Minutes of meeting of 10th April 2012 in Council Chambers
Margaret Ingle (MI) (Vice Chair), Emily Armatage (EA) (Treasurer), Pat Lemmon (PL) (Secretary),
Robert Moran (Rab), David Barrett (DB), Graeme MacGregor (GMcG), Martin Lugton (ML)
3.1 Information Centre
4. Minutes of 13th March
Approval of the minutes was proposed by Pat and seconded by Rab
5. Matters Arising
5.1 Item 6.1 Alderston Meadows: Ludovic said that this matter had come before a petition committee, with 2 alternatives put forward. The decision was made to keep the road open but have a safety review.
5.2 Item 6.2 Athelstaneford noticeboard: Emily said she had not been in touch with Owen about this as yet. Tom confirmed that Owen will paint it – the paint just needs to be sourced.
5.3 Item 7.1 West Mills Weir: Pat said that Neil Fraser (HADAS) has written regarding this but has not received a reply as yet. Tom said the best thing to do would be to contact Maree Johnson in the first instance. Pat will send copies of emails sent to Tom. Action PL
5.4 Item 7.4 Diamond Jubilee: Emily confirmed that the Corn Exchange and Elite Catering have both been booked. Still not sure of the format and whether there will be seating made available outside.
5.5 Item 10.2 Santa sleigh: Pat said that she had received an email from Robert Flood confirming that the school were still keen to be involved in the refurbishment of the sleigh.
5.6 Item 10.7 School entrance: Tom confirmed that the work for this is currently being costed.
5.7 14.1 John Gray Centre: the CC volunteers have now been in the centre for a week and yesterday was the official opening. Emily said that a photo was taken of all the volunteer staff and she thought it would be a good idea to have the photo framed properly. All comments so far have been very positive, although we still don’t have a proper desk as yet. Pat said this had come up at the recent HTCAG meeting, where it had been felt that a marketing opportunity was being missed here for the town through no fault of the volunteers. Ian Glen and Paul Zochoski said they would discuss this with Susan Smith from the EDU. She also said that training was to be provided for the volunteers and the library staff.
5.8 Item 15.5 Exhibition boards: Jan is still struggling to get the boards as both she and Lilian have been busy.
6. Councillors Corner
6.1 First Bus (proposed termination of services): Margaret asked what was going to happen when all the buses stop running to the outer lying areas. Tom said that the services would not be stopped. Discussions are ongoing and an announcement should be made by the end of this week, but he confirmed that these services would not be stopping.
6.2 Community Hub: Pat said that Sheena had indicated that something would be put down in writing regarding the proposals for the old library. Tom not sure if this has been done but did confirm that there is a definite commitment from the councillors to this end.
6.3 Lynn Lea Avenue: Margaret said they still have problems in this area with cars parking over drive-ways etc. This was regarded as a police matter.
6.4 Dog fouling in Butts: also a police matter.
6.5 Pavement at Jet garage: Rab said that the pavement opposite the garage is cracked and in a bad state of repair – probably due to the cars being parked there. It was thought that the garage probably doesn’t own this land – Tom will look into it. Action TT
As this was the last meeting before the local elections Emily thanked the councillors present for all their work and help over the past year and hoped that the elections go well for them.
7. Police Questions – none present
7.1 Community Policing Awards, Scotland: Pat said that she had heard that Lynn has been nominated and has made it down to the last 7 places (the only woman to get to this stage). We all wished her well.
8. Community Warden News – none present
9. Knox Academy News – none present
10. Correspondence
Received:
10.1 Various ELC meeting notices and minutes
10.2 Newbattle Abbey College: details of Celtic Festival, 19th May 11-6pm
10.3 Haddington Guides: letter re their trip to Switzerland in July, looking for help with funding. It was decided that as we had already given to them on two previous occasions that at this time we would not be able to help. It has been suggested previously by John that we have a standard response letter to requests for financial help. It was agreed to implement this. Action EA
10.4 Fireworks display: Wayne McDonald is trying to organise a display for this year. Has some costing and pledges to the sum of approx £2000 already. Pat thought he was going to attend tonight’s meeting to discuss this. It was thought we wait to hear from him before making any decisions.
11. Planning – nothing major to report
12. Treasurers Report
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12.1 Emily said that these are the final set of accounts before they go to be audited. She also said that she will check with the bank re interest, as none has been added to the account. Action EA
13. Honorarium
13.1 Festival Account: present figures are: Jan £250 (£350), Emily £150 (£250)
CC Account: Jan £150 (£250), Emily £250 (£350)
Pat thought that the present honorariums are incredibly low and therefore suggested that they should be increased to better reflect the amount of work involved. An increase of £100 per item was therefore proposed by Pat and seconded by Rab. This was agreed by all. (new figures in italics above) Action EA
Secretary honorarium: Pat declined to accept an honorarium for this year. To be reviewed this time next year.
