STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 115 – 129
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 6 May 2017 at 6pm at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB)
Michelle Barnes (MB)
Robbie Barrett (RB)
Sue Barrett (SB)
Phil Boswell (PB) Chairman
Sue Boswell (SBos)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Mo Kennedy (MK) Treasurer
Roger Kennedy (RK)
Sue Thomas (ST)
115 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate.
116 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Viv Butler.
117 Minutes of Meetings
The minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 6 November 2016 were approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman.
The Committee considered whether the draft Minutes of the AGM held on 18 March 2017 should be circulated to those present at the AGM for approval or whether the Committee should approve them. It was agreed that the Committee should approve them and that they should be forwarded to all the members who were present. Action: GAC
Minute 2016/05 of the 1st AGM having been corrected, the Chairman signed the Minutes of the AGM held on 5 March 2016.
118 Arrangements for the Moorers Breakfast on 7 May 2017
It was agreed that there would be a briefing meeting at 9am and that the Risk Assessment would be finalised at that time. Mo confirmed that she had bought enough bacon and rolls for about 40 people. It was agreed that any Marina staff attending would not be charged. Robbie agreed to get indications of interest in the type of First Aid course people would be interested in (See Minute 123). It was also agreed that attendees would be asked if they wanted to participate in the Napton Ramble and the Quiz on 10 June (See Minute 121). Action: RB
119 2017 Membership Renewals
It was noted that as at 5 May, there were 94 members representing 51 boats and that a further 4 members (representing 2 boats) were expected to sign up at the Moorers’ Breakfast. It was agreed that a reminder should be sent to the 32 members from 2016 who had not renewed and anybody who had not renewed by the end of May should be treated as having left. Action: GAC
120 Finance Update
It was noted that the Association had funds of £271 at the end of 2016 and had received £470 to date in Membership fees for 2017. The net cost of the AGM refreshments plus the Wine & Cheese Evening had been about £30 and approx £70 had been spent on storage crates. It was anticipated that insurance would cost about £80 and hosting/back-ups about £50. There was likely to be some net costs for social events, but the amount couldn’t be judged at this stage.
121 Arrangements for 10 June
121.1 Napton Ramble
It was agreed that VMMA members should be asked for £1 as a donation towards the primary school which had put the map together and that non-Members should be charged £4.50 with £1 going to the primary school. Coffee, cake & biscuits at Napton Post Office were going to cost £3.50 a head. The Post Office need final numbers by 3 June.
It was anticipated that the Ramble would leave the Marina at about 10am.
Ken Barnes agreed to check with our insurers to find out if off site events were covered. Action: KB
121.2 Picnic & Quiz
Phil & Sue Boswell are putting together the Quiz. It was agreed that the picnic start time should be 6pm. It was also agreed that if sufficient people hadn’t signed up by 3 June, the event would be cancelled.
122 Window Decals
The example window decals were felt to be about the right sort of size. It was agreed that 2 decals per boat rather than 2 per member should be supplied. Cost quotes of £80 for 200 or £120 for 500 had been received.
123 First Aid Courses
Quotes had been received ranging from £30 for a basic St Johns Ambulance First Aid course to £92 for a full RYA certification course. Sue Barratt offered to canvas opinion at the Moorers’ Breakfast to see which type of course people were interested in. If there was sufficient interest in both types of course, possibly both could be run. Action: SB
124 Banking Arrangements
It was agreed that the banking mandate for National Westminster account 451954684 should be amended so that the Treasurer and the Secretary could have access to the bank account online but could not make payments online. It was RESOLVED THAT Mrs Morag Kennedy and Mrs Gillian Chapple are authorised to complete and sign National Westminster Bank PLC’s Bankline Mandate for the provision of internet banking services and to accept the Bankline Terms on behalf of the organisation. In addition, it was RESOLVED THAT Sylvia Jimminson should be removed as an authorised signatory and that Phil Boswell should be added as an authorised signatory.
125 Facebook Groups
It was noted that the VMMA Committee group had 7 members – Michelle Barnes, Sue Barrett, Sue Boswell, Gillian Chapple, Mo Kennedy, Roger Kennedy and Sue Thomas and that the VMMA group had 22 members (including the 7 people listed above). Sue Boswell is acting as the administrator for both groups.
126 Matters raised with Marina Management
126.1 Swapping the Woodland Lounge with the Marina Office (Min 2017/09 – AGM refers)
At the request of Marina management, the possibility of swapping the Marina Office with the Woodland Lounge had been raised with members and the feedback received summarised and passed back as:
As you requested, we canvassed views from the Members at the AGM reagrding the possibility of the Woodland Lounge and the Marina Office being switched.
Despite the large number of people attending the AGM, people were not generally in favour of a straight swap of the two rooms and their functions.
- Some of the reasons given were: Members did not want to lose the convenience of direct access to the kitchen.
- For probably 95% of the time, there were never that many people in the lounge – so size was not a problem for the majority of the year.
- Some members thought that the current office had heating problems.
- For VMMA events, access to water (hot and cold) was needed and being to able to access it from the Woodland Lounge since the door was installed has been very beneficial and helpful.
People did appreciate the thought behind offering the swap given how crowded the Lounge gets at some of our events and there were a number of alternatives suggested. Perhaps the best thing to do would be for us to meet to talk over some of the ideas and get a feel for what would be viable – both economically and socially.
Marina Management responded:
Please thank members for considering the proposal and for their feedback. I understand the importance of the kitchen access and appreciate the members help in installing the adjoining door last year. We believe members make a good point, the lounge is big enough for most occasions. Therefore, we will not take the plan forward and have decided instead to make better use of the office space by adding a counter to create a defined office and reception with nicer seating in the public area.
