Board Minutes – 30 April 2018
A joint meeting was held with Garrison House and CCDC Board Members.
Agenda:
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Present
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Apologies
3. Matters Arising
3.1 Isle of Cumbrae Initiative group
3.2 Plans for Town Hall.
3.3 Multi-Purpose hall
4. CEO report
4.1 Millport Music festival [MCMF]
5. AOCB
6. DONM
Approved by Davy Stevenson and seconded as correct by Deborah Ferris.
1. Attendees: Davy Stevenson (DS), David Williamson (DW), Stephen Dobbin (SD), Steven Muir (SM) and CEO - Michael Bertram. CCDC Attendees were Deborah Ferris, Rena McIntyre, Stewart Kennedy, Doug Laidlaw, Douglas Kerr and Bryony McLachlan. Frank Corcoran was invited as Chair of Isle of Cumbrae Initiative Community Company.
2. Apologies: James Taberner and Robert Pringle.
3. Matters Arising
CCDC Chair [DF] advised that she had a matter that she wanted to add to the agenda, which was the concept of the Isle of Cumbrae Initiative group merging with CCDC.
DF added that Mr. Frank Corcoran, the Chair of the Initiative, had been invited to join the meeting, and as CCDC Chair she requested permission to speak first on this matter.
GHCL Chair [DS] indicated that was in order.
3.1 Proposal to merge the two groups.
CCDC Chair outlined that this was work that had been carried over from nearly 30 months ago, with a view that CCDC and Isle of Cumbrae Initiative Community Company would work on a couple of projects and see if we continue to work separately or seek a merger.
Discussion took place with Frank Corcoran on the reasoning behind the move and the value added for each of the groups.
5.25pm – Mr. Frank Corcoran left the meeting for the CCDC Board Directors to discuss amongst themselves and vote on the proposal to merge the two groups.
Resolution 1: that CCDC Directors did not approve the merging of CCDC and the Isle of Cumbrae Initiative Community Company.
Discussion took place with on whether to co-opt Mr. Frank Corcoran onto the CCDC Board.
Resolution 2: that CCDC Directors did not approve Mr. Frank Corcoran joining the CCDC Board.
3.2 Community Council plans for Town Hall.
RM advised that she had joined the ‘Friends of the Town Hall’ and Stewart Kennedy informed he had done so as well. Both confirmed that it was the Friends of the Town Hall desire to save the town hall as a ‘Town Hall’ with meeting space and stage, lighting etc.
General discussion took place on who were the members of the new group and how that now affects our own plans for a multi-purpose hall.
RM advised that it currently had 17 members.
Further discussion took place on the costs of repairing the old hall, as opposed to building a new hall.
DW added that the new committee should be aware of the reasons why CCDC had refused some years ago taking on the town hall.
SD stated that we never got full disclosure of the costs of repairing prior to council condemning the building.
CEO advised that we had held a meeting with Council in the Garrison House Café [Wednesday 2nd September 2015] and at that meeting with Community Council, Tourism and CCDC present we were informed by Yvonne Baulk [Director of ‘Place’ Directorate] that in her opinion the building was now beyond then point of salvage. Ms. Baulk stated that on top of the £750,000 raised from Historic Environmental Scotland it would take £1.5 million to repair the interior.
Present at that meeting were Isle Cumbrae Tourism Association, Kenny Mapes, Community Council - Christine MacCulloch, Frank Corcoran, [North Ayrshire Council - Cllr. Alan Hill, Yvonne Baulk, Dave McKay, Ken Campbell and Audrey Sutton] CCDC were Doug Kerr, Stephen Dobbin and Davie Stevenson.
CEO advised that this meeting it was also held to discuss CCDC taking over of the toilets and the DA Hall, as well as the Town Hall.
SD stated was correct, and we felt that due to the lack of information coming forward from council, we could not take on the risk of the Town Hall but we needed to save the toilets.
RM asked if the wider community were aware of these facts.
SD added that yes it had been in the paper.
CEO added also that members may recall that Frank Corcoran had been quoted in the wee paper as stating “council should therefore taking a wrecking ball and knock it down” [which he stated later that he was misquoted].
CEO continued to add that we had a follow up meeting with Council on the 11 December 2015, where council’s consultant, who had examined the town hall and developed business plan was invited to unpack the project [Mr. Doug Wheeler]. At no time since has this report ever been shown to CCDC despite repeated requests of Dr. Audrey Sutton and Mr. Alastair Laurenson [to provide a copy of said report].
