STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 013 – 032
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 10 May 2015 at 12 noon at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB) Chairman
Michelle Barnes (MB)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Mo Kennedy (MK) Treasurer
013 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Roger Kennedy who, having helped set up for the Moorers Breakfast, had to attend another meeting.
As four members of the Committee were personally present, the meeting was quorate.
014 Minutes of Meeting held on 14 March 2015
The Minutes of the meeting held on 14 March 2015 were approved and signed by the Chairman. A short discussion followed regarding the circulation of draft and approved minutes. It was agreed that approved minutes should be posted in the private area of the VMMA website and that draft minutes should be circulated to the Committee.
015 Crick Boat Show Transport
It was noted that only 4 people registered an interest in transport to Crick Boat Show and, therefore, the Committee would not organise any transport. GAC confirmed that she had advised the non-Committee members who were interested.
016 Moorers Breakfast
It was agreed that the Breakfast had been a success, with everybody attending enjoying themselves and useful exchanges of information between members taking place. The Committee Members had taken the opportunity to canvas opinion of the members present on the sort of things they would like to see on the VMMA website, of any issues members would like raised with the Marina and for future social events.
Non-members had been charged £2 for a bacon roll, tea, coffee or juice, these were free to members. Top ups of tea and coffee were free to everyone with further bacon rolls being available at a cost of £1. The net cost of the event was c£10 and there is now tea, coffee and sugar in stock.
Thanks were given to Roger Kennedy for providing a marquee; it was noted that during the erection of the marquee one of the struts was bent due to the wind catching the marquee. It was agreed that if a new strut was needed, it should be paid for by VMMA. Action: RogerK
017 Lessons Learnt from the Breakfast
Generally, it was agreed that things went well but that some lessons could be learned.
- One kettle was not sufficient to provide hot drinks; MB & GAC both thought that they might be able to source a small hot water boiler. Action: MB/GAC
- Kitchen roll should be available at future events.
- Members should be asked to bring their own mugs to future events.
- A simple, ticketing system should be used in future as, for bigger events, it would be difficult to keep track of who had paid for their food. MB suggested that raffle tickets could be used, with people simply handing over a ticket in exchange for their food.
- Somewhere would be needed to store stock/equipment. It was agreed that a large plastic crate with clipable lid would be appropriate and it was thought that the Marina would be able to make space available for it to be stored. It was agreed to hold off purchasing the crate until we had sourced the boiler and then talked to Mrs Cooper Blair regarding the space available.
018 Public Liability Insurance
There was some discussion regarding Public Liability Insurance and it was agreed that VMMA probably needed some form of Public Liability Insurance for events which they organised. It was not clear whether PLI would be needed for joint events organised with the Marina.
KB agreed to look into whether the RYA provided any information about PLI for berthers’ associations. Also, GAC would find out from Mrs Cooper Blair if the Marina policy covered VMMA. Action: KB/GAC
If PLI was required, it was agreed that GJW Direct (who insured the Marina should be approached for a quote)
019 Membership
Following the Moorers Breakfast, there were 45 members. In addition, a cheque had been received but no application and 3 applications but no subscriptions. GAC had created Membership Cards which had been distributed to Members present at the breakfast. The others had been left at the Marina Office for Members to collect.
020 Expenses
The following expenses were approved for payment:
Contribution to postage/stationery of Ventnor Marina mailing to all moorers £15.00
Website hosting for 2015 £39.60
Website backups for 2015 £10.00
2 years domain name registration £ 7.20
(all payable to GAC’s business Per Angusta Gallery)
Provisions for Moorers Breakfast c£30.00
(payable to MK)
It was agreed that the Treasurer could get approval to pay expenses between meetings by circulating the Committee Members – upon receiving e-mail confirmation of 3 further Members, the Treasurer was authorised to pay the expenses. Receipts should always be obtained when expenses were paid in cash. Action: MK
After a short discussion, it was agreed that it was not necessary to keep a cash float.
