2018-08-07 Services and Organisation Committee Agenda

SERVICES & ORGANISATION COMMITTEE MEETING AGENDA                                  7 AUGUST 2018


For further details on the works undertaken refer to Attachment 2 Report on the 2017/18
Maintenance and Upgrade of the Cooroy Memorial Hall and School of Arts Building by the
Cooroy Memorial Hall Association.

Previous Council Consideration
Ordinary Meeting Minutes, 17 April 2017, Page 10, Item 5
That Council note the report by the Director Community Services to the Services & Organisation
Committee Meeting dated 11 April 2017 and agree to:
A.   enter into an agreement to lease the Cooroy Memorial Hall with the Cooroy Memorial Hall
     Association (the CMHA) for the purpose of the Association undertaking the schedule of
     maintenance and upgrade works as per attachment 1
B.   enter into a five year lease (with the terms and conditions of the lease being similar to other
     community hall lease arrangements) for the CHMA to manage and operate the Cooroy
     Memorial Hall subject to the CHMA satisfactorily completing the schedule of maintenance
     and upgrade works as per Attachment 1 and producing a final business plan; and
C.   allocate up to $192,000 from Heritage Levy funds towards the Cooroy Hall maintenance
     and upgrade works on the proviso that the Association match these funds dollar for dollar
     either in cash or via grants, donations of goods or the provision of in kind services

Finance
The original budget for the project was $384,000 with Council and the community each to
contribute 50% either in cash or kind.

The final project cost was $469,300 of which Council contributed $192,000 from the Heritage
Levy and a $12,000 annual maintenance grant.

CHMA raised $164,100 in cash and grants and $103,200 in kind. The most significant
contributions to the restoration came from the Bendigo Bank, a grant from the Gambling Benefit
fund and a sum of $16,152, which had been held in trust by the RSL for maintenance works.

The replacement cost of a community building this size is conservatively estimated at
approximately $1,750,000 to $2,000,000.

Overall, the project represented excellent value for money and is an exemplar for future
community partnership projects.

Lessons learned
The maintenance and upgrade of the Cooroy Memorial Hall was initially a high-risk project from a
Council perspective primarily because Council ceded operational responsibility for the works to a
newly formed community association. That it was ultimately a success can be attributed to a
number of factors. These include:
   The development of a positive working relationship between the CHMA and Council before
     the project commenced
   Undertaking a thorough building condition audit before the project commenced which
     detailed the priority and nature of the works to be undertaken
   The energy and professionalism of the CHMA building subcommittee and the CHMA board.
   The fact that the building subcommittee consisted of people with significant building,
     architectural and project management skills and the CHMA board had significant financial
     management and political expertise gave Council confidence in being prepared to hand
     over project management responsibility.


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