The minutes of the inaugural AGM:

MINUTES OF THE INAUGURAL MEETING OF FLM 240 PRESERVATION GROUP

TL 240 Preservation Group, Inaugural meeting - Venue -The Village hall, Wicken, Cambs.
Saturday 15th November 2014.
The meeting started promptly at 11.00 hours
 
Introduction

Peter Russell - Chairperson (PR) opened the meeting by welcoming everybody to the
meeting, and gave a brief summary, of how this meeting and the project came about,
and highlighted the agenda for today. (this will be available for perusal on the
website, along with a draft constitution, following committee and members
agreement at a later date)

Formalise meeting and elect committee - It was agreed that Peter Russell was to
be our chairperson, Membership Secretary Tug Wilson (TW) was invited by PR to
introduce himself, this he did by giving a short history regarding his time in the job
and now being retired some four years, and explained that Paul Settle (PS), who
sitting to his left, and was now going to stand down from the position of General
Secretary. PS did this an interim measure to assist in getting the project off the
ground. We thanked PS for his efforts and the position of General Secretary was
offered to TW. TW asked the members so to speak, the answer was that all was ok
with TW taking up the role of general secretary.
 
PR introduced Steve Lomas (SL) as Treasurer. SL gave a brief account of his role,
and was happy to carry on in the role. SL informed us what the current bank balance
is £3,326.72

PR then introduced Trevor Barnwell and Colin Farrington as Workshop managers,
he explained that they will be looking after the mechanics of TL 240 and they were both
very happy to continue.
 
PR then asked members for someone who would take on the role as webmaster.
Member Bob Wilkinson (BW) volunteered for this position. PR thanked him, and
stated that he was looking forward to getting this part of the project moving, as it will
assist greatly in the progress of advertising our group, and a method of
communication with members and others, who may also have an interest in our
vision. Robin Stockley (RS) volunteered himself as a committee member, this was agreed
by committee, his role is as yet to be detailed and confirmed. PR welcomed him
aboard.
 
The attendees for this meeting were:

Barry Pilkington, Trevor Barnwell, Colin Farrington, Roger Enefer, Roger
Davey,Martin Bainbridge, Paul Settle,John Cox, Carol Cox, Peter Weight, Mick
Woodham, Frankie Ward, Paul Wing, Martin Ormes, Bob Wilkinson, Dennis Price,
Mike West, Robin Stockley, Chris Jennings, Alec Everitt, Paul Davis, Paul Wood,
Kev Hutchins, Madeline Temple, Ted Temple, Julia Russell.
Peter Russell, Tug Wilson, Steve Lomas,
 
Apologies for non attendance was from:

Danny Harper,Danny Hoyer,Eric Goldsmith,Lewis Orrow,Bill Butler,Ian Fife,Colin
King,Gordon James,Bob Manser,Tim Jones,Laurie Lyndoe,Kevin Wright,Peter
Lucia-hennis,Eugene Lynch,Mitch Theobold,Paul Raven,Ron Finch,Lol Bagnolle.
Short break at this point, then business was resumed.


Aims of the group - this in the main is :
his group is dedicated to the preservation of the AEC 'Mercury' with Merryweather 100ft turntable ladder that served with great distinction with the London Fire Brigade. We are a group of retired London firemen that retain a passion for past times, the service we gave and this fire appliance.
 
Membership eligibility 

Point of detailed discussion at this point was, what are we as members, shareholders etc, going to be called, it was agreed from this point on that all those who originally made a financial contribution to purchase TL 240 are now known as Founder members, we briefly discussed what others maybe called, but nothing was confirmed.
 
Preservation works

Colin Farrington gave a detailed first report of the vehicles general condition.
Chassis - requires a thorough steam clean of chassis, underbody and both engines
along with the turntable.
Wheels and tyres - offside inner flat other tyres appear serviceable.
Body - All chrome parts need to be removed (re-chromed where required) and new  rubber backing parts replaced.
Indicators are inoperative. Front indicator "rubber ears" perished, (new ones obtained) Mechanical operation of foldback "ears" need servicing.
Rear nearside indicator glass needs replacing new one obtained.
Blue beacons have innards removed (totally rusted and beyond repair). New innards
obtained and being adjusted to fit.
Both front wings rusted and will need replacing.
Rear wings need minor body repair and re-fixing.
All decking screws need replacing.
Two broken locker hinges need replacing
Four locker handles need stripping and freeing off or replacing
All lockers need cleaning and repainting
Windscreen wiper arms and blades need replacing
Bell missing (replacement obtained)
Searchlight missing (originals being collected by PR from the previous owner).
Searchlight cables need replacing.
CAB -
Interior needs a thorough clean, repaint and sealing.
All seats need recovering. (In hand following offer on the day by Carol Cox).
Draught seals need replacing
Wiring needs to be tidied.
Batteries need replacing (in hand) Completed by TB on day.
Aims of the group - this in the main is : This group is dedicated to the preservation of
the AEC 'Mercury' with Merryweather 100ft turntable ladder that served with great
distinction with the London Fire Brigade.
We are a group of retired London firemen that retain a passion for past times, the service we gave and this fire appliance.
 
