Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC Minutes of Directors Meeting
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Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
19 January 2021 Zoom meeting
In attendance via Zoom: Jim Russell, Bert Stafford, Tony Trimmel, Joanne McGilvray, Eric
Stephen(by phone), Kate Wardle, Andy Paige, Andrew Jones, Councilor Aimee Kuhl, Kenneth
McClarty
By invitation: Rowen Ravera-Bauer of UTurn
Apologies: None
Management Team in attendance: None- Gail Daniels on annual leave
QUORUM
The necessary quorum being present the chairman declared the meeting duly constituted
WAIVER OF NOTICE OF THE MEETING
The notice of the meeting was waived as all the directors had acknowledged actual receipt of
the notice convening the meeting and had waived notice of the meeting.
The Chairman referred to the proposal for assistance received from UTurn that had been
circulated to the board, and welcomed Rowen Ravera-Bauer, Strategic Partnership
Development Manager of UTurn and invited her to explain the proposal in more detail.
Rowen explained that she had previously met with members of the Social Development
Portfolio, introduced by Anna Els. The project is the outcome of a long process. Local
communities have become increasingly aware of the detrimental effects of homelessness, both
on the homeless and on the general community.
UTurn plan to open a service centre at Living Hope in Muizenberg. It has received extended
community support, but current economic circumstances are making plans difficult to achieve.
UTurn directors have approved Muizenberg provide that the first year’s costs are raised in
advance so that supporters are not disappointed.
The Muizenberg Improvement District (MID) have been very supportive and have pledged a
considerable amount. But there is still a deficit of about R100,000 spread over a period,
requiring an income of about R20,000 per month.
Rowena then offered to answer questions. She answered a wide range of questions from board
members, which were primarily focused on sustainability of the project.
Rowena mentioned that UTurn has a high success rate in drug and alcohol rehabilitation. She
also clarified that there is no residential or shelter provided. The UTurn model is to provide
only food and clothing as well as its core activity of providing rehabilitation programs. A
1Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
residential or shelter component is not included. Only when a rehabilitation program is
successfully entered into will applications for shelter elsewhere be sought for successful
candidates. In such cases UTurn pays the cost of the shelter accommodation and the cost of
transport. She confirmed that there is a serious City wide shortage of shelters and UTurn
cannot on its own make up this deficit.
She said the aim is to reduce the attractiveness of our area, particularly the criminal element
among the homeless, principally by removing money off the streets by means of a voucher
scheme for food and clothing and the potential for rehabilitation. This is the UTurn short term
plan. Setting up shelters is a much more long term ideal.
A concern was raised regarding the hours of operation of the service centre in that undesirable
activity occurs during the hours when the centre is closed. Rowen said there is no simple
answer to these concerns. The aim is to try to reduce the number of people on the street by a
combination of taking money off the streets via the voucher scheme for food and clothing and
by rehabilitation activities. In any event, it is not possible to force addicts into any shelter.
Further questions were raised regarding the UTurn budget and sustainability of the project and
marketing of the project. Rowen said that any financial support would be welcome, particularly
the voucher scheme. It is equally important for the SRA to “buy in” to the concept and aims of
the project and to endorse and explain these to our community. In this regard, she and her
husband live in Kalk Bay and will be actively involved in marketing activities. UTurn will also
partner in any marketing activities. The Chairman commented that it will be very important for
the SRA and UTurn to work very closely in marketing the project to our community.
Vouchers will be redeemable at any UTurn service centre only, not at Pick n Pay etc. The whole
idea is to make contact with the homeless to try to lead them to rehabilitation.
Rowen said she was confident that UTurn will raise the deficit between money raised thus far
and its projected costs. R210,000 is already in the bank. Rowena said that UTurn would prefer a
monthly contribution in order to build on the relationship with the SRA. This would mainly be
allocated to operational costs. If in any event the project is unable to commence operation any
contributions would be repaid to the SRA.
The Chairman thanked Rowen for her explanation and wished her well with the project.
Councillor Aimee Kuhl alerted the board to the reality that the effects of the Covid pandemic
have resulted in staff shortages in a number of key City functions, including refuse collection
and traffic enforcement officials who have incurred a number of deaths. There are service
delivery backlogs in many areas and City health clinics are overrun. Morale has been severely
affected. She therefore requested the SRA to advise our residents of this reality if complaints
are regarding service delivery by the City.
2Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
Action: Kate to be put on the City media communications and Facebook.
The meeting then proceeded with its standard agenda.
Agenda item Action Party Date
1. Minutes of previous meeting
Approved
2 Review of Agreed Actions
These were reviewed during the meeting.
3. Corporate
1. It was resolved that: The 2020/2021 Implementation Plan
Mid-Year Review document circulated to the board for
review and comment is hereby approved.
4. Finance
The Chairman referred to the latest PIE report. Andy Paige
commented that we are on budget with the exception of the
Projects budgets where we are underspent on most items.
He suggested that there is scope for reallocating funds from
some project budgets to fund whatever assistance it is
decided to provide to UTurn, either in the form of monthly
contributions or a lump sum payment or both.
The Chairman pointed out that the Capex budget is already
over spent by about R13,000. This will have to be fixed. Bert
Stafford said that about R40,000 will be required to fund five
cameras. He said that the Ratepayers Association have
committed to contribute R30,000 towards acquiring cameras.
The working group will have to consider this issue when
considering what we are able to contribute to UTurn.
Action: It was agreed that Jim Russell will approach PETCO Jim Russell 19/01
requesting further funding for cleaning the harbour beach.
