STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
Minutes: 224 – 241
Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 2 November 2019 at Ventnor Marina
Present:
Robbie Barrett (RB)
Sue Barrett (SB)
Phil Boswell (PB) Chairman
Sue Boswell (SBos)
Gillian Chapple (GAC) Secretary
Tony Fry (TF)
Alistair Hodgson (AH)
Georgina Hodgson (GH)
224 Quorum
As more than four members of the Committee were personally present, the Chairman declared the meeting quorate.
225 Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence had been received from Michelle Barnes (MB) and Ken Barnes (KB).
225 Minutes of the Committee Meeting held on 15 September 2019
The Minutes of the meeting, having been circulated, were approved and signed by the Chairman.
226 Arrangements for Soup & Sparklers and the Photo Competition
The risk assessment for the event, having been circulated, was reviewed by the Committee. Gillian Chapple said that she had prepared a list of ingredients which would be put up so that anybody with allergies could check. Phil Boswell had purchased a supply of gloves for direct food handling. It was noted that a bucket of water would be needed for the used sparklers.
It was agreed that it was too windy to put the marquees up. As last year, food would be served indoors. Servings portions were 2 ladles of soup; 1 ladle of mulled wine.
It was agreed that if people wanted extra sparklers, these would be charged at £1 for 2. Once everybody had been served, the soup and mulled wine would be available for seconds. If there was soup left at the end of the evening and people had their own containers, it would be sold off at £1 for 4 ladles (about 500ml).
Job allocations were as follows:
Tony Fry – Meet & Greet, distribution of food & sparkler vouchers and photo competition voting slips.
Sue Boswell, Sue Barrett and Georgina Hodgson – soup and mulled wine serving.
Phil Boswell – sparkler distribution, lighting and safe disposal
Gillian Chapple – replenishing soup & wine, coordinating votes for the photo competition.
Robbie Barrett – to fill in where required.
47 people plus 1 child were expected (age of child not known).
Gillian reported that 25 entries had been received for the photo competition and that 30 votes had been cast by email. The winner would be announced as soon as practical after 8:30 pm, if a tie break vote wasn’t needed, and the winner would be provided with a canvas print of their photo – up to the value of £25. A framed copy of the image would be put up in the Moorers’ Lounge or Marina Office.
227 Arrangements for Craft morning
Georgina Hodgson provided a risk assessment for the event. 8 people had booked to attend plus Georgina who would be leading the group. There were probably enough resources for one more person to attend.
A donation of £2 per person would be made to the cancer support charity who were supplying the knitting patterns.
Tea/coffee and biscuits would be provided – Gillian said she would make the teas and coffees
Gillian commented that it was pleasing to note that 2 people had signed up for the event within a few minutes of the email publicising it being issued.
228 Accounts from September Moorers Breakfast (Min 212 refers)
In the absence of Michelle Barnes, this was carried forward. Action: MB
229 Association Gazebos/Permanent outdoor structure (Mins 184.2, 203 & 218 refer)
Following the last Committee Meeting, Phil Boswell had raised this with Steve Chapman saying ‘We also discussed again some kind of permanent outside structure on the Sunset building. We agreed that we would be willing to offer labour time if some proposal was forthcoming from you. However, the Committee did not feel that we could currently make any financial contribution as this was not in the remit of our current terms, although we could revisit this if any proposal is forthcoming from you.’
Steve Chapman had replied ‘As mentioned previously I’m more than happy to meet with representatives from the VMMA to discuss ideas. I’ve discussed the concept with the marina team and we are unable to come up with ideas for a viable structure. Perhaps a bigger more robust marquee maybe the solution. We could ask local builders for suggestions but I should imagine these will be very expensive.’
Phil said that, following a subsequent conversation with Steve, he thought it unlikely that the Marina would have the funds to progress this for sometime. The Committee discussed whether or not we should drop the idea altogether, but after some discussion, it was agreed to put something in the end of year Newsletter asking if any Members had suggestions of the type of structure to use or could provide resources to help defray costs. Action: SBos/GAC
230 Discounts for members (Min 222 refers)
Robbie & Sue Barrett said that they had nothing further to report as they had not spoken with AJ Canopies since the last meeting. Phil Boswell said that he had spoken with Calcutt Marinas and they would not offer a discount on work.
231 Matters raised with the Marina (Min 223 refers)
Following the last Committee Meeting, Phil Boswell had raised the following matters with Steve Chapman.
231.1 Ladies showers on Sunrise – Min 223.1 refers
The Ladies shower on Sunrise could do with a spruce up – cracks repairing, painting and deep cleaning.
As you may be aware we refurbished the outside of the facilities building this summer. We plan to repaint the interior as part of our winter maintenance programme.
It was noted that the showers were now much cleaner and Phil Boswell agreed to pass on the Committee’s thanks to Steve Chapman. Action: PB
231.2 Wifi on Sunrise – Min 223.2 refers
The wifi on Sunrise was not working on the September Breakfast weekend and others reported that this appears to be an ongoing problem.
