The main Finance Committee minutes are below.

See also Commons Footpaths And Open Spaces,.... Planning And Development,....

Agenda are at Parish Council Agenda

See also: Redbourn Parish Council

Minutes are draft until signed.

REDBOURN PARISH COUNCIL

Minutes of the Finance Meeting held on Thursday, 10th January 2007 at 7.30 pm in the Council Chamber

PRESENT: Councillor J Lowen, Chairman, A V Bull, Dr W S Pierpoint, Mrs P Schofield, R Stent and A E Swendell

IN ATTENDANCE: Mrs D Whiskin, Clerk to the Council, Mr P Hildebrand, Redbourn Museum,Mr B Boutland, Redbourn Web Site, Mr D Howell, Redbourn Players, Onika Fox, Julie Dunckley, Redbourn Public Tennis Club

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE: Councillor Mrs Maynard and C O’Donovan

Declarations of interest

Councillor Mrs P Schofield Redbourn Recreation Centre, Redbourn In Bloom Councillor W S Pierpoint Redbourn Museum, Redbourn Players Councillor A V Bull Redbourn In Bloom, Redbourn Village Hall

1 Minutes of the meeting

Having been duly proposed and seconded it was RESOLVED to approve and sign the minutes of the Finance Committee held on 23rd November 2006

2 Matters arising

2.1 Bowling Green

The Chairman has written to the District Council regarding the VAT refund and will progress this next week.

2.2 Lighting in Scout Hut

The Clerk to contact the District Council regarding funding to improve the lighting at the Scout Hut.

2.3 Garage for Redbourn Care Group Minibus

The Chairman reported that he had spoken to a fire officer regarding siting the garage for the minibus at the fire station and this is being referred to the regional office. The Clerk has written to the Practice Manager regarding the ownership of the vacant land near the Health Centre.

3. Representation from Village Organisations

3.1 Redbourn Museum

Peter Hildebrand produced a copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association which sets out the aims and objectives of the Museum. The number of people visiting the Museum has increased. Visitors from abroad attend the Museum to trace family history. The Museum is registered but now has to apply for accreditation which will demand considerable work on the part of the Trustees. The museum has a professional curatorial adviser from Hertford who assists the Trustees. To achieve accreditation the computer system and the software will need updating. The Trustees are considering purchasing a laptop and specialist software. The Museum is also considering joining CVS which could advise on fundraising. Bob Boutland said he may be able to find someone who could assist inputting data onto the new system. It was agreed that this task could be shared and a note seeking assistance is to be included in the next Newsletter. Mr Hildebrand was reminded that Museum events may be published in the Newsletter.

There has been a problem with a water leak in the grounds of the Museum and, if this proves significant, it may be necessary to lay a new pipe.

New fire regulations have resulted in an expensive fire inspection which revealed that the fire extinguishes need to be wall mounted. It was noted that the Recreation Centre was given a number of extinguishes and may be willing to donate some to the Museum.

3.2 Web Site

Martin Cleaver has now implemented some of the changes mentioned last year. The web site layout has been changed and is much improved. New features include a larger Parish Council logo and four different pictures alternating across the top with the Redbourn sign in the middle. If the Parish Council wishes to display a particular picture on the site this can be done. Bob Boutland is experimenting with advertising software. No new sponsors have been found. The advertising/sponsorship is not quite meeting costs and the site is £300 short of breaking even. The Prize money from CPRE was used to upgrade the site. It was agreed that the Parish Council would copy sponsorship letters and deliver them to businesses in the High Street. Letters should also be sent to the other businesses in the village and a notice placed in the Parish Newsletter. Martin Cleaver would be willing to adjust the site to include a blog section, however this would be expensive. It was decided to circulate details of this to members so that they may discuss the cost benefits. At present there are 3,000 hits per month on the front page. Members thanked Bob Boutland and Martin Cleaver for their work in producing a very professional web site.

3.3 Redbourn Players

Redbourn Players held two productions last year – both were sold out. They are currently working on “She Stoops to Conquer”. The Christmas production “A Christmas Carol” had a number of young children in the production and proved very popular. The grants have been used to deal with the damp in The Studio which is used for rehearsals. The improvements to the building have increased its lifespan to 20-30 years. There are still some damp areas in the hut and this year’s grant will be used towards dealing with this. It was agreed that David Howell should write a piece for the Newsletter advertising for backstage help with stage scenery, lighting, sound and costumes.

