STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 032 – 047
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 13 September 2015 at 11am at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Ken Barnes (KB) Chairman
Michelle Barnes (MB)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Mo Kennedy (MK) Treasurer
Roger Kennedy
In attendance:
Robbie & Sue Barrett – Cornmill
Sheila Bell & Adrian Pell – Moley & Co
Christine Brown – Tranquility
John Dickens – Long John
Pauline & Tony Fry – Moonshadow
Leigh & Marion Hood – Kestrel
Christine & Terry Richards – Plover
Jean Seager – Tranquility
Jill & Ken Walker – Windrush
032 Apologies for Absence
Apologies for absence were received from Sylvia & Roy Jimminson (Committee Members) and Sue Dickens (nb Long John)
As four members of the Committee were personally present, the meeting was quorate.
033 Minutes of Meeting held on 10 May 2015
The Minutes of the meeting held on 10 May 2015 were approved and signed by the Chairman. 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 and those Members of the Association who were present at the relevant meeting. Action: GAC
034 Public Liability Insurance
GAC confirmed that she had spoken with Lee Cooper Blair who had confirmed that the Marina’s Public Liability Insurance only covered events organised by the Marina, not events organised by VMMA. Last night’s barbecue had been covered as it was a Marina event with VMMA members helping out.
KB agreed to approach insurers, including GJW Direct who insured the Marina, with a view to getting PLI in place before the next Moorers’ Breakfast in October. Action: KB
It was unanimously agreed that the cost of the liability insurance should be met from the accumulated funds of VMMA.
035 Membership
GAC reported that membership now stood at 65 members. She and MK said that a number of couples had only completed one application form and paid one joining fee. In those circumstances, the person who had signed the form was taken as the member. Also, a number of forms had been received without any payment.
It was agreed that the Membership Application Form should be amended to try to make it clearer that Membership was on an individual basis and also to include the VMMA bank details so that payment could be made direct. It was noted that when the forms were initially designed the VMMA bank account was in the process of being set up, so couldn’t be included.
036 VMMA Logo
GAC advised that she hadn’t had an opportunity to work on the possible logos for VMMA, but as soon as they were available she would put copies up on the website for members to vote on. Action: GAC
The meeting was advised that, once a logo had been chosen, the intention was to provide all members with window decals for their boats (included in the cost of membership) and also to look into the possibility of having VMMA pennants. Robbie Barrett advised that he had some contacts who might be able to help with production of the decals and pennants.
037 Finances
MK reported that there was approximately £350 in the VMMA bank account but that £23 of that was due to be paid to Macmillan Cancer in connection with the Phase Naming Competition.
038 Phase Naming Competition
The winning suggestions for the Phase names were Sunrise (Phase 2) and Sunset (Phase 1), which had been put forward by the owners of nb Digitalis. In total the entry fees had raised £50 for Macmillan Cancer.
039 Moorers’ Breakfast – 4 October
Various dates in October were considered for the next Moorers’ Breakfast and, after a vote by all those present, it was agreed that the Breakfast should be held on Sunday 4 October.
After a discussion, it was agreed that it would be better to hold the Breakfast at the Woodland Lounge because there were more facilities available, plus protection from inclement weather.
Referring to Min 017 regarding the lessons learnt from the May Breakfast, it was agreed that people should be asked to bring their own mugs but that the format and charges for the Breakfast would follow closely the May Breakfast. It was agreed that hot chocolate would also be provided along with tea and coffee and MB agreed to source the hot chocolate. Action: MB
GAC reported that she had been unable to source an urn; MB thought that she might have one. Adrian Pell said that he could possibly help with an urn. Action: A Pell/MB
(Secretary’s note: Subsequent to the meeting, Lee Cooper Blair advised that there was a large metal urn at Wigrams Turn which could be borrowed for VMMA social events provided advance notice was given).
