Minutes of the Extraordinary Full Council Meeting – Tuesday 18 August 2020
BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
THE NEXT MEETING OF BRACKLA COMMUNITY COUNCIL
EXTRAORDINARY MEETING OF THE FULL COUNCIL
Tuesday 18th August 2020
6.30pm via Video Link
Members of Brackla Community Council are summoned to attend this meeting
Members Present
Cllr T Giffard – Chairperson
Cllr D Aston
Cllr I Hibble
Cllr K Hughes
Cllr J Spanswick
Cllr T Walsh
Mrs R Keepins – Clerk of the Council
Mr P Ley – Assistant Clerk/Responsible Finance Office
Miss H May – Admin Officer
41 Apologies for Absence
Cllr E Capparos
Cllr C Jackson
Cllr K Rowlands
42 Declarations of Interest
Cllr I Hibble, declared a personal interest as a Civil Servant working for Welsh Government.
Cllr J Spanswick, declared a personal interest in relation to Item 44 ‘Re-opening of Brackla Community Centre and Playpark’ as his Grandson attends Banana Moon Nursery.
Clerk, R Keepins declared a personal interest in relation to Item 44, ‘Re-opening of Brackla Community Centre and Playpark’ as her Daughter will be attending Banana Moon Nursery.
43 Annual Audit 2019-20
The RFO presented the Annual Audit Return for 2019-20, highlighting that the Community Council started the year with £41,282 and ended with £71,184. He informed the Council; that the VAT return had been undertaken and claimed; there were numerous debtors listed due to many user groups of the centre owing their last bill in March 2020 but had been unable to pay due to the Covid -19 lockdown; and the main creditor that was highlighted was Centregreat for the Christmas lights as we had not received the invoice. This, he reported, had since been paid. He advised the Council that the public notice had gone up notifying the public that the accounts would be available to view from 1 September so all was on track.
Resolved:
The Annual Audit was approved, proposed by Cllr J Spanswick and seconded by Cllr K Hughes.
44 Community Centre Committee Recommendations
The Clerk presented the recommendations of the Community Centre Committee in relation to the reopening of the Community Centre:
Resolved:
The Council approved the Community Centre Committee’s recommendations as detailed below:
The Committee recommend that based on the current legislation only allowing community centres to open for essential voluntary or public services, and in the interest of public health, the Council do not open the Community Centre for normal usage for either August or September. Instead, the Committee recommend that usage by the nursery (as an essential public service) as well as consideration of the request to use the hall for the issuing of flu vaccinations, be prioritised for these months.
In relation to any future reopening, the Committee’s initial observations are:
• That the kitchen should not be used as it is difficult to socially distance in this area;
• That the maximum number of users in the hall at any one time be 30;
• That a one way entry and exit system be introduced if required;
• That social distancing and all other relevant signage be placed in the building and outside;
• That a toilet procedure be introduced so that only one person leaves the hall at a time so as to maintain social distancing i.e. queuing outside the toilet would not enable social distancing;
• That the cleaning charge be met by the Community Council as it was felt it would be unfair to put this cost onto the individual user groups;
• That the Committee room and Small Office remain closed;
• That a designated room be assigned for any person(s) showing signs of symptoms so that they can self-isolate until they are picked up or leave the building.
Proposed by Cllr D Aston and seconded by Cllr I Hibble
45 Finances
The RFO presented information relating to the current financial position of the Council as a result of Covid-19 lockdown in order to assess whether there was a need to apply for financial assistance.
Covid Financial Implications
Reserves as at 31.3.2020
Earmarked
Centre 25,000
Election 3,089
Youth Project 1,000
29,089
General Reserve 44,095
Total reserves 73184
Add Underspend
2020-21 Budget
Events 16,000
Summer Playscheme 3,500
Civic Service 850
Total Underspend 20350
Available 93534
Less Agreed Spending from Reserves
Hanging baskets Brackets – between £7,100.00 and £8,500.00
Winter Bedding – they allowed up to £500.00
Gateway Signs x 4 £3,834.84 plus installation costs
Benches/Bins – not sure how much yet for bins but an extra bench will be approx. £500.00
Re-setting of drain – approx. £120.00
Car Park Street Lights – £1,150.00
Total 14605
Remaining Funds 78929
less existing earmarked 29089
predicted general reserve 20/21 49840
Predicted Centre Costs this Year
Salaries 8704
GAS/Elec/water 4167 last year
Licences/Insurance 1612 last year
Misc 1278 to date i.e. month 3 end of june
Cathedral 1509 paid quarterly £503.10
Hand Sanitiser 468 3/4 of year
Roof repair 350
Cleaning Materials 250
Window Cleaning 450
Fire/Electric /GasTest 1000
PPE ?
Total 19788
INCOME 2500 MIN
The RFO identified the numerous commitments that had now been agreed such as hanging basket brackets replacement and gateway signs for Brackla, and presented the recent and expected expenditure for the Centre.
He informed the Council that as indicated by the balance sheet, even with a loss of income from the Centre, due to the underspends in various sectors such as events there was no real financial issue at the current time.
Members agreed that given the information provided the finances seemed in a healthy situation and even with the loss of income from the Centre, the Council would be unlikely to be able to claim for any assistance towards this due to the reserves and balances indicated.
The RFO did highlight that a Finance meeting was being organised for September where subjects such as Christmas lights and bins, as well as the reallocation of reserves was to be considered.
Resolved:
It was agreed that based on the current and predicted financial situation of the Community Council, there was no evidence to suggest that any financial assistance was required at this time.
Members did request that any future centre costs reflect the associated management costs for the Clerk and the RFO in order to present a full picture of the current and predicted situation.
46 Brackla in Bloom
The Clerk informed Members that the deadline for entry into this year’s competition had now passed and that unfortunately there had not been many entries. Cllr D Aston explained that he had spoken to some local residents who have entered in previous years who had stated that due to Covid-19 and garden centres being closed they were unable to purchase many plants and hadn’t had much luck with ordering online. For this reason they had decided not to enter this year’s Brackla in Bloom Competition.
Resolved:
It was agreed that a certificate and £10 voucher would be given to each entry this year in recognition of their hard work and as a thank you for entering. This was proposed by Cllr D Aston and seconded by Cllr J Spanswick.