For Householders, Blainroe Estate                           

From Terry Neill, chair – Blainroe Estate Management Company board

December 10^th 2021                                                  

BEMC status update

This is a status report following the second meeting of the 2021/22 board of BEMC.

Second meeting of the 2021/22 BEMC board

The meeting, via Zoom, took place on Tuesday, December 7^th at 19:30.

Amanda Collins, Pat Hinkson, Philip McEnroe, Katie Mooney, Gordon Murray, Terry Neill, Robert Patton and Craig Whelan, attended. They were joined by Marie Byrne and Bernie Nelson.  

Golf Club AGM and other commitments meant that we had apologies from Anne Nugent and Billy Nelson.

The chair was pleased to welcome Amanda Collins to her first BEMC board meeting

Main agenda items were

1. Minutes & correspondence
2. Finance
3. 2022 Board committee and working group structures and responsibilities
4. Landscaping and General Management
5. Other business

1. Minutes & correspondence

The minutes of the November board meeting were approved.  Items of correspondence were shared and dealt with.

2. Finance

Robert Patton reported briefly on Blainroe finances.  There were no significant issues requiring board attention.

3. Board committees and working groups for 2022

Attachment 1 covers BEMC board subcommittees and working groups.  The proposals in attachment 1 were discussed and agreed at the December board meeting

Therefore for 2021/22

We will have 3 board sub committees

            Finance. Chaired by Robert Patton

            Blainroe Operations. Chaired by Philip McEnroe

            Remuneration. Chaired by Robert Patton

We will have 5 working groups

            IT/Systems/Website. Chaired by Pat Hinkson

            Social Events/Pavilion/Tennis Court. Chaired by Amanda Collins

            Future of Blainroe Planning. Chaired by Robert Patton

            Governance. Chaired by Katie Mooney

            Planning. Chaired by Derek Griffiths

We expect each to get going in early 2022 to finalise memberships, agree roles and responsibilities and set priorities and (where appropriate) budgets for 2022.

4. Landscaping and General Management

See Bernie Nelson’s monthly report, which is attachment 2

5. Any other business

There was a short meeting involving board members only – as is normal practices for most current boards.  A confidential matter was discussed and resolved.

THE BEMC BOARD WISHES ALL BLAINROE HOUSEHOLDERS A HAPPY, SAFE AND HEALTHY CHRISTMAS. WE LOOK FORWARD TO WORKING WITH EVERYONE TO MAKE 2022 A YEAR OF PROGRESS IN RESTORING THE ‘GOOD NEIGHBOURLINESS” THAT HAS MADE BLAINROE SUCH A SPECIAL PLACE.

Attachment 1

BEMC board proposals                                                          Dec 7^th 2021

Proposals

That we establish 2 new BEMC board committees, and that we establish 3 new board working groups for 2022.

And that we continue with

            The BEMC board Finance committee, and

            The Governance and Planning subgroups

1. A BEMC “Operations Sub Committee”

Chaired by Philip McEnroe, with Billy Nelson, Bernie Nelson, IT/Systems/website Working Group …TBC

• Overseeing the operations management of Blainroe
• Liaising with, prioritising and overseeing the follow through on the Schnittger Bourne recommendations
• Being the board point of contact with the planning sub group
• Issues of security, safety ….

2. A BEMC “Remuneration Sub Committee”

Chaired by Robert Patton, with Katie Mooney, Amanda Collins, Terry Neill

• establish formal policies, benchmarking information
• reflect policy etc in the remuneration arrangement for Blainroe employees
• ensure employment contracts are in place and up to date
• annual and semi annual performance reviews

3. A BEMC “IT/Systems/website Working Group”

Chaired by Pat Hinkson, with Craig Whelan and Gordon Murray

• Review current systems, processes, website, security technologies
• Liaise with Schnittger Bourne on ideas for task management, record keeping and any other important systems
• Assess priorities and recommend work plan for 2022
• Liaise closely with operations management sub committee

4. A BEMC “Social Events/Pavilion/Tennis Courts” Working Group

Chair Amanda Collins, with Anne Nugent, Bernie Nelson, Marie Byrne, Robert Patton, Gordon Murray … TBC

