LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 18th June 2018 at 7.30pm.

Present Alan Cadman, Liz Winter, Sue Armstrong, Martin Bottwood (Parish Council)

Apologies Maureen Shouksmith, Liz Schofield

Minutes of Previous meeting on 23rd April 2018
These had been approved by those present at the meeting and circulated to all Trustees.

Matters Arising
Pre-School Heating
It was agreed that Alan should accept Lindsey’s quote of £278.53 to install a bypass valve which should cure the heating problem, so that this could be completed before the start of the Autumn term. AC
Refuse bin
The new bin is permanently fixed to the wall and being emptied every other Wednesday with Colchester Skip Hire unlocking and relocking the chains which secure it. At £15 per fortnight, we have had no overweight loads to date.
Wi-Fi
The WiFi connection with XLN costs £38.78 per month. The Shop has offered to pay a contribution for their use of £10 per month. It was agreed that the Secretary should write to the Pre-School and suggest a similar contribution. EW
Hall floor and window maintenance
The E-Zee floor cleaning machine had been ordered from Ed Hyde and Sue had contacted him to query the delay in delivery. There would be VAT to pay.
Quotes from Rose Builders (£700 + VAT) and Skyview (£540) were considered for servicing the Velux windows. It was agreed that Sue would check Skyview’s credentials (public liability insurance, guarantee period, Velux certification) and, if these were in order, ask them to proceed. SA

Chairman’s Report
Disabled upgrade: Carys Morgan from CBC Community Services Team has e-mailed Alan and Sue to inform them that they will undertake grant procurement on our behalf. Alan believes the specification will be ready in eight weeks to send out for tender and is hopeful we will see a result this year.
Car park: Alan confirmed that the drains would need unblocking again this year as he could see a build-up. Sue will contact Mersea Drains and see what they quote. (Alan estimated around £500.) Martin said ECC were still investigating the drainage problems opposite Whitnells down towards Keeper’s Cottage. Until winter rain occurs, it won’t be clear whether the flooding has been cured. Maureen had expressed concern about the roof and queried whether this should take priority, but there had been no further slippages during recent windy weather, whereas the car park is definitely becoming a trip hazard.
A date of Wednesday 25th July was set aside when there were no hires between 0800-17.00 for Alan to mark out the areas for repair. (Sue would try to get the Velux done on that day too.) We need to notify the Shop. AC/SA/EW

Treasurer’s Report
Balances at the bank today at noon were: Current a/c £8,952.01; Saver a/c £39,050.72.
Maureen had circulated the end of April balance sheet and simplified profit and loss. Unfortunately there had not been time to process the May figures before the meeting.
The refund due from HMRC should arrive in July.
“Wave”, part of Anglian Water, had informed us that we had a high credit balance for our metered water. Following a further meter reading, the 9th June statement amends the credit to £252.70. £242.84 will be credited to our bank account within ten working days.
E-on are reducing our electricity monthly direct debit from £575 per month to £553 as from 1st July.

Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue had circulated her report prior to the meeting and reported that Ceroc have three Saturdays booked, beginning end of August, and would like three bars including alcohol. Alan asked Sue to give them his number to arrange the bars.

The Sunday evening BBQs are ongoing every week but Sue and her family are not always available to run the bar for them, which sells a limited range of drinks of their choice. Alan agreed that Louise Armstrong and Declan could run one on 1st July when Sue is away. On the 8th they will obtain their own TEN licence. Alan suggested Sue Trimnell might help. These hires are valuable, bring in £167 for a slot which is not popular.

Liz Winter would help run the Macmillan Coffee Morning on the last Friday in September.
EW
There were still two cracked slabs on the patio which may have occurred at the same time as the ones Terry had replaced but gone unnoticed. Sue would contact him again.

Class Cleaners had quoted less than last year for the annual deep clean of the floors. The meeting accepted these quotes of £150 to scrub off and re-polish the clubroom and bar and £100 to pressure-wash the toilets, changing rooms, showers, boot room and passageway.

The electric socket to the left of the hatch sometimes fails to work. Sue would get it checked for a loose connection. SA

Maintenance Review
Andrew Craig’s comments regarding the ongoing cost of the maintenance plan were noted. He had overlayed the cash available in our deposit account plus (conservative) projected annual profit to the spreadsheet, to indicate at what point we would need to seek Grant (or other) funding.



Salaries Review
A date needed to be fixed for Alan, Maureen and Liz W to meet to carry this out as soon as possible. AC/MS/EW

Any Other Business
Pre-School fence Bob Schofield had mentioned that this would benefit from a coat of preservative. The outdoor play area is on Parish Council land and this would be up to their Recreation Ground Committee.
Car park barrier Cheryl had been asked by a volunteer locking the Shop why she was closing the barrier behind their car at 5 o’clock. There were no more lets that evening and the car park was empty. Cheryl was a little upset that she was being questioned when doing her job: taking the security of the car park seriously at a time when the travellers had just left. The secretary agreed to draft a letter to the Shop. EW
Utility Aid The latest RCCE Bulletin had included a section about this organisation who claimed they could reduce our electricity bill free of charge and with no obligation. The Committee felt it was not something we wanted to follow up.

Date of Next Meeting

The next Finance Sub-Committee meeting will be Monday 20th August at 7.30 pm.

The next Trustee Meeting is scheduled for Monday 23rd July in the Clubroom at 7.30 pm.

The October Trustee Meeting will be held on Thursday 25th October in the main hall at 7.30 pm.
(We felt it best to book this early bearing in mind that we couldn’t get a Thursday in July because the rooms were fully booked. Victims of our own [Sue’s] success!)

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.30 pm.