021 Financial Position
The financial position of VMMA was:
Subscriptions received 46 x £5 £230.00
Fund raising £ 80.00
Breakfasts £ 17.00
Total: £327.00
Less: Expenses (Min 018) -£106.80
Balance: £220.20
022 Bank Account
MK confirmed that all paperwork relating to the bank account had been submitted to National Westminster and that they had advised that the account would be open within the next fortnight.
As soon as the account is open, MK will let GAC have the sort code and account number to add to the joining forms so that Members can pay by credit transfer or standing order. Action: MK
023 Phase Naming Competition
Various options regarding how to run the Phase Naming Competition were discussed and it was agreed that the format of the competition would be as follows:
- The winners would be announced at the barbecue on 12 September.
- Mrs Cooper Blair would be asked how much time would be needed between the closure of the competition and 12 September for Castle Marinas to choose the winners. This would determine the closing date.
- The competition would be open to all moorers.
- Two entries per boat would be allowed.
- An additional entry would be allowed for each member of VMMA.
- There would be no charge for entering the competition.
GAC to liaise with Mrs Cooper Blair to sort out the arrangements and publicise. Action: GAC
024 VMMA Posters
It was agreed to look at the costs of clipframe notice holders for both internal and external use and also at the cost of perspex stands for indoor use.
The Marina to be asked to take down the posters regarding Crick Boat Show transport. Action: GAC
025 VMMA Window Decals & Pennants
Roger Kennedy had raised the question of some way of identifying VMMA members when out and about. GAC had got some quick quotes for window decals – 100 would cost about £60. It was agreed that some work should be done on 2 alternative logos and then on decal costs, with a view to providing 2 decals for each boat which had a VMMA member. These would be provided free of charge if the costs were similar to the quick quote.
Once a logo had been decided on, the cost of pennants would be investigated but it was thought that there would probably be a charge for those. Action: GAC
026 VMMA Website
GAC reported that she had had difficulty finding free forum software that allowed photos to be uploaded and which had satisfactory log-on procedures. She said that she thought that she had found something the day before but hadn’t had time to test it.
It was agreed that GAC should proceed with testing and progress as she felt appropriate. It was agreed that user names would be allocated to Members rather than letting them choose. The user names would be in the format Boatname-FirstName. Action: GAC
027 Feedback from Moorers
During discussions with moorers the following points had been raised and it was agreed that they would be raised with Castle Marinas Ltd. Action: GAC
- There was some concern regarding the Marina Office being closed for 3 consecutive days during the week. It was felt that the notices around the Marina should talk about the Marina Office being ‘unmanned’ rather than ‘closed’ and should encourage people to call the Harbourmasters on their mobiles.
- The number of e-mails being sent out were too frequent and people were ceasing to read them. It was appreciated that a number of recent e-mails had been sent on behalf of VMMA. It was agreed that confirmation should be sought that the Marina had adjusted the Mooring Agreements to contain a provision for e-mail addresses for new moorers to be passed to VMMA.
- The identity of the Harbourmasters is not known to some moorers and it was felt that it would be a good idea for there to be picture boards of Marina staff put up in both the Woodland Lounge and the Phase 2 building block.
- Whether it would be possible to build a permanent barbecue close to the pond area. If a positive response is received, the Committee to canvas the opinion of the Members.
028 12 September Barbecue
It was agreed that it wasn’t clear to the Committee whether the 12 September barbecue was a Marina event or a VMMA event or a combined event. It was agreed that clarification should be sought. Action: GAC
Once the basis of the barbecue had been clarified, arrangements would be made via e-mail. Action: All
029 Marina Open Day 29 August
It was agreed that there would be no formal VMMA Committee presence at the Open Day.
030 Next VMMA Social Event
It was agreed that another Moorers Breakfast should be held in October and that the website should be used to canvas Members regarding an appropriate date.
It was also agreed that the website should be used to seek suggestions regarding the sort of events Members would be interested in. Action: GAC
031 Offer of Help
Jean Seager had volunteered her services as a mini-bus driver if one was needed.
032 Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held at 11am on Sunday 13 September.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.