Minutes of the Manorhamilton Municipal District Meeting held in the Microsoft Teams on Monday, 19 April 2021 at 2.30 pm Members Present: Councillor Sean McDermott (Cathaoirleach) Councillor Mary Bohan Councillor Frank Dolan Councillor Padraig Fallon Councillor Felim Gurn Councillor Justin Warnock Officials Present: Mary Quinn, Director of Services, Housing, Corporate Services, Community and Cultural Services Nicola McManus, Meetings Administrator Manorhamilton Municipal District Ray Flynn, Clerical Officer Sean Rynn, Executive Engineer At the outset of the meeting all members welcomed the announcement of funding under the Rural Regeneration and Development Fund for Dromahair (Regeneration Project) and Mohill (Public Realm Works). MMD.47.21 Adoption of Minutes Minutes of meeting held on 15th March 2021 On the PROPOSAL of Cllr Felim Gurn SECONDED by Cllr Mary Bohan It was AGREED to adopt the minutes of meeting of 15th March 2021. MMD.48.21 Meeting Correspondence The following correspondence was circulated to the members: 1. Correspondence from Frank Feighan TD, Minister of State at the Department of Health with responsibility for Public Health, Well Being & National Drugs Strategy in relation to funding allocations for cycling and walking infrastructure. All members noted and welcomed the funding announcement. 2. Correspondence from Antoinette O’Donnell, Branch Manager, AIB - Manorhamilton Branch, in relation to the provision of an on-street ATM Cllr Felim Gurn outlined dissatisfaction with the reply and stated that any reference to a lack of footfall by the banks can be attributed to the Covid-19 restrictions. Cllr Gurn also outlined the need for a Government fund to purchase disused bank buildings and bring them under community control. 1 Cllr Sean McDermott noted the contents and stated that the language used by AIB is not encouraging in the context of providing an ATM. Cllr Padraig Fallon supported Cllr Gurn’s comments and stated that the increase in online usage of bank facilities has been forced on consumers due to Covid-19 restrictions and has not been by choice. Cllr Justin Warnock outlined the large amount of cash that went through the Bank of Ireland ATM prior to the Covid-19 restrictions and that some elderly people are more comfortable using cash rather than card facilities. Cllr Frank Dolan agreed with Cllr Warnock’s comments and outlined that banks are withdrawing from the market leaving the remaining banks in a monopoly position in smaller towns, and they need to provide ATM services. Cllr Mary Bohan agreed with the comments and stated that banks owe their profits to the communities that they are based in and should provide an ATM service in Manorhamilton. MMD.49.21 Motion from Councillor Padraig Fallon: "I propose to ask when dog fouling bins will be installed in Tullaghan and Drumkeeran and that they are installed as soon as is possible." Report by Head of Finance & Water Services "Dog waste bins and bag dispensers have been obtained and are in storage. Installation of dog waste bins, bag dispensers and appropriate signage in the above locations has been included in the North Leitrim Small Works Programme and will be installed in 2-3 weeks." Cllr Padraig Fallon welcomed the response and outlined he hoped it would address this ongoing issue. All members supported the motion and called for the public to use the bins provided. MMD.50.21 Motion from Councillor Padraig Fallon: "At a previous Municipal District Meeting, dates were given for repairs to lighting at back lane, Lugmeen, Drumkeeran, I was told lighting would be in place by November, December 2020. When will the lighting be operational here?" Report by Roads - General "The lighting in this area was erected as part of the Lough Meen and Breffni Court estates. These estates have not been taken in charge. Electric Skyline, the Public Lighting Contractor, have carried out works on behalf of Leitrim County Council on the 2 Lights along the road, and are waiting on a ESB connection. After this is done, the lights along the road will be on and will be maintained by Leitrim County Council." Cllr Padraig Fallon welcomed the response. Cllr Mary Bohan supported the motion. MMD.51.21 Motion from Councillor Felim Gurn: "Can Leitrim County Council look at the possibility of providing a new car park for the community of Dromahair, where parking is identified as an essential necessity for the community?" Report by Capital Projects Office "This council is currently looking at options to provide extra parking in Dromahair. We will keep the members updated." Cllr Felim Gurn outlined the current issues with parking within Dromahair and stated that a solution is required. All members supported the motion. Cllr Frank Dolan and Cllr Mary Bohan outlined the difficulty in finding a suitable site for a potential carpark that allows people easy access to retail within Dromahair. MMD.52.21 Motion from Councillor Felim Gurn: "Coillte are the biggest landowners in Co. Leitrim it is essential to have a look at providing mountain bike trails and walkways through our forestry