STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 069 – 078
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 5 March 2016 at 2:30pm at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB) Chairman
Michelle Barnes (MB)
Peter Barnes (PeB)
Chris Brown (CB)
Phil Boswell (PhB)
Sue Boswell (SB)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Sylvia Jimminson (SJ)
Mo Kennedy (MK) Treasurer
Roger Kennedy (RK)
Jean Seager (JS)
In attendance:
Di Barnes nb Brendon the Voyage
Sheila Bell nb Moley & Co
Pauline Fry nb Moonshadow
Tony Fry nb Moonshadow
Roy Jimminson nb Avontrader
Adrian Pell nb Moley & Co
069 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate and asked the members present if there were any topics they would like to raise with the Committee
070 Rise in mooring fees and C2 classification
There was extensive discussion regarding the 5% increase in mooring fees which had just been announced linked to a ‘C2’ usage of a boat within the Marina.
A number of members, on receiving the e-mail from the Marinas, had thought that they were being ‘targetted’ by the Marina and had not realised that the e-mail was a general e-mail. All present agreed that the increase had been poorly communicated, with an initial recall of the first e-mail, a subsequent resend and then further explanatory e-mails and also poorly worded.
Most members had initially been unaware of what a C2 usage classification meant.
Members felt that a 5% rise was high, given the current rate of inflation. It was noted that 2 years ago the mooring fees had decreased and there had been no price rise in 2015. The Marina had provided the meeting with some notes regarding the price increase, namely:
- Costs at Ventnor Marina do not go up in line with inflation; most of the biggest costs go up by considerably more.
- The current rates bill has gone up 12% on last year; a lot of costs have been going up at more than inflation for several years now.
- The headline mooring prices were dropped by 10% two years ago and introduced a generous incentive which was open to all new and current moorers for 1, 2 or 3 years – whilst it gave no price fix, it did give a period free of charge of 1, 3 or 6 months.
- Prices were left unchanged last year despite investment in a bigger team, extensive gate repairs, electrical upgrades, water supply improvements, new benches, drainage and other upgrades, some of which are ongoing.
- The Marina could not continue to absorb substantial increases on the cost side without passing some of that in the form of price rises to the mooring tariff. Ventnor Marina has not been targetted, all Castle Marinas have had an increase.
- A C2 mooring at Wigrams Turn remains a significantly higher tariff, with much less personal attention for boats and services.
- One of the Members present reported that they had received an e-mail intended for moorers at Wigrams Turn and the price rise there was 2% rather than 5%.
- Another Member said that they believed a discount was available on the mooring fees if they were paid annually in advance, but that this wasn’t shown on invoices.
- Some Members expressed concern that the daily security checks were now not being done as, when staying on their boat in the Marina, they had not seen the Harbourmasters making the daily checks and had also seen poles left floating in the basin for several days before retrieved by another moorer. Virtually all Members present agreed that daily security checks was one of the main reasons they had decided to moor at Ventnor Marina.
- Some Members felt that the quality of service at the Marina was suffering due to staff being split between Ventnor and Wigrams, with Wigrams taking up more and more of the resources.
Members of the Committee pointed out that if a moorer had a specific problem with the Marina regarding pricing and their own personal mooring fees, the moorer should take that up directly with the Marina.
The Secretary was instructed to write to the Marina local management, advising them of the Members concerns and asking for an explanation of the price rise differential between Wigrams and Ventnor. Action: GAC
071 Mooring Terms and Conditions
During the course of the discussions regarding the price rise, it became apparent that:
- Some members believed that they had negotiated individual terms and conditions and that those over-rode the general terms and conditions;
- Some members believed that covenants were in place which restricted which boats could be worked on in the dry dock, the types of boats which could be moored within the Marina, which boats could use the pump-out and diesel facilities.
The Secretary was instructed to try to clarify the position with the Marina Action: GAC
072 Marina Approach Road
The Secretary reported that concerns had been expressed to her regarding the state of the Marina approach road and potential damage to cars, given that at least one Member’s car was grounding.
