STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 048 – 068
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 8 November 2015 at 10am at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB) Chairman
Michelle Barnes (MB)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Mo Kennedy (MK) Treasurer
Roger Kennedy
048 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate.
049 Minutes of Meeting held on 13 September 2015
The Secretary confirmed that draft Minutes of the meeting held on 13 September 2015 had been circulated to all those present on the day and that no comments/amendments had been received. The Minutes were approved and signed by the Chairman. Action: GAC
050 Public Liability Insurance (Min 034 refers)
KB confirmed that, having spoken to a number of insurers, he had taken out Public Liability Insurance on behalf of VMMA with Tennyson Insurance, underwritten by Zurich. The policy provided Public & Products Liability with a limit of £5m and no excess. The premium for the year was £78.02. It was a greed that a copy of the Certificate of Insurance should be laminated and put up on the Noticeboard in the Woodland Lounge. Action: KB
051 Storage of Equipment/Stock (Min 042 refers)
It was agreed that the question of storage of equipment and stock should be left until the new year. At present, the only items needing storing were supplies of tea/coffee/hot chocolate and MK & MB said they were happy to look after the items for the moment.
052 VMMA Logo (Min 036 refers)
This is still a work in progress Action: GAC
053 VMMA Post (Min 043 refers)
Ventnor Marina had provided a post box at no cost and mounted it on the wall in the Woodland Lounge. The only cost incurred by VMMA was that of a spare key.
054 Upgraded Wifi (Min 045-1 refers)
The Committee had raised with Lee concerns that a number of moorers were finding the new “upgraded” wifi more difficult to connect to than the previous link. Lee said that she was aware of the problem and was talking to the providers. The Castle Wifi for the office staff is, apparently, just as problematic and in the week before the meeting no e-mails had reached the Harbourmasters.
Lee explained that the decision to move to a more secure “upgraded” wifi was taken originally, in part, as the open wifi was apparently being used a lot by people on the towpath.
Lee is hoping to find a solution which improves the connection and signal strength for both the moorers wifi (Ventnor WiFi) and the office wifi.
055 Grass Cuttings in Sunset (Min 045-2 refers)
The problem of the pungent aroma from the grass cuttings from Phase 1 being dumped at the far end of the marina, close to the horse fields had been raised with Lee, pointing out that during the summer the smell of the rotting grass had been unpleasant for the boats moored close by.
Lee said she was aware of this and had told the contractors not to dump the cuttings there. Next summer the cuttings should be tipped at the far end past the pond.
056 Thistles in the Pet Walking Area (Min 045-3 refers)
As requested, the Committee had asked Lee if there were any plans to cut back the thistles which were encroaching on the walking area and getting caught up in furry coats.
Lee advised that there were no plans to cut back the areas surrounding the cut path but she had provided the Harbourmasters with a thistle plugger to remove those encroaching on the path.
057 Review of Moorers’ Breakfast – 4 October
It was agreed that this had been another successful event. The use of the urn was an improvement on repeatedly boiling kettles but the urn needs to be in place and turned on at least 30-45 minutes before the hot water is needed.
Using the work surfaces in an L-shape had worked well but the work surfaces themselves were not felt to be adequate.
It was felt that more bodies were needed to help with setting up and cooking duties.
It was noted that insurers could require that the Committee have in place some form of risk assessment and food handling procedures. KB agreed to look into producing a suitable checklist. Action: KB
058 Review of Soup & Sparklers – 7 November
All agreed that this had been a successful event with a very sociable feel to it. People had enjoyed the delicious soups & mulled wine prepared by Jean and Chris. At the request of the Members’ present on 7 November, the Committee had already agreed to run the event again in 2016. It was agreed, next time, French bread would be provided to help people soak up the last of the soup.
059 Arrangements for AGM
It was noted that the AGM had to be held in March 2016 with the paperwork being sent out to Members at least 14 days before. The Accounts for 2015 have to be finalised and examined in time for them to be sent out to Members 14 days before the AGM. At the AGM the Officers of the Association have to be elected and a minimum of 4, maximum of 8, Committee Members elected. The current Officers and Committee Members retire at the end of the AGM unless they have been re-elected.
Members wishing to stand for the Committee have to be proposed and seconded by other Full Members of the Association. It was agreed that proposing and seconding could be done at the AGM on a show of hands, rather than requiring a more formal procedure to take place prior to the AGM. If there are 8 or less people who want to stand for the Committee then they are automatically elected. In the (unlikely) event that there are more than 8 people who want to become Committee Members a ballot of Members present at the AGM has to be taken.
The Constitution does not set out in detail how the Officers of the Association are elected, but it was agreed that, in the absence of anything to contrary in the Constitution, the same process as is prescribed for electing Committee Members would be used for the Officers.