• Design annual calendar of social events
• Design and implement management arrangements
• Set policies for Pavilion, court use
• Budget costs and manage income generation where it applies
• Take lead role in board and board sub group recruiting

5. The “Future of Blainroe” Planning Group

Chair: Robert Patton, with Katie Mooney, Anne Nugent, ….. all

• Create a 5-10 year view of where we take Blainroe
• Assessment/diagnosis of current strengths, and current and future issues and opportunities
• Take ownership of the backlog, and current and future lists of potential spends. Prioritise and ensure we have sound business cases
• Organise and convene consultation processes with householders when appropriate

We will continue with

Finance Sub Committee

Chaired by Robert Patton, with Anne Nugent, Katie Mooney, John Bouchier Hayes, TBC

and

Working Groups

• Corporate Governance (Katie Mooney, Marie Byrne, Gordon Murray, Michael Corrigan)
  • ensure that Board procedures are followed, and ensure that our governance documentation is accurate and kept up to date in line with applicable law and regulations. 
• Planning (Derek Griffiths, Peter Stapleton, Robert McCarthy)

Attachment 2

Blainroe Estate Management

      Landscape and General Maintenance Report

Date: 4^th Dec 2021

Prepared by: Bernie Nelson

Landscaping 

1. Landscaping Maintenance Works

Landscaping tasks are on schedule with all grass areas cut this week and   the bulk of autumn leaves and debris are now cleared.

Spring bulb planting is in progress at various areas around the Estate

Next focus is the flowerbeds, clearing, pruning of shrubs etc.

2. Tree Survey

Priority 1 – Defective trees earmarked for immediate attention

• Holden Tree Services will do the work
• Start Date for the works 5^th Jan 2022

Priority 2 – works to be done within 12-18 months

• Includes trees to be removed & trees requiring significant pruning
• List of trees finalised and submitted to Tree Surgeon & Avondale landscapes for pricing
• Have requested meeting with Avondale to review the list & agree which items can be addressed under tree management within the scope of the Landscape Maintenance contract.  All other items will be costed as extras

Priority 3 – longer-term tree management strategy

• It includes ongoing maintenance & pruning recommendations for all trees
• Suggest we provide a copy of the arborist report to Avondale as it contains detailed information on individual trees, advise on pruning, ongoing maintenance, mulching etc.

Tree removal requests from Residents

A list of 21 tree queries (including a group of 8 pines & another group of 5 pines) regarding blocking light / closeness to house etc. received from residents was supplied to the Arborist for inclusion in the survey.  The recommendation is to remove these trees in the longer term due to closeness to houses, size & potential risk to property, they are prioritised as follows.

• 3 x trees are included in Priority 1 works
• 3 x trees will be address in Priority 2 works
• 15 are classified as Priority 3 – no immediate threat but would be considered as part of tree management as they will outgrow their current locations.

Plan to have a price for the removal of all above trees when the Tree Surgeon is onsite in January.

Replanting / replacement tree costs will also need consideration if we intend to maintain our tree portfolio.  To this end I have asked the Arborist to provide us with a list of native trees more suited to our bungalow setting that could be considered for planting in the open spaces.

Phase 2 Survey of linear Woodland area

• Arborist Associates plan to complete the survey early December with report to follow.

3. Playground

STT Swings were on site and completed the repairs of the Seesaw, Basket Swing & Climbing Frame, all missing caps were replaced.  They are trying to find a supplier of replacement springs for the 2 x springers.

We have lifted and refitted the safety matting, cut the grass, and removed all litter & filled the hand sanitizer in readiness for Christmas holidays.

Note: The climbing frame & swing set will require moss treatment & re-painting next spring.

4. Christmas Lights 2021

• We purchased some sets of battery operated & solar festive lights for around the playground & pavilion area, (safer option near a Children’s play area). Our electrical sockets were removed when fitting the new fence.

5. ESB – works onsite

The ESB were onsite for 2 days and upgraded a number of damaged manholes with live wiring and converted them to pillar boxes.  This was in response to a query we made at the end of 2020.

They also changed the meter for the streetlights to a smart meter.