April 2020 Minutes EOM
Minutes of an Extraordinary Virtual meeting of Market Deeping Town Council Held on Tuesday 28th April 2020 at 7pm
Zoom Meeting code 990 0682 0445
Password 023724
Present: Cllr Miss Collins (Chair) Cllr Brookes
Cllr Lester Cllr Miss Moran
Cllr Hembrow Cllr Mrs Redshaw
Cllr Hanson Cllr Shelton
Cllr Broughton Cllr Mrs Sked
Cllr Yarham Cllr Davis
The clerks were also in attendance. The meeting opened at 7.06pm.
191. Chairman’s Welcome & Introductions
The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting.
192. Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Cllr Neilson.
193. Declarations of Interest under the Localism Act 2011
Cllr Mrs Redshaw declared an interest in agenda item 12.
194. Acceptance of minutes of the meeting held on the 11th March 2020.
Cllr Miss Collins asked members if they were to accept the minutes of the meeting. It was Resolved unanimously to accept the notes of the meeting as a true and accurate record. The Chairman will sign the minutes at a later date.
195. For members to ratify the Emergency Resolutions dated 27th March 2020.
It was proposed by Cllr Yarham and Resolved with one abstention to ratify the Emergency Resolutions.
196. For members to ratify decisions made under Emergency Resolutions:
a) To defer the grant payment of £500 to the Deepings Carnival until 2021
b) To accept the SKDC Business Support cash grant of £10,000
c) To make a grant payment of £1000 to the local branch of LIVES
It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Sked and Resolved unanimously to ratify the above decisions.
197. For members to revoke the Emergency Resolutions of 27th March and to vote on a motion to hold virtual meetings under the terms of The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Meetings) Regulations 2020
It was Resolved unanimously to revoke Emergency Resolution 1. An agenda item will be added to the next meeting agenda to consider each of the remaining Emergency Resolutions in turn.
198. For members to agree a remote meeting platform provider and associated costs
It was proposed by Cllr Broughton and Resolved unanimously to use Zoom as the platform provider. The clerk advised members that there was currently an offer priced at £59.95 available to local councils and it was agreed to proceed with this.
199. For members to agree the schedule of meetings for May 2020-May 2021
Cllr Brookes recommended that all meetings until further notice be held remotely, including the July meetings that normally take place on the John Eve Field and in the Cemetery, and members agreed. It was then proposed by Cllr Shelton and Resolved unanimously that the schedule of meetings be agreed, including the Annual meeting to be held in May 2020.
200. Notification of any emergency issues from the chairs/clerks (Planning and Highways, Amenities and Open Spaces, Town Hall and Cemetery/Finance and Personnel)
Cllrs Brookes and Broughton had no urgent issues to report. Cllr Lester advised that he had signed the contract for the transfer of the Town Hall, and that quotes were being sought for an appropriate insurance value. These will be presented to the council at the next meeting in May.
201. Emergency correspondence to be noted and resolved upon
The clerk advised that there was none.
202. Council finances update.
The clerk advised that the only urgent issue was that of Ear Marked Reserves that needed to be agreed for the year end close down taking place on 30th April. She estimated that approximately £55,000 would be available to move to EMRs and councillors Resolved with one abstention to split the amount equally between the committees, and to accept the accounts paid for April as presented in the agenda pack. Detailed allocations of the Ear Marked Reserves can then be agreed at a later meeting.
203. Confidential/Personnel Matters: Consideration to go into Closed session to discuss:
Staff issues
There were no issues to discuss.
The Chairman thanked all members for attending and declared the meeting closed at 7.43pm. The next scheduled meeting of the Full Council will be held on Wednesday 13th May 2020, using Zoom, with meeting access codes and passwords to be published with the agenda.