Minutes of the October 2008 Monthly Meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall on Tuesday September 2nd 2008 at 6:30 p.m.

Councillor Gerry Flynn, Meara Bhaile, presided

Present were

Councillors, Duff, Lambert, McKee, McCarthy, Hillery,  Mulcahy, McMahon and McLoughlin.

In attendance

Mr. Gerard Dollard – Town Manager and Tomás Mac Cormaic  - Town Clerk.

1/09/08 Minutes of 2008 Annual Meeting

Proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;

"that the minutes of the 2008 Annual Meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall at 6.30 p.m. on  Tuesday June 24th  2008, having been circulated, be adopted and signed by the Meara Bhaile."

2/09/08 Minutes of July 2008 Monthly Meeting

Proposed by Cllr. McKee, seconded by Cllr. Duff and resolved;

"that the minutes of the July 2008 monthly meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall immediately after the 2008 Annual Meeting on Tuesday June 24th 2008, having been circulated, be adopted and signed by the Meara Bhaile."

3/09/08 Correspondence

1. Notification of the Annual Conference of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland was noted. It was proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Hillery and resolved;
   "that the two appointed delegates to the A. M. A. I., Cllrs. McLoughlin, and McMahon attend this conference and in the event of either not being able to attend a substitute should attend."
2. Notification of the Clare Tourism Annual Conference was noted. It was proposed by Cllr. Mulcahy, seconded by Cllr. Hillery and resolved;
   "that approval be given to the six Town Councillors who are not also County Councillors to attend this conference."
3. A presentation piece from the Special Olympics of Ireland Council was noted.
4. A letter from the "Road Safety Authority" in reply to a resolution to have sensors fitted to Oil Trucks was read and noted.
5. A letter from the Project Coordinator with Shannon Family Resource Centre, Marie Rowland, seeking to make a presentation to the Town Council was read and noted. The Town Clerk, in consultation with the Meara Bhaile and the Project Leader  would arrange an appropriate time and date for this presentation.
6. A letter from the Brothers of Charity was read and noted.
7. Notification of World Mental Health Week which had been circulated was noted.
8. Notification from the Department of Environment, Heritage and Local Government concerning the control of postering for elections and referenda was noted. A copy of this will be circulated to members.
9. A resolution adopted by Killarney Town Council in relation to "Back to Education Allowances" was read and noted.
10. A resolution adopted by Westmeath County Council in relation to the ban on turf cutting was read and noted.
11. A resolution adopted by Mullingar Town Council in relation to the vaccination of children against measles and other serious illnesses was read and noted.
12. A resolution adopted by Skibbereen Town Council in relation to fish quotas was read and noted.
13. A resolution adopted by Mullingar Town Council in relation to ageism in the workplace was read and noted.

4/09/08 Report from July Area Council Meeting.

The Meara Bhaile reported on items relevant to Shannon  discussed at the JulyShannon Area Council meeting.  This information is available in more detail on the Shannon Website.

5/09/08 Reports from M.P.C. Chairs.

Cllr. Duff reported that the next meeting of "The Environment and Community Affairs S.P.C. is scheduled for Tuesday September 16th when the main topic for discussion will be the problems with bonfires at Halloween.

There was no report from the Industrial, Tourism and Development Committee.

6/09/08 2008 Community Grant Scheme

The Town Clerk circulated the members with copies of applications for participation in the 2008 Community Grant Scheme. Sixteen applications had been received.

On the advice of the Manager the fixing of a date for consideration of the applications was deferred pending legal advice and clarification on the question of "Conflict of Personal and Public Interest" under the "Code of Conduct for Councillors" in the Local Government Act 2001. 

7/09/08 Representation on "Clare Local Development Company"

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Lambert and resolved;

"that Cllr. Greg Duff be Shannon Town Council’s representative on the Clare Local Development Company, provided on the rotation basis between the four Town Councils in Clare, he be allowed to serve the first term. If Cllr. Duff cannot be allowed serve the first term no appointment will be sanctioned for subsequent terms until after the 2009 Local Elections."

8/09/08 Recent Flooding.

The following three motions in relation to the recent flooding in areas of Shannon and the prevention, where possible, of future flooding in these areas were taken together.

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Duff and resolved;

"that arising from recent flooding in the area a report is presented to the Council on the drains and why they failed to cope with recent rains in specific areas."

