2020 - 8F - Finance Committee August minutes
PAPERCOURT SAILING CLUB MAIN FINANCE COMMITTEE MEETING
NOTES OF MEETING HELD ON 26th AUGUST 2020 AT 6.15 pm
PRESENT via TEAMS
Fraser Hayden (FH). Jeremy Riley (JR), Jeremy Sumeray (JS) Frank Brown (FB), Jenny Snow (JSn), Clive White (CW), Justin Meredith (JM), Judith McKnight (JMc)
FH opened the meeting at 6.21pm
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
CW presented a report that showed the club to be in a comfortable financial position, due mainly to the Government grant and rates refund offsetting the shortfalls in membership, training, social events, bar and lettings etc. We should finish the year with a surplus.
IMPACT OF COVID ON POTENTIAL RENEWALS FOR 2021 AND NEW MEMBERS
It is impossible to know how many of our members are still sheltering and have not returned, it was decided that with 4 months still to go before the end of the year, it is futile to speculate how many will resign. On a positive note, new members are joining at the usual rate as sailing is seen as a safe outdoor sport.
2021 RENEWALS FEES
CW recommended that we do not increase the fees for 2021 which was agreed unanimously.
FH raised the question of reducing the joining fee which is higher than many surrounding clubs, although our annual fees are lower. JR and JS said that when they interview new members it does not seem to be a problem. It was felt that any reduction would be unfair to existing members who had already paid up. After some discussion, it was decided to leave this as it is.
PROPOSALS FOR LARGER EXPENDITURE PRIOR TO THE YEAR END
No new proposals were made
REPAYMENT OF MEMBERS LOANS
We have nearly 60 members' loans outstanding, of which 50 are less than £1,000. Due to our current comfortable financial position it was decided to pay all loans off in full ahead of the target date. This will cost £34,460 and will save the work currently involved in paying the annual tranches and adjusting the renewal invoices.
CHANGE TO ACCOUNTING PRACTICE
CW made a technical proposal to change the current accounting practice of capitalising expenditure over £5k by increasing this limit to £10k. Currently small assets such as the larger Hartley would appear as an asset to depreciate over a number of years, this can give a misleading impression of the club's ability to generate income and cash. At present the only asset is the purchase of the lake.
This change in the accounting policy was approved by the Directors.
GUIDE HUT UPDATE
JM had circulated all the documents relating to a proposal to lease the Guide Hut to a Ripley based company. This would save the club the maintenance costs of a building which is deteriorating and encourage a respected local business. We need to instruct our solicitors to prepare a lease and the Ripley company to proceed with the full planning permission.
JM will present the proposal to the Full Committee at the September meeting.
FH thanked JM for all his work on the project so far.
AGM FORMAT FOR 2020
Several suggestions were made as to how to manage this year's AGM including the possibility of a hybrid meeting with limited attendance in the clubhouse being Zoomed to a wider audience at home. Reports from FH, CW and FB could be pre-recorded and circulated in advance, but we would need a method of recording votes and accepting questions. These can all be resolved, but the date was fixed as Thursday 26th November, which gives CW time to prepare the accounts.
AOB NOT NOTIFIED IN ADVANCE
FH suggested we hold a new members' meeting to help new members feel more included in the absence of the usual social events. It was agreed to hold this on Saturday 19th September at 10am in the marquee, He will ask Ali Roche to organise simple refreshments.
FB suggested that the 10% discount on annual fees for prompt payment be increased to 30% for 2021 as a thankyou to the members for their loyalty in this unusual time and as a small compensation for our closure during lockdown and the current restricted facilities. After a discussion and vote it was decided to give a discount of 10% over the usual 10% this year, with a firm deadline for payment of fees
FH closed the meeting at 7.50pm.
Signed.Date.
Last updated 10:42 on 9 March 2025