10 March 2023 - Estate Management Committee
Ruskington Parish Council
Minutes of an Estate Management Committee meeting held on Friday 10 March 2023 at the Parish Office at 10am.
Present: Cllr Cunningham, Cllr Tonge and Cllr Ditch
Also in attendance: Kathryn Locke (Clerk to Council)
No members of the public were present.
1. To elect a chairman for the Estate Management Committee for the reminder of the civic year.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to elect Cllr Cunningham as the Chairman of the Committee.
2. To receive and accept apologies.
Cllrs Cox, Trolley, and Tomlinson were not present at the meeting.
Cllr Tomlinson had sent valid apologies.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to accept Cllr Tomlinson’s apologies
3. Receive declarations of interest and consider applications for dispensations in relation to DPIs.
None were declared at this time.
4. To approve the notes of the last meeting held on 15 November 2022 as accurate Minutes.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to approve the notes as accurate Minutes, with one abstention. (Not present at the previous meeting.)
The Chairman signed the Minutes.
5. Finances: To receive an update on the current budget for the Committee.
Current figures were not available at the meeting. A budget of £35,000 for the renovation and conversion of the parish office had previously been agreed by Council.
6. To elect a vice-chairman for the committee for the remainder of the civic year.
Action: The Committee unanimously RESOLVED to elect Cllr Tonge as the vice-chairman of the committee.
7. To consider the workshop report by the Environment Caretaker.
This had been circulated prior to the meeting. The Committee asked the Clerk to thank the Environment Caretaker for his time reviewing the workshop and equipment and for his detailed report.
7.1. To consider the equipment recommended for disposal as no longer required.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED to recommend to Council that the Power Craft pillar drill and the Stanley heater be disposed of as they were no longer operational. A decision on the Silverline AC Welder would be made once the skillset of the new caretaker was known.
7.2. To consider the equipment required, and its expenditure, for recommending to Council.
Action: The equipment required would be reviewed by the Committee once the skillset of the new caretaker was known.
8. To consider a self-locking or payment mechanism for the public toilet doors to reduce vandalism.
Action: The Committee RESOLVED that the RFO research a payment mechanism for the outer toilet doors that used both cash and cards.
9. To consider the quotes for the replacement workshop roof.
Action: Further quotes to be obtained.
9.1. To consider the quotes for the repair to the second area of leaking roof above the office property, if available.
Quotes were awaited. The Clerk could authorise payments up to £1,000 for emergency repairs, as previously agreed by Council.
10. To resolve whether to exclude the public and press, in accordance with the Public Bodies (Admissions to Meetings) Act 1960, to discuss the following contractual matters.
The Committee RESOLVED to exclude the public and press to discuss the contractual matters below.
The meeting closed at 10.23am and re-convened at 10.24am.
11. To open and consider the tender applications for the refurbishment and conversion of the parish office property.
At 10.51am Cllr Cunningham opened Tender A; Cllr Tonge opened Tender B, and Cllr Ditch opened Tender C. The applications were reviewed. The contractors had submitted the information and costings in different formats, therefore, it was not clear which contractors had met the requirements on the tender brief.
Action: The Clerk to create a matrix for comparing each application against the tender brief. It was also agreed to ask the RFO and Finance Committee to review the budget and financial reserves to discover if the cost of the refurbishment and conversion could be made in a single stage.
12. To agree the contractor for the project management and building works for recommending to Council at its meeting on 14 March 2023.
Action: This was deferred until the matrix in item 11 above, had been completed and reviewed.
13. Agree date for the next committee meeting.
To be confirmed.
The Chairman closed the meeting at 11.30am.