(David Barrett arrived at the meeting)
14. Festival Minutes and update
Approval of the minutes was proposed by Rab and seconded by Pat
14.1 Matters arising:
Item 6: Football event: Rab has passed the message on but not had any word back. Pat thought that this item should just be dropped from the programme.
Item e: Bunting: Emily still not heard re this although it has been paid
Item f: Children’s’ photo competition: Tonya and Andrew Moncrieff have met with the CC and concluded that there is not enough time to get this up and running for this years’ festival but will try to do for next year.
14.2 Item 2: Correspondence
d. Nothing has been received from Bobby McLoughlin as yet, so will assume he has resigned from the CC. Letter has been received from Dave Brunton already giving his resignation.
e. Emily had spoken with the Courier who quoted £75 for an ad. There will be a small item in the free section but if this is not enough we will have to pay for a bigger ad as above.
15. AOCB
15.1 One-way system (today’s meeting with Reporter): David Barrett had sat in for most of the meeting which he felt had gone well; the reporter being very thorough in his dealings with the matter. Pat had also been at part of the meeting and felt that she had a lot more confidence in what was being discussed today. It was agreed that it would be illogical to rip up the pavement at the John Gray Centre over-night but we were given the assurance that nothing was ‘set in stone’ and that this could be achieved if it was agreed that the traffic go back to two-way. We are relying a lot on the report from Urban Animation – if their findings were that two-way would be better for the long-term then it would not make sense to oppose this. Pat said she was shocked to find out that the one-way system could be a contributory factor in the drop in foot-fall in the town centre and questioned why a survey was not done before and after the TTRO was put in for the refurbishment at Jacksons – this would have given us an idea of how a one-way system could affect the town.
15.2 Festival meeting in May: this will probably have to be brought forward as it clashes with the beginning of the Festival. Tues 15th was suggested - will be discussed and decided at the next festival meeting on 24th April.
Date of next Meeting: Tuesday 8th May 2012 in Council Chambers, Town House at 7.00pm.
Date of next Festival Meeting: Tuesday 24th April 2012 in Council Chambers, Town House at 7.00pm
Outstanding Matters Arising from previous minutes
2008
12/02
Public toilets – condensation: 11/03 under investigation
Riverside Drive Bridge – anti-slip coating
11/03 Old A1: bench
Street lighting: Gifford Gate, Lady Kitty’s, bollards
08/04 Dobson’s Well – signage
13/05 Recycle bins –sports centre
Disabled parking bays
The Sands – parking
10/05 Clearing of river Tyne
Traffic calming – Queens Avenue
09/09 Beechwood Rd – widen pathway
Amisfield Cottages – Slow Down sign
Disabled parking bays – sign erected
2009
13/01 Church Street/Langriggs/Nungate Bridge – lighting
10/02 Beechwood Road – potholes
Roodlands – new hospital – major delay
10/03 Tyne under Victoria Bridge
Town Centre – one-way system
Fortune Ave – signage
12/05 Skate ramp request
09/06 Bermaline – state of river below and at weir
Westfield – disrepair of bridge
Cobblers Shoe Shop premises – disrepair of walls
2010
09/03 Lammermuir Crescent – small wall
14/09 Nungate Bridge – state of disrepair
09/11 Victoria Bridge – parking restrictions (MI)
2011
08/02 George Hotel – clean up exterior
Closes in High Street – sewage problems
12/04 Herdmanflat – fence lowered
14/6 Corn Exch – faulty drain
11/10 Disrepair of buildings at bottom of High Street
08/11 Lighting in Brewery Ct, Neilson Pk etc
2012
14/02 Corn Exchange – kitchen upgrade
Athelstaneford noticeboard – needs painting
10/04 Jet garage – pavement opposite in dis-repair
Transportation Dept. -Pot Holes and Broken Slabs throughout the Town & Athelstaneford
Pot Holes: Abbotsview, Somnerfield, Newton Port, Court Street, Seggarsdean, Roodlands Court, Oak Tree Roundabout, Beechwood Rd, Nungate Bridge (east side)
Uneven Pavements: High Street, Market Street, Court Street. St. Anne’s Place, Mitchells Close (11/1/11), Glebe Cres (Athel) 8/2,
Drain Covers Missing: Church Street