CEO advised that he had asked Mr. Wheeler to summarize this report and at the end of this synopsis, Dr. Audrey Sutton agreed that the hall was not a viable proposition to be considered for an ‘asset transfer to CCDC”.
Further discussion took place around the report and if we could get a copy, which should be sent to the ‘Friends of the Town Hall’.
CEO added that he would make this available.
3.3 Multi-Purpose hall
CEO advised that Mr. John McDonald [consultant working for Just Enterprise] had sent a brief through to the CEO, only this evening and he had therefore included that brief in tonight’s meeting pack.
CEO added that Mr. McDonald had indicated that he believed it would be beneficial if he met the Board of Directors to unpack the final conclusions of the report and provide inputs into how the next stage would commence [via a sponsorship plan etc].
General discussion took place on whether John MacDonald would present in person to the board at their next meeting.
Resolution 3: that Mr. John McDonald be invited to brief a joint meeting of CCDC and GHCL.
4.1 Music Festival
CEO advised that he had discussed fees with Mr. Gavin Chittick [the event main organiser] and we have agreed on a fee this year of £2,500, subject to Board approvals.
General discussion took place and the Board indicated that they were happy with the offer.
6.40pm. Mr. Stephen Dobbin and Mr. Stevie Muir left the meeting at this point.
Meeting closed for GHCL at 6.40pm.
5. CEO report on CCDC Matters
5.1 Moorings
CEO has received two concerns from CCDC Directors about the operations of MMFA.
CEO outlined that CCDC manages the visitor moorings through their subcommittee the Millport Marine Facilities Association [MMFA] and CCDC had previously provided a mandate to ex-CCDC Director Bob Campbell to manage these moorings on their behalf, for the 2017 and 2018 season.
5.1.1 Complaint from North Ayrshire Council.
CEO advised that he had received an email from Kathleen Dow [North Ayrshire Council Tourism Manager] regarding Mr. Campbell’s attitude towards evening shift member at the Cumbrae Water Sports Centre.
CEO added that he replied to Kathleen Dow that he would speak to Mr. Campbell and report back once he had obtained Mr. Campbell’s side of the story.
CEO stated that the context for the complaint was a MMFA operative ringing up and asking for fees for their training boat sitting overnight on one of our moorings. Mr. Campbell was adamant he was not rude and had in fact left his name and number for them to call back.
Cumbrae Sports Centre reported this incident to North Ayrshire Council, as they wrongly believed that the moorings were still operated by council.
CEO continued that in the interim period of investigating the complaint, that a member of the Cumbrae Sports Centre team brought this to CCDC Chair, Deborah Ferris attention.
CEO added that the CCDC Chair had advised that the way their staff member [Cumbrae Water Sports Centre] was spoken to on the desk by Bob Campbell had upset her and they were sure that they were asked to pay fees.
CCDC Chair [DF] confirmed that this was correct.
DF added, that CCDC are not allowed to ask for fees [only donations] under the terms and conditions of the contract with North Ayrshire Council.
CEO advised that he had met with the CCDC Chair, Deborah Ferris and Davie Stevenson on Friday, 20th April 2018 to discuss this issue and another concern was raised to him regarding the overall attitude of the MMFA.
Subsequently, to this meeting the Chair asked the CEO to instruct Bob Campbell to stand down from collecting any donations [or fees] and not to launch any boats until the matter could be determined on how best to proceed by the full CCDC Board.
CEO added that he met with Bob Campbell and informed him of the decision, and also had a follow up meeting with Ross Goldie and Bob Campbell, who asked that the full committee of MMFA be informed by CCDC Board once they had come to a final decision.
DS added that he had advised the CEO that he felt that the MMFA committee were acting in an uncooperative manner towards Sharon Hagan [which was presenting her with problems in attending meetings].
DS confirmed to add that he advised Deborah Ferris that the last minutes [MMFA] reflected an negative attitude towards Sharon by refusing to move the meeting dates to accommodate her requests [dates clashed with her attendance as a community councilor]. DS added that the minutes reflected that the MMFA Committee members felt that she had a conflict of interest serving on the committee [due to their ownership of the boat yard and also being an owner of the commercial moorings].
