BATHURST Regional Council plans to direct additional funding, totalling $120,000, to projects that can assist in the recovery from the economic impact of COVID-19.
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This, and other measures, are included in a third mayoral minute, that is to be considered at Wednesday night's meeting of Bathurst Regional Council.
Details of the latest mayoral minute were made public around two hours before the meeting was due to start.
Among the measures to be considered by councillors is $120,000 in additional funding for seven projects, including a $50,000 spend on a formal business attraction program.
Another $20,000 would be directed to the DoorsOpen campaign, while there is also a $10,000 allocation each for the Bathurst Jobs Expo, BizMonth, the Upstairs start-up hub, a Buy Local Gift Card program and VFR marketing campaign for tourism.
Several fee waivers are also proposed in the new mayoral minute, including to waive the Footpath Obstruction Licence fees for the period 2020-21.
Mayor Bobby Bourke said council staff and councillors had worked extremely hard to come up with additional support for the community.
"This is our third mayoral minute and a lot of time has gone into it to keep the councillors and community informed on what we are doing with COVID-19," he said.
"... I support the decisions we have made in the minute and I thank the staff and the general manager for helping me put it together."
In addition to the efforts of the staff, Cr Bourke told the Western Advocate there had been meetings between council and business owners to further guide council's response to the crisis.
More meetings are scheduled to occur in the coming days.
"[The meetings are to] consult with different businesses to see how they are handling their businesses with COVID-19 and what assistance council can give, what role can we play in helping you," Cr Bourke said.
One of the things he said has come out of the meetings is that many business owners weren't aware of what council was already doing to provide assistance.
He urged businesses to check council's website and the Bathurst Business Hub website to find out all the information relevant to them.
Council recently spent close to $2000 to revamp the business hub website so it was easier to access information regarding COVID-19 and businesses.
Cr Bourke suspected the mayoral minute considered on Wednesday was the final one dedicated to COVID-19.
"I think we've covered most things, this could be the last one. What will come after this will be directors reports on what we can or cannot do," he said.
"I think three mayoral minutes out of Bobby Bourke is probably enough."
