Minutes of the Building Committee Meeting 13/06/12

Minutes of the Building Committee Meeting

The Bowls Club – 13^th June 2012

Present :  Reg Hardwick, Stephen Grosvenor, Mike Palmer, Kevin Penfold, John Plaister, Mark Antell, Daniel Pitt.

KP said a short prayer.

The meeting welcomed John’s return after his illness. The meeting extends a vote of thanks for their loyal support to the committee to Ailsa who has stood down and to John Jarvis who has retired due to ill health.

Reg has requested to step down from his Health & Safety role within the committee – no immediate replacement was forthcoming so it was decided to manage H&S as a whole committee in the future.

Item 1. Minutes of last meeting – reviewed and accepted. All outstanding items have been included in the agenda.

Item 2 –Budget Summary for 2012

As agreed previously, we have confirmed with IW that we have a reserve accrual for 2k towards future patching costs for the roof (from 2011). Simon has also put an additional 2k towards the cost of maintaining St Mary’s and making it suitable for rental – this is additional to our 13.5k budget for 2012.

• Thameside fire extinguishers      635.75
• Thameside                                    18.00
• dimmerswitch in 31                      53.46
• Work at S Mary’s                        1197.50*
• Hobbs – Upham Rd                        96.00
• St M’s hot water                         468.00*
• Vestry heater                             78.60
• Paint for St M’s                          55.72*
• Hobbs tap in 36                          63.00
• Vestry window repair                66.00
• Boiler at 31 Hobbs                     54.00
• Hobbs – tap by porch CC            51.12

*these items should be covered by SS’s £2k

For St.Mary’s

Total spend Y.T.D.                              £2,837

Item 3 - New constitution and responsibilities for the committee.

The buildings committee has been reformed to include additional responsibilities formerly dealt with by the D&R group. The BC is responsible for the upkeep and management of all Church properties – 31 & 32 Cricklade Street, Parish Office, Hall and the church itself. In addition it is to take the lead on the Community Hall project and the renewal works in the church. Whilst we continue to have budgetary control of the buildings budget (see point 2), we need to ascertain our budgetary remit with particular regard to the Hall project and possible expenditure within the church.

Action: SG to discuss and confirm with Lynda and PCC members our authorisation to spend on project works.

Item 4 – Christ Church - Update on renewal programme.

a)   Proposed toilet – a number of sites have been investigated – N transept and NW corner being favourite. A grant has been awarded from the diocese of c9k towards the cost but current estimates are

·         N transept – toilets and refreshment area – c80k+

·         NW corner – toilet, information area, storage. c50k

Both sums represent a substantial departure from our original thinking and either scheme will inevitably increase the timescale for the completion of the renewal programme. Our architect is producing a plan for the NW corner to illustrate how the new structure would integrate with the rest of the church and at the same time improve the NW corner (Canon Thomas Corner). The ideas will formally be presented to the PCC for a decision. Our current recommendation is to site a smaller (much more cost effective) cupboard based refreshment area in the N transept and minimise the size of the toilet as far as possible. This has been explored with English Heritage who are broadly supportive.

b)   Phasing the renewal plans for the church works. We have substantial resources available for both the Hall works and the church interior. There are, however, insufficient funds to complete the whole plan in one go. There are also considerations involved in timing the more disruptive church works (floor and heating) with booked weddings and major festivals etc.

In view of this, we need to establish an order of priority for each phase of the programme:

·         Toilet & NW corner improvements

·         Lighting improvements

·         Sound and visual improvements – new radio microphones, screen, projector etc.

·         Reinstatement of interior porch (to reduce draughts)

We will produce a proposal for the sequencing of this work extending from late 2012 to 2015 for discussion and direction from the PCC

Action SG to liaise with financial committee to confirm basis of the funding assumptions. SG to circulate a proposal based on current estimates and thinking to the committee for comment prior to submission to the PCC for their consideration and agreement.

Item 5 Church Centre update

We have been awarded a grant of £230,000 from the Borough council 106 fund.SG & MP attended a meeting with the council project manager to agree a series of staged payments:

Phase 1	30,166	End June 2012
Phase 2	75,000	Beginning January 2013
Phase 3	75,000	Beginning March 2013
Phase 4	49,834	Beginning May 2013
Total	230,000

Notification of Planning permission is expected within the next week or so. We intend to aggressively apply for grant funding to complete the hall works. Ideally we would like to go for a 1/3 strategy – 230k from Borough, 230k from CC and 230k from other grant sources.

