2023 Parish Council Minutes

Minutes of the Saltfleetby Parish Council Meeting held on 9th May 2023 at 7pm at

Marshlands Community Centre

Present:

            Cllr Lusby     JL       Chairman

            Cllr Hatton      PH       Vice Chairman

            Cllr Stone        CS

            Cllr Harrison   SH

            Cllr Aldhouse NA       Part Time

            Cllr Hall          Pam

Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting.

There were 9 members of the public present plus

Cllr McNally, County and District Councilor.

Cllr Rickett, District Councilor (Part Time. Left at 8.46pm)

10 minutes Open Forum for Residents

A resident asked which councillor was responsible for removing the Punch and Judy entertainment from the SCA grant application for the coronation celebrations.

Cllr Harrison said she thought that including this entertainment was inappropriate given the amount of domestic violence that is reported in the press. Several of the residents thought this was unacceptable.

A resident asked why the decision-making process could not be made more transparent. The Chairman stated that he accepted that the council was not viewed by the public in a good light. He stated that with a new council in place more transparency and efficiency would be forthcoming.

Statutory proceedings commenced at 7pm

01958 Election of Chairman

Cllr Lusby was elected as Chairman.  P PH  s CS. Voted unanimously.

Cllr Lusby signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office.

01959 Apologies for Absence

Cllr Aldhouse sent her apologies. She joined the meeting at 8.25pm.

01960 Declaration of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

01961 Election of Vice Chairman

Cllr Hatton was elected as Vice Chairman p Pam  s CS Voted unanimously.

Cllr Hatton signed the Declaration of Acceptance of Office

01962 Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

The forms were collected by the Chairman who would take them to ELDC Returns Office.

01963 Personnel Committee with Responsibilities for the clerk

A Sub-Committee with responsibilities for the clerk was appointed viz:-

Cllr Hatton p JL  s CS

Cllr Hall p CS s  JL

Cllr Stone p  PH  s JL

Voted unanimously.

01964 Saltfleetby Parish Council Meetings

Chairman proposed the Council Meetings be held bi-monthly. S PH

The proposed timetable of:-

June 6th, July 4th, September 5th, November 7th, January 9th, March 5th, and May 7th. Was unanimously accepted by all.

01965 Minutes of the Parish Council Meeting held on 4th April 2023 had been circulated. It was resolved to accept the minutes.  p PH  s CS

01966 Minutes from the Gayton Wind Farm Community Fund Panel Meeting held on the

4th April 2023 had been circulated. It was resolved to accept the minutes. p PH  s SH

For Information

01967 District/County Councilor Reports

Chairman gave his congratulations to Cllrs McNally and Rickett to their re-election to the district council.

A discussion was held in relation to the condition of the roads. Cllr McNally stated that there was no current policy to abandon minor roads. Priority was given to upkeep of the roads using a hierarchical system. Eg the A roads would have priority over the B roads which would have priority over the minor roads.

Items for Discussion/Ratification

01968  Councillor Vacancies  

There were no applications for co-option onto the council.

Co-opting cannot be permitted for a predetermined period after an election.

Action 1/23 Cllr Lusby to investigate when co-opting onto the council may proceed.

01969  Gayton Wind Farm Fund

No applications have been received.

01970  Planning Applications

Application reference N/145/00728/23 – FORMER VICKERS STORE, MAIN ROAD, SALTFLEETBY, LOUTH, LN11 7SS - Planning Permission – Outline erection of 1 no. dwelling. Received 17th April 2023, observations by 10th May 2023.

The council objected to this application due to  privacy of neighbours, Access road and ground conditions.    p CS  s Pam

01971 Financial Matters –

Accounts to be paid/authorised:

Clerk’s salary and expenses for April 2023 including HMRC payment for month 2 of 2023/24  p  SH   s PH

LALC Annual Training Scheme - £120 (including VAT) – Training Scheme for 2023/24.

p CS  s SH     

LALC New Clerks Day - £24 (including VAT) – Training Days Lunch.  p PH  s CS

BHIB Council Insurance - £501.92 – Local Councils Insurance Renewal

Payment withheld see Action 2/23 Para 01974

Louth Town FC - £50 – Hire of Hall for Parish Council Meetings April to May 2023 p CS       s Pam

Matrix Groundcare - £60 – Grass Cutting at St Clements 21st April 2023 p CS s Pam

Matrix Groundcare - £60 Grass Cutting at St Clements 8th April 2023 p CS s Pam

Monthly Councillors Report as of 30th April 2023 for approval p PH  s JL

Bank Reconciliation and Receipts and Payments 30th April 2023 for approval p CS s Pam

01972  Gayton Wind Farm Financial Matters

Accounts to be paid/authorised:

Lincsprint - £936.36 (including VAT) – Mugs for Coronation p JL  s Pam

Matrix Groundcare - £40 – Grass Cutting opposite St Peter’s Church and The Prussian Queen 21st April 2023 p Pam s JL

Matrix Groundcare - £40 – Grass Cutting opposite St Peter’s Church and The Prussian Queen 8th April 2023 p Pam s JL

Louth Town FC - £1760 – Hire of Hall for Art Group October to March 2023 p Pam s SH

Soloby Old School Hub - £328.26 – German Night. This claim was considered incorrect. Value to be paid was determined to be 238.96. pJL s Pam

Action 2/23 Cllr Hatton to issue cheque with explanatory note.

