Shannon Town Council Meeting Minutes January 2004

1/1/04 Minutes of 2004 Budget Meeting

Proposed by Cllr. O'Brien, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved; "that the minutes of the 2004 Budget meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall at 6.00 p.m. on Tuesday December 2 nd 2003, having been circulated , be adopted and signed by the Méara Bhaile."

2/1/04 Minutes of the December Meeting

Proposed by Cllr. O'Brien, seconded by Cllr. Flynn and resolved; "that the minutes of the December 2003 meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday January 2 nd 2004, having been circulated, be adopted and signed by the Méara Bhaile."

3/1/04 Correspondence

1. A letter from Shannon Development relating to Street Light and Tree maintenance was read and noted. It was suggested that councillors should bring to the attention of Margaret Devine, Shannon Development any specific problems they have with either trees or street lighting as this would be the easiest way to follow up on Shannon Development's response. When complaining about street lighting councillors should identify street lights by pole number.
2. Notification about a meeting concerning Community Radio which had been circulated was noted.
3. A Government Press Release about Affordable Housing Initiatives which had been circulated was noted.
4. A report from Joan Tarmey on the feed-back from a consultative meeting with residents on the provision of a Recycling Centre in Shannon which had been circulated was noted.
5. An acknowledgement of a community grant to Donncha Rua G.A.A. was noted.
6. Notification of a Tourism Conference in Antrim was noted. The Town Council would not be sending a delegate to this conference.
7. Notification of the A.M.A.I. Annual Spring Seminar in Letterkenny was noted. It was proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved; "that the two delegates to the A.M.A.I., Cllrs. McCarthy and O'Brien attend this conference in Letterkenny on February 13 th and 14 th 2004.

4/1/04 M.P.C. Report

Cllr. Lambert reported that the Shannon Website should br launched within the next couple of weeks and certainly before the end of January. A meeting would be held after this meeting to discuss the Playground Project and St. Patrick's Day Parade.

5/1/04 Parking at the Town Centre

Proposed by Cllr. Duff, seconded by Cllr. McMahon and resolved; "that Shannon Town Council request from Beau Walk Properties written confirmation of agreement with the Town Council on an initial "free parking" concession in the multi-storey car park and clarification in relation to their plans to address the needs of disabled drivers in the four phases of the development plan. It was proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. O'Brien and resolved; "that Shannon Town Council seek a meeting with representatives of Beau Walk to discuss parking issues."

6/1/04 Street Naming Signs

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. McMahon and resolved; "that Clare County Council prepare a programme for the erection of street name signs throughout the town and indicate a start date."

7/1/04 Post and Parcel Collection Service

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Hillery and resolved; "that Shannon Town Council call on An Post (Sorting/Delivery Section) to provide as a matter of urgency a more customer friendly service than that provided since the change to the new sorting office in Smithstown."

8/1/04 Opening of Concrete Road Paralell to Fergus Road

Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr.Duff and resolved; "that following information from Ger Dollard in June of 2003 concerning instructions given to roads contractor, that Shannon Town Council request Clare County Council to immediately open the upper concrete road in Drumgeely." The meeting was informed that following some road repairs, expected to be completed within a few weeks, this road will be reopened.

9/1/04 Residential Housing Lands in Shannon

Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr. McKee and resolved; "that Shannon Town Council request the Tánaiste, Mary Harney, T.D. to instruct Shannon Development Co. to hand over all lands in the vicinity of Shannon Town to Clare County Council at a nominal cost." During the debate on this motion the members were told by the Manager that with the take-over of services by Clare County Council from Shannon Development Co. 137 acres of land for residential development was also being given to the County Council. Cllr. Flynn said that in a recent newspaper advertisement Shannon Development Co. advertised the sale by public auction of serviced sites. There was no reference to the handing over by Shannon Development Co. to Clare County Council any serviced sites.

10/1/04 Concern for Homeless and Destitute Irish Immigrants in England

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. Duff and resolved; "that the government immediately make money available to address the problem of homeless and destitute Irish Immigrants in England and demand that the British Government respond to their tragic circumstances, and that if adopted, this resolution be circulated to all local authorities."

11/1/04 Traffic Management Programme

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. Duff, and resolved; "that the Manager give an update on Shannon Traffic Management Plan indicating how parking problems are being resolved." The Manager stated that in a number of cases where people seeking additional parking spaces were prepared to contribute to the cost the County Council accommodated them. The members did not consider this a satisfactory arrangement.

Before closing the meeting members expressed their sympathy with the families of the late George Harratt a long time member of the Kilrush Council and the family of the late Gus Barrett an early resident of Shannon who contributed greatly in the development social activities within the town.

Signed: ________________________
Méara Bhaile Dated; ______________
Signed:_____________________________
Town Clerk Dated: Jan. 12th 2004