Minutes of Council meetings- list.:

MINUTES OF PROCEEDINGS AT MONTHLY MEETING OF THE COBH TOWN COUNCIL, HELD AT CARRIG HOUSE, COBH, ON MONDAY 14^th JANUARY 2008

Presiding -Cllr. P. Whitty, Mayor.

Present -Cllrs. N. Doyle, S. Meade, S. O'Connor, K. McCarthy, P. Histon, J. Mulvihill and D. Crowley

Officials Present

Ms. M. Ryan, Town Manager

Mr. P.Lynch, Town Clerk

Mr G. O'Hora, Town Engineer

Mr. P. Cacciotti, Town Architect

Ms. R. Mullarkey, Staff Officer

An apology for their inability to attend was received from Cllr. M.Keating

The meeting commenced with the recitation of the Lord's Prayer.

Cllr.Whitty informed the Members of the intention to hold an In Committee meeting directly after the monthly meeting to talk urgently about the Landslide Programme update.

The Town Architect gave a brief update on the Cobh Urban Design Feasibility Study currently being undertaken in CobhTown. He stated that the preliminary brief was currently available to the public for submissions until 08/02/08. After this date, six of those submissions will be invited to tender for the study by the 11/04/2008. The successful contractor will then have until the 30^th June 2008 to complete the Design Study for Cobh. The Town Architect clarified that public consultation will take place again after the tender is awarded on the 11^th April 2008. The Town Architect also stated that a penalty could be incorporated into the contract in the event that the report is delayed after the 30^th June following a query from Cllr. Mulvihill. Cllr. McCarthy expressed concern over the timeframe for public consultation. The Mayor and the Town Manager clarified that public information sessions would be held during this time period.

Cllrs. Doyle, Meade and Whitty complimented the Town Architect on the time spent compiling the brief.

1.ATTENDANCE BY MS. ANNE O'DONNELL, RAS PROGRAMME MANAGER, CORK COUNTY COUNCIL:

Ms. Anne O'Donnell gave a presentation to the Members of Cobh Town Council of the Rental Accommodation Scheme which is due to start in Cobh in February 2008.

The Rental Accommodation Scheme is designed for local authorities to target persons receiving rent supplement from the Department of Social and Family Affairs for more than 18 months and arrange a long term letting agreement between the local authority, the tenant and a landlord assuming certain conditions are met.

After the presentation, the Mayor thanked Ms. O'Donnell and the Members were invited to ask questions.

Cllr. Mulvihill asked how many people would qualify for this scheme who are currently on the housing waiting list. Ms. O'Donnell clarified that there were approximately 100 people who would qualify for this scheme currently on the Cobh housing list.

Cllr. Crowley complimented the scheme but expressed his disappointment that the Town Council did not have more input into this scheme before now. He also queried how long people can stay on the RAS scheme. Ms. O'Donnell clarified that a person could stay on the scheme indefinitely. Ms. O'Donnell also clarified that every reasonable effort would be made to place RAS tenants in the location of their preference after a query from Cllr. McCarthy.

Cllrs. O'Connor and Doyle both asked if sub standard accommodation would be tackled by the local authority to which Ms. O'Donnell replied that enforcement proceedings would take place and the HSE would be notified to stop the payment of rent supplement if accommodation was considered substandard. She also asked to bear in mind that should this situation arise, then these tenants would need accommodation immediately so it was important to work with the landlord where possible to improve conditions. It was also made clear to the Members that three offers of alternative accommodation would be offered to applicants, of which the applicant could refuse two. On the third refusal, the payment of rent supplement would be stopped.

Cllr. Doyle mentioned the involvement of voluntary bodies in this scheme. Ms. O'Donnell clarified that the involvement of voluntary bodies in this scheme was very beneficial in circumstances where an applicant needed a high level of support from facilities and organisations around them. She also clarified that the RAS tenant's position on the social housing list would not be affected by their involvement in this scheme.

After a query from Cllr. Histon relating to people whose accommodation was substandard but were not receiving rent supplement for more than 18 months, Ms. O'Donnell replied that the current scheme prevented all tenants on rent supplement from being eligible for the RAS programme. However, she did reiterate that as people were taken out of substandard accommodation, the HSE were notified of this accommodation in order for it not to be used again for rent supplement applicants.

Cllr. Whitty thanked Ms. O'Donnell for her presentation and replies to the Members questions. However, he did comment that he felt that this scheme will benefit landlords. He also stated that if Local Authorities had been properly resourced to apply enforcement regulations on all privately rented properties, then this scheme would not have been needed.

He also questioned who would administer the scheme as there were no extra resources available from the Town Council. He also requested that the Council be kept informed of the operation of the scheme in Cobh when it starts.

