Millbrook Lake Moorings Association Ltd

Draft Minutes of Annual General Meeting held in The Village Hall on 14th December 2011

The Chairman welcomed those present.

Board Members present: Charles Clements [Chairman],Bryan Luxford[Secretary],Patrick Keefe[Moorings],Steve Creese[Parish], Tony Edwards[FisherMan], Robert Wingate.

Members Present: 26 Voting members many together with their partners.

Apologies Received: Bruce Selkirk[Treasurer], James Buss and Justin Elworthy.

Minutes of Previous AGM: The minutes were circulated with the invitation to attend the meeting. Keith Bousfield proposed that the minutes should be accepted as a true record, John Horsley seconded the proposal, the meeting unanimously approved.

Matters Arising: No matters arising.

Chairmans Report: Charles explained the personnel changes that had taken place over the past year and took the opportunity to thanks Chris Gaulton and Roger Evans for their excellent service over many years. He gave a detailed account of the many subjects that the Board had dealt with over the past year.

The creation of the MLMA website for which Peter Walker was thanked for his technical expertise; Restructuring of the Marina Licence Fees and new Terms and Conditions;The setting up of new 5 year fixed funds with the UTB; Completion of work necessary to make the Beach Area near Dam a more secure area for tenders;Dealing with a Court Enforcement Order with regard to Southdown, Shaun Huggins has given a written assurance that if his appeal fails he will remove the relevant pontoons at no cost to MLMA or the Parish:New Marina Policy Document has been formulated;Our obligation under Clause 4.7 of the Duchy Lease was recognised when a donation of £1300 was given to Millbrook Social Committee towards the cost of a new septic tank,thus reducing the likelihood of pollution of the Lake;

The Chairman emphasized that our ability to control the rents and fees on the Lake came at a price, namely the Board’s responsibility to implement the many clauses of the Duchy and Mt Edgecumbe Leases.

Secretary’s Report: The regular business of dealing with correspondence to and from: Companies House, QHM,The Duchy, The Parish Clerk, The Environment Agency,Marina operators and members. Compiling Lake Inspections and keeping minutes has continued throughout the year.Designing new ‘Terms and Conditions’ is an ongoing activity.

Of the 12 meetings held since the previous AGM, the attendance of the Board was: Charles and Patrick 12, Bryan 11, Bruce 10, Steve,Tony and Robert 9, Justin and James 4 Bryan asked for appreciation to be shown to Charles from the members present for taking on the roll of Chairman, it has been a very steep learning curve for him and he has tackled the situation with great enthusiasm. Those present gave Charles an enthusiastic round of applause.

Treasurer’s Report: Robert and Charles answered questions from the floor regarding the accounts in the absence of Bruce.

The setting up of two 5 year fixed funds with the United Trust Bank would accue over £4000 interest over 5 years. £20000 has been invested. Robert expressed the membership’s appreciation to Christine Knott for presenting the accounts for Companies House approval. A detailed copy was given to members present together with a spreadsheet produced by Charles during his time as Treasurer.

Mooring Officer’s Report: Patrick reminded those present to check their mooring tackle and ensure that the new identification buoys are securely fastened to the appropriate mooring, a few have come adrift and been found. Next season the Board intend to remove any moorings that do not have an ID buoy attached .These will be deemed ‘illegal ‘ and their positions reallocated. Licence Fees will be reviewed every 3 years so there is no licence fee increase this year.

Issues raised by Members:

Pip Patterson asked if the Chairman thought sufficient funds had now been raised to cover the costs of encroachments and if so could mooring fees be lowered as the MLMA is a ‘non-profit’ organisation. Charles reminded Pip that there had only been one fee increase in the past 10 years. Every year when the fees remained the same was tantamount ,because of inflation, to a price reduction. The Chairman continued by saying that although sufficient funds existed to justify donations to the wider community [ as per constitution], funds would still have to accumulate to ensure the MLMA could carry out its obligations under the Lease with confidence. Also running costs increase each year. Mt Edgecumbe rent increases every 3 years. Legal costs commitment to the Parish Council is index linked to RPI. In such a context the term ‘non profit’ is meaningless. Despite all this mooring fees have been kept under control.

Pip later asked people not to trepass on his property as his yard is not a public right of way.

Jim Dearden asked if we could enforce clear passage for vessels at the east end of Southdown Marina. Patrick intends to rectify the matter with the Marina.

Jim and Lyn Reid also asked if the route along the north shore from Pip Patterson’s yard to Ankarva could be cleared of ropes obstructing the path. As the MLMA only has responsibility to MHW the situation is out of our control although The Code of Conduct [website] does ask members not to tie to private land.

Alec Elworthy congratulated the Board on investing funds so as to accrue interest.

Responder Address:

Bob Gaskin gave a detailed talk to the members about the function and experiences of the responders within the Parish.He explained how funds were generated and why they were needed to maintain the service.

Voting Procedure:

Motion A was  “The meeting agrees in principle to a donation to the Responder Service in 2012”  The motion was carried  17 voted YES   5 voted  NO

Motion B was  ” The meeting agrees  to consult the whole membership via a covering letter with next years licence, to vote for £1000, £2000 or £3000. The Board will act on the majority decision”   Carried by show of hands.

Motion C was ” The meeting agrees to additional anti pollution contribution to Football Club new septic tank installation” The motion was not carried  7 voted YES  15 voted  NO

Any Other Business: Steve Creese asked members to join the Boat Watch Scheme which he has organised.  Leaflets have been distributed to all members but the response was low. Our local PCSO John Wriggle intends to oversee the Boat Watch system and will hold details on the national Police register. Also available were products to make identification of property personal, covers for outboards and more stickers.

Election of Board Members: John Horsley proposed and Keith Bousfield seconded that the whole Board should be re-elected. The members present agreed unanimously.

Meeting closed at 9.30pm when members socialised till late.