2019 Town Council Minutes of Meetings

Minutes of a Meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Wednesday 10th April 2019 at 7.30pm at the Town Hall, Market Deeping
 
Present:

Cllr Shelton (Chair)
Cllr Mrs Redshaw
Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Miss Collins
Cllr Gamble
Cllr Broughton
Cllr Miss Moran
Cllr Stephenson
Cllr Davis
Cllr Brookes
Cllr Lester
Cllr Neilson

Cllr Baxter and Cllr Mrs Trollope-Bellew, SKDC, a representative of the Deepings Lions, the Clerk and the deputy Clerk were also in attendance.

Cllr Shelton welcomed everyone to the meeting and the Open Session commenced:

The representative from the Deepings Lions spoke in support of a grant application, and thanked the council for its continued support.

Cllr Trollope-Bellew then presented her report.

Cllr Baxter presented his written report to members.

Cllr Broughton advised members he would not present a SKDC report due to purdah restrictions. Cllr Neilson advised members of the meetings he had attended in the last month.

There being no further business the public session was closed at 7.37pm.

170.    Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions

The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting.

171.    Apologies for Absence

Apologies were received from Cllr Hanson.

172.    Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011

Cllr Mrs Redshaw declared a personal interest in agenda item 8.

173.    Acceptance of minutes of the meeting held on the 13th March 2019.

It was proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously to accept the notes of a meeting held on the 13th March 2019 as a true and accurate record. The Chairman duly signed the minutes.

175.    Reports: Including reports from Deepings First, The Neighbourhood Policing Panel, Travellers’ working party, Committees (Planning and Highways, Finance and Personnel), the Clerk and the Mayor’s Diary

Deepings First

Cllr Shelton advised members that there was no update to give this month.

Neighbourhood Policing Panel

Cllr Mrs Sked advised members that there had been no meeting since the last Full Council meeting so there was nothing to report.

Travellers working party
 
Cllr Shelton advised members that there had been no meeting since his last report.

Planning & Highways

Members had been provided with draft minutes of the meeting held on 3rd April. Cllr Brookes advised members that there had been no significant issues arising from that meeting. He asked members if there were any questions and there were none.

Finance and Personnel

Members had been provided with draft minutes of the meeting held on 27th March. It was RESOLVED unanimously to agree that the underspent budget remaining from 2018/19 should be split as recommended by the Finance and Personnel committee – ie £15,000 to go towards the Town Hall reserves, £15,000 to go  towards the Amenities and Open Spaces reserves, and the remainder to be Ear Marked for legal fees in connection with the purchase of allotment land, any other relevant open spaces, and the Town Hall.

Clerks Report

The Clerk had issued members with a report prior to the meeting:

1.    The clerk had arranged a contract for installation of the electricity meter with Opus energy for the new box on the John Eve field.

2.    The clerk had arranged for litter picking to take place on Sunday 7th April.  The scouts and the Lions took part and MacDonalds at Glinton also volunteered and loaned equipment.

3.    The clerk has reported 2 incidents of vandalism to a bench and bus shelter.

4.    The first part of the precept for 2019/20 has been received and transferred to CCLA.

5.    Grimsthorpe estates have said they may not be able to provide a Christmas Tree this year but are looking at what is available. Are the council happy to accept a smaller tree if one can be sourced from Grimsthorpe? Cllr Broughton advised that he had a tree he would donate for this year and members were happy to accept this.

6.    The clerk has contacted 4 clock repairers who are unable to mend turret clocks, but has obtained details for 2 companies who may be able to help.

7.    The electricity meter will be fitted to the box on the John Eve field on 17th April. The clerk will ask an electrician to fit the sockets.

Mayors Diary

Mayor and Deputy Mayor’s Diary: up to 10th April 2019.

