Minutes Surf Life Saving Central Coast Branch Council Meeting SLSCC Headquarters Tuggerah Thursday 16 June 2016 The meeting opened at 6.15pm. 1. ATTENDANCE Sean Lester President The Lakes Richard Field President Soldiers Beach SLSC Glenn Clarke President The Entrance SLSC Chris Manning President Toowoon Bay SLSC Peter Zalbergs President Shelley Beach SLSC Adam Phillips President Wamberal SLSC Paul Quick President Terrigal SLSC Matt Slattery President North Avoca SLSC David Brooks Proxy Copacabana SLSC Alan Blackman President MacMasters Peter Bagnal President Killcare SLSC Scott Hannell President Ocean Beach SLSC Jessica Thomas President Umina SLSC Stuart Harvey President SLSCC Branch Peter James Director Special Projects SLSCC Branch Jane Davis Director of Education SLSCC Branch David Unger Director of Surf Sports SLSCC Branch Chris Parker CEO SLSCC Branch APOLOGIES: Brett Beswick Director of Lifesaving SLSCC Branch Aaron Camp Director of Member Services SLSCC Branch Rene Blom President North Entrance SLSC Garry Clarke President Avoca Beach SLSC Charlie Isbester President Copacabana SLSC Paul Sharpe President Umina SLSC 2. CONFIRMATION OF PREVIOUS MINUTES The minutes from previous Branch Council meeting held Thursday 14 April 2016 The Minutes from the Directors meeting held Tuesday 9 May 2016 The Minutes from the Directors meeting held Tuesday 16 June 2016 The above minutes were endorsed by the Branch Council. Moved: The Lakes Seconded: The Entrance 1
3. BUSINESSS ARISING FROM THE PREVIOUS MINUTES The CEO provided an update on the main resolutions from the previous meetings listed above. The President asked how the clubs were progressing with their service agreements and if any clubs were intending on requesting changes to their existing patrol times. The Lakes SLSC said they would like to change at their finish time from 5pm to 4pm for the last three weeks of the season as after day light saving is over people just don t visit the Lakes at this time. The President said that SLSCC would support a reduced patrol coverage model at this time of the year. 4. ENDORSEMENT OF FINANCIAL STATEMENTS The attached May financial statements were tabled and endorsed by the Branch Council. Moved: Ocean Beach Seconded: Terrigal 5. AGENDA ITEMS 5.1 Strategic Plan Update The President provided an update on the strategic plan progressions and outcomes from the Directors strategic plan workshop. He said that administration was one of the key focus areas that we need to improve on as a team so that this is more efficient and consistent across all clubs. MacMasters Beach said anything the Branch can do to support the clubs with administration would be appreciated by the clubs as this is a huge challenge at club land but we would rather not implement paid administration support at this stage. Wamberal SLSC asked the clubs that don t have paid admin support why this is the case as it works so well at their club and the club is dependent on this. Is it a cost issue why you haven t engaged paid administrators? Soldiers Beach said it was a cost issue for their club. MacMasters said that their club would rather pay to a central point to cover professional services such as a bookkeeping. The Annual report is another item that all clubs duplicate. If we were provided with templates and support in developing these it would save cost and time for the clubs. Collectively we are doing many things the same but duplicating it 15 times over. Shelly Beach SLSC said we have a professional bookkeeper that we pay and would not consider moving away from this. 2
Four clubs indicated that we would have four clubs interested in centralised bookkeeping services if the Branch was to assist with this. NOTED 5.2 SLSCC 2016/17 Events Calendar The SLSCC 2016/17 Events Calendar was tabled for endorsement by the Branch Council as a work in progress. The Terrigal President asked if the Branch can send out the Events Calendar on a monthly basis to ensure they are using the correct version. That the 2016/17 Events Calendar is endorsed by the Branch Council as a work in progress. 5.3 2016/17 Club of the Year Criteria The attached revised 2016/17 Club of the Year criteria was tabled for consideration by the Branch Council. The changes make the criteria relevant to today s programs/ requirements without changing the integrity of this program. The Quality Club Program was raised as a potential concern as it carried such a high weighting. Killcare said their club was in turmoil over Christmas with half off their Board changing over mid-season. The Quality Club Program got the club back on track and has proven its worth at Killcare. He therefore supports the weighting in the proposed criteria. MacMasters asked why the Duke of Ed had been taken out of the program from the Club of the Year, this is something that we see of benefit to the movement as it has greatly assisted in the retention of members at MacMasters. The CEO said that SLSCC used to administer the Duke of Ed program on behalf of the clubs but this was no longer the case and it would be difficult to measure which clubs were actively engaged in the program and which ones were not. The majority of clubs agreed the Duke of Education should not be included due to the challenges in quantifying the clubs involvement as it s managed by an external agency. The Macmasters president recommended that associate membership be included in the criteria as well as points for Child Protection. The Clubs agreed that Child Protection requirements as per the SLSNSW audit should be added to the criteria. That the revised Club of the Year Program is endorsed with the inclusion of the Child Protection rating. 3