3.4 Redbourn Public Tennis Club

Membership fees have been raised very slightly. The Club has 95 senior members, 28 members between the ages of 16-22 and 22 junior members. Over the past year the club has offered professional coaching which proved very popular with the juniors and generates additional income. This year it the Club is endeavouring to find a local coach and are planning to run more courses during the school holidays. Income over the past year was £5,800 through membership and £1,200 through social events. The club needs at least £6,000 per annum for court maintenance. There will be a £2,000 deficit this year. The top two courts have been resurfaced. The bottom two courts have been repainted and will need resurfacing in two years. A 2’ channel needs to be dug around the courts, either paved or concreted to prevent the weeds destroying the edges of the courts. The Club House is wooden and suffered some damage from the Buncefield explosion. This was repaired by members. Graffiti was sprayed onto the courts which needed removing quickly as visiting teams were attending. Councillor Swendell said he had a graffiti kit which could be used to remove graffiti around the village. Onika thanked the Council for organising the directional sign to the Tennis Club. Bob Boutland said would put a downloadable application form onto the web site. Onika agreed to draft an notice for the Newsletter to attract new members and to seek a volunteer to maintain the grass around the Club. The Club was informed of the Open Day at the Recreation Centre when all village organizations will be offered a free stand to publicise their organization.

4. Audit

Despite several emails the external audit report has not yet been received.

5. Current financial position

A paper showing the current financial position was circulated and the following points were noted:

• the interest received is higher than anticipated • the insurance budget is overspent • Commons budget is broadly on track

6. Draft budget

Members agreed that a balanced budget should be set. The interest rates have just been increased by ¼% which will increase the interest income next year which will help reduce the precept.

6.1 Administration

Councillor Bull presented a Salary Review paper.

Having been duly proposed and seconded it was RESOLVED that the Clerk’s salary be increased by 3.7% to £24,468 for a 30 hour week.

Having been duly proposed and seconded it was RESOLVED that the administration assistant’s salary be increased from £6.50 per hour to £6.75 per hour for hours worked before 6.30pm. Evening work should be paid at £8.10 per hour with a minimum evening payment equivalent to 2 hours.

The stationery/postage budget was reduced to £626, the telephone/internet budget was increased to £975 and the election budget was increased to £600 to reflect the increased costs imposed by the District Council. The audit fees were increased slightly to reflect the changing circumstances.

6.2 Common Footpaths and Open Spaces

The Common, Footpaths and Open Spaces budget was agreed as set out in the draft.

6.3 Grants to village organizations

i) Youth Club

The grant to the Youth Club is used towards maintenance of the building. At the moment the youth workers are carrying out detached work. One member suggested the building should be condemned and consideration given to the youth meetings being held at the Recreation Centre until the new building is built but others felt it was important to keep the Youth Club open. It was suggested that efforts should be made to reinstate the Youth Council.

It was agreed that the grant should remain at £1,000.

The following grants were agreed:

Care Group Minibus Running Costs: £2,250
Museum: £3,000
Village Hall £2,500
Redbourn Recreation Centre £1,500
Tennis Club £ 500
Cricket Club £2,000
Village Web Site £ 550
General Grants £ 500
Redbourn in Bloom £1,100
Redbourn Players £1,500

7. Footpath on The Moor

At previous meetings concern has been expressed over the condition of the footpath on North Common. In view of this members felt that this path should be replaced before a new path on the Common was constructed and it was agreed that funds set aside for the footpath near The Moor should be used to replace the footpath on North Common. A quotation to carry out this work has been received but insufficient funds are available to complete the works. It was agreed that half the path should be reconstructed this year and the remainder as and when funds are available. As this is a change from the agreement made at last year’s Annual Parish Meeting this matter is to be placed on the Agenda for further discussion at this year’s Annual Parish Meeting. This matter is also to be referred to the Common, Footpaths and Open Spaces Committee for discussion on which section of the path should be repaired first. It was agreed that £2,000 should be included in the budget towards these works. The Clerk and Councillor Stent to ascertain any possible sources of funding for this work.

8. Precept

Having been duly proposed and seconded it was RESOLVED that a recommendation be made to full Council to set the precept at £111,078, an increase of 4.4% per household.

9. Any Other Business

9.1 Music Festival at Herts Showground

A copy of an email from a resident in Redding Lane regarding a Music Festival to be held in August in the Herts Showground was circulated. The resident was concerned at the number of people expected to attend the Festival, the noise, traffic congestion and unruly behaviour which may result. The Festival was being held to raise funds for the victims of the Buncefield explosion. Members did not feel they could oppose this application provided that sufficient safeguards were put in place to protect local residents’ access to their properties, sufficient people were employed to marshall the event and the police were informed.

The meeting closed at 10.10pm