|
Minutes of the Meeting of
Wednesday 14th. November, 2001
1. Present were Marion
Anderson, Eric Davidson, Peter Fettes, Jimmy Kelly, Fred Moore, Jimmy
Paterson and Dane Sherrard. Apologies had been received from
Susan Lawson, Donald Nicolson and Graeme Small. The Chairman welcomed
Peter Fettes who was with us for the first time.
2. The Minutes of the
meeting of Wednesday 22nd. August, 2001 were amended and approved. (Eric
Davidson was not at the previous meeting and Brian
Kelly is really Barry Kelly.)
3. Items which
arose at the last meeting were discussed as follows:
It was reported that both Peter
Fettes and Susan Lawson had accepted invitations to join the
membership of the Community Trust. Everyone was delighted that this
was the case.
Marion Anderson reported that when
at the last meeting she had suggested co-opting Mrs. Nancy Smith and
Ms. Mary Haggarty to assist her with fund raising she had intended
that they be co-opted to the Trust itself. Her proposal had been
misunderstood by the Trust and it was her opinion that the two ladies
she had suggested would not be prepared to assist in fund-raising
unless they were also made members of the Trust itself. The Chairman
explained that the Trust could not co-opt both ladies to the Trust
due to the restrictions placed on the size of the Trust by its
constitution. He said that he would be prepared to speak to both
ladies and, as Marion felt unable to do this herself at this time, to
take on himself the task of convening a Fund Raising sub committee
with Marion's help.
(To explain the above point in
detail: The Trust constitution, the Declaration of Trust registered
on 15th. October, 1999, Section Twelfth, sub-section e says:
"The number of Trustees
shall not be less than seven nor more than twelve."
The current members of the
Trust are:
James Paterson
Iain Moore
Donald Nicolson (representing
the Community of Arrochar)
The Parish Minister
The Convenor of the Property
Committee of the Presbytery of Dumbarton.
The Session Clerk of Arrochar
Parish Church
The Clerk to the Congregational
Board of Arrochar Parish Church
The Property Convenor of
Arrochar Parish Church.
Marion Anderson as a nominated
representative of the Congregational Board of Arrochar Parish Church.
Dr. Peter Fetes, co-opted to
represent the Community of Arrochar.
Miss Susan Lawson, Head Teacher
of Arrochar Primary School, co-opted to represent the Community of Arrochar.
Thus eleven of the maximum of
twelve have already been appointed, and the Trust has already
discussed seeking either a Banker or an Accountant to fill the
remaining place.)
4. Treasurer's Report:
Marion Anderson reported that the
present bank balance stood at £893. 94p. She would have
preferred to have had more money in the bank but although there had
been little by way of fund-raising in recent times, work had
continued in the work of restoration. By way of fund-raising Marion
had arranged a raffle which had so far raised £144 .20p. and the
sale of two booklets which had also brought in funds. It was
suggested that these booklets might be produced in greater numbers
and outlets in the village invited to display and sell them for us.
Marion agreed but underlined the need for a programme of fund-raising
and said that she would be pleased if the Chairman would arrange for
a fund-raising sub-committee to be set up.
The Chairman reported that the
Congregational Board had applied to the General Trustees of the
Church of Scotland for the release of £10,000 from funds held by
the Trustees on behalf of the Arrochar congregation, this money to be
used to pay for the restoration of the stained-glass windows which
have recently been replaced. The Trustees have agreed to the request
of the Congregational Board and the funds will be released as required.
Since 1st. April of this year
£26,519. 06p. has been paid out for work completed on the Church
building. A great deal of work has been completed and paid for and
this is a major achievement in the story of the restoration programme.
5. Report on the
progress of Church Restoration:
Jimmy Kelly reported on the work
which has been undertaken since the last meeting. This has largely
centred on the two small rooms at the front of the Church. The two
vertical windows have been remade and installed by Janine Smith. The
walls of the vestry have been pointed, a ceiling installed and
paneling completed. The Vestry will shortly be completed with the
installation of lighting, the laying of a carpet (already on site)
and the fitting of electric sockets.
