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Hullavington Village Hall ManagementCommitteeMinutes of Hullavington Village Hall Management Committee Meeting held on Wednesday 5th November 2008 in the Village Hall PRESENT: Bob Fenner, William Harmer, David Hunt, Peter Parry-Williams, Paul Hadley, Joan Shaw, Julian Greenman, Anne Durrant, Sharon Lamont, Maggie Bawden. 1. Apologies: Roger Gee, John Metters, Alan Henson, Elizabeth Parry-Williams, Rachel Hurst. 2. Minutes of the last meeting held on 3rd September 2008 were corrected (item 4.4 should read “around 1K of which will come from surplus operational income…) and signed. 3. Matters arising – there were none. 4. Financial matters 4.1. Treasurer’s report - Roger was not present but the finance report as of 31st October is attached. The rental income to date is behind forecast but the hall is usually busier over the Christmas period. 4.2. Proposed increases in supplementary charges– Roger’s proposals (attached) were discussed. Originally the core users were exempt from supplementary charges but Roger has proposed that charges are made for selling alcohol and for the playing of live or recorded music. Would these charges apply to user groups using music weekly, such as Mount Zion Church, keep fit, Jolly Tots, Village Voices etc.? This was felt to be unreasonable. Sharon suggested only charging user groups when a special function was organised. There was also concern at the consequences of charging £40 to user groups and village users for having a pay bar which would be on top of the £21 TEN fee. Many events may well be moved to the Star Inn which does not charge for the use of its function room. For charity fundraising it would make it very difficult to make any money. Could the amount charged be linked to the number of people present? We should consider charging less for core users. Paul, Roger and Bob will meet and discuss these issues. ACTION: PAUL, ROGER AND BOB TO DISCUSS 4.3. Informing hall users of new rental and supplementary charges – Dave will put the new rental charges in the next newsletter and Paul will post them onto the village website. 4.4. Future expenditure approved by Treasurer – Paul commented that the key cabinet was difficult to lock. Nobody else has had any problems so he will try using the spare key. Bob proposed that we buy 2 new kettles as the old cheap plastic ones are clogging up. We also need a new radio microphone which will cost between £60 - £200. The lighting deck has a fault – Bob will test it and see if it can be repaired. A new one would cost around £189 for a budget one and between £250 - £500 for a better quality one. If both these latter items are bought at the upper price range we will exhaust this year’s budget for capital purchases. ACTION: BOB TO INVESTIGATE PURCHASE OF MICROPHONE AND LIGHTING DECK POSSIBILITIES 5. Hall bookings – 5.1. Update – 5.1.1. Paul reported that there are still many problems with Splash Dance. They don’t pay their rental bills unless physically approached. Bob has now given them a letterbox, trying to make communications easier. Sharon suggested that she could act as a mediator and retrieve payment cheques from them, check dates and give a warning that if things do not improve by Christmas Splash Dance will not be allowed to continue. 5.1.2. There will be elections in the hall on May 7th and June 4th 2009. 5.2. Feedback from RAW performance - Anne reported that there were 31 people that attended the last (excellent) performance. It was agreed to advertise more and earlier next time, using user groups and e-mail to spread the word. 6. Current TENS applications report – 3 so far this year. 7. Administrative matters 7.1. Lighting and fire alarm testing schedule – Julian has put together a document giving information retrieved from various manuals supplied by Terrapin about testing schedules. The extensive, sometimes daily, testing was felt to be excessive and so Bob will come up with something more realistic. Bob thanked Julian for his work. ACTION: BOB TO REWORK TESTING SCHEDULE 7.2. Village Halls “Hallmark Scheme” – Although shelved at the last meeting Bob has since found out that grants from Community First and Village Halls Association are awarded firstly to those halls that are part of the Hallmark Scheme. This is a very good reason for us to join and we need to be aware of this. 7.3. Community First Village Halls Briefing Days – Bob handed around information if anyone is interested in going to these briefing days. 8. Reports on site maintenance and development issues – 8.1. Annual testing of fire fighting equipment – Peter handed over the latest fire certificate. John had pointed out that the Ecclesiastical's Guidance Notes says that 'All fire fighting equipment should be inspected and maintained professionally at least annually by a FETA or BAFE registered firm’. Protect Fire Equipment Ltd., the company we use, is not registered with either of these; Bob has checked our insurance documentation and cannot find mention that they need to be registered. 8.2. Annual test of portable electrical equipment – Bob would like to use Affleck Engineering again for PAT testing. 8.3. Leaking gutter – front of hall - it does not appear to be leaking. 8.4. New storage for chairs and tables currently in Victor’s barn – Bob suggested that we could fit all the old trestle tables and chairs into a 6’ x 8’ shed. William said that he might be able to store them. Paul wondered whether we should advertise them to the village for borrowing/hiring, in which case William would probably not want them stored at his property. 8.5. Audio-visual support company – of possible use to the hall - Bob has details on file of a recommended company (EES Swindon Ltd.) that could help with upgrading our audio visual equipment when the time comes. 9. Committee support for Annual Show – Jebbie and Dudley were very grateful for help from the hall committee. 10. AOB 10.1. Paul will get the proceeds from the dog show on Saturday. Bob will write a thank you letter. ACTION: BOB TO WRITE THANK YOU LETTER 10.2. Most musical performers choose to perform at the opposite end from the ‘stage’ area because of poor acoustics. We need to look into this and find out if there are ways to improve the acoustics. 10.3. Thanks to Maggie Bawden for donating a clock for the small hall. 10.4. Joan apologised for the WI leaving a heater on overnight in the small hall. Bob wondered whether we should be investigating time operated switches for these heaters and motion sensors for the lights in the toilets. Maggie suggested that we might be able to get a grant for these. Bob will look into this. ACTION: BOB TO INVESTIGATE SWITCHES FOR HEATERS AND LIGHTS 10.5. Julian will find a new toilet roll holder to replace a broken one. He also commented that the scissor mop is broken, the heater in the men’s toilets is not working and that the door stop is still getting knocked off. 10.6. The film club are still complaining about poor acoustics in the hall. We are not sure if the problems arrive from the shape of the hall or from the equipment ACTION: BOB TO ASK MIKE GRAVES TO COMMENT ON ACOUSTICS 10.7. Dave will advertise the annual closing of the hall gates in the newsletter and he and Julian will ensure that the gate is locked. 11. Confirm date of the next hall committee meeting: Wednesday 4th February 2009 at 8pm There being no further business the meeting was closed at 9.35 pm.
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