None of the Members present at the meeting had experienced problems with their vehicles grounding, but noted that driving fast along the road might cause that type of problem. The Secretary reported that the Marina were aware of the problems with road surface and had been in discussions with their neighbours; the main damage appears to have been done by heavy delivery vehicles going to the stables. The work at the stables was not yet finished and the property owners had concluded that trying to repair the road before the end of the work would be a waste of money. In addition, the work would entail the road being closed, stopping vehicular access to the Marina. Mrs Cooper-Blair had indicated to the other property owners that closing the road would probably have to wait until after the main boating season was over. Members concurred with this view.
The Secretary was instructed to find out from the Marina if the road was a private road, owned and maintained by the property owners, who a driver should contact if their vehicle was damaged due to the road surface whilst unrepaired and how long the road was likely to be closed for when repairs were done. Action: GAC
073 Recycling
The Secretary reported that the Marina would like to bring recycling bins back onto the Marina, but would only be able to do so with the co-operation of everyone at the Marina. The recycling bins had been removed previously due to the large amount of waste put in the wrong bins which had resulted in the Marina having to pay higher refuse collection fees and, on occasions, having collections refused.
All present felt that having a bottle bank and possibly a can bank and paper disposal would be good but could appreciate that having more detailed recycling could pose problems as moorers lived in different areas which had differing recycling policies.
Some Members were concerned about the disposal of dog faeces in the hot ash bins; contaminating the ash meant that it could not be used to help maintain the track surfaces within the Marina (as was done elsewhere) and also hot ash and plastic poo sacks would produce an unpleasant mess for the Harbourmasters to deal with.
The Secretary was instructed to advise the Marina that the Members would support the re-introduction of limited recycling and also to ask if dog waste bins would be introduced. Action: GAC
074 Water Health & Safety
One of the Members present raised the question of whether or not the water points on the pontoons were flushed through regularly as he believed it was a Health and Safety requirement that where supplied water was not used on a daily basis, the supply pipes had to be flushed through on a weekly basis. The Secretary was instructed to query this with the Marina. Action: GAC
075 Information from the Marina
The Secretary reported that she had been asked by Mrs Cooper Blair to pass on the following information:
a. Barbecue Area
Castle Marinas congratulated VMMA on their ‘1st birthday’ and would like to provide a permanent barbecue area in celebration. Potential sites around the Marina were being investigated.
b. Gate and Marina Entrance
The Marina has spent in excess of £7,000 trying to resolve the problems with the Entrance Gate – this has not worked as the gates are still sticking on occasions. New motors are now going to be installed and this will allow drainage to be laid in the entrance area.
c. CCTV
The Marina are planning to install CCTV over the next 12 months to assist with security and safety for lone working in the dry dock.
076 Purchase of Equipment (Mins 63 & 64 refers)
a. Collapsible Tables (Min 63b refers)
Roger Kennedy advised that he had purchased 2 collapsible tables at a cost of £69.78.
b. Collapsible Gazebo (Min 64a refers)
Roger Kennedy advised that he had researched the gazebos available and circulated on an iPad details of the gazebo he was recommending. This was approved by the meeting and, given the competitive pricing, it was agreed that 2 gazebos should be purchased to give more flexibility. The purchase, at a total cost of c£195 in total, was approved. Action: RK
One Member voiced the opinion that steps should be taken to ensure that the Marina did not use VMMA equipment for their own functions.
The Committee pointed out that functions like the barbecue were generally run jointly with the Marina and that the Marina did allow VMMA to borrow their equipment.
077 Social Events
The Members present indicated that they were generally happy with the social events being run by VMMA. There was a request for the Cake & Alpacas eventto moved to a Saturday, but it was explained that Toft Alpacas did not run tours at the weekend.
Paws for Tea – it was suggested that VMMA either try to run a Doggie Afternoon Tea following the Moorers’ Breakfast or run an afternoon social event later in the month to tie up with the Blue Cross Paws for Tea – which would be the following weekend. The advantage of running it as a separate event on a different date is that it would give people who couldn’t make the 8th May an opportunity to come to a social event. The Committee agreed to look into this. Action: Committee
078 Kitchen Access
Roger Kennedy reported to the meeting that the Marina wanted to provide an access door between the Woodland Lounge and the kitchen. He had volunteered to do installation work but was looking for help. Peter Barnes volunteered to assist. Action: RK/PB
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.