Here is a summary of key decisions taken at last night's (17 May) Orange City Council meeting.
Work is set to begin on the site of Orange's new sports precinct and parklands in the coming months after last night's Council meeting awarded the tender for earthworks on the site.
The meeting awarded the $8.8 million contract to Symal Infrastructure Pty Ltd.
The process of removing logs is continuing on-site and earthworks are expected to start in the coming months.
This next stage of the project will see topsoil removed and stored on-site for later use.
The earthworks stage will also see the sloping precinct, from Forest Road to Huntley Road, transformed to contain three levels as the sites for an athletics track, eight sporting fields and a marquee stadium.
It's expected the eight sports fields will be able to be used by this time next year.
Council to investigate cost of fishing at Suma Park Dam
Council staff will prepare a report for a future meeting on a suggestion to allow fishing at Suma Park Dam.
Last night's meeting passed a motion from Cr Steve Peterson asking for staff to look into the impact of allowing fishing if a jetty was constructed at Suma Park Dam. The motion called for information about potential costs if the price of building a jetty was covered by a government grant.
Currently fishing is allowed in Gosling Creek Dam, but not in Suma Park or Spring Creek dams.
Suma Park Dam
A report to last night's meeting mentioned that a 2019 report into allowing fishing at Spring Creek dam suggested the cost of upgrading access and amenities at that dam would be between $1.5 and $3 million.
An amendment will also see an investigation into upgrades of other fishing sites at Lake Canobolas and Gosling Creek Dam.
Council to look into accident record of Racecourse Road
Council staff will look into the recent accident history of Racecourse Road following a motion at last night's Council meeting.
The meeting passed a motion from Cr Jack Evans calling for a report on traffic levels, recent accidents and potential safety measures.
Cr Evans said he'd been contacted by a number of residents concerned about road safety in the area and the speed of cars at a bend in the road near Maple Ave.
A report to the meeting said that the road had been nominated by Council for an upgraded road seal under the Black Spot program, which would improve braking distances if the grant was awarded.
Council awards grants for local events
Last night's meeting decided to award grants to two local organisations under Council's Event Sponsorship program.
The meeting decided to award:
- a grant of $1,276.50 to assist with the staging of the Yu-Gi-Oh! WCQ Regional Qualifiers and
- a grant of $4,000 to assist with the staging of the Wangarang Charity Golf Challenge.
Council defers decision over subdivision tree
Last night's Council meeting deferred a decision over a proposal to change the consent conditions for a new housing estate in Borrodell Drive.
When the nine-lot subdivision in Borrodell Drive was originally approved by Council in 2007, the approval came with a consent condition that the tree, an 80-year-old Pin Oak had to be retained.
The developer has now applied for a change to the consent conditions, telling the Council the tree had died, and asking for permssion for it to be removed and replaced with two new advanced trees.
The Council decided to defer the decision after discussion of an amendment from Cr Tony Mileto. Cr Mileto asked for an independent scientist to conduct tests to determine why the tree died, arguing there was a risk that a disease may have caused the tree's death, and that it might spread to other trees in Orange.
A report will come back to a future meeting.
