A project to build a $1.77million hockey turf at King's High School was given a boost at a Dunedin City Council meeting yesterday.
Councillors in May voted to spend $500,000 on the facility subject to the council's debt being below $220million by the end of the financial year, and yesterday it was confirmed that condition had been met.
During this year's annual plan process councillors heard the "multipurpose all-weather facility'' would include lights and stands.
It was proposed the school, the council and Otago Hockey would each pay part of the total cost.
Financial controller Gavin Logie said at the end of June the debt was $217.25million, $30.6million below what was budgeted in last year's long-term plan.
Group chief financial officer Grant McKenzie said getting debt to that level was"quite significant'', given support for the hockey turf project was contingent on debt getting below $220million.
Debt levels were also now below the $230million target for 2021 set in the long-term plan.
Given it was possibly the last public council meeting Mr McKenzie would attend before leaving to take up a position as chief executive of Allied Press, which publishes the Otago Daily Times, the committee earlier made a point of thanking him for what he had achieved at the council since he started there in 2013.
Cr Lee Vandervis said that before Mr McKenzie took up the role, councillors were always told debt would be coming down ``but it never actually did''.
"This time it seems it actually is,'' Cr Vandervis said.
Finance committee chairman Richard Thomson highlighted a long list of positive changes Mr McKenzie had been involved in.
This included the establishment of an audit committee, developing fraud and conflict of interest policies, improving cost control measures and improving the way Forsyth Barr Stadium finances were managed.
"Whilst it's been a shorter time than I think we all would have liked, there has been a huge amount of work that has taken place during that time.''
As Cr Thomson predicted he would, Mr McKenzie said he was "just part of the team''.
He was just doing his job to try to make Dunedin a better place to "live, work and play in''.
