Cllr D Macgregor

P Copland welcomed everyone.

Apologies:     Cllr J Docherty

Cllr Riches declared an interest regarding paths [at (5)], as she is a Trustee of the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.

3.1 (4) Scottish Water

P Copland said that we are still awaiting a report on the findings from Scottish Water.

Cllr J Docherty

G Brown said that he had spoken to Fiona Mitchell about the funding for the resurfacing of the road at the rear of Miller Terrace.  We require a quote.

P Copland to pursue

V Salvage said that the form is ready for going now. She said that she would send forms round in the next couple of days, and asked to please let her know if there is anything wrong with the form.  She said that there are two people who are waiting for forms and that she would like to get them out to the people waiting for them.

V Salvage /

All

Cllr E Riches said that the rusty road signs have been inspected and they have been added to the list.  She said that she did not think there will be any action until the next financial year.

Cllr E Riches

B Allan said that vehicles are using the grass even more because they cannot get down Miller Terrace because of the traffic jam.  She asked if there is anyone we can go to about the caravan.  Cllr E Riches said that unless it is causing an obstruction, there is little that can be done.

B Allan said that there is a lot of work going on at Miller Terrace.

Cllr E Riches suggested that there is no harm in asking the police informally in a friendly fashion.

B Allan

Cllr Riches said that they have now provided the extra parking on Inverie Street, which has caused some people inconvenience.

M Ashworth reported that the street light in Abercrombie was repaired within a week, and they are all working now.

In reply to V Salvage’s question, Cllr Riches said that there is no one service that will take responsibility.  She suggested that it may be worth getting a bid for the work so we are ready for the new financial year.  Cllr Riches added that the CC could go back to the same Blacksmith who supplied the railings.  S Tarvit said that that Blacksmith had closed his business.  Cllr Riches said that the CC could approach Jim Elder in Crail (Mayrock Fabrications).

V Salvage

It was noted in the previous minutes that G Brown was going to ask Fiona Mitchell if there was still funds to store the Heritage boxes.

G Brown said that we did apply for funds for an insulated container, and we have been granted that and the funds are in the bank.  He said that we will just have to decide where to put it.

G Brown/ P Peddie

Cllr E Riches said that everybody is absolutely fed up with the potholes.  She said that they do cowpat fillings within 5 days, which they say they do as a safety measure.  She said that, the idea is that they will come back to fill them, but often the road structure has to be in a condition that is firm enough to be able to take the filling.  However, she said that people must keep complaining about the potholes [which must be at least 4 cm deep].

Everyone

Proposer – V Salvage                       Seconder – M Ashworth

P Copland said that, first of all, he would like to say thank you to everybody who has recently donated to the CC for what is the Old Folks’ Treat including: Mrs Rennie, The Masonic Lodge, Abercrombie Court and Alec  Hodge.  Also we had two very successful events: the Faith, Folk & Blues Evening raised £311 (thanks too to the Mayview) and on Saturday at the Coffee Morning we managed to raise another £400.   We also received another donation from the church for baking.  Thank you to everybody who has contributed over the last month.  We have sufficient funds to pay for the Old Folks’ Treat, which is on the

27 February in the Mayview at 2 pm.

E Hughes asked if soup would be required.  The answer was, “No”.               E Hughes said that they would donate the shortbread, teas and coffees.

V Salvage said that we have been offered some prizes for the Senior Citizens’ raffle.

G Brown said that the CC had been invited to apply for grants for up to £1,500 for paths.  He said that he thought that B Allan’s idea of the paths between the seats overlooking the church was great, but unfortunately that does not qualify as it is a new path.  V Salvage asked who would do the work.  G Brown replied that there are guidance notes.  We have to complete and return an ‘expression of interest’ form by the middle of March and projects must be well planned and ready to start when the funding is in place.  Our funding is to improve existing paths.  What we cannot fund is to create and build new paths.  So, he said, basically we would have to provide 50% of the total. We could use volunteers who were prepared to do it.  We could charge them out at a day rate of £50.  We would have to get somebody to do the path, get half the money, get all the permissions etc, and get them to do it when we get the funding.  He said that it seemed a lot of work and a lot of funding to raise £1,500.  We can get money for skilled volunteer tasks up to £150 per person.  He added that it is on the website if you want to look at it.

V Salvage asked if Payback could do any work.  G Brown said that he did not see why not, and we are not taking any money from Fife Council.  He went on to say that we do have time because the ‘Expression of Interest’ (filling out 2 forms) does not have to be in until 18 March.

V Salvage said that the path by Miller Terrace that is boggy does not enhance the village at all.  P Peddie said that it needs to be properly drained.  G Brown agreed that there is little point in doing anything down there until we have done the drainage first, and you have got to be ready to go when you get your grant.

Cllr Riches asked if the CC had tried “Awards for All”.  She said that they are quite quick and it is up to £10,000.

Cllr Riches also said that it also might be worth talking to Robin Blyth of Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.  (Cllr Riches declared an interest as she is a Trustee of the Fife Coast and Countryside Trust.) Email: robbie.blyth@fifecountryside.co.uk

P Copland said that, regarding the Community Paths Grant we cannot do anything until we have spoken to FCP people.