DS added that he agreed with CCDC Chair, in bringing this matter to the full CCDC board.
General discussion took place on who were the members of MMFA committee.
CEO advised on the compilation of the MMFA Board.
DS added that he would like to suggest that we bring the operations back in-house and close down the MMFA.
Further discussion took place around the report of poor behaviour toward the Cumbrae Sports Centre.
Resolution 4: that bring the operations back in-house and close down the MMFA.
5.2 Music festival [MCMF]
CEO advised that he had met with the organisers and it would appear that 2018 line-up will be superb, with 60 artists already agreeing to perform over the weekend.
CEO stated that a very detailed risk analysis has been undertaken with Police Scotland and others. They again wish to use part of the West Lodge for the weekend. CEO has advised the Cumbrae Community Radio of this request.
General discussion took place over insurance and dealing with instances of damage etc.
CEO advised that we had discussed this with our insurers and the festivals committee last year secured cover with CCDC current insurers, and the CEO belief was that they will go the same route again this year. So in effect, any damages will be covered by the festival committee insurers.
CEO added that Mr. Chittick raised a query regards commitments that we may have had with the Garrison House Café, as he had heard that they had first refusal on providing food for events in the grounds.
CEO had advised that this was not the case, but we hoped that an amicable arrangement could be found with our tenant.
CEO continued to add that as the main benefactor of the current event, Mr. Gavin Chittick was seeking additional financial sponsors and has asked if CCDC/GHCL can consider providing a ‘letter of comfort’ to ensure that we will make the grounds available for at least the next three years.
General discussion took place over costs incurred for us to run this event, and what compensation/fees we would be offered in return for making this commitment.
CEO added that Mr. Chittick explained that without this ‘letter’ he will struggle to secure multi-year sponsors, but that he [CEO] anticipated that we would receive a financial offer shortly.
Further discussion took place over the value of the event and what fees we should be seeking in return for making the grounds available for the next three years.
Resolution 5 : that the CEO can open negotiations with Mr. Chittick and offer a three year commitment subject to a donation to Garrison House being of sufficient merit.
5.3 Defibrillator
GHCL Chair, Mr. Davie Stevenson stated that he had suggested some time ago that he would like to see a defibrillator secured to the front entrance wall of the Garrison.
DS added that the CEO was asked to find clarity on the situation of North Ayrshire Council donating a defibrillator to the Cumbrae Support Team [CST].
DS continued to add that he had raised a concern [with the CEO] that the defibrillator was currently in the boot of the coordinators car [Mr. Bob Campbell].
CEO advised that he had established that Mr. Andrew Hale [Equality and Health Policy Officer for North Ayrshire Council] that he had been approached by Cllr. Alan Hill on behalf of the resilience teams and Cumbrae was allocated a defibrillator as part of the wider project.
CEO added that Mr. Hale confirmed that Bob Campbell was able to use this from the base of the CST in the drop-in centre.
CEO did raise the issue that we had concerns of it being stored in a boot of a car, and his reply was that it should be on trickle charge and housed in the drop-in centre.
CEO also asked Mr. Hale if they could consider donating another one for use at the Garrison.
Mr. Hale suggested that this might be possible and advised that if CCDC paid for the stand and installing it might just be possible.
6. AOCB.
6.1 Suggestion to move from Board Directors to Trustees
CEO added that he was approached by CCDC Director Rena McIntyre and discussed how we could get better connectivity to the wider community.
Discussion took place over how CCDC could be more open, honest and transparent.
RM stated that the current system seemed corporate and rather hierarchical [using terms like CEO and Director].
CEO advised that many of our fellow members of the Development Trust Association of Scotland [DTAs] were set-up as Trusts with Trustees rather than Directors.
CEO added that he was seeking permission to conduct further investigation to changing the status of the Company.
DK asked what were the costs involved in changing from Directors to Trustees.
CEO advised that it would apply to Companies House and OSCR, so he would establish costs and report back at the next meeting.
CEO further stated that any changes would need the full permission of CCDC members.
Resolution 6: that the CEO can conduct further investigation to changing the status of the Company.
7. DONM
7.1 Garrison House meeting 9th May 2018.
7.2 CCDC meeting 16th May 2018.
7.3 Joint CCC/CCDC/GHCL meeting 21st June 2018.
Meeting closed 7.45pm.
