LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL
Minutes of a Finance Committee Meeting
called for 15th June 2020 at 7.30pm
Due to COVID 19 restrictions, it was not possible to have a face to face meeting.
However, Alan Cadman, Liz Winter, Maureen Shouksmith and Sue Armstrong arranged to meet at the Hall to work out social distancing and sanitising measures for reopening.
An agenda and all paperwork was sent out to Liz Schofield, Martin Bottwood and Andrew Craig, so they were kept informed.
Covid
Those present in the hall looked at the measures which were already in place. These comprised:
Sanitiser dispensers at all entrance doors. These have been erected by Initial on a three-year contract at a cost of £12.42 a month and £50 per refill container. Sue was unable to source dispensers elsewhere and we already have a contract with Initial for sanitary bins.
It was agreed, on trying the dispensers, that some kind of floor protection under them will be necessary as the fluid leaks through one’s fingers. Terry has stuck Perspex to the wall below to prevent damage to the paintwork.
Paper towels and lidded bins in the toilets and kitchen.
Blue paper roll for the bar area (already supplied for Cygnet).
Dettol All in One spray for the chairs.
Dettol Surface Cleanser for hard surfaces. (Not suitable for upholstery.) Lambrothers have also confirmed that this can be sprayed into the air-con units before they are put on each morning. These will remain switched off until the autumn and windows/doors opened for ventilation where necessary.
Entry will be through the main door for every room (unless the Club room is already occupied, when Hall hirers will enter through the Hall door as before.)
Exit from the Hall will be via the fire doors near the stage.
Exit from the Club room via the fire doors.
Exit from the Committee room via the main door. People exiting may need to wait at the foot of the stairs for others already in the foyer.
Toilets. Groups will need to police their own use of toilets. Club room and Committee room will use the toilets at the bottom of the stairs, if the Hall is in use.
Entry to the main toilets will be via the rear lobby as usual.
Exit will be via the corridor at the back of the toilets and into the hall. People exiting from the ladies or gents may coincide at this point but must ensure social distancing.
While there are fewer hirers, Cheryl will wipe door handles etc. after each hire.
We are hopeful that, by the time we reopen, social distancing may be reduced to 1 metre.
Sue will add to the terms and conditions for hirers:
• She requires a Covid Risk Assessment from each Group which hires.
• If they use hall crockery, etc, it must be washed in the dishwasher on a quick wash which runs at 45°C. There will be no use of tea towels or dishcloths/sponges.
• Each hirer will be responsible for wiping down surfaces they expect to use at the beginning of their hire. (This will need to apply once there are back-to-back hires. Can anyone think of a better way to manage this?)
There may to be a problem with use of upholstered chairs. I don’t think this was resolved. Sue is following this up along with the cleaning of carpets.
Treasurer’s Report
Maureen had circulated the accounts for April and May with her report. With the £10,000 Retail, Hospitality and Leisure grant from the Borough Council, we still had a healthy bank balance, despite the lack of income for the past two and a half months.
She has transferred £3,000 from the Saver to pay Terry for the decorating he has been doing, including varnishing 64 (!) door sides, painting both lobbies and staircase, supplying and fixing Perspex under the sanitisers and around the Club room walls where the chairs scrape them.
Maureen intends to take the accounts to George Pearce on Tuesday.
The faulty Pre-School toilet washbasin taps, which were only trickling, had been fixed and it was agreed to add the bill to the total cost of the replacement of heating and hot water systems in the whole building, bringing the total cost of the project to £31,981.40. £18,671.60 of this was covered by grant funding. The final account will be attached to these minutes for perusal by all Trustees.
Marketing Manager’s Report
Sue reported that she had spent a lot of time reading advice and regulations about COVID and sourcing the necessary products. The building is looking very clean, with Cheryl’s work on the floors and other cleaning jobs and Terry’s redecoration, and should prove attractive enough to tempt hirers back.
Cygnet have continued to hire but it is uncertain whether they will attend on 29/30th June. They now have a different manager.
It was agreed that the Velux windows should have their two-yearly maintenance this year, for which Sue will seek three quotes. All the new air-conditioning units require annual maintenance along with the one in the Committee room. Filters need cleaning every three months, but this will depend on usage, which has been minimal so far.
Sue would like to have the lower parts of the hall walls decorated, where they are quite badly marked. We don’t know whether there will be any student volunteers from the University in the autumn, but this seems unlikely.
Sue will get three quotes for replacement flooring to the kitchen and bar and replacement of the rear foyer mat. She will also get a quote to replace the 8 ft strip light in the Bar with LED, as it is now very dim and obsolete.
The maintenance plan needs further updating and agreement as soon as Sue has time. Do we need to budget for internal decoration of the Pre-School and Shop or is this undertaken by themselves? Andrew has since confirmed that the Shop is responsible for its own internal decoration.
CCTV
Thanks to all the Trustees who replied to my urgent email of 9th June requesting permission to accept Future Electrical’s quotation of £2,988 plus VAT together with a yearly service contract of £250 plus VAT. Twelve out of fifteen trustees replied and all were in favour.
Final Reports for Grant Providers
Liz and Alan signed these and they can now be sent off together with accompanying photographs and income and expenditure accounts. A copy of the I&E account is attached to these minutes.
Any Other Business
AGM Hopefully, we shall be able to hold an AGM in August if things continue to improve. This can be reviewed at the end of July.
Chairman’s Annual Report Alan normally prepares this for the Parish Annual Meeting but this could not be held this year. However, he has it in hand for our postponed AGM.
Salary Review The review is due this month. Maureen and Alan will organise this and put their recommendation to the Finance Committee.
Pre-School They opened again to children of key workers and those with extra needs on 1st June and Liz W has spoken to the staff who are enjoying being back, even with the stringent COVID hygiene regime. They are working very hard and Maria was pleased to tell us that she had seven more places reserved for September during the lockdown. Congratulations are sent to them all.
Section 106 money Our list was submitted to the Parish Council for their negotiations with CBC and is attached to these minutes. The PC felt the stage lighting is not appropriate for this funding. Unfortunately, there is no guarantee of if or when any money will be forthcoming and the CCTV replacement and repair is due to go ahead at the end of this week.
An extract from an email from Martin Bottwood in response to the draft minutes states:
There are several projects that are in the S106 funding lists including the CCTV camera requirements and the Pre-school flooring that we know will not wait for a prolonged period before funds are released. As soon as we know what total contributions are agreed by CBC with the developers and what can be released to separate projects, the PC will find out what can be paid retrospectively (if any). The S106 sign off is now on the critical path for the Linden Homes project so the S106 budget should be agreed fairly soon. However, it goes without saying that urgent needs will need to be fulfilled even if existing funds are used.
Manuals for water heating appliances These should have been left with the Pre-School and Shop by the installers. The secretary will check. It would be better if they are kept with the LCC’s manuals in the newly shelved “boiler-room”.
There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.20 pm, having maintained social distancing at all times.