Arkengarthdale Parish Council Minutes – 2015/16 11 May 2015 – AGM 11 May 2015 13 July 2015 14 September 2015 9 November 2015 11 January 2016 7 March 2016 7 March 2016 – Annual Parish Meeting The parish council annual general meeting was held on the 11th May 2015, when apologies were received from councillor Paul Harker and the newly elected district councillor Richard Beal. The acceptance of office papers were distributed and signed by councillors and the clerk is taking them to Richmond on Thursday. Election of officers: Councillor Stubbs proposed councillor Stones remain as chairman. Sadly, councillor Stones felt he could not continue due to his age. He would like a younger person to be chairman. His colleagues reluctantly accepted the situation. Councillor Stones then proposed that councillor Stubbs should be chairman. This was seconded by councillor Lundberg. Councillor Stubbs duly signed the acceptance of office form, and said he did not wish to claim an allowance. Councillor Watkins proposed councillor Stones to be vice chairman and councillor Stubbs seconded that. It was agreed that the standing orders should remain the same. The clerk said we should make arrangements at the bank that councillor Stubbs can sign cheques. After discussion, councillors felt that we can still have councillor Stones signature when appropriate. Councillor Stubbs is willing to go to the bank and give a sample of his signature. The clerk had a list of seven dates for future meetings. Councillors then discussed whether we needed seven meetings. It was decided to go back to six meetings, crossing off the June meeting. The six meeting dates are: 13 July, 14 September, 9 November, 11 January 2016, 7 March and 16 May. The minutes of the previous AGM were read, approved and signed. This concluded the business and the meeting closed at 8.40 PM. Arkengarthdale parish council meeting May 2015 A parish council meeting was held on Monday the 11th May 2015 when apologies were received from councillor Paul Harker and the recently re-elected district councillor Richard Beal. The clerk said she would like to thank the retiring chairman for his kindness and help over a quarter of a century. When she took the job as clerk to the council, councillor Stones was chairman and in all that time they had never had a wrong word. She appreciated the chairman's conciliatory approach to problems. He was always dependable and for that she thanked him most kindly. The new chairman councillor Stubbs then said he would like to thank councillor Stones for all the hard work he has put into many years of service to the parish, there are many jobs that get done under his chairmanship. Councillors Watkins and Lundberg also added their appreciation and there was a round of applause. Councillor Stones became chairman and signed the minutes on the 26th September 1973, and has been chairman ever since, with out a break. That is more than 41 years of service to the parish council. The younger councillors and the clerk rely on councillor Stone's wide knowledge on many problems that have arisen over the years, and we are fortunate to continue to have him as vice chairman. Our new chairman councillor stubbs, joined the council on the 20th November 1991 and has been a councillor for 24 years. He was elected vice chairman on the 14th May 1999 and has held that position for 16 years, during which time he has contributed much to council business and has chaired meetings in the absence of the chairman. We all wish him well. The minutes of the previous meeting were agreed and signed. Matters arising: Winter maintenance – councillors were pleased with the decent snow clearing equipment that we now have. Hopefully, we have finished with winter for now. Sale of the chapel – councillor Lundberg said matters are still in hand. Letters were sent out to every resident in the dale to see what the housing need would be and seven people responded. Amanda Madden is now working on this.. It is hoped that the chapel will be up for sale by our July meeting. Councillors are still hoping that we might get a small number of new build houses on the site near the car park, as well as the possible conversion of the chapel into flats. Broadband – councillor Watkins has been in touch with Sheena Spence of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association and outlined to her the difficulty that exists in the more remote parts of Yorkshire like our dale. Sheena responded positively and gave councillors some ideas on how to move his forward. A resolution was passed that this council calls on the joint annual meeting of the Yorkshire Dales Local Councils Association to resolve to press HM government for greater financial contribution and swift action to bring rural broadband to he more remote parts of Yorkshire. Councillors voted unanimously to pass this resolution. Noticeboard – Our noticeboard in the village is in a poor state of repair; it was decided to look at the possibility of purchasing a new one. The chairman councillor Stubbs said he had seen a light metal noticeboard that would be idea as it would not need painting. This will be discussed again at the July meeting. Correspondence – a letter was received from the NYCC in response to the clerk's letter regarding the defect near the church gate, which has been repaired by the highways officer. A further works order has been sent to the contractors to carry out repairs at the junction near St. Mary's church. A letter was received from the Richmond Rotary Club, inviting the parish council to enter the best kept village competition. After discussion it was decided not to enter. NYCC wrote to say the bus service on Fridays from Arkengarthdale to Leyburn will continue. A letter was received from Yorkshire Water giving details of re laying some 20 Km of new water pipe from Reeth to Angram. They hope to keep disruption to a minimum. A letter was received from RDC clarifying the information needed to complete the returns to the external auditor. A letter was received from NYCC on the subject of grass cutting to improve visibility at road junctions. It was decided to ask them to cut at three junctions, Arkle Town, Stang Lane end and Whaw. Financial – the clerk presented the end of year accounts that have been audited by Mr. David Williams. They needed signing and then would ready to be sent to Littlejohns. A number of cheques were issued as follows: £15 for the school, £110 for the Yorkshire Local Councils Association, £243.80 for the Zurich Municipal, also £40 for Mr. William's chosen charity, namely the two dales football club. There were no planning or local matters discussed. The next meeting is on the 13th July. This concluded the business and the meeting closed at 9.50 Arkengarthdale parish council meeting 13th July 2015 A parish council meeting was held on Monday the 13th July 2015. Present were: Chairman councillor Stubbs, vice chairman councillor Clark Stones and councillors J. Watkins and P.Harker. Apologies were received from councillor Paul Lundberg and district councillor Richard Beal. The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed. Matters arising: Sale of the chapel – most of the information is held by councillor Lundberg. We are not aware that much has changed on this subject since our May meeting. Notice Board – this was discussed, some leaflets were looked at by councillors on light aluminium notice boards. Some are free standing, others are fastened to a wall. Our present notice board is fixed to the wall of a building which has got planning permission to convert into a house, so we need to find a new site as well as replacing the notice board. Phone call from Littlejohns – The clerk contacted the chairman about a phone call she had from Littlejohns the auditors. He contacted them and received a long email, in which they detailed some minor discrepancies on our annual returns. After much discussion it was decided that of the two options open to us, we will go for having the paper sent back. Then we can correct it and pay the £30 plus VAT to put it right. Broadband – Councillor Watkins works tirelessly to bring better broadband facilities to the remote parts of the county and this dale. Mr. Peter Holmes from Reeth Rural Radio Net was invited to the meeting to outline some of the work he and his colleagues have done in this area. They have brought about some improvements but there is still a long way to go. There was much discussion on this subject. The chairman said some money could be made available from parish council funds to support future work of the RRRN in the dale, in particular a dedicated fibre cable from Reeth exchange.Mr. Holmes said he would look into some costings in more detail and come back to us in time for our September meeting. Councillor Watkins is going to attend the AGM of the Yorkshire Local Councils Association on Saturday, where he will present a resolution which, if adopted will mean that the association will lobby the government on the lack of funding for rural broadband solutions (note from councillor Watkins – the resolution was adopted unanimously.) Correspondence – a letter was received from NYCC asking the parish council if there are any individuals or organisations in the parish that have done outstanding things to keep libraries and youth clubs going in spite of drastic cut backs that have affected such things. The chairman said the luncheon clubs sometimes struggle.