A report to Tuesday night's council meeting recommends a $627,945 reduction on initially calculated water and sewer infrastructure fees for the planned 144-bed facility at 134 Lillkar Road, south Goulburn. Also taking stormwater into account, it brings the section 64 fees to $1,088,434, down from the $1,716, 379 the council wanted to charge last year.

Councillors in October had refused to budge on the $1,831,362 calculated for all infrastructure, including traffic, for the proposal. However they offered the company a compromise of paying off $626,964 of this amount over two years.

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Signature Care CEO Graeme Croft rejected this and told The Post the charges were "excessive," far above what other councils charged for similar sized facilities and that he would take the $30 million project elsewhere.

But Tuesday's report showed he again contacted the council in January requesting a second review.

The company argued that the fees did not reflect actual water and sewer use. He provided a water account from Signature Care's 144-bed aged care facility in Langwarrin, Victoria, which wasn't fully occupied.

"They claimed that this facility used significantly less water than the theoretical equivalent tenement (ET) rate for water per bed in the water directorate guidelines," utilities director Marina Hollands wrote.

Mrs Hollands said discussions with Wagga Wagga and Grafton councils also revealed that they employed the same approach as Goulburn Mulwaree of one bed equal to 0.5ET for water and 0.75 ET for sewer. However the charges levied by Wagga and Grafton were less once the individual councils' servicing plans were applied.

Signature Care also has 144-bed projects underway in those towns.

In order to cross-check the company's argument, Mrs Hollands reviewed water and sewer use at another Goulburn aged care facility with more than 100 beds. It showed a water ET of 0.3 ET over 13 years, which she said was consistent with the Langwarrin development. Sewer was not measured but was based on the 0.45 ET water directorate guideline.

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She recommended that the water and sewer charges "for this development only" be calculated the same way, based on size and similar sized facilities' historical usage.

But Mrs Hollands said the $146,647 stormwater fee should remain, despite the company's request for a 50 per cent reduction. Similarly, she recommended the $106,335 fee for traffic should stay and did not accept Signature Care's argument the project wouldn't create additional pressure on roads.

Mr Croft welcomed the report and said his aged care developments targeted 98 litres per person daily. This was less than the 155 litre average household use.

"It's a conversion rate and confirms what we said all along - that the fees were too high. Once you do the analysis, it falls into line with other councils," he said.

Mr Croft rejected suggestions he was previously "bluffing" that he'd pull out of Goulburn, saying the near $900,000 in fees flagged last year made the development cost prohibitive.

He told The Post he had transferred federal aged care bed licences elsewhere before when development consent conditions "weren't acceptable." When he threatened to do so with the Goulburn plan last year, the council said it would find another provider. Management also held talks with federal MP Angus Taylor on the subject.

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Mr Croft said he was committed to the region and was looking to build another aged care project in Canberra.

He hoped a planning proposal and a development application to allow construction of the Goulburn project would be signed off later this year. This had been placed on hold. Mr Croft expected work to start later this year or in early 2022.

General manager Warwick Bennett last year defended the charges, saying they were "nowhere near the highest" and every other developer had to pay them.

But on Thursday he said the company had provided "good evidence," including invoices, that actual usage was less.

"We have had quite a few discussions and all of them have been positive. We want them here," Mr Bennett said.

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Mayor Bob Kirk, too, said he was satisfied with the explanation and that the review option was open to every developer.

"I personally don't have an issue with it and while can't speak for them, I think the other councillors would see it the same way," he said.

"I think collectively we want to see it progress, given the construction and ongoing (170) jobs and economic injection it will bring."

The Mayor said Goulburn would have found another provider if Signature Care didn't follow through but he was pleased negotiations had reached an outcome.

"People think we are only out to get as much money as we can (for infrastructure) but we only want to charge what is fair and reasonable," he said.

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