1. Welcome
Mike White welcomed those present and opened the meeting.
2. Attendance register and apologies
In attendance: Lötter Wepener, Shelia Swanepoel, Corrie Swanepoel, Dalien Pachonick, Jack Dell and Mike White.
Apologies: Kevin Bates and Bill Northrop.
3. Confirmation of previous minutes
Acceptance of the minutes of the previous meeting was proposed by Jack Dell and seconded by Sheila Swanepoel.
(Any matters arising from the previous meeting will be discussed under the relevant paragraphs below.)
4. Correspondence
4.1 Correspondence received
Notice of the required environmental authorization process for work done for the new houses in Marselle without EIA approval was received from Indwe Environmental Consulting on 08th April 2019.
A document regarding the management of dune sand was received from D. Laubscher on 11th April 2019 – he asked BRRAG to comment on it.
A notice of a change of scope to the proposed development on Farm Marselle was received from the Environmentalist I van Der Merwe. (The change in scope is to replace the originally proposed housing phase of the development with storage warehouses.) BRRAG will be informed when the public participation process is open for comments and objections.
4.2 Correspondence issued
A copy of the March 2019 meeting minutes was emailed to the Municipal Speaker.
A thank you letter was sent to K. Meyer for a donation towards BRRAG’s fundraising efforts.
A reply was sent regarding the notice of environmental authorization process for work done for new houses in Marselle without EIA approval which was received from Indwe Environmental Consulting.
A reply was sent to D. Laubscher on 11th April 2019 stating that BRRAG were not qualified to comment on his dune sand management proposal. The Chairmen sent him the recent notice regarding the upcoming dune sand management study to be carried out by Aurecon and suggested that he submit his proposal to them.
An appeal for donations towards the expenses of the neighbourhood watch was sent out on 16th April 2019
4.3 Correspondence to be sent out
A letter, together with copies of the previous correspondence, must be sent to the Municipal Manager regarding the lack of action to date on the following issues:
• Management of, and clearing up at, the recycling site in the Riversbend industrial area.
• Enforcement of the municipal by-laws regarding the proliferation of unapproved advertising signs at the entrance to Riversbend.
• Repair of street potholes which have proliferated after the recent heavy rain.
• Replacement of streetlight bulbs.
Boet Minaar must be instructed to proceed with legal action as per the resolution passed at the special general meeting.
A formal letter must be sent by the Chairman to Mr D de Villiers of the Dept. of Environmental Affairs regarding his lack of response to the email sent to him by Lötter Wepener on 31st January 2019 regarding the lack of response on the matter of the sand heaps removed from the Bushman’s River from Mr G Pienaar of the Dept. of Environmental Affairs. A reply from either or both of them is awaited.
5. Legal matters
5.1 Municipal issues
The following resolution was adopted by the members present at the Special General Meeting held today, 27th April 2019 and L. Wepener proposed that the following resolution should also be adopted by the members of BRRAG committee in terms of clause 10.11 of the Constitution and it was RESOLVED.
That the Organisation continues to take legal action against the Municipality and such other parties as it may be advised to join in a legal action regarding the flooding issue and associated problems in the Village in order to obtain relief from the flooding and related problems of areas in Boesmansriviermond; That Lӧtter Wepener and Boet Minnaar be authorised to determine the relief to be sought.
5.2 Other legal issues
The matter regarding removal of sand illegally removed and dumped on the river bank must still be pursued – refer to Item 4.3.
6. Finance
Gerald Schmidt has checked the March 2019 Financial Report which was sent out to the Committee Members prior to the meeting.
6.1 Income and Expenditure
Income received up until the end of March 2019 (four months into the financial year) amounts to R 300 420 versus the full budgeted income amount for 2019 of R 368 550. The current income shortfall is therefore R 68 130.
Expenditure up until the end of March 2019 amounts to R 289 649 against the total 2019 budgeted expenditure of R 375 610.
6.2 Budget status
The outstanding budgeted income for 2019 is R 68 130 at the end of March 2019. R 13 370 is still expected from the outstanding membership fees and further funding is still expected from the fundraising efforts and donations from members.
The remaining budgeted expenditure is R 85 961. The planned budgeted expenditure will need to be monitored closely and cut if necessary.
6.3 Membership
The percentage of the budgeted membership income received to end of March 2019 is 85% of budget for Bushman’s River and 68% of budget for Riversbend. The number of paid up members so far for 2019 are as follows:
Bushman’s River : 154 (2018 total = 181) Riversbend: 26 (2018 total = 38)
6.4 Fundraising
The Easter Craft Market made a profit of R 4 122. The craft vendors were all happy with the venue and the crowd turnout. The Chairman thanks all those volunteers who made this market a success, especially Jack and Janet Dell who did a lot of the work required. Thanks also to Ferenc Toth who successfully advertised the market on his Facebook site.
