Kenton On Sea Ratepayers Association | Minutes of the 55th Annual General Meeting

Held on 24 December 2018 at 10:00, in the Town Hall, Kenton-on-Sea 

Welcome, Apologies and Constitution

The Chairman welcomed all residents and gave an overview of the agenda, requesting that questions be held to the end of all presentations.

The Chairman welcomed the Environmental Manager for the area, Mr Fanie Fouche. The meeting was duly constituted and the business of the meeting began.

Apologies noted

The Chairman enjoys a good working relationship with the Mayor, who was unfortunately unable to attend the meeting but did give his apologies. Apologies were also noted for Mr Redman Taggart.

Previous Annual General Meeting

These minutes were taken as read.

Approval of the Minutes

The minutes of the AGM held on 22 December 2017, circulated to members via the KOSRA website, were approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record of the proceedings.

Matters Arising

Mr Doug Walters raised the matter of the Financial Statements which had been requested but not circulated. The Chairman confirmed that the financial position would be discussed in detail during the meeting.

Chairman’s Report

The Chairman provided an overview of the year, focusing on the following matters:

• Relationship with Ndlambe
  The Chairman said that his relationship with Ndlambe was cordial and that it appeared that Ndlambe wanted to improve the services they offer. We are working to ensure that Kenton gets a fair share of the the contribution it makes to rates raised by Ndlambe.
• General service delivery
  While Kenton is looking tidier; the grass is cut and and papers are picked up, Ndlambe does not have the the capital budget to improve the condition of roads, water supply and repair of lights. We are looking into how we can assist the municipality deal with these issues. This may involve initiating a “Special Rates Area”.
• Progress on legal matters
  Regarding the progress made in improving waste management, Marius Els who has experience in waste management, has been employed by the council and he has put forward a proposal for dealing with waste in the area.  KOSRA will keep an oversight role on these activities and if necessary, will leverage the support of the courts based on the outcome of the legal action taken by KORSA previously.
• New strategic plans
  Masibanbane seeks to coordinate all the various projects already underway in the area so that there is greater impact and success.  Ndlambe is very much on board with this initiative.

Special acknowledgement was given by KORSA to Mrs Nita Pollock for the tremendous effort she and her team have made is beautifying Kenton with new gardens.

Mr Tony Ribnick was also acknowledged for the beach clean-up project which is fully supported by KOSRA and aims at reducing all plastic going into the sea by 2020.

Security Report

Mark Moses provided his report on security issues for the past year. He acknowledged the tremendous efforts of Ross Swarts and Andrew de Jager in taking the initiative in improving security in Kenton over the past year. An account was given of how funds had been spent and the budget for 2019 was presented against the background of the strategy of becoming more proactive in the manner in which security is approached. An overview of the initiatives for the next year was presented.

Mark Moses did emphasize that the security effort was dependent on the subscriptions that could be raised to fund the various initiatives. We will be working very hard to ensure that the burden of security will be spread as widely as possible.

Communication Report

Shona Bell discussed some of the challenges and limitations of the current communication channels. She provided an overview of how KOSRA would use Facebook in the next year to become more proactive in communicating with both paid-up members and other residents in Kenton who do not participate in the activities of KOSRA. Existing channels would continue to be used but the main objective will be to have one platform using various tools for better communications. Communications will work with Ndlambe to keep them included in the process.

KOSRA will endeavour to make their communication more interactive and community orientated.

Town Planning and Building Report

Pollos Purdon presented an overview of the latest changes to the building regulations which are proposed by Ndlambe. Urban Dynamics are consulting to Ndlamble on this project and the new proposal is currently in its third draft. She highlighted the key issues which may negatively impact future buildings in Kenton in terms of the height of buildings and site coverage.

KORSA has the opportunity to provide comment on these regulations but a submission needs to be made before the end of January. Legal support has been engaged on this important issue.

Residents were requested to read the document which is available electronically and to provide comment.
Click here to view the Land Use Scheme.

These would then be included in the submission which is being prepared for Urban Dynamics on behalf of KOSRA.

A summary of the proposed changes to the bylaws are summarised on the three slides below.

