Minute of Meeting of Board of Directors of Point and Sandwick Trust held in the PST Office on Tuesday 12 September 2017 at 6.00pm. PRESENT: Angus McCormack (Chair) Eddie Macgregor Matt Bruce Kenny D Macdonald Norman Mackenzie Donald John MacSween APOLOGIES Duncan Mackay (Vice-Chair) Jenny Pain Liz Chaplin Agnes Munro Dan Maclennan Andrew Mackenzie Alison Carty Calum Macdonald Viv Halcrow (Crofting Project Officer) Dan Morrison (LED Project Officer) 1 WELCOME The Chairman welcomed all those present to the meeting. 2 DECLARATION OF INTEREST Kenny Dan Macdonald declared an interest in Item 3(b). 3 MINUTES (a) The Minute of Meeting of 27 June 2017 was approved. (b) The Minute of Meeting of 28 August 2017 was approved. (c) The Minute of Meeting of the Grants Sub-Committee of 11 September 2017 was approved. 4 MATTERS ARISING There were no matters arising. GENERAL MANAGER’S REPORT The General Manager submitted April 2017 Report as follows: 1 (1) Finance The balance in the Trust Current Account is £ 243,606 at 11 September, 2017. All the grant payments approved by the Board on 12 September 2017, are to be deducted from this balance, and there are no invoices outstanding. A June Gift Aid payment of £260,000 has been received and a draft budget is being prepared for discussion outlining expenditure up to December 2017, when the next gift Aid payment is due. There will be sufficient funds in the account, with continuing prudent management, to secure the office operation and continue to make some modest grant payments as per the draft budget, until the next gift aid payment is received. Gift Aid Payments projected for the next financial year are looking slightly more optimistic. Board members will be kept informed of PST finance at Board meetings, and a revised budget will presented for further discussion and amendment at the October Away Day. 2) Grants Awarded During the summer break, approval was sought from the Chairman, Vice-Chairman for a meeting of the Grants Sub-Committee to be held on Tuesday 2 August 2017 to consider as a matter of urgency a grant application received from the Aignish Cemetery Committee on 14th July 2017. At that meeting it was agreed to approve a grant in the sum of £7,605 for the purposes of improvements and maintenance to Aignish Cemetery Committee and to report this to the September meeting of the Board. The Grants Sub-Committee held on 11 September 2017, recommended the following applications for approval:- Grant Applications 1 Crossroads £1,000 2 Rural Nations (Pending successful LEADER funding) £1,000 3 Church of Scotland Garrabost £3,600 4 Western Isles Transport Preservation Group £922 5 Portnaguran Amenity Committee £5,000 TOTAL £11,522 The following annual, or half yearly, grants are due to be paid:- Annual /Half Yearly Grants 6 Urras Eaglais na h-Aoidhe Annual Colm Cille Lecture £300 7 Tiumpan Young at Heart Club £500 8 Cairdean Og Allt nan Gall £500 9 Sandwick Hall and Recreation Enterprise £500 TOTAL £1,800 2 Under delegated powers approved at the meeting of the Board on 27 June 2016 for small donations to be made at the General Manager’s discretion up to £250 without the necessity of having to fill in application forms, the following donations are for noting. Small Donations 10 ABC Club £180 11 Men’s Shed, Plasterfield £200 12 2nd Stornoway Beaver Scouts £148 13 Point War Memorial £200 14 Point Football Club £163 15 Melbost and Branahuie War Memorial £200 TOTAL £1,091 In addition to the above payments, it is proposed to pay the following sums which have already been approved by the Board and are now due for payment: 16 Bethesda (2nd instalment) £30,000 17 Woodland Trust (2nd instalment) £29,259 17 Acair Limited £10,000 TOTAL £69,259 Since the last Board meeting held on 27 June 2017, including the £7,605 paid to Aignish Cemetery Committee, a total of £91,277.00 will be paid out in community disbursements. If any requests submitted are clearly outwith the PST grant guidelines, or for individual applications, applicants are informed that their project is not eligible. (2) Development Consultants Progress Report Tony Robson and Alasdair Nicholson submitted a detailed update on progress with the following projects:- Point and Sandwick Coastal Community Path Upper Bayble Community Trust CIC. Garrabost Mill Gypsum recycling Lewis and Harris Auction Mart Aignish shore work Portnaguran Slip Stornoway Sailing Club It was noted that there had been recent positive local and wider publicity for Point Football Club and PST arising from the donation of surplus football strips taken to Tanzania, East Africa. Two young youth teams in a very remote areas benefited from this contact and this was welcomed by the local village officials and volunteer 3 committees. It helped wider discussion in the community