6. CLUB PRESENTATIONS 6.1 Presentation from the Lakes SLSC This is my first Year of President with a new Board. It has been a year of learning but we are happy with the outcomes we have achieved We used the Quality Club Program as a guide to move the club forward and are hoping to gain Silver Level accreditation We tried a few new things this year including starting a little nipper program for 3-5 year olds which worked well with 28 nippers enrolled Our nipper program had a 35% increase and now cracked 100 nippers We went to full patrols this year with members rostered on once per month We lost a lot of trainers and assessor so used Toowoon Bay SLSC Trainers and Assessors this season. Thank you for their support. We had a good year for grants this year and invested over 100,000 into the club building and surrounds We are working on a recruitment drive this season as one of our major priorities The President congratulated Sean and his team on a fantastic year at The Lakes. North Avoca SLSC volunteered to present at the next meeting. NOTED 7. DIRECTORS REPORT ITEM NO: 7.1 FROM: Stuart Harvey SUBJECT: Presidents Report SLSNSW Election Meeting Congratulations to David Murray who was appointed as the new President of Surf Life Saving NSW at the SLSNSW Election meeting. David brings fresh ideas to the table and a new inclusive approach and so far is working very closely with the Branches. I would like to thank the previous President Tony Haven on the service he provided SLSNSW over many years. I would also like to congratulate Don Van Keimpema from Shelly Beach SLSC on being appointed the Director of Surf Sports of SLSCC. SLSCC Awards of Excellence The Awards Night on Saturday Night was very good and I congratulate and thank all of the office staff on their efforts in pulling this night together. I was very pleased to see the members enjoying themselves on the night along with our partners of SLSCC who all provided very good feedback. Strategic Planning 4
The Strategic Plan is well on its way. A lot of time has gone into this to date which will result in positive outcomes for the future of SLSCC. That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the Presidents Report. ITEM NO: 7.2 FROM: Peter James SUBJECT: Director of Special Projects INTRODUCTION: Set out below is an update on progress in the key areas of my responsibility: STRATEGIC PLAN & GOVERNANCE: As you are aware much input has gone into the development of the new plan and I would thank clubs, directors and Paul Bolton (Fortunity) for this input Currently the information received and the decisions taken are being consolidated and put into a draft plan for consideration by directors and when finalised should form the basis for a strong strategic direction for the next 3 years for SLSCC The draft of the Plan will be ready for the July directors meeting CLUB QUALITY PROGRAM: It is pleasing to see the renewed interest by clubs in this program and as was seen at the recent awards night 3 clubs achieved Bronze level whilst a number of others where close to achieving this level and should do so by cut-off at 30 th June Participation is now at an all-time high and hopefully will continue with this level of interest The program once again identified some major issues in clubs (in one case a major liquor license non-compliance) and continues to highlight the value of participation in the program for clubs Consideration is now being given to implementing an ongoing progress advisory system so that clubs can monitor progress ongoing thus assisting them to achieve within the annual timelines INVESTMENT STRATEGY: The next meeting of the Investment sub-committee is scheduled for July 2016 That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the Director of Special Projects Report. 5
ITEM NO: 7.3 FROM: Brett Beswick SUBJECT: Director of Lifesaving Report I attended the SLSNSW Annual Conference a few weeks ago, with the key outcomes affecting us as follows: There may be a move by SLSA to four stroke IRB Motors in the near future. SLSNSW have asked clubs and branches to sign on with SurfCom when they have IRB and RWC training so that SurfCom is aware of available resources in an emergency incident. SLSCC will issue a memorandum to clubs requesting this. There was an agenda item on the Lifesaving Patrol App discussing why clubs haven t taken to this. Feedback will go back to SLSA for hopeful improvements to be made. Digital radio network won t be ready for the 2016/17 season. There is also concern with the quality of new Hytera radios SLSNSW have recommended. Lifesaving Service Agreements was discussed for the RWC Service and it was agreed that to meet our obligations for 2016/17 2020 SLSCC should commit to a minimum 2 vessels rostered on each day in two regions. Skis may be operated from numerous locations. The SLSCC Directors said that SLSNSW is being big brother too much in relation to support operations service agreements and needed to put more trust into the branches in determining how they manage their assets to best meet the community and club needs within their area. That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the Director of Lifesavings Report. ITEM NO: 7.4 FROM: Jane Davis SUBJECT: Director of Education Report I have had some challenges with clubs training IRB Drivers without first having their waterways component completed and I will be reminding CTO s of this requirement. I haven t started the SLSCC Branch IRB Courses as yet as Clubs have offered to do this on their own right, however I have some concerns with the price some clubs are charging to complete awards. Well done and thank you to the clubs on getting their Educheck in on time. This is a great achievement. 6
