A Council workshop was held at 5.00pm on Wednesday the 10th of September with a presentation by Mr Silvio Livolsi of Essato Engineering. Mr Livolsi presented his report and provided clarification and options to Councillors and members of the Harden and District Picnic Race Club, Harden Polocrosse Club, Kite Festival Committee as well as members of the public.
The meeting was attended by members of Council and chaired by Mayor Chris Manchester. The Acting General Manager, Mr. Trevor Drowley, and Director Technical Services, Mark Crisp, were also in attendance. Attendees were shown a timeline of events related to electrical issues at the racecourse.
Following the workshop presentation a further discussion was held between Mr. Mark Crisp (Technical Services Director) and members of the Picnic Race Club & Kite Festival Committee, Mr. Sylvio Livolsi and Mr. Paul Shea to confirm power requirements at the Racecourse site to allow scoping and costing/quotations to commence in time to be tabled at the next Council Meeting.
It has now been determined that the minimum cost to complete the electrical rectification works is between $9,000 and $28,000 depending on the option chosen. This is the minimum works required to allow the Kite Festival and Picnic race club events to be run in safety.
Funding of the rectification works has not been identified in the Council’s 2014 Budget Estimates and it suggested that this issue be referred to the September quarterly budget review to identify a source for the funds.
It is also suggested that the event users of the site also be consulted for possible funding contributions. One option for this financial year is to transfer the funding allocated in the Community Initiative Grants for the Picnic Races and Kite Festival to assist in funding the emergency works.