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Minutes of April Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council held on the 12th April 2007 at 4.00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Kilrush

Presiding:

Cllr. Tom Clyne, Leas-Méara.

Councillors present:

Tom Prendeville, Deirdre Culligan, Colie Sweeney, Marian McMahon-Jones, Liam O'Looney, Christy O'Malley, Jack Fennell.

Apologies:

Cllr. Stephen O'Gorman, Méara.

Officials present:

Mr. Leonard Cleary, A/Director of Service & Town Manager.
Ms. Fiona Mooney, Town Clerk.
Mr. Steve Lahiffe, Executive Engineer

Item No. 1: Adoption of Minutes of March Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council held on the 8th March 2007 at 4.00 p.m.

Ar Moladh Cllr. Prendeville cuidithe ag Cllr. Sweeney:-
The Minutes of the March Monthly Meeting were duly adopted.

Item No. 2: Adoption of Minutes of RIMS Meeting held on the 1st February 2007.

Ar Moladh Cllr. Prendeville cuidithe ag Cllr. Sweeney:-
The Minutes of the RIMS Meeting were duly adopted.

Item No. 3: Presentation to Mr. Alan Cronin, Senior Development Officer, FÁS marking his retirement.

Mr Cronin was not present and it was agreed to defer the presentation to another month, pending talking to Mr Cronin.

Item No. 4: Review of Kilrush Town Council Casual Trading Bye-Laws.

The town clerk said that in line with requests from members, notification of the start of the review would be given in next week’s papers and that this would be a non-statutory consultation to guide the process of drafting revised bye-laws. The members were satisfied that the review was underway. A casual trading meeting of members would be arranged after the closing date for submissions which is May 4th. Cllr Sweeney confirmed that he had stood down as the chairman of the casual trading sub-committee of Kilrush Town Council but that Cllr O’Looney was now its chairman.
It was agreed to take Item No. 12 at this point.

Item No. 12: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Fennell cuidithe ag Cllr. Clyne.

"That this Council request the setting up of Motor Vehicle Testing Depot in Kilrush."
Cllr. Fennell advised that there were parties who have a suitable site available for motor vehicle testing and this service would be another asset to West Clare. This motion received the unanimous support of the elected members and the town clerk was asked to send the letter to the relevant Department.

Item No. 5: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Clyne.
"To ask this Council to call on Micheál Martin, Minister for Trade & Employment to lift the embargo on recruitment via FÁS Job Initiative Scheme."
Cllr. Clyne expressed his views regarding the importance to the town of the Job Initiative Scheme (JI). The JI had made a huge contribution to Vandeleur Walled Garden, the Tidy Towns, John Paul Estate. It was noted that FÁS has been very good to the town of Kilrush and the JI was a very significant part of this and the JI jobs were very important to Kilrush. Other elected members expressed their support for this motion. It was agreed to copy this motion to Minister Tony Killeen and circulate it to all local authorities.

Item No. 6: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Prendeville.

"That this Council welcomes the National Development Plan 2007-2013 €19.2 billion investment in services for people with disabilities in this the EU-designated 'European Year of Equal Opportunities for All'."

Cllr Prendeville welcomed the initiative and said it was vital to include people with disabilities in all public services – transport, communications, buildings, employment. The acting town manager said he was pleased to say that Clare Local Authorities had met their target of employing people with disabilities and he also welcomed the motion. The motion received the support of the elected members.

Item No. 7: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Prendeville.

"That the Town Engineer would carry out a survey of footpaths in the urban area and a programme of works be undertaken to repair/replace defective footpaths."

The town engineer was asked to keep regular survey records of footpaths and asked to prepare a report for the May meeting. The town engineer said the installation of the broadband network will involve laying ducts and in 2007, cognisance of this would have to be taken of the civil works linked to the broadband that would be occurring, in implementing the Roadworks Programme as it applies to footpaths.

It was confirmed that Stephen Lahiffe, town engineer was moving on promotion from Kilrush. The members wished Steve the best in the future and thanked him for all his work for Kilrush. The acting manger also thanked Steve and wished him well. The town engineer said that he had enjoyed his time working in Kilrush since 1999 and that Kilrush was a thriving town. He wished the members success in the future and thanked them for their inputs and co-operation over the years.

Item No. 8: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Prendeville cuidithe ag Cllr .

"That this Council would ask the Manager to report on the merits of establishing Municipal Policy Committees that would reflect the council's statutory responsibilities and those of the wider community perspectives."

In a written reply dated 11th April from the a/town manager, it was stated:
A Town Council may establish, by resolution, a municipal policy committee (MPC) comprising elected members and others, to consider matters connected with the formulation, development, monitoring and review of policy which relate to the function of the Town Council.

In the case of Kilrush Town Council, via the delegation of strategic responsibilities among the elected members, a diverse variety of representative community policy fora are already in place and a selection of these is listed here.

Cllr Clyne and Cllr O’Gorman are the appointed delegates to the Board of Éirí Corca Baiscinn Ltd.
Cllr. McMahon Jones & Cllr Culligan are the appointed delegates to the Board of Kilrush Amenity Trust.
Cllr O’Looney is the appointed delegate to the Chamber of Commerce Liaison Group
Cllr Clyne is the appointed delegate to the Tidy Towns Liaison Group

Cllr McMahon Jones is the appointed delegate to Vandeleur Walled Garden Enterprises Ltd.

