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Minutes of December Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council Held on the 14^th December 2006 at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Kilrush

In Attendance:

Cllr. Stephen O'Gorman, Méara.
Comhairleoirí: Tom Prendeville, Deirdre Culligan, Colie Sweeney, Marian McMahon-Jones, Liam O'Looney, Christy O'Malley, Jack Fennell.
Apologies: Tom Clyne
Ms. Bernadette Kinsella, Director of Service & Town Manager.
Ms. Fiona Mooney, Town Clerk.
Mr. Steve Lahiffe, Executive Engineer
Ms. Geraldine Quinn, Assistant Staff Officer.

Adoption of Minutes of November Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council held on the 9^th November 2006 at 4:00 p.m.

Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Malley cuidithe ag Cllr. Prendeville :-

The Minutes of the November Monthly Meeting were duly adopted.
Overdraft Accommodation for 6 month period from 1^st January 2007 to 30^th June 2007

Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Malley cuidithe ag Cllr. Sweeney :-

The following Resolution was duly adopted :

"That this Council hereby approves of the temporary borrowing by Kilrush Town Council in the sum of €175,000 for the Town Council's Municipal Account, FÁS Job Initiative Account, FÁS Rate for the Job Project Account and Vandeleur Walled Garden Enterprises Ltd. Account for the period 1^st January 2007 to 30^th June 2007."
Report on Proposals for Traffic Calming

The report of the Town Manager dated the 6 th December 2006 on the proposed Traffic Calming to Wilson's Road (L2508), Kiladysert Road (R473), Grace Street (R473), Moore Street (R473), Chapel Street (L2522) and Killimer Road (N67) was noted and accepted by the elected members. The members welcomed the proposed traffic calming measures.
Ar Moladh Cllr. Fennell:-

"That this Council call on the Clare Co. Co. to transfer the motor tax and motor licence facilities to Kilrush."

In a written reply dated 12^th December, the town clerk said:

"Clare County Council is in the process of rolling out an on-line motor tax services in the Kilrush Civic Offices. Kilrush staff are scheduled for training during January 2007. The service is expected to be up & running before the end of January, 2007. The level of service will be reviewed within the first twelve months of operation to the determine levels of take-up and to consider longer-term requirements & resourcing for a full motor tax disc issuing service from the area. The plan is to launch the new motor vehicle services in Kilrush with the mayor with elected members, prior to the February 2007 statutory meeting.”
Ar Moladh Cllr. Fennell cuidithe ag Cllr. McMahon-Jones:-

"That this Council call on the banking facilities to install access to their premises for disabled customers."

Cllr. Fennell requested that the AIB and Post Office should be commended for the work carried out in providing disabled access to their buildings in the town. The meeting was advised that the Bank of Ireland access will commence in the 1^st quarter of 2007. It was noted that the ACC has disabled access to the side of their building, but that it has to be opened by a member of the ACC staff.
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Looney:-

"That this Council would initiate a feasibility study into the provision of a river walk along the Wood River, from the bridge on the Cappa Road to the wood."

Cllr. O'Looney asked that if funding became available that perhaps this development work could be carried out over a number of years which would enhance the town so much. It was felt that this aspiration should be included in the Town Development Plan.

In a written reply dated 12^th December, the town clerk said:

"The potential of the river and the wood in terms of their amenity value for the town is acknowledged. With the review of the Kilrush Town Development Plan currently underway, the time is opportune to highlight this in the new development plan policies and objectives.

Preparatory work has been carried out on re-vitalising and extending a heritage walk from Cappa, through the Kilrush town as far as Kilrush Wood, and Kilrush Town Council will be pursuing funding for this in 2007. Some research has also been done into the development of woodland walkways as part of the Vandeleur Demense Action Plan 2005 – 2007.

Kilrush Town Council will remain alert to any funding opportunities that may emerge, including the next round of Leader grant aid, Heritage Council, etc, with a view to making submissions appropriate to this recreation/tourism/development area of policy.”
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Looney cuidithe ag Cllr. Sweeney:-

"That this Council would ask the Manager what is the situation with the Industry and Enterprise Task Force and could she give a report to the council on the developments to date and the position of the task force in the future."

