Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the CICBA
Held on Sunday April 27th 2008 at the Portelet Hotel
Norman Le Cocq acted as Chairman in the absence of John Seymour
Apologies for Absence were received from Pat Panter John Panter Mike Allen John Seymour Sean Galpin Rosemary Pallot & Jane Watts-Wakeham.
The minutes of the previous annual general meeting were read & approved, subject to a record that one of the points raised by Brian Youd was that the existing County may no longer be able to afford the travel costs to run as a county, proposed by Ann Burnett & seconded by Howard Basden-Smith.
The minutes of the Special General Meeting of the County held on Saturday 3rd November 2007 at La Trelade Hotel Guernsey were read & approved proposed by Martin Jones & seconded by Ken Wise
Matters Arising
It is with regret that we have learnt of the closure of the Portelet Hotel later this year due to extensive alterations. The Lambourne Jersey Festival of Bridge is now seeking a new venue. Ken Wise addressed the meeting and advised that he has been trying to negotiate with some of the Hotels with conference room facilities. Unfortunately the charges for the hire of the conference rooms could cost between £300 & £500 per day. The Portelet Hotel has not charged for the use of the rooms used during the Bridge Congress. Any cost for the room hire would come directly from the profit of the Congress, which is shared between the CICBA Special Fund and the EBU on a 50/50 basis.
Brian Youd suggested that even if £3000 was paid for the playing room the special fund would still receive a reasonable profit distribution from the Congress. Martin Jones agreed with Ken Wise that we have to be careful with use of special funds. It is important that a new venue is found quickly for 2009 to allow participants of the 2008 Congress to book up for 2009 while they are in Jersey and to maintain the good atmosphere of the Congress.
Chairman’s Report
Norman reported that it had been an eventful year regarding the organisation of competitions. The County pairs final being played on Sunday 20th April at the Victoria Club, after having been postponed in December 2007 due to inclement weather. The County Teams final arranged for Sunday 13th April had to be cancelled at the last minute due to illness and it had been decided that the Guernsey team won by concession. The entries for the Pachabo close on 19th May.
Brian Youd suggested that the County teams final be kept open at the moment & possibly be re-arranged if both teams agree a date rather than concede. It was decided to discuss the matter further in the County Management Committee meeting.
Pat Panter & Mike Allen are looking into the rulings regarding the County teams and County competitions generally.
The County one day Green Point event was held in Guernsey at the Carlton Hotel on Sunday March 9th. Thanks went to Martin Jones for organising this event & Congratulations to Robert Plumley & Susie Farnon who were winners of this competition. A similar event was to be arranged in March 2009.
The Inter-Insular A and B team matches were won convincingly by Guernsey.
He thanked Chris Blackstone Sue Griffiths Ken & Hilary Wise for the excellent work done with regard to the congress.
It was with regret he had to report the loss of Perry Darwen & Marion Warstat. Cathy Hepburn has left Jersey & is now living in Scotland.
He thanked John Seymour for all the work he has done over the years & wished him a speedy recovery.
Treasurer’s Report
John Honey reported that the Jersey District had a surplus this year of £157.07 Guernsey District are deficit of £159.66 due to £500 being spent on a laptop computer & £800 was set aside for new boards and cards for the one day green point event. The Jersey District had paid its biennial third party insurance premium. Total cash in bank for Jersey District is £5,806.92, £5,000 of which has been transferred to a fixed deposit account to gain interest.
It was proposed at the District AGM to keep the table money at £2.50 despite increase in rental of £250 p.a.
The final profit of the green point event in Guernsey was £111, excluding the travel subsidy of £960.
Jersey & Guernsey break even in total.
Special Fund
The Special Fund stands at £8,668.85 The Lambourne Jersey Congress generated a profit of £8,046.72 for the CICBA. Expenses for the year were £7,237.23. The total surplus for the year was £1,323.79. The profit of the Jersey Congress is not taxable by concession – Jersey tax would only be payable on the yearly interest if this exceeds £1,000.
Harold Walden asked if money could be made available should the dealing machine need replacing and this was approved. The audited accounts were approved, proposed by Martin Jones & seconded by Howard Basden-Smith.
Election of Officers
The County & Management Committee were elected as follows.
Chairman Norman Le Cocq
Treasurer John Honey
Secretary Pat Panter
Master Points Secretary Anne Babbe
Competitions Secretary Martin Jones
Committee – Jersey Catherine Rynd & Jane Knight
Committee – Guernsey Sean Galpin & Mike Allen
Proposed by Colin Tostevin and seconded by Chris Hill.
Prize Giving
Teams Dick Langham Rudi Falla Lynne Williamson
John Seymour & Sean Galpin
Open Pairs David Hole & Marion Miles
Mixed Pairs Lynda Mildon & Colin Tostevin equal with David Hole & Marion Miles
Restricted Pairs upper Brian Youd & Sue Rankin
Restricted Pairs Lower Mary Thompson & Marilyn Robilliard
Ladies Pairs Meredith Case & Rosemary Pallot
Men’s Pairs Chris Hill & Les Allam
Individual Carl Harrison
Inter-Island Sim Pairs John Seymour & Lynne Williamson
Any Other Business
It was agreed to accept the 4 points relating to the change of financial year, AGM and constitution considered by both the Guernsey & Jersey Districts at their respective AGMs in 2008 and to approve the changes at the County level, proposed by Martin Jones and seconded by Howard Basden-Smith.
There is no interest in splitting Jersey/Guernsey into two separate Counties & therefore should remain as it stands.
There is a special meeting of EBU representatives in June to discuss the proposed pay to play scheme. Pat Panter as the County representative will be voting on our behalf. The scheme had been agreed at both the Guernsey and Jersey District AGMs and it was agreed that Pat should vote in favour.
Mike Allen is retiring as County Auditor. Howard Basden-Smith proposed Les Allam as the new Auditor seconded by Chris Hill. Our thanks to Mike Allen for all the work he has done over the years.
It was suggested By Brian Youd that prize money at the standard rate should be included for the Inter-Island Sim pairs. This would be discussed at the County Management Meeting.
There is a possibility that training courses for Directors could take place in Guernsey during the Guernsey Congress provided that there was a minimum of 6 attendees.
Brian Youd enquired whether, following the change in timing of the AGM in future, the quorum for members meetings should be increased from 10 to say 20. This was to be considered at the Management Meeting.
There being no further business thanks were given to the Committee for all of their hard work & the meeting was closed at 11am.
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