and to identify funding streams to enable outdoor activities to take place in the Manorhamilton Municipal District Area." Report by Director of Services for Economic Development, Planning, Environment and Transportation. "Leitrim County Council are engaging on a regular basis with Coillte by means of a working group which was set up between the two parties to pursue joint projects to improve the outdoor recreation offerings throughout the County and including the Manorhamilton Municipal District. Many potential opportunities to work together are being explored and progressed currently. The Glenfarne Woods project is the most recent example of this. Having collaborated successfully on the Glenfarne Woods Study to further develop this Leitrim County Council and Coillte successfully applied for funding under Measure 1 of the Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme 2020 to develop a Thematic Area Masterplan which will allow informed development of Glenfarne Woods. The Masterplan will exam the development of trails to ensure all visitors are motivated to get out, explore and enjoy the natural and built heritage of Glenfarne Wood and its environs via its trails and pathways. Leitrim County Council and Coillte will continue to collaborate to identify future projects and pursue various avenues of funding to increase the availability of outdoor 3 activities throughout North Leitrim and the entire county." Cllr Felim Gurn outlined the potential for walkways/pathways and mountain bike trails that could be located within Coillte Forests especially around the Ballyboy and Milltown Woods area. Cllr Sean McDermott supported the motion. MMD.53.21 Motion from Councillor Sean McDermott: "Can we alleviate fears that the smaller libraries might not reopen when the lockdown ends?" Report by Director of Services, Housing and Community, Corporate Services, Cultural and Emergency Services "In line with the plan set out in ‘Covid-19 Resilience and Recovery 2021: The Path Ahead’ the current situation regarding the reopening of public libraries is that they are “Under consideration from May 4th subject to prevailing public health situation”. In this regard, Leitrim County Council will be adhering to guidance which will be issued by Libraries Development at LGMA to all 31 library authorities in the country. This guidance is expected by the end of April but the timing remains uncertain at this point. Over the past twelve months Leitrim Library Service has been reviewing and re- examining all service delivery methods to address the impact of Covid-19 on our physical library buildings in order to ensure that a level of service has been consistently available to all library users. The library service has been supporting communities in new ways over the past year with the introduction of the ‘Contact and Collect’ service and virtual programming as well as the assistance provided in terms of accessing the wide range of online services. In terms of the reopening of our library buildings, there will be a number of factors to be considered such as the physical size of the space in question and maximum capacity levels. Health and Safety Risk Assessment requirements are likely to include direction in relation to ventilation, social distancing, face coverings and good hygiene practices as well as the need for additional cleaning and public hand sanitizer stations. Leitrim Library Service, as always, is committed to supporting individuals and communities in terms of access to library materials and will continue to work hard to achieve this. The service provided by libraries goes beyond the physical library building as witnessed over the past year. We may need to look at employing additional models of service delivery and we may have to manage a different approach depending on what level of public health restrictions and guidelines are in place going forward but our commitment is to ensuring that all those wishing to avail of a library service are facilitated in whatever way possible." Cllr Sean McDermott welcomed the response but relayed members the disappointment 4 of library users that the click and collect service of the libraries was halted. Ms. Mary Quinn, Director of Services, acknowledged the disappointment and informed members that the click and collect service was cancelled at a National Level. MMD.54.21 Motion from Councillor Sean McDermott: "Can an update be given on the proposed new council office space in Manorhamilton?" Report by Director of Services, Housing and Community, Corporate Services, Cultural and Emergency Services "We are awaiting finalisation of the legal process in this regard." Cllr Sean McDermott welcomed the update and stated he is looking forward to the opening of the new Leitrim County Council Manorhamilton office space. All members supported the motion. MMD.55.21 Motion from Councillor Justin Warnock: "I ask Leitrim County Council to identify how many private houses are listed as vacant in the most recent data available to them, for the Manorhamilton Municipal District Area and how are these measured, for e.g.