18 November 2020
WALESBY PARISH COUNCIL
Minutes of a remote meeting of Walesby Parish Council held on Wednesday 18 November 2020 at 7.30pm.
Present: Cllr David Thurman, (Chairman), Cllr Jeanette Ashton, Cllr David Milles, Cllr Judith Sweny. Cllr Mandy Ashley, Cllr Peter Braithwaite and Cllr Tanz Norgrove
In attendance: Mrs V Davies (clerk)
87/2020 Apologies for Absence.
There were no apologies for absence.
Cllr Thurman asked for everybody to take a moment or two to remember Pat Townsend who sadly passed away overnight Sunday after a long struggle. Pat was a regular at our meetings and will always be remembered for her incisive comments and her passionate support to preserve our countryside. As well as running the village litter pick for many years she was always there to help with village functions. She will be very sorely missed. Condolences were sent to Paul Townsend.
88/2020 Declarations of interest under the Localism Act.
There were no declarations of interest.
89/2020 Public Forum
Proposed Cllr Thurman, seconded Cllr Ashley to suspend the meeting for a public forum.
No Items were raised. Cllr Thurman proposed to close the public forum, seconded Cllr Milles.
90/2020 To ratify resolutions to facilitate the Broadband contract.
Cllr Thurman proposed that the Parish Council waive as per cl.11.1.c of our financial regulations the need for a tender process for the contract to install super fast broadband in the village and to agree a negotiated price with BT Openreach as per the recommendation of the Better Broadband Group attached to the minutes.
This resolution was seconded by Cllr Braithwaite and unanimously agreed by all cllrs.
Cllr Thurman proposed to note that the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 as specified in the Standing Orders do not apply to the BT Openreach contract as it is excluded under general exclusions cl.6 (2) and under use of the negotiated procedure without prior publication of a contract notice cl. 14 (a) (iii) where for technical reasons the public contract can only be awarded to a particular economic operation as per the recommendation of the better broadband team attached to these minutes.
This resolution was seconded by Cllr Ashton and unanimously agreed by all cllrs.
Cllrs noted that West Lindsey had also supported the procedures which had taken place regarding the broadband contract.
Cllr Ashton advised that the next step is that Openreach will claim the vouchers for the revised scheme. BT Openreach will then contact all participants by email. Participants are required to sign up for a 12 month service connection.
99/2020. Date of Next Meeting. Monday 11 January 2021
Meeting Finished at 8.10 pm.