FINANCE & GENERAL PURPOSES COMMITTEE

15^th December 2009 at 7.30 p.m.

1.           Apologies: Cllr R Lumley [Portreeve & Mayor], Cllr Thomas, Cllr J Gist,

Present: Cllr Mrs K Gold [Deputy Mayor & Portreeve], Cllr Green, Cllr Mrs Winfindale, Cllr Mrs M Coakley, Cllr Mrs Jones, Cllr Dowdall.

In Attendance: Nil

Officer: Vernon Anderson – Town Clerk

Members of the Public: Nil

2.           Minutes

The minutes of the meeting of 17^th November 2009 were approved as a correct record of proceedings and duly signed.

3.           Policing Issues: None   

4.           Finance

              a)  Summary of accounts. The summary of the accounts to the 31^st November were received.

b)  Approval of Payments

c) Appointment of External Auditor

The Audit Commission has advised that they would like to appoint a new external auditor for Callington Town Council with effect of January 2010. The external auditor to be appointed is Mr Wayne Rickard.

Resolved. Proposed by Cllr Mrs Gold, seconded by Cllr Mrs Coakley and unanimously agreed that the Mr Wayne Rickard, District Auditor, be appointed as the external auditor for years 2009/10 to 2013/14.

5.         For Decision – CCTV Review

              At the FGP meeting held in September Cllr Gist reported that review of the CCTV system was ongoing and Cllr Long suggested that he would take up the issue of CCTV monitoring with Cornwall Council. It was proposed that the matter be brought back to this committee for debate at the October meeting but at that point in time there was no further information to report so the matter was reported to this committee at the last meeting in November.

At that time it was understood that the maintenance contract with Essa Security was being terminated for the CCTV monitoring system at Liskeard by officers at Cornwall Council, however this matter has now been resolved with the current contracts remaining in place. The CCTV system is currently funded in partnership with Liskeard and Saltash.

At the November meeting it was agreed to allow time for a report from the police to be circulated around members so that the matter could be debated fully at this December meeting, unfortunately this report has yet not been circulated fully so it was recommended that the matter be deferred to the next meeting.

Resolved. Proposed by Cllr Mrs Winfindale, seconded by Cllr Mrs Gold and unanimously agreed that the matter be deferred to the next meeting (19^th January 2010) and that Police Sgt Brett Phillips be invited to attend.

6.   For Decision – Caradon Community Network (Formerly Callington Community Network); Callington Town Plan - Top Five Priorities and Attendance Rights at Future Meetings.

At a recent informal meeting of the Community Network Panel it was agreed that each parish should submit their top five priorities for inclusion in a Community Network Plan. If possible this is to be done prior to the inaugural AGM which is set for 25^th January 2010.

It was agreed at Full Council held on the 24^th November to defer their decision to allow time for the committees to consider what their top priorities are for inclusion in the Town Councils top five priorities list. The Callington Town Plan is available on the Town Councils web site:

http://www.callington.uk.net/Town%20Council/Town%20Plan/TownPlan.htm

At the Direct Services Committee held on the 1^st December it was agreed by that the following issues should be considered for adoption as top priorities:

Further provision of community drop-in centres

Improvement of Youth Services

Improvement of cross parish community transport links

Re-introduction of outdoor market to sell local products and produce

Cross parish community newsletter.

Resolved. It was proposed by Cllr Mrs Winfindale, seconded by Cllr Mrs Coakley and unanimously agreed to accept the recommendations made by the Direct Services Committee with one amendment; that the ‘drop-in centre’ wording be amended to read ‘hubs’ i.e. ‘Further provision of community hubs’

7.         For Decision – Office Roof Repairs

During the past month or so the office has been subject to a small ingress of water through the ceiling. This progressively got worse in so far as water was streaming in whenever it rained heavy. Southwest Mastic Asphalt Co. Ltd investigated the matter and has applied an emergency repair which has been successful. At the same time it was found that the roof above the Council Chamber had also been compromised (long slit – discovered during the fitting of the Christmas lights) and although this had not yet let water in an emergency repair was carried out on the delegated authority of the Clerk.

Whilst carrying out the emergency repairs to the office and council chamber roof the contractor was asked to assess the overall condition. They found that a number of other splits, cracks and blows exist and have recommended that these should be repaired at the earliest opportunity.

Resolved. It was proposed by Cllr Dowdall, seconded by Cllr Mrs Gold and unanimously agreed to accept the quotation by Southwest Mastic Asphalt Co. Ltd.

The meeting closed at approximately 7.50 pm

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