Mayoral Message - December 2024

Published on 11 December 2024

The Council and our community have risen to meet some significant challenges in the past month that deserve recognition.

Our emergency services have been busy serving our community during recent storms, road fatalities and a joint organisation search at Lake Burrinjuck after a fatality on the water. Our emergency services, bolstered by experienced volunteers in the ranks, lead the way in times of crisis and support each other effectively. I thank them for their service and would also like to acknowledge their places of employment that release them from work to perform this duty, not to mention their families holding the fort at home.

I would also like to recognise the Council's water, maintenance, and infrastructure team in this monthly message. Heavy downpours including hail, caused the flooding of parts of the aging Council administration building and Yass Soldier's Memorial Hall. Next, the dual failure of two raw water pump motors at the dam created a challenge that was met head-on as maintenance crews built one working pump from the parts while new pumps were procured. 

The significant increase in rain over the past fortnight in the Yass River and catchment area also resulted in a large inflow of highly impure runoff water into the Yass Dam.     The changes in the raw water quality were a 6 x increase in organic content and colour, a 10 x increase in iron and double the usual turbidity readings. These changes affect the Treatment Plant’s ability to treat the water to the NSW Health recommended standard.   Council staff raised the alarm to NSW Health regarding the influx of poor-quality water, and the WTP operations team were able to make adjustments throughout Monday to rectify the issue while our engineers liaised with NSW Health and the Department of Climate Change, Environment and Water to receive advice regarding the treatment processes and contingency plans.  By the afternoon it became evident that the treatment process was not improving the raw water quality, consumption was increasing, and available storage was dropping. Approximately 4 hours of water was left.   The engineering and operations staff worked into the evening on Monday to be able to treat the water to the requirements of NSW Health, thereby avoiding a Boil Water Alert being issued. Town reservoirs were then able to be refilled in time for Tuesday.   Although the Council managed to avoid a Boil Water Alert this time, it highlights the impact of environmental changes and how the current WTP is unsuitable for effectively treating water of such quality.   The engineers and the Water Treatment Plant operations team (with the Comms & Media team at the ready) put in significant skilled effort to ensure we all woke up to clean water to drink.

If the Council's National Water Grid Grant $18.1M application is successful, ratepayers will not be out of pocket to deliver the fully upgraded Water Treatment Plant by 2027. A new plant will robustly manage times of extreme drops in incoming water quality with extra hygiene features such as Ultraviolet treatment and high flow and storage capacity.

I would also like to acknowledge the effort and leadership of the Council's Acting CEO Ms Julie Costa, elevated from Director of Planning & Environment. This follows the decision of the Council at the December 10 extraordinary meeting that I called, to terminate Mr Chris Berry's contract. The Council has resolved on a recruitment process and is also working towards better financial management and governance.

Did you know that when the new Crago Mill Precinct is complete, the Council administration building will be Yass Valley’s new emergency operation centre for a range of natural disaster-crisis including bushfires?  II will also be the place of refuge for the community during extreme weather events such as a heatwave. With a generator onsite and footings that go 6 metres deep in parts, it’s designed to be ‘the building that stands’. The Council is looking for NSW & federal resilience grants to offset the cost of construction based on the future service the buildings will provide our community every day and in an emergency. This is a far cry from the current administration building which is not fit for purpose anymore and suffered recent flooding. I am pleased to say that an inspection of the Crago Mill precinct by councillors, the executive management team and the builders, showed the project is making excellent progress. Residents can expect to see the steel frame of the library going up by Australia Day with another pour of concrete on the admin building before Christmas. 

A massive thank you to David Payne Constructions and the local contractors they are using. Local Solar installers are currently being sought to assist create renewable energy efficiency for the buildings. A cost-benefit analysis shows the $50 M project is predicted to generate up to $43 M in additional gross revenue and 124 short-term jobs in Yass Valley with an expansionary effect on the local economy including an extra 58 jobs ongoing within Yass Valley.

As the year starts to wrap up, there is much to be thankful for, to honour and celebrate. Over the past month, I represented Yass Valley at the Conference of Local Government, calling for local government access to the Emergency SMS system for needs such as Boil Water Alerts. 

I have appreciated the opportunity to participate in Remembrance Day in Yass and at RSL Lifecare Thomas Eccles Gardens Yass, Yass Rotary meeting, Men's Shed, Cliftonwood Can Assist Fundraising Day,  Inaugural Significant Tree Register of Yass event, Empowering Women Construction ready graduation ceremony, Bowning and Yass High School presentation evenings, Springfield Rural Fire Brigade 85th anniversary event, hosting a visit from His Excellency Mr Amir Maimon, Ambassador of the State of Israel to Australia, and officially opening the Yass Community Carols. 

I look forward to the Christmas Parade tomorrow (Thursday 12th) a much-loved celebration of Yass Valley's community spirit, our many volunteers and a reminder of the reason for the season, the birth of Jesus Christ.