Agenda and minutes

to approve as a correct record and authorise the Chairman to sign the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 11 July 2016; 

SH.11/16        

The minutes of the meeting of the Salcombe Harbour Board held on

11 July 2016 were confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

brought forward at the discretion of the Chairman;

SH.12/16        

The Chairman agreed to allow this agenda item to be utilised to remind Board Members of the forthcoming 100 year anniversary of the Salcombe Lifeboat Disaster.  The Harbour Master was aware of the plans to commemorate the date on Thursday, 27 October 2016.

Members are invited to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests, including the nature and extent of such interests, they may have in any items to be considered at this meeting;

SH.13/16        

Members were invited to declare any interests in the items of business to be considered during the course of the meeting, and the following were made:

Cllrs Wingate and Wright and Mr Marriage and Mr Taylor all declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in all related agenda items by virtue of having moorings or paying harbour dues to the Council.  As a result of the Solicitor granting each Board Member a dispensation, they were all able to take part in the debate and vote on any related matters (Minute SH.05/16 refers).  

a period of up to 15 minutes is available to deal with questions from the public;

SH.14/16        

In accordance with the Public Question Time procedure rules, Mr Richard Smith addressed the Board and raised the issue of buckets over outboard motors.  The use of buckets was not compulsory and some boat owners had said this was an issue.  Whilst it was accepted that use of buckets was not a requirement, the Harbour Master was asked to encourage the practice.  The Harbour Master responded that he would do so, and the Chairman thanked Mr Smith for addressing the Board on behalf of the Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club.

to receive verbal reports from Board Members who attend the Harbour Community Forums on behalf of the Board;

SH.15/16        

The Board received verbal update reports from the Board Members who attended the Harbour Community Forums.  The updates were given as follows:

Salcombe Kingsbridge Estuary Association (SKEA)

The representative was not in attendance at the meeting

Salcombe Kingsbridge Estuary Conservation Forum (SKECF)

The representative advised that the Forum would be meeting the following day.

South Devon & Channel Shellfishermen

The representative advised that there was an issue with lorries at the Fish Quay in Dartmouth that might drive boats to Salcombe.

Kingsbridge and Salcombe Marine Business Forum

The representative advised that there were no issues to raise.

Kingsbridge Estuary Boat Club (KEBC)

The issue of buckets on motors had been raised under Public Question Time (Minute SH.14/16 refers).  The representative went on to state that a number of berths on the pontoon were underused and he wondered if there was a way of allowing them to be used.  He had advised the Forum that he would liaise with the Harbour Master and he hoped a solution could be found.

update of the Executive Director (Service Delivery and Commercial Development)

SH.16/16        

The Executive Director (SD&CD) introduced the Support Services Specialist Manager who was responsible for leading the project team appointed to work through the detail required by Members ahead of a final decision on whether to go ahead with the proposal to form a Local Authority Controlled Company (LACC).

The Support Services Specialist Manager then updated Board Members on the latest position.   Members of the Board were pleased that issues such as staff matters were being addressed.

During discussion, Members raised issues that were specific to the Harbour Board and it was agreed that it would be useful for a small Working Group of Board Members to meet with the LACC Joint Steering Group (JSG) to further discuss the options for Salcombe Harbour Board to consider.

It was then:

                                    RESOLVED

                        That Cllrs Brazil, Pearce and Wright, and Messrs Long, Marriage and Taylor form a Working Group to meet with the LACC JSG to discuss matters relating to the LACC that were pertinent to the Board in more detail.

SH.17/16        

A report was presented that sought approval of the adoption of the Harbour’s Strategic Business Plan 2017-2022.

Members expressed their views on the Plan and confirmed that it was a good document.  Members then discussed in more detail the desire to ‘support a thriving local economy’ and the strategies listed within the Plan to achieve that such as enhancing the ferry routes around the Harbour and establishing Kingsbridge as a destination. 

Finally, Members noted that the Plan emphasised the role of the staff in making the Plan a success and that they were professional, business like and courteous.

It was then:     

SH.18/16        

The Harbour Master presented a report that proposed the 2017/18 budget for Salcombe Harbour Authority and provided a forecast for 2016/17.  He took Members through the key details and both he and the Finance Business Partner responded to questions. 

During discussion, the following points were discussed:

§  Whether the Authority should pass on to customers the card handling fee for payments made by credit and debit cards.  The Harbour Master agreed to investigate what other Harbours do;

§  It was requested that an update on assets should be included as a future agenda item.  It was agreed that future budget reports would incorporate the potential liability of maintaining Council assets;

§  How best to deal with transactions between the Authority and the Council and what the options were.  It was agreed that a further report regarding the potential to repay the outstanding loans be presented to the next meeting of the Board.

Finally, the Finance Business Partner was thanked for all her hard work in respect of the preparation of the budget and ongoing budget monitoring.

It was then:

SH.19/16        

Members were presented with a report that set out proposed fees and charges to be levied to ensure that the Harbour achieved a break even position in order that it remain financial sustainable.

The Harbour Master presented the report and responded to questions of clarity.

It was then:

RESOLVED

SH.20/16        

The Harbour Master presented a report that summarised Salcombe Harbour’s performance indicators (PIs) for the period 1 April 2016 to 30 June 2016.

He updated Members on an increase in thefts that had taken place and explained how the staff were working closely with the Police Authority.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the Harbour Board had noted the latest PIs.

SH.21/16        

The Harbour Master presented a report on topical harbour issues that could be of interest to the Board or affected the Harbour. 

Of particular concern was the update in relation to the secondary coastguard VHF aerial at Scoble and the Harbour Master agreed to keep this item on his report for the following meeting.

It was then:

RESOLVED

That the Harbour Board note the report.