V Salvage said there are other paths.  G Brown said that really what they are looking for are things people are already thinking of, but there are obviously a number of paths that could be repaired and upgraded.

Our next meeting will be just after the date that the ‘Expression of Interest’ forms are due to be in.  G Brown said that that is something that we could legitimately discuss by email.

G Brown

Everyone to think about and have a conversation

by email.

G Brown said that nothing has been advised.  However, a paper has come out of “Frequently Asked Questions”.  It is clarifying what CC has to do to get Statutory Consultee status.  I think, through experience, we have found out what we do have to do, so there is really nothing further in this.  P Copland said that as both he and G Brown know what to do in that situation, everyone should note that it has come through and can be used as and when it is required.

All to note.

G Brown said that as he had mentioned earlier the CC applied for and got £2,454 from LCP.  He said that, as usual it got put into the wrong account so he had moved it to the correct account.

The CC also got our annual grant.

All movement has been with the Cashflow with fundraisers.  P Copland has already mentioned all of the money that has come in from that.

At the moment we have got a lot of money dedicated to the Old Folks’ Treat and we have about £470 for the general funds.  Things have got a wee bit better, but we still have to do a lot of fundraising to see us through until Burns’ Night next year.  G Brown said he reckoned we need another £400-£500.

In the Floral Display we currently have a balance of £262 and we do need to get quite a lot of money in before we commit to a floral display. If we get the Common Good money, that would be for the hanging baskets, but we only get that after the event, so we need to get money in for watering etc.

In the last year the floral display has been £1200 more than it took in.  Ideally it would be nice to get a buffer back in that account.

Also, G Brown said, when he applied for the money for the floral display, he asked for money for the Old Folks’ Treat as well.  He said that he had heard nothing about either.  G Brown said he had emailed Laura Mackie but got no reply.  Cllr E Riches said she would ask her to send a reply to G Brown.

S Tarvit asked how well off the Common Good Fund was.  G Brown said that it was very very well off with assets and Cash it is about £600,000.  S Tarvit asked why can we not go for bigger amounts.  G Brown replied that we can only use the revenue from the Caravan Park and the Football Pavillion.  He said that, to be honest, he did not want to see the Common Good Fund run down and to only take the money we absolutely need.  When the Sea Queen applied for money from the Common Good Fund it comes back to us, and there is a breakdown of what has been funded from the Common Good Fund and what has been funded by the organisation.  S Tarvit said, if it is going to be spent in St Monans he did not see a problem.  G Brown said that what they will not do is to give us money just to go into the general pot.  We have to have a specific thing that we want to fund like the Floral Display or the Old Folks’ Treat.

V Salvage said that the Autumn Club’s members have dropped quite a lot, but they have to pay full price for the hire of the hall every week (the rate for the hall goes up every year).  G Brown and Cllr Riches said that the CGF did not like spending money on recurring things.

Cllr Riches suggested the Settlement Trust.  It is an accumulation of all the small amounts that have been given at Christmas time.

Cllr E Riches suggested that the CC contact Kate Hughes.  V Salvage said she could find out how much the amount was for the rent for the hall this Thursday.  G Brown said that it may be possible to get a reduction in the fees, and asked if there would be any way of Councillors speaking to whoever is responsible for the hall and saying that this is a recurring thing for the Autumn Club in the village, and could they get a reduction.  Cllr D Macgregor said the he would contact Lindsey Brown.

G Brown said that this is something that, if we are talking £10 or £20 a week, is not a lot of money.  It is something that we could do fundraisers to at least help them.  Brenda asked if it would be possible to get Lottery funding (because she said that she knew that Energi was getting Lottery funding).  Cllr Riches suggested the CC should contact Gary Daniells for a reduction for the Autumn Club.

Cllr E Riches

G Brown

V Salvage

Cllr D Macgregor

G Brown

8.1  Meeting about Voluntary Organisations in Glenrothes

A member of the public said that there is a meeting tomorrow in Glenrothes about voluntary organisations regarding what you can access and cannot access.  It is to do with making connections between voluntary groups.  P Copland said that it would certainly be good to hear your feedback from that.

9.1  Scottish Water

Ena Hughes was asking if there was an update with Scottish Water.

B Allan said that she had noticed the old chimney has disappeared in the house by the old church.

S Tarvit said, a street light’s head in Newark Street had turned round.

P Copland advised to phone or go online and said that you get the number on the pole.

S Tarvit

S Tarvit asked if anything had been heard about the resurfacing at the top of the road between Bass Rock and Station Road.  P Copland said I think it comes under the remit of the budget this year, but certainly nothing will get done this financial year.  Cllr E Riches said that it is the the same people who do drainage, flooding and gritting.

S Tarvit said that he had noticed that a bit of the roadway by the drains at the Caravan Site is starting to fall down again.  P Copland said to keep an eye on that, and said that S Tarvit could report that concerns are raised.

S Tarvit

Cllr E Riches asked for clarification regarding where the problem in Newark Street is.  S Tarvit said it was just outside No 18 Newark Street.

