Minutes of Past Parish Hall Meetings

Minutes of the Ashwater Parish Hall Committee (Registered Charity Number 1016238) Meeting Held on Wednesday 5th August 2009

Present: M Timney, Lawrence Langston (chair), Ivan Buxton (Sec) B George (Treasurer), A Shadrick, T Moon, C Moon, John Forward, Ali Rowe (Minute taker), Edward Gliddon, Eric Burnill, Brian Cox, Wendy Lee, Letitia Yetman, Di Buxton, Karen Coles, Ann Shadrick, Reg. Williams
Apologies: Sue George, Mary Glidden, A Stacey, Terry Darby

1. Minutes

Minutes of the previous ordinary meeting (1/7/09) were agreed as a true record and duly signed.

2. Matters Arising

3. Fund Raising Agricultural Show (15th August)

Ivan sought volunteers for running Skittles, BBQ these were forthcoming and details for the event were agreed.

  1. Church Dog Show (4th July)
    The cake stall raised £20.
  2. District Councillor’s Grant
    Whether this money has been achieved will be known by 22/9/09. It has been signed off by the Councillor, but needs to go through Committee. It has been allocated for bicycle racks and P.A system if the bid is successful.
  3. Grass Roots (not Green Shoots as previously recorded) Grants (up to £5k)
    This will be bid of £3k for portable staging. This was agreed (Prop. L Yetman, Sec. A. Rowe).
  4. Greening Communities (British Gas)
    Lawrence will look to see what is necessary to claim some of this.

4. New Hall: Building Work

The slab is complete and scaffolding is going up. The timber frame is expected this week. Paperwork has come on-line for Malcolm and John to go through, including a revised cash-flow. The builders are on schedule. The Lottery awaits a bill and this is on its way. John has received Building Regs. Drawings and thermal calculations from Trewins and all is as expected.

The Sign Board from the Big Lottery has not yet been received

Ivan visited another hall that cost £690k, considerably more than ours will and they only had a slightly bigger kitchen and meeting room. The ceiling of the hall was marginally higher, but otherwise they did not seem to have a proportionately better hall.

5. Old Hall: Sale

Ivan has been in touch with Solicitor and Estate Agent. The pack is being put together and the auction is likely to be in the 1st or 2nd week of October, with a guide price of around £60k. A reserve price will be agreed, but only at the last minute and only by a few members of the committee.
Malcolm will mark out the site for potential buyers, and to answer a query that has been received about access alongside.

6. General Purposes Committee (GP Committee)

  1. Conditions and Cost of Hire
    Ivan tabled a set of conditions and invited comments. It should be noted that it is imperative that local people must have discount and priority on bookings. Smoking will obviously be banned in the building, but not the car park. It was agreed that a designated area with bins for buts would be desirable.
    Comments on proposed conditions of hire should be passed to Ivan.
  2. Kitchen
    Wendy has received one plan from a kitchen fitter but is hoping to receive another. A wash hand basin and a hatch to the meeting room are required. Darren Littlejohns from Torridge can come and advise on what can/cannot be done in the proposed kitchen and it was agreed that he should be consulted as soon as possible.
    There were discussions around the need for hygienic walls and non-slip floors. The builders have allowed a budget of £2.3k for kitchen fittings and will need to know very soon if they are not required to fit the kitchen. Layout of electric sockets etc is also needed by the builders. The extractor fan was included in the original specification.

    3. Action
    • Ivan to arrange meeting with D Littlejohns asap, Wendy will also be involved in this consultation.
    • John to liaise with builders re: arrangements for kitchen.
  3. Staff
    A report on applications for potential staff, (for Hall Manager, and/or Bookings Secretary and Cleaner) was presented by Ali. There were no applications, as yet for the role of Caretaker and/or Grounds persons.
    The GP Committee had previously proposed that there should be a ‘professional’ hall manager who would be paid commission on lettings to people from outside the parish. The Treasurer suggested that any hall manager should manage finances, under a Director with Financial responsibility, so that s/he has some flexibility in his/her operation. The Committee will continue to hold overall responsibility but the staff members will act on behalf of the committee on a day-to-day basis. The Company Limited by Guarantee will be the employers and the Manager will hold day-to-day management responsibility for other staff.
    It was agreed that Ali should arrange to interview (informal) those who have applied. Ann and Leticia volunteered to sit on a panel to meet applicants.

7. Time Capsule

The school has agreed to be involved in this project. Ivan will arrange a session with them in September. Each child will be provided with a small plastic container and some children will be invited to be involved in burying the capsule at the opening event. (see below)

8. Opening Events

It was agreed that there should be a delay between the hall being available for hire and being formally opened.
Official Opening: Date was agreed as Sat. 20th March 2010.
A budget of £1,500 should be set aside for these events so that people will not be put off by price of tickets. The GP committee were asked to think through these events and make proposals.
A local celebrity should be invited to open the hall and people were asked to bring suggestions to the next meeting.
It was also agreed that there should be a children’s event during the day, as well as a ball etc in the evening; and fireworks at Midnight.
It was reported that Chris Platters cabaret has been booked as a break between disco/music/band.

9. Insurance

It was reported that this had been renewed on the old hall and the plot for the new hall, as well as Trustees cover. The new building is covered by the builder’s insurance until it is handed over. John will check whether burglar alarms are required.

10. Treasurers’ Reports

Old Hall Current £137.59 Reserve £532.25
New Hall Current £20,166.30 Reserve £0.70

11. Any Other Business

Hallmark Status
Ivan has investigated and considers that we will qualify for stage 1 with all that we will have done by the time the hall opens. Stage 2 will require health and safety policies etc which will need to do in any case.
Directions and Sign Posts
It was agreed that direction signs will be needed for the hall, and a sign board and notice board. The Parish Council will be asked to request brown ‘Parish Hall’ signs.
Insurance
It was confirmed that the insurance on the old hall is due for renewal in July and enquiries will be made about what insurance to put in place for the new hall, and when. It was noted that the hall is being built with a fire alarm, but no burglar alarm, the insurers may require the latter.

Date of Next Meeting

Wednesday 2nd September, 2009
(GP Committee 1st Sept)

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