"There seems to be a culture in South Wairarapa District Council that the ratepayers are the enemy, that we make a lot of effort to be difficult.
"The mayor and councillors are the servants of the ratepayers.
"It's not a personal fiefdom, they are not there by divine right to rule."
South Wairarapa mayor Adrienne Staples fielded many of the questions, alongside chief executive Paul Crimp and backed up by councillors Colin Olds, Dean Davies, Solitaire Robertson and David Montgomery.
Mrs Staples said the council had $500,000 in the pot for phase one of the Featherston Town Square but the initial estimate was $803,000.
"We have identified where some savings can be made by using local expertise and material which will not compromise the quality or look of the design.
"We're not going to be spending $800,000, we don't have it."
She said tenders for the work should be completed by late October and work would start in November.
A show of hands was called for grassing the shingle area immediately, which virtually everyone voted for.
Mrs Staples said it seemed "silly" to grass it when machinery would need to pass over it and park on it when the town square development got under way.
If the town square did not eventuate, the council would grass the area.
"We're not opposed to grassing the area, but we're moving on with the construction of the town square."
As for the remaining commercial land, obtained from a land swap with Trust House, the prospects were not good. "Initial indications are that the rents that people are now paying in Featherston and are prepared to pay, will not support the return required by a developer to cover the cost of construction of a new building." Mr Moon asked the council for a time frame for tidying up and painting council buildings on SH2.
Mrs Staples said the library and information centre are scheduled to be painted this summer.
On the matter of rundown buildings on the main street, Mrs Staples said the council had "no viable options" to force owners to upgrade their properties.
She came under fire from one audience member, who said Mrs Staples owned a run-down property near the railway line.
"It is not owned by me, it is owned by family," said Mrs Staples.
"It was an uninhabitable tip when purchased and we are renovating the buildings and surrounds."
Building owners, she said, were the key to Featherston looking different from Greytown or Martinborough.
"You can force owners to keep their buildings safe, that's all.
"We don't have anything in legislation that is meaningful to get owners to clean up buildings.
"It is the most frustrating thing I have to deal with."
Several members of the audience said that while Martinborough was getting millions for their hub, the hall they were in was literally dripping water on them, from the rain outside.
Mrs Staples said $350,000 was being spent on the refurbishment of Anzac Hall and Kiwi Hall, and it was not finished.
A small delegation from Martinborough, opposed to targeted rates to meet the shortfall for the Martinborough town hub, wanted to know if the rest of the district would end up paying for running costs.
Mrs Staples disputed a statement on the supposed running costs of $1.5 million a year for Carterton Event Centre, from those worried it would be the same for the Martinborough town hub.
It was more like $34,000 a year, she said.
The targeted rate was an area on a map, with 2200 Martinborough ratepayers.
"The rate is not for running the library [in the hub] or the running costs.
"Those costs are rated for, they are funded district-wide."
Mrs Staples said the Martinborough hub was a community-driven project, not a council one.