Cllr E Riches

M Ashworth said that a reclining chair had been dumped at the sawmill corner of the Sandy Cairn Footpath, and that she would contact Waste Aware.

M Ashworth

Dates for the beach clean were asked for, for the next meeting.  S Tarvit said he would look up tide tables and was advised that the low tide needs to be at about 1 pm.

S Tarvit

G Brown said at the last meeting we discussed writing to the Surveyor and also the Solicitor under the Community Empowerment Scotland Act.  He said that he had got back an email saying that while it as had Royal Assent, it is not in operation yet.  A meeting with Roderick Campbell in Anstruther was organised.  G Brown said he spoke to him and gave him the relevant paperwork and he was going to chase up the Council.

G Brown went on to say that he had received a copy of an email from him and, basically, he has written to Cairan Feeney asking him a number of questions: the important one is ‘demonstrated responsiveness to the community … and other stakeholders’ and he would like to ask how Fife Council has fulfilled these obligations.  Rod Campbell had attempted to telephone Cairan Feeney to discuss the matter.  There is no further response on that.

G Brown said that he had an email from the Journalist of the East Fife Mail asking to talk to him about this, and said that she had spoken to him that day.  He said that, she is going to do a little piece and she would like a photograph of some of us either outside the Heritage Collection or from tonight’s meeting; she has taken a lot of notes and we spoke for about half an hour.  A member of the public asked if the Journalist thought it was newsworthy.  The answer was, ‘Yes’.  The member of the public said that he did write to BBC news, ITV news and the Courier to say that he thought what was going on was quite disgraceful.  G Brown confirmed that he had not contacted Fife Free Press.  He said that they contacted him, so, G Brown said that presumably this is them following up from your letter.

The member of the public said that when they got the Dreel Halls, about 3 or 4 people got together and had a protest and did something on the TV.  Then it suddenly took off and they got the Dreel Halls for the community.  Cllr E Riches said that she was not aware of any protest or TV coverage.

G Brown said that if and when Mr Arnes decides to sell the building, because it is commercial rather than residential, we might have a chance to purchase through the Common Good Fund.  G Brown said that he still thinks that the artist who bought the Post Office will really want it for a holiday flat.  He said that hopefully the Councillors will refuse the application when it goes through and it will come back on the market.

G Brown, in answer to a question, said that the Heritage Collection building has been on a rolling 5-year lease for, he thought, 17 years.

G Brown said he had written to Mr Arnes to ask if we could put a defibrillator on the wall, and the reply was, “No” – as he was going to sell it in the near future.  So we are now on a one-year to one-year lease.  The question was asked if we could be considered as a sitting tenant.  Cllr E Riches said this is called a “tacit relocation’.

A member of the public said that a letter he had received from the legal lady in the Council said that you were not allowed to lease something if you were a CC.  G Brown said that that was in the email he had given to  the member of the public, and went on to say that, to be able to lease a property or buy a property you could not do it as a standard CC, you had to be above that.  G Brown said that there is nothing in the CC constitution that stops us owning property.  Also when the Heritage came into being originally they were trying to buy the building as opposed to leasing it.  It is leased from the Council and the Council lease it from Mr Arnes.  He added that he could not see how you can get a more ‘community’ body than the CC.  Cllr D Macgregor said that it is certainly the case that a Community Trust can purchase property.

G Brown said that the way he read it is that the CC was too high, in which case we would go down to the Heritage Collection.

G Brown

All

G Brown

G Brown

G Brown said regarding photographs of old postcards of St Monans from Pete Marr.  There are 24 of these. Also, G Brown said, he had spoken to John MacBain and he has a 35 minute DVD.

V Salvage said that if Mrs Linda Bertwhistle is free, she will come herself with Morven with the children when they do their Burns singing and recitation.

G Brown said that last time we discussed a Band Night, and settled on the date of 14 May 2016.  Again it was said that it would be nice if the other band, Morven, Martin and Mills, was available to play on that date too.

P Copland said that somebody handed an advert in to the Mayview Hotel to ask if we could display it in the village.  It does not seem to be selling meals, but selling dry ingredients.  E Hughes asked if it could go on the Community Noticeboard.  P Copland said that if there was space then he had no objection.

E Hughes /

P Copland

V Salvage thanked everybody who helped the coffee morning, which was such a success.  She said that she could not believe how generous people were with their baking and raffle prizes.

Cllr D Macgregor said that there are 2 meetings of Fife Council on 18 and 25 February.  On the 18^th we are debating the library closure; on the 25^th is the postponed meeting about the budget, where, he said he suspected that you can prepare yourself for some nasty things.  These are open to the public.

A member of the public (Bill Porteous) said that the first meeting of the year of ‘Beautiful St Monans’ would be in the Mayview Hotel at 7 pm on Wednesday, 17 February 2016.  All are invited.  He thanked everyone (individuals, companies, people in the village) for their support.  He said that it is a fact that it is asking people to put in a bit of work that helps make St Monans a pretty place.

The meeting was closed at 2049 hrs.  The next Ordinary Meeting will be on Monday, 21 March 2016 at 7.30 pm in the Mayview Hotel Function Suite.