Horowhenua District Council must shop local and ensure local businesses get every chance to tender for projects - like repair work to the Levin hydroslide - to help them through any Covid-19 recession.
That's the view of HDC councillor Wayne Bishop, who went into bat for local business to beconsidered for upgrade work to one of the town's feature attractions.
Bishop said it was important that HDC shopped local - now more than ever - due to the pending economic impacts of Covid-19, his comments fuelled by an upgrade option that considered hiring an Australian company for the work.
"Going forward, we are going to be challenged in this space of rebooting the economy locally and we have to do all we can to support local businesses," he said.
HDC held an historic meeting via Zoom this week - its first off-site virtual meeting - and discussed options for repair work to a hydroslide that has been closed to the public for more than a year.
During the Covid-19 lockdown period, the pool itself was now closed, too.
Horowhenua District Councillor Wayne Bishop.
Bishop reminded HDC of its Social Procurement Policy, which meant it should shop local where possible, which was formally adopted in 2014.
He succeeded in having the unanimous support of the meeting for a separate resolution to be included in the motion, that local suppliers are engaged for tender once the Covid-19 crisis was over.
"We are only just beginning to understand what is going to happen to business in our district, but you do have to weigh up backing local business and getting the best deal for the ratepayer dollar," he said.
HDC chief executive David Allan said cost estimates from an engineer would help ensure ratepayers were getting value for money in a tender process.
Hydro slide at Levin pool.
The hydroslide had been closed for more than a year now due to safety concerns. An engineering assessment found that while the tower could support itself and complied with current building codes, it failed with earthquake and wind strength requirements.
Council officer Nikki Brady said an inactive hydroslide was costing ratepayers money by soaking up man-hours as pool and council staff were forced to answer several questions and enquiries every day.
Having the hydroslide located on the outside of the facility also gave customers the impression it was open, she said.
So while "doing nothing" was not an option, there was an almost $300,000 cost associated with demolition of the hydroslide, too.
The repair work, estimated to cost more than $400,000, is expected to extend the life of the hydroslide for another 20 to 30 years, estimated to cost ratepayers an extra 77 cents each year.
Council also had to take into account the healthy social interaction the hydroslide promoted for a wide variety of users, and its popularity, evident in falling user numbers and the number of enquiries it had received.
The hydroslide closure a year ago was a contributing factor to declining numbers of people using the pool, down 10 per cent on the previous year.
Meanwhile, a report prepared by HDC officer Brent Harvey showed the steel stairs and hydroslide frame had corroded significantly in the 20 years since it was first built.
Atmospheric conditions hadn't helped, with high humidity and temperatures, poor ventilation and a high concentration of corrosion-inducing particles all speeding up corrosion.
The Levin Aquatic Centre had undergone significant upgrades since it first opened in 1990.
Work on the hydroslide began 10 years later and it was opened in September 2001, although five years after it was opened, steelwork on the hydroslide began to rust as it didn't have a protective coating applied when it was first built.
A protective coating was then added, with further work to fix stairwell and ventilation issues in 2015.
In 2016, the entire facility was closed for upgrades to the ground floor area, renovating the toilets, showers and lockers, as well as upgrading the lobby, reception, shop and office area.
A hydrotherapy spa pool was installed replacing the existing two spa pools, and tiles in the main pool were replaced.
The existing covered area on the north side of the pool was upgraded to include a conservatory area leading to the outdoor area. New tiered spectator seating, and the social and storage space was extended.