Cllr Shelton attended the following events:

Cllr Miss Collins did not attend any events

176.    Council Finances

a)    Income and expenditure by budget cost centre

Members had received a copy of the Council Finances and Omega report prior to the meeting. Cllr Shelton asked if there were any questions and there were none.
 
b)    Cash and bank assets

There were no questions

c)    Ear Marked reserves

The Finance and Personnel committee recommendations were accepted as detailed above.

177.    Correspondence to be Noted and Resolved upon

Correspondence to be noted

Correspondence to be resolved upon:

178.    Accounts to be paid

It was RESOLVED with one abstention that the Council should pay its bills. See appendix A.

179.    Annual review of the Council’s subscriptions

The clerk advised members of the current subscriptions, namely LALC membership, LALC annual training scheme, SLCC membership, Parish online membership ICO subscription

It was RESOLVED unanimously to continue with these subscriptions.

180.    Grant Aid – For members to:

a)    Ratify a payment of £500 to Deepings Lions as agreed by the Finance and Personnel Committee

It was RESOLVED unanimously to award this grant.

b)    For members to consider and vote on a grant payment of £4000 to Madcaps

It was RESOLVED with one abstention to award this grant subject to Market Deeping Town Council being named on any literature.

8.06pm Cllr Neilson left the meeting.

181.    For members to consider and vote on the transfer of broadband and phone services from BT and Chess to Onecom

The clerk had issued members with the contract details being offered by Onecom prior to the meeting and it was RESOLVED unanimously to switch provider

8.08pm Cllr Neilson rejoined the meeting
 
182.    For members to ratify fees for the hiring of the John Eve Field

Fees had been set at £400 for smaller fairs/circuses and £500 for larger fairs. It was RESOLVED unanimously to leave the fees at this rate for the coming year.

183.    For members to consider the wording on the Rotary’s proposed War Memorial cross in the Market Place

Some members felt all those who were killed during the war, whether civilians or servicemen/women, should be acknowledged in the wording. However, the Rotary had advised that the memorial, in line with other memorials, should be solely for fallen servicemen/women. It was then RESOLVED with 8 in favour and 4 abstentions to accept the wording proposed by the Rotary in their request.

184.    For members to consider and vote on a provider for the replacement contract for the photocopier The clerk had provided members with a report detailing quotations from 5 providers prior to the meeting. It was RESOLVED unanimously to continue using Ricoh for the next 5 year contract.

185.    For members to consider and vote on the purchase of a plaque for the Town Hall in recognition of winning the SKDC Best Kept Large Village award 2018

It was RESOLVED unanimously to proceed with the purchase of a plaque

186.    For members to consider the structure and Terms of Reference of the Committees

Members discussed the possibility of a different structure and the creation of further committees. It was agreed that, as this is a complicated issue, and that members would need to support any change by volunteering for proposed new committees, that a working party should be created to consider this issue further.

187.    For members to consider and discuss any points raised in the public session.

There were none.

188.    Forthcoming events: Litter picking 7th April, Taylor’s Fair 25th-28th April, Civic Service 2nd June Members also noted that the parish walks had been agreed for Tuesday 14th May and Tuesday 11th June. Cllrs will need to volunteer to lead these walks.

8.26pm Cllr Neilson left the meeting.

189.    Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss: Staff workload

It was proposed by Cllr Shelton, seconded by Cllr Broughton and RESOLVED unanimously to move into Closed Session to members of the press and public in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960, for members to discuss items that contained information of a confidential nature: staff workload. It was RESOLVED with 2 against and one abstention to accept the suggested changes as an interim measure. It was further RESOLVED with 2 against and one abstention that all keys are returned to the clerk at the end of the year and reissued in accordance with the key holding policy. It was RESOLVED with 2 against and one abstention that Cllr Shelton, with the clerk in attendance, would represent the Council at the forthcoming mediation process. It was then RESOLVED to come out of Closed Session.

The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 8.57pm. The next scheduled meeting of Full Council will be held on Wednesday 15th May 2019, in the Town Hall, Market Deeping.