Cllr. Whitty finished off this discussion by stating that Cobh Town Council's housing list urgently needs to be addressed which currently stands at 527 as reported in the Draft Joint Housing Strategy between all the local authorities in Cork.

2.CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES

The following minutes of Council meetings held having been circulated, were adopted as follows:

Committee Meeting4^th December 2007

Proposed – Cllr Meade - seconded – Cllr Doyle

Monthly Meeting10^th December 2007

Proposed – Cllr Mulvihill - seconded – Cllr Crowley

Budget 2008 Meeting17^th December 2007

Proposed – Cllr McCarthy - seconded – Cllr Doyle

Matters arising from Minutes

Cllr. Crowley noted that in the Budget Meeting minutes, when discussion on Programme 4 was taking place, it was he who raised the issue of the Red Cross proposed contribution and not Cllrs. McCarthy and Whitty as previously minuted.

Cllr. Mulvihill queried what income was received for litter fines for 2007.

Cobh Landslide Programme

Cllr. Whitty stated that all issues in relation to this Programme would be dealt with in the in committee meeting due to be held after the monthly meeting that night.

Local Bus Service

After queries from the Members in relation to this service, the Town Clerk agreed to write to Barrys Coaches regarding their future plans for this service. The Town Clerk announced that there was no update in this matter.

Parking at Assumption Place

The Members were previously informed that this issue was referred to Cork County Council. The Town Engineer agreed to speak with Derry O'Sullivan, Cork County Council following a query from Cllr. McCarthy regarding the proposed schedule of works.

Entrance to the Rock

The Town Clerk stated that a land registry search taking place on this area and its surroundings. The results of that search were not received yet.

Miscellaneous

Members previously expressed concern over the condition of the Camber with sewerage and litter. Cllr. Histon stated that the Port of Cork had commenced a clean up of the area. Cllr. Whitty stated that when the clean up of the Camber is complete, an agreement should be reached between the Port of Cork and the Council in relation to its regular maintenance. The Town Clerk agreed to speak with the Deputy Harbour Master to receive an update in relation to this.

In relation to the entrance to the Cathedral, the Town Clerk stated that this issue was still outstanding with no update. Correspondence had been drafted and sent from the Town Clerk to the Trustees the week prior to the monthly meeting.

The Town Clerk informed the Members that he had met with John O'Brien of the Russell Heights Residents Association to discuss all outstanding issues in relation to this estate. Mr. O'Brien expressed concern over the alleyways and gates were suggested as a solution. The Town Engineer stated that these gates were on order.

The Town Clerk also clarified that the funding proposed for this association at the previous meeting was also paid to them.

Cllr. Histon made the point that the maintenance storage area in RussellHeights was still neglected. Cllr. Whitty stated that he would be visiting this area shortly.

Following the meeting held on the 9^th January 2008 at 3pm between Cllr.Whitty, the Town Clerk, the Town Engineer and Derry O'Sullivan, Cork County Council to discuss the previous notice of motion in relation to the traffic management problems in Harbour Row, it was agreed that this area and indeed the Town in general would undergo a traffic survey by Cork County Council with a view to submitting the results of this traffic survey to the successful contractors of the Master Plan. The Master Plan therefore would address the traffic problems currently being experienced by the Town and Harbour Row in particular.

Cllr. Mulvihill spoke of the discussions of a CCTV scheme between the Gardai and the Council recently.

The Town Clerk informed the Members that an employee had been placed on full time litter duty for one month on a pilot basis as proposed in a previous notice of motion. He also stated that he would have a report for the next meeting regarding the results of this pilot scheme.

The Town Clerk then gave an update on the vacant houses in the housing stock. One house that had been served an abandonment notice will be taken back by the Council this week and any renovations necessary could commence immediately. The house in Belmont has a contractor currently working on it and would hopefully be ready for allocation over the coming weeks.

In relation to an issue raised by Cllr. Crowley at the December 2007 meeting, Cllr. Crowley stated that on receipt of correspondence sent from the AMAI to the Department of the Environment in relation to capital allocations, it appeared that each County Council would receive all Town Councils capital allocation as well as their own. The Town Clerk replied by stating that he had received confirmation from Deputy O'Keeffe that this would not be the case in 2008.

The Town Clerk also informed the Members that all banking legal agreements necessary for the operation of the Affordable Housing Scheme in Cobh were authorised and the press advertisement would be shortly be submitted. The application form was near completion.

The Town Clerk stated that the submission by the Council to the EIS prepared by RPS in connection with the proposed move by the Port of Cork will be completed and submitted before the deadline of January 18^th 2008.

In relation to the one off sites in the Town owned by the Council and previously raised by Cllr. O'Connor, the Town Clerk verified that the Town Architect was currently looking at plans for one of the sites and an auctioneer had been engaged for the sale of the other site. After a query from Cllr. O'Connor in relation to the number of sites available, the Town Clerk also stated that he would confirm this and inform at the earliest convenience.

