Minutes of the October Meeting of Kilkee Town Council held on Monday 5th October 2009, at the Sweeney Memorial Library, Kilkee

Cathaoirleach sa Cathair

• Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan

I Láthair

• Cllr. C. Haugh
• Cllr. P. Collins
• Cllr. B. Keane
• Cllr. K. Reilly
• Cllr. M. Owens

Apologies

• Cllr. M. McGrath
• Cllr. E. Haugh Hayes

I Láthair:       

• N. Kaye, A/Director of Services Housing and Social Policy
• J. Corry, A/Town Clerk

It was proposed by Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan and seconded by Cllr. P. Collins adjourning the meeting for 15 minutes as a mark of respect for the late Joe Hayes, R.I.P.  who was an Area Overseer for the Kilrush Area.

Minutes of the September monthly Meeting of Kilkee Town Council held on Monday 7th September 2009 at 8.00 p.m. at the Sweeney Memorial Library, Kilkee.

Cllr. P. Collins queried as to how many houses within the Kilkee Town Council boundary had paid the €200 charge for the Non Principal Private Residences.

J. Corry confirmed that he would try and establish same and would keep the members updated as to the number registering.

 N. Kaye indicated that it was a self declaration therefore it was up to the owners of the property to declare same.

As there were no other matters arising the minutes were:

Proposed  for adoption by Cllr. P. Collins
Seconded by Cllr. B. Keane

Nomination of one member of Kilkee Town Council for Clare County Council Strategic Policy Committee

Cllr. P Collins was proposed as a nominee by Cllr. K. Reilly and seconded by Cllr. B. Keane. There were no further nominations for this position.

Cllr P. Collins said that his preference (if he had any choice ) would be to be a part of either:

Planning Land Use and Transportation SPC or

Housing Social and Cultural Services SPC

J. Corry indicated that he would indicate to Michael McNamara that Cllr. P. Collins had expressed a preference to be a nominee on one of these two SPC’s

Boundary Extension

N. Kaye indicated that the West Clare Development Plan had been adopted but that the County Development Plan was currently being reviewed and she said that she was awaiting feedback from the engineer and the planner who would be involved in any proposed boundary extension for Kilkee.
Cllr. P. Collins showed the members his proposal for the boundary extension and he suggested that the boundary extension be extended along the settlement areas as per the West Clare Area Development Plan.  He suggested that if the boundary was extended along these lines that it would bring in the Brooks Development, Moore Bay and Cluain Na Mara within the Town Boundary as well as part of Lislanahan, where there had also been some development.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan asked if a map of the parish of Kilkee could be obtained as same should also be considered when drawing up plan of the proposed extension. 
Cllr. C. Haugh said she would get a map and that they could compare with what Cllr. Collins was proposing. 
N. Kaye said that whatever the Council proposed would have to be agreed on by both the relevant Council Planner and Engineer and would have to go through the process outlined in legislation for a boundary extension.

Allender’s Field

J. Corry indicated that the plants that were recently planted were thriving and would continue to be maintained by Clare Co Council. He also added that over the winter that Clare County Council could also look at providing appropriate boulders and that in springtime that they could look at further planting. 
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan suggested that it would be great to see boulders being put in there to help provide shelter etc.
Cllr. P. Collins suggested that if the improvement of Allender’s Field was going to be an issue of funding that maybe local businesses could be asked to sponsor certain areas of Allender’s Field.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan said that perhaps the redesign of the Percy French area as well as providing information boards on Heritage and Wildlife in Kilkee could be seen as areas that could be aided by sponsorship and that Allender’s Field could continue to be maintained by the Council, Tidy Town’s etc. 
Cllr. C. Haugh said that she was disappointed with Allender’s Field in that it was not being used as a park by the public and that she had doubts about further money being put into it when it was not being used.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan said that they went down the road as to what the residents around there wanted and that they had emphasised that they wanted a green area and that they didn’t want a playground etc.
J. Corry said that there was probably an element of disillusionment with Allender’s Field as it wasn’t maintained up to this year but that there was now an on going commitment by the council to it and that he would continue to keep it on the agenda. 
Cllr. P. Collins said that for the next meeting that each Councillor come up with an idea for Allender’s Field.
N. Kaye also suggested getting the schools involved in a project re Allender’s Field.
J. Corry emphasised that the Tidy Town’s adjudication report mentioned that Allender’s Field could have great potential as a Wildlife Habitat and that this should be further explored.

Beach Bye Laws

Cllr. P. Collins indicated that the beach bye laws couldn’t be adopted as they were.  He said that the beach boundary would need by be determined.  He suggested getting a subcommittee going inviting members of the Rescue Services, the Gardai, Kilkee Dive Centre, Kilkee Town Council and the Chamber of Commerce.  He suggested that this subcommittee be formed before the next meeting of Kilkee Town Council. 
Cllr. C. Haugh suggested that all Kilkee Town Council Members should be on the committee.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan suggested that the meeting of the subcommittee could be held after a JPC meeting.  She suggested that the Civic Trust, the Fishermen, and someone from Clare County Council also needed to be part of the subcommittee.
N. Kaye suggested that if a questionnaire was sent out to each of the bodies suggested, well in advance and consider their responses and see if there were any common threads in order to have some preliminary work done before holding a meeting.
Cllr. Marrinan Sullivan suggested that anyone who had a question that they would like put to these organisations to e-mail/send it to the Town Clerk and that they could then be included on the questionnaire.
N. Kaye said that when there were draft bye laws together that it would have to go through wider public consultation but she suggested that if as much work could be done now at the draft stage that it would speed up the process.
Cllr. P. Collins suggested that they now had a first draft to work from by using Clare County Council’s adopted bye laws.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan suggested that to move it forward that a questionnaire would be developed by the members sending the questions they wanted included to the Town Clerk and that he could then send questionnaires to the different relevant organisations and that their feedback could be used to help draft the bye laws and that it could be decided on at the November Meeting whether or not to hold a special meeting. 
N. Kaye suggested that the current Clare County Council Bye Laws could also be sent out to the different organisations so that they could see how they were structured.
Cllr. C. Haugh said that they needed to be very careful when sending out the questionnaire to certain organisations as the beach belonged to everyone and that it was important to include everyone. 
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan said that that could be addressed by the public consultation.
N. Kaye said that the questionnaire would focus peoples mind regarding the management of the beech.
J. Corry proposed that if further copies of the Bye Laws were required that he could e-mail them to anyone.

