It has been a year where as a community we have achieved much, including completion of stage two of the Wollondilly River Walkway and the new Rocky Hill War Memorial Museum. Other big projects for Goulburn have also kicked off including the new hospital and construction of the Performing Arts Centre, and overall our beautiful regional city continues to thrive.

It has also been a difficult year for many, as continuing drought hits our farmers and rural residents hard. This of course has flow on effects for many other industries, but we have an incredibly resilient community that we can all be proud of.

Please stay safe over the holidays, particularly on the roads if you are travelling over the next few weeks. Wishing you a Merry Christmas, a happy new year and a brilliant 2020 - hopefully with plenty of rain.

We held our final council meeting for 2019 on Tuesday night, and it was definitely not a quick finish to the year as we had 33 items to consider on the agenda.

As I've been reflecting on our big achievements and projects for 2019, I think it is fitting to provide an update on the Aquatic Centre Redevelopment following Tuesday's meeting. Councillors resolved to enter into negotiations with two companies, being Zauner Constructions and FDC Contracting, on a modified layout for a design and construction engagement.

We also asked for the gymnasium, sauna, spa and crèche be priced separately as an additional option for us to consider. Both companies have extensive experience with aquatic centre construction, and achieved almost identical score in the value for money ranking evaluation.

The price submissions from all tenderers exceeded the total allocated construction budget by around $4 million. Council currently has $29m budgeted for the project, and while it's disappointing that the tenders have come in above our current budget, we are focused on delivering the best outcome and an aquatic centre that will service our region for the next 50 years.

The outcome of negotiations with Zauner Constructions and FDA Contracting will be reported back to thecouncil at the meeting to be held March 3, 2020.

To assist our rural residents, the council has installed two taps that will provide small quantities of potable water for rural and village residents who are not on reticulated water to use for domestic purposes. This is being funded through the Mayoral Emergency Relief Fund.

The taps are located adjacent to the Goulburn Recreation Area (Braidwood Road) and have garden hoses attached. Council is asking community members to limit the amount of water taken to 1000L at any one time.

CCTV is being installed in close proximity to ensure there is no misuse of this service, however this will work off an honesty system.