Cllr. Whitty informed the Members that both the Town Manager and Town Clerk were still to meet with the owner of the Town Hall regarding its future purchase.

It was also agreed to move the time of the meetings back in the event that there were presentations scheduled for the start of the meeting in order for all Members to be present for the entire length of the meeting.

3.VOTES OF CONDOLENCE

The sympathy of the Council was extended to the relatives of all of those who had died since the previous meeting of the Council.

The votes were passed in silence all standing.

4.MANAGERS ORDERS

Councillors noted Manager's orders, copies of which had been circulated.

5.CORRESPONDENCE

Cllrs. Doyle and O'Connor proposed and seconded an extension of time to allow the business of the meeting to continue.

1.Letter of thanks from Deirdre Pearson, Junior Chamber Ireland, Cobh, regarding reception held in Town Hall on the 12^th October 2007.

2.Letter of acknowledgement from the Department of Transport regarding the appointment of a representative of Cobh to the Board of Directors of the Port of Cork.

3.Letter of thanks from Anne O'Neill, Junior Chamber Ireland, regarding reception held in Town Hall on the 12^th October 2007.

4.Letter of thanks from the O'Mahony family, regarding the commemoration to Patrick O'Mahony on the 9^th November 2007.

5.Email from Ms. Zita Tyndall and corresponding reply from the Town Clerk regarding non-payment of 2007 rates.

6.Letter of thanks from Michelle Crowley, Breaking the Silence, regarding the donation recently given to this organisation.

7.Reply from Kevin O'Neill, Finance Department, Cork County Council regarding the proposed waiver of water charges for non-commercial ventures. Cllrs. Crowley, Meade, Doyle and Whitty all expressed their anger at the non-favourable outcome of this request from Cork County Council. It was outlined however, by Cllr. Whitty, that this was a national issue.

8.Mid-West Regional Authority- notification of 14^th Annual Conference on the 7^th and 8^th of February 2008.

9.Letter of acknowledgement from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding the correspondence sent by the Council in relation to the Green Paper on Local Government Reform.

10.Letter of acknowledgement from the Department of the Environment, Heritage and Local Government regarding the correspondence sent by the Council in relation to the Landslide Programme. It was also clarified that a second letter of correspondence was sent to the Department the previous week regarding this programme.

11.Letter of acknowledgement from the Radiological Protection Institute of Ireland regarding correspondence sent by the Council in relation to a previous Notice of Motion by Cllr. Mulvihill on the subject of radon gas exposure in Cobh. It was agreed that the Town Clerk would contact Mr. David Fenton regarding same.

All correspondence acknowledged and marked as read.

6.OFFICER'SREPORTS

a.)IBAL Report:

The Town Clerk spoke of the above report and stated that Cobh was now ranking at number 35 in the poll of 50 cities/towns. Its status was now at "moderately littered". Members expressed their dissatisfaction with this result as Cobh had gone down in the poll from the last report. The Town Clerk spoke of the recent replacement of Mason for the Council and also the possibility of extra resources for street cleaning.

Cllr. Whitty congratulated the Town Foreman on this recent permanent appointment and welcomed the new mason who had recently started with the Council.

b.)Pay-Parking in Cobh

The Town Clerk circulated the reply to correspondence received from Ms. Therese Wilson-Downey regarding the pay parking in Cobh. In the reply, he clarified the Bye Laws which were adopted by the Members in 2007 in order to suspend pay parking temporarily for three months. He also outlined the financial implications of permanently removing the pay parking scheme from the Town.

It was also agreed to call an In Committee meeting for 21^st January 2008 at 6pm to discuss this issue.

c.)Derelict Sites Report

The Town Clerk circulated a report on the current status of the Derelict Sites Register. It stated that a consultation had taken place between the Town Engineer and a Consultant acting for the owner of 1&2 Casement Square. A submission had been received which outlined remedial works and a possible planning application in early 2008. Cllr. Meade queried the nature of the both the remedial works and the planning application. She stated that the planning application could possibly delay the development of this site yet again. The Town Clerk clarified that the planning and dereliction process were controlled by separate legislation and that should a planning application be submitted, the site would undergo the dereliction process until it was rendered non-derelict. Cllr. McCarthy stated that the inside of these properties were structurally dangerous.

5 Pearse Square had completed all works requested of them and a Managers Order has been drafted for signature in order to remove this property from the Register in accordance with Section 8(4) of the Derelict Sites Act 1990. Valuations were also sought on 14 and 30 Harbour Row for levy purposes and the owners written out to informing them of same. 1 Church St. has started to complete the final works required of them to render the property non-derelict.

d.)Proposed Pedestrian Crossing – Bishops Street.