Fix date for Preliminary Budget Meeting

It was agreed that the Preliminary Budget Meeting would be fixed for 7.30 pm on November 2nd in advance of the November Monthly Meeting.

Fix date for an information evening

N. Kaye indicated that if the members so wished that a package could be put together with officials from different areas of Clare County Council meeting the Members of Kilkee Town Council to inform them about the workings of different areas of Clare County Council.
It was agreed by the members that N. Kaye would organise same.  It was also agreed to hold same in Clare County Council headquarters and give those members who had not already seen the building a guided tour of the building.  It was suggested by the members that if same could be accommodated on a Friday at 3 pm that it would give them an opportunity to see staff working there.  It was also suggested that same would take place before Christmas.
N. Kaye indicated that she would come back to the members with a possible date for their consideration.
Cllr. P. Collins indicated that there would also be training organised for the former Town Commissioners as indicated at the recent AMAI conference.

Fix date for a Presentation to the outgoing councillors

It was agreed that same would take place on Thursday 15th October at 7 p.m. in the Stella Maris Hotel.
N. Kaye suggested that she would see if this date would also suit the County Manager as he had also expressed an interest in attending.

Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. Owens.

That a hand rail be put in place at the steepest part of the cliff walk on approaching the summit going up and coming down

Response submitted by Derek Troy, Town Engineer
The provision of a handrail at this location will be considered under the 2010 National Disability Funding Grant
Response Ends

Cllr. M Owens suggested that this would be particularly relevant for older people. 
This was seconded by Cllr. C. Haugh and agreed by Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan.

Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan said it was something that had continuously come up in Tidy Towns Reports that we have an access problem to beautiful areas to swim and to walk. She suggested that the Town Council look at the areas where access was required  to and if one or two could be done every year in a five-year period that they could all be done.  She also suggested that they would have to look at some solution to the Pollock Holes as rocks were brought in by the tides and that there was an access problem as many people in wheelchairs would like to access the Pollock holes.  She also suggested that they should budget for doing one or two of these each year.

Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. Owens.

That Clare County Council cut the hedge which is overgrown in the vacant house in Circular Road across from Williams’s

Response submitted by Derek Troy, Town Engineer

The maintenance of a hedge or tree growing in private property is the responsibility of the property owner. However in this instance, as the property is not currently occupied, if it is going to be difficult to get the property owner to cut the hedge, and if the hedge is seen as a public nuisance, Clare County Council may cut back the hedge in question.
Response Ends

N. Kaye said the first step would be to serve a Hedgecutting notice on the owner, as it was their legal obligation to address same.

Cllr. P. Collins suggested that he would approach the owner before a notice was sent out to see if he would be agreeable to cut back same in advance of serving a Hedgecutting notice on him, and that he would update the Town Clerk re same.

Notice of Motion submitted by Cllr. P. Collins

That Kilkee Town Council discuss Tri Counties Development planning application regarding "An Clochar"(The convent) with the view of making a submission to Clare Planning.

It was agreed that this motion would be dealt with in a private meeting of the Councillors as the Town Manager explained that it was a current planning application which was an executive function and that it would not be appropriate to discuss same at a public meeting.  She suggested that if members individually or privately wanted to submit a submission within the five-week period prescribed in law that they could do so.

Correspondence

Cllr. P. Collins said that Item 2 should be marked as read and agreed.
Cllr. L.  Marrinan Sullivan said she had difficulty with the fact that the bulk of monies went to this area when only a third of those who commenced school went on to third level, however she said she would support the motion.

A.O.B.

1. Cllr.L. Marrinan Sullivan said she would like to thank the County Council workers for the incredible work that they did on the Cois Fharraige weekend.  She said that they should be commended for the work they had done and that a letter should be sent to them.  She also suggested that a letter should be sent to the Garda Siochana.
Cllr. C. Haugh suggested that the letter should be sent to J. Talty as overseer.
Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan said that she also wished to thank the Town Clerk and the Town Manager.
Cllr. C. Haugh said that it was a great weekend and that it should be nurtured going forward with more dialogue between the various groups so that you could have your house in order at an earlier stage.
N. Kaye said that it was nice to get a compliment and she thanked the Mayor for the compliments she paid on Clare FM after the weekend.  She also agreed that the lads on the ground did a fantastic job and that there was a fantastic crew headed up by J. Talty.
Cllr. C. Haugh said that it was a job well co - ordinated and well done.
Cllr. P Collins agreed and he also wanted to highlight that a lot of community members who were not being paid did a lot of cleaning up after the weekend and he felt that that should be highlighted.

2. Cllr. B Keane wished the Kilkee footballers all the best for the upcoming County Final.

Cllr. L. Marrinan Sullivan also wished to congratulate the County Under 21 hurlers on winning the All Ireland as well as the County Ladies Footballers on winning the Intermediate All Ireland Final. She suggested that letters of congratulations should be sent to them.

As there was no further business the meeting concluded.