Tauranga City Council is reminding people who are holding fundraiser car washes to take care with where their waste water is draining. Last week the council's pollution prevention team was called to two separate incidents of charity carwashes discharging water directly into the storm water system. To prevent against this kind of contamination the council is advising that people should wash cars on grass, where much of the waste water is soaked up by the ground. For people who want to hold charity carwashes, they are advised to contact the council for more information.

Water Supply:
* Otumoetai Watermain Upgrade - Pipe being thrust in Goods Road from Pillans Road to Milton Road. Pipe laying in Waihi Road and Otumoetai Road intersection and connecting up in Otumoetai.
* Fire hydrant marking and servicing continues in the Greerton and Ohauiti area and throughout the city over the coming year.
* Work on the Ohauiti High Level water supply reservoir is progressing. The construction of this new reservoir includes installation of over 1.1km of new water main and will service the Ohauiti area. It's expected to be completed late January 2010.
* Water main replacement in Apollo Street and a section of Cameron Road between Elizabeth Street and Spring Street are due to commence this month. Pamela Place and Hillcrest are programmed for the next two months.
* Water main upgrades are planned for 8th Avenue and will commence next week due to a failure on the existing pipe.
* The replacement of a pressure reducing valve and installation of a bulk meter is currently underway on Poike road and should be complete early December
* A leak on a 300mm tee joint on Levers Road resulted on the tee being replaced on Wednesday, is now completed.
* A water shut is programmed for Tuesday, December 1, in the Bethlehem Heights subdivision to install a new tee joint to accommodate the Beaumaris Boulevard connection. Affected residents will be notified by way of letter drop.
* Otumoetai Road residents will be affected by a shutdown on Tuesday, December 1, residents affected will be notified by way of letter drop.

Drainage:
* Carlton Reserve Pond, Meadowland Pond (Matua salt marsh area), and two upper ponds in Carmichael Reserve are now scheduled for cleaning to remove a quantity of raupo and other weed growth choking up the sites.
* Some of the stormwater outlets into the Oriental Parade Pond are fully overgrown and scheduled to be cleared. One outlet appeared to also require some remedial work but needed to be uncovered to fully assess its condition.
* Pacific Cove, Pacific View , Hartford Ave and Evans Road concrete 'v' drains were cleared of built up debris and grass growth.
* The open drain along Vale Street near Andrew Place was cleaned of aquatic vegetation.
* Open drains in the Kinlock Drive /SH2 area are now scheduled to be cleaned.
* In Miles Lane some remedial work to the soak hole system was completed to help eliminate a ponding problem.
* In Smiths Road near Eaton Crescent some minor stormwater improvement work to the system is scheduled to be undertaken to help with a local flooding issues along with a new street sump installed in Takapu Street.
* Three odour complaints received:
- Anchorage Grove - site inspection could not determine any sewerage problems as pipelines and pump were all clear and operating.
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Two separate odour complaints in Willow Street were received. Site inspections of the manholes etc in the respective sites found no obvious cause.
* Four sewer blockages were reported this week, none caused an overflow as were confined to the a local area. The blockage locations were:
- Bayfair shopping complex
- Darraghs Road
- Hinemarama Close
- Dickson Road.
* The all clear was given for the 2 overflow incidents last week at Danny Place and Watling Street.
* Three pollution incidents reported this week:
- A diesel spill on Koromiko Street occurred after thieves stole over 600litres of diesel from trucks parked outside a business overnight. The spill was cleaned up but an unknown quantity of diesel entered the Kopurerua Stream.
- Council asphalt cutting works resulted in a low volume discharge of cutting wash water to the stormwater system. This was cleaned up by the contractors on site after being spoken to be the pollution prevention team. A good reminder to contractors to ensure all wash water is collected, and that works need to be completed 100 per cent.

Waiari Water Supply Project:
* Three appeals have been received against the resource consents for the construction and operation of a new water intake and treatment plant to serve the Papamoa urban growth area. Tauranga City Council is in discussions with the appellants and parties must report progress to the Environment Court by 26 February 2010.

Bulk Water Meter Installation:
* A bulk meter renewal project is being scheduled to start in December and will continue into February next year. Approximately 11 bulk meters are being renewed for accuracy of waterbalance and improved demand management.

Water Demand Management:
* A pressure management pilot project is being planned for the Poike area to reduce night flow water losses. The project comprises the upgrading of pressure control devices and piloting of flow modulating pressure control devices. Pressures and losses will be carefully monitored during December and January and adjustments made as necessary.

