Minutes of Council meetings- list.:

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS OF COMMITTEE OF COBH TOWN COUNCIL, HELD AT CARRIG HOUSE, COBH, ON MONDAY 16^th OCTOBER, 2006.

Presiding -      Cllr. N. Doyle

Present -         Councillors S. Meade, P. Histon, K. McCarthy, J. Mulvihill, P. Whitty.

OFFICIAL PRESENT  

Ms. M. O’Halloran – Town Manager

Mr. P. Lynch – Town Clerk

An apology for their inability to attend was received from Cllrs M Keating, S. O’Connor and D. Crowley.

1.                  TOURISM

Cllr. Doyle circulated a copy of the Cobh & Harbour Chamber brochure as well as a copy of the details concerning Cobh from the East Cork Tourism website for the members information.

The Town Clerk circulated copies of the responses he had received from East Cork Tourism, Cobh Tourism and the Cobh & Harbour Chamber in response to the letters he had issued following the previous committee meeting.

A number of members expressed unhappiness at the recent changes to the Board structure at East Cork Tourism. It was agreed that the Town Clerk would write to East Cork Tourism with a view to getting information as to how the change s had come about and who had recommended them. It was also agreed that the Town Clerk would contact his colleagues in Midleton and Youghal to seek the views of their respective Councils in this regard.

In relation to the Cobh & Harbour Chamber brochure, Cllr. Doyle stated that she had been advised that the Chamber had to pay €14,000 on top of the contribution of €5,200 from the Council to cover the cost of the brochure. Members referred to the brochure produced by Condor Publishing Ltd. which appeared to contain broadly similar information to the Chamber’s brochure and which was financed solely by advertising within the brochure. It was agreed that the Town Clerk would arrange a meeting with the Chamber to discuss both their response to his letter concerning tourism issues and also the issue of the brochure.

It was agreed that the Town Clerk would write to Cobh Tourism, acknowledging their letter and advising that the Council would be writing to all of the tourism bodies in the future with a view to arranging a meeting with all of them.

2.                  INCOME & EXPENDITURE

The Town Clerk circulated the income and expenditure figures for the first 7 months of 2006. In response to questions from the members, the Manager stated that she would continue to monitor expenditure to ensure that the revenue balance deficit did not increase. It was agreed that the figures to the end of September would be circulated as soon as they were available.

3.         ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Marina: The Town Clerk advised the members that the High Court case in this matter had been heard the previous week and that the decision was due within three weeks.

Local Bus Service:        The Town Clerk advised that he had received a letter that day from the Department of Transport which stated that no funding was available for the upgrade of the local bus service. It was agreed that the Town Clerk would arrange for a representative of Barry’s Bus Ltd to meet with the Mayor and Cllr. Keating to discuss the matter.

Pay Parking:     The Town Clerk advised that he was considering drafting an amended version of the Pay Parking Bye-Laws which would make provision for contractors who were carrying out major construction or refurbishment works in pay parking areas to pay for the exclusive use of an agreed number of spaces for a fixed period of time, subject to an adequate indemnity to the Council. It was agreed that the Town Clerk would prepare a draft Bye-Law in this regard for consideration by the members.

This concluded the business of the meeting.

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CATHAOIRLEACH

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TOWN CLERK

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