The Town Engineer circulated a report regarding a proposed new pedestrian crossing at Bishop Street.

Submissions/Comments on the proposed pedestrian crossing and pedestrian safety rail were invited from all interested parties and were included in the report.

On the proposal of Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Histon, it was agreed to implement the proposals of the Town Engineer outlined in his report.

The Town Engineer also stated that he had received requests to consider disabled parking bays in Philip O'Neill Place Frenches Ave. He stated that he had no objection to Philip O'Neill Place but was not satisfied with Frenches Ave. Cllr. O'Connor proposed and Cllr. McCarthy seconded the proposal to press ahead with the application for Philip O'Neill Place.

e.)OldChurchCemetery Lodge

The Town Engineer circulated a report which stated that the repair of the roof of the Old Church Cemetery Lodge was estimated at €17,000. The Town Manager, Town Clerk and Town Engineer recommended that this funding was approved in principle.

It was agreed to contact Cobh Tourism to ascertain their plans on funding for this project. Cllr. Whitty stated that it was already agreed that the Council would fund the repair for the roof only. Cllr. Crowley spoke of the benefits that could be availed of by engaging workers from the previous Community Employment Scheme in Cobh. Cllr. Histon queried the numbers of employees working on this scheme previously.

The Town Clerk agreed to look into this matter.

7.COMMITTEE REPORTS

a.)Harbour Cat Ferries.

Cllr Whitty advised the members that correspondence had been received from the Managing Director of this company giving an update on the planning applications currently submitted for the proposed development of the old Town Hall, Cobh.

b.)CorkHarbour Environmental Protection Association.

Cllr Whitty advised the members that correspondence had been received from the Cork Harbour Environmental Protection Association asking people to object to the proposed move of the Port of Cork.

8.DRAFT BOUNDARY ALTERATION PROPOSAL:

The Town Clerk stated that he had received a non favourable response from Cork County Council in relation to the Draft Boundary Alteration Proposal submitted to Cork County Council last June. Cllr. Whitty proposed the setting up of a sub committee comprising of the Mayor, the Town Clerk, the Deputy Mayor and on the proposal of Cllr. Crowley, the inclusion of Cllr. Mulvihill on this sub committee also. This sub committee would discuss the boundary alteration in more depth and outline future plans for this proposal.

9. TO CONSIDER THE DISPOSAL OF LAND ADJACENT TO 71, RUSSELL HEIGHTS, COBH, PURSUANT TO SECTION 183 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 2001.

Cllrs. O'Connor and Doyle proposed and seconded this proposal.

10. TO CONSIDER THE DISPOSAL OF LANDS AT RINGMEEN BOUNDING THE GROUNDS OF RUSHBROOKE LAWN TENNIS AND CROQUET CLUB, COBH, PURSUANT TO SECTION 183 OF THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT ACT, 2001.

Cllrs. Whitty and Histon proposed and seconded this proposal.

11. TO CONSIDER THE NOTICE OF MOTION STANDING IN THE NAME OF CLLR. PADDY HISTON:

"That the Developers, Dentvale Ltd. are written to, advising them that the security held (€25,518) by Cobh Town Council be used to re-establish the Public Right of Way that existed from Harbour Row to Kidney Strand prior to the development of the Multistorey complex at Atlantic Quay, and making good outstanding works."

Cllr. Meade supported this motion.

Cllrs. McCarthy and Crowley proposed an extension of time to allow the business of the meeting to continue.

12. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

1. The Members requested that the Town Clerk contact Cork County Council in relation to the sewerage in Kidney Strand. Cllrs. Histon and Whitty also spoke of the maintenance of the Strand once it had been cleaned up. The Town Clerk agreed to refer this to the Town Foreman.
2. There were queries made by some Members in relation to an issue which had arisen over developing land in Whitepoint. The Town Clerk clarified that approval had been given on the basis that the Council were satisfied with the evidence given by the planning applicant that they were the legal owner of the land in question. Cllr. Meade stated that the residents of that area were not happy with the proposed development.
3. Cllr. Whitty stated that the roof in Cobh library was leaking. The Town Clerk agreed to write to Cork County Council in relation to the library's future plans. The roof should be dealt with as a matter of urgency.
4. The Town Manager spoke briefly of the sites at Ballynoe after some queries from the Members. The sewerage issues had to be resolved in this area and legislation has also changed in relation to Public Procurement thereby voiding all works done to date on this scheme. The Architects Department is hoping to finalise the tender for this scheme shortly
5. Cllr. Doyle queried whether the Sailing Club can use part of the Five Foot Way car park to store their boats. The Members agreed that they had no objection in principle.
6. Cllr. Meade spoke of the traffic issues close to Whartons Corner.

This concluded the business of the meeting.

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CATHAOIRLEACH

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TOWN CLERK

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