Southern Pipeline:
* Work is continuing on the new 1,300m3 wastewater storage tank and pump station site at Maleme Street with excavation of the tank completed and the lining of the tank progressing.
* Work on extending the existing sewer in Maleme Street from the stormwater drain to the new pump station site has commenced and is expected to be completed prior to Christmas. At times the road will be down to one lane controlled by Stop/Go boards and there will be restrictions to On-Road parking.
* The first section of pipeline being between Maleme and Memorial is programmed to start in the middle of 2010.
* Work is starting on detailed investigation for the Judea Link emergency management option.

Inflow Reduction Project:
* Gully trap inspections at Royal Palms are nearing completion. A small number of properties still need to be accessed and Council are following up with those customers who have yet to be visited.
* Inspections in the Bethlehem triangle area between Cambridge Road, Moffat Road and SH2 are now planned to begin in late January 2010. Affected customers will receive a letter advising this before inspections begin. Staff have in the meantime successfully trialled a more efficient process of inspection data collection and administration, which means next year's work can be undertaken in a quicker turnaround time.
* The Meadowlands area of Matua has recently been identified as a problem area for stormwater infiltration and will likely be inspected later in 2010.

Parks and Leisure
Tuesday this week saw the Ranger team on-site with our new educator. Local schools are fortunate that from next term, they will have the opportunity to spend a day experiencing a range of NZ niche environments. Schools will choose from five possible experiences, including estuarine, rocky shore, coast, forest and wetlands. These courses have been funded independently, meaning that the students are only responsible for the cost of travel to and from the site.
* Some upgrade work is starting around the Johnson Reserve Walkways this week.
* This summer's increased level of sea lettuce removal continues this week, with the first pick up being carried out at Memorial Park.
* The Mauao Care Group is meeting on Saturday the 28th at 10am to complete some weed control. The Oruahine track will also be closed at times for weed control work to be carried out on the bluffs above it.

Arataki Community Centre - Youth Workshop
A workshop hosted by Ministry of Youth Development and Tauranga City Council will be held with around 20 young people to discuss how they can be involved in decisions made in their community and get their input into the development of the new Arataki Community Centre to be located on Grenada Park. The workshop will be held at the Arataki Community Hall on Tuesday 1 December from 3.30-6.30pm.

City Projects
* The new access road to the car park at the old Cambridge Road tip site has been constructed. The carpark will be completed once fill has finished being transported into the site of the new BMX track. Design of a new toilet facility for the reserve is currently being undertaken.

Transportation
* School Variable Speed Zones: Watch for the new flashing 40km variable speed zones outside Welcome Bay Primary and Otumoetai Primary Schools. The signs will be operational for a short time at the beginning and end of each school day.
* Parton Road: Work to reconstruct Parton Road is continuing. This week the work is underway between Dickson Road and Papamoa Beach Road. Installation of services is also in progress near Gordon Spratt Park.
* Cameron Road: The bulk of the work outside the racecourse is expected to be finished by the end of this week with only minor finishing still to be done. Traffic management and temporary speed limits will still be in place so please take care when driving through the site.
* Takitimu Drive: Work on Takitimu Drive continues on both north bound and south bound lanes between the Waihi Road overbridge and Chapel Street. Lane changes and a 30km speed limit are in place so please expect delays, particularly at peak times.
* Chadwick Road Resealing: Resealing work will take place on Chadwick Road between Mansels Road and Fraser Street on Tuesday 2nd December. The work is dependant on weather and should only take a couple of hours to complete. There will be minor disruption to traffic
* Footpath Programme: The annual footpath construction programme is continuing. Work is now underway on Valley Road. About 4km of new footpaths will be built between now and Christmas in various parts of the city.
* Bus Shelters: Over the next few months 18 new bus shelters will be built at existing bus stops around the city. Work starts this week with construction of the concrete bases for the shelters. Most of the work will be done off the road so there should be minimal disruption to traffic.
* Streetlight Upgrading: Upgrades to streetlights in Korowai Street, Seaspray Drive, Goods Road, Pillans Road and Harbour Drive are underway. Work is due to be completed prior to Christmas. Delays to traffic should be minor as all works are located within the road berms.
* Local Road Resealing: The local road resealing programme in underway around the city. This week's work is mainly minor and disruption to traffic should be limited.