LANGHAM COMMUNITY COUNCIL

Minutes of a Trustee Meeting
held on 5th October 2017 at 7.30 pm.

Present
Alan Cadman (Chairman), Liz Winter (Secretary), Maureen Shouksmith (Treasurer), Andrew Craig, Liz and Bob Schofield, Mark Kleingeld, James Puxley, Denise Hobday, Melanie Everett, Jutta Brawn, Sue Armstrong.

Apologies for Absence
Marlena Lipski

Minutes of previous Trustee Meeting held 20th July 2017
Andrew Craig proposed and Liz Schofield 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
Central Heating Lindseys have told Alan that the new pumps are so efficient that the water cannot circulate fast enough through the furred-up pipes under the hall floor and is returning to the boiler, causing the cistern to overflow. Turning the pumps down should alleviate the problem but, if the system fails altogether, new heater units would be required costing several thousand pounds, since the cost of taking up the hall floor to replace the pipes would be prohibitive.
Car park Alan’s men had tried to clear the drains today which were completely full. However, the roadside drain into which ours runs is blocked and Essex County Council are overdue to clear it. The Parish Council is contacting Anne Brown about it. We still need to draw up a specification for the repairs. Ken Dilliway had said he could do this but it ought to be an independent party. Alan’s men have been too busy with their own work. This issue is becoming urgent, having been postponed for eighteen months already.
Rubbish The Shop may be given containers for recycling their refuse by the Borough Council which will be emptied free of charge in exchange for their supplying recycling bags and boxes on the CBC’s behalf. Nigel Chapman had mentioned a “locality fund” which might help with funding a large wheelie bin for the LCC. The secretary would contact Nigel. EW
Coin Meters Future Electrics was still having difficulty sourcing a meter for the new £1 coin.
The one in the entrance lobby was being kept as a £2 coin only meter to save extra expense.

Chairman’s Report
Alan was still awaiting insurance quotes. The proposal needed to be updated to reflect last year’s turnover and salaries. He explained that he was exceptionally busy at work but would progress the car park and disabled facility upgrade as quickly as possible. AC

Treasurer’s Report
Maureen was pleased to report that George Pearce had finished his examination of our accounts for 2016-17 and completed the forms so that they could now be submitted to the Charity Commission online. The Secretary would attend to this as soon as possible. His advice was that there is a way we could deduct the amounts paid to us for Shop electricity and Danshell buffets from our income but it would be quite complicated. It was felt we should leave things as they are for now. He also informed Maureen that the 12-month turnover period for calculating VAT applied on a rolling basis and not per tax year.
Figures for August had been circulated and funds as at 4th October are £43,743: current account £10,985; deposit account £32,001; petty cash £756. Andrew suggested that we need to extract from the spreadsheet a monthly profit figure to enable us to see that we are on track to afford the planned maintenance. He volunteered to help Maureen set this up. Although we know we are in a strong financial position, we should have evidence that our earnings cover our proposed expenditure. MS/ACr
The meeting thanked Maureen for her hard work in getting to grips with the spreadsheets on the laptop.

Marketing Manager/Caretaker’s Report
Sue’s report had been circulated. Danshell have provisionally booked till December and we have had a new caravan club hire. Mel asked if the caravans could be sited further away from the Pre-School in future if they hire on a weekday, since it poses safeguarding issues for them. Some Fun Run competitors had parked on the football pitch which fortunately was dry enough for no damage to be done. James said that there were so many entrants this year that they couldn’t all be accommodated. It was agreed that Liz W would write to Eve Oxley to suggest that, if they expected as many next year, extra parking would need to be sought elsewhere in the village.
The annual fire evacuation test made it clear that not all hirers realised the need to unlock the rear doors onto the field when they are using the main hall, although the key is with the chair cupboard keys and on the wall. Some had said the Committee room exit is too dark. Perhaps we need to install another light.
Liz W, Jutta and Maureen were doing the Toy Fair café on Sunday. Bob volunteered for 3rd December with help. Andrew had manned the Volunteer bar for the car club in September and agreed to do 19th October and 16th November with James. The Community Café rota needs organisations to come forward. Denise volunteered the Scouts for October and possibly February. Liz W would ask the Bridge Club to consider doing March’s at their AGM this month. EW
On 15th October Sue proposes to get the Essex University students to paint the stage floor, the bar area and front in the Club room and the wall around the hatch area in the main hall.

Feasibility Study for disabled toilet
A revised study had been received from CBH with an additional £2,000 added for changes to the doors onto the field. It was felt the proposed concrete path was a misunderstanding. It would be very expensive at £11,000 and did not need to run from the existing one near the tennis court, but could begin from the car park at the south-east corner of the building. Also we have spare slabs from the patio which could be utilised for part of it. CBH have confirmed that they would not procure grant aid for us but Andrew was prepared to take a lead with this and felt sure we could manage it between us, as he had already identified several sources.
There is no provision of a stairlift in the study but Alan assured the Trustees that a “Prime Cost Sum” can be written into the cost of the works which will cover this aspect. Sue had acquired quotes for a stairlift when it was considered previously. There would also need to be provision for evacuation of disabled persons from the Committee Room in case of fire. We had not yet received an invoice for the cost of the Study.

A proposal that the Trustees approve the Feasibility Study, once the changes to the concrete path have been made, was put forward by Mark Kleingeld and seconded by Liz Winter. The Trustees were in unanimous agreement. Alan will give Lee details of the alteration early next week and ask them to draw up the specification. AC

CCTV and entrance gate light
Various options were considered for improvements including a new dim light camera and infra-red illuminator, a timer light at the gate etc. It was finally agreed to put a sensor light on the lamppost so that those opening and closing the gate could see the padlock numerals more clearly. The matter will be considered again when it comes up in the maintenance plan.

Data Protection
Next year the Data Protection Act will be replaced by the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Small charities such as village halls can be exempt from the need to pay an annual registration fee of £35. However, Liz W had looked on the Information Commissioner’s Office website, where it states that any organisation using CCTV to monitor their premises must register. This was confirmed in a phone call to the ICO. There must be a named responsible person, codes of practice and details of any information held.
Alan queried this, since we only hold the CCTV footage for a short time, at which point it is recorded over. Liz would go back to the ICO with this query but, in any case, we shall need to
keep records of how data is held regarding hirers and Trustees. Liz W was willing to take on this role with help from Sue, who has already provided a list of data which she holds and how it is held. Liz will report progress at the next meeting. EW

Any Other Business
None

Date of next meeting
The next Trustee Meeting will be held on Thursday 25th January 2018 at 7.30 pm in the clubroom.
The next Finance sub-committee will meet at Alan’s house at 7.30 pm on Monday 30th October.

There being no further business, the meeting closed at 9.45 pm.