Minutes of the virtual meeting of Acaster Malbis Parish Council
held on
Monday
08 February 2021 at 7:30 pm.
Under the temporary procedures permitted by “The Local
Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility
of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) (England
and Wales) Regulations 2020” the meeting was held
online.
Open Forum – No members of the public attended.
Present: Cllr G Taylor. (Chairman)
Councillors: C Booth, P Harlington, R Jones, J Smith, D Walker.
Councillor: J C Galvin (City of York Council - Ward Member) was
absent
Clerk: M G
Davies.
There being no members of the public present the chairman opened
the meeting at 7:30 pm.
MINUTES
1. To receive
apologies and approve reasons for absence.
Cllr Hawkins presented his apologies and the reason was approved.
Ward Cllr Galvin
presented his apologies and his absence was noted.
2.
2.1 To receive any declarations of interest not already declared
under the council’s code of conduct or members Register of
Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.
There were no new declarations of interest made.
2.2 To receive and consider any applications for
dispensation.
There were no new declarations of interest made.
3.
To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 11 January
2021 as a true and correct record.
Approval of the minutes
of the previous meeting was proposed by Cllr Harlington, seconded
by Cllr Smith and approved by all present.
4.
To receive information on the following ongoing issues and
decide further action where necessary.
4.1 Lakeside
culvert and Mill Lane bench.
No update was available owing to the absence of Ward Councillor
Galvin but the Clerk reported that planned works by both Ainsty
(2008) Drainage Board and Brunswick Organic Nursery are still
disrupted by COVID-19 restrictions on activities.
4.2 Memorial Hall noticeboard.
Initial inspection indicated that the noticeboard was probably
repairable but some issues were not noted. The Clerk asked
Councillors to inspect the noticeboard and submit their comments to
him so a balanced view could be taken regarding costs of repair or
replacement. This item will be discussed again in May 2021 when,
hopefully, the weather will have improved.
5. To consider
the following planning applications(s):
There were no new planning applications for
consideration.
6. To receive
the following planning decision(s) /
information:
6.1 General update report: Cllr Smith reported that there
were no outstanding planning
applications or appeals pending.
7. Matters
requested by councillors or clerk:
7.1 To
Receive Reports from Councillors who have attended training events
and
meetings of outside bodies.
There were no reports to receive.
7.2 To Confirm that the
Parish Council’s registration with the Information
Commissioners Office has been renewed and is now effective
until
17 February 2022.
This was confirmed by the Clerk, the cost of renewal outlaid by him
is recovered
below.
7.3 To Consider the Parish
Council’s response to a YLCA survey regarding future
powers to hold meetings remotely after COVID-19 regulations expire
on 7 May
2021.
The Clerk reported that a poll of Councillors had indicated
that:
a) The Council preferred to return to in-person meetings when
possible.
b) The Council would be agreeable to having the power to hold
virtual meetings
if they wished if and when they were deemed necessary.
c) The Council would be agreeable to having the power to hold
“hybrid” meetings
(part in-person and part virtual attendance) if they wished if and
when they were
deemed necessary. It was noted that this would require the use of
additional
equipment and facilities to make such meetings possible. Cllr Jones
noted that
Acaster Malbis Memorial Hall would be amenable to assisting in
this.
7.4 The Clerk reported
that the light in the Mill Lane CPAD kiosk had failed, new
lamp
tubes had
been purchased and were to be fitted shortly.
7.5 The Clerk reported
that (further to Agenda item 7.3a of the 11 January meeting)
he
had, as requested, discontinued use of his personal Office software
and was
shortly to discontinue use of his personal laptop to host virtual
meetings.
The clerk advised that an annual subscription to Microsoft 365
Business single user
would
cost approximately £135 and that the purchase of a suitable
webcam/microphone
for
use with the Parish Council’s desktop computer would be at an
estimated cost of £45.
After
discussion, it was agreed that to leave the Parish Council with a
completely
stand-alone Clerk’s computer system to pass to any future
Clerk or Councillor the
necessary purchases must be made.
Cllr Harlington pointed out that, although this will resolve the
matter from the point of view of
the Clerk, it does leave the position of the webmaster unchanged.
The Parish Council will
need
to decide if it wishes to pursue the policy of providing the
designated Webmaster
with
similar stand-alone computer equipment and associated software and
ancillaries.
8. Financial matters:
8.1. To approve the following
accounts for payment:
09.02.21 Transfer from deposit to current account to cover items
listed below
£57.76
10.02.21 Information Commissioners Office (ICO) Annual Renewal Fee
(Clerk) £40.00
10.02.21 Clerk’s Exps. Feb 2021 – Light Tubes for Mill
Lane Phone Box (Clerk) £17.76
Approval of the above transactions was proposed by Cllr Walker,
seconded by Cllr Smith and approved by all present.
8.2. To receive a bank
reconciliation report to 28 February 2021.
8.3 To receive a budget / actual
comparison to 28 February 2021.
Receipt of the reports mentioned under items 8.2 and 8.3 was
noted.
9.
To consider the following new Correspondence received and decide
action where necessary:
There were no items to
circulate.
10. North Yorkshire Police
local PCSO Crime reports.
Owing to COVID-19 restrictions these reports are not being
received. - Noted
11.
To consider matters raised with/by the Ward Member –
Councillor J.C.Galvin.
In the absence of Ward Cllr Galvin, Cllr Booth advised that he had
received a resident’s complaint regarding the overall poor
condition of Intake Lane. This has been reported previously by the
same and other residents and Cllr Galvin had commented when
presenting his apologies that he agreed. Cllr Galvin thought the
road needed a major rebuild but was only one of a large number of
roads in similar condition and funding was
simply not available. Cllr Galvin will inspect the road again and
report to the next meeting. Residents are encouraged to report
highway and highway footpath concerns directly to the City of York
Council via their website.
12. To notify the clerk of
matters for inclusion on the agenda of the next meeting.
12.1 Review of insurance requirements before renewal in May.
12.2 Review of Council policies before 2020-2021 Financial
Year-end.
13. To confirm the dates of
future
meetings:
13.1 The next Parish Council meeting will be held on Monday 8
March 2021. (Virtual).
13.2 The Annual Meeting of the Parish is planned for Monday 15
March 2021. (Virtual)*
*This date may be changed depending on legal advice currently
awaited.
*The proposed dates listed above are now confirmed and will
both be held virtually
There being no further business the Chairman closed the meeting at 8:08 pm thanking all for their time.
…………………………..………. Chairman Date approved ……….………………