MINUTES of the Brooklyn Scouts Joint Parent Leaders Committee 
Wednesday 5 November 2014

Venue: Scout Hall. Meeting started at 7.10 pm

Present
Oliver, Gillian, Sue, Michael, Bob, John, Denise, Terry, Jenny, AnneLeah, David, Grayson, 
Apologies
Jo, Duane

Minutes of previous meeting
Minutes were accepted subject to including amendments to be provided by Sue to cover the following areas:
•	During discussion on subs Oliver noted it would be preferable to keep subs under $200
•	Res 14/101 – that Sue voted against because she thought this meant the $1,200 from previous jamboree account would not be moved into the jamboree fund (the meeting clarified that this amount would stay as jamboree money – the motion was that no further money (ie the $5K originally suggested) be moved into the jamboree fund this year)
•	During discussion on basement snagging, Rex had identified resolving these items would cost an estimated $500.  

Actions review
See comments on the action log below. 

Correspondence
None

HSSE check in
Rex is looking at resolving the space under the door in the basement. 
 
Treasurer’s report

Jenny noted her report is still an interim one until accounts can be re-coded into GL format. (Oliver noted he was happy to help with this). 

Our End of Year balance is slightly healthier than anticipated at around $8,000. Terry noted the Venturers had authorised to shift $2,000 to the Group funds (the $8,000 figure included this $2K).

The committee thanked Jenny for her work in creating an excellent subscription fee summary and recommendations (clearest ever). Discussion points included:

•	Our subs only cover 40% of our operational costs – good to have this visibility. 
•	We are heavily reliant on the stadium fundraisers
•	Sharing the document with parents (prior to the AGM so all see it) would be good as it so clearly shows what subs do (and do not) cover – it’s a real reality check for parents.
•	Keas only have an hour per week – is it fair to ask them as much as other sections – the Committee agreed not
•	Increasing subs in a stepped fashion would likely be preferred by parents
•	If an increase is agreed, we need to ensure parents know there is a hardship facility
•	The budgeted figures show an amount of $3,200 for hall upgrade work – do we need this much given the work we’ve already done? And given that we seem to be having success getting grants? John shared that National’s view is that it is extremely important Groups do budget to cover hall maintenance costs. Oliver and Jenny noted the amount budgeted is 1% of the hall’s value.
•	Should leaders pay for their children? This has been discussed in previous committee members with agreement leaders paying for children is the fairest and most transparent approach. John noted his experience of working with other Groups is that differing fees can lead to friction.

Two resolutions were agreed with a motion to be put to the AGM to increase fees for all Sections except Keas.

General business

Quarter-master report

Gavin has finished the shelving. Michael noted the off-site storage is a very good facility.

Part of the kitchen fit-out includes moving the Zone kitchen to the offsite storage facility. Sue noted Gavin is not available 15 Nov, the proposed move date and asked that Michael and Gavin discuss Gavin’s suggested approach for storing this equipment (not noted as a formal action).

Kitchen

In Rex’s absence, Oliver explained he and John had agreed on the kitchen budget and timeline as had been circulated to the committee prior to the meeting.

It was noted some costs were still estimated. John advised he was comfortable the estimates were sufficient ‘fat’ to minimise the risk of any overruns.

The committee also asked for assurances no equipment, tools or materials be left in the hall (referring to the safety concerns raised for Keas and Cubs in particular at the last meeting). A suggestion was made that each section have a contingency plan in case something unexpected did happen, although Sue noted a planned visit from the Cubs in Stokes Valley (24 Nov) could not be changed. Oliver and John committed to providing a status update each Sunday of the build period so that leaders will know exactly what state the kitchen and hall are in before they arrive for their section meeting.

AGM planning

To be held Friday 21 November, 7 pm. Michael offered to take the minutes as Gillian is unavailable on this date.

The Venturers will provide a babysitting service for any parents who want to / need to bring their children in order to attend.

Early nominations for officers included:

Chair – Oliver
Treasuer – Jenny
Secretary – Gillian
Quartermaster – Michael

Sue also noted Gavin may be a nomination for QM – this would be a nomination from the floor if he decides to proceed.

We discussed the ability to have non-committee helpers – eg David to do webmaster role without being on committee. 