In a written report dated the 12^th December 2006 the A/Senior Staff Officer reported that :

"I wish to advise the members that following successful announcements around the priority objectives set by the Industry and Enterprise Task Force of Decentralisation and Broadband for Kilrush, the Task Force, which had been up and running since 2001, decided to discontinue meetings. I would like to advise the members that the issue of decentralisation has remained a priority for the ISDN (Integrated Shannon Decentralisation Network) committee, formed with our alliance partners of Listowel and Newcastlewest. The ISDN committee, borne out of the Industry and Enterprise Task Force, has continued to meet and exert pressure on the government to deliver on its promise of 50 Revenue jobs to Kilrush, Listowel and Newcastlewest. Indications are that those 50 staff will be in situ in Kilrush in the first quarter of 2007.”

Members praised the group for its successes and felt that a task force is again needed to encourage sustainable employment in the town. The town manager suggested that a clear focus and objective would be necessary for the reconvening of this group. A position paper would be prepared that outlined potential new issues to be addressed.

Ar Moladh Cllr. Prendeville:-

That this council would ask the Manager to report on the number and nature of Freedom of Information requests received by this council since January 2001 and how many of these were granted, refused or partially-refused."

In a written reply, the town clerk reported that the FOI statistics in the period requested were:

	Total Number	Nature (personal, non-personal, third party)	Granted	Refused	Partially granted, partially refused	Withdrawn/dealt with outside FOI
2001	4	Non-personal	1	1	2
2002	11	3 personal 8 non-personal	6	2	1	2
2003	12	Non-personal	12
2004	4	3 personal 1 non-personal	3	1
2005	0
2006	3	Non-personal		1	2

The members noted these figures. However, it was felt that the decrease in the number of requests in recent years was attributable to the introduction of fees and it was suggested that the FOI Act should be reviewed nationally to ensure it facilitated maximum accessibility and it was felt that the fees do not facilitate access but rather discourage it.

Ar Moladh Cllr. Prendeville cuidithe ag Cllr. O'Looney:-

That this council calls on the Minister for Finance and the Environment, Heritage and Local Government to introduce a new Town Renewal Scheme."

Following discussion, it was agreed that a letter should issue to the Minister to introduce a new Town Renewal Scheme which would include smaller councils.
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Gorman cuidithe ag Cllr. Prendeville:-

"That this council would ask the Town Clerk to report on the measures undertaken by Kilrush Town Council in strict compliance with the provisions of the Disability Act 2005."
Reply from town clerk:

"Having consulted with the designated Access Officer, I wish to reply as follows:

Each local authority must appoint an Inquiry Officer and an Access Officer under the Disability Act 2005 and Catherine O'Hara, Administrative Officer, is currently fulfilling both roles for Kilrush Town Council.

A complaints procedure has been developed under section 38 of the Disability Act to allow for complaints to be made to the Inquiry Officer. The relevant documents are available at Kilrush Civic Offices reception. Complaints under section 38 refer to where a complainant considers that the authority is not compliant with S.25, 26, 27, 28 and 29 of the Act. These sections refer to access to information and services by people with disabilities. Kilrush Civic Offices staff have had awareness training about the complaints procedure. Complaints under S 38 are dealt with by the Inquiry Officer and there is a built-in appeal mechanism.

A policy on the provision of services and information to people with disabilities is currently being developed for Clare local authorities under the auspices of the customer service committee.

An access audit will be carried out of public buildings, car parks, amenity areas, piers, public toilets, recycling centres, libraries etc and in 54 towns and villages. Consultants Whyte Young Green have been appointed for this work by the County. An integral part of the access audit is the public consultation process with people with disabilities which is scheduled for early 2007 on an electoral area basis. The consultants and the Community & Enterprise Section will be involved in this. It is anticipated that the consultation process will involve all public service providers. A steering group of all the access officers in all the public services in the county has been established through the Community & Enterprise section. Kilrush Town Council will be participating fully with the audit process in 2007.”
Ar Moladh Cllr. Sweeney:-

"That this council calls on Coillte to repair the bridge at Turret Lodge as it is in a dangerous state."

It was agreed to issue a letter to Coillte requesting that they carry out necessary repair work to the bridge at Turret Lodge.
Ar Moladh Cllr. Sweeney cuidithe ag Cllr. O'Gorman:-

"To ask the Town Engineer when the upgraded public lighting and traffic calming measures for Wilson's Road, Wood Road, St. Senan's Tce., Crawford Street, Lower Moore Street, Stewart Street and the Killimer Road will be put in place."

Members agreed that the lighting in the town needs to be upgraded as it is inadequate. The town engineer advised the members that it is intended to move ahead with the traffic calming measures in 2007 and he has been assured by the County Council that the necessary funds will be available. He pointed out that there is a small budget in Kilrush for lighting and that €16,000 has been spent this year, with a similar amount having been spent the year before in The Square. Areas in need of lighting will have to be looked at individually. The town engineer further advised that there is a new agreement now in place between the Council and the ESB, whereby the ESB will carry out monthly inspections of public lights and they will endeavour to carry out the necessary repairs within 10 working days, should these be routine repairs. In addition the Council will carry out at least two checks per annum. Members welcome the new arrangement but complained that it was taking too long for ESB to effect repairs of street lights.
Ar Moladh Cllr. Sweeney cuidithe ag Cllr. Prendeville:-

"To ask the Manager what is the current and future situation regarding public access to the St. Senan's Church of Ireland graveyard at Crawford Street."

Following discussion on the matter it was agreed that the town clerk write to Comhaltas regarding public access to the graveyard and take up a strong position on behalf of the members. It was noted that Rev. Bob Hannah had no objection in principle to the provision of a turnstile to facilitate access. The town clerk was asked to ascertain in particular if a means of pedestrian access to the graveyard can be incorporated into the present works.
Ar Moladh Cllr. Culligan cuidithe ag Cllr. O'Gorman:-

That Kilrush Town Council would support & encourage the speedy implementation of the MWRA Marketing Initiative Report regarding Shannon."

Following discussion on the matter it was agreed that a letter should issue to Minister Cullen to implement the MWRA Marketing Initiative Report immediately, as Shannon is vitally important in the area and assure him of the support of the elected members.
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Gorman cuidithe ag Cllr. Fennell :-

"That this Council would put reflector bollards on Killimer Rd. at Ballynote turn off".

Following discussion, the town engineer advised that the installation of these bollards as requested would be done.
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Gorman:-

"That this council would put Water Safety signs in Polish & extra life buoys at The Rock."

Following discussion on the matter it was agreed that there are some dangerous areas and the language barrier could be a problem.

The town engineer advised that following recent tragedies in west Clare, new signs have been erected in various locations in West Clare. He further advised that the signs were pictorial and understandable by anyone and that signs have been ordered for Kilrush as well and two more buoys have also been received.
Ar Moladh Cllr. O'Gorman :-

"That this council should push to have the Rapid Programme in Kilrush."

In a written reply, the town clerk reported:

"On foot of the support from members of Kilrush Town Council and local Oireachtas members for the RAPID programme in Kilrush, a submission was made in February 2006 to the Minister at the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs for the inclusion of Kilrush in the RAPID programme. The response from the Minister in March 2006 was that there were no proposals at present to extend the RAPID programme to new areas”.

There was discussion on the benefits of RAPID designation, particularly in the area of obtaining capital funding for facilities for youth.

The town manager advised that perhaps the submission previously prepared could be reframed and submitted again. She also pointed out that the Clare Sports Partnership would be a useful source of knowledge and information for those involved with sporting groups.
Correspondence
- Letter dated 14^th November 2006 from Portlaoise Town Council re the location of masts.
- Letter dated 20^th November 2006 from Mullingar Town Council re school books. Cllr. O'Malley supported this matter.
- Letter dated 15^th November 2006 from Colmcille Heritage Trust regarding Preliminary Notice for 18^th Colmcille Winter School 2007.
- Notification of Mid-West Regional Authority 13^th Annual Conference to be held on the 15^th & 16^th February 2007 at the Woodlands House Hotel. It was noted that Cllr. O'Malley will be attending on behalf of Kilrush Town Council.
- Letter dated 4^th December 2006 from Corporate Services regarding Shannon International Airport in open Skies.
- Letter dated 1^st December 2006 from Nenagh Town Council regarding fuel allowance. Cllrs. Fennell and O'Gorman supported this matter.

Votes Of Sympathy

It was agreed that a vote of sympathy should issue to Martin Frank McMahon, Narrin, Co. Donegal on the death of his aunt Mary Ellen Finucane late of St Joseph's Terrace, Kilrush.

The Mayor wished all those present a very Happy Christmas and the meeting then concluded.

Signed : ______________________________

Cllr. Stephen O'Gorman
Mayor

Signed : ______________________________

Fiona Monney
Town Clerk

Dated this the day of 2007.

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Minutes of December Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council Held on the 14th December 2006 at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Kilrush

In Attendance:

Votes Of Sympathy

Minutes of December Monthly Meeting of Kilrush Town Council Held on the 14^th December 2006 at 4:00 p.m. in the Council Chamber, Town Hall, Kilrush