Minute of October 2012 Monthly Meeting, Chamber, Duleek Civic Offices, Wednesday 17Thoctober

Minute of October 2012 Monthly Meeting, Chamber, Duleek Civic Offices, Wednesday 17thOctober 2012

Cllr. Wayne Harding presided

Other Councillors Present:

Cllr Eoin Holmes,Cllr.Anne Dillon Gallagher,Cllr Jimmy Cudden, Cllr Sirena Campbell

Officials Present:

Fiona Lawless, Director of Services , Eugene Farrelly Area Administrator, Jim Colwell Area Engineer; Frances Hughes Assistant Staff Officer, Paul Barrell Executive Engineer,

The members were advised of the provisions of Part 15 of the LG Act 2001 and the code of conduct for Members, Officials and non-elected Council committee members regarding declarable interests of themselves and of any connected person as set out in the Ethical Framework Document included with the Agenda Documentation.

Item 1.0 Confirmation of Minutes of the September Meeting

Cathaoirleach Harding welcomed all to and opened the October Area Council Meeting .

1.1 September 2012Monthly meeting held on Wednesday 19th September 2012

On the proposal of Cllr Ann Dillon Gallagher seconded by Cllr Campbell the Members confirmed the Minutes of the September Meeting held on the above date.

Item 2.0 Matters Arising from the Minutes

Amend Item 6 to read: This item deferred to October Meeting

Item 3.0 Matters raised with the permission of the Cathaoirleach

The Members raised the following issues:

1. Dumping at Keenogue, Duleek – refer to L Whelan SEO Environment Dept

1. Condition of road surface on Duleek-Navan Road – refer to L Whelan SEO Environment /Water Services on foot of previous referrals.

1. Flooding on R152 opposite filling station.-Refer to J Colwell ,Duleek area

1. Provision of a water tap at Graveyard in Stamullen – Refer to Paul Barrell Duleek Area

1. Update on Derelict Buildings at Larrix Street, Duleek. – refer to L Whelan Environment on foot of earlier referral with update for next meeting.

1. Car parking at DuleekCemetery –E Farrelly Duleek to re-examine existing arrangements and report to next meeting

1. Condition of Claristown Road-Refer to J Colwell, Duleek

1. Can the Area seek an evaluation of roads under threat from serious flooding with a view to developing a protocol or action plan having regard to landowners responsibilities under the Roads Act 1973.-Refer to J Colwell Duleek for response to next meeting

1. Bad visibility at Bettystown Town Center Junction at Funtasia causing traffic hazard for traffic exiting the junction with poor sight lines in the Laytown direction– Refer to J Colwell to evaluate works necessary to improve sight lines

1. Can the damage done to the green areas of Northlands Estate, Bettystown due to the recent flooding be remediated as soon as possible –Refer to J Colwell for works programme involved as Council plant would have caused the damage during the recent flooding

1. Potholes on Mosey Road – Refer to J Colwell Duleek

1. Potholes on Crook Road Mornington – Refer to J Colwell Duleek

1. Potholes at Rochestown Slane, Hopkinstown & Mullaghdillon.-Refer to J Colwell Duleek

1. Water leaking from manhole on SlaneBridge – Refer to J Colwell Duleek

1. Update from the Indaver Community Liaison Committee.-Refer to Bernadine Carry ,Housing Department to seek Report/Presentation on Project funding for November Meeting

1. Overgrown hedges overhanging footpath at Elvana & Mountain View Stamullen-Refer to J Colwell for report to November Meeting

1. Overgrown hedges at Sheephouse towards Oldbridge-Refer to J Colwell Duleek area for Report to November meeting

1. Update on toilets in SlaneVillage – Refer To E Farrelly Duleek for follow-up with Solicitor.

1. Dangerous tree stump in Slane playground-Refer to J Colwell for works to remove if necessary

1. Have we established the status of the Right of Way from Grange to Newhaggard – Road L-16152 where a gate is now erected blocking traffic access down to the Nanny bridge . Refer to Transportation Section to inform as to whether an extinguishment of Right Of Way has taken place

1. Who authorised erection of gate on old Duleek – Julianstown Road at Kilsharvan – Refer to Transportation Dept to advise as whether agreement was given for this and advise as to the status of this roadway alongside the Kilsharvan Cemetry.

Item 4.0 To receive a Report from Planning Department on the priority list for Take in Charge Estates for the Slane Area.

A Report setting out the Priority listing for estates to be considered for Take-in-Charge was circulated to the members informing them that these were the estates that were selected at the September meeting and that the TIC process has already commenced in follow-up to the last Area Meeting.

Cathaoirleach Harding opened the floor to the Members who discussed the matter further and agreed to proceed with the Priority List for Take-In Charge as presented above for the coming year .

Item 5.0 Report on the 2012 Roadworks Programme

Jim Colwell Area Engineer circulated his Report on the Road Works Scheme which was noted by the Members summarised as follows:

National Primary Roads €9,898

National Secondary Roads €29,795

Regional/Local Road – Restoration and Surface Dressing €1,750,075

Road Surfacing Contract has been awarded to Gibson Brothers with the main contractors work commenced on the 18/6/2012 and it is hoped the works will be completed by late September.

