LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
held on 13th January 2020 at 7.30pm at Alan’s house

Present Alan Cadman, Liz Winter, Maureen Shouksmith, Martin Bottwood,
Liz Schofield, Sue Armstrong.

Minutes of Previous meeting on 11th November 2019
These had been approved by those present at the meeting and circulated to all Trustees.

Matters Arising
Tree roots in drain
This is still outstanding but Alan is aware that it still needs attention. AC
RCCE Treasurer’s course
Maureen confirmed that she still wishes to attend this course on Saturday 28th March and the Committee approved the cost, which is £70. The secretary will book this. EW
XLN
Our contract is due for renewal but Sue has not had a chance to look into it, having been busy dealing with more urgent matters. Two years ago we took out the contract at £30 per month as an introductory offer. It is currently £60 per month and the Pre-School and Shop each pay a £10 monthly contribution. SA

Lead Theft
Lead flashing was stolen from the front of the Langham Community Centre in the early hours of Monday 9th December. Alan informed our insurers and Sue eventually obtained a crime number for them from the Police. It is proving difficult to obtain the three quotes needed by the insurance company. Cadmans have submitted one, we await one from Terry and the contractor who is working with Ian Phillips on removal of the boilers agreed to submit one. Alan thinks the scaffolding alone will probably cost around £1,000.

Air-conditioning and boiler decommissioning
It was tricky for Lambrothers to fit the air-conditioning units around hires but the work had been completed on schedule, despite one or two delays. Sue has done a great job of getting to grips with the remote controller. On a couple of occasions the heating has switched itself off as it could not detect movement in the building but the rooms heat up very quickly once it cuts in. Comments have mostly been positive from hirers. There is a wall-mounted control in the kitchen and bar area. The system is set to switch on automatically if the temperature falls below 10°C. (It did not fall that low when the hall was unused over the Christmas period.) Lambrothers have yet to fit a wall-mounted control in the Pre-School.
The secretary has been checking kWh usage each month, which, as expected, has increased considerably. This is something which needs continued monitoring. EW/MS

The boiler-room has been emptied and Ian will return later this week when the outdoor oil tank will be removed. He will also remove the remaining internal wiring (which has been made safe.) The enclosure will need to be dismantled to remove the tank but should be capable of being rebuilt using the same concrete panels. It was agreed that shelves should be erected in the boiler-room to house files which need to be safely kept at the hall.

Replacement hot water system to Pre-School and Shop
The under-sink heater to the sink in the play area has been functional since mid-November.
A large heater is now working under the toilet washbasins. Two instant over-sink heaters will be installed in the disabled toilets of Pre-School and Shop and under-sink ones to both their kitchens (Pre-School only require one for their right-hand basin.) Depending on availability of the tradespeople work could be completed this week.

Grant Funding
Invoices for the fuseboard and air-conditioning were forwarded to Angela Haymonds before Christmas and she visited the hall on 20th December and was very impressed with what she saw. Enovert’s cheque for £15,000 has been received and paid into our current account.
Liz W had completed questionnaires to assess how easy and efficient the process of obtaining funding from Enovert had been. It has been very straightforward and Angela has dealt with queries and paperwork exceptionally rapidly. Liz now has to put together a report with documentation for Enovert and arrange publicity. An A5 plaque has been requested to display in the hall.
Alan confirmed that with effect from 1st December 2019 he increased the asset value of the building to £1,550,000 (from £1,280,000) with our insurers.
Liz W still awaits a reply regarding the £7,000 funding awarded just before Christmas by the Community Initiatives Fund. Alan signed the acceptance letter on 19th December and it was returned that day together with our e-mail. Liz W will enquire the position. EW

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had circulated the accounts for November and the updated VAT position. Sue confirmed that she was nearly ready with the December income and expenditure figures for Maureen to prepare a statement for the Trustee meeting on 30th January. Tonight’s current account balance is £7,158.54. Annual Saver interest was £110.74, making a balance of £54,279.16. Maureen had transferred £15,000 from this account into the current account to pay Lambrothers but, once Enovert’s cheque had cleared, she returned £12,000 to the Saver.
A message on the Langham Treasurer laptop is alerting us to renew our subscription to Microsoft Office, as our three years has expired. It was agreed Maureen would pay this and seek reimbursement. MS
The Committee confirmed their e-mailed consent to purchase a new projector priced at £728.40 for Langham Film Nights. This had now been received and tested by Paul Armstrong.
Martin confirmed that NS&I had been notified to pay interest into our Saver Account but had not so far complied. He confirmed that the Parish Council would transfer another monthly payment to us shortly. (Martin confirmed after the meeting that the payment will be £25.26 including 78p bank interest.)


Marketing Manager’s Report
Saturday bookings are going well and mostly full up to August. Alan said the Country Music Club had a good turnout on Saturday. Sue had spent a lot of time sorting out Cygnet bookings and outstanding payments, but they have booked up to Christmas 2020. University Volunteers have been booked for Sunday 11th October for painting duties. Feather Dance are leaving us because Sue is unable to offer them extra bookings.
There was discussion about the efficacy of the replacement acoustic curtain. Sue would ask the Country Music couple who sourced the badly worn material (which had required a lot of alteration) regarding a small donation to the hall which bequeathed them to us. Liz W would put it on the Trustee agenda.
Fire alarms in the Shop and Pre-School should be tested weekly. It is the duty of leaseholders to ensure theirs are tested. Sue, Cheryl and Charlotte from the Shop are going to be shown how to turn off the Pre-School alarm, which rang when Mike was cleaning there last week. The Hall alarm is tested monthly by Sue.
“A Christmas Carol” recital made a profit of £540, so the Shop, Pre-School and Hall had received £180 each. It had been a very enjoyable evening with several people saying we should have a regular joint venture at the hall as it brought the three organisations and villagers together.
Chris from Futures will fix the kitchen emergency lights and the ladies toilet light. When he does the annual electric check, he will change the fire alarm batteries. Too many kettles in the Committee Room had tripped the circuit. Hirers were now using vacuum jugs provided. Alan will get the broken plunger in the ladies fixed. Sue handed out her list of 14 completed jobs.

Any Other Business
Forms for the Music Licence have been received. Liz W and Maureen will deal with them this week. Our subscription to the Information Commissioner’s Office of £35 will be taken by direct debit shortly. Liz W had checked details on the website. We also need to re-register with the Pensions Regulator after 1st April, when our three-year period is up. Alan said pension contributions are increasing to 5% from 1st April. No notification had been received but Liz would look into this. EW

Date of next meeting
The next Finance meeting was arranged for Monday 2nd March at 7.30 pm at Alan’s.

A Trustee meeting was arranged for Thursday 26th March in the Main hall at 7.30 pm.
The AGM was arranged for Thursday 21st May at 7.30 pm in the Club room.

The next Trustee meeting is on Thursday 30th January in the Club room at 7.30 pm.

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