LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of a Trustee Meeting
held on 25th October 2018 at 7.30pm.

Present
Alan Cadman (Chairman), Liz Winter (Secretary), Maureen Shouksmith (Treasurer), Peter Dawson, Andrew Craig, Jutta Brawn, Maria Bukovenczki, James Puxley, Marlena Lipski, Mark Kleingeld, Sue Armstrong.

Apologies for Absence
Daphne Bettle, Denise Hobday, Gill Brown, Elizabeth Schofield, Bob Schofield

Minutes of previous Trustee Meetings held 23rd July 2018
Maureen Shouksmith proposed and Mark Kleingeld seconded that the Minutes be accepted as a true record. Carried unanimously. Alan signed the Minutes. Now that they had been approved, they would be posted on the Community Centre noticeboard. EW

Matters Arising
1. There had been no progress with the disabled toilet as CBC had failed to send out the specification to tender at the beginning of September as promised. When Alan spoke to them last week, they could not give him a date but said they were “very behind”. The further delay is very disappointing.
2. Of three firms who had agreed to tender for the car park repairs, only one had actually submitted a tender. As it was little more than one received two years ago from Frinton Tarmac and no alternative had been forthcoming, it was agreed to ask Taydal to go ahead on an urgent basis (but see Chairman’s Report below).
3. Alan had received a quotation from Lindsey’s for an air conditioning/heating system to replace the current system which heats the hall and clubroom. It is a VRV system by Daikin quoted at £29,000 and would be all electric. He intended to send this quote to Carys Morgan at the CBC as requested in the hope of gaining funding for it. The Trustees felt that meanwhile they would like more details of how it would work and opinions from people who were already using such a system regarding efficiency and noise. AC
4. Maureen confirmed that a refund had been received from HMRC. Unfortunately, Alan only gets a Wave water bill every six months, so we would have to check the next one for any overpayment. The monthly direct debit has been reduced.
5. Andrew stated that no invoice for WiFi use had been issued to the Shop for the July-Sept quarter. They had paid for their electricity use only. Sue would deal with this. SA

Chairman’s Report
Insurance Alan had met twice with our insurance brokers to get a quote to renew the hall insurance. He had no written confirmation yet, but was told it would be within £20 of last year’s premium, despite his having increased our cover based on turnover and staff salaries. The Trustees agreed to accept the quote if such an amount is confirmed. AC

Car park The tarmac contractors had specified four days to complete repairs, including two days for the entrance. Andrew Craig pointed out that the Shop could not afford to lose four days’ trading in the run-up to Christmas, a view with which the Trustees sympathised. There was a discussion of possible alternative parking and whether the work could be carried out between 26th December and the return to school in January. In any event, dates would have to be agreed with Sue Armstrong to accommodate large hires. Alan would ask the contractors to contact her. The secretary would write to the head of the Oaks to see whether parking might be available at their barn entrance. AC/SA/EW
100 year armistice celebration Peter Dawson asked on behalf of the Parish Council whether the Trustees would be willing to waive the hire charge for the planned events taking place on 11.11.18. This was unanimously agreed and would be the LCC’s contribution to the centenary event.
Alan also agreed to send Carys Morgan’s contact details to Peter in case the PC could acquire funding.
Alan was thanked for all that he had done.

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen’s cumulative balance sheet and P&L account for September had been circulated prior to the meeting. As at this evening our current account balance is £8.493.53 and the deposit account £50,072 after transfers. For VAT purposes, our turnover for the past 12 months was £60,000. (The VAT threshold is £83,000.) There were no questions arising.
£3.30 would be taken each month from the petty cash to pay for our business e-mail addresses (those ending in @langhamcommunitycentre.org.uk) with Google.

Sue has warned us that, while Paul Armstrong had kindly updated and designed our website free of charge, there may come a time when this would need to be paid for at a potential cost of £100 per annum. (*The secretary apologises for omitting this item from the agenda.)

Alan asked Maureen to respond to a letter from Barclays Bank regarding updating of Trustees’ details. MS

Peter pointed out that the Parish Council’s auditors were not happy with the position regarding the Bonds (NS&I Income Bond) valued at £26,000, which were held in the PC’s name but from which the LCC obtained the interest. The auditors would like it transferred into our name. The secretary would find out more details and the Finance committee would look into it at their next meeting. Andrew Craig would be happy to help. EW

Marketing Manager/Caretaker’s Report
Sue’s comprehensive report had been circulated. It was clear that Sue had been very busy as usual attracting hires and there were cries of “hear, hear” when Andrew thanked her.
Andrew was unable to man the Car Club bar on 15th November but James said he could help from 7pm if the bar were set up for him. Maureen and Liz would man the Toy Fair café on 2nd December with Bob Schofield, if available.
The Essex University students had done a brilliant job once again of painting in the hall and clubroom, including the stage floor and bar front. The secretary would write to thank them.
The only urgent item outstanding was the car park resurfacing.
Pre-School
Maria gave a short report confirming that numbers were up and that better liaison had been established with the Primary School. Rent is being paid in full and there is a waiting list for next September. The outside area is badly in need of resurfacing and Dream 100 has been approached for a grant. An outside tap exists on the patio which could probably be extended for use in their outside area.
An after-school club had approached the Pre-School but no response had been received since the initial meeting. Everyone agreed that such a club would be brilliant for Pre-School and Primary children but, unfortunately, the Pre-School premises were too small and the hall too fully booked. It appears that the School cannot offer a room after 4.30pm.
The Trustees were very pleased to hear that things were looking up. The secretary had received an e-mail from Nahida thanking us for helping them out over the rent.

There was no other business

Date of next meeting
The next Finance Committee Meeting will be held on Monday 26th November at 7.30 pm at Alan’s house.
The next Trustee meeting is booked for Thursday 31st January 2019 at 7.30 pm.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 9.20 pm.