Issue - meetings

To submit a report by the Senior Harbours Officer.

To note and accept the report.

The following reports were presented, and members were invited to give feedback on their content and to ask questions.

a)       The Senior Harbour Officer's report, giving a brief update to the committee on harbour matters for the period from October 2023 to March 2024.

Attention was drawn to the following matters:

Moorings and Boat Registration

It was noted that the Harbourmaster would inspect the river before Easter to check the location of the aids to navigation and determine where to locate visitor moorings in the harbour. It was reported that customers wishing to have a mooring in the harbour, or register their powerboats were expected to complete the online process via Cyngor Gwynedd's website.

Port Marine Safety Code

It was noted that the Port Marine Safety Code was regularly reviewed by the service and they continued to comply with the Code. 

Staffing Matters

It was reported that the Harbourmaster and the Assistant Harbourmaster continued to work from the Barmouth harbour office. ⁠In addition, the service had appointed Nicola Salt as a full time Beach Officer; the Beach Officer would be based in Barmouth harbour and would work along the coast between Barmouth and Aberdyfi. It was noted that Math Roberts had been appointed in the North and he would be working along the coast in the Porthmadog area. 

Financial Matters

The Maritime Service Officer referred to the table in the report that summarised the financial position and had been categorised into five main headings. It was noted that the figures were based on a financial review with the accountants in November and forecasted expenditure from November until the end of March 2024. 

Details were given on the headings and it was noted that the Employees category mainly included staff wages. An overspend of a little over £3,500 was anticipated in this category in the current financial year.  It was explained that this was mainly due to overtime payments to staff who had had to work additional hours because of matters arising such as emergency incidents.  

It was noted that the Property heading involved general maintenance costs of the building and the grounds surrounding the harbour. It was detailed that there was a little overspend here. New doors had been installed on the diesel store and a new window on the harbour building as well as other additional costs. It was noted that this was not unusual given that the buildings were getting older, and they needed maintenance.  

The Transport heading was mentioned and it was confirmed that this heading did not include costs involving the maritime vehicle. This heading referred specifically to the harbour patrol boat namely the Powercat and boat fuel; it was noted that this underspend was £500. 

It was noted that there was an overspend of nearly £12,000 under the heading Services and Supplies due to significant costs during the year because of the service having to buy two new aids to navigation for the harbour. In addition, the Service had to buy lighting, equipment and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4