedures

67. A Local Board may change these procedures by resolution at a meeting.

Related Documents

68. Local Government Act 2008.

Council Meetings Procedures Policy

//name// Chair of //name// Local Board


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GOVERNANCE REPORT

ITEM NUMBER 14 .4

TITLE Confidentiality and Privacy Policy


AUTHOR Ariane McCormack, Manager, Governance RECOMMENDATION (a) That Council approves the Confidentiality and Privacy Policy

BACKGROUND Shire employees must deal with sensitive issues regarding Shire individuals. It is important for employees and Council members to understand the sensitivity behind their work responsibilities. Some employees are “humbugged” and feel pressure to give out personal information that should not be shared. This policy clearly states the roles and responsibilities of employees who handle sensitive information. ISSUES/OPTIONS/SWOT Giving out sensitive personal information could have serious repercussions for the Shire.

ATTACHMENTS: 1 Confidentiality and Privacy Policy2.doc

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Confidentiality and Privacy Policy2.doc

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Confidentiality & Privacy Policy

Purpose The purpose of this policy is to inform Roper Gulf Shire Council and employees about the importance of confidentiality and privacy of sensitive information at the workplace.

Staff Confidentiality Roper Gulf Shire employees will maintain confidentiality of all information regarding individual people (employees or clients), families, groups or communities at all times. It is particularly important to stress that this policy includes information about particular communities as well as individuals. It is a breach of this policy to discuss privileged community, employee or client issues with people in social situations even in other places. This especially applies for Governance, Human Resources, Finance, Age care, Mentoring, Employment & Training, and Creche services in the Shire. Confidentiality applies to: 1. Cultural information that staff may become aware of in the course of their

work; such information may be highly sensitive; 2. Verbal information (including telephone conversations or other

conversations between staff or between staff and clients, discussions with community members);

3. Written information of any kind (case notes, pathology results, administration files, internal memos etc);

4. Medical information Roper Gulf Shire employees have in Age Care environment; and

5. Information stored on computers. Staff should fully inform Roper Gulf Shire users/clients about confidentiality in any given situation, the purposes for which information is obtained and how it may be used, and get consent from clients for any information used outside the primary workplace. If a staff member is under pressure to reveal confidential matters because of family ties or other reasons, then the problem should be discussed with their supervisor immediately. Confidentiality procedures need to be under constant review by all staff. Complaints should be investigation and action should be taken promptly. Breaches of confidentiality constitute a serious breach of the Code of Conduct, and professional obligations, and can result in instant dismissal. All staff are fully informed about this requirement in the recruitment/employment process, and it is included in the Roper Gulf Shire Code of Conduct and Induction.

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Procedures to facilitate confidentiality: 1. All interviews take place in a private space; 2. All interview folders are to be locked or destroyed as soon as possible; 3. Staff need to fully inform clients about the limits of confidentiality in any

given situation, the purposes for which information is obtained and how it may be used;

4. Store all Roper Gulf Shire employee files in a locked filing cabinet.

Roper Gulf Shire employees are responsible for ensuring that their own diary notes do not breach confidentiality; and

5. Roper Gulf Shire employees are entitled to share information with an

external supervisor where necessary for the purposes of supervision and debriefing, but these situations do not require the employee’s name to be revealed. Any information disclosed will be treated confidentially by the supervisor.

Michael Berto Chief Executive Officer

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Annex A

New Councillor and employee Confidentiality Statement

I, _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ have read and understand, the policy and procedures relating to confidentiality of employees of the S/hire, cultural and community information. I will retain as confidential any information kept by the service or information otherwise obtained while carrying out normal duties with my work. I will endeavour to perform my duties in a professional, ethical and co-operative manner, and will support Roper Gulf Shire goal to ensure complete confidentiality and privacy to the matters detailed in the policy. _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Signature Roper Gulf Shire employee or Councillor Date _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Signature (Witness) _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ Print Name (Witness)


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FUNDING AGREEMENTS

ITEM NUMBER 15 .3

TITLE Grass Roots Funding Agreement


AUTHOR Sheena Drennan, Grants Officer RECOMMENDATION (a) That Council That Council approve the Grass Roots funding for $6800.

BACKGROUND BACKGROUND Grass Roots funding for $6800 is to purchase: Borroloola $2100 – air hockey or soccer table by 30 June 09

Jilkminggan $1100 – full softball kit , extra bats and gloves, 12 x single gym mats by 30 June 09 Numbulwar $2500 – 1 x softball kit & extra bats and gloves, 2 x set camping gear by 30 June 09

Mataranka $1100 – 1 x full softball kit and extra bats and gloves by 30 June 09

ATTACHMENTS: There are no attachments for this report.