The South Burnett Regional Council released its 2013-2014 Annual Report this week.
At Wednesday’s general meeting, Councillors voted to accept the Annual Report, which has passed lengthy proofing processes in the Department Of Local Government.
The report includes a summary of the Council’s major activities over the 2013-14 financial year, along with financial statements covering the period and a comparison against 2012-13 figures.
The 160-page Annual Report can be downloaded from the Council’s website as a 10Mb PDF at no charge.
Hard copies of the report will be available for inspection at Council Customer Service Centres and libraries shortly, and can be purchased for a fee.
Councillors also formally adopted the Council’s Corporate Plan for 2014-2018, which outlines the SBRC’s strategic direction over coming years.
The four-page Corporate Plan can be downloaded from Council’s website as an 180kb PDF.
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The SBRC will forgo almost $5500 in revenue to help two local community groups get their projects off the ground.
Councillors agreed to waive $1817 in fees and charges for the Wondai API Society’s new prefabricated toilet and shower block at the Wondai Showgrounds; and $3649 in fees and charges for the South Burnett Pistol Club’s new Indoor Pistol Range at Booie.
Both clubs had written to the Council requesting the charges be waived because they are not-for-profit community groups and both building projects will create assets for community use.
Councillors unanimously agreed to waive the charges at Wednesday’s Council meeting in accordance with standard practice.
But the Council will retain the $168 document lodgement fee from both groups to cover costs – again, in line with standard practice.
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The SBRC will pay $56,000 to buy two parcels of land from the State Government to provide extra space for landfills.
At Wednesday’s meeting Councillors voted to pay $9938.50 to purchase a block of land at Oberles Road in Hivesville adjacent to the Hivesville landfill; and $46,074 to purchase a second block on the Wondai-Chinchilla Road which encompasses part of the Durong landfill.
Mayor Wayne Kratzmann said he was annoyed Council had to purchase two “essentially valueless” blocks of land from the government so it could provide an essential amenity for residents living in both areas.
“No one in Brisbane would even know where these blocks are and they have no real value to anyone except our residents,” he said.
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The Mayor’s Community Benefit Fund will be offering a second major beneficiary round in October following the success of the annual Mayor’s Charity Ball in May.
The Ball raised approximately $40,000 for the Fund, which distributes grants to South Burnett community groups.
Other fundraising activities include regular Mayor’s Breakfasts held throughout the year and the annual Mayor’s Charity Golf Day, which has expanded this year from a single day event in Kingaroy (November 20) to include a second single-day event in Murgon (September 11).
The Fund’s governing committee will also consider seeking Public Benevolent Institution status and applying for Deductible Gift Recipient status so that donations to the Fund can be made tax-deductible.
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Council has agreed to allow the owner of 210 Okeden Road at Stalworth to split a 200ha block into two smaller blocks – one of 129ha and the other of 7 ha – providing the smaller block is never used for farming.
At Wednesday’s Council meeting, Councillors heard the smaller block contains stands of remnant vegetation, has a ridge running through it, and would be unsuitable for farming, anyway.
However, it was also an area of great natural beauty that merited preservation.
Councillors agreed to the sub-division proposal on the proviso that a Preservation Covenant would be put over the smaller lot to protect the remnant vegetation, along with standard conditions that apply to normal rural sub-divisions.
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The SBRC has accepted an offer from Mr Jason Young to operate its Recycle Shop for two years, with the possibility of a one-year extension at the end of the period.
Council has also accepted a tender from Shell Aviation to supply and deliver Avgas for 12 months from September 1, also with the possibility of a one-year extension.
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Council’s website has been made over by SBRC staff after a long period of development.
The new site is designed to make the website easier to navigate and make information more easily accessible to residents.
The site is part of a new communication strategy that will be rolled out in 2015-2016.
The strategy will include a community engagement policy and procedures; a social media policy and procedures; and a media protocol.
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The SBRC has applied to Round 2 of the Federal Government’s National Stronger Regions Fund for funding to help establish a wine bottling plant.
The plant would be located at the old Butter Factory in Murgon and would be run by staff from CTC’s The Gumnut Place as a non-profit enterprise.
Local wine producers without their own bottling facilities would be likely clients for the plant, and so would producers from adjoining regions who currently send their wine to Brisbane for bottling.
The project has been endorsed by the South Burnett Wine Industry Association.
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Work on rebuilding the section of Markwell Street in Kingaroy between Pound and Kingaroy streets, which began in early April this year, has finally been completed.
SBRC staff laid the final layer of asphalt surfacing on Sunday and carried out line-making on Wednesday.
The project took longer than originally planned because the subsoil was bogged and had to be allowed to dry, and the project was also interrupted by rain on several occasions.
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The new overtaking lane north of Wooroolin will have its second – and final – bitumen seal applied in approximately three months, Cr Damien Tessmann told Wednesday’s meeting.
Line marking will be redone once the second seal is applied, after which the project will come to an end.
The final seal has been deferred to await the arrival of warmer weather.
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Nanango’s streetscape project continues to progress, with the final corner of the Drayton and Fitzroy streets intersection being built out.
Once this is done, work will begin on a roundabout to slow traffic moving through the intersection.
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Following the opening of the new Hivesville waste transfer station on July 6, the next waste transfer station scheduled to open will be in Durong, Cr Ros Heit told Wednesday’s meeting.
The new waste transfer station is expected to be opened within a few weeks.
Council will also be purchasing land which encompasses the site to allow for future expansion, if needed.
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Work on the new Kingaroy Wastewater Treatment Plant is currently running ahead of schedule, Cr Barry Green told fellow Councillors on Wednesday.
The final design of the entire project has now been completed, construction work is progressing well, and the second Nereda tank has been poured.
An early submission is now being prepared for the next payment of $1.6 million.
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Murgon’s Water Treatment Plant will have its filters upgraded, along with some of the automation and controls associated with water filtration.
Reservoirs in the network have recently been cleaned and condition assessments are now being carried out, Cr Green said.
Meanwhile, the Gordonbrook Water Treatment Plant upgrade is continuing, with a new clarifier being poured last week.
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Three new cabins at Yallakool and the Lake Boondooma Tourist Park have now been completed, along with associated turfing and garden work.
Lake Boondooma’s existing cabins have also been oiled, Cr Kathy Duff told Wednesday’s meeting.
In July, 707 overnight visitors stayed at Lake Boondooma and 742 at Bjelke-Petersen Dam.