Membership eligibility 
Point of detailed discussion at this point was, what are we as members, shareholders etc, going to be called, it was agreed from this point on that all those who originally made a financial contribution to purchase TL 240 are now known as Founder members, we briefly discussed what others maybe called, but nothing was confirmed.
 
Preservation works
Colin Farrington gave a detailed first report of the vehicles general condition.
Chassis - requires a thorough steam clean of chassis, underbody and both engines
along with the turntable.
Wheels and tyres - offside inner flat other tyres appear serviceable.
Body - All chrome parts need to be removed (re-chromed where required) and new  rubber backing parts replaced.
Indicators are inoperative. Front indicator "rubber ears" perished, (new ones obtained) Mechanical operation of foldback "ears" need servicing.
Rear nearside indicator glass needs replacing new one obtained.
Blue beacons have innards removed (totally rusted and beyond repair). New innards
obtained and being adjusted to fit.
Both front wings rusted and will need replacing.
Rear wings need minor body repair and re-fixing.
All decking screws need replacing.
Two broken locker hinges need replacing
Four locker handles need stripping and freeing off or replacing
All lockers need cleaning and repainting
Windscreen wiper arms and blades need replacing
Bell missing (replacement obtained)
Searchlight missing (originals being collected by PR from the previous owner).
Searchlight cables need replacing.
CAB -
Interior needs a thorough clean, repaint and sealing.
All seats need recovering. (In hand following offer on the day by Carol Cox).
Draught seals need replacing
Wiring needs to be tidied.
Batteries need replacing (in hand) Completed by TB on day.
 LADDER -
Complete rub down and painting required.
One damaged round on main extension, may need to be cut out and replaced.
New cables required 4 x extension cables and 1 main cable.
Jacks not working possibly (lack of hydraulic oil) fluid, in hand. (3 jacks came down on the day following oil top up, 4th needs freeing.)
Jack operating valve framework, broken, (needs welding)
Communication equipment needs rewiring.
Monitor missing (possibly in hand).
Framework and belt eye missing.
Rescue line eye missing.
Hydraulic ram gaiters, one missing but both need replacing.
Small oil leak on nearside ram when at full elevation, not evident when lower elevations (suggest suck it and see)
Apart from the above, a lot of polishing and TLC is required.
Use of TL 240 -  PR opened discussion on use of the vehicle, such as Weddings and funerals. This provoked quite a lot of response from members,
such as - How can the vehicle generate an income for its own upkeep, how reliable will it be, as we only have one, will it require public liability insurance, how are we going to publicise it, and costings of course.
I (PR) noted these, and will in time give a detailed response, but no proposals as to a way forward at this moment in time.
PR stated that we have road risk insurance on the vehicle, and have named drivers only.
Roger Davey proposed the following;
Proposal: To elect an interim committee with powers to co-opt additional members with specialists skills or knowledge to;
1. Consider the correct legal status of our organisation,
2. Consider whether our organisation should seek a charitable status.
3. Consider and produce a draft constitution for the organisation,
4. Consider membership criteria and subscriptions,
5. Take responsibility for interim managerial and maintenance, restoration of vehicle.
6. To consult with existing membership and report back to a general meeting within 12 months, with proposals of 1 - 4 above, when a vote will be taken.
If a proposed constitution is accepted interim committee shall stand down and a new committee to be elected, under the agreed constitution.
Seconded by PS and was agreed as unanimous by members, show of hands.
Voting rights -
It was discussed that members who were unable to attend this and future meetings could use the "by proxy" voting method. It was agreed at this meeting
that this will not be allowed, the main reason for rejection was that some members could have quite a number of votes on the day, this would be unfair.members voted on this, and by a show of hands and found to be unanimous.
Membership and subs - SL- wanted to introduce a subscription system, to enable the vehicles funds to build up, should any additional work be required.
The view from the floor, was that it was a good idea, but how much? One member stated that £100 per year is a good starting point, although this was not voted on, the feeling from the room was, not sure at the moment.
AGM and Quarterly meetings - Briefly discussed, but no outcome as yet
Termination of membership - Not discussed
Any other business - There was no matters for discussion in AOB, so I have added these items that were touched on briefly, during the meeting, charity status, HCVS membership (this is a commercial vehicle club, and could good for making useful  contacts) call by stranger system.
Date and time of next meeting(s) as yet to be confirmed.
Meeting ended at 14.30 hours.