SCA - £100.37 – Stationery/Print Costs p Pam  s PH

Soloby Old School Hub - £46.15 – Advertising/Stationery p JL s PH

Bank Reconciliation and Receipts and Payments to 30th April for approval. Due to change of value to be paid into SOSH this required amendment and would be approved at the next meeting.

It was stated that no written confirmation had been given to the archery club as to the outcome of the decision of their application for a grant.

ACTION 3/23 Cllr Hatton to e-mail archery club with decision.

01973 Banking

Cllr Hatton reported that there were now sufficient approved signatories to utilize both accounts. However the bank has not changed the address for the correspondence for the PC account. Cheque books and bank statements are still going to the wrong address. Consequently the council does not have in its possession a cheque book for the PC account. The form to change the address has been posted.

Action 4/23 Cllr Lusby to obtain cheque books etc from Mrs Owen.

There are also a number of persons registered as approved signatories on both accounts.

Action 5/23 Cllr Hatton to contact bank and have these signatories removed.

It was proposed that all councilors should be made approved signatories then the council

01974 Insurance

Cllr Harrison stated that she did not think that the current policy covered all the council’s needs.

Action 6/23 Cllr Harrison to contact Insurance company and rectify cover if necessary.

01975 Wild Flower Verge

It was considered that a wild flower verge be created at each end of the B1200 entering the village.

Action 7/23 Cllr Hall to investigate costs of carrying out this proposal.

01976 Dog Waste Bins

Discussions took place about the needs for more dog waste collection bins in the village.

Action 8/23 Cllr Stone to investigate the need and practicalities of providing more bins.

01977 Parish Clerk Replacement

With the resignation of the RFO/Clerk it was decided that an emergency Clerk was required.

Cllr Hatton was given this task. P Pam s CS

The duties of RFO will be split between Cllrs Lusby and Hatton.

Advertising for a new RFO/Clerk will be carried out by the Clerk Sub-committee.

01978 Grass Cutting Risk Assessment

This action had be concluded. P CS s SH

01979 New E-mail System

After discussions it was concluded that a dedicated council ebsite and e-mail system should be obtained. The company Cloudnext was selected as a prospective supplier. p CS s NA.

Action 9/23 Cllr Lusby to take forward the website and e-mail system.

01980 Notice Boards

After discussion it was decided to obtain one  three bay notice board to replace the notice board outside Marshlands. The notice board chosen should cost less than £2000. p NA s SH

Action 10/23 Cllrs Lusby and Stone to identify and order a suitable notice board.

01981 Report from Outside Bodies

There were no reports for outside bodies.

01982 Correspondence

Four e-mails were received by the council triggered by a flyer produced by the Soloby Old School Hub. The e-mails were broadly in support of the council over the matter of operating the Gayton Wind Farm Fund.

A complaint was raised by a member against a councilor. A reprimand was issued to the councilor. The councilor issued an apology. The chairman reminded everyone of the importance of following the correct procedures in the future.

01983 Community Speed Watch

The programme is up and running. Two teams have been deployed and the total number of vehicles recorded on two separate occasions was 545 of which 23 were recorded as exceeding 46mph on the B1200. Regular updates will be reported to the council.

01984 Defibrillator Installation at the Snooker Hall

A quotation has been received to conduct this work. The quotation from TWB Electrical was accepted. p Pam s NA

Action 11/23 Cllr Hatton to place order with TWB Electrical

01985 St Clements Lytch Gate

The lytch gate requires maintenance.

Action 12/23 Cllrs Stone and Lusby to assess work needed and if possible commence the required maintenance.

01986 St Clements Path

St Clements path – copy of public liability insurance received, letter sent to resident to update them on works. Action complete

01987 Website update/Communications with Public

The website requires updating. Cllr Stone will carry out this work alongside the task regarding e-mail and web page.

Action 13/23 Cllr Stone to update website.

01988 Wind Farm Terms of Reference

It was proposed by Cllr Hatton and seconded by Cllr Stone that all wind farm fund discussions at wind farm funding applications be held in open forum NOT closed session. Voted unanimously.

The wind farm terms of reference require updating and to this end a sub-committee was formed of the whole council. First meeting to be held at Marshlands on 16 May 2023 at 1900.

01989  Parish Clerks Report

No Report

01990  Items for the Next Agenda

The council will discuss forming a sub-committee to report on the state of the roads in the village.

The council will discuss the deployment of active speed signs.

The council will discuss the village news letter.

Next Parish Council Meeting will take place on Tuesday 6th June 2023  at 19.00 to be held at Marshlands