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TOWN HALL COMMITTEE MEETING
MONDAY 25TH JULY 2011
Present: Cllr J. Hart (Chair), Cllr P. Allen, Cllr M. Johns, Cllr D. Linney, Cllr J. Lynch
1. Apologies for Absence
None
2. Declarations of Interest
None
3. Open to the Public
No members of the public were present.
4. Cheques Issued
The Clerk distributed copies of the Cheques Issued List (cheque numbers 004755 to 004766). All items were ongoing. The Clerk referred to cheque number 004765 for £103.13 to Anglian Water and confirmed this is a duplication of cheque number 004761. Anglian Water will hold this sum on the account as a credit.
Proposal
Cllr Linney proposed that the Cheques Issued List be signed by the Chair and R.F.O.;
seconded by Cllr Johns; all in favour
5. Update on Town Hall Offices
The Clerk confirmed that Office 8, vacated by the Towcester Partnership remains vacant. She has shown around two prospective tenants in the past month but, despite appearing interested, neither has followed up on their initial enquiry.
The tenant of Office 9 has been instructed to vacate the office due to his rent arrears. It is several months since he has worked from the office and the Clerk has had the locks changed. The tenant has been informed that works to remove dry rot from the landing below will commence on 1st August and has agreed to remove the contents of the office by 29th July. If this does not happen, the Clerk will need to arrange for someone to move the contents from the front to the back office as a temporary solution to allow works to convert the front office into toilet facilities to commence.
6. Town Hall Refurbishment Works
The Clerk had forwarded an email concerning the Town Hall Refurbishment Works to all committee members prior to the meeting. She recently held a meeting with D. J. Hutchings and surveyor, Paul Brown, to discuss the varying options. The dry rot treatment will commence on Monday 1st August. At this stage it is not known how far the dry rot has spread but it will be necessary to remove materials 1 metre around the affected area. It is hoped the current toilet facilities can be removed on Wednesday 3rd August; Paul Brown is seeking Listed Building Consent for these works from SNC. The toilet door will be replaced with an external door to enable access for future maintenance of the roof and guttering and, in due course, a gantry will be built outside. Once these works have been completed, the next stage, to create toilet facilities in the front of office 8, will begin. A partition wall will be created to form a passageway to the rear of office 8 which will be used to store the TC records. It is anticipated that all works can be completed in 3 – 4 weeks. The Clerk confirmed she will keep all members of the committee up to date with progress on the works.
The Clerk confirmed there are 3 tenants being inconvenienced by the loss of toilet facilities; Penella Thorpe, Independent Case Management and Sterling Property Services. ICM has already requested a rent reduction. Cliff Davidson of Sterling Property Services on the top floor will be unable to use his office at all whilst the works are taking place. He has been kept informed of the work schedule and has made alternative arrangements for this period. The Clerk outlined the monthly rent payable by each tenant and suggested that each is allowed a one month rent-free period. This can be revisited with respect to Sterling Property Services should the works overrun. The loss of rental income would amount to £675.00 in total.
Proposal
Cllr Lynch proposed that the dry rot treatment, removal of existing toilet facilities on the first floor and creation of new toilet facilities on the second floor be carried out as described. In addition, the 3 tenants affected by the loss of facilities should be granted a one-month rent free period;
seconded by Cllr Johns; all in favour
Cllr Lynch suggested it would be worth seeking the contractor’s views on replacing the flat roof above the main hall toilets, with a slate roof. This would eliminate the problems with drainage and insulation. The Clerk confirmed that the surveyor had already referred to this and agreed the area needs to be looked at. It will not be possible to coincide this with the scheduled works as the TC will need to apply for planning permission.
The Clerk said it is very difficult to estimate the cost of the works but she is working on a figure of £12,000. It could exceed this depending on how far the dry rot has spread. The cost of the works will be met from the Town Hall fund, the balance of which is currently £24,000.
The Clerk referred to an area of damp in the main hall near to the boiler room. Paul Brown has had a look and thinks the damp is coming from above, rather than there being a problem with rising damp. The contractors will erect scaffolding to investigate this problem during the course of the works.
A copy of correspondence from SNC Cllr Andrew Wilby was distributed to members of the committee. It concerns re-casting of the Town Hall clock bell to celebrate to the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. This item did not form part of the agenda and will be brought back for discussion at the next TH meeting.
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