Club Meeting 12 June 2013

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAGuest speaker was Frank Zaknich, General Manager with Albury City Council.  He has joined Albury City from Broken Hill City Council where he had been General Manager since 2006. He brings with him a wealth of local government experience during a career that’s included senior positions in rural and metropolitan councils across NSW and South Australia.  Mr.Zaknich presented an informative outline of proposed investment in infrastructure supporting growth in Albury …   “Future-proofing the City”. He said there are a number of projects on the horizon for Albury that he was looking forward to delivering and there were certainly some exciting times ahead for this community in which he was  pleased to be involved.  Some 2013-2014 budget highlights …

The Budget proposes a $3.65M road and drain rehabilitation program. Approximately 40 local roads will be resealed and rehabilitated in 2013-14. Rehabilitation projects include:
– Gerogery Road, between Wagga and Hub Roads, and between Winchester Lane and Himalaya Drive;
– Table Top Road, from Old Sydney Road to Somerset Road;
– Wagga Road, between Henry Drive and the Freeway;
– Urana Road, Heathwood Avenue to McDonald Road, and McDonald Road to Schneider Street.

AlburyCity has also planned a $9.1M investment to fund essential sewer upgrades and improve water quality and supply across the city.

Other highlights of the 2013-14 Draft Budget include:
– $4M to fund the runway overlay at the Albury Airport
– $1M to fund environmental improvements at the Albury Waste Management Centre
– $810K* towards the Murray River Experience – Wagirra Trail Project
– $801K* to begin detailed design of the Albury Regional Art Gallery Redevelopment
– $675K for the Kerr Road realignment
– $143K to continue the upgrade of Mate Street
– $109K to continue the sportsfield renovation program.

He mentioned that he was fortunate to be joining a very talented and capable senior management team delivering great things for this city. He said one his priorities would be continuing to work towards the delivery of the Albury 2030 Community Strategic Plan. He appreciated the warm welcome to the position and added that he was excited to be part of Albury City which has a great reputation and is well known as one of regional New South Wales most progressive and innovative organisations.

President’s Message

The penultimate Bulletin of this first year as your President. The time has gone so quickly and really has been highly enjoyable and I hope enjoyable for yourselves as well. It has been a full on year, and I hope that next year will be just as exciting for us all. As in all things where human membership is involved, no club can perform without a Board of Directors and I am so grateful to my Board for this year and all   the work they have done to make the year zing. Also the various Committees which operate for all the different activities we perform within Rotary for the benefit of the community. My thanks to you all for all the work you do. Also many thanks  to all those other members who do such great work ‘ behind the scenes’. Whether it be rosters, putting Rotary insignia out and store away after our meetings etc. I am hopeful that within the Board we are getting our newer and younger members more closely involved and that will continue with the addition of Vickki Gray added to next year’s Board. Then within a few years time they will take the Club forward, whilst us older folk, can just watch and advise if so requested.

On Sunday I attended the District DG’s Changeover Luncheon at Kilmore. Besides an excellent lunch, it was very interesting listening to part of the incoming DG’s plans for his year in office. They are quite different with a strong emphasis upon all forms of improved communication, including electronic media, and the strong possibility of localised training if requested.  Also many congratulations to our outgoing Asst. District Governor, Terry Simmonds, who was awarded by current DG John Gatt a  PHF ‘Sapphire’  for his three years hard work as one of our  ADG’s. Congratulations again Terry, and good luck to Steve McKewen who takes over from you from 1st July.

Club Meeting 5 June 2013

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERADominic Somers, son of our member, Stan, presented an excellent overview of his experiences mentoring young people in or approaching a crisis situation.  With a teaching background Dominic has experienced a wide range of activities working with young people, especially those in crisis.  Following initial teaching placement he worked with the Big Brother programme mentoring young people, in particular  enjoyable contact and support of a local young boy in need of assistance and direction requiring regular  support over a two-year period. This experience led Dominic to join ‘YES’ (Youth & Family Services) Youth Connection where he has developed a mentoring programme, interviewing, training then  matching volunteer   mentors with young people in crisis … with pleasing results in many cases. YES (Youth & Family Services) is a community-based non profit organisation, which in partnership with the community, strives to provide a coordinated range of support services to meet the changing needs of young people and their families. The Youth Connections Program is aimed at delivering services to young people between the ages of 11 to 19 years who are most at risk of disengaging from education or training and therefore not attaining Year 12 or equivalent and not making a successful transition to further study, training or work. An initiative created to assist the Youth Connections Team to engage these young people is the Mentoring Program. The objective of the Mentoring Program is to help participants of the Youth Connections Program. Dominic mentioned that despite minimal government funding more is always needed particularly in the area of mentor access and training.

President’s Message

The club had a busy   weekend with the usual Harvey Norman BBQ, and some members and their partners doing Alcohol Control duties at Wendy Killeen’s Winery over at Rutherglen. Thank you once again Wendy for offering the club the opportunity to increase its community funds by letting us work at your winery for the Winery Walkabout weekend. At least the weather was kinder to everyone as compared to the previous weekend.  At last weeks’ club   meeting we were able to welcome back Nicole Doughty.

Around late August, the District will be running the first of three District Rotary Leadership courses at Euroa. Courses usually run from 9.30 to 1pm when one disperses after a provided light lunch. Four members of the Club attended earlier courses this year and feedback is that they are highly informative especially for newer members. Not only does one get the opportunity of learning much more about the Rotary movement and various activities, but also gives the member the opportunity to hear how other clubs operate,  besides the opportunity to network.

Club Meeting 29 May 2013

Albury Supported Accommodation Service Inc

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERACaddie Russell outlined for us the goals of this service as it provides much needed short-term support in the community.

ASAS is a community based organisation which services Albury and surrounding districts. ASAS is not a provider of emergency accommodation but manages 10 properties as assistance to those in immediate need. ASAS is funded through the Department of Human Services (Community Services).    ASAS assist families and single adults over the age of 18 years who are homeless or at risk of becoming homeless or in crisis, be it from domestic violence, rental problems, family breakdown, job loss.Ongoing support is available once clients have moved back into the community.  Caddie mentioned that ASAS is one of a number of supporting agencies in the community.  There is a daily intake of persons requiring assistance with many successful outcomes … reassurance of the need for this service. ASAS motto is …  “Never look down on someone unless you are helping them up”.