THE LEEDS ASSOCIATION OF ENGINEERS
Minutes of the Council Meeting held at 7.30pm on Thursday 5th December 2013 at the Cornerhouse Club Leeds.
1. Attendance. A. Kibler (President) in the chair with, J. Aldersley, B. J. Yates,
I. Scholes, J. Bentley, A. Rogers, and G. Toulson.
2. Apologies for Absence. K. J. Hegarty, I. A. Blakeley, M. S. Murray, J. McClarty,
J. S. Shergill.
3. Minutes of the Previous Meeting, dated 7th November 2013 were, approved & signed.
4. Matters Arising. None.
5. Treasurers Report. Mr. Bentley reported the following financial transactions for the month.
Current Account:-
Credits
Gareth Jones (Golf Account) £495.00
Debits
Donation to Quicksilver Project £200.00
Balance at above date: £1831.82
Mr. Bentley reported that he had obtained some forms from the bank, but that further forms were required, to change the trustee signatures as a result of the nomination of a new trustee. As both Mr. Hegarty (trustee) and