9 Harmston Parish Council Clerk to the Parish Council Mrs G. Dixon, Bumble Bee Cottage, Vicarage Lane, Harmston, Lincoln LN5 9SL E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.harmston.info MINUTES OF HARMSTON PARISH COUNCIL MEETING HELD AT HARMSTON MEMORIAL HALL. Tuesday 23RD JANUARY 2018 at 7.30 pm Meeting 5 of the 2017/18 year Present Frances Mannsåker, Chair Jonathan Chaplin Iain Edgar Anita Fox Gail Dixon, Clerk to the Council CC Cllr Ron Oxby 1 Open Forum (15 mins) No residents present. 2 Apologies Apologies had been sent by Cllr J Martin-Hoyes, Cllr B Hamilton for January and March meetings, Cllr C Mills. 3 Police Report PC Hanson sent a report by email. No crimes had been reported. He noted that he is in dialogue with the Chair regarding the parking of the flat-bed truck on the junction of School Lane and the High Street and PCSO Kennedy-Sharp had spoken with the owner. 4 Reports from County and District Councillors Cllr R Oxby reported: The County Council has officially ended its contract with Carillion for the Eastern by- pass and is pleased that Galliford Try is on site to make the necessary arrangements for carrying on work as soon as possible. Cllr M Jones queried if the route affecting Harmston could be looked at again as he was concerned about safety with the likely extra traffic going through the village. Cllr Oxby said the feasibility study had already been done and was unlikely to be revisited. A Council Tax increase of 2.9% is predicted The Chief Executive of the Council has announced his retirement, to the surprise of the Council. He is the second longest serving CE in the country. A food waste pilot has begun in South Kesteven DC and a planning application is being prepared for an anaerobic digester in Washingborough. Lincolnshire has been asked to re-home more refugees, mainly children. The Council has agreed to this only if the Government will fund it. The Council is looking at home to school transport, which currently costs over £20M a year, to identify any wastage and improve efficiency. Cllr F Mannsåker thanked Cllr Oxby for his report. Cllr C Mills was not able to attend the meeting but has subsequently emailed her report. It is appended to these minutes. 5 Minutes of the Previous Meeting The notes of the previous meeting (21st November 2017) had been distributed to Council members. Cllr J Chaplin, seconded by Cllr A Fox, proposed that they be accepted as Minutes. Agreed. 6 Actions undertaken since the previous meeting . Cllr Mannsaker has written to reassure Mrs Hanney over her concerns of the traffic issues on School lane, detailing the work the Parish Council has been carrying out to try and alleviate ongoing problems of traffic travelling through the village PC Hanson has been contacted about current parking issues on the High Street, and is looking into the matter. The poor condition of the layby on Hill Top has been reported. LCC Highways has reported that all necessary work has now been carried out Cllr Mannsaker has written to Action Play and Leisure again to further discuss the time table for installation and to firm up costings The Clerk has discussed with the litter picker Dean West about extending his duties by adding the weekly check of the new play area to his route. He is happy to do this as he does this for Coleby play area. He is attending an appropriate training day in February and will make sure he has the correct insurance. The 6 week moratorium period to allow community groups to bid for the Thorold Arms has now ended, and the owners are able to sell to whomever they wish. The community-based TAPco (the limited Company formed by members of the Friends of the Thorold Arms) are now also able to purchase the Thorold Arms. TAPco have put in an offer according to the independent valuation but this has been turned down, without negotiation. As the Thorold Arms is registered as an Asset of Community Value, the Parish Council will be able to comment of any move by the owners to apply for a change of use of the building and the Planning Authority will take its status into account in any decision. The clerk has written to Lalc to ask for recommendations of companies who can do the independent check on the new play area equipment after it has been installed A formal letter requesting a grant from the Margaret Brown Trust with details of the preferred Defibrillator with outside box has been sent to Mark Foster The Annual Christmas Lights Switch On was well attended and was well received by residents. The website has been updated. 