December Minutes 2018

Minutes of the annual general meeting of the Bushman’s River Mouth Ratepayers’ Organisation. Held in the Bushmans’ River town hall on Thursday 27 December 2018.

The meeting was preceded by the Christmas Raffle.

• The first prize, a Sibuya Game River Cruise Experience, was won by Michelle Brown.
• The second prize, two treatment vouchers from Afrika Kusini Spa, was won by Lainie Bick.
• The third prize, a luxury Christmas Hamper, was won by Jaco Klopper.

1. Opening prayer
   The meeting was opened with a prayer by ds. Mike Smuts.
2. Welcome
   The Chairman John Wesley welcomed the BRRAG members and village residents.
3. Attendance Register and Apologies
   An attendance register was signed by those present at the meeting. Apologies were received from Bill Northrop, Charles Sprong, Ference Toth, George and Dalien Simpson.
4. Motion of Condolences
   John Wesley offered condolences on behalf of BRRAG for those from the village who have passed away in 2018, namely WO Iggie Muller, Dr Francis Le Riche, Roy du Preez, Lynne Hindle, Chris Grové, Trevor Scar, Sandra Biggs, Wynand de Kock, Buksie de Kock, Merle Barnard and any others that BRRAG are not aware of.
5. Minutes of the 2017 AGM
   These were circulated to all ratepayers and placed on the website after the 2017 AGM. The minutes were accepted as being a true reflection of the proceedings.
   Proposer: Lötter Wepener
   Seconder: Sheila Swanepoel
   The status of the general matters raised at the previous 2017 AGM is as follows:

    

   1. 1The proposal for a cell phone tower at the entrance to Bushmans village has now fallen away.
   2. The 25 km/hr speed limit now marked on the roads in Bushmans are an advised speed limit to protect the children and the elderly people who use these roads – please observe it.
   3. The unmanned light aircraft which was illegally flying low over the beach last year is no longer active.
   4. The defective fire hydrants have been attended to.
   5. The new emergency services building on the R72 near the entrance to Bushmans/Riversbend is now partially occupied. The state of the Ndlambe fire fighting vehicles is still generally poor and although BRRAG has a fire fighting trailer with a voluntary crew on standby all residents are advised to ensure that they also have an adequate fire extinguisher in their homes.
   6. The liquor licence for the restaurant in Bushmens was approved but this restaurant has now closed down.
6. Chairperson’s Report
   John Wesley delivered the Chairperson’s Report (see Annexure A). There were no questions from the floor with respect to the report.
7. Financial Report
   Gerald Schmidt presented the annual Financial Report which was made available at the meeting.
   (see Annexure B). The income for 2018 was R 296 481 and the annual expenses amounted to R 298 324. This left a small deficit of R 1 843. The accumulated assets at the end of 2018 amounted to R 257 063. The financial report was accepted without comment.
8. Security Sub-committee Report
   John Wesley presented the Security Sub-committee report with his Chairperson’s report (included in Annexure A). A report with the 2018 crime statistics will be sent out to members in January 2019.
   No comments on the Chairman’s report were made from the floor.
9. Election of the Committee
   Neville Loader and Boet Minaar have retired from the committee. One nomination (Ference Toth) for the committee was received prior to the meeting and he was accepted onto the Committee. There were no nominations from the floor. 
   A request for volunteers to assist on an ad-hoc basis was made, especially anyone with website experience and general administration skills as the committee is now short of members.
   The following members of the committee still have one year of their two-year term left to serve:
   Sheila Swanepoel, Corrie Swanepoel, Gerald Schmidt, John Wesley, Mike White and Lötter Wepener.
   They will complete their two-year tenure.
   The following members of the committee have completed their two-year term and are willing to stand for re-election: Bill Northrop, Dalien Patchonick, Jack Dell and Kevin Bates. The Chairman proposed that all of these current committee members be re-elected for a further two years. This proposal was unanimously accepted by the meeting attendees.
10. General Matters
    The following general matters were raised and discussed: 

     

    1. A request was received for BRRAG to ask the Municipality to remove a tree which has been taken over by egrets and herons. The Chairperson asked for the details to be emailed to BBRAG so that the Committee could look into the matter.
    2. Chinese lanterns will be a fire risk on New Year’s eve due to the drought and it was suggested that the fire trailer be kept on stand by.
    3. The beach parking area being taken over by moving dunes. As nothing can be done to arrest the movement of the dunes BRRAG is looking at the possibility of providing an access path to the beach from the grassed parking/picnic area which is close to the beach.
    4. The parking area at the boat launching area / river beach is very small. The proposal to raise and re-gravel the parking area which is currently flooded at every spring tide should be investigated if sufficient funds can be raised. (Given the current funding situation it is unlikely that the Municipality will do anything to help.) It will not be possible to increase the size of the parking area without an environmental assessment which will be expensive and subsequent environmental approval which is unlikely to be granted.
    5. The issue of fireworks at New Year’s eve was raised. The current situation is that the Police will unofficially allow fireworks to be discharged only on the beach from 11h30 to 00:15. If fireworks are discharged at any other place or time residents may call the Police if the wish to do so.
    6. A call was made for members to contribute more than the minimum R 350 membership year to provide additional funds. A request can be made to dedicate the donation to a specific project if required.
11. Closure
    L Wepener thanked the committee on behalf of the ratepayers and the Chairman, John Wesley thanked all the members who had attended and participated in the meeting.
    The meeting closed at 10h30.