about community needs in those two communities and the opportunity was taken to share with them what was happening in Point and Sandwick. Photographs were provided to the football club to provide a visual record for them of the donation. In addition, the report indicated that a general discussion had taken place with Donald John MacSween, Tony Robson, Alasdair Nicholson and Dr Alasdair Macleod to consider any additional potential opportunities for renewables or energy projects which could be investigated further. The discussion ranged over micro-hydro, sea- current generation, battery storage, data centre , a Point Energy Centre as well as plasterboard recycling. This kind of reflection enables consideration of the factors inhibiting development as well as probing other potentials, some more realisable than others. A follow on discussion on environmental works at Portnaguran was had and a site visit is planned. The Report was noted. (3) Croft Woodlands Project Viv Halcrow submitted a Progress Report on the Croft Woodland Projects This was noted. (4) LED Community Report Dan Morrison submitted a Progress Report on the LED Energy Project. This was noted. (5) COBEN An expression of interest for PST was prepared by Greenspace and submitted to Local Energy Scotland in a bid to become one of four areas in the Highlands and Islands to prepare a Local Energy Plan. The PST bid was unsuccessful, the bid from Barra succeeded. This was noted. (6) Crew Bus Contract Hire A quotation for a Renault Traffic LWB diesel business 9 seater minibus has been obtained from Donald Campbell Motors, at £379.18 per calendar month (£4,549.66 per annum). 4 An insurance quotation has been obtained from PST insurance brokers Bruce Stevenson in the sum of £630.21 plus admin fee of £35 in respect of the Renault Trafic 9 seater leased vehicle valued at £30,000. The above includes insurance premium tax at 12% Commission. The quotation is based on the General Manager as the main driver with the vehicle kept overnight in his driveway. All other drivers are aged over 21 without any claims, convictions or disability. The cover is on a comprehensive basis with £150 excess with the following additional excesses applying :- Glass £75 or £10 for a repair if using an approved repairer otherwise - £125 Drivers aged 21-25 - £200 Drivers over 25 but who have not yet had a licence for 12 months - £200 Use is restricted to carriage of no fare paying passengers. Annual Mileage approx. 10,000. A decision on whether PST should enter into a contract hire agreement at a total cost of £52,120 for the Crew Bus is required. It was agreed that Point and Sandwick Trust would enter into a contract hire agreement for a Renault Traffic LWB diesel business 9 seater minibus at a total cost of £52,120 subject to the above conditions and that various community uses for the Crew Bus would be discussed at the Away Day to be held on 25 October 2017. (7) Away Day The Away Day in the West Harris Community Rooms, Horgabost, for Wednesday 25th October has been booked and a deposit paid. The Away Day will be an opportunity for the Board to review progress in the past year, consider and finalise the Budget for the next year, and plan ahead for the next year of operation. The Community Consultants will give an update on progress in the first year of operation, and give details of the various community initiatives they have helped since their appointment. Other Speakers will be invited, from the college and from the renewables field to stimulate discussion. Board members were invited to submit their own ideas about the structure of the day and possible invitees. This was noted. 5 (7) PST/PSP Fleeces Quotes have now been received and accepted from Signprint for the PST/PSP fleeces with the simplified clothing logo and they should be with us in the next two to three weeks. This was noted. 6 BEINN GHRIDEAG UPDATE REPORT Calum MacDonald submitted September 2017 Progress Report as follows:- 1. Output Update The output in June was 2392 MWhrs, July was 1,645,and August 1,823. The summer months have been just under P50 but higher than the same period last year. 2. Income Update The wholesale price has bounced back since the below £40 dip in May and continues to be in the forties. This is again higher than last year. The combination of higher production and higher prices than last year means that we are on target in terms of the Financial Model. 3. Compensation Claims There has been nothing back from the National Grid since our last response to their queries and another prompt has been sent. 4. Enercon Variation Costs Claim There has been no word either from Enercon regarding their final variation claim for upfill at the turbine location, though we continue to keep an amount aside just in case.