The sound-control system of the
church has been put into its final position in a desk constructed for
the purpose and with all cables channeled under floor.
The major task remaining inside
the Church is the fitting of the light fittings in the worship area.
It is hoped that this work will be completed soon. The wooden frames
have been made, all that is required is for the electrical work to be completed.
Once this work is done, special
insulation material to prevent heat loss will be spread out above the
ceiling. This is already on site but would be in the way when the new
light fittings are installed were it to be fitted now.
A question was raised about the
existing heating system. It was confirmed that three panels of the
radiant heaters were not functioning at this time and the benefits of
a time control system for the Church convector and radiant heater
systems was discussed. (The night storage system is already
controlled by virtue of its nature.) Obviously the installation of
such a control would have cost implications which mean that it will
not be possible to proceed with this at once but the research can be
undertaken now.
Discussion turned to work which
remains to be done. The largest job remaining is for the exterior
harling to be stripped from the building and then for the stone to be
treated, re-pointed and some stone to be cleaned. Because of the
nature of the work and the fact that the building will require to be
completely scaffolded while this work is done, it is proposed that
this project be our main task for next summer and that we seek to
raise funds to enable the tradesmen who have been working on the
project voluntarily to be reimbursed a proportion of their wages to
work for us continuously for a three or four week period. An
estimated cost for scaffolding, materials and restricted labour is
£14,000 and it will be the task of the Trust to seek to raise
this money by next summer. Already one benefactor of the Church has
expressed an interest in assisting the Trust financially with this
part of the project.
6. Report on the
use of Church Facilities.
The Chairman reported that the
Church facilities continued to be well used, drawing attention, in
particular to a recent Fiddlers' Rally which showed how versatile the
Church building had become, a children's pantomime currently in
rehearsal and due to be performed in early January, and a regular
monthly film show in the Church Hall.
7. Any Other Business.
The question was raised as to
whether the Trust ought to be having more frequent meetings. After
considerable discussion it was agreed that little would be happening
by way of restoration work over the next three winter months so this
matter could be revisited when we meet again at the start of
February. In the meantime, the Chairman would be convening a
Fund-raising sub-committee to which everyone would be free to attend
- and at which any offers of help would be hugely appreciated! The
Chairman also reminded members that information regarding the Trust,
the restoration programme, and the use of the Church building was
regularly set out in the weekly Pewspaper and on the Church web-site.
There was a lengthy discussion on
the subject of the V.A.T. which had been paid on the materials used
for the restoration programme. Other charitable trusts had discovered
that they did not have to pay V.A.T. or, if they did, this was later
reimbursed. Jimmy Paterson said that he had instructed his lawyer to
investigate the matter. This investigation had begun but was
developing slowly. The Chairman reminded the Trust that Mr. Small of
the Presbytery had offered to help in this matter should we run into
difficulties and the Chairman said that he too would be happy to
approach the V.A.T. authorities with information gathered from the
accountants of other Trusts should Jimmy think it appropriate. It was
agreed that at present this matter would remain in the hands of Jimmy
Paterson's lawyer who, through Jimmy Paterson's kindness, was doing
the work at no cost to the Trust.
8. The next
meetings of the Community Trust are:
Wednesday 6th. February, 2002
Wednesday 1st. May, 2002
Wednesday 7th. August, 2002
Wednesday 6th. November, 2002
The meeting closed at 9 p.m.
Arrochar Parish Church Community Trust
The three monthly meeting will be held on
Wednesday 6th. February, 2002 at 7.30 p.m.
in Arrochar Parish Church Hall.
Agenda
Apologies for Absence.
The Minutes of the Meeting of Wednesday 14th. November, 2001.
Matters arising from the Minutes.
Treasurer’s Report.
Report on the progress of Church Restoration.
Report on the use of the Church facilities.
Any Other Business.
Dates of future meetings.
|