As soon as planning is received we will hold a meeting with our local advisors and experts to establish the build strategy. Current plan is to commence building early in 2013 and complete by June 2013.

Item 6 Property Checks – as part of our responsibility as a landlord, we need to periodically assess our properties for potential damage or hazards. Now that Upham Road has been sold, this leaves only 31 and 32 Cricklade Street.

Action: SG to discuss with Ailsa and the tenants appropriate times for the inspections. Also we should devise a checklist of items to check which would give more structure to the process as well as act as a record of each check. SG to investigate.

Item 7 31 Cricklade Street – quotes and details circulated

a)   Central heating quotes.

a.   David Hobbs - £3,650 + VAT

b.   JMS heating - £2,660

c.    MPS heating - £2,990 inc VAT

We are awaiting a further quote from British Gas (25^th June) under their boiler scrappage scheme. Current favourite based on specification and experience is D. Hobbs. Once the BG quote is in we will take a view.

Item 7. 58 Upham Road – is being sold – we expect it to fetch c £210,000.

Item 9. St Mary’s Church – lead work – Ailsa has asked Rob Skinner to take a look at this and also at the box gutter that he did for us between 32 & 33 Cricklade Street as this is again giving problems with the wet weather.

Any other business

Electrical safety checks to be completed at St Mary’s and 31 Cricklade Street.

AP to go ahead.

We need to commission asbestos surveys for St Mary’s, the church and the hall prior to commencing works. Action MP to investigate

Billiard Table in Hall. We need to find a new home for the table as we cannot afford to build it into the new design. SG & MP have drafted a letter to our immediate partnership colleagues and any other local organisations we can think of offering them the table and ideally allowing the existing men’s club members to use it. If this approach fails then we will investigate selling it.

Ideally we should aim to remove the table by the end of this year.

Action Mark will do some research on possible markets/value for the table.

Questions from the Pipers Way residents committee re the use and management of our new Hall.

There has been concern expressed that the Borough will wish to exercise a degree of control over the management and constitution of the new hall.

As a condition of the 106 award we were asked to provide a copy of our constitution and rules for the new hall. These are adapted from our current rules that have been in force for the past 40 years. At no stage have the Borough asked for or have we agreed to any external control or influence on the policies and procedures used to manage the hall.

An extract is provided below for information.

Aims:

To better meet the needs of the local community by the provision and maintenance of a community hall for use of the inhabitants of the Swindon area without distinction of gender, sexual orientation, race or of political, religious or other opinions. To hold

·         meetings, lectures, classes, and concerts

·         other forms of recreation and leisure-time occupations

·         family celebrations, wedding receptions and birthday parties

and with the overall object of improving the conditions of life for the local community.

Christ Church Community Hall aims to make a small profit by providing hall hire and other services to members of the local community. It will be managed by the PCC of Christ Church Swindon who will ensure financial and operational integrity.

 Purpose:

The hall will act as a local community hub providing a place at the heart of Old Town for meetings, social and educational classes, friendship, resource sharing, an information hub and office facilities for local charities and organisations, provide refreshment and toilet facilities for those visiting both the church itself and the burial ground. Whilst not overtly Christian in its management ethos, it is intended to demonstrate the basic principles of hospitality and generosity to our visitors.

We aim to design the building with energy and operational cost efficiency in mind with the aim of providing a modern and attractive hall at competitive prices.

Next meeting date 5^th September 2012 – 7.30 -  Swindon Masonic Centre, The Planks SN3 1QP

Deferred Jobs list

Job	Quote	Date	Rated A/B/C/D
SW door repair and draft exclusion	Defer to D&R	20/01/2010	C
Pressure washing the vestry steps			C
Flooding under the clergy vestry		25/03/2010	C
Cycle Racks	Defer to new hall	27/07/2010	C
Wall mounted Notice board at West door	£95+VAT	31/03/2011	C/D
Free standing Noticeboard at West door	£375+VAT S&I	31/03/2011	C/D
Sign for Church Centre (maybe directional signage rather than the name)	Defer	31/03/2011	D
New fireproof ceiling in the undercroft		20/02/2012	B/C
New central heating boiler & rads  31 CS	Est. 6k Oct 2011 DH	17/10/2011	C

A- Assessed as high risk

B- Legal requirement

C- Best Practice.

D – Nice to do.