LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 18th February 2019 at 7.30pm.

Present Alan Cadman, Liz Winter, Maureen Shouksmith, Liz Schofield, Peter Dawson, Sue Armstrong.

The minutes of the previous meeting had been approved and circulated to all Trustees.
Matters arising had been dealt with at the full Trustee meeting in January.

Chairman’s Report
Car Park
Alan was waiting for confirmation from two different people regarding marking out the car park. The work would be scheduled in March and the car park may need to be closed for a short period. AC
Disabled toilet upgrade
Alan confirmed it was pointless to send the proposed letter to Lee Spalding as he had moved departments. Alan has the outline specification. It was agreed the secretary should write to Nigel Chapman, Borough Councillor, and to enlist his help in resolving the matter.
EW
Treasurer’s Report
Balances at the bank this evening: Current a/c £6,651.99; Saver a/c £55,085. Taydal’s bill for £6,930 for the car park had been paid and Future Electrics’ £1,794 for emergency light checks and replacement lighting.
Andrew Craig had organised a new electricity contract with British Gas Lite through Make It Cheaper Ltd., which had been agreed by the Finance committee. The three-year deal requires the installation of a smart meter by the supplier and undercuts the three-year E-on deal described at the January Trustee meeting and one quoted by E-on to MIC. MIC deal with the changeover. The secretary will set up an online account. EW

Replacement Central Heating
Maureen circulated a basic cost analysis for the oil-fired heating, showing maintenance for the year of just over £2,000 and oil cost of £2,657, plus a delivery of 1,400 litres overdue.
The annual electricity payment would be £6,636 but around £4,500 of this was refundable from the Shop.
Sue reported that Certas had failed to make a delivery last Wednesday and the watchman was now flashing. There have been a lot of problems with this village delivery and Certas is unlikely to be used again. They have given Feb 20th as the “probable” date but we may run out before then. The finance committee agreed that, should this situation arise in the future, Sue was authorised to go to “Boilerjuice” and pay with her credit card, to be refunded by the LCC.
Sue also reported that the Pre-School boiler is losing its pressure and she has to tweak the controls. The boiler service is due in March and we need a commercial boiler engineer. Sue will contact some local possibilities. SA
It was agreed to find more quotes for alternative heating methods. Peter would e-mail some names tomorrow. Meanwhile, the man who had quoted from Lindseys for the heat source pump system had asked that we consider using the new company he works for in Clacton. There was some discussion of solar panels and the need for a design consultant.
PD
Marketing Manager’s Report
Colchester Glazing have quoted £1,788 including VAT to fit a new double fire door into the main hall. This was agreed unanimously.
Samples were still awaited from “Blinds to Go” for the kitchen. Chris had estimated less than £200 for a timer light at the roadside gate.
It had been noted that the Pre-School exterior had never been repainted and was in a poor state of decoration. Terry had quoted £850 to paint the outside of windows and doors as well as the inside of the double doors. Within this price he will also stop the chair cupboard door in the hall from scraping the floor. The committee agreed and he will do the work during half term while the Pre-School is empty.
Caravanners this weekend had used the manhole under the hedge near the shop storage lockup, which Bob had dug out. For future use, it needs bricking up 15 cms and a new drain cover with key. The Recreation Ground Committee will discuss this and other possibilities at their meeting in a few days and will make recommendations to the full Parish Council.
Ray Belchambers has left BM but had cleaned the cobwebby CCTV camera today. After the meeting, he quoted £85 per call out (one hour) or £250 per annum if we wish to continue to use him. Chris from Future Electric knows someone who will provide an alternative quote.
The fire shutter main switch had been turned off by persons unknown, causing the battery pack to completely discharge. Essex Industrial Doors had come out promptly and fitted a new one at a cost of £185.

NS&I Bonds
Peter explained the current situation with PC records and confirmed that they were looking through their financial papers to try to discover when the Langham Community Council last received the interest from these bonds, which is paid monthly into the PC’s account.

Tennis coaching and toilet hire
It was agreed that draft guidelines, based on Maureen’s comments, should be drawn up and submitted to Stuart Rudge and Mark Kleingeld. Maureen and Liz W will then arrange to meet Stuart and Mark at the hall to discuss these. MS/EW

Any Other Business
1. Footballers have been leaving sacks of rubbish in the changing rooms, which the cleaners have been transferring to the store-room. Cheryl only found these this week. The footballers are supposed to take their rubbish home. The bags were put into our last remaining green bags and have been taken away.
2. The refuse skip is being prised open and damaged with people forcing their own rubbish in. The lid is now broken and a padlock missing. It is still often overweight each fortnight with heavy rubbish apparently from the Pre-School. Sue will talk to CSH when they empty on Wednesday. SA
3. Alan asked if anyone had received the Music Licence paperwork for this year. Nothing received as yet.
4. Liz W confirmed that the Charity Commission would require details of the LCC’s bank accounts and full names of its Trustees. She would circulate the Trustees with this information.

Date of next meeting
The next Trustee Meeting will be held on Thursday 28th March in the main hall at 7.30 pm.
The AGM will be held on Thursday 23rd May at 7.30 pm in the main hall.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 10.15 pm.