November 2020 minutes DRAFT
DRAFT MINUTES OF THE MEETING OF WIGTOFT PARISH COUNCIL HELD ON 2nd NOVEMBER 2020. DRAFT
This meeting was held by a video link conference call due to the restrictions in force in relation to the Corona virus pandemic.
Present: Cllr P Craven; Cllr S Brigham; Cllr B Leggott; Cllr S Baxter; Cllr S Smith: Cllr S Collingwood
Also Present: County Councillor M. Brookes; Borough Councillor M. Cooper.
Public forum: None
Chairman’s remarks – The Chairman thanked ex Councillor Graeme Wright for all of the work he has done as a Councillor and advised Council that he has sent a thank you letter to Graeme on behalf of the Parish Council.
082/20 Apologies for absence and reasons given
None.
083/20 To receive any declarations of interest in accordance with the Localism Act 2011.
None.
084/20 To elect a new Vice Chair
Cllr SC volunteered to fill the gap until the next Annual Meeting in May 2021. It was resolved unanimously to elect Cllr SC as Vice Chair.
085/20 Police Report.
An email had been received from the local PCSO advising that there had been no reported crimes since the last meeting.
086/20 Notes of the meeting held on 5.10.20 to be confirmed and signed as minutes.
The above notes were agreed as minutes and will be signed by the Chairman at the next face to face meeting. It was resolved to accept the notes as minutes. ACTION: Clerk to post minutes on website.
087/20 Financial matters: Accounts for payment; budget figures and financial report.
Payments made in November
Finance report
The precept payment of £4557.50 was received into the bank account on 1.10.20
The Bank Reconciliation from 1.4.20 to 30.9.20 is complete and ready for checking.
VAT return has been submitted. £128.43 has been claimed.
The invoice for the land rent has been sent.
It was resolved to confirm the above payments and budget figures.
ACTION: Clerk to process payments and add updated budget figures to the website.
088/20 Planning
Planning application B/20/0364, Cade’s Cottage, Hoffleet Road, Hoffleet Stow had been withdrawn prior to the start of this meeting.
089/20 Correspondence (received since October meeting).
LALC e mail about finding community heroes from across the nation to be involved in a pilot project of election materials.
emailed to Councillors 27.10.20
LALC e news 19.10.20 emailed to Councillors 27.10.20
LALC e news 26.10.20 emailed to Councillors 2.11.20
Ass of Play Industries e newsletter 20.10.20 emailed to Councillors 27.10.20
090/20 Councillor’s Reports
Cllr PC – thought the tree planting ceremony with Virna went well. Social distancing was maintained. Thanks to Cllrs S. Smith, S. Brigham and S. Baxter for attending.
Cllr SC - suggested that the Parish Council may have lost Cllr Graeme Wright due to overloading with actions at a time when he was under pressure from his workload. We need to stop this happening in the future and, if necessary, bring people in from outside to help. Councillors are volunteers and do not always have enough spare time to take on extra work.
Cllr SS – a resident has suggested having some benches in the wildlife garden and holding a garden party in there. Another resident has asked about sowing wild flower seeds in there. Cllr PC explained that he has sown some which won’t be visible until next year. It was resolved to add an item to the agenda for February to discuss the idea of having benches and perhaps sending letters out asking for donations towards the cost if it is decided to buy some.
Borough Cllr, M Cooper – advised Council that some places buy the benches and then allow residents to put memorial plaques on them.
091/20 Clerk’s report
New website:
Following a Zoom call with Peter Langford and consultation with yourselves, Peter has agreed to help with transferring historical data to the new website. He is also helping me with changing the format of future documents so that they will be simpler to transfer and tweaking the layout of the new site to make it more user friendly. The old website will be switched off on the 31.12.20. There are currently intermittent problems with logging on to the old website and being force logged out when working on the site. Lincs County Council say this cannot be fixed.
Grass cutting: Invoice received for £350. This covers the cuts completed on 8/8, 30/8, 11/9, 19/9, 11/10. There is no payment outstanding for any cuts.
Wheeled cart for litter pickers has been ordered and delivered. An email has been received thanking the Parish Council.
Fly tipping Clover Lane and lay by:
Fly tipping along Clover Lane was reported to me by a member of the public by text and this has been reported to Boston Borough Council;
Fly tipping on the lay by towards the Sutterton end of the village was reported by Cllr SS and a member of the litter picking group and this has been reported to Boston Borough Council.
