Minute of Annual General Meeting of 17 May 2016

Kalewater Community Council

Minute of Annual General Meeting on Tuesday 17 May 2016

In the Village Institute, Morebattle

Present:  Community Councillors; Eric McNulty, Pat Mileham, Richard Pedersen, Michael Scott, Matilda Hall, Barbara Bell, Catherine Mabon, Neil Thomson.
SBC Cllrs; Simon Mountford, Alec Nicol.

Public: Nil

ACTION

1

Apologies

Community Councillors; Dot Halliday, Andrew McEwan, Tom Edgar.

2

Minutes of Previous Annual General Meeting

The minutes of the previous annual general meeting of 19 May 2015 having been circulated, were passed as a true record of events.

Proposed: Cllr Hall; Seconded: Cllr Bell.

3

a

Matters Arising

Walter Leitch Bequest

SBC Cllr Mountford noted that the SBC Officer had not recently progressed this matter due to pressure of other work.

4

Chair’s Report on Kalewater Community Council activity since last AGM

As always I thank all councillors for their continued attendance and input into the varied tasks that come our way and long may it continue. Now we will take a look back at the previous year’s activity.

The annual Kelso Laddie/Jethart Callant visit took place in June which was a success as always due to good planning and organising prior to and during the visit.

Morebattle in Bloom gained a Highly Commended in the 2015 Scotland in Bloom champions competition following on from first place in the Wee Village the previous year.  A lot of work is needed to keep up this high standard from planting, maintaining and watering rotas.

The 4 Defibrillators are now in place in protective cabinets in Morebattle, Hownam, Cessford and Linton and with continued maintenance assured.  CPR training sessions were organised and well attended

At the beginning of 2016 we were approached by the village pub to look into the possibility of community ownership.  We decided to setup a subgroup to look into this and currently plans are in place to take this forward.

 As part of our Resilience Communities commitment an exercise was organised in conjunction with the emergency services to deal with the aftermath of a plane crash.  The scenario was that part of the plane would come down on the village power plant causing a power outage and the pilot and black box would have to be recovered. A calling tree was used to contact community volunteers to setup a rescue centre in the village hall, organise and send out search teams and provide food and comfort for residents.  The exercise was a success, now we need to build on this for the future. 

As this is the Queens 90th birthday year the community have come together to organise a party event on 12th June which will consist of a Hog Roast and music in the village pub with children’s play equipment in the adjoining village hall and trees will be planted at the western entrance to the village.  The Community Council involvement is to firstly contribute funds and secondly apply to the Community Grant scheme for additional funding, which is currently at the final approval stage.

The installation of the yearly xmas lights display is being handed over to a newly formed community group who will be organising future funding for the installation and upkeep of the fixture and fittings.

The long running saga of the Cemetery Trees has taken several turns in the last year.  The new owners of the property on which the hedge and trees are planted has agreed to the removal of the trees which was supported by a majority vote at the community council meeting that followed that decision.  It was also decided that we would ask if the council would remove the trees but when consulted the council officer responsible said that there was no need to remove the trees.  Discussions on this matter are still ongoing.

There may be other items that are not included here but it was another busy year.

Thank you.

Eric Mc Nulty
Chair

5

Treasurer’s Report inc. approval of annual abstract of accounts

The Treasurer tabled the official audited Accounts for 1 April 2015 to 31 March 2016 and a statement of receipts and payments for the same period. Copies of the papers were circulated amongst the councillors.

The agreement to amalgamate the Book account and the Playing Field account into a single Special Projects account, made at the 2015 AGM had been postponed as the Treasurer explained that with a possible re-print of the Kalewater book during 2016/17 that there would be need for the monies in the Book Account.

The Community Council’s main source of income came from the annual population-based grant from Scottish Borders Council.

Approval of the Annual Abstract of Accounts

The community council approved the abstract of accounts.

The community council expressed its gratitude to auditors Rennie Welch. Agreed to send a letter of thanks to Rennie Welch for the prompt and efficient production of audited accounts.

Secretary

6

Elections, including Office Bearers

SBC Cllr Simon Mountford took over the chair and thanked the community councillors and the Chair for their work over the year.

Community Councillor Vacancies

With three councillors, Matilda Hall, Richard Pedersen and Michael Scott reaching the end of their 4-year tenure and one vacancy to fill there are 4 spaces on the community council.

Three completed nomination forms were received from Matilda Hall, Richard Pedersen and Michael Scott. No elections were required. One vacancy on the community council remains.

Office Bearers

SBC Cllr Mountford thanked the previous office-bearers for their work during the past 12 months, noting the constructive and positive approach of Kalewater community councillors.

Office-Bearer Nominations

Chair: Eric McNulty; Proposed: Cllr Hall, Seconded: Cllr Pedersen

Secretary: Michael Scott, Proposed: Cllr McNulty, Seconded: Cllr Mabon

Treasurer: Matilda Hall; Proposed: Cllr Mabon, Seconded: Cllr Pedersen

Vice-Chair: Dot Halliday; Proposed: Cllr Hall, Seconded: Cllr Bell

SBC Cllr Mountford passed the chairing of the meeting back to Cllr McNulty.

Kalewater Community Council Members

Cllrs: Matilda Hall, Eric McNulty, Andrew McEwan, Cathy Mabon, Michael Scott, Dot Halliday, Barbara Bell, Patricia Mileham, Neil Thomson, Richard Pedersen and Tom Edgar.

7

Appointment of Auditors

Rennie Welch were appointed as auditors for the next 12 months.

8

Agreement to abide by Scottish Borders Council Code of Conduct for Community Councils

Kalewater Community Councillors agreed to abide by the SBC Code of Conduct.

9

AOB

No items

Signed:

Date: