THE city is set to receive a boost to security and technology under Bathurst Regional Council’s draft 2018-19 budget.
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A report will be before councillors at Wednesday night’s meeting from Corporate Services and Finance director, Aaron Jones, which states council’s financial position and where its finances should be allocated in the new financial year.
Mayor Graeme Hanger said council has a “balanced budget” for 2018-19.
“Council’s budget is strong and continues to reflect council’s direction in the improvement of infrastructure and services to the community and to meet the ongoing demands of the growth the region is experiencing,” he said.
The draft budget has funds allocated to the value of $53,867,974 for capital works in excess of $50,000, with nearly $9 million of this for roads projects.
One of the key projects listed in the budget is a new collections facility, worth $5 million.
If the budget is adopted without amendment, it would see a new building constructed to house items in council’s collections, including works of art and documentation.
“It’s a project that we’ve been working on for a number of years and it’s to create a collection repository in which council’s collections that are not on display are stored in a safe and secure environment, with appropriate climate controls,” Cr Hanger said.
He added that it would ideally have capacity to store other collections in the area.
The collections facility is intended to be partially funded by council, with the rest of the money hoped to come from successful grant applications.
Bathurst is also set to become more secure under the draft budget.
One of the items listed is to install a closed-circuit television (CCTV) network in the central business district (CBD).
Cr Hanger said council has set aside $270,000 of its own funds to pay for the system, although it also has applied for funding.
In February, the Western Advocate reported that council had submitted an application on December 20, 2017 for $249,000 through the NSW Community Safety Fund 2018.
Cr Hanger said on Tuesday that the CCTV system would link in with the Smart City CBD wi-fi project, which council received Federal Government funding for.
“The CBD wi-fi technology that we put in will be suitable to take CCTV camera technology,” he said.
He added that council will work with police to determine where to put cameras.
Council plans to continue its commitment to innovation and lowering energy consumption with several other projects.
One of these is street lighting smart controls, valued at $150,000, which will see LED upgrades to two-thirds of the street lighting.
“That is working with Essential Energy to replace the existing lights with LEDs and that will have a significant reduction on energy consumption and greenhouse gas emission,” Cr Hanger said.
Council also plans to reduce energy consumption by installing a solar array at Bathurst Aquatic Centre.
There is $120,000 allocated for this project, which should cover the design and installation of a 100-kilowatt system.
When the report goes before council, the recommendation is that the draft Bathurst Delivery Program 2018-22 and Operational Plan 2018-19, including the Revenue Policy for 2018-19, be placed on public exhibition for a 28-day period.
Submissions on these documents can be received until June 5, 2018.