Unfortunately, the telephone infrastructure to the site and surrounding area means we can’t provide a ‘hard wired’ network’. We made the move from satellite to 4G following a successful trial period on Sunset. We were receiving very positive feedback (especially after installing new repeaters around the site last year). We have had a number of issues recently. After many frustrating hours we found these to be down to Vodafone, not actually our system. We will continue to develop the system and invest as appropriate. We do appreciate moorers patience and understanding when the system fails. However, it is a basic set up that we provide and should a network be required for work purposes or streaming there are various personal wifi options available.
231.3 Members not on email – Min 223.3 refers
A Member not on email had received a final demand for an electricity bill which they felt was quite brusque and threatening and was upsetting. They have raised the issue of non-email communications with the Company several times, but still seem to be having problems.
The invoice/data system we use will default to email, if an email address is present. We have discussed this with a couple of moorers recently who provided an email address of a relative for general contact purposes. Therefore, the invoices were being sent automatically to their address. As the invoice was not being passed on to the moorer, when we followed up non-payment it came as a surprise. We are happy to post invoices to our berth holders. If this is the preferred method it’s important that the moorer asks us to remove any email addresses from their account so the default becomes letter.
It was also felt that generally in the summer that moorers may not pay bills as quickly as they may be extended cruising and not have easy access to emails/online banking and the Company should perhaps be more understanding of this.
To ensure bills don’t arrive unexpectedly we have set invoice periods for electric, these are quarterly (October, January, April and July). Regarding mooring invoices these are sent one month prior to the renewal date to hopefully give time to make any necessary transfers etc. Naturally, we are required to follow up invoice payments for audit/business purposes. If a moorer is planning a long cruise, if they let us know in advance we can raise an invoice early or they can make a payment on account. This works really well for a couple of our berth holders who spend extended periods away from the marina.
Gillian Chapple commented that VMMA had two Members on one boat who were not on email but she had now established contact via Whats App and could send images of posters, etc to the Members.
232 Membership update
Gillian Chapple reported that as at 01/11/2019 there were 145 members representing 80 boats compared to 137 members representing 75 boats in 2018.
It was agreed that if any new Members joined at the Soup & Sparklers evening, their membership would cover 2020.
233 Finance update
In the absence of the Treasurer, Gillian Chapple reported that as at 1 November 2019, there had been £834 in the bank account. She had a £10 Membership cheque to be paid in. There was a possibility that Michelle might be holding cash from the Moorers Breakfasts.
It was noted that the following expenses had to be paid out:
Soup & Sparklers (Gillian):
Sparklers: £50.14
Mulled wine/orange juice: £38.10 but may get a refund on some of this
Food £26.89
Craft Event:
Supplies for expenses:
Georgina: £7.80
Gillian: £23.33
Biscuits/Milk (Gillian): £5.60
Public Liability Insurance: £79.80 (Phil)
Lighters: £11.80 (Phil)
Table clips, table cloths, black sacks & paper towels: £40.25 (Robbie)
Phil Boswell advised the meeting that he had renewed the Public Liability Insurance for another year and that the cost of the insurance had been the same as last year.
Phil said he would contact Michelle and ask her to let either Gillian or himself have a cheque book so that expenses could be settled and also to let Gillian have a paying in book to sort out the cheque and any cash from Soup & Sparklers. Action: PB
Following on from the weekend there would also be the cost of the print for the winner of the photo competition and the frame and print for the Marina plus a donation to the charity in connection with the Craft event.
234 Year End & AGM Arrangements
It was agreed that we would send out a year end newsletter and Sue Boswell agreed to draft this. Action: SBoS
After some discussion, it was agreed that the Membership fee for 2020 would remain at £5 per member. Gillian will send out Membership renewal request early in the New Year. Action: GAC
It was noted that the AGM had to be held in March and, after considering the calendar, it was agreed that the AGM should be on 14 March 2020. This mean that the meeting papers, including the examined accounts, would have to be sent out to all Members on or before 29 February. Gillian said that she was unlikely to be back from France until mid-February so the timetable was tight for her to get the paperwork out but should be achievable if the accounts were completed and examined by about 20 February. Action: MB/GAC
Phil and Sue said that they would be standing down from the Committee due to family commitments. Gillian, on behalf of the Committee and Members, thanked them both for all they had done which was much appreciated. She said that, personally, they had relieved her of some of the day to day work.
Tony indicated that he might also be stepping down.
It was noted that Michelle had been very busy with work both last year and this year and people wondered if she would continue as Treasurer. Action: MB
Phil asked Gillian if she was willing to continue as Secretary, noting that the bulk of the administrative work in connection with running the Association fell to her; Gillian said that she would be willing to continue for another year.
It was agreed that when writing to Members regarding the AGM and renewals, the paperwork should include an invitation to put themselves forward as Committee Members or Officers of the Association.