Highways:
A resident reported poor visibility along the bends in Burtoft Lane North. See update below.
- Thank you for your report. We will investigate and make an update to this report within 14 days.
Posted by Lincolnshire County Council at 10:46, Monday 19 October 2020
Updated by Lincolnshire County Council at 09:54, Tuesday 20 October 2020
Posted by Lincolnshire County Council at 11:08, Thursday 22 October 2020
092/20 To decide which Christmas lights to order
Details of the website “Festivelights.com” had been sent to the Councillors ahead of the meeting. Council felt that the Connect Pro connectable festoon lights were suitable. A 45 metre length with a connecter which includes a timer and delivery would cost £430.97. Councillors agreed that the cost was acceptable as new lights would last several years. It was resolved that Cllrs Collingwood and Baxter would check the length required and advise the clerk to order at a maximum cost of £500. ACTION: Clerk to order lights when advised of requirements.
093/20 To decide whether to move the bin from the Market Place to the lay by near the junction with the A17.
It was resolved not to move the bin due to concerns that people parking in the lay by probably wouldn’t bother to put their rubbish in the bin and would throw it out of the vehicle window anyway. ACTION: Clerk to advise litter picking group.
094/20 To agree the increase in price for HP Instant Ink from £6.66 per month to £8.33 per month.
It was resolved to accept the increase. Councillors felt that this is still good value for money and far cheaper that buying individual cartridges.
095/20 To retrospectively agree to the clerk taking on additional temporary work to support Swineshead Parish Council.
It was resolved to agree to this request,
096/20 To retrospectively agree to accepting the offer from P. Langford to help with setting up the new website.
The clerk advised Council that Mr Langford is not charging for this support. Lincs County Council confirm that they are happy to give him temporary access to the website. It was resolved to accept this offer. ACTION: Clerk to request log in details from LCC to be sent to Mr Langford and arrange to securely submit any documents he will need to ass to the website.
097/20 To review the quarterly play area inspection undertaken by Cllr S Baxter and agree any actions required. To review the Covid inspection completed by Cllr S Brigham. To decide who will complete the monthly play area inspection and the 2 weekly Covid inspections for November.
The report was not available to share with Councillors. Cllr SB reported that findings were in line with the annual report. The quarterly check list has been amended to reflect this. The clerk advised that the quote for the recommended sign had not been received but will follow up for the next meeting. ACTION: Agenda item for next meeting.
098/20 To decide what action to take about the damaged notice board.
The clerk had sent out details of a new noticeboard which indicated that the cost would be in the region of £1000. Councillors felt that they did not want to spend this much at the moment. It was resolved that Cllr SS would obtain a written quote for new doors and internal back board and forward quote to the clerk. ACTION: Agenda item for next meeting.
099/20 To continue the budget planning for the financial year commencing 1.4.21.
Cllr SS presented the information she had researched in respect of the possibility of holding a Seniors Christmas Meal next year. It was estimated the cost would be in the region of £350. It was resolved to add this amount to the budget for 21/22. ACTION: Agenda item next meeting to complete budget planning.
100/20 To amend the Bank signing mandate following the resignation of Cllr GW.
It was resolved to remove GW and to add Cllr SS. ACTION: Clerk to complete appropriate forms and to submit to Lloyds bank.
101/20 An update on the reporting of “Poor visibility when exiting on to A17 from Hipper Lane and Main Road” to LCC Highways.
County Councillor M Brookes gave the following update to the Council:
“I met with the Highways Officer on site before the above report came in and discussed the issue. She advised that the work to cut back the trees and shrubs will be left until next April. I commented that it would be better to complete the work in winter when there are no leaves on the bushes and trees. The Highways Officer will get back to me about this and I will report back at the next meeting.”
Cllr SC commented that this work should be undertaken annually. Cllr PC thanked County Councillor Brookes for his involvement and help.
102/20 To decide who will check the latest bank reconciliation.
It was resolved that Cllr BL will check the bank reconciliation. ACTION: Clerk to post relevant documents to Cllr BL.
The clerk’s review is scheduled for 18.40 on the 7.12.20, prior to the meeting. Cllr PC and SC will hold the review.
Meeting closed at 20.45.
The next monthly meeting is on the 7.12.20 at 19:00 in the format of a video conference call.