FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL
MINUTES OF A MEETING OF FOTHERBY PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON MONDAY 2 MARCH 2020 IN ST MARYS CHURCH.
Present: Cllr T Giles, (Chairman), Cllr T French (Vice Chairman) Cllr T Hunter, Cllr T Wait, Cllr L Sutton
In attendance: Mrs V Davies (clerk), Cllr T Bridges (LCC),
Five Parishioners were present.
34/2020 Apologies for absence.
Absent. Cllr E Mossop.
35/2020 Open Meeting
The Chairman opened the meeting for public participation.
Some of the potholes in Peppin Lane had been repaired but already some of the repairs were failing. Parishioners were encouraged to log any potholes on Fix my Street. Cllr Bridges advised that potholes could also be reported to himself and he would raise the issues directly. Action: clerk.
It was raised that the January agenda had stated that the date of the next meeting was 2nd March. Apologies were given for this error.
The issues of drainage and ditches/dykes were discussed. Cllr Giles would contact the drainage board to arrange a site visit to assess the area and develop a strategy/plan. Action: Cllr Giles to contact the drainage board and Cllr Mossop who is a member on the drainage board.
There being no further items raised, the meeting was closed for public participation.
36/2020. Declarations of interest.
There were no declarations of interest.
37/2020 To approve the Minutes of 3.2.20
Cllr Hunter proposed, Cllr Sutton seconded, and the Parish Council unanimously approved the minutes. Cllr Giles signed the minutes.
38/2020 Risk Management /Risk Assessment
Risk assessments were in place for The Common, Bus Shelters, Seats and Benches. A date for the inspection would be arranged in the Spring. Action: Cllr Giles.
39/2020 The Common
A donation had been received for the common and there was also budget allocation to improve the common. It was proposed to consider adding the volunteers working at the common onto the insurance policy. Action: Clerk to check with LALC and possibly the insurers to enquire about the implications of using volunteers to work on the Common. If required, the Clerk would contact the insurance company regarding the cost of adding volunteers to the insurance policy and the implications of adding on volunteers. This would be an agenda item at the next meeting.Action: Cllr Sutton to investigate the provision of protective gloves to the appropriate standard.
40/2020 Policies
Cllr Giles proposed, Cllr French seconded and it was unanimously agreed that the Standing Orders be approved. Action: Clerk to update the policy on the website.
41/2020 Clerks update
The clerk had raised the issue with highways regarding the open ditch in Church Lane requesting verge markers be installed. No response had been received from highways. Action Clerk to send a copy to Cllr Bridges.
LALC had provided clarification to the Legal question raised by the Parish Council regarding the requirement for the Parish Council to request Risk Assessments from contractors. The response was that the Parish council only needed a copy of the Certificate of Public Liability. It was the responsibility of the contractor to ensure it took appropriate steps to assess the risks in the works carried out. Cllr Sutton requested that it be formally noted that he did not agree with the response from LALC and it is his professional opinion that the Parish council needed to request risk assessments from the contractor.
Lincolnshire County Council were updating all Parish Council websites. The clerk would attend county website training.
The clerk had successfully appealed a fine levied by HMRC for late submission of employee payments. This had been due to a delay in receiving the access codes from HMRC.
The clerk had reviewed the VAT return for 2018-19. The VAT from an additional invoice from Bush Landscapes and Louth interskills would be added to the VAT return.
The clerk had attended a Clerks and Chairman’s course on 27 February 2020.
John Presgrave had raised an interest in being co-opted onto the Parish council.
The clerk requested the councillors to change the date of the August meeting from 3 August to 10 August. Councillors agreed to this change.
The householder at the Moorings had raised concerns regarding the overhanging branches. The contractor had agreed the works with the householder. Action: The clerk was requested to contact the householder to advise that the situation with the tree would be monitored.
42/2020 Seat Repair at the Dock
Cllr Giles advised on the costs of repair. The company who had previously provided a quotation for the materials had quoted for the incorrect sizes. Cllr Giles had obtained an alternative quotation which was within the previously approved expenditure of up to £100 including VAT.
43/2020 Allotments
The Clerk had written to the holder of allotment 1 but received no response. Currently the cost of the allotments was £20 per year. There were currently no vacancies. Cllr Hunter proposed, Cllr Wait seconded that the allotment costs remain unchanged.
Action: Clerk to send out the allotment renewal letters.
44/2020 Finance:
To agree cheques for payment
Clerk Salary £233.02
Clerk Expenses £95.78
Proposed Cllr Hunter, seconded councillor Sutton and councillors unanimously approved the cheques for payment. Cllr Giles scrutinized and initialed the invoices. The cheques were signed by Cllr Giles and Cllr French. The bank statement had been verified by Cllr Waite.
Action: Clerk to check with LALC regarding the payment of holiday pay for the clerk.
To note monthly financial reports.
Councillors noted the actual v budgeted expenditure. The bank account reconciliation had been verified by Cllr Wait.
To agree with the clerk the end of year reporting procedure to ensure all 2019/2020 expenditure is allocated to the accounts for that period
The clerk would prepare separate expenditure schedules for 2019-20 invoices and 2020-2021. The LALC invoices would be included in the Expenditure for 2020 -2021.
45/2020 Review of Outstanding Items
Bemrose Oaks. The clerk had sent a photograph of the location of Bemrose Oaks.
Audit of 2018/2019 VAT return. This had been resolved.
Safe storage of council documents. General village information would be stored.
The Bus stop markings had been completed.
Agree an amount to place into reserves. It was resolved to transfer any funds over the agreed budget +25% into reserves.
46/2020 Report from Countryside Access Volunteer
The Countryside Access Volunteer report had been displayed in a section of the noticeboard and published on the website. The Parish council thanked Mr Presgrave for his report.
47/2020 Chalk Pit Lane Update.
There was no progress. Cllr Giles had contacted Cllr Marfleet about the situation on Chalk Pit Lane.
48/2020 Date of next meeting
The next meeting would take place on Monday 6 April 2020.
The meeting was closed at 20.13.