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2020-03-19 Mayoral Minute - COVID-19
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MAYORAL MINUTE
I hereby give notice of my intention to move the following motion at the Ordinary Meeting on
Thursday, 19 March 2020:
1 RESPONSE TO CORONAVIRUS (COVID-19) - DELEGATION TO THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE
OFFICER AND REQUEST FROM TOURISM NOOSA REGARDING ACCESS TO
MARKETING CONTINGENCY RESERVE
That in relation to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) Pandemic, Council:
A. Delegate to the Chief Executive Officer the power to make decisions on behalf of Council
in relation to any matters arising from the Coronavirus Pandemic from 19 March 2020
until the first Council meeting following the March 2020 local government election and
further, that the CEO be requested to provide a report to that first Council meeting
outlining all such decisions made by the CEO about the Coronavirus Pandemic that
would otherwise have been made by Council in that period; and
B. Approve the request by Tourism Noosa for it to access the Marketing Contingency
Reserve in accordance with section 7 of the Funding Agreement between Noosa Council
and Tourism Noosa, noting that Tourism Noosa will determine the timing and approach
of future marketing in consultation with the tourism sector and Council.
BACKGROUND
As Council would be aware, the Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19) is a rapidly developing scenario
affecting communities around the world. Like other governments and organisations, our Council has
implemented responses to ensure that essential services can continue to be provided to our community.
Council will continue to provide local support to our community recognising that the lead agency for
managing this pandemic in Queensland is Queensland Health.
However, for Queensland local governments, there is a particular timing issue, because the pandemic is
occurring at the same time as we are going through our 4 yearly election process. This meeting is the
last Council meeting until the new Council is sworn in and conducts its first meeting following the election.
The first meeting of the new Council is likely to be shortly after Easter depending upon when the Returning
Officer declares the poll results.
It is important for business continuity and good governance that decision-making can continue during this
period in relation to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There may be a range of issues emerging over the next month or so that will require a Council decision,
but there is no scheduled Council decision-making process in place until the new Council is sworn in. As
such, it would be appropriate for Council to delegate to the Chief Executive Officer all decisions that would
otherwise be made by Council during this period that arise as a result of COVID-19. The Chief Executive
Officer would also be required to report to the incoming Council on all decisions made under this
delegation noting that such report would only address decisions that would have been required to be
made by Council and not operational decisions. The motion above is framed accordingly.
Request from Tourism Noosa
The need for the delegation outlined in the motion has been triggered by a request this week from Tourism
Noosa for Council to approve access to their “Marketing Cash Contingency” pursuant to their Funding
Deed with Council. If this request had been made in another week or so, a decision could not have been
made by Council until after Easter, hence the proposal to put the delegation to the CEO in place.
In the meantime, it would be appropriate for Council to consider the request from Tourism Noosa.
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Section 2
Funding Deed
The current Funding Deed between Council and Tourism Noosa commenced on 1 July 2017. That
Funding Deed regulates payments to Tourism Noosa. Clause 7 of the Deed provides as follows:
7. MARKETING CASH CONTINGENCY
(a) Tourism Noosa will maintain a Marketing Cash Contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency
Reserve) in its balance sheet which will be no less than $350,000 and maintain the cash balance
in addition to other working capital requirements throughout the term of the Agreement, subject to
7(b).
(b) This Marketing Cash Contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency Reserve) may be used for
marketing activity required outside of that outlined in the Business Plan in the event that additional
marketing funding is required. Tourism Noosa must consult with and have approval from Council
prior to the marketing cash contingency (named as a Marketing Contingency Reserve) being
accessed or reduced below $350,000. This
The background to this clause is that the Council CEO required that Tourism Noosa maintain a reserve
for unexpected events that will require a response. This was originally envisaged to be needed in the
event that we had another GFC, a series of natural disasters, a pilot strike or the like. A global pandemic
was not envisaged but is obviously an event that falls squarely within this category to trigger access to
these reserves. In practice, the reserve is held within Tourism Noosa’s balance sheet and they cannot
access it unless they have the approval of Council.
Tourism Noosa has now written to the Council CEO requesting approval to access the full amount of the
Marketing Contingency Reserve. This is the first such request since the reserve was established. The
CEO has advised the Mayor that it is certainly appropriate in the circumstances for Tourism Noosa to
access the Contingency Reserve. Indeed, there could be no more clear circumstance where access to
the Contingency Reserve would be required
Tourism Noosa have raised the following issues for Council’s consideration of this request:
Due to the coronavirus outbreak, they have made the difficult decision to cancel the Noosa Eat and
Drink Festival (formerly the Food and Wine Festival). A significant amount of marketing had been
undertaken for this event with those costs unable to be recovered due to event cancellation and
loss of ticket sales (which are being refunded).
Tourism Noosa are not proposing to immediately undertake additional marketing as the timing is
not right, but they are planning for this to occur and require access to the reserve funds for ongoing
work by the organisation. Tourism Noosa will work with industry representatives to develop
marketing plans for the recovery phase. They will also consult with Council on timing and approach
to this issue. This will be an important facet of Noosa’s recovery from the economic impacts of
COVID-19.
Tourism Noosa, like other organisations and businesses affected by the coronavirus outbreak, are
revisiting their activities to ensure they retain focus on their core role and that their cost structures
are sustainable.
Accordingly, the motion above is to authorise the CEO to advise Tourism Noosa that they can access the
Marketing Contingency Reserve in accordance with Clause 7 of the Noosa Council/Tourism Noosa
Funding Deed.
19 March 2020
Cr Tony Wellington Date