I would be happy to meet to discuss suggestions regarding how we could improve the facilities for larger events e.g. outside gazebo/canopy area etc.
There was further correspondence as follows:
VMMA:
One suggestion that was made was to swap the office and the lounge but put a water and drainage feed to the current office underneath the decking which runs between the kitchen and the office. The suggestion was that this would enable a small sink unit to be installed. Having no plumbing experience I don’t know if this is feasible/practical but the person suggesting it implied it would be easy to do.
Marina:
Thanks for the suggestion. However, on reflection I agree that we should keep the facilities as they are currently. I’ve gained approval from the senior team at Castle to make the alterations to the office as described below e.g. adding a counter to create a defined office and reception with nicer seating in the public area.
126.2 Cleaning of Ladies Toilet blocks (Min 114.2 refers)
VMMA:
It appears that the Ladies toilets not cleaned at weekends which is the busiest time. Phil checked with the office and they are cleaned Thursday, Friday and Monday only. Is there any flexibility to the timing so that they are cleaned at the weekends? Could we have shower spray such as the Tesco one, which is only a few pence, provided?
Marina:
We will be adjusting the cleaning days to Monday, Wednesday, Friday and also make arrangements for the Wigrams Housekeeper to call first thing Sunday to check the toilets/showers and clean as necessary. No problem regarding the shower spray.
126.3 Defibrillators (Min 114.3 refers)
VMMA:
There was a suggestion that we could have defibrillators on each service block. There appear to be grants available. If you are agreeable, Phil has offered to take the lead on this, finding out the details and preparing the grant application.
Marina:
West Midlands Ambulance Service installed a defibrillator at Wigrams a couple of years ago, I’m not sure what criteria had to be met but I know it was free of charge, and training was provided for the staff. Napton has one unit to cover the whole village therefore we might not get a Defib at each service block, but it’s worth investigating. I’m very happy for Phil to take the lead. Thank you. We will also make some enquiries and forward any findings to Phil.
126.4 State of Marina Roads (Min 2017/10 – AGM refers)
VMMA
As you are aware, a member tabled an item at the AGM regarding the state of the roads within the Marina asking that VMMA pass the general concensus to Marina Management.
No-one was aware of anyone having damaged their car on the marina roads. Most people felt that if drivers kept to the 5mph speed limit, there shouldn’t be a problem, but everyone acknowledged that 5mph was very slow and difficult to judge, as most cars speedometers started at 10mph.
Some members felt that the new patching was working reasonably and appeared to be bedding in and everyone acknowledged that the Marina were trying to find a solution.
The question of why the roads weren’t tarmaced was raised and some members said that they thought there was some sort of prohibition to this. I was asked to clarify the position and let members know – so please could you let me know if indeed there is a restriction regarding tarmaccing.
Members voiced the opinion that all moorers should help try to keep vehicles from speeding but that the Marina should take steps to ensure that contractors did not speed. Several members reported seeing bin lorries speeding around the Marina and, given the size and weight of the lorries, this was no doubt contributing to the breakup of the road surface.
As an aside, several members commented that the external roads did not appear to have been fully repaired and ask that VMMA obtain an update on the situation regarding the repairs to the road and also whether or not the road was going to be re-adopted by Rugby Council. Please will you let me know what is happening.
Marina
I understand it’s difficult to stick to 5mph. But members make a good point, it’s the principle of driving as slow as possible.
Please thank members for their positive feedback regarding the pitching. Whilst there are no plans to re-surface the whole site we will continue to investigate alternative (more permanent) solutions for the most used areas of the roadway.
The choice of road surface is a sensitive subject. Castle Marinas selected the materials for the benefit of the majority of users and also to maintain the natural feel/beauty of the site.
I have raised this with the bin drivers previously. I will contact Rugby Borough Council works services unit to make them aware of our concerns.
To the best of our knowledge the Council have agreed to undertake repairs to Calcutt Lane. They acknowledge the need for repair work to be carried out and said this would be done over time, without the need to close the road. We are aware that Council workers have visited on a number of occasions to repair the worse affected areas.
126.5 Charging points for Electric Vehicles (Min 2017/11 – AGM refers)
VMMA:
As you are aware, a member tabled a motion at the AGM seeking opinions from fellow Members regarding the desirability of having the ability to charge electric cars at the Marina and for VMMA to pass the general concensus to Marina Management.
There was some lively discussion at the end of which the general consensus seemed to be that the Members felt that having charging points in each basin would be advantageous in the future as electric cars became more common; it was thought that at the moment only one moorer had an electric car. It was also felt that it would be a good ‘selling’ point to potential moorers.
As an aside, it was mentioned that having charging points would enable Castle Marinas to use electric vehicles around the Marina in future with potential for some cost savings (and possibly the ability to get grants towards the installation costs).
One point that the majority of Members present were clear on was that if electric points were provided, the Members using the service should not be subsidised by other Moorers but that the Marina should not make a profit on the service either.
I believe that the Member who raised the topic (who is considering buying an electric car) has already been in touch with you regarding possible ways in which this could be progressed and offered to help with research.
Marina:
The Member who raised the issue was now liaising directly with them.
127 State of toilet block floors
Robbie Barrett commented that since housekeeper Mandy had left, the floors in the toilet blocks were not being kept as clean. Also, that the communications book had gone missing from Sunrise. Phil Boswell said that he would raise these with the Marina. Action: PB
128 Woodland Lounge Doors
Roger Kennedy reported that he had been able to get the french doors in the Woodland Lounge fixed so that they now opened. Phil Boswell thanked him for sorting things out.
129 Forthcoming meetings
The meeting provisionally planned fort the weekend of 8/9 July was cancelled due to most Committee Members not being available at the same time. It was agreed that any matters which needed dealing with could be done via email and the Committee Facebook group.
There being no further business the meeting was closed.