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A Dunedin city councillor benefiting financially from millions of dollars worth of Dunedin City Council contracts says he is following the rules and delivering savings to ratepayers.
Cr Doug Hall - the owner of Hall Brothers Transport and Dunedin Crane Hire - is linked to 17 contracts awarded by the DCC during the last three-year council term.
Together, the contracts were worth more than $7.7 million to Cr Hall’s companies between 2016 and mid-2019, either directly or as a subcontractor.
The information was released to the Otago Daily Times by the DCC on Friday last week.
Council staff also confirmed on Friday his companies had been awarded more contracts before 2016, bringing the total sum — since Cr Hall became a councillor — to more than $11 million.
All of the contracts have been signed off by the Office of the Auditor-general.
Cr Hall, a businessman for more than 30 years, was first elected as a city councillor in 2013 and won a third term in last year’s local body elections.
He was no longer responsible for the day-to-day running of the companies or the contracts, having appointed a manager to the role, but still reaped some of the financial rewards.
On Friday, he told the ODT the contracts were all tendered openly.
"I win them all at the lowest price. It ends up being a saving to council," he said.
The contracts included 10 awarded directly to Hall Brothers Transport since 2016, for services ranging from storage to gravel supply and sand replenishment, and beach protection work at Ocean Beach.
An 11th contract went to Dunedin Crane Hire for work at Moana Pool.
Together the contracts were worth $161,495 over the three-year council term.
However, Hall Brothers Transport also had a stake in much larger, multi-year contracts, including the $45million, three-year road maintenance contract awarded to Downer in 2016.
Hall Brothers Transport was a subcontractor to Downer for the work, and earned $2million a year over the three-year period, generating a $6million return for Cr Hall’s company.
Other subcontracting work for Hall Brothers Transport included the Ross Creek Reservoir refurbishment ($811,500 over three years), sports field work ($50,000), footpath resurfacing ($600,000), demolition work ($56,760) and re-roofing the Dunedin Central Library ($87,780).
However, Cr Hall said the returns also included about $500,000 in recycled materials, sold back to the council for reuse in roading projects, diverting them from landfill in the process.
The details of other contracts awarded during Cr Hall’s first term, as well as since mid-2019, were not available.
He was the only councillor listed as having a pecuniary interest in council contracts during the last term, but Cr Hall said that was because "I’m the only one [councillor] that’s running a business that does council-type work".
It also reflected his company’s prominent role in the sector, even before he became a councillor, he said.
He had been forced to sit back from many council proceedings when first elected in 2013, because of commercial conflicts, and still did so when required, he said.
"Anything I have an interest in, I sit back on."
That meant he could not contribute as much as he would like during public debates, although he said he did "pass on a bit of knowledge here and there when they ask questions".
Council staff said all contracts were awarded by staff — with no elected member involvement — and signed off by the Office of the Auditor-general.
DCC finance and council-controlled organisations committee chairman Cr Mike Lord — who has Cr Hall as his deputy — said the contracts were all subjected to appropriate scrutiny and delivered ‘‘the best outcome for council’’.
The contracts
Cr Doug Hall’s company contracts (2016-19):
Hall Brothers Transport Ltd
- Bulk storage holding bays at Tahuna: $75,312
- Walton Park gravel supply: $22,364
- Ocean Beach sand replenishment: $6740
- Relocation of sand along St Clair Beach: $14,195
- Carey’s Bay silt removal: $4432
- Ammunition track development: $20,667
- Concrete blocks Whare Flat: $3360
- Tomahawk beach cartage: $4575
- Civil defence/flood preparation, sand to Mosgiel: $850
- Civil defence/sand movement: $7300
Dunedin Crane Hire Ltd
- Crane hire — Moana Pool: $1700
Hall Brothers Transport — subcontracting work for Downer
- Road network maintenance: $2 million per year for three years (2016-19)
- Ross Creek Reservoir refurbishment: $811,500 over three years (2016-19)
- Resurfacing, irrigation, turf establishment at University 4 & 5 sports fields: $50,000
- Footpath resurfacing: $600,000
- Demolition work, 91 Dukes Rd: $56,760
- Reroofing Dunedin Central Library: $87,780
Total (2016-19): $7,767,535
Total (since 2013): $11 million