Present: A. Dicks, A. Moore, J. Tollafield, M. Down, C. Ronan, K. Dalton-Aram, M. Hansell.
Welcome & Apologies: J.Parsons, S. Stride, K. Wallis, K. Salter, S. Ward.
The Chair welcomed everyone to the Committee meeting and thanked them for attending.
Election of Representatives: Martin, as Vice Chair took over the meeting:
Chair: A. Dicks Proposer: M. Down Seconder: C. Ronan
Secretary: M. Hansell Proposer:M. Down Seconder: C. Ronan
Treasurer: A. Moore Proposer: M. Down Seconder: C. Ronan
The Clause 5 Rules of Management was then signed by each of those present.
Minutes: The minutes of the meeting held on 1st April 2019 had been previously circulated. They were agreed as being correct and signed.
Matters Arising:
(1) Insurance renewal: trustee and director indemnity – now included.
(2) Insurance cover for committees: clarification of circumstances when there is no cover – still outstanding
Action: Kate
(3) Disabled access ramp at rear – Two quotes have been obtained from Tony Young (A) to remove fire exit door and reverse hang it, form a wide concrete ramp and fix hand rail to right side = £450. (B) Leave fire exit door as is and create a railing to a narrower concrete ramp as discussed, with hand rail = £360. There was a brief discussion following which it was agreed that Option B was preferred. April will give the go-ahead to Tony to do the work. There are also holes in the stonework of the north wall of the hall and Tony will be asked to repair these at the same time.
Action: April
(4) Website progress: Eddie has stepped down from the Committee and has apologised for not having completed the work on the website. He is endeavouring to find someone else to undertake the task, assisted by Sara.
Action: Sara
(5) New chairs: April brought in a sample chair, costing £28 each, which comes with a 5 year guarantee for the frame and a 2 year guarantee for the upholstery. April had also received details of a variety of other designs and produced pictures and prices. There was a lengthy discussion about numbers required, price, storage and style and it was finally agreed bearing in mind cost, the most appropriate chair that best met the needs of hall use was the sample one brought in. It was agreed that 20 would be purchased.
Action: April
(6) VAT refund on electricity charges – April had researched further and discovered that this was a non-starter. Qualification was based on time of use and only one organisation was using the hall enough and that is the Social Club, but, social club use was not eligible for refunds. Kate thanked April for undertaking the enquiries.
(7)(i) External lighting – still outstanding
Action: Audrey
(7)(ii) Hanging spotlight in main hall – repaired
(7)(iv) Amazon Smile – the hall is now registered under Amazon Smile as The Peek Hall and 0.5% of every net purchase made through Amazon Smile will be donated by Amazon to the hall.
(7)(vi) Governing Document, updating of – ongoing
Action: Sara
(7)(viii) Defib public notices – still outstanding
Action: Audrey
Correspondence Received: Mary had received an email from Eddie on 14 May stating that he has stood down as Parish Clerk and thus from the Committee. Mary had thanked Eddie for all the support he had given the hall in past years.
Secretary’s Report: Nothing further to report other than the double glazing has been taken down and windows washed in the main hall and there was only the large window in the Committee room to clean.
Treasurer’s Report: Deposit account: £5,659.49; current account: £16,783.49 – this includes the legacy. Nothing further to report.
A.O.B.:
(i) Roof repairs: roofing experts, O’Briens, based in Bridport, have been and assessed the roof. It is a clay roof and as such, will cost hundreds of thousands to replace. There are 7 tiles that have slipped. To erect a scaffold tower and supply and fit 7 tiles will cost £366.86 plus VAT. They advised that we can only undertake repairs as and when needed. It was agreed to obtain a quote from Tony Young for comparison purposes.
Action: April
(ii) Hire charges: April wanted to discuss raising hire charges as they had remained unchanged for several years. There was a lengthy discussion about current costs, what other halls charged, what would be a suitable price increase for regular users and one off users, the need to keep regular users and not drive them away to other venues. Kate suggested regular users could get a discount, say 10%. Eventually it was agreed that prices would increase as follows:
| Parish residents | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current charge | New charge | |
| Use of Committee room | £8.00 | No change |
| Use of Main hall | £15.00 | No change |
| Weddings | £50.00 | £60.00 |
| Children’s parties | £20.00 | £25.00 |
| Adult parties | £35.00 | £40.00 |
| Non Parish persons | ||
|---|---|---|
| Current charge | New charge | |
| Use of Committee room | £15.00 | £20 |
| Use of Main hall | £20.00 | £25 |
| Weddings | £60.00 | £70.00 |
| Children’s parties | £25.00 | £30.00 |
| Adult parties | £40.00 | £45.00 |
Caravan rallies hire at the non-resident adult party rate with a reduction for multiple bookings, as before.
Classes/Groups that hire regularly will continue to receive a reduction in price so:
- Spinners (committee room) will increase from £8.00 to £9.00
- Yoga/Pilates/Taekwondo/Life Drawing will all increase from £12.00 to £14.00
Commercial All day hire (this would include first aid and willow workshops) will be £30 for the committee room and £40 for the main hall
Kate suggested that if more rooms were needed consideration could be given to making use of the Social Club providing the bar had a security grill to shut it off. Martin said that there were lots of things stored under seats due to lack of storage facilities, so these would need to be put somewhere else. April said that at the moment there wasn’t the demand and it was also worth noting that the Social Club paid half the electricity bill.
(iii) New post for banners: It was proposed that a new post be put in the front at a suitable distance from the current pots, to enable banners to be hung so that they would be clearly visible from the road. It was agreed by all that this was a good idea. Martin kindly offered to undertake the work.
Action: Martin
April advised that when the tower was being painted by Tony he noted that one of the posts was in a poor state of repair. He has undertaken remedial work and will monitor deterioration but in about 15 – 20years it is likely that it will need replacing.
There being no other business the meeting closed at 9.30pm