Minutes of Council meetings- list.:

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE OF COBH TOWN COUNCIL, HELD AT CARRIG HOUSE, COBH, ON MONDAY 23^RD JANUARY, 2006.

Presiding -            Cllr. S. Meade

Present -         Councillors N. Doyle, P. Histon, D. Crowley, M. Keating, K. McCarthy and P. Whitty

OFFICIALS PRESENT  

Ms. M. O’Halloran – Town Manager

Mr. P. Lynch – Town Clerk

In Attendance:      Mr. Thomas Kavanagh and Mrs. Deirdre Barry, Barry’s Coaches Ltd.

An apology for their inability to attend was received from Cllrs. S. O’Connor and J. Mulvihill.

1)                  Cobh Local Bus Service

Cllr. Meade opened the meeting by welcoming Mr. Kavanagh and Mrs. Barry to the meeting. Mr. Kavanagh stated that Barry’s Coaches Ltd. had been running a local bus service in Cobh since 1986 and that the company had been purchased by the Kavanagh Group in 2000. He stated that in 2005, the service had 60,000 passengers, which was a drop of 20,000 passengers over 5 years. Due to the increase in operating costs, it was becoming increasingly difficult to continue the service.

Mr. Kavanagh stated that he was proposing a new service for Cobh. This would involve 2 smaller buses, serving 2 orbital routes and making 28 runs per day. The first route would be targeted at those meeting trains at Rushbrooke and Cobh Railway Stations, as well as facilitating those attending Rushbrooke National School. This route would operate in the mornings and evenings only. The second route would service the housing estates and the town centre and would run all day. The company have been in discussions with the Department of Transport in relation to funding for this service and Mr. Kavanagh has been advised that funding for transport services is available, with the money being channelled through local authorities. For that reason, he was currently preparing a business plan, for submission to the Department to access this funding and was seeking the support of the Council in this regard.

All of the members present voiced their support for the bus service and the proposal that Cobh Town Council would seek to access this funding to guarantee the bus service in the town. In response to questions from members, Mr. Kavanagh gave an undertaking that the existing service would be maintained while a decision on the proposal was awaited from the Department.

The Town Clerk stated that he and the Mayor had met on a number of occasions with Mr. Kavanagh and that given the support of the members for the proposal, he now intended contacting officials from the Department of Transport directly to determine what, if any, implications would follow from the Town Council supporting this proposal. On the proposal of Cllr. Keating, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy, it was agreed that the proposal document prepared by Mr. Kavanagh would be submitted to the Department once the Town Clerk had concluded his discussions with the Department officials.

Cllr. Meade thanked Mr. Kavanagh and Mrs. Barry for their attendance, and they then left.

2)                  Future Use of Old Town Hall.

Cllr. Keating stated that in view of the financial situation that the Council found itself in, and the need for the Council to show responsibility to the Rate Payers of the town, he was in favour of leasing the Old Town Hall to the Library service.

Cllr. Whitty stated that before any decision was made on the issue of the Town Hall, there should be a full discussion of the reasons for the adjournment of the previous meeting in this regard.

The Manager stated that she felt that the legal advice received from the Council’s solicitors showed the current position and that on the basis of that advice, all of the information in relation to this matter had been circulated to the members.

Cllr. Doyle stated that she was opposed to leasing the Town Hall until further information was available on the value of the building. She stated that in her view the building should be sold. The Manager stated that if the Council were to sell the building, the existence of a sitting tenant might reduce the price for the building. She stated that the latest information she had in relation to the library was that work was unlikely to start before September.

Cllr. Doyle, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy, proposed that the building be sold.

Cllr Whitty proposed an amendment to Cllr. Doyle’s proposal. The Council would (a) proceed with the sale of the old Town Hall; (b) the Council would notify the County Library service that while no final decision had been made by the Council to lease the building, if any lease were to be granted, it would be granted to them; and (c) each of the other groups would be informed that their applications were unsuccessful. In addition, any proceeds from the sale, or rent of the old Town Hall would be used solely to provide for the purchase of Carrig House. Cllr. Doyle agreed to amend her motion accordingly.

The amended proposal was adopted on the proposal of Cllr. Doyle, seconded by Cllr. Whitty.

3)                  Appointment of Representative of Cobh Town Council to attend AGM of Carrignafoy Leisure Ltd.

On the proposal of Cllr. Meade, seconded by Cllr. Doyle, it was agreed that Cllr. Whitty would represent Cobh Town Council at the AGM of Carrignafoy Leisure Ltd.

4)                  Cobh (Great Island) Community Centre Project.

The Town Clerk advised that at the December meeting of the Council, it had been agreed that he would write to the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government seeking confirmation that the full grant payable by the Department to the Community Centre project had been drawn down. He stated that he had now received this confirmation. On the proposal of Cllr. Meade, seconded by Cllr. Whitty, it was agreed to pay the full contribution from Cobh Town Council to the community Centre project as soon as possible, preferably before the February meeting of the Council. The Manager stated that due to the fact that an invoice for €580,000 in respect of the Pool was due to be paid in the next few days, she could not give a commitment at this time that the contribution could be paid immediately. She undertook that the money would be paid as soon as the Council’s finances allowed it.

This concluded the business of the meeting.

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CATHAOIRLEACH

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TOWN CLERK

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