The next fundraising event will be the Father’s Day lunch on Sunday 16th June 2019.
7. Village maintenance
7.1 Grass cutting and bush clearing
Grass cutting and clearing has been done by Corrie and Sheila Swanepoel assisted by Bill Northrop and is up to date. The verges in Riversbend were also cut and tidied up before the Easter weekend, thanks to Dalien Pachonickand Kevin Bates for this effort.
7.2 Roads and street signs
Bill Northrop will erect the emergency telephone numbers sign for Riversbend at a suitable position in 2nd Avenue. The possibility of erecting a welcome sign for Riversbend is also being investigated by Dalien Pachonick.
There has been the expected proliferation of potholes following the recent heavy rain. The Chairman has already spoken to the Deputy Director of Infrastructure about having them repaired and he will also write to the Municipal Manager in this regard.
7.3 Refuse removal
Refuse removal is being undertaken, sometimes erratically.
7.4 Other maintenance issues
A reminder will be placed in the April newsletter asking people to pick up their dog litter.
8. Village infrastructure
8.1 Ward committee
The water sample results for January 2019 that were tabled at the previous meeting were for the Bushmans water supply and they showed a zero e Coli presence. Water quality results for the river have not been available for some time.
8.2 Municipal IDP
When the IDP is made available by the Municipality it will have to be checked to see if any of the Bushman’s River and Riversbend infrastructure requirements have been includes as requested and submitted.
8.3 Ablution blocks
Corrie Swanepoel has replaced the rope walkway handrail at the ablution block in the dunes with a sturdier wooden handrail. The ablution blocks are being maintained by BRRAG and are currently in a usable condition.
8.4 Water, sewers and storm water drainage
Mike White has installed white poles at the vulnerable manhole covers to prevent them from being driven over.
8.5 Car parks and slipway
The offer to pave the slipway parking area made at the AGM by Neill Dodds still has to be followed up.
8.6 Streetlights
The defective streetlights on the list given to the Deputy Director of Infrastructure on the 25th January 2019 have not been repaired yet. The Municipal manager will be asked again to attend to this matter.
9. Security
9.1 Liaison with HiTec
No report.
9.2 Security incidents
Offers to donate funds to cover some of the costs for the neighbourhood watch group have been made and BRRAG sent out an appeal for donations which will be collected and managed by BRRAG on behalf of the neighbourhood watch group. To date R 5 850 has been donated.
9.3 Camera fund
No report.
9.4 Security fence maintenance
Bill Northrop is still trying to get ADDO nature reserve to cut the large trees on their side of the fence. Bill Northrop will also ask the Caravan Park manager to maintain his side of the fence where it encloses his property. Maintenance of the rest of the fence by Gideon is on-going and satisfactory.
9.5 Liaison with SAPS
The current liaison between the SAPS and the neighbourhood watch committee is satisfactory. Bill Northrop recently attended a CPF meeting and requested a donation towards fruit refreshmants for a community school’s sports day that is being organized by the CPF. Members of the Committee made a donation towards this community event.
10. Firefighting
During the recent visit to the fire station it was discussed that the BRRAG fire trailer should be kept at the fire station. It has been confirmed that the fire trailer belongs to Ndlambe Municipality and not to BRRAG.
11. Website
The current website maintenance contract expires at the end of August 2019.
The need to retain the bushmansriviermond.com and bushmansrivermouth.com domain names was discussed with John Wesley who said there does not seem to be a need for them. This will be confirmed with the website manager.
12. Newsletter
The next newsletter will be sent out next week.
13. Estuary Care
Bill Northrop will provide feedback on Estuary Care’s “Safety on the River” project.
14. Ndlambe Ratepayers Forum
No discussion.
15. Chamber of Business
BRRAG currently has no representatives on the Kenton Chamber of Business.
16. Any other business
No discussion.
17. Closure and next meeting
The meeting was closed by the Chairman at 12h05.
18. Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held on Saturday 13th July at 10h00 at the tennis clubhouse.
Future meeting dates
The following 2019 meeting dates and times were confirmed – all meetings to be held at the tennis clubhouse:
Saturday 31st August at 10h00
Saturday 28th September at 10h00
Saturday 26th October at 10h00
Saturday 30th November at 10h00
Saturday 14th December at 09h00
