The Queenstown Lakes district’s Three Waters company has a name.
Now it needs a board of directors.
The size and makeup of the board for the council-controlled organisation (CCO), named WaiSouth, dominated discussion at a full council workshop this week.
The board’s size, length of term and the desired skill mix of its directors must be decided at a full council meeting on February 5.
The decisions will be the latest in a series of milestones the council has set itself for establishing the company, which will take on responsibility for the district’s Three Waters services on July 1 next year.
Councillors will also decide in a fortnight which of them will be on a panel, along with a consultant from recruitment provider Sheffield, that will appoint the company’s founding board.
Much of the discussion on Thursday was devoted to the relationship of mana whenua with the company.
A presentation by council strategy and reform manager Pennie Pearce suggested five options, which included Ngai Tahu having a director on the board, different kinds of
advisory roles, or no formal involvement.
Mayor John Glover said he preferred asking iwi what kind of relationship they wanted with the company, rather than presenting specific options.
"Let’s just ask them what they want."
Councillors also discussed options for setting up WaiSouth’s founding documents, including its constitution and a statement of expectations.
The latter, which will set out the council’s strategic direction for the company every three years, must be finalised by the end of this year.
The previous council voted last July to approve a CCO — after former mayor Glyn Lewers used a casting vote — instead of a revised in-house model for delivering Three Waters.
In a process prescribed by the government’s Local Water Done Well framework, the council will transfer the district’s drinking water, wastewater and stormwater assets — and associated liabilities — to the CCO, but will be its sole shareholder.
