BALLINASLOE TOWN COUNCIL
Minutes of Monthly Meeting held on Tuesday, 9th January, 2007,
in the Civic Offices, Ballinasloe, at 7.00 p.m.

In attendance (Members)
Cllr. Lucy Lloyd-Keighery, Mayor.
Cllr. Mike Kelly.
Cllr. Hugh Dolan.
Cllr. Carmel Grealy.
Cllr. Sean Tully.
Cllr. Johnny Walsh.
Cllr. John Molloy.
Cllr. Jason Devlin.
Cllr. Pat O'Sullivan.

In Attendance (Officials)
Mr. Kevin Kelly, Director of Services.
Mr. Alan Farrell, Acting Town Clerk
Ms. Mary Carty, Assistant Staff Officer.

1. MINUTES - MONTHLY MEETING HELD ON THE 12TH DECEMBER, 2006, IN THE CIVIC OFFICES, BALLINASLOE, AT 7.00 P.M.
The minutes of the December Monthly Meeting held on the 12th December, 2006, which had been circulated, were adopted on the proposal of Cllr. S. Tully, seconded by Cllr. J. Molloy.

2. MINUTES - ANNUAL BUDGET MEETING HELD ON THE 19TH DECEMBER, 2006, IN THE CIVIC OFFICES, BALLINASLOE, AT 7.00 P.M.
The minutes of the Annual Budget Meeting held on the 19th December, 2006, which had been circulated, were adopted on the proposal of Cllr. J. Devlin,
seconded by Cllr. P. O'Sullivan.

Matters arising:-

Hall at St. Grellan's Terrace, Ballinasloe.
In response to a query from the Mayor regarding the Hall at St. Grellan's Terrace, Mr. A. Farrell said that the Council were awaiting revised costings from the consultants.

Mr. K. Kelly said that the issue of how the hall would be managed and maintained had yet to be decided. He said that the Council would progress the project as quickly as possible.

3. HEALTH SERVICE EXECUTIVE.
Cllr. S. Tully gave a report to the members on a meeting which took place with Mr. B. Haddigan and Mr. A. Aherne of the Health Service Executive (HSE) regarding their future plans for psychiatric services in Ballinasloe and the disposal of HSE lands and buildings in the town.

Cllr. S. Tully said that the Health Service Executive are open to offers with regard to the Church at St. Brigid's Hospital. He said that the administration, laundry and a small training facility would be located in the Old Nurses Home. He said that a small treatment unit is proposed behind the old alcoholic unit.

Cllr. J. Walsh said that a Community Nursing Home is proposed on the same design as Loughrea. He said that it will have a minimum of forty beds but the total number has not yet been decided.

Cllr. P. O'Sullivan said that land for housing has been earmarked and land is also being made available to the Brothers of Charity. He said that the Health Service Executive officials may not be in a position to give the full details. A number of proposals were made by the members in relation to inviting Professor Drumm to the Council and a deputation from the Council travelling to meet Professor Drumm. It was agreed by the members that a letter would be issued to Professor Drumm seeking a deputation with members from Ballinasloe Town Council.

Mr. K. Kelly confirmed that discussions had taken place with the Health Service Executive regarding the provision of land for housing. He said that no formal offer of land had been received.

4. DEVELOPMENT CONTRIBUTIONS SCHEME.
Mr. K. Kelly outlined the report on the Development Contribution Scheme which had been circulated to the members. Discussions took place regarding a number of projects that required funding. Mr. K. Kelly advised the members that given the current commitments that the Council have entered into in relation to capital project such as Dunlo Recreational Park and Kilgarve Amenity Area, priority in the dispersal of funding should be given to these projects. He advised the members that the other monies as outlined in the report would be spent as previously approved, and in the event of savings being made that the money could be spent elsewhere.

Cllr. P. O'Sullivan proposed that the Development Contribution Scheme be put on the Agenda for the next meeting. This was seconded by Cllr. H. Dolan.

Cllr. H. Dolan asked if the figure for the amount of development contributions collected for other towns in the county such as Tuam, Loughrea, Athenry and Gort could be made available to members. Mr. K. Kelly said that he would arrange to make the figures available, however, they may only be collated on an electoral area basis.

Mr. K. Kelly said that the Council should consider reviewing the Development Contribution Scheme. He said that given the number of houses and the needs of the town, the funding is not significant.

5. MANAGER'S BUSINESS
Mr. A. Farrell informed the members that a grant had been received from the Department of the Environment for the employment of a Tenant Liaison Officer. The grant is €36,000.00 or 90% of salary expenditure incurred, whichever is the lesser for the Tenant Liaison Officer and €8,000.00 or 50% of expenditure incurred, whichever is the lesser, for Estate Management Training and facilitation support costs. He said that the initial contract is for one year.

6 MAYOR'S BUSINESS
The Mayor said that the Credit Union had presented prints of Ballinasloe and the surrounding areas to her and she would like to present them to the Council.

7. CORRESPONDENCE.
The motion from Letterkenny Town Council was agreed.

Mr. A. Farrell informed the members that the Association of Municipal Authorities of Ireland Conference is to take place on the 9th and 10th February, 2007 in Tralee.

It was proposed by Cllr. P. O'Sullivan, seconded by Cllr. L. Lloyd Keighery and agreed that Cllrs. H. Dolan and S. Tully would represent the Council at the conference.

On the proposal of Cllr. J. Devlin, seconded by Cllr. J. Walsh it was agreed that the Council would receive a deputation from the residents of Old Mill Road at the next Council meeting.

8. ANY OTHER BUSINESS
The members expressed a wish to make a presentation at the next Council meeting to Mr. Pat Gallagher, on his retirement as Galway County Manager. They agreed, if Mr. Gallagher was not available on that date, that the date of the monthly meeting would be changed to a date suitable for Mr. Gallagher to attend. This would be agreed with the Mayor.

In response to a query regarding the affordable housing at Garbally Drive, Mr. A. Farrell said that he in correspondence with the National Business Agency to progress matters and that he would update the members at a later date.

The members said that the Council should consider erecting dog littering signs at various locations in the town.

This concluded the business of the meeting.