STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 160 – 169
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 8 September 2018 at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB)
Michelle Barnes (MB) Treasurer
Robbie Barrett (RB)
Sue Barrett (SB)
Phil Boswell (PB) Chairman
Sue Boswell (SBos)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
160 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate.
161 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence had been received from Georgina Hodgson and Roger Kennedy
162 Minutes of meetings
The minutes of the Committee Meetings held on 5 November 2017, 17 March 2018 and 28 April 2018 and the minutes of the AGM held on 17 March 2018 had been reviewed by the Committee and were agreed as a true record of the meetings. The Chairman signed the Minutes.
163 Arrangements for the Moorers Breakfast
PB advised the meeting that neither he nor Steve Chapman had been able to contact the police Canal Watch representatives and thought that there was a possibility the service had been wound up.
GAC advised that 28 people had advised they would be attending the breakfast (inclusive of Committee Members and Marina staff). In addition, Steve Chapman had advised that 6 people had been to the Marina Office to say they would be attending. It was agreed that, as in April, people would be given vouchers for their bacon butties. If there was sufficient surplus, ‘seconds’ would be offered at a cost of £1 to everybody.
Sue Thomas had agreed to help out on the Sunday and would be available from about 9:30am.
PB had prepared the risk assessment.
164 Membership Update
The Secretary advised the meeting that there were now 129 Full Members representing 72 boats and that there were 52 members of the Facebook group.
165 Finance Update
The Secretary advised the meeting that when she had checked the bank balance earlier in the week, there had been £558.17. The Treasurer confirmed that she had submitted the revised bank mandate to National Westminster and had recently banked some cheques and cash totalling £55.35.
SBos needed reimbursing for equipment they had bought (2 bread boards, a bread knife, small knife, pair of scissors, lump, hammer and 2 pairs of tongs). SB needed reimbursing for supplies purchased for the Moorers Breakfast.
166 Arrangements for Soup & Sparklers & Photo Competition
The Committee having felt that the 10” sparklers used in 2017 had too short a burn time – under 60 seconds. GAC had obtained some prices for different lengths as follows:
14” with about 70 second burn – 100 £30 (30pps)
16” with about 85 second burn – 100 £31 (31pps)
18” with about 105 second burn – 100 £39 (39pps)
14” with about 70 second burn – 150 £35 (23pps)
16” with about 85 second burn – 150 £36 (24pps)
18” with about 105 second burn – 150 £54 (36pps)
It was agreed that 18” sparklers should be purchased and, if the shelf life was long, that 150 sparklers should be obtained.
GAC said she was willing to make the soups and proposed lentil & vegetable and pea & mint – both vegetarian. She said she would also get the mulled wine and baguettes. There was already a large tin of hot chocolate.
It was noted that 4 ladles were needed and GAC agreed to purchase them. Action : GAC
Following last year’s Soup & Sparklers, there had been some thoughts about getting some marquee lights but people were concerned about overloading the electricity supply as there would be several slow cookers/urns in use. It was agreed that Committee Members would have a look at the type of low voltage lights available and report back before November. Action: ALL
It was agreed that having a boat on the diesel moorings last year so that there was access to a cooker had worked well ans should be repeated this year – GAC said that, subject to the Marina Manager’s agreement, she would move her boat onto the mooring for the evening.
It was agreed that the informal photo competition would be run with every Member being able to submit one photo which had a waterways connection. All Members would have one vote and the photo with the most votes would be the winner. The closing date was set as midnight on 19 October 2018. All entries would have to be submitted as .jpg files which would be anonymously displayed on the VMMA website, Facebook page and on the TV in the Woodland Lounge during Soup & Sparklers. The winner would be announced at the end of Soup & Sparklers. PB agreed to source a prize. Action: PB
The Secretary agreed to co-ordinate entries, voting, etc and publicise the competition along with the Soup & Sparklers evening. Action : GAC
167 New from the Marina Manager
167.1 New road surfaces
The new road surfaces had been laid up to Daffodil Corner and required raking every week. The surface appeared to be holding up better than previous surfaces and, if this continued, more areas of the Marina would be resurfaced.
167.2 Cracks in the embankments
PB had spoken with Steve Chapman regarding the large cracks which had appeared around the Marina during the extremely hot weather. Steve had advised that each year he had to do an inspection of the structural integrity of the embankments and that every 10 years an external formal inspection was made as required under legislation relating to reservoirs (as only one of the basins was classified as a marina, the other was officially a reservoir). That formal inspection was due to take place next year and any remedial work notified by the inspector would be done.
168 2019 AGM & events
It was agreed that the 2019 AGM would be held on 16 March 2019, with an Open Committee Meeting immediately following it plus a Wine & Cheese event in the evening. There was a discussion about possible speakers and Robbie & Sue Barrett. agreed to contact the Friends of President to see find out about a talk. Action: RB/SB
Sue & Phil Boswell agreed to contact the Warwickshire Astronomical Society to see if anyone was available to give another astronomy talk following the successful one done in 2106. Action: PB/SBos
A decision would be made at the next Committee meeting if speakers were available from both organisations.
Dates for the 2019 Moorers’ Breakfasts were provisionally set for 28 April and 15 September (one week later than 2017 to hopefully avoid clashing with Stoke Bruerne at War) with Soup & Sparklers on 2 November.
There being no further business the meeting was closed
Following the Moorers’ Breakfast on 9 September 2018, the Committee reconvened for a short review meeting
169 Review of Moorers’ Breakfast 09/09/2018
GAC reported that 46 people had attended the breakfast (3 of whom had not eaten due to dietary restrictions). 11 non-members had attended paying £22 in total and a further £10 had been taken for ‘seconds’. 6 people, representing 3 boats, had joined the Association on the day paying £30.
Food supplies purchased for the event had been:
84 rolls
160 rashers of bacon
8 pints of milk
450g bottle of tomato ketchup
450g bottle of brown sauce
250g of spreadable butter.
Unused and unopened were 16 rolls, 16 rashers of bacon and 2 pints of milk. Although only a small amount of the ketchup and brown sauce had been used buying smaller quantities would have been more expensive.
The wind had proved problematic and it had not been possible to keep the sides on the marquees. It had helped to stabilise the marquees and reduce the wind drag by lacing together the legs of the two marquees where they were close together and also by wrapping string round the material leg covers. The marquees had been strapped down to the heavy benches with the tension straps and in a few places the expandable struts had been tied to benches to stop them bending. In addition a lightweight aluminium pole had been attached to one run of struts.
Paper tablecloths had been used on the food preparation tables and these had needed to be pegged on to stop them lifting too much. The non-stick liners for the Cadacs had also needed to be pegged on.
MB offered to try to source some wooden pegs for the Cadacs and 12 table clips for the tablecloths. In addition, she would look into getting PVC table coverings if they were available in the right size and at a reasonable price. Action: MB
All agreed that, despite the wind, it had been a very successful event.