Latest News Masterton District Council Adopts Draft Ten Year Plan Masterton District Council has adopted the Draft Long-Term Community Council Plan for 2009/19.  After an intense period of considering all the options the Council has adopted its Draft Long-Term Council Community Plan for 2009-19.  Mayor Garry Daniell says he is pleased that the average level of rates increase has been kept to 5.3% overall in 2009-10, as this has been achieved without compromising the work that the Council needs to do.  It is important to note that recent valuation changes could mean that the impact on individual properties will vary.  “Our biggest and most costly project is to complete the Urban Waste Water Upgrade which will see new ponds, improved treatment, disposal to land and discharge to the Ruamahunga River only in times of high flow.  This will mean it is unlikely there will be any summer discharge into the river.  The Council is waiting a decision on the length of its consents and the conditions that may be required on the operation of the system and disposal of the treated effluent.”  “The urban wastewater upgrade will be the cause of a considerable increase in urban rates from 2010 to 2012 but the system will be much improved and the environment will benefit” says Mayor Daniell.  We are making a major investment in stormwater, sewerage and water supply infrastructure.  We have a lot of extra work planned to make sure our systems can perform to capacity.  We will be increasing our flushing and cleaning of pipes, and repairing and replacing some pipes as well.   We know that laterals from some private properties are not performing well and we will be requiring those property owners to pay for upgrading their connections.  We want to keep our Aa rating of the water supply treatment and system and will be continuing to refurbish the facility.  The Plan includes the Riversdale Beach Sewerage Scheme that will be paid for by the ratepayers of the beach area with the aid of a government subsidy of $1.9 million and a contribution from reserves of $575,000.  Maintaining our roads takes 25% of our total expenditure. Most of the work to reseal and rehabilitate roads attracts a 55% subsidy from the NZ Transport Agency. We will also continue our programme to reseal urban footpaths.  We have had requests from the public to use asphalt instead of chip seal and while it is a dearer surface we will extend our asphalt surfaces in high use areas.  Solid waste is costing more.  We have included a resource recovery centre in this Plan to reduce the amount of reusable material going into the waste stream.  We are going to provide better sorting facilities for materials that can be recycled. The market for recyclable materials has declined recently but it is still cheaper than sending material to the landfill.  Recreational and physical activity is provided for.  We will be doing further work at Henley Lake and extending the recreation trails.  Rejuvenation of Queen Elizabeth Park will continue.    The Council is making a contribution to the artificial surface for hockey and there is a provision to assist with funding for the proposed athletics artificial surface.  Such grants are from reserve funds and not from rates.  The arts are not neglected either. The Council will continue its contribution to implementing the Wairarapa Arts, Culture and Heritage Strategy and is planning a safety upgrade of the on-stage facilities and sound system of the Town Hall.  The Plan includes a $5,000 per year increase to the operation of Aratoi to recognise the impact of inflation.  Extending the library was an unfunded item in the 2006 plan and now we have put aside funds in 2011/12.  The library has been finding that its current space is insufficient for programmes and the number of computers that are now available to the public.  The Plan and a summary will be available from the Council or the District Library and on the website www.mstn.govt.nz on 22 April.  A summary document will be distributed to every property and ratepayer after 22 April. 2 April 2009