GAC will provide the Marina with posters to put up and e-mail members asking for an indication of who is likely to come. Action: GAC
040 Soup & Sparklers – 7 November
Following a number of suggestions from the floor, it was decided to hold a Soup and Sparklers evening on 7 November. Jean Seager kindly offered to make the soup and Christine Brown to make mulled wine. Hot chocolate will also be available. Action: C Brown/J Seager
It was agreed that the event would be open to all moorers and that there would be a charge for everyone attending. People would be asked to provide their own mugs,glasses, cutlery, etc.
GAC will provide the Marina with posters, e-mail members and liaise with Chris and Jean re numbers Action: GAC
041 Other Social Events
There was a general discussion about the type of social events members would like to see during 2016.
It was agreed that we would aim for 2 moorers’ breakfasts and 2 evening events during the year. One of these should be held in March on the same weekend as the AGM – date yet to be arranged.
There was strong support for another astronomy evening and it was agreed that the Warwickshire Astronomy Association should be asked to suggest a date during 2016 when there might be something of particular interest in the night skies.
Another suggestion was for a wine and cheese evening, possibly with wine tasting. Or possibly a visit to the Helidon Vineyard for a tour and tasting.
Other suggestions included:
- a summer picnic around the far pond,
- a Sunrise/Sunset Quiz/Games Challenge,
- a bird watching weekend.
It was also suggested that some of the moorers may have an interesting hobby or job which they would be prepared to give a talk about.
GAC said that she would put the suggestions up on in the forum on the website and encourage members to indicate their preferences and to make further suggestions. Action: GAC
It was agreed that there would not be organised transport to the Crick Boat Show but that members would be given the opportunity via the forum to organise their own car shares. Action: GAC
042 Storage of equipment/stock
The meeting approved expenditure on a crate for keeping equipment and stock in. It was thought that the Marina would be happy for the crate to be stored in the container which was secure and dry. Action: MK/MB
043 VMMA Post
GAC & MK voiced some concerns over the handling of VMMA post at the Marina as sometimes they had not been able to collect post from the Marina office. It was agreed to ask if a post box could mounted on a wall inside the Woodland Lounge.
Approval was granted for the purchase of a suitable post box if the Marina agreed to the proposal. Action: GAC/MK
044 Matters raised with the Marina
Min 027(1) refers: Lee Cooper Blair had reiterated that, although the office was not manned, the Harbourmasters were around and contactable by phone if diesel, etc was needed.
Min 027(2) refers: Lee has advised that Castle Marinas have said that e-mail addresses may not be passed on to the Association and consent to do so hasn’t been added to the mooring applications. Lee includes information about VMMA in all the new mooring packs and encourages new moorers to join the Association; this approach seems to be working as evidenced by the number of new moorers who had joined VMMA (and are present at the meeting).
Min 027(3) refers : It was noted that photos and a short biography of Marina staff had now been put up in the Woodland Lounge.
045 Matters to be raised with the Marina
The following points were raised during the meeting and it was agreed that they would be raised with the Marina. Action: Committee
- The ‘upgraded’ wifi was not as good as the preceding service and some moorers were unable to connect at all.
- Grass cuttings in Sunset (Phase 1) were being dumped in one place, near the horse fields, and in the summer the smell of the rotting grass had been very pungent.
- The path in the pet walking area was kept well cleared but the surrounding areas were becoming very thick with thistles. The possibility of the thistles being cut back was to be raised.
046 Information from the Marina
It was reported to the meeting that Mrs Cooper Blair had advised that Castle Marinas had sold some properties and the capital was going to be used to improve facilities at a number of marinas. Some money would be available for Ventnor but how much and when were not known. For information, shower facilities were going to be improved at Wigrams Turn where there was only 1 shower each for men and women and a proper office was going to be built at Kings Bromley.
047 Future Meeting Dates
It was agreed that there would be a short Committee meeting on 8 November to sort out the logistics of year end, the date of the AGM and other dates for events during 2016.
There being no further business, the meeting was closed.