Shannon Town Council Meeting Minutes November 2004

COMHAIRLE BHAILE NA SIONNA
(Shannon Town Council)

Minutes of the November monthly meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday November 5th 2004 .

Councillor Greg Duff, Méara Bhaile, presided.
Present were Councillors McCarthy, Lambert, Flynn, McKee, O’Loughlin, Mulcahy, Hillery and McMahon.

In attendance : Mr. Ger Dollard - Town Manager and Tomás Mac Cormaic - Town Clerk.

1/11/04 Minutes of October Monthly Meeting

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;
“that the minutes of the October monthly meeting of the Shannon Town Council held in the Shannon Town Hall at 6.30 p.m. on Tuesday October 5th 2004, having been circulated, be adopted and signed by the Méara Bhaile.”

2/11/04 Correspondence

1. A letter from Pat Shanahan, Chairman , Shannon Airport Authority was read and noted. While Mr. Shanahan is not at this time prepared to formally meet the Town Council he would welcome any opportunity to meet with a representative of the council in a private capacity and he would welcome written submissions from members with views on the development of Shannon Airport.
2. A letter from the E.S.B. in relation to a refurbishment programme of the network in Shannon was read and noted.
3. Letters from Pat Breen T.D., James Breen T.D, Tony Killeen T.D., Senator Bendan Daly including copies of questions raised in Dáil Éireann and replies in relation to the provision of adequate Chiropody Services in Shannon were noted. The failure of the Health Board to satisfactorily address this need should be referred again to the Minister for Health.
4. Letters of acknowledgement to a question about Open Skies from both the Taoiseach's Office and the office of the Minister for Transport were noted.
5. An acknowledgement from the office of the Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment to a question on the future of Shannon Development Co. was noted.
6. A reminder of the Annual Clare Tourism Conference was noted.
7. A letter from the County Development Board outlining the agreed composition of the “Play Policy Implementation Group” which included one representative of the four Clare Town Councils was read.The Méara Bhaile informed the meeting that he has been invited to meet with the Mayors of the other Clare Town Councils in Ennis on Monday November 8th to consider this representation and at which meeting representation on the County Development Board would also be considered.

3/11/04 Representation on Infrastructure, Planning, Spatial Dev. Imp. Group.

A request from the County Development Board for a nominee from Shannon Town Council to the Infrastructure, Planning, Spatial Development & Environment Implementation Group was read and noted.
It was proposed by Cllr. Mulcahy seconded by Cllr. Flynn and resolved;
That Cllr. Hillery be the Shannon Town Council’s nominee to this Group.”

4/11/04 Municipal Policy Committees

Cllr. McLoughlin informed the meeting that while Shannon did not win the Pride of Place competition the exercise had brought a number of independent groups together to work on the project. He complimented everybody who assisted in ensuring that a first class presentation of Shannon was made to the visiting Judges on the appointed day.
Preparations for next year’s St. Patrick’s Day Parade have commenced and are ongoing. Some difficulty may be experienced in using the Town Centre Car Park as the termination point of the parade but negotiations are ongoing with Sky Court on this matter.
Arrangements are being made to consult residents about an acceptable and appropriate site for visiting Fun Fairs, Circuses, etc.
Congratulations were expressed to the Wolfe Tones Minor Hurlers on winning the County Championship.

Cllr. McMahon has not yet finalised the make up of the M.P.C. for which he has responsibility.

5/11/04 Hosting 2005 Annual Conference of A.M.A.I.

Councillor McCarthy informed the meeting that the town which had been selected to host the Annual Conference of the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland is not now able to do this and consequently Shannon has been invited to host the conference in September 2005. This was approved by the Council.

6/11/04 Control of Dogs

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. McKee and resolved;
"that the Manager advise the Council on the situation regarding a Dog Warden and penalties for dog owners who allow their dogs foul footpaths and play areas".
In reply the Manager said that two dog wardens patrol the County, there are penalties under the Control of Dogs Act for owners of loose or stray dogs and in relation to fouling the Litter Act could apply with an on the spot fine of €125.

7/11/04 Provision of Covered Litter Bins

Proposed by Cllr. McMahon, seconded by Cllr. McKee and resolved;
"that Clare County Council provide more covered litter bins throughout the town, and covers for bins where they have been removed".

8/11/04 Flooding

Two notices of motion relating to flooding in the town submitted by Cllrs Flynn and Mulcahy were taken as one motion.
Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;
"that Shannon Town Council request Clare County Council to alleviate the serious flooding problem at Rossbracken Estate and that the County Council state what their Short / Medium term solution is to the ongoing flooding problems faced by residents of the town".

9/11/04 Old N19 at Tola Park - Dernish Lawn

Proposed by Cllr. Mulcahy, seconded by Cllr. Flynn and resolved;
"that the Manager give this Council a specific start and finish time in relation to opening the Old N19 at Tola / Dernish and the overall cost of this project and update the Council on what specific works are to be carried out".
The Manager in reply said that the works to be carried out will be funded by the N.R.A., it is hoped to start the work within a couple of weeks and the duration of the works would be about two months.

10/11/04 Replace “Bring” Centre at the Airport

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;
"that Clare County Council immediately replace the "Bring Centre" at the Airport".

11/11/04 Footpaths to be Wheelchair Accessible

Proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr. McMahon and resolved;
“that Clare County Council be asked to make all the footpaths in front of houses throughout the town wheelchair accessible, starting with the paths in Drumgeely.”

12/11/04 E.S.B. Refurbishment

Proposed by Cllr. Flynn, seconded by Cllr. Lambert and resolved;
“that Shannon Town Council request the E.S.B. to meet with them in relation to their plans for upgrading the electricity supply in Shannon.”

13/11/04 Remuneration for Search and Rescue Crews

Proposed by Cllr. McCarthy, seconded by Cllr. Mulcahy and resolved;
“that Shannon Town Council call on the Government to introduce a ‘retainer’ payment system for members of Search and Rescue teams.”

14/11/04 Cruise Ships in Shannon Estuary

Proposed by Cllr. McLoughlin, seconded by Cllr. McCarthy and resolved;
“that Shannon Town Council ask Shannon Development to look into the possibility of developing a port in the Shannon Estuary for cruise ships where people could start and finish cruises.”

Sinte ag Tomás Mac Cormaic __________Ar an 10/11 / ‘04
Cléireach an Bhaile