FC December 2020 Minutes
Minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on 3rd December 2020 at 7pm via video conferencing.
Present: Cllr Terry Taylor (Chairman)
Cllr L Day Cllr M Gibson Cllr S Haddock Cllr M Holland Cllr T Kemp
Cllr E Lowe Cllr D Mangion Cllr B Rose
Also present: Mrs Y Smith (Town Clerk)
141. Apologies
Apologies were received and accepted from Cllr Marsh (work)Cllr Wood (family commitment) Cllr Wright (unwell)
142. Declarations of interest under the Localism Act 2011
None
143. Budget for 2021/22
Cllr Taylor reported the Council had kept within most of the budget for the current year and have had some extra unplanned expenditure.
7.05pm Cllr Mangion arrived
He continued that the budget had been managed will across the board. There are still some major items to pay for such as the Church wall. TC said that it may be best to either put the whole amount of the Church wall repairs or none at all. She said that there was £71,000 in reserves and also some further income to be received from LCC for the grass cutting and (£858) and the VAT refund of almost £10,000 plus further burial ground income.
Tourism- the budget was left the same as it was planned that interpretation boards should be bought and also a cycle route. £3,000
Church Wall- Cllr Taylor proposed that the maximum cost of the Church wall was put in the budget and this was agreed. £120,000
Play Area- The Play Area needed resurfacing to make it more all-weather £20,000
Burial Ground -new lights were needed and an electrical source connected £2,500
There was now the miscellaneous works contractor who had carried out a lot of the list of jobs which needed doing and this had caused an overspend in that budget line.
CCTV- the budget was reduced as a new system was being installed which would cut running cost dramatically especially for broadband payments.
Christmas Lights -The Christmas lights needed a rethink. The power cabinets need to be a street level so that the lights can be switched on easily. He said that it might be more feasible to hire the lights. Cllr Mangion said that the Council should put in a complaint if it is not happy with the service.
It was agreed that there should be a group to look into the Christmas lights as part of the Festivities Committee. Cllr Haddock, Cllr Rose and Cllr Taylor. TC said that Wainfleet put their own lights up.
Youth Initiatives- Cllr Holland has been given the project which will need seed funding and the Council will need to contribute. It was agreed that something needed to be put in for the youth of the town £5,000
Two new budget lines were introduced for the Allotments and for the Neighbourhood Plan. The certificate holding fee was taken out as it no longer applied.
Most of the budget lines were kept the same or an increased to cover staff pay rises and inflation.
It was RESOLVED to set the budget at £255,385.
This is a rise of 112% with the £120,000 allocated for the Church Wall and 12% without which is the ‘real’ term increase.
144. Precept for 2021/22
It was RESOLVED that the Precept be set at £135,385 for 2021/22