Minutes of the 18th Annual General
Meeting of
Date and Time : Sunday 6thMarch
2005 at
Venue : The Ebor Room, Burnside Hotel,
Bowness-on-Windermere
Present : The BPOC Committee
:
Ken Garland,
Chairman (Owner)
Keith Hirst for Clive Watson (Bowness Leisure PLC)
Mrs
Candy Philip (Bowness Leisure PLC)
Geoff Stocker (Owner)
Sunterra Europe Ltd represented by Ian Bebbington (Owner)
35 Owners and Spouses, etc.
1. Welcome and Opening Remarks
The Chairman opened the Meeting by welcoming all Owners attending the Eighteenth AGM. He introduced himself and the other members of the Committee, noting that due to an enforced hospitalization, Clive Watson could not attend. Keith Hirst, Chairman of Bowness Leisure PLC, had kindly agreed to deputise for him at short notice.
He explained that the formal business would adhere strictly to the Agenda and requested any Owners wishing to speak to please give their: Name, Cottage Number and Week Number, prior to making their contribution.
2. Apologies
for Absence
Apologies were received from : Mr & Mrs Atkinson (Cottage 4 Weeks 7 + 8) Mr & Mrs Runcorn (Cottage 3 Week 44)
3. Minutes
of the Seventeenth Annual General Meeting held on 29th February 2004
The Chairman asked the Meeting if the Minutes of the previous A.G.M. could be taken as read, since these Minutes had been available to Members on application.
The Meeting agreed, so the Chairman asked for a Proposer and Seconder that the Minutes be accepted as a true record.
Proposed by : Mr Hadfield, Cottage 9 Week 6
Seconded by : Mr Elliott, Cottage 3 Week 1
On the vote, all were in favour.
4. Matters
Arising from the Minutes of the Previous A.G.M.
The Chair asked if there were any Matters Arising from the
Minutes of the previous AGM.
There were no matters arising which would not be covered by later Agenda items.
5. Annual
Report of the Committee
The Hon.Secretary, Mr Geoff Stocker, gave the Report of the Committee:
“Your Committee met four times during the past year to discuss the overall management of the Cottages at Burnside Park. During these meetings, Committee Members addressed a wide range of topics on behalf of Owners, including correspondence and telephoned communications which had been received.
All agreed Committee decisions sought to consider the best interests of the majority of Owners.
At two of the Committee meetings, cottages and apartments were inspected on specific issues or at random, following which the points noted were discussed with the Management Company representatives and any action agreed.
Comprehensive lists were compiled by the Management Company for work to be carried out during the winter Maintenance Weeks and the items were agreed with the Committee.
The policy on general maintenance is to hold spare parts on site for many items of equipment, allowing prompt repair if this is possible. When items are considered to be past their useful life, or when repair is clearly uneconomic, the items are replaced. Some spare small-items are kept to replace failures.
Some specific tasks completed during the year were as follows :
· The carpets and gallery beds in Cottages 1 to 10 were renewed.
· Upgrading of the kitchens was carried out in Cottages 31 to 40 included new tiling and in Cottage 39, an additional Velux roof-light was fitted above the very small window.
· Cottages 41 to 44 were put into Trust in January 2004.
· External walls received attention to secure loose stones and capping slates.
· The scheme for collection of Management Fees by Direct Debit which was agreed and adopted at last year’s AGM, was implemented by the end of October.
Management Fee Payments
It is pleasing to report that only eight Management Fees remained overdue six months after invoicing, last year.
After repeated attempts to obtain payment had been made and final registered letters had been sent to the Owners concerned, regrettably, the Committee had to arrange to sell these eight, fee-owing Holiday Weeks, in order to recover the debts. Thus, all Management Fees were paid by the end of the year.
As in previous years, the Committee hopes that Owners recognise that this outcome was an important achievement, keeping the Club on a sound financial footing, despite the considerable administrative work necessary to achieve this result. The new Direct Debit scheme will help to minimise this problem.
Management Fees for 2004/2005
The Committee spent a lot of time at the August meeting discussing the budget for the present year. Eventually, it was accepted that an increase of 3.9% applied to the costs and services components, was necessary to cover the anticipated increase in the Rates in May 2005 and the general rise in RPI.
Following replacement of original furniture and equipment
in varying extents in the first three phases, the sinking fund contributions
were adjusted slightly to reflect the actual costs involved. The Owners Club
administration fee was held at £7 as before.
The Committee, acting on behalf of yourselves, considered that these increases were justified, in order to maintain the cottages in first class condition.
Arrival and Departure Times for
Cottage Occupation
The Cottage reception staff again had a few problems with late departures after 10 a.m. which caused significant delay in preparing the Cottages for new arrivals and also with Owners arriving early and expecting to be able to use Cottages before the earliest arrival time of 5 p.m. I am sure that it does not apply to yourselves. Obviously, these times have to be enforced to allow the housekeeping staff to complete their tasks and for the Cottages to be checked thoroughly. If Cottages do become available before 5 p.m., then you will be given the keys at the earliest opportunity, remembering that 5 p.m. is the official time.
The Association of Timeshare Owners Committees (TATOC)
Burnside Park continued its membership of the Association of Timeshare Owners Committees (TATOC) to allow the Committee to discuss common management problems with over one hundred similar resorts represented by TATOC.
Conclusion
In concluding this report, your Owners Club Committee is pleased to be able to report another successful year and is confident that the Resort remains in first-class condition. This is the continuing objective of your Committee and I am sure is the major interest of all Owners.
