AGM Minutes 27 May 08
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Council held on 27 May 2008 at the Church Room, Chapel Cut, Mistley commencing at 7.30pm.
Present: - Cllrs Rose (Chair), Rayner (Vice Chair) Carter, Forrester, Frascinella, Horlock, Kilmartin, Peacock, Rayner, Thompson and Worsley. R Ling (Clerk to the Council)
District Cllr G Guglielmi
Representative from Harwich and Manningtree Standard
3 Members of the Public
Apology Cllr Fairhall
35.08 Declarations of Interest
All Councillors declared an interest in item 11f of the agenda as it related to payments of allowances and expenses to Councillors. Cllrs Rose and Forrester
declared a prejudicial interest in item 11e as it related to payments to them or
members of their family.
36.07 Co-Option of new Councillors
It was moved by Cllr Horlock and seconded by Cllr Peacock that Angela Kilmartin and Joy Frascinella be co-opted onto the Council. This was unanimously approved.
37.07 Election of Chairman for 2008/09
It was proposed by Cllr Horlock and seconded by Cllr Peacock that Cllr Rose be elected Chairman. There being no other nominations Cllr Rose was appointed.
38.08 Election of Vice Chairman 2008/09
It was proposed by Cllr Thompson and seconded by Cllr Worsley that Cllr Rayner be elected Vice Chairman. There being no other nominations Cllr Rayner was appointed.
39.08 Appointment of Committees and Representatives
It was unanimously agreed that the following Committees and Representatives be appointed:-
Finance Committee. Cllrs Rose, Rayner, Fairhall, Frascinella and Horlock
Planning Committee. Cllrs Rose, Rayner, Horlock and Peacock
Affordable Housing Working Party. Cllrs Rose, Fairhall, Peacock and Thompson
Tesco Working Party Cllrs Rose, Frascinella, Fairhall and Peacock
Tendring District Associations of Local Councils Cllr Carter
Essex Association of Local Councils Mr R Ling
Transport Representative Cllr Horlock, substitute Cllr Thompson
Community Rail Partnership Cllr Thompson
Rigby and Berry Trustees Cllrs Rose, Rayner and the Rev A Colebrook
Cemetery Committee Cllrs Rose, Fairhall and Horlock
Public Footpaths Mr D Nicholls
Tree Warden Mrs S Bamber
40.08 Minutes of the Previous Meeting
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 21st April 2008 were agreed as a correct record, with the addition of Cllr Carter being present, and signed by the Chairman.
Proposed Cllr Horlock
41.08 Matters Arising
a. Swans – nothing further to report
b. Village Hall – a public meeting to discuss the management of the Hall will
be held on 23rd June at 7.30 p.m. in the Hall
c. Foundry Court – Cllr Thompson gave a report on the recent meeting he had
attended regarding the future of Foundry Court and informed the Council
that further meetings were intended before a final decision was made.
d. Public Access to Mistley Quay. A meeting with Manningtree Town Council
will shortly be arranged.
42.08 Minutes of the Annual Assembly
The minutes of the Annual Assembly held on 21st April 2008 were noted
43.08 Public Voice
The meeting was adjourned between 8.0 p.m. and 8.20 p.m. to allow members of the public to speak. Matters raised were (1) D/Cllr Guglielmi reported that the proposed Community Cohesion Funding which would give, inter alia, the Harwich Connexions the control of £10000 to be spent in Mistley, Manningtree and Lawford had been “called in” by C/Cllrs G Guglielmi, V Guglielmi and S Candy for further discussion by the District Council on 11th June (2) he also reported that he hoped to learn shortly how the £2000 p.a. given to each District Councillor could be spent on local projects (3) trees obscuring street light in Oxford Road and (4) need for display and storage area for the Local History Society.
44.07 Action on matters raised under Public Voice
Under (1) and (2) the Chairman and Clerk would assist Cllr Guglielmi in any
way he required, (3) the Clerk to contact the Landlord of the Wagon at Mistley
and (4) the Clerk to write to Gladedale Homes.
45.08 Reports from Councillors on meeting attended
Cllr Horlock gave a report on free bus passes for the elderly which at present
were not available until 9.30 a.m. He also gave the latest information about
the Council’s application to declare a public footpath across The Green to the
tunnel
46.08 Finance
a. The following direct debit was noted:
£669.00 (salaries)
b. The Clerk presented details of the accounts for 2007/08 which were
approved and signed by the Chairman and Clerk
Proposed Cllr Forrester
c. The Annual Governance Statement, required by the external auditors had
been circulated by the Clerk and was approved and signed by the Chairman
and Clerk.
Proposed Cllr Thompson
d. The following payments were approved:-
B Forrester £239.35 R Ling £136.18
Bruce Landscapes £240.88 I Rose £400.00
I Rose £37.99 AON Insurance £4315.40
A and J Lighting £2093.96 P Liverton £1330.64
Manningtree T.C. £167.25
Proposed Cllr Rayner
e. Members Allowances and expenses
The Clerk had circulated the report of the Independent Remuneration Panel
which gave recommendations on maximum allowances and expenses to
members of Parish Councils. It was proposed by Cllr Horlock and
seconded by Cllr Kilmartin that the recommended expenses incurred by
Councillors in carrying out their duties should be paid on the scale
recommended but no allowances, other than that for the Chairman, should
be paid. The Chairman’s allowance should be fixed at £400.00 p.a. which
is over £200 less than that recommended. This was unanimously agreed.
f. Quotations for improvements to the Village Hall were considered.
i. Repairing Hall floor, resealing and providing new carpeting. Three
quotations had been obtained by the Management Committee:- Robert
Hyde £4606, Rainleaf £5699 and ABF £4427. The quotation from ABF
did not include extras included in the quotation from Robert Hyde and it
was therefore considered that the quotation from Robert Hyde gave the
best value for money and the Management Committee were authorised to
accept it.
ii. Improvements to Hall Kitchen. The Management Committee had
negotiated a quotation with A and M Thomas, Fixing Specialists, in the
sum of £8400 for a new floor, redecoration and kitchen units. This
quotation had been submitted to ECC for grant purposes and a promise of
a full grant to cover this cost had been received. The Council therefore
authorised the Management Committee to carry out this work and made
an undertaking to add up to £1000 for any additional work found
necessary and not covered by the grant.
Proposed Cllr Rose
47.08 Planning
Recent planning decisions made by TDC since the last meeting were noted
48.08 Meeting regarding Swan Court Allotment Site
The Chairman reported on a meeting held with the owner of the Swan Court Allotment site and of the land running to the south of it
The owner wishes to develop the site for housing and in return would relocate the allotments and create a recreation area to the south which would be given to the Council. The Council considered that the proposals were worth further consideration but, before making any decision, would seek a meeting with Tendring District’s Councils Planning Department..
49.08 Street Lights
The Clerk reported on a meeting he had held with a member of ECC’s Street
Lighting Department to discuss the erection of three new lights, one at the junction of School Lane/Harwich Road and two in Clacton Road from Acorn Village to Long Road. It appeared that this work could be carried out by the ECC on a re-chargeable basis and he would report further to a future meeting.
50.08 Correspondence
Recent correspondence was reported by the Clerk and is available from him.
51.08 Date of next Meeting
Monday 7th July 2008 at the Church Room, Chapel Cut commencing at 7.30 p.m.
Meeting closed at 9.10 p.m