Low Cost Safety Scheme (Non National Roads) - No budget allocation received to date.

Low Cost Safety Scheme (National Roads) - No budget allocation received to date

. Safety at Schools - Budget Allocation €16,000 - Flashing lights at GormanstonSecondary School and it is hoped same to be in place by late September-

An Cathaoirleach ,Cllr Harding thanked Jim Colwell for his Report which was noted at the meeting.

Item 6.0 Report on Northlands Estate Flooding

Paul Barrell Executive Engineer Duleek Area presented a written report to the meeting outlining the background to the flooding incident on 24th/25 September 2012 which was accounted for due to a 50% increase in average rainfall for the Month of September and over 50mm of rain recorded at Dublin Airport over the preceding 48 hours.

The Report outlined the Councils response to the issue by way of the roadwork crew manning pumps on a round the clock basis with the assistance of Drogheda and Navan fire Services . A further pump supplied by the OPW arrived at 4pm on 25th September which greatly assisted in reducing the levels of the flooding which receded sufficiently by Wednesday morning to cease operation of the pumps and bring a road sweeper in to clean-up the silt and debris and collect all the sandbags from residents. A letter issued to OPW seeking a meeting to review and access the need for flood relief measures to alleviate the flooding problem in future. In the meanwhile the Council will continually monitor the situation and available to repeat the prompt action of our staff in preventing houses from flooding in the Estate.

Cathaoirleach Harding thanked Paul for his informative and comprehensive report on the flooding incident in the Northlands Estate and upon his enquiry as to the reason for same Paul remarked that there was a 3 meter difference in the flood level in the Estate (higher) and the lands around same and that of the general Mornington area down to the Ladys Finger at Mornington .PB informed that it was difficult to ascertain the reason for the sudden build up of flood waters in the Northlands estate which necessitated a steel plate being placed at the outlet from the estate to prevent even more water blowing back into the estate on 24th September. He suggested that the consultants commissioned by the OPW for the Mornington Flood Relief Scheme be requested to carry out a further study with advices provided by way of what the optimum solution available would beThe Cathaoirleach and members complemented Jim, Paul and especially the staff on call who successfully prevented flooding entering the houses of the Residents of Northlands estate

Following further discussion it was agreed that a letter would issue to OPW seeking an urgent meeting in Duleek which would be attended by Fiona LawlessJim Colwell and relevant staff from OPW Flood Relief Section in Trim.

Item 7 Notice of Question – Cllr Wayne Harding:

Notice of Question –Cllr Wayne Harding

Can Ienquire as to when the report from the recent AECOM survey into traffic counts and models around Slane Village will be available to the Members of Slane Electoral Area.

E Farrelly read out an emailed response received from Nicholas Wyatt as follows:

“The report is not yet available for circulation to the Councillors. I want to brief our Director of Transportation on the outcome of the Stage 1 Traffic Management analysis and the network-wide impact of the reassignments that have been predicted, and get sign off from him to give a briefing to area members and thefull council. Planning Dept are to meet the NRA, Aecom and the Director on Thursday afternoon next to discuss.”

Fiona Lawless DOS informed the members that it was intended that a full report on the matter would come to the Full Council at its November Meeting and it is intended that a briefing meeting should take place with Slane Area Members in the Council Chamber before the main meeting on 6th November,which was satisfactory to the Members

8.0 Notice of Motion –Cllr Eoin Holmes

“In the light that the OPW has confirmed that it has €200,000.00 available to build a playground at the Oldbridge House site, this Council asks that Minister Hayes accepts the offer of Meath County Council to design a suitable playground at no charge to the OPW and that, upon approval of said design, the OPW proceeds to build the playground without further delay.”

Cllr Holmes outlined the background to this motion and indicated that it was difficult to see where the Councils responsibility lay for coming up with 1/3 funding amounting to €100,000 when the Area had just completed a state of the art playground in Bettystown at a cost of €200,000 and that the offer to utilise the expertise of the technical staff in Duleek to design such a playground was an appropriate gesture under the circumstances. Cllr Harding informed that this playground would be a worthwhile addition to the Area and would cater for the Donore residents who did not have a playground in the immediate vicinity. Jim Colwell informed that a meeting was held with Minister Hayes in September where the option of the Council providing a walkway through the Oldbridge Estate as a link from the river walk from Drogheda to Bru na Boinne on foot of an Interreg Funding Application that was available at present .Fiona Lawless informed the meeting that it was difficult to commit the Council to funding this project when the Amenity funds from Planning Contributions may well be committed for some years to come.

Following further discussion Cllr Cudden proposed that the Council write to the relevant OPW office seeking a meeting in Duleek Office to discuss what type of playground they intend erecting(with layout) and a fuller discussion on the pathway project to see if agreement can be reached ,with report to come to the November meeting regarding the outcome.Cllr Holmes agreed to withdraw his motion pending receiving an update at the November meeting and Cllr Cuddens proposal was agreed by the Members.

9.0Correspondence /Issues Raised

E Farrelly informed of a reply received from the OPW Trim Office dated 10th October regarding the Northlands Estate acknowledging receipt of our letter dated 5th October.

The date for the November Meeting was agreed for Wednesday 21st November 2012

MinutesOctober2012 meeting 17.10..2012

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