Harwich Town Council

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Finance Minutes 5th February 2014

February 5, 2014
Finance Minutes 2014

MINUTES of the Meeting of the Finance & General Purposes Committee
held at
The Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich
on Wednesday 5th February 2014 at 7pm

Present: Councillors Brown, Calver, Fowler, J Henderson, McLeod, Morrison, C Powell, Thompson and Todd
In the Chair: Councillor Day
Clerk: Mrs Lucy Ballard
Also present: 0 members of the public and 0 members of the press

Public Question Time:
None

F106/13 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE
Cllr I Henderson (substituted by Cllr C Powell)
F107/13 DECLARATIONS OF MEMBERS’ INTERESTS
Cllr Calver declared an interest in the grant application for the Harwich Society as a member and Cllr C Powell declared an interest in item 20 as an employee of one of the quoting companies.
F108/13 MINUTES OF THE LAST MEETING
RESOLVED that the minutes of the Finance & General Purposes meeting held on Wednesday 4th December 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record.
FURTHER RESOLVED: that the confidential minutes of the Finance & General Purposes meeting held on Wednesday 4th December 2013 (previously circulated) be approved by the Committee and signed by the Chairman as a true record.
F109/13 MATTERS ARISING FROM THE MINUTES
The Clerk informed members that the Deputy Mayor’s robe had been cleaned and repaired, and the fur had been replaced with artificial fur,
F110/13 CCTV AT DOVERCOURT STATION
Members welcomed Mark Westall from Tendring District Council, who presented proposal to install CCTV at Dovercourt Station and provided various options for suitable equipment and the associated costs. He confirmed that if HTC are able to contribute £2520, then TDC would be able to fund the remaining £2261 to enable higher specification equipment to be installed.
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: To proceed with installation of the camera based on the aforementioned proposal in the forthcoming new financial year.  And to write to Insp. Willis to
F111/13 ROCKSCHOOL CLUB HARWICH
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: To fund s137 grant of £1000.
F112/13 TEEN TALK (HARWICH)
RESOLVED: To fund s137 grant of £500.
F113/13 HARWICH MAYFLOWER PROJECT
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: To fund s137 grant of £2500.
F114/13 HARWICH SOCIETY
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: To fund s137 grant to a maximum of £2361.84 subject to receipt of comparable quotes, with funding to come from 2014/15 budget.
F115/13 HARWICH & DOVERCOURT MILLENNIUM EMBROIDERIES TRUST (HADMET)
RESOLVED TO RECOMMEND: To fund s137 grant of £1000.
F116/13 FLOOD SIREN WORKING PARTY
Cllr Day reported that he had now met with Trinity House and they would be looking into granting permission for HTC to seek the necessary planning permissions.
F117/13 HARWICH CONNEXIONS MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
RESOLVED: To renew annual membership.
F118/13 OLD MAYORAL ROBES
Cllr McLeod requested that the committee consider donating the old, unused civic robes to the Dovercourt Theatre Group.  Some members expressed concern that the robes may have some historical significance and called for information to be sought from the Honorary Archivists to confirm.
RESOLVED: To seek information on whether the robes hold some historic significance and report back to a future meeting of the committee.
F119/13 CREW SHUTTLE BUS
Cllr Powell reported that the service as provided by HTC during the 2013 cruise season had been deemed successful and requested the committee consider offering this service again for 2014.
RESOLVED: To offer the service again for the 2014 cruise season.
F120/13 HILL SCHOOL SITE

  •  Members considered erecting signage on site to indicate the location of each community group.  Members felt this had become necessary following the new access arrangements from the rear of the property.
    RESOLVED: To proceed with investigating the options and cost for erecting suitable signage, and to report back to a future meeting of the committee.
  • Members discussed security options for the site following the new access arrangements from the rear of the property.
    RESOLVED: To proceed with investigating the options and costs, and to report back to a future meeting of the committee.
F121/13 MATTERS TO BE REPORTED

  • The Clerk reported on necessary repairs to a light column at The Hill School site at a cost of £140, and to be expended from the Hill School – Repairs budget.
F122/13 MATTERS RECEIVED IN THE POST OF INFORMATION RAISED BY MEMBERS

  • Members noted receipt of an Evaluation form from the Harwich Festival of the Arts.
  • Members noted a letter of thanks for grant from the Harwich Quay Fireworks.
  • Members noted a letter of thanks for grant from the Harwich & District Community Association.
F123/13 DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting of the Finance and General Purposes Committee will be held on Wednesday 2nd April 2014 at 7pm at the Guildhall, Church Street, Harwich
F124/13 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC AND PRESS
Pursuant to Sub-Section 2 of Section 1 of the Public Bodies (Admission to Meetings) Act 1960 the meeting is closed to the press and public for the transaction of the under-mentioned business:

  • To consider recommendations of the Staffing Review Working Party
  • To consider quotations for the review and renewal of leases with Hill School tenants.
  • To consider quotations for essential electrical works to the Guildhall
  • To consider quotations for crew shuttle buses – 2014 season

The Chairman closed the public part of the meeting at 8.30pm

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