7 Financial Matters a) The current statement of account Together with up to date bank statements was noted. All Agreed b) List of payments paid in-between meetings All Agreed 28.11.17 SO Gail Dixon Clerks Wages - November £227.42 28.12.17 SO Gail Dixon Clerks Wages - December £227.42 05.12.17 Ch. 819 EON Maint.repair of streetlight £37.52 07.12.17 Ch. 820 EON Maint. quarter £138.02 09.12.17 Ch. 821 Salvation Army Band Donation for switch on £100 19.12.17 Ch.822 Dean West Litter picking £60 19.12.17 Ch. 823 HMRC Clerks PAYE Q3 £39.80 11.01.18 Ch 824 Dean West Litter picking £60 11.01.18 Ch. 825 EON Supply quarter £377.51 All Saints Church had requested its annual donation from the Parish Council of £420 for grass- cutting. All Agreed The annual donation towards the upkeep of Harmston Park was discussed. All Agreed the contribution would be paid this year, but should be reviewed in subsequent years in the light of predicted running costs of the new play area. b) The Petty Cash report: November-January. The Clerk produced a Petty Cash report and requested that it be refreshed by £191.91 to bring it up to the agreed £200. All Agreed c) Precept for 2018/19 The Clerk had prepared a report following from November’s budget paper, which summarised the implications of various scenarios and itemised known future and extra costs the Council was facing. The Council also needed to build up its reserves, which would be depleted following the installation of the play area, to remain within the auditors’ recommended boundaries. Figures were produced to show the effect of stepped increases of between 0% and 10%. It was noted that as both the tax base and the NKDC grant were reduced, no increase in precept would mean the actual loss of nearly 3% of the current income. Given the rising costs and extra responsibilities, this was unfeasible, so some increase was regrettably necessary. After a long and careful discussion, Cllr I Edgar, seconded by Cllr A Fox, proposed an increase of 5.22%, which would yield an annual precept of £12,900. All Agreed d) The annual review of effectiveness of the internal audit The Council is required to annually review the effectiveness of both its systems of internal control and internal audit. Following discussion and assessment of the current internal control systems, Cllrs are satisfied that the systems in place are effective and meet requirements of the new audit procedures for 2017/18 8 Matters for consideration a) New internal auditor A new internal auditor needs to be in place by the next meeting. Clerk and Cllrs have had no success in identifying a willing auditor from their contacts. Cllr R Oxby recommended an auditor he uses and offered to raise the matter with him immediately. This was agreed as a fruitful way forward. Cllr A Fox was also able to recommend an accounting firm, whom the Clerk will contact as a back up. b) Traffic Matters Cllr J Chaplin stated that this matter had been on the agenda for at least the last six years, which highlighted the difficulty Council faces in trying to alleviate the complications that the amount and weight of traffic, difficulty in parking and speeding through the village has now created. Cllrs also noted that there have been more instances of aggressive motorists over the last year. Cllr A Fox stated this was an emotive issue that is causing division between residents and motorists. She produced a copy of an anonymous letter which had recently been sent to an elderly resident on Church lane and was very offensive. It had apparently been sent by a resident motorist and had severely upset the receiver of the letter. Cllrs I Edgar and M Jones were concerned that that a safe crossing for pedestrians on Church Lane was made all the more necessary by the opening of the new play area. They were also concerned about the potential increase in traffic after the completion of the Lincoln eastern by-pass. It was noted that the various issues needed distinguishing: those created by non-resident motorists passing through the village and those created within the village itself were different and needed differing responses. As the LCC Highways had recently gone through a major re-organisation and the personnel in charge were new, another formal approach to the Department about possible traffic calming measures and the installation of a crossing point, all previously ruled out, would be timely. The Chair agreed to take this forward. It was noted that the Police, with the RAF Police, had agreed to do further checking on motorists using the village lanes as a rat run in the spring.