IT was the first ordinary council meeting for a new Riverina shire, but it was far from a traditional routine.
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Instead of the usual debate, administrator Austin Evans faced empty councillor chairs as he conducted the meeting at Jerilderie of the new Murrumbidgee Council on Thursday.
"I was the mayor at Murrumbidgee for 18 months, it's weird compared to that, and you are the council, so any arguments you have you're arguing against yourself," Mr Evans said.
Council meetings in the Jerilderie chambers used to run for more than three hours, but Thursday's assembly limited to Mr Evans and managerial colleagues took little more than 30 minutes.
It will be that way until September 2017 when the first election is held for the shire, a union of the pre-existing Murrumbidgee Council and Jerilderie Council.
Two Jerilderie members of the local representation committee, formed from former councillors to convene with Mr Evans before council meetings, were in the gallery on Thursday.
"It's very strange, it's hard not to comment during proceedings," Faith Bryce said.
Nevertheless, Mrs Bryce and her former fellow councillor Gaila Smith have confidence in the merger.
"It will give us the best outcome for our community, it will strengthen our community," Mrs Smith said.
Mr Evans said there had been little acrimony from residents who, in Murrumbidgee's case, could have been merged with Griffith Council or in Jerilderie's situation spun off to Berrigan Shire.
The new council has $5 million in NSW government funding to spend on implementation costs, including fresh signage and a new logo with a firm to be engaged on a design.
"We could go down the line of a competition but we don't want to end up with Boaty McBoatface, like they did with that ice-breaker," Mr Evans said.
Another $10 million in government money has been given for infrastructure projects, with $1 million of it to be given to community groups in up to $50,000 lots.
Mr Evans expects new signage to appear by the end of the year and community grants to be decided within that timeframe.
The new council's draft budget was adopted on Thursday with a planned operating surplus of $965,000.
Mr Evans called it a "sticky-taped" version of the Jerilderie and old Murrumbidgee shire budgets.
Former Jerilderie Shire ratepayers face a 10 per cent special rate variation, while those in the previous Murrumbidgee area will have a 1.8 per cent rate rise.
A $960,000 Jerilderie pool upgrade is dependent on grant funding.