The Committee would like to take this opportunity, on your and their behalf, to express their thanks to our Club Administrator Candy Philip and her assistants and also to the staff of the Management Company, especially the housekeeping staff, for their dedication and hard work throughout the year. We would also like to compliment the gardener, who has the important task of maintaining the attractive appearance of the grounds.
That completes the Report of the Management Committee, Mr Chairman.”
The Chairman then asked if there were any points from the report which owners wished to question. There were no questions.
6.Election
of One Member to the Committee
Ken Garland retired by rotation but was not offering himself for re-election. He had served on the Management Committee since its inception. Accordingly, he handed over the Chair to Keith Hirst to conduct the remainder of the meeting. Keith briefly explained his background and reported that two nominations had been received in advance for the vacancy on the Committee. He invited further nominations from the floor of the meeting. As there were no other nominations, he then invited the candidates to introduce themselves and to explain their reasons for standing. Mrs Mary Broster then described her background and her aims if she was successful in the ballot. Dr Jim Maxon also introduced himself explaining his circumstances and availability if elected.
The Chairman then explained the voting arrangements, noting that the first-named member on the Certificate for each week was entitled to one vote. The vote was scrutinized by two independent non-members present. The Chairman then asked the members to complete their voting papers and to place them in the ballot box which was carried around the room at that point. Whilst the votes were counted, the Chairman asked if he could continue with further items on the Agenda. The meeting agreed.
7.Statement
of Accounts for the Year Ended 31st October 2004 and Report of the
Auditors
The Chairman confirmed that all the Members present had a copy of the Accounts and Auditors Report.
In the absence of the Auditor, the Chairman then asked Bob Elliott, present as the Custodian Trustee, to guide the meeting through the chief features of the Accounts.
Bob briefly noted the Accounts covered only the Owners Club transactions and pointed out the solvency of the BPOC Fund and the state of the Sinking Funds for each group of Cottages.
The Chairman thanked Bob for his contribution and asked if there were any questions.
Mr Hutchinson, Cottage 3 Week 19, said that he was concerned that a lot of money had been spent on the earliest Cottages and queried whether value for money had been obtained. Ken Garland said that in company with the remainder of the Committee, he was confident that the decisions taken on refurbishment of specific areas of these Cottages had been justified, bearing in mind the age of their original equipment and fittings. Candy Philip noted that the Cottages are subject to intense use by different people each week, which added to the ‘wear-and-tear’ factors. Keith Hirst commented that the subsequent phases of the development would receive the same treatment in due course.
The Chairman then asked for acceptance of the Accounts and Auditors Report.
Proposed by Mr Hutchinson (Cottage 34 Week 2 and Cottage 3 Week 19).
Seconded by Mr R Johnson, Floating Time.
On the vote, acceptance was unanimous.
8.Re-appointment
of the Auditors
The Chairman noted that the Auditors were prepared to stand for re-election and asked for a Proposer and Seconder for their re-appointment.
Proposed by Mr Hutchinson (Cottage 34 Week 2 and Cottage 3 Week 19).
Seconded by Mr Garland, Cottage 1 Week 43.
On the vote, all were in favour. The Chair declared the Auditors re-elected.
9.
Adoption of Resolution proposed by the Committee
"The Meeting duly ratifies the Cancellation of BPOC Membership of any Owners who remain in default for non-payment of Management Fees at the date of this Meeting.
The Meeting also empowers the
BPOC Management Committee to cancel the Membership of any Owner who, after
reasonable reminders, fails to remit notified outstanding charges".
The Chairman explained that the Committee felt that this Resolution should be proposed and ratified annually to avoid potential legal claims. He then asked for a Proposer and Seconder for this Resolution.
Proposed by Mr Elliott, Cottage 3 Week 1.
Seconded by Mr Hadfield, Cottage 9 Week 6.
On the vote, the Resolution was adopted without dissent.
At this point, the Chairman received the result of the ballot for Election of A Member to the Committee. He declared Dr Jim Maxon duly elected to serve on the Committee for three years and commiserated with Mary Broster, thanking her for her interest in the continuing success of the Owners Club and for standing for election.
10.
Any Other Business
A letter had been received from Mr Atkinson regarding the membership fee increase for Parklands and a suitable response had been made. It was pointed out that Parklands was a separate entity and that the Owners Club had no jurisdiction over its operation.
The meeting Chairman noted that Cottages 12 and 38 would be available for inspection after the meeting, for those interested.
The meeting Chairman then thanked retiring Committee Chairman and Member Ken Garland on behalf of all the members for all his work on the Committee since its inception and wished him well. Ken Garland thanked the meeting and expressed his thanks to all who had served on the Committee during his long membership
The Chairman reported that no other business had been notified for consideration, within the requirements of the Constitution, as detailed on the Draft Agenda circulated to all Members.
There being no other business, the Chairman declared the Eighteenth Annual General Meeting of Burnside Park Owners Club closed at 12-30 p.m. _______________________________________________________________
The Chairman then opened an informal discussion session and invited contributions from the floor.
Mrs Dempsey (Cottage 11 Week 52) commended the work of the Management Committee members. She especially wished to congratulate Candy Philip for her huge contribution to the successful operation of the resort and Owners Club, particularly in terms of the friendly reception that members received each time they were in residence. She expressed praise, appreciation and well-deserved thanks for all her hard work and felt certain that all members would echo his feelings. Candy thanked Mrs Dempsey for her kind words and said that it was the whole office and resort team that should be included for any thanks.
In the absence of further questions, the Chairman declared the discussion session closed at 12.35 p.m.
G.A.Stocker
Hon.Secretary 9.5.2005