Minutes of the meeting held on Wednesday 9th May 2018 at 6pm in the Mayor’s Parlour.
Present:
Cllr D Simcock (Chair)
Cllr N Tatam
Cllr P Simcock
Cllr T Davies
In attendance: Jane Lee (Town Clerk)
In the absence of a permanent Chair of Finance the Mayor Cllr David Simcock assumed the Chair.
- Apologies for absence
Apologies received from Cllrs S Dodd, F Morgan, G Jones
- Declarations of interest
Cllr T Davies declared a personal interest as Secretary of Friends of Bailey Park.
- Community Grant Scheme Applications
After detailed consideration the following grants are recommended for approval:
- Friends of Linda Vista Gardens – £300 for replacement planting
Cllr T Davies left the room for the duration that the application from Friends of Bailey Park was considered.
- Friends of Bailey Park – £731 for planting and tools with a request for clarification regarding the cost of the information board and whether the design incorporates information in braille
- Friends of Abergavenny Library Service – £250 for planting and vinyl stickers of Jeremy Thomas painting on the windows of the Town Hall
- Abergavenny Arts Festival – £1500 with the condition that £360 is used for 6th formers to have tickets to the Ben Okri performance
- Friends of Gunter Mansion – £1000 towards running costs and promotional materials
- Thursday Trust – £1000 towards upgrading of heating system
- ADTA – £2000 towards the cost of printing Visit Abergavenny brochures
- Abergavenny Eisteddfod – £750 contribution towards the cost of staging the Abergavenny Eisteddfod
- Friends of Castle Meadows – £500 towards the close of preparing the ground and planting. The application also included a request for the purchase of a dog poo bin and poo bag dispenser. It is recommended that the request for an additional dog bin is considered by Projects Committee.
- 7 Corners – £500 for the staging of the IYE, this is provisional based on a further breakdown of costs.
- Our Lady of St Michael’s School – All agreed to consider this late application. It is recommended that £1000 is awarded for their community for the creation of vegetable & fruit gardens and floral beds
It was noted by the Committee that the number of grant applications is likely to result in the budget being fully committed before the end of the year. However before Finance Committee makes a recommendation on this matter, more clarity is required regarding the allocation of the Projects Budget.
- Abergavenny in Bloom Awards Evening Event
It is recommended that a budget of £650 is made available for this event from the Abergavenny in Bloom budget
- Externalisation of Town Council payroll
It is recommended that the payroll function is carried out by an accountancy company at a cost of £400 for first year (as there will be set up costs) but thereafter the cost will be £200 a year.
- RBS Training Course
It is recommended that a trainer from RBS delivers onsite training on the RBS
Omega Financial Software for the Town Clerk and Admin Assistant at a cost of
£399 plus mileage of approx. £70.
- Cleaning of the Robes
Town Clerk reported that the cost of cleaning the robes (without fur) is £15 per robe.
It is recommended that the Civic Functions budget is used to fund the cleaning of the robes (without fur) and that initially one robe is cleaned to gauge the success or otherwise.
The Mayor noted that the Chains of Office require restoration and this should be considered in the future.
- Any Other Business
Cllr P Simcock proposed that future agendas have a financial report showing committed and actual spend against the different budget headings
The meeting closed at 8.50pm
