HASTINGS DISTRICT COUNCIL
MINUTES
OF A MEETING OF THE HB
Crematorium Committee
HELD
IN THE Landmarks
Room, Ground Floor, Civic Administration Building, Lyndon Road East, Hastings ON
Monday, 8 April 2019 AT 10.00am
Present: Chair: Councillor Dixon (HDC)
Councillor
Watkins (HDC)
Councillors McGrath and Taylor (NCC)
IN
ATTENDANCE: Group Manager: Community Facilities & Programmes (Mrs A Banks)
Cemetery Manager (Mr Isak Bester)
Committee Secretary (Mrs C Hunt)
1. Apologies
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Councillor Watkins/Councillor Dixon
That an apology
for absence from Councillor Tennent (Central Hawke’s Bay District
Council) and an apology for lateness from Councillor Taylor (Napier City
Council) be accepted.
CARRIED
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2. Conflicts
of Interest
There were no
declarations of conflicts of interest.
3. Confirmation
of Minutes
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Councillor Watkins/ McGrath
That the
minutes of the Hawke’s Bay Crematorium Committee Meeting held Wednesday
5 December 2018 be confirmed as a true and correct record and be adopted.
CARRIED
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4.
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Crematorium - Fees & Charges 2019
(Document
19/326)
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Councillor Taylor (NCC) joined the
meeting at 10.08am
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The Cemetery
Manager, Mr Bester advised that at the last meeting
on 5 December 2018, the Committee had requested officers to investigate the
implementation of a relevant charge for the cost of cremating oversize
caskets. There had not been any increase in the fees and charges since
2012.
A report to the Council meeting on 21
February 2019 on the Cemeteries and Crematorium Fees and Charges was referred
back to the Crematorium Committee to reconsider the criteria for setting Fees
and Charges.
Currently the Hawke’s Bay
Crematorium handles eight oversize casket cremations per year out of a total
of 757. An oversize casket takes approximately 5.5 hours to complete
with a 30 minute cool down period. It takes two staff members to manage
the process required for oversize caskets.
Mr Bester advised that the
cremator was the only one in the North Island that could accommodate large
caskets. With cremation being a cheaper option than burial there was an
increasing demand for cremations and more requests from outside the district
for the larger casket cremation.
It was noted that the costs for providing burial and cremation
services as well as the maintenance of facilities, machinery and equipment
increases yearly and the current fees and charges were not sufficient to
recoup costs. The Hawke’s Bay Regional Council required additional
air discharge testing under the new cremator consent conditions at a cost of
$18,000. Increasing the fees and charges would address cost recovery levels.
The consent conditions also imposed strict times that the Crematorium could
operate ie 7.00am to 7.00pm due to air discharge and noise.
The meeting agreed that increasing the
fees by 7.5% would not recover costs and that a 10% increase was more
realistic.
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Councillor
Dixon/Councillor Taylor
A) That the
report of the Cemetery Manager titled “Crematorium - Fees
& Charges 2019” dated 8/04/2019 be received.
B) That the Hawke’s
Bay Crematorium Committee recommend to Council that the amended Crematorium
Fees and Charges Schedule (CG-14-11-00010) be adopted.
C) That the Crematorium
Fees and Charges be increased by 10% effective from 1 July 2019 to address
cost recovery.
D) That the Hawke’s
Bay Crematorium Committee recommend to Council that there be no charge for
cremation of preterm and still born infants or children 0-11 years of age,
effective from 1 July 2019.
E) That costs be
investigated for an additional cremator as part of the proposed Mangaroa
Cemetery Redevelopment Plan.
With the
reasons for this decision being that the objective of the decision will
contribute to meeting the current and future needs of communities for good
quality local infrastructure and local public services in regards to
cemeteries and crematoria.
CARRIED
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5. Additional Business Items
There were no additional business items.
6. Extraordinary
Business Items
There were no extraordinary business items.
________________________
The meeting closed at 10.25am
Confirmed:
Chairman:
Date: