CHALFONT PARK SPORTS ASSOCIATION MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 1ST SEPTEMBER 2004

Those Attending

Alison Spicer (ACS) Peter Banner (PB) Chris Blamey (CJB) Caroline Chipperfield (CDC)
Dave Peters (DP) Warren Scott (WPS) Zoe Scott (ZAS) Neil Turner (NT)
Andy Watts (ASJW)

1. Apologies

Simon Seabrook (SS)

2. Minutes of Meeting held on 4th August 2004

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved.

3. Finance (DP/PB)

Current bank balance is roughly £5,000 overdrawn. This doesn’t include latest bar takings banked by Simon Gooch. Although we have received 3 lots of UNIQ payments we have the usual dip in summer takings and have had the added expense of the building certification. We have also paid Dave Banner for the picket fence and are catching up with the loan scheme draw. We also have no more floating debts.

PB stated that he is still working on the budget for 2004/2005 and will circulate it by e-mail as soon as possible.

4. Hockey (WPS)

WPS reported that Open Day will be held on the 4th September 2004 and there will be 4 teams out. There are 7 or 8 new players lined up to attend, all of whom have heard about the Club via the internet. There is also a men’s 3s v 4s game this Saturday. The mixed tournament is also being planned by Geoff Brown and Sarah Wood. There are 12 teams entered and it should be a good tournament.

It is hoped that Steve Jack will come back to the Club as player / coach for the men’s ones. Steve will run the Monday night Club training with volunteers to help out and he and DP will also run the Tuesday night ones and 2s training.

Regarding Committee positions Justin Bootland has taken on the role of Men’s Playing Representative. Tim Brooker has been unable to take on the role of Treasurer, but WPS stated another member has volunteered. He needs to discuss the position with them and will revert back to the Board at the next decision as to whether the position is filled.

5. Cricket

Chris Yoxall did not attend and Matt Stevenson provided a written report as follows:

• Availability has been good this season with 4 teams playing regularly;
• Both TVCL teams are struggling to avoid regulation, the 1st XI should be ok given a good performance this Saturday, the outlook for the 2nd XI is not so good;
• Annual dinner is being organised for either Friday 15th or 22nd October at the Club;
• Power Cricket Day is being organised for Saturday 11th September 2004 in conjunction with hockey mixed tournament weekend;
• Appropriate people spoken to regarding Indian touring match fiasco on 5th August 2004;
• President’s Day was a great success (one of the best in recent memory);
• Most annual subs have been paid, the only outstanding are from those people who have only started playing in the last 3 – 4 and they are being chased;
• Match fees are all up to date; and
• ECB Quiz raised £461.00.

Matt also commented on the problem of outstanding payment for Spring Ball tickets. He will continue to chase Shazi and Raf. However, Shabs and Rollo were unable to attend and their names were put down by Zeddy without being spoken to in advance to confirm availability. Understanding the hard line taken with hockey members who did not attend but committed to coming he feels the liability for these 2 tickets should lie with Zeddy. He particularly did not want the £30 deducted from Shabs’ next invoice.

After some discussion the Board agreed with Matt’s comments, the ticket money will not be deducted from Shabs and ZAS is to formally chase up the other non-payers.

Action - ZAS to chase up outstanding Spring Ball money

6. Softball (NT)

NT reported that the season finished last Thursday. They have finished top of the league but the finishing places depend on another game tomorrow night. The promotion rules are unclear so NT doesn’t think he will know for a while whether they are promoted or not. NT felt it had been a very successful first season with a lot of interest.

NT needs to work out the plan for next season over the winter break. Running 2 teams will mean recruiting outside of the Club as players can become league tied. Pitch rotation is also something that will need to be considered.

7. Events (CDC)

CDC reported that the leaflets are starting to be delivered, with 8,000 going out this week and 2,000 the following week. To sort out another leaflet drop using the Royal Mail will mean a lead time of roughly 3 months which she will need to take into account when planning again.

CDC feels that communication with people opening up the Clubhouse is getting better (eg Sandra Taylor, Mrs. Birger), but there are still the obvious problems with the hire of the cricket pitch. After the problems with the Indian touring side last month there is an event being held today which incorporates a match and meal afterwards which has had communication problems also. PB stated he would find out why Shabs was not informed of the pitch hire.

The Board discussed the problems with pitch bookings. It was agreed that a calendar on the website, such as we have for the Clubhouse bookings would help, as would a clear process for pitch bookings.

Action - PB to find out from Matt Stevenson why Shabs was not informed of pitch hire
- PB to ask Matt Stevenson to set up procedure for pitch bookings ready for next Season

8. Astro / Marketing (ASJW)

ASJW reported that he is (unsurprisingly) struggling with time commitments at the moment. He is however working on updating the website, creating the softball links and the juniors. He has not received any information from Newlands Park regarding their plans. He reiterated that nothing is happening with regard to the astro, but the next step would be looking into the college site further.

Regarding the Honours Boards they cost around £400 per Board and can be made from wood or Perspex with 2 – 3 columns of text. The Board needs to decide exactly what is wanted, what positions, different Sections etc and go back to ASJW’s supplier for a quote. The other alternative is that we make the Boards ourselves and have them professionally engraved which is a cheaper option.

Action - ALL to liaise via e-mail as to what should be shown on the Honours Boards

9. Operations (CJB)

CJB stated that he has chased up Chenies regarding cutting the Alcan pitch and that is being done next week.

PB stated that 3 new benches commemorating the Graver family have been delivered to the Club. These are to replace the ones previously donated which were stolen, so these must be secured. They are being brought in overnight at the moment. It was agreed that this should continue until the end of the cricket season when they will be brought in for the winter and a permanent solution for next season must be decided. Cement posting them into the ground would be a good solution.

The filling in of the car park holes need to be finished, which can be done by a small working party and just needs to be organised. CDC confirmed that Dayler are putting deliveries in the bay marked out in the garage to ensure that the mower isn’t blocked in. PB is looking into the costs of a rolling security garage door but is having trouble finding suppliers to obtain quotes from.

After some general discussion it was agreed that the Clubhouse needs a clear out generally so that junk can be thrown away and storage space created / used properly. It was felt that the weekend of the 11th and 12th September 2004 might be a good time for this as both hockey and cricket members will be at the Club.

ACS reported that the Cricket Section cannot develop the Alcan ground for another cricket team next season. This means that there will only be one Sunday football team using the ground. Dan Webb has been chased up for the outstanding £200. Dan Webb also thinks that Andy Maitand’s Juniors would be good to have and would bring in a small amount of revenue to CPSA. ACS asked the Board for their opinion, bearing in mind the problems that have been encountered with people paying for pitch hire, pitch cost for upkeep and liabilities (especially considering Andy Maitand’s Juniors are Under 12s). There have also been problems with players encroaching onto the adjoining land. NT confirmed that the pitch is no good for softball games. PB stated that if we wish to terminate 3 months notice is required by Wilson Bowden.

After discussion weighing up the pros and cons of the ground the Board unanimously agreed to terminate the hire of the Alcan ground. PB will send a letter to Wilson Bowden. It was agreed that Dan Webb can hire the pitch from us at a cost of £60 per hire if he would like to and we will still control the cutting etc during the notice period. PB will also liaise with Dan Webb to see whether he would like an introduction to Wilson Bowden in the event that he is able to book the pitch directly with them when the notice period is over.

Action - PB to liaise with Dan Webb to see if he would like introduction to Wilson Bowden
- PB to send letter terminating licence of hire of Alcan ground to Wilson Bowden

10. Outstanding Actions Update

Completed actions listed below, all outstanding actions remain on action sheet:

SG - Draft proposal for bar price increases; received and all increases approved at August 2004 meeting
PB - Look into an alternative for secure storage to a self-built brick structure; on hold as waiting to see if designated area in garage works, if not further future action
SG - Liaise with Peter Broom for quote to build brick storage structure; done on hold as above
SG - Provide size of structure required to PB; done on hold as above
WPS - Research obtaining Freeview; cannot get as the box is still too expensive. NT suggested advertising in newsletter for an old ITV digital box as that would work
CDC - Speak to Davey Crossman and Peter Colwill re 200 Club; passed to DP
ACS - Or Matt Stevenson to write letter of thanks to Dave Banner for donation of cricket nets; letter sent by Matt Stevenson. MS has been told that this is a Cricket Section asset which must be noted
CDC - Speak to Sandra Taylor regarding VAT threshold; Sandra has her Accountant and is on top of it
ACS - Speak to Matt Stevenson re Cricket Section bookings; MS was very receptive, understands the problems as doesn’t always get all the information himself
ACS - E-mail Matt Stevenson and Football for feedback regarding Alcan ground requirement; Cricket Section are not interested in developing the ground see Operations Section for more detail
PB - Contact District Council re development rules of Alcan ground; no help as they will not answer hypothetical questions
CJB - Arrange cutting of Alcan ground; being done next week


PB - Go through Fire & Safety Regulations / log book with CDC and Sandra Taylor; done
PB - Obtaining secure wall mounted box of the kitchen key; purchased

Actions - WPS to advertise for old ITV digital box in newsletter
- CJB to mount kitchen key box
- CDC tell Sandra Taylor about plan with kitchen key
- PB to check with Fire Brigade about key placement

11. Any Other Business

11.1 Astro Fund (WPS)

WPS stated that a contract needs to be drawn up in relation to the loan of the ring-fenced astro money, as agreed at the hockey AGM.

Action - WPS to draw up what is required and pass to ACS to formalise into a contract

11.2 Current Membership (ZAS / CDC)

ZAS and CDC requested that as they are both unable to play this season and that they intended to join as Social Members, that they be given voting rights. PB stated that as Directors they will have voting rights at Board level, but both would like voting rights at the Section level also, which they do not have as Social members. There is a need to clarify any discrepancy between the CPSA Constitution and the Hockey / Cricket Constitutions.

Action - ZAS to pass copy of Hockey Constitution of PB
- PB / ACS to look into voting request

11.3 Membership Database (ZAS)

Further to the meeting held with Mike Snell, ASJW, WPS and NT regarding the membership database, ZAS asked if there was any progress / update report. They reported that unfortunately they had been unable to get much done and only a small amount of progress had been made.

Action - WPS to contact Mike Snell to say arranging an e-mail / letter

11.4 Life Members Dinner (ACS)

ACS stated that the plan for the annual life members dinner is that it will be held in January / February 2005. All life members will of course be invited as usual and add a “top up” of up to 60 people on a first come first serve basis. The additional people will be asked to pay towards their meal. The Board agreed this was a good idea.

12. Date & Time of Next Meeting

The next meeting will be held on the 6th October 2004 at 8.00pm. Apologies given by NT and DP in advance.