Proposed by Cllr. Duff, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council call on the government to take a new strategic approach to the management of flooding by introducing legislation to allow for the designation of certain lands as protected from housing development."

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy;

"that the Manager advise STC on the state of the embankments and what level of maintenance is being carried out to prevent flooding in Shannon".

As inspection and maintenance of the embankments is the responsibility of the Board of Works it was proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Duff and resolved;

"that a representative of the O.P.W. be invited to brief the Council on inspection and maintenance procedures."

9/09/08 Regional Housing Policy and the possibility of Anti Social Behaviour.

The following three motions in relation to the proposed Regional Housing Policy were taken together.

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;

"that the Town Manager outline what consultations will take place with Shannon Town Council should Clare County Council decide to prepare a Regional Housing Strategy."

Proposed by Cllr. Mulcahy, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved by six votes to three.

"that this Council would ignore the Ministerial Directive from Minister Gormley and have no hand, act or part in any Regional Housing Policy that would include the re-location of people from Limerick City Regeneration Project to Clare and in particular to the Shannon Region and that this be communicated to Minister Gormley in the strongest possible terms."

The motion was supported by Cllrs. Flynn, McCarthy, McKee, McLoughlin, McMahon and Mulcahy.  It was opposed by Cllrs. Duff, Hillery and Lambert.  It was also pointed out that the relevant Minister for Housing is Michael Finneran.

Proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr.McCarthy;

"that Shannon Town Council follows-up on a resolution proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved at the November 2005 meeting of the Town Council – to ask the Minister for Justice and the Minister for the Environment to outline what action can be taken and who can take it (i.e. the Gardai, Shannon Town Council or Clare County Council) to address all the problems caused to neighbours by people living in private accommodation , be they tenants or owners."

10/09/08 Update on TC2 & TC3

Proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. McMahon and resolved;

"that STC receive an update on the current status of TC2 & TC3, including timeframe for possible development."

The Manager informed the meeting that following the July meeting of the County Council TC2 & TC3 are now open for development and signals from developers are positive.  With regard to the Arts Centre it will not go ahead as a stand alone development and the County Council are working closely with the owner of the largest portion of the property for development.

A number of possible funding avenues are currently being progressed.

11/09/08 Recycling Facilities at Leisure Centre.

Proposed by Cllr. Lambert, seconded by Cllr. McMahon and resolved;

"that Clare County Council works with the recycling contractors to ensure satisfactory emptying of the bottle banks at the Leisure Centre."

The Manager informed the meeting that this matter has been dealt with.

At this point in the meeting votes of sympathy were expressed to John Hennessy, manager of the Shannon recycling centre and to his family on the death of John’s wife and to the family of Cathal Clune a young employee of the Recycling Centre who died suddenly on Monday September 1st.

12/09/08 Purchase of Private Houses for people on the Social Housing List.

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. Lambert and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council request Clare County Council to buy housing stock from private developments to provide accommodation for people on the housing waiting list."
The Manager informed the meeting that a number of private houses in Shannon have been purchased by Clare County Council and refurbished to supplement the Social Housing Stock.
Cllr. Flynn was not satisfied that enough houses have been purchased for this purpose.

13/09/08. Promotion of Tourism.

Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council support the call from Tourist Accommodation Providers to enhance and provide a continuous walk-way from the Airport to the vicinity of Bunratty and in so doing to call on Clare County Council to seek funding for this project and draw up a comprehensive plan to construct this River-Walk as soon as possible in view of the current unsatisfactory condition of this walk-way."

It was agreed to meet representatives of Tourist Accommodation Providers Group. The Town Clerk in consultation with the Meara Bhaile and the Group would arrange this meeting.

14/09/08 Meeting with Gardai.

Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council draw up an agenda for a special meeting with the Inspector, the Sergeant in Charge and the Gardai heading up the new pilot scheme for Shannon in Community Policing and that this be arranged by the Town Clerk in consultation with Gardai and Councillors."

15/08/09 Third Level Education Fees.

Proposed by Cllr. Duff, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council condemn any proposal by the Minister for Education to re-introduce third level fees as such a proposal would create further obstacles for many families who already face a struggle to meet non-fee costs of putting a student through third level education."

16/08/09 Air Ambulance Service for Shannon.

Proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;

"that Shannon Town Council seek a meeting with Mr. Derek Rowe of Irish Air Ambulance to discuss the possibility of a service for Shannon."