Well done to staff on Awards of Excellence evening. That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the Director of Educations Report. ITEM NO: 7.5 FROM: David Unger SUBJECT: Director of Surf Sports Report We have been sent a new circular from SLSA in regards to PPE for the 2016/17 season which we need to understand and report back to the clubs. The BOSS is considering a proposal for an additional First Aid competition carnival proposed by Soldiers Beach SLSC. We have received the draft Surf Sports portfolio minutes from the NSW Conference which I will disseminate to the Directors. The selectors have picked the 2017 Trans-Tasman team for approval by the Directors. Well done to all involved in the Awards Night which was a really well put together and enjoyable evening. SLSCC needs to review the requirements for Coach of the Year and Rep team coaches. The Directors agreed that this should be tabled as an agenda item at the next meeting. That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the Director of Surf Sports Report. ITEM NO: 7.6 FROM: Chris Parker SUBJECT: CEO Report It s been extremely busy times in the office with all hands on deck preparing for the Awards of Excellence along with Federal Government Funding submissions and lobbying, sponsor reporting, strategic planning and planning for the 2016/17 season. SLSCC Awards of Excellence We had another huge event this season with 376 people in attendance and extremely good feedback received including by our supporters who were all in attendance aside from representatives of the new Council. Congratulations to Toowoon Bay on winning the Club of the Year and thank you to all involved who assisted on the night including the office staff and numerous life members. 7
SLSNSW Awards of Excellence The SLSNSW Awards of Excellence will be held on Saturday 13 th August at Four Seasons Sydney. Tickets and accommodation will be booked this week. The office will be sending reminders to the SLSCC winners to have nominations finalised and returned to SLSCC prior to the due date. SLSCC will also be working on additional nominations including the Initiative of the Year, Community Education Program of Year, Facilitator of the Year, and Branch of the Year nominations. Federal Election Funding Last week we had an announcement from Lucy Wicks, Member for Robertson for an Election promise of $100,000, followed by an announcement of $75,000 from Karen McNamara Member for Dobell to support 12/15 surf clubs for the supply and installation of solar panels. I am now working on the Labor Candidates to match this funding and working on both parties for funding towards the Community Education Program and club specific priorities. Strategic Plan Thank you to all Directors and Club Presidents for your input into the Strategic Plan to date. We had a very productive workshop on Saturday 4 th June. Unfortunately I have been snowed under since then, but will issue the draft plan with timing and priority ranking for feedback by Directors. The plan and budget will be submitted for consideration and endorsement at the next Directors meeting and tabled for endorsement by the Branch Council in August. Fortunity Club Conference The Fortunity Club Conference will be held on Saturday 25 June at Central Coast Leagues Club. We have already had a good response by clubs. The agenda is looking good with the key note speaker being Air Commodore Steve Robertson, DSC, AM. Clubs are asked to register by Tuesday 21st Jun e. Council Amalgamation The President and I have a meeting with the new Administrator and CEO of the Central Coast Council on 22 June. We are putting together a paper to provide to the Council on the day outlining our existing relationships with the previous two Councils and recommendations moving forward. Big ticket items such as the Water Safety Rate Levy, ongoing funding and club leases will be high on the list. That the Branch Council accepts and endorses the CEO s Report. 8. OTHER URGENT ISSUES/ GENERAL BUSINESS 8.1 Wamberal SLSC We have concerns over a proposed skate park in the Wamberal SLSC which will restrict parking and access issues for the surf club. We have written to Council raising concerns over this and recommending alternative locations be considered. 8
8.2 The Entrance SLSC We are looking at painting our club. The cost is $11,000 - $12,000 but the scaffolding is going to cost us $35,000. 8.3 MacMasters SLSC We are suffering some major expenses as a result of the storm. We are going to spend $6-8K for the protection of the club and annual maintenance. All up we expect to spend approx. $40,000 on erosion protection. 8.4 Terrigal SLSC We have identified that we need to put plans in place for dealing with major storm events as we weren t ready this time around. 8.5 North Avoca We would like support from SLSCC to raise concern with SLSNSW who held an event which was called off 14 races into the event, but clubs have been charged the entry fee. Our issue is that they have identified two back up beaches, however they didn t move this after knowing it was coming. I would like to thank the Branch for support in dealing with a major grievance issue after our presentation evening which was dealt with immediately after this issue was raised. A lesson learnt by our club was the importance of having an up to date constitution which we relied on heavily and recommended all clubs review this. The meeting closed at 8.14 pm. 9