February 2019 Minutes

Minutes from meeting held on 18th February 2019

Present:

Cllr Brian Wilkinson (BW), Cllr Rachel Stevenson (RS), Cllr Brynley Heaven (BH), Cllr Malcolm Dodds (MD)

James Leach – Clerk (JL)

Press

James Leach

1 Apologies –. Cllr Frances Cartwright (FC), Cllr J Pickard (JP).

Absent – Cllr Peter Morris (PM1), District Cllr Peter Moseley (PM2), County Cllr Martin Hill (MH)

2 The Chairman welcomed all present.

3 No members of the public were present

4 Declarations of Interest – None.

5 Minutes of the Last Meeting – Proposed by MD and seconded by RS.

6 Matters Arising

None – these will be covered in appropriate sections below.

7 Planning

A revised planning application had been a received from Mr A Baxter, to demolish a bungalow and replace with a two storey house. Mr Baxter had taken on board the comments raised by the PC and member of the public at the last meeting and revised the plans accordingly. The revised plans were passed round and after a brief discussion no objections were raised. JL will sign the return for SKDC to this effect.

ACTION: JL

8 Cemetery

Cemetery fees were discussed. BW proposed that Internments increase from £180 – £190, cremation internments increase from £90-£95, exclusive right of burial from £180 – £190, exclusive right of burial (cremation) from £90 – £95, headstone from £120 – 125, double headstone from £220 – £240, cremation headstone/slab from £85 – £90. This proposal was accepted by all Parish Councillors and will come into effect from 1st April 2019. It will be reviewed again next year. JL will distribute the revised figures to the local Funeral Directors.

ACTION: JL

BW said that he had not had time to prepare instruction with regards burials and keeping the Cemetery Books in order etc. He will prepare this and speak to JL in the near future.

ACTION: BW

9 Neighbourhood Watch

Residents are reminded that there have been a few incidents regarding scrap. Two vans had been driven onto the factory yard looking for scrap and one of the vehicles involved had been untaxed. Police had been informed. There had also been a couple more Hare Coursing incidents. There have also been a number of incidents of deer poaching in Temple Wood. Residents are asked to be extra vigilant and if they see anything suspicious to report it to the Police immediately.

10 Highways

BW said that the inspection chambers near the gulley’s on the A15 that ran from the Village Hall to the Pub had still not been sorted so he will remind County Councillor MH as at the previous meeting he had said he would get it looked in to.

ACTION: BW

JL reported that all 5 of the broken street lights had now been fixed.

JL had received a response from Lincolnshire Highways with regards to the Parish Agreement. The Agreement had now been signed and returned to LCC Highways. They had replied to say that they could not accept the PC’s contractor’s insurance as the agreement was with the PC and not the contractor. They therefore require a copy of the PC Public Liability. JL will speak with JP to get this.

ACTION: JL

With regards payment for work that the PC had done in previous years LCC has informed the PC that, as it had not entered into a Parish Agreement Prior to this coming financial year no payments could be made. BW will speak to MH regarding this. JL will also look into previous correspondence and formulate a response as previously the PC had been told by MH and LCC that no payments would be made.BW asked MH to comment on the letter received from Lincolnshire Highways re the Parish Agreement, especially around the requirements for Public Liability Insurance. MH read the letter and said the PC’s own insurance should be sufficient but as we were using a contractor we would need to satisfy ourselves that they had sufficient cover. JL will request this from Britain’s. JP will give JL copy of PC Public Liability Insurance.

ACTION: BW/JL

JL has reported the damaged road sign at the junction with Temple Road and the A15, he had received a response to say that it had been inspected but that LCC Highways were not going to take any action at present. They will continue to monitor it. BW will also mention this to MH.

ACTION: BW

The missing village road sign on the Northbound carriage had also been reported but no reply had been received to date. JL will chase this in time for the next meeting.

ACTION: JL

11 Finance

A Water Rates Bill had been received for £14.68. This had been paid by JL. The last two bills had been estimated so JL will read the meter next time to get an accurate idea of how much water was being used.

The account balances remained the same. The Current Account balance was £1234.97 and the Savings Account stood at £10253.89 – Total £11940.86.

JL had sent the Precept forms off to SKDC.

JL had received a request from CAB asking for a grant/donation in order for them to continue with their work. After some discussion MD proposed that the PC send a cheque for £100. This was seconded by all other Parish Councillors. JL will arrange to send a cheque.

ACTION: JL

JL said that he had not had a update from JP as to whether a VAT refund had been claimed last year. He will ask JP and feedback at the next meeting.

ACTION: JL/JP

BW said he had spoken to JP regarding a pay increase for the Clerk as there had been no pay increase in the last 10 years. BW and JP will have a meeting and once a decision had been made would feed back to the remaining Councillors form approval. JL said his next payment was due in March but was happy to wait until the next meeting in April. He will notify Ladywell who do the clerks wages.

ACTION: JP/BW/JL

12 Correspondence

JL went through correspondence received. Anything that had required action he had already emailed to Parish Councillors prior to the meeting. No feedback was forthcoming. Any other post requiring action had already been dealt with in previous sections above.

JL had received an email from the Red Cross to say that they could offer an evening course. JL will contact them again for some proposed dates. If they could not offer suitable dates JP had said at the previous meeting that benefactors who had funded the defibrillator had offered to pay for a First Aid Course. BW asked that we avoid the 10th April, 2nd May and 8th May.

JL had recently had the defibrillator serviced but was still awaiting the invoice which would be £40. He had received a copy of the report which showed everything was OK but that the batteries/pads would need replacing in September. He had set a date in his diary to remind him of this so replacements could be ordered at a cost of £39.00 plus VAT.

JL had received notification that there is to be a Cycle Event (Bourne CiCLE Festival) between 31st August and 1st September this year. People should be prepared for possible road closures in the surrounding area during the event.

13 SKDC Update/Neighbourhood Plan

No one was available from SKDC to give an update.

14 Lincolnshire County Council Update

No one was available from LCCC to give an update.

15 A.O.B

BW said that he will organise the annual skip provisionally, for 27th April. JL will do slips for each resident once confirmed.

16 Date of next meeting Monday 1st April 2019 – 8.00 pm at the Village Hall. Meeting closed at 08.58 pm