16th May 2024 Meeting Minutes

Minutes – Ordinary Parish Council Meeting 16th May 2024

This meeting was held at Letwell Village Hall at 7:30pm.

Present: Councillors: Amanda Wood (Chairperson), Louise Addy, Christina Warr, Liz Ladbrook, Martin Horn

The Acting Clerk: Martin Horn

Parishioners: Eight parishioners were in attendance.

24-066 - To receive and approve reasons for absence
None

24-067 - To receive declarations of interest in respect of business on the agenda.
None

24-068 - To authorise the chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting held on the 11th April 2024 as a true and correct record.

The minutes were confirmed as a true and correct record and the Chairman accordingly signed the file copy.

24-069 - To identify any agenda items which may be considered following the exclusion of the press and public, due to the confidential nature of the business to be discussed.

It was resolved that no items required exclusion  of the press and public.

24-070 - To note any matters arising (For information only)

None

24-071 - Update from Letwell Community Group

Planter at the front of the village hall. Someone has raised that the planter is in front of a listed building. The clerk has already raised a query with RMBC planning to ask for advice. It has been suggested that temporary pots be used.  Proposed by Cllr Wood seconded by Cllr Ladbrook that temporary pots be used in front of the hall. AGREED BY ALL

Can the LCG have some time at the Annual Meeting to tell everyone what they do. It was agreed they could. Letwell Music have also been offered some time. Clerk

24-072 - Update on the Street Fayre

Everything is in place for the day. Discussion took place about siting of a new freezer in the village hall. It has been suggested it be placed in the kitchen. The kitchen is to be measured to see if it will fit. After the meeting the kitchen was measured and it was agreed that there was not enough room in the cupboard space and it will be stored temporarily in the store room.

24-073 - To give an update on the financial situation of the Parish Council.
Most of the accounts are in place for the 2023-24 year. Nat West provided all of the financial transactions for the last 2.5 years. Cllr Addy has provided a document to the Police with all the known irregularities. Cllr Addy is waiting for the Police to take a statement.

24-074 - Open Forum for Parishioners in Attendance – Public Participation Session (up to 30 minutes will be allowed)

1. Should the bunting be put up for the D Day event. It was agreed that it should. Request will be made to have it it put up early.
2. The trees on the Ramper were briefly raised. This has been added to the Parish Meeting
3. Can the bench on the triangle by Church Lane be repainted? Cllr Wood volunteered to arrange this.
4. Can the light in the bus shelter be switched off? The switch is faulty and an electrician has been asked for a quote.
5. Are there any other flags for the flag pole? There is only a Yorkshire flag, should there be a Union or St George flags?
6. Are there too many groups that fund raise in the village? It was agreed this should be discussed at the Annual Meeting.
7. A point was raised that decisions should not be changed after being agreed in meetings.

24-075 - To receive an update in respect of planning matters and consider any further action on ongoing applications.
NoneTo receive information on the following issues and decide further action, where necessary.

24-076 Phone box and bus shelter lights, water leak at bus shelter

Lights have been replaced in the phone box and the bus shelter. The roof on the bus shelter has been repaired by a resident, it needs to be checked for future leaks. A quote has been requested to fix the lights being on permanently.

24-077 Update on Parish Council Processes

All processes have been put in place except the new Financial Regulations which has been deferred to the next meeting.

24-078 Internal Audit

The internal audit is booked for 10th June, Cllr Warr has agreed to attend the meeting with the auditor.

24-079 Website Changes

The website has had a lot of changes with information brought up to date. It was requested that some new photographs be added after this years Street Fayre, a resident will be taking photographs

24- 080 Advertising for a new Clerk

At present a clerk would cost the Parish Council too much. Cllr Horn has agreed to continue to be the Clerk for now but see what the cost would be to employ a Clerk.

24 - 081 D Day commemoration

Put the bunting up in the hall and on the street. Cllr Warr will ask the window cleaner to put up the bunting on the street earlier than usual.

24-082 War memorial refresh

Everyone agreed the War Memorial looked good. People passed on thanks to the resident who did the work.

24. 083 Security cameras in the village

A discussion took place about cameras being put in place in the village. It will be added to the Parish Meeting agenda

Financial Matters

24-084 Bank Accounts. Open a new account and close Sum-up account

The Sum-up account is empty and being closed. Discussion took place about dual authorisation, and it was agreed that we would wait for the Internal Auditor to comment on the processes in place.

24-085 Vat claims 

None

24-086 Balances at 1st May 2024

Balances current account £2336.55, Reserve £299.21 and Sum-up £5.80, Bar float £300, Clerk £900 Total £3,851.56 The first precept payment of £1,700 has been paid and is included in the bank account.

24-087 Agreed Payments

24-088 To agree the dates to be set to advertise the period during which electors and interested persons may exercise rights relating to the Annual Accounts.

Every year the public has a right to view the Parish Council accounts for a period of 30 days. Suggest dates June 27th to August 5th. Proposed by Cllr Horn seconded by Cllr Ladbrook. AGREED BY ALL.

24-089 Sign off payments and purchases by councillors and clerk.

Clerk (M Horn) Telephone box light £7.99, Bus shelter light £19.16, village hall letterbox £16.59 Total £43.74 AGREED BY ALL

Village Hall

20-090 Village Hall Lease
A discussion has been started with the Church to sign a new lease and it has been requested to make the lease as long as possible up to 100 years. A question has been raised with YLCA asking if there is a model way for the hall to be managed. Question was asked by Cllr Warr if the hall could at some point be sold by the church. This is not possible because there is a covenant that does not allow this.

24-091 Grants and funding/fund raising for hall

Until there is a lease the Parish Council cannot apply for grants for the hall. The Parish Council has signed up to a website that will make payments to the Parish Council based on individuals online purchases. The web site is https://www.easyfundraising.org.uk/causes/letwell-village-hall which will be publicised in the near future with a flyer and emails.

24-092 Fire door repair

Door has been repaired by a resident, it just need to be painted.

24-093 Letterbox and address

Address for the hall has been created by the post office so it is now visible on most sites. A post box has now been fitted by the front door

24-094 Broadband

It has been proposed that a mobile broadband be installed to connect the heating controls to and be made available for users of the hall. A Smarty Sim with 59Gb of data will cost £8 a month for 15 months. The siting of the device means a new electric socket is required. A quote has been requested from an electrician. Decided to defer to next meeting once quote has been received.

24-095 Managing oil level and heating controls

Proposed fitting an oil tank monitor, £139 installed, and a Hive heating control, £204 installed. As the heating control needs internet access it was decided to defer to the next meeting.

24-096 The installing of a security camera at the entrance to the hall was briefly discussed. As this needs internet access it was decided to defer to next meeting.

24-097 Village Whatsapp group

This will be raised at the Annual Meeting at the end of May.

24-098 The contract for the hall has a high unit rate of 38.92p. The best rate from EDF is 27.2p per unit for 1 year. There are better rates available but the Parish Council cannot change suppliers while having an outstanding debt. It was Proposed by Cllr Wood and seconded by Cllr Warr that the debt of £498.64 be paid off to allow a change of supplier. Carried by majority vote.

Items for the next meeting

Ownership of land around Letwell, including the grass at end of Church Lane.

Survey of horse chestnut at the end of Church Lane.

To confirm the time and date of the next meeting is Thursday 25th July at 7pm

The meeting closed at 09.07pm