Meeting closed: 8.30 pm

Next meeting
==============
TBC once new committee elected

Record of actions discussed and closed at or since last meeting (see comments), and still open or new as at 5/11/2014. 
Grey = closed at meeting. Red = overdue actions 

Number	Date	Action	By whom	By when	Current status	Comment	
14/163	05/11/2014	Circulate final kitchen plans to Committee	Rex	21/11/2014	Open		
14/162	05/11/2014	Send a status report every Sunday night during the build period so leaders know what to expect before they turn up for their section meeting	Oliver/John 	15/12/2014	Open	If anything major or unexpected happens, this would be communicated immediately	
14/161	05/11/2014	Those working on the kitchen, to ensure no equipment or materials is left in the hall	Rex/Oliver/John 	15/12/2014	Open		
14/160	05/11/2014	Further detailed instructions to be sent re using new i-cloud facility (including how to set up Gmail)	Oliver/Gillian	01/12/2014	Open		
14/159	15/10/2014	Send link to Kaka project survey to parents and encourage them to complete it	David	20/10/2014	Closed		
14/158	15/10/2014	Discuss the costs to fix items on the snagging list, particularly those that raise safety concerns	Oliver/Jenny	15/11/2014	Open	Rex has updated snagging list with input from Sue. Work on hold pending allocation of funds.	
14/157	15/10/2014	Prepare a story for the newsletter about our proposed approach to fees	Gillian/Jenny	15/11/2014	Closed	Story drafted	
14/156	15/10/2014	Circulate a fee recommendation to Committee once the issue of what National fees are is resolved	Jenny	15/11/2014	Closed		
14/155	15/10/2014	Pay National fees early to secure 2% discount, excluding incorrectly invoiced GST component	Jenny	24/10/2014	Closed		
14/154	15/10/2014	Raise issue of being a GST entity with National 	John/Denise/Oliver	21/11/2014	Open		
14/153	15/10/2014	Followup on fees - invoice is incorrect as it includes GST when it should not have	John	24/10/2014	Closed		
14/152	15/10/2014	Put seeking leader feedback on what the QM store should contain into the next leaders meeting agenda	John	21/11/2014	Open		
14/151	15/10/2014	Talk to Gavin about his plans so far for the shelving in the garage space then visit the space to see if the work can be progressed immediately	Michael/Rex	19/10/2014	Closed		
14/150	15/10/2014	Set up a Cloud storage facility for all core documents (eg fundraising grant applications, correspondence etc. The storage will exclude sensitive information such as membership lists, hardship grant information.	Oliver	21/11/2014	Closed	Instructions sent. See new action 14/160	
14/149	15/10/2014	Complete first round of exit surveys then establish process to run them ongoing as youth leave	Erina/Sylvie	21/11/2014	Open	Sylvie to run the surveys	
14/147	10/09/2014	Circulate a written update on signage pricing options and the proposed designs	Gavin	20/10/2014	Open	Oliver to follow-up with Gavin in terms of update	
14/140	31/03/2015	Work with Gavin and Michael to complete the QM store, incorporating best practice ideas from other scout QM stores	Rex	30/09/2014	Open	Ongoing	
14/134	02/07/2014	Discuss with Jenny expanding financial reporting to cover non cash assets and liabilities	Oliver	06/08/2014	Open	Now well in progress.	
14/133	02/07/2014	Update Committee on status of hall lease agreement	Michael	03/09/2014	Open	Michael following up but Council not responding to his request for a Word version of the lease on which to do markups. Committee suggested him doing PDF markups instead to keep this moving. Denise will nudge at Council meeting.	
14/131	02/07/2014	Investigate funding for signage	Jenny	03/09/2014	Open	Have a $500 donation towards this. Jenny has sourced a water bottles fund-raising idea. To discuss at next meeting; 5/11 No time to discuss water bottles	
14/121	11/06/2014	Make a request to Z energy about participating in their token drop fundraising	Oliver	02/07/2014	Open	No response. Will followup; 5/11 No progress	

Record of resolutions from 5 November 2014
Number	Resolution	Moved	Seconded	Voting	
14/106	THAT, we signal to the AGM that the intent of the committee is to recommend a further subs increase in a year to a point where 75% of administration expenses are covered (approximately $230 on this year's figures)	Oliver	Jenny	CARRIED U	
14/105	THAT, we recommend to the AGM that we increase subscriptions for next year for all sections except Keas. Amounts - $200 for 1 family member; 10% discounts for 2; 20% discount (or by discussion with Group Leader taking advice from the Treasurer and Leaders) for 3 or more family members.	Oliver	Anneleah	CARRIED U	
14/104	THAT, the minutes of the previous meeting be approved subject to amendments to be provided by Sue	Oliver	Jenny	CARRIED U