It was noted that the Committee should have the requisite items needed to run a ballot at the AGM just on case one was required. Action: GAC
The question of how to get the Accounts examined was considered and it was agreed that it would be inappropriate for a Committee Member or a close relative of a Committee Member to do it. MK said that she had a colleague who was experienced in book-keeping/accounts who might be prepared to examine the Accounts. It was agreed that MK should ask her colleague. Action: MK
Looking at diaries, it was agreed that the AGM should be held at 2pm on Saturday 5 March 2016, which would mean that meeting papers would have to be issued by 20 February. It was agreed that MK and GAC would liaise regarding getting the necessary paperwork prepared in time for GAC to issue it to Members. Action: GAC/MK
060 2016 Membership
It was agreed that, when seeking 2016 Membership Fees, Members should be asked to pay directly to the VMMA bank account if possible, using their boat name or membership number as the reference to help ID who the payment was from. GAC agreed to e-mail Members with a subscription reminder, including VMMA bank details and to adjust the VMMA Application Form. Action: GAC
It was noted that at the AGM only people who had paid their 2016 Membership Fees were entitled to attend and vote, so an up-to-date list of paid Fees would be needed. Action: GAC/MK
061 2016 Social Events
Following discussions, it was agreed to run the following Social Events during 2016.
a. Wine & Cheese Evening – 5 March 2016
This would be in the evening of the day the AGM was held. If possible, the Astronomical Society should be asked to give their talk that night. It was agreed that the Association would provide the cheese, tea, coffee and hot chocolate but that people should be asked to provide their own alcoholic drinks. A minimal charge for non-members attending would be made. GAC agreed to source the cheese from Costco.
GAC agreed to liaise with the Astronomical Society (ensuring that they understood we wanted a ‘beginners guide’) and then promote the event accordingly on the website, in newsletters and with posters. Action: GAC
b. Moorers’ Breakfast – 8 May 2016
It was agreed to have the first Moorers’ Breakfast on 8 May and, weather permitting, to try to run it in Sunrise.
c. Toft Alpacas – 8 July 2016
An afternoon visit to Toft Alpacas in July when there should be baby alpacas around, followed by tea and cakes at the alpacas farm.. People to make their own way to & from the farm, with car sharing to be arranged where possible. The cost of the outing would not be known until numbers were known.
d. Moorers Breakfast – 18 September 2016
e. Soup & Sparklers – 5 November 2016
f. Visit to Helidon Vineyard – possibly 20 August
The visit to Helidon Vineyard is a possibility depending on the number of people interested and a date could be firmed up with the Vineyard when the number of people interested was known. The tour would last about 1.5 hours and would cost £3.50 per person.
GAC to do posters, newsletter items and website publicity as appropriate. Action: GAC
062 Social Events not taken forward
a. Tutored Wine Tasting
GAC advised that she had been in touch with the wine merchants suggested at the last meeting (Cana Import Ltd) who wanted £30 a head to run a tutored wine tasting with 10 wines. It was agreed that this was too expensive and that the idea would not be pursued at this stage.
b. Bird Watching at the Marina
No interest had been registered for this on the website, but it was agreed to wait and see if interest developed
c. Summer Picnic at the Marina
No interest had been registered for this on the website, but it was agreed to wait and see if interest developed
063 Purchase of Equipment
a. Storage Crate
It was confirmed that approval had been given at a previous meeting for the purchase of a crate and that it could be purchased when MB/MK felt appropriate. Action: MK/MB
b. Collapsible Tables
The work surfaces used at the last Moorers’ Breakfast had not really been suitable and it was agreed that 2 collapsible tables should be purchased before the next event. MK & RK agreed to source the tables. Action: MK/RK
064 Potential Equipment Purchases
It was agreed that during 2016 consideration should be given to buying:
- Large collapsible gazebo, which had readily replaceable parts, as it was felt that we couldn’t keep borrowing a gazebo from RK’s car club.
- Patio heater
- The erection of some sort of shaded area beside the facilities block in Sunrise
- A gas barbecue similar to MB/KB’s Cadac which had been used at Moorers’ Breakfasts.
065 Marina Noticeboards
It was agreed to ask the Marina if the Committee could have keys to the various noticeboards around the Marina so that we could put up and take down posters, without having to ask the Harbourmasters to do it when they had time. The cost of having additional keys cut was approved. Action: RK
066 Newsletter for Members & Moorers
There was some discussion regarding preparing a Newsletter to go to all Members and Moorers, outlining what had been achieved by the Association during 2015. This was thought to be a good idea but the logistics of getting it to each moorer was difficult. Castle Marinas have said that Lee cannot provide the Association with the e-mail addresses of the Moorers and the Committee felt that it would not be appropriate for Lee to e-mail out the newsletter on VMMA’s behalf, in part because of the quantity of e-mails which have been sent by Ventnor Marina/Castle Marinas. Postage costs would be prohibitive. The possibility of putting a copy of a Newsletter on each boat was also considered. In the end, it was agreed not to take this any further unless one of the Committee thought that they would have time to prepare a Newsletter prior to January 2016; if so, the ways of printing & distributing it would be considered further. Committee
067 Correspondence Received
GAC advised that Neil Barnett – a moorer at another Castle Marina – had contacted her asking for guidance on setting up a moorers’ association. He and some fellow moorers were keen to do this but were concerned about negative feelings from the marina staff. Having explained that the manager at Ventnor Marina had been one of the driving forces behind the formation of VMMA, GAC had provided Neil with some basic information but given him KB’s contact information for a more detailed discussion.
068 Future Meeting Dates
Committee meeting dates for 2016 were set for:
8 July 2016 at 7pm
6 November 2016 at 10:30am
with other meetings being called if necessary.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.