Minutes of the meeting of the RADLETT YOUTH AND COMMUNITY CENTRE held at 8pm on Tuesday 19 April 2005 in the Radlett Youth & Community Centre, 2 Loom Lane, Radlett.

Present:
Councillor Mrs V Charrett (Chairman)
Councillor Mrs A Baker
Councillor B Deem

In attendance:
Mrs J Adams (Deputy Clerk)
Mrs S Huff (Radlett Youth Club)

1. Apologies for absence

Apologies were received from Councillors Burke, Thompson and Mrs Turner, and the caretaker Mr Reg Carrott.

2. Declarations of Interest

There were no declarations of interest.

3. Approval of the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2005

Councillor Mrs Baker pointed out that the Minutes should have read ‘Councillor Mrs Baker had not attended the meeting and had given her apologies'.

Following the amendment the Minutes were approved as a true and correct record.

4. Matters arising from the Minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2005

All matters arising were itemised on the agenda.

5. Maintenance and Walkabout

The following points were noted:-

Replace broken curtain pole in rear hall
Buy new curtains for rear hall
‘Spring Clean' rear hall
Windows to be cleaned in and out throughout building
The window to the office in the rear hall to be covered externally
To comply with insurance requirements the low RSJ's had been covered with foam insulation
The floor to the main hall had been newly polished and looked good
Two new brass window catches were broken off and needed replacing with more robust catches
The walls behind all the toilet pans showed signs of damp and lifting plaster
The door frame to the main front doors was loose and in a dangerous state, Hertfordshire County Council to be contacted
The surface to the car park was in a poor state
The re-felted roof looked good but the bargeboards below were rotten and needed replacing

6. Proposed work to Building

• Aldenham Parish Council

It was proposed to re-decorate the kitchen and foyer during the last week of the school holidays. The building had been reserved for this purpose.

• Lambert Smith Hampton

The Deputy Clerk had written to Lambert Smith Hampton in February asking why requests to carry out essential repairs were not being carried out. A reply had been received stating that ‘it was a question of budget allocation from limited resources and the programming of work to dovetail with available finance'. Members asked the Deputy Clerk to response to that letter asking for an update.

Action: Deputy Clerk

County Councillor Martin Saunders had been kept aware of the difficulties faced with the maintenance of the building. It was suggested that he be invited to view the building in the near future.

7. Fees – Regular Users

• Topkidz – After School Club

Members were aware that the current weekly hire fee charged to Topkidz when broken down to an hourly rate was less than the current resident/concessions rate. The meeting was informed that when the after school club was first set up the hire rate was kept to a minimum as the concept was new to the area and, if successful, would be an asset to the community. However, as Topkidz had proved successful and was a thriving established business it was agreed to gradually increase the hire fees in line with business use.

• Rexton House Nursery School

A principal of RHNS, Mrs Vera Grubner, had contacted the Parish Council office to say that the payment recently made was paid at the 2004/2005 rate as no notification of increase had been received. The Deputy Clerk reported that all letters had been sent out in November 2004 and the Accounts Clerk had reported that invoices for the forthcoming term had been sent out in February 2005. Following discussion Members agreed that the increase should still stand and the Deputy Clerk was asked to write to RHNS.

Action: Deputy Clerk

8. NFU Insurance Cover

The meeting was informed that the NFU had requested a professional valuation of the building to ensure that the sum insured correctly reflected the cost of re-instating the building. Three quotations had been received, two for £500 and one for £600 plus VAT. Councillor Deem felt that a further quotation from John Vigor should be sought and undertook to contact him.

Action: Councillor Deem

9. Date of next meeting

The next meeting would be held on 7 September 2005 at 8pm .

Closure 9.45pm