235 Meeting Dates and Events for 2020
Saturday 14 March @ 2pm – AGM, followed by Open Committee Meeting
Saturday 14 March @ 7pm – Wine & Cheese Evening; Martin Stubbins will give a roses and daisies painting demonstration.
Saturday 25 April @ 2pm – Committee Meeting
Sunday 26 April @ 10am – Moorers Breakfast. Robbie & Sue are going to talk to fender maker to see if he will do a demonstration. Action: RB/SB
Saturday 19 September @ 2pm – Committee Meeting
Sunday 20 September @ 10am – Moorers Breakfast
Saturday 7 November @ 2pm – Committee Meeting
Saturday 7 November @ 7pm – Soup & Sparklers and final of Photo Competition
Gillian mentioned that Chris Mayhew off Rhiannon had volunteered to give some sort of musical concert. Gillian suggested that we could possibly have a musical evening and barbecue in the natural amphitheatre around the Sunset barbecue.
236 VMMA Post (Min 221 refers)
Georgina commented that she though that Members didn’t always realise that there was a lift up lid to the VMMA post box as she had found some post loose. It was agreed that a small label should be put on the box indicating the lid could be lifted. Action: GAC
237 Matters to be raised with the Marina
The Chairman asked if anybody had any matters to be raised with the Marina.
Tony Fry commented that the new road surfaces appeared to have deteriorated quite badly with potholes appearing. Phil said that his understanding was that the gravel should be being raked back into the holes. All agreed that there was still a problem with vehicles travelling to quickly.
Members has noticed that the padlock on the towpath gate on Sunrise was being left set to the code rather than being scrambled. Phil agreed to ask Steve Chapman to mention this in the next Marina Newsletter. Action: PB
There being no further business the meeting was closed, but it was agreed that there would be short review meetings after both events.
238 Review of Soup and Sparklers evening
Because of the weather, the Marina staff had opened the connecting door between the office and the lounge and were happy for the area in front of the desk to be used whilst there were members of staff present. The TV was moved into the office so that the photo competition entries could be viewed easily. All agreed that this had worked well.
Despite the bad weather conditions, 43 adults and 1 child had attended – 2 of whom were guests and paid £3 each. 2 new Members signed up but their subscriptions would cover them for 2020. £5 had been refunded to Jo James who had paid her 2019 subscription twice.
A small number of sparklers were used and there are sufficient supplies left that none will need to be purchased in 2020.
6 of the 12 bottles of mulled wine and 2 of the 4 cartons of orange were used. The salt & pepper hadn’t been used as there had been condiments already in the store. Georgina purchased the orange juice. Gillian will get a refund on the unused items.
12 mini batons had been purchased and most of these had been used.
The spicy butternut squash soup had used 3 large squashes, 1kg each of carrots and onions and a head of garlic. The pea and mint soup had used 3 kg of petit pois, 3 large bunches of spring onions, 6 packets of fresh mint and a head of garlic. 2 cartons of Marigold bouillon had been used for stock. At the end of the evening there were 9 portions of butternut squash soup left and 8 portions of pea and mint. None had been sold as there were no containers. Gillian said that she would take the surplus as it was all fresh and could be frozen – she would reimburse the cost.
The winner of the Photo Competition was Pauline Fry with her photo of Sunrise at Sunrise Moorings, Dave Hull was second and there was a 3 way tie for third between David James, Tony Fry and Andrew Tull.
All agreed that this was another successful event.
239 Review of Craft Morning
9 people plus Georgina attended the craft morning.
It was very successful with everybody completing their Christmas wreath. Everybody enjoyed making their wreaths and some people surprised themselves as they hadn’t believed they would be able to make something which looked so good.
Nobody knitted the Christmas stockings but everyone was given a pattern and several people went away keen to get their knitting needles out. We’ll be donating £20 to the Force Cancer Charity in Exeter. Action: GAC/MB
240 Member Feedback
Gillian reported that we got some useful feedback from both events; the ‘crafters’ said they had enjoyed themselves and would welcome the opportunity to get together again.
People also said that they liked it when we had 2 events over 2 days, as with the Blue Lias Walk & Moorers Breakfast and Soup & Sparklers & the craft morning.
Indications were that people would like the opportunity to sit round and chat whilst doing something like the Christmas wreath, or crocheting or knitting or something like that.
Gillian suggested that we ‘christen’ these sort of events ‘Narrowboat Natters’ and that we could put a call out for someone to lead a demo on an Easter themed craft for the Sunday after Wine & Cheese.
241 ‘Accounts’ for the weekend
Soup & Sparklers:
Sparklers: £50.14
Mulled wine & orange juice £38.10
Food £26.89
Total £115.13
Less:
Refund on mulled wine/food £19.10
Sale of orange juice £1.10
Sale of soup £4.50
Total £24.70
Cost £90.43
2 guests @ £3 each £6.00
Net cost £84.43
(There are sufficient sparklers left for next year)
Photo Competition – Canvas print for winner £20.75
Craft Morning
Supplies £31.13
Refreshments £ 5.60
Donation £20.00
Net cost £56.73