Bunbury city council plan for dolphin hub debt

In an effort to settle a $29,000 debt, the Dolphin Discovery Centre could be entering a sponsorship package agreement with the City of Bunbury, should all councillors vote in favour at next week’s council meeting. In 2009, the Bunbury City Council agreed to take out a $30,600 loan over a five-year term to purchase a motor vehicle for use by the Dolphin Discovery Centre management and personnel. The agreement was that the DDC would be responsible for all ongoing insurance, registration and maintenance costs of the vehicle and also included that the centre would pay for any additional costs incurred when the vehicle was traded in, upgraded or changed. While this worked well for some time, there was a period when the DDC could not pay the changeover cost of the vehicle. The council paid for all of the expenses plus the changeover cost and the outstanding debt of $29,032.92 is the reimbursement the council is seeking from DDC. Bunbury City Council chief executive officer Mal Osborne said the centre had made some payments in the past and there was a proposal to resolve the outstanding balance as the matter had been fairly dragged out over time. “We have had many conversations about how to draw the matter to a close but there has been a number of interruptions, including the rebuild of the centre and more recently COVID-19,” Mr Osborne said. “David Kerr and I have caught up a few times over the last 12 months to bring this to a close and the proposition that was put forward by the DCC was something I agreed to as a suitable way forward.” If approved by a majority of councillors, the sponsorship package will run over the next four years. It includes recognition of the council on signage to the entry to the Digital Dolphinarium, free use of the board room and sponsorship recognition on the centre’s website, external display panel and on a digital sponsors board. The sponsorship package offered by the centre is an opportunity for the council to receive recognition of its support to the centre while still allowing the centre to continue to benefit from having use of the vehicle.