Club Committee Meeting - 1st October 2013 - Notes

Apologies

·           Ross.

Annual General Meeting

·           To be held at Cherry Garden School, 8pm, Wednesday 6^th November.

·           Victor to issue notice and details of AGM to the club by the end of the week, and to invite nominations for committee positions and proposals for motions.

·           Elections for Chair, Diving Officer, Treasurer, Training Officer, Secretary and Equipment Officer will be held.

·           Welfare Officer is a co-opted position for which no election is held.

·           Agreed to propose a motion to create a new co-opted position of Publicity/Promotion Officer.

·           Agreed not to propose a motion to create an Expeditions Officer/Trip Organiser position.

·           Agreed that nominations will be received by email, and will close on Saturday 26th October, at which point Victor will check all nominees are happy for their names to be put forward, and a list of nominees will be circulated to the club.

·           Seconding of nominations can happen at the AGM, if any nominees haven't already been seconded.

·           Advance voting will be possible for club members who can't attend the AGM - this will only be done by email, and voting will close 24 hours before the AGM.

·           The AGM agenda will follow the skeletal agenda set out in the club's constitution.

·           Outgoing Treasurer and Training Officer will deliver their reports at the AGM. Instead of the Diving Officer's report, a summary-of-2013 report will be prepared by Lee and others. This will note that there have been no incidents this year, although there have been instances where divers have surfaced low on air. There will also be comments on fitness levels, and 2 cylinders being needed for decompression dives.

·           Noted that the current committee starts and finishes the AGM. The new committee take over immediately after the AGM closes.

·           A 15-month term for the new committee was suggested, so that the club would return to the normal pattern of January/February AGMs, however it will be up to the new committee as to whether they want to see this extended term out.

·           Medical declaration forms will be distributed, signed and collected at the AGM. Victor to attach PDF to AGM announcement email.

·           Noted that any paid-up member can vote, but only members who have been in the club for 1 year can stand in the elections.

Training

·           Lee has drawn up a training plan for the rest of his term as Training Officer. Jobs are being snapped up by instructors, and Lee is waiting to hear from others to fill in the gaps.

Club/pool fees

·           Lars noted that increased charges imposed by Seven Islands over the last few years have been absorbed by the club's growing membership, and club/pool fees charged to members have not been increased. 

·           3 committee members voted to increase club/pool fees to £16.50 a month, 2 voted against.

·           Clive will explain this decision to members at the AGM.

·           Standing orders will need to be amended as of January.

2014 dive list

·           Teresa is looking into a February half term Red Sea trip.

·           Pat, Ken and Victor are making bookings for 2014 trips. 

·           Agreed to add another Weymouth weekend in July.

·           Noted that another day dive could be added on the Saturday before the Lymington day dive.

·           Agreed that advertised minimum qualification requirements should be adhered to (unless circumstances warrant an adaptation/exception).

·           Lars suggested requiring a larger deposit for Scubafest (if the club runs another trip in 2014), as some members have still not paid for the 2013 trip. The committee noted that such arrears excludes members from voting at the AGM.

·           The emerging dive list will be projected on a screen at the AGM. Victor to email Teresa a PDF in advance of the meeting.

Diving terms and conditions

·           Committee agreed that the terms and conditions regarding club dives and cancellations (as set out in Kim's email of 8^th November 2011) still apply, and noted that cancellations made within 2 weeks of the date of a dive mean the cancelling diver is liable to be charged for the dive, unless a replacement diver is found.

·           A reminder of these terms and conditions will be circulated with the 2014 dive list.

·           Agreed that the cost per diver per day remains at £45, despite some boats now charging £50.

Xmas do

·           Jill and Tom have come up with a shortlist of 4 venues. The pros and cons of these were discussed. Jaflong was thought to be a better option than Village East, The Ship & Whale and The Yellow House. Jill and Tom's thoughtfulness regarding location and accessibility was noted.

·           The East Dulwich Tavern (upstairs) and Il Giardino (Peckham) were also suggested.

·           Victor to relay the committee's thoughts to Jill and Tom.

·           The date of the event will be Wednesday 11^th December.

Any other business

·           A discussion regarding kit expenditure was deferred as Ross was not present. To be discussed at a future meeting, hopefully before the AGM.

·           There will be no pool sessions on 11^th December, 25^th December and 1^st January. There will be pool sessions on 18^th December and 8^th January.

·           The forthcoming 2013 BSAC Diving Conference (26^th October) in Birmingham was noted.