Click here to download the Existing bylaws

Click here to download the 3rd draft proposal

Click here to download the possible solution

Finance

Financial Report

The Chairman provided a summary of the KORSA financial position detailing expenditure for 2018. There is a balance of R102 341, 00 in the KORSA current account, R15 293, 00 in the Security fund and R244 011, 00 in the Stanlib account. An additional amount of R110 000, 00 is scheduled to be paid for additional security initiatives undertaken over this season. Total funds available for future expenditure are R251 645, 00 and the general view of the meeting was that funds left over for the year should be retained and used for initiatives in 2019.

A special thank you to Mr Redmond Taggart for the work he has put into organising the contact details of all residents in Kenton and Merry Hill.  This will enable us to increase our membership.

A summary of the financial records is attached.

Budget for 2019

It remains a challenge to fund the various initiatives which are critical in Kenton. The Chairman reminded the residents that KORSA considers the whole community in all its dealings with Ndlambe. A budget of R546 000 was proposed for 2019 and key items included are:

Election of the Office Bearers for 2018 / 2019

The Chairman called for additional nominations and Mr Simon Avis and Robbie Avis were proposed and accepted to support the recycling project and communication respectively. All current office bearers were re-elected.

General Matters

Following the formal presentations and the election of office bearers, the Chairman allowed an opportunity for general matters to be raised and a number of questions and comments were received from various residents. These are summarized as follows:

• The Chairman, as the KORSA representative on the Ward 4, should provide feedback on these Committee meetings.
• Feedback from the Council meetings would be appreciated.
• There is no bank card system available for making payment at Ndlambe and no dropbox for holding cash securely.  It was felt that the process for handing cash in this area needs to be urgently upgraded.
• An enquiry was made as to whether any assessment was undertaken on Hi-tech’s performance.

Chairman’s responses

The Chairman responded that Ward committees are not effective. He confirmed that he would raise the cash security matter with the Ndlambe Finance Committee. Mark Moses reminded residents that they have a direct relationship with Hi-tech and should assess the service they are receiving from them. KORSA does not contract with Hi-tech on behalf of residents.

• A number of questions were raised regarding water security.  Information would be appreciated on where Kenton’s water comes from and how it is managed.  Concern was raised with the high number of water leaks and the impact of airlocks caused when the water supply is turned off.  

The Chairman responded that an early warning was given of the potential water problem anticipated over the season and that Amatola was not able to provide more water at this time. He undertook to reconsider prioritising the monitoring of water security. Feedback was given that Ndlambe has a funded project to identify water leaks and address them.

• A request was made that the financial accounts for the past three years be made available as visibility was critical.  The Chairman committed to provide these and to include them in the minutes of the meeting.
• Concern was expressed that there is a lack of entertainment for the teenagers holidaying in Kenton.  The Chairman said that it was unfortunate that the organisers of “Winkies” were not able to find a workable solution to the hours to be kept and responsibility for cleaning around the facilities. He also thought that the closure of Winkies would create opportunities for local establishments. The committee will continue to look for ways to make Kenton attractive to residents and visitors.
• A request was made for KORSA for investigate the amount spent on legal cost at Ndlambe and how these are funded.  Feedback was requested on any court cases which KORSA enters into, both successful and unsuccessful cases.

Kevin van Huyssteen provided feedback on legal actions and outcomes of the recent KOSRA case against Ndlambe. KORSA sought to secure additional relief to secure additional action on the various dumping sites popping up around Kenton. No costs were incurred and the judge did not see fit to extend his original ruling.

The Chairman reiterated that KORSA would do its best to keep residents informed of developments in and around Kenton. He would try and limit this to positive developments rather than complaints about non-performance. We want to be working with Ndlambe to improve services and this will not be achieved be continually attacking the various Directors at Ndlambe.

• A comment was made regarding the dangerous intersection at the entrance to Kenton.  The Chairman reported that SANRAL had confirmed that the road between Port Alfred and Kenton would be upgraded at some point and that perhaps upgrading safety at this intersection would be included in these plans.

Thanks and Closure

A vote of thanks for the Chairman and his office bearers was recorded.

There being no further matters to discuss, the Chairman thanked the ratepayers for their attendance and inputs.