COMMITTEE OF MANAGEMENT INC.
Minutes of Committee Meeting
9.30 am March 21st 2017
MEETING OPENED: opened at 9.30am Belinda Williams in the Chair.
PRESENT:Belinda Williams (BW), Marg Douglas (MD), John Kent (JK) ,
Steve Patton (SP), Amanda McMillan (AM),
In Attendance - Paul Wittwer (PW), Jenny Symons (JS)
APOLOGIES: Steve Hodgson (SH),
CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES: Minutes from February meeting accepted.
MATTERS ARISING FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS
- Action plan reviewed
Staff Reviews - All Staff have had a meeting with Paul to review work being done and looking forward to actions required for future works now the busy season is over.
Community Association is to meet next weekend and will review request to help finance the community garden behind the Foreshore Office.
Term deposits made $25000 for 3 months and $25000 for 6 months.
CORRESPONDENCE:
IN: Letter from A Begg re an incident in the main beach carpark where slight damage was sustained on his vehicle by a log that has been in position for quite a long period of time.
OUT:Paul to write to A Begg acknowledging receipt of his correspondence indicating that it will be forwarded on to the Shire asking for advice.
TREASURERS REPORT: as tabled
MANAGER’S REPORT:
As tabled
Staffing
Ron will have a few weeks off following surgery next week and then will be taking three months leave from May till August. I am having a few days off at the start of April.
Camping
We were fully booked in A, B and C reserves for the Labour Day Long Weekend and we have opened C Reserve for |Easter as we have only a half dozen unpowered sites remaining in B reserve. Our occupancy remains at the mercy of the weather with a good forecast resulting in a busy weekend as per the weekend past.
Reserves
The staff have continued spraying and weeding of the area between C Reserve and the Yacht Club. We are finding the garden beds that have been thoroughly weeded, planted and mulched in the past are much more easily managed. So we are continuing works on the garden beds in the campgrounds, working outwards from the BBQ areas.
Emails
The situation with emails has been resolved and we are now in control of the email address.
Belinda to be made an authorised person on Telstra account to deal with any issues that may arise in Paul’s absence.
Complaint letter
We have received a letter of complaint from a visitor who has damaged their car in the main beach car park. There is a timber post that sticks out of the ground approximately 40mm just to the left hand side of the walkway to the beach. The post did support a railing to stop cars encroaching on the foreshore reserve.
The complainant has scratched the front bumper of his car on the timber and is seeking our response about what could or should be done about the matter
I have attached a scanned copy of the letter for your information and are happy to visit the site at/after our meeting.
Committee resolved to forward correspondence to Shire asking for advice on responsibility and Jenny Symons to follow up with DWELP colleagues as well.
Capital Works
Cultural Heritage Management Plan
We have engaged Rebekah Kurpiel to undertake the CHMP. She along with representatives from the Traditional Owner organisations were on site on Thursday and Friday doing their survey and digging pits around each of the identified projects.
The projects include the Boardwalk, Cabins, Workshop/shed and the track linking C reserve with Coolart. The archaeological survey did not uncover any evidence of cultural significance in the specific sites but we do know from previous surveys that there are archaeological sites in the area.
The CHMP will now need to be written up and submitted to Aboriginal Affairs Victoria for approval. It is expected to include recommendations (that will become conditions) on each of the project works.
It is expected to be completed in a month and approved within 30 days.
Annie’s Track
We have received advice (see below) from the consultant who suggests the works do not require a Vegetation Offset. He suggests that we seek advice from Council about the best way to proceed. He also suggests letting the permit expire so we can conduct the works that he suggests do not require a permit.
Recommendation 1
That the CoM write to council seeking a response to the findings of our consultant and, if in agreement with those findings, the expiration of the planning permit.
Moved AM, 2nd SP Carried
Recommendation 2
Submit a planning permit application for a boardwalk on Balnarring Point on areas of existing track.
Moved MD, 2nd JK Carried
CFA Fire Services Appropriate permits and approvals will be applied for shortly so this work can commence.
Sale of Plants a suggestion was made by a staff member that plants propagated in Foreshore garden be sold to the local community. Paul to discuss further with staff. At this stage we give these plants out to local residents to encourage appropriate planting in the neighbourhood.
OH&S - Code of Conduct
GENERAL BUSINESS
Combined Foreshores CoMs Meeting
A report was given regarding the items discussed at this meeting.
Fee structures for each Committee were distributed.
Dog control was raised as an issue.
Complaints policies were discussed at this meeting
Dog regulations
Compliance with our arrangements in the Reserve is fairly good. Dog walkers are spoken to and names and addresses taken on the first occasion they are found to have their dog off the leash. Generally this is enough for them to follow our guidelines. A more formal warning is issued on subsequent occasions.
No on the spot fines can be issued by the Shire for unleashed dogs as they are not the governing authority on the beach.
Proposal from Point Leo Foreshore
A letter from Point Leo Foreshore was read out to the Committee. This letter proposes that the 5 Foreshores from Somers to Shoreham employ a person to work on dog control and landcare work across the 5 Foreshores. The funds for this would be provided by the 3 Foreshores that have a reasonable income stream ie. Point Leo, Balnarring and Shoreham.
The Committee felt that in principle this was a good idea but that the proportion of contributions from the 3 Foreshores be a direct percentage of their actual income. It was also suggested that rather than employ a new staff member it may be possible to extend the hours of existing staff from the current work forces who would also use existing equipment to carry out work required.
Meeting Closed - 11.30
NEXT MEETING: 9.30am Tuesday 18th April 2017
ChairDate
ACTION PLAN
MEETING / ACTION / Person Responsible / Month in which to be actioned / CommentsCAPITAL WORKS PROGRAM / Committee / Ongoing
21/09/15 / Staff work agreements / OH&S procedures manual and code of conduct being developed /Risk assessment checklist to be developed as part of annual plan / PW / Underway / Review meeting occurred this month
18/04/16 / Water – Compile list of benchmark figures for water usage and compare to other foreshore areas and our own historical use.
Paul to distribute ours to other Foreshores. / PW / Over 12 months / Ron to be asked to check water metres frequently to check on usage.
21/2/17 / Community Garden behind polyhouse, / BW / Underway / BW to ask Community Group to assist with funding this project.
21/1/17 / Install a plaque for Tom Hazelgrove Masonsmith Rd beach seat. Plus other campground signage. / PW / April / All signage apart from CFA signs to be installed
21/12/15 / Signage for Camping at Balnarring Beach be placed on a sign at the T-intersection at the top of Balnarring Beach Rd. / JK / ongoing / Vicroads reviewing. On their list
21/2/17 / Cultural Heritage plan for Foreshore reserve to be undertaken / PW / May / Work commenced.
18/04/16 / Look at options for on time payment discount with gas providers. / PW / April / Paul to arrange
13/12/16 / Investigate use of water flow meters.
Plumber to investigate power source. / April / Underway
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