NORTH FERRIBY VILLAGE HALL TRUST
Minutes of the Meeting of the Management Committee
held in the Village Hall on Thursday, 28th October 2010
Present: Messrs. Bannister (Vice Chairman), Hancock (Assistant Treasurer), Lees, Swindin (Chair), Truby
Mesdames Dagwell, Davies, Hudson (Treasurer), Hutchinson, Lineham, Jolly, Robertson, Swindin (Secretary), Truby
In attendance: Mr. Stelling
1. Apologies for absence
Apologies had been received from Mrs. Selkirk and Mr. Smith.
The Chairman opened the meeting by introducing Mr. Stelling, the new caretaker, who was attending his first meeting.
2. Minutes of last Meeting
The Chairman summarised the Minutes of the meeting held on 23rd September, which were unanimously accepted as a true record of the proceedings.
3. Matters arising from the Minutes
Repairs: The new plaster in the Priory Room, rear lobby and caretaker’s store had dried out and could be painted.
Caretaker Sign: Mrs. Hudson had arranged for a sign bearing Mr. Stelling’s name to be produced.
Parish Council Notice Boards: It was agreed that the two boards could remain. They would benefit from a coat of paint.
4. Correspondence
a) The Chairman had received a reminder from Mark Tabert about an outstanding invoice; the Treasurer confirmed that the bill had now been paid.
b) The Chairman had received an invitation to attend the A.G.M. of the Humber and Wolds Rural Communities Council and would be attending with John Halmshaw. He hoped to have an opportunity to talk to Margaret Kirk, the Village Halls Adviser, about capital grants. He asked whether anyone else would like to attend and Mr. Bannister said that he might be able to.
c) When the Village Hall Deeds were returned from the solicitor the Chairman had been able to ascertain that the occupant of no. 10 West View had illegally extended her garden on to Village Hall land and that the fence obstructed a right of way. He had carried out further checks on two recent planning applications, both of which showed the boundary to be in line with the side of the house. He had therefore written to the occupant on 7th October requesting her to re-site her fence. It was noted that as this had not yet been done he would contact her again.
d) The Secretary had forwarded to Hall users an invitation to advertise Christmas fairs and other events in a special feature in the November issue of the East Riding News. Two groups had taken up the offer.
e) The Treasurer had received a letter from the HWRCC inviting us to join their Rural Communities Buildings website. Since this entailed a charge of £52 for one year the Committee decided to decline.
5. Caretaker’s Report
Mr. Stelling told the Committee that he had tried to meet all the regular users. He had checked comparative matters at Hessle Town Hall and felt that we could advertise in libraries etc. to attract more users. If we organised a quiz it could raise in excess of £700 and they were very popular in this area. Mr. Bannister said that the Fundraising Coordination Group was considering a competitive quiz between village streets or areas, and Mr. Lees said that the recent quiz and drama evening had been extremely successful and would be happy to join another group in organising a further one. Mr. Stelling was planning to write an article about his appointment for the Parish Magazine. He was also preparing an order for County Supplies.
Mr. Stelling left the meeting at this point.
6. Finance
The Treasurer distributed her monthly financial summary and explained that there was almost £3,500 in the general account; however, two invoices had still to be paid: £1,404 to Calverts and £232 to Yorkshire Water. The Chairman told the Committee that the situation had eased somewhat as he had negotiated a rescheduling of the payments to the Parish Council so that the first instalment under the rental share agreement for the surgery would be paid in March 2011 rather than September 2010. He was grateful to the Parish Council for enabling us to overcome the cash flow problem caused by the delayed receipt of income from the surgery. He and the Treasurer would need to meet to ascertain the amount of the service charge due from the practice and any additional costs of the refurbishment which needed to be invoiced.
It was agreed to switch the electricity supply from EdF to E.ON when our current contract expired in December. The paint for the Lifestyle project had cost £140 but there was enough left for further decoration; the Chairman expressed the Trust’s gratitude to Rebellacca for carrying out the work.
Following discussion about the gas leak and the cost of repairing the heaters in the Priory Rooms, the Chairman said there was a possibility of a grant in the next financial year from the Parish Council to replace the heating system and that he had contacted three local companies but was awaiting prices before he could submit the application; this had been agreed with the Parish Council Chairman. As far as he was aware the Village Hall had never received a grant from the P.C.
The death of Colin Rochester meant that we needed to appoint a replacement signatory for cheques and it was agreed that Brian Bannister, as Vice-Chairman, should be added to the bank mandate.
7. Surgery
The Chairman reported that the Hessle Grange practice wished to organise an official opening of the new surgery and had proposed that Dr. Robertson be the guest of honour. The Chairman would liaise with him and the practice in connection with the arrangements.
8. Redevelopment
The Chairman wished to congratulate, and thank, Simon Hudson, who had finally been able to make his sponsored parachute jump for the benefit of the fund. Mr. Bannister said that the next event would be the Mini Market on 27th November. The first two monthly draws of the 100 Club had taken place but more members were still needed. Planned events were a Dinner Dance in March 2011 in conjunction with the N.S.P.C.C. and a Quiz Night at the end of January. There were other events under consideration and Mrs. Dagwell suggested that a Casino Night was a possibility.
With regard to the Mini Market, Mr. Bannister said that Fergus Aitken had adapted the rules from the South Cave Farmers’ Market and the Committee approved these, delegating authority to the Fundraising group to approve the selection of products. It was agreed that the rules would be displayed on the day, together with a disclaimer of liability for the Trust.
Mrs. Davies enquired whether it would be appropriate to hold a public meeting to discuss the plans, but it was felt that this was a little premature until we had more feedback from users. Mr. Bannister was arranging a meeting with James Timm, Strategic Asset Manager at E.R.Y.C.
9. Any other Business
Deep Clean: Mrs. Hudson had had a quotation of £575 for a deep clean of the building, excluding the Main Hall ceiling and lights; to do these would cost an extra £125. The Best Contract Cleaning quote had been £800.
Hallmark Quality Standard: As many village halls were now achieving this, and because potential users might start to look for it when choosing a venue, the Treasurer proposed that we should take steps to acquire this. This was agreed to be desirable. It was understood that there was no charge involved.
Dramatic Society: Mr. Lees had a plan of the pantomime stage layout which he would discuss with MAD, the Saturday Dance Group and the Flower Club. He said that Chris Riley was currently unwell and any queries regarding the sound system etc. should be passed to the Secretary, who would contact the appropriate person. The Committee wished to pass on their good wishes to Mr. Riley for a speedy and full recovery.
Chairs: With regard to the money donated by the Charity Dinner Dance organisers, Mrs. Jolly said that she had seen some very comfortable padded folding chairs; the Treasurer would investigate the costs.
10. Date and Time of next Meeting
The next meeting would be held on Thursday, 25th November at 7.30 p.m. in the Village Hall.
Margaret Swindin, Hon. Sec.
29th October, 2010