Cllr O’Looney and Cllr McMahon Jones are appointed delegates to Gateway to Shannon Dolphins Committee
Cllr Sweeney and Cllr O’Malley are the appointed delegates to Clare Tourist Council Group
Cllr O’Malley is the appointed delegate to IPBMI (Irish Public Bodies Mutual Insurances Ltd)
Cllr Prendeville and Cllr O’Looney are the appointed delegates to LAMA (Local Authority Members’ Association)
Cllr Prendeville & Cllr. O’Looney are the appointed delegates to Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland AMAI.
Cllr Sweeney is the appointed delegate to the Kilrush London Association
Cllr Culligan and are members of the County Development Board and the Tourism Implementation Group thereof

Additionally, Cllr Prendeville and O’Malley are members of the Community and Cultural Strategic Policy Committee of Clare County Council

I also understand that a new industry and enterprise/business task force with a west Clare focus is to be formed in the near future, which will again bring all relevant stakeholders together on this particular important policy issue. Given the totality of the existing fora, the various policy issues would seem to be receiving a good range of attention with a broad range of input from the general community.

Cllr Prendeville said that the level of activity and commitment by members was clear from the many involvements and that municipal policy committees could be part of the wider consultative and democratic forum. The town clerk was asked to revert again to members with proposals related to MPCs.

Item No. 9: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Sweeney cuidithe ag Cllr .

"To ask the Manager to report to the members on the new CCTV cameras recently installed in John Paul Estate."

In a written reply from the town clerk, it was stated:
Kilrush Town Council was enabled, via Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government capital funding, to install CCTV monitoring of streets and open green areas in John Paul Estate. The funding was provided as part of the Remedial Works Scheme approved for the estate and was carried out as one of six preliminary contracts. The CCTV cameras are capable of being monitoring in the Garda station and the cameras are recording images that could be used by Gardaí in the event of an incident. It is hoped that the street CCTV will serve as a preventative measure and contribute in a positive way to achieving a safe, clean and peaceful environment for all the residents, the vast majority of whom have welcomed the initiative. Kilrush Town Council appreciates very much the role of elected members, local and national, for the submissions and support in relation to the CCTV initiative.

Cllr Sweeney expressed dissatisfaction at not having been invited to the media photograph in the estate about the cameras. Cllr Clyne said that he did not know about it on the day of the photo either and that this had been difficult, since he was the vice-mayor and working in the estate. The town clerk referred to a letter that she had already written to all the members regarding this event. She reiterated an apology to the members that had been contained in that letter and confirmed that any further press releases would be circulated in advance to all members, as had in fact been formally requested already by members. The members were satisfied with this assurance.

Item No. 10: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Sweeney cuidithe ag Cllr .

"To ask the town engineer to report back to the May meeting of this council on who is responsible for alleviating the flooding of the Wood River."

The town clerk said that some research had been started on this but it had proved complex and the research was not yet finished. She would try to have a report for the May meeting.

Item No. 11: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Sweeney cuidithe ag Cllr .

"To ask the Manager to include housing units in the next local authority development to facilitate independent living for people with disabilities."

This motion received support from the members. The town clerk said that one of our guiding principles for local authority housing would be that it would be inclusive. She said that Kilrush Town Council was actively pursuing options in relation to sites for future housing currently.

Item No. 13: Curtha faoi bhraid na Comhairle ag Cllr. Clyne cuidithe ag Cllr .

"To ask this council and engineers to surface the roadway from the entrance gates right up to carpark area of the Vandeleur Walled Garden complex.

In a written reply, the town engineer stated:
Clare County Council will consider this section of roadway to be included in the 2007 roadworks programme, subject to funding being made available.

Item No. 14: Correspondence

The following correspondence was noted :
Letter dated 26th February 2007 from Superintendent Joseph McKeown. The town clerk was asked to write to Supt McKeown, thanking him for his input and accessibility during his tenure in Kilrush.
Letter dated 7th March 2007 from the Department of the Environment Heritage & Local Government regarding Town Renewal Scheme.
Letter dated 16th March 2007 from the Office of the Taoiseach regarding a National Remembrance Day for the 160th anniversary of the Great Famine of 1847.
Letter dated 20th March 2007 from Naas Town Council regarding television for entertainment purposes.
Letter dated 21st March 2007 from Fermoy Town Council regarding the purchasing of carbon credits.

Votes of sympathy:

It was agreed that a vote of sympathy should issue to the following:
Mr. Michael O'Gorman, 15 Keane's Road, Kilrush on the death of his mother Bridget O'Gorman.
Ms. Theresa Lernihan, Ballyurra, Kilrush on the death of her husband Brian Lernihan.
Mr. Philip Burke, St. Senan's Terrace, Kilrush on the death of his mother Kit O'Donnell.
Ms. Mary Pile, Crawford Street, Kilrush on the death of her brother Martin Kelleher.

A.O.B.

Kilrush Town Council was thanked for its arts grant contribution to Kilrush Musical Society’s upcoming production of Oliver.

Congratulations were extended by the members to Claire Gallagher of the Clare People upon the occasion of her marriage.