An amended version of a water account assistance motion for a Darby's Falls organisation put forward by the deputy mayor has been deferred after reservations from councillors about potential water usage costs.
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According to council records, the Darby's Falls Progress Association and Urban Landcare Group Inc wrote earlier this year, requesting assistance after receiving water access and usage charges in June, the first time they'd done so in 15 years.
After inquiring into the matter, council proposed to "donate the sum of $124.90 [this year's water bill]... and provide a similar donation in future years," taking into account the group's voluntary membership and its fundraising of income.
However, the organisation has since received a second account notice, and the deputy mayor, Cr Judi Smith, moved an amended motion, proposing that the Cowra Shire Council "provides [an] 100 per cent discount on water usage and access charges... for the 2019 financial year and ongoing."
"The association... doesn't have the financial wherewithal to suddenly pay for access charges which would be somewhere in the vicinity of $500 a year.
"The actual water usage charges... are of the vicinity $6 or $7 a quarter, so you can see that not a lot of water is used."
However, Cr Bruce Miller objected to the open-ended usage refund, and was seconded in his motion by Cr Peter Wright to defer the matter for the next meeting,
"To have an open-ended usage charge, who knows what that could entail at some stage in the future?" Cr Miller asked, adding: "To commit, not only for this year, but for future councils, to something as open-ended as that, I think is irresponsible.
"This is not about withholding the access charge [refund]."
Cr Miller's motion to defer was supported, while a further motion and amendment to consider a potential cap on water usage charge refunds for the association was also agreed to.
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