LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of a Trustee Meeting
held on 28th January 2016 at 7.30 pm.

Present
Alan Cadman (Chairman), Cliff Jones (Treasurer), Liz Winter (Secretary ),
Sue Armstrong (Marketing Manager), Cheryl Collins (Caretaker), Liz Schofield, Bob Schofield, James Puxley, Ann Cairns, David King, Pam King, Andrew Craig, Eve Oxley and Michaela Ward (by invitation).

Apologies for Absence
Mark Kleingeld, Denise Hobday.

Alan welcomed Michaela Ward to the meeting. She will hopefully take over from Eve as Pre-School Trustee at the AGM.

Minutes of previous Trustee Meeting held 1st October 2015
David King proposed and Ann Cairns seconded that the Minutes be accepted as a true record. Carried unanimously. Alan signed the Minutes.

Matters Arising
Defibrillator: Liz Schofield confirmed that the Parish Council will be contacting the suppliers to ask them to talk to the village at a forthcoming Parish Council meeting.

Chairbacks: David King had got nowhere with the company which supplied our chairs. They claimed that backs from the new batch of chairs would not fit the broken ones but he knows they do. He will continue to harass them from time to time in the hope of getting some sense out of them eventually.

Chairman’s Report
Alan had been very busy on several fronts. After a meeting with Rob Clark and Roger Newnham on Monday, the specification for the improvements to the Community Centre was ready to go out to tender. Sue’s wish list from the 16th November Management Meeting had been the basis for the spec, which also included a soundproof door between Clubroom and Hall and a patio. The six contractors chosen were Roalco, Rose Builders from Manningtree, Cadman and Son, Ponder Construction from Marks Tey, D.A. Thompson from St. John’s and Mills & Kirby from Shrub End. The grant application would be made to Cory and the Borough Council and Rob Clark, who with Roger Newnham had been pivotal in drawing up the spec and grant application with Alan, was confident that at least £30,000 would be forthcoming. As estimated costs were over £70,000 the Trustees were naturally curious about where the rest of the money would come from, since we have spent what was held by the Parish Council. Alan said the contractors had been made aware that the work would be prioritised and that not all items in the spec might be undertaken depending on availability of funding. Liz S proposed a vote of thanks to Alan and Rob for their sterling work and the Meeting unanimously agreed that the Secretary should write to Roger and Rob on behalf of the Trustees. EW

The leases for Pre-School and Shop had been completed and signed, although there was a slight discrepancy in the start date of rental payment by the shop, which hopefully can be dealt with in an exchange of letters from the Solicitor now that Andrew Craig has pointed it out to her.

Alan had also had to deal with the break-in at the Shop on Boxing Day, which had resulted in our insurers agreeing to pay for repairs up to £2,000. Andrew proposed a vote of thanks to Alan for his work.

In order to complete repairs to the car park, Alan was trying to arrange an early morning meeting on site with ProMac, so that they could inspect the area before cars park on it. As well as some areas which were missed last time (which were not included on their quote) there is also a problem drain. Frinton Tarmac has been asked to itemise its very high quote.

Treasurer’s Report
The report to end of December had been circulated prior to the meeting and Cliff reiterated that our excellent income position reflected the inclusion of a £5,000 Danshell payment for last financial year which was made in this financial year. However, Danshell continue to make regular bookings and are paying fairly promptly. We had received £600 from the Fun Day last summer. Cliff explained how the estimated “free money” was arrived at and said we should be in a position to fund £5,000 as our ten percent of any £50,000 grant we might obtain. We need to spend money on upgrading the security cameras and completing car park repairs but expenses for this year look as if they will be about 10% less than budget. If we acquire a grant for replacement windows it will impact favourably on our medium to long-term maintenance plan.

Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue had been unable to accommodate the Ceroc dancing but had taken bookings for two Caravan Club meets and several parties, as well as regular Danshell hires over the next three months. The keys from the kitchen drawer had not turned up and Sue had replaced them. The five-yearly electrical check was nearing completion. Pam and David King agreed to run the volunteer bar on 17th March. Bob and James would do 18th February.

Buzcom were to install an additional router on 29th January which they have confirmed will not adversely affect the Pre-School. This will provide WiFi access to the security cameras so footage can be viewed remotely via the hub. Business Machines will repair/replace existing cameras and supply some new infra red ones. Alan would therefore take no action on the maintenance contract just received.

Caretaker’s Report
Brian Sage had completed his painting and it was agreed that the Hall itself was looking a little “tired” and would also benefit from a coat of paint. It was hoped that a working party from the University of Essex might undertake this as part of their community volunteer programme. A company called Pegasus might be able to re-laminate the kitchen units where these were peeling and a representative was taking two drawer fronts to test.
Item 8
Alan’s report had covered much of this item. He stated that the final spec would be confirmed at the Management meeting on 29th February before being sent out to tender. The secretary’s letter to Councillor Anne Brown regarding a grant for disabled access, etc. had been forwarded by her to the Communities Initiative Fund.

Any Other Business
1. David King raised the problem experienced by the Bowls Club who are constantly being asked to waive their Friday evening booking in favour of organisations (such as Strictly Come Dancing) who are non-local and profit-making. To try to help Sue, the Club has agreed to keep to the first and third Fridays from September but they are not prepared to relinquish any others. Reminding the Meeting of the LCC’s expressed intent at last year’s AGM to put local organisations first, David had the full support of the Meeting and it was agreed that Sue would stand by her offer of fortnightly Fridays only from September.
2. Pam said that the Yoga class had complained that the Hall was too cold. Sue said she puts the heating on at 9a.m. and they don’t arrive until 1p.m. She had suggested before that they put the fans on low to try to keep the warm air nearer the floor. Pam would relay Sue’s comments.
3. Trustees complained about the draught from the unheated Green Room being felt at the stage end of the Hall. Some solution should be sought. Perhaps simply a curtain across the door might serve.
4. Pam raised the question of a hearing loop which had been previously considered. Sue reminded the Trustees that it was impossible as there were too many doors and the loop would be too high. She suggested using the old cordless microphone with its small speaker. Pam would try this.
5. Ann confirmed that the W.I. was in the process of finding a replacement representative for Fay Smith, who had resigned.
6. Liz Schofield wished there were more local groups including young people regularly hiring the premises to bring new blood to the Community Council. It was pointed out that Langham Oaks School is trying to become more involved but that it is almost impossible to get younger people to take positions of responsibility in the organisations represented by the current Trustees.

Date of next meeting
The next Trustee Meeting will be held on Thursday 31st March at 7.30 p.m. in the Clubroom.

Date of AGM
The AGM will be held on Thursday 19th May 2016 at 7.30 p.m. in the Clubroom.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.40 p.m.