Report: Jim reported that he had tried to contact Cherie
Scholtz without success, but will contact her as soon as he
can.
3Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
5. Public Safety
Bert Stafford reported on crime over the festive season and
other Public Safety issues.
He said 9 incidents of crime were reported during December,
most of these involving private property. Generally, crime
was under control. There was a very good presence by Law
Enforcement.
Regarding Guardlog, he will meet them in the next week or
two with a view to replacing our current system which is
causing operational problems.
Regarding the security camera project, we have reestablished
our connections at the harbor and are about to install a
camera at the St James Retirement Home. Ffolk Café has
volunteered to host a camera.
Andy Paige raised the possibility of providing training of the
Lake Security guards to alert the SRA on a range of issues,
such as broken man holes etc, so that they are more
proactive and regard themselves as members of the
community. Bert Stafford explained that the patrollers will be
encouraged to respond verbally via a Whatsapp group and
their comments will be consolidated into a weekly report.
Tony Trimmel raised concerns regarding management of the
Haven Night Shelter. It appears that residents are wandering
the streets after the Covid curfew. This is of great concern to
local residents. Aimee Kuhl undertook to raise the issue with
Patricia Francke, who sits on the Haven board.
The Chairman thanked Bert Stafford and Andrew Jones for
managing the Public Safety and Cleansing operations during
Gail’s absence on leave.
Kenneth McClarty proposed that Mountain Men be thanked
for their very active and helpful presence over the holiday
season. This was noted and our thanks will be conveyed to
them.
Action: The issue of the general rise in crime in our SRA was
discussed by the board and it was agreed that the Public
4Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
Safety portfolio will review its strategy and options and Public Safety 19/01
report back to the board in January with any proposed Portfolio
modifications to its strategy or priorities.
Report: This report is deferred for discussion at the next
meeting.
6. Cleansing
Andrew Jones reported that the cleaners had been
conscientious and had done a good job.
7. Environmental Upgrade
The Chairman referred to his email sent to the board in
which possible SRA assistance in regard to the upkeep of
Lever Street Park and the Danger Beach park was outlined.
He reported that Judy Herbert had reported that the Lever
Street Park committee has enough funds for 2021, but that
assistance should be considered for Engel & Volkers who pay
for the upkeep of a number of parks and public spaces in Kalk
Bay.
It was proposed to allocate R10,000 to the Danger Beach
park autumn upgrade from the Environmental Upgrade
budgets and to approve a total contribution of up to R12,000,
consisting of payments of about R1,000 per month for 12
months to the contractor engaged by Engel & Volkers for the
maintenance of various public spaces in Kalk Bay.
The comment was made that there must be an overall
balance between the amounts spent on the maintenance of
public spaces in Kalk Bay and St James. This was noted and
agreed.
2. It was resolved that: the proposal to pay amounts totaling
not more than R12,000, consisting of invoices of
approximately R1,000 per month, to the contractor engaged
by Engel & Volkers for the maintenance of public parks and
spaces in Kalk Bay, is hereby approved, which amounts will
be paid on receipt of invoices and certification of the work
done.
5Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
8. Social Development
Joanne referred to Anna Els’s monthly report circulated to
the board and made no further comment on this.
Anna Els’s performance was briefly discussed. It was agreed
that she has been pro-active, has fulfilled the commitments
she has made and is an asset to the SRA.
Although Anna is an independent contractor and no mention
is made in her contract of any bonus, there is precedent for
paying our Social Development Coordinator bonuses.
It was agreed that an interim bonus of R2,000 be paid to
Anna and that her contract remuneration be increased from
R8,000 to R8,500 per month with effect from January 2021.
It was agreed in principle that the UTurn proposal be
supported, but it was noted that care will have to be taken
on how this is explained to our community, including the
reality that the project will be sited in Muizenberg, outside
our SRA.
It was agreed that a working group consisting of Eric Stephen,
Kate Wardle, Tony Trimmel, and Gail Daniels are to meet as
soon as possible to review the budget and make a proposal
on what we can contribute.
Once a decision is made to contribute then concerted work
will have to be done to work with UTurn to market the
project to our community.
It was agreed that Kenneth will explain the project to the
business association.
9. Business Association
Kenneth McClarty said that the committee is scheduled to
meet next week. As expected, many members of the
business community are suffering the economic effects of
the lock down.
6Kalk Bay and St James SRA NPC
Minutes of Directors Meeting
10. Communication
The Chairman thanked Kate Wardle for her efforts in
producing regular, imaginative and very useful newsletters.
The response from recipients has been very positive.
Kate said that she has highlighted the good work that many
people are engaged in. She also said that other
communication tools are being considered for
implementation in the second quarter, such as a fridge
magnet with useful phone numbers.
Kate Wardle said that a strategy document will be produced Kate Wardle 19/01
and that the crime statistics previously reported via
Crimewatch should be included in a weekly newsletter. She
also recommended that Mailchimp should continue to be
used.
Report: The strategy is to continue with the current format of
the newsletter. A more formal report will be made at the
next meeting.
11. Parking/Informal Car Guard Project
NTR
12. AOB
Tony Trimmel raised the issue of the water bills received
from the City in respect of the Community Centre.
Aimee Kuhl undertook to resolve the issue with various City
officials. Bert Stafford will forward latest invoice to Aimee.
The issue of the applicable rate applied to the electricity
charge was also discussed. Bert Stafford clarified the
applicable rate. It was agreed that a pre-paid meter be
installed.
13. Next Meeting
Next meeting: Tuesday 16 March at 19h00 at the Kalk Bay
Community Hall.
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