ROBUST discussion ensued at Southern Grampians Shire Council’s (SGSC) last ordinary council meeting on Wednesday night before going into caretaker mode that starts at 12pm Tuesday, September 17 and runs until 6pm Saturday, October 26.
Debate for and against preceded Council eventually moving a motion granting endorsement of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between SGSC and the Hamilton Gallery Board Ltd (HGBL).
The purpose of this new entity and MoU was to raise capital funding to support the development of a new Hamilton Gallery.
Allan Myers AC KC, Gordon Dickinson and Dr Alison Inglis AM were endorsed at the July Council meeting to be the establishing directors of the Hamilton Gallery Board company and trustees of the associated public ancillary fund.
Cr Mary-Ann Brown moved the motion, which was seconded by Cr Katrina Rainsford, however, Cr Rainsford posed the question to chief executive, Tony Doyle, as to who owns the company.
Mr Doyle responded and said that there was one owner and that was Southern Grampians Shire Council.
A second question put by Cr Rainsford was “will the SGSC retain ownership of the new Hamilton Gallery after the redevelopment?”
Again, Mr Doyle replied and said that “yes, it is council’s intention to always own the assets, primarily the paintings and the building itself”.
“The gallery operations will be looked at going forward and at this stage our intent is that the board will run those on behalf of council, but we (SGSC) will continue to own the facility,” he said.
Cr Colliton asked, “it would be nice to know how much the new operation costs will be once the new gallery is built”.
“I know you can’t tell me that – we do have a business case that suggests a figure, but who is responsible for the operational costs after the gallery is built?”
Mr Doyle said it was envisaged that the Hamilton Gallery Board Ltd (HGBL) will run the operations of the gallery.
“That will include collection of revenue, management expenses,” he said.
“We anticipate on an ongoing basis there will need to be a contribution from Council to support the gallery – that’s correct, we don’t know exactly what that is at the moment, but we’re improving the sustainability of the gallery all the time.”
“I expect that figure to be less than what it is now for the gallery’s operations.”
Cr Bruach Colliton asked for clarification around the timeline of the project and funding contingencies.
“Where is the contingencies based on funding availability in the timeline for the project, in the MoU?” he asked.
“It should include a timeline for the project with contingencies based on funding availability as per the motion (from the budget meeting).
“I just don’t see those items in the MoU.”
Mr Doyle responded and said the intention was that that will come from the Board once it’s formalised.
“The paperwork is now being completed,” he said.
“They will need to submit a fundraising strategy – they will submit a timeline for that, and they will submit a budget to Council for their operations.”
Cr Colliton persisted and asked “shouldn’t we be writing a timeline for this project?
“Who is controlling this project?”
Mr Doyle responded that the draft MoU is setting the basis for operations between Council and the Board.
“You’re quite right – that document does need to be reached in an agreement with Council,” he said.
“They are the philanthropic experts that were pulled together as the directors, so they will have a very clear timeline on what they think is reasonable to raise the money required.
“We will put that timeline together and present that to Council.”
Cr Brown spoke to the motion and said the MoU provides the framework as the CEO has indicated particularly around fundraising for the new gallery.
Cr Calvano spoke against the motion.
“In my opinion with elections coming up in the very near future, I would leave it up to the next elected councillors to either amend, rescind, or accept the Memorandum of Understanding,” he said.
Cr Malone spoke in favour of the motion in reply and responded to Cr Calvano’s concerns.
“I think if we push this out to the new council, it will be another two years before anything will move forward.”
Likewise, Cr Rainsford spoke in favour of endorsing the Memorandum of Understanding.
“I’d like to thank Mr Alan Myers AC KC and Gordon Dickinson and Dr Alison Inglish AM for agreeing to support and work and bringing their expertise to this project,” she said.
Cr Colliton again spoke and said he remained on the fence about the MoU.
“We do want to get it going, but I will labour that with some warnings,” he said.
“We haven’t got it going to date because of lack of governance and transparency.
“My concern is that the MoU still does not have that.
“There is no timelines and there is no fundraising plan that this Council has put forward.
“We’re abrogating our responsibility totally to this board – these, hopefully, miracle workers.
“But their responsibility is philanthropic money.
“Our responsibility is government funds and local ratepayers’ funds that are a huge contribution to this.
“We are constantly being told that we cannot do this without philanthropic money.”
“I do support the MoU and I thank the officers for bringing the draft and … updates.
“We are getting closer to getting this underway.”
Cr Brown said she understood the concerns of Cr Colliton but said there was some mixed messaging in his comments.
“A Memorandum of Understanding is a document that can be reviewed from time to time,” she said.
“So some of those concerns can be addressed by the next Council.
“To Cr Calvano’s comments that we’re rushing this, we’ve got to get on with this.
“If we don’t establish this body and get an arrangement in place we’re still not going anywhere.
“It is a generational project.”
All councillors present, except for Cr Calvano, voted in favour of the motion.
An unscheduled Council meeting will be held on Monday at 4pm to award the contract for stage one co-design and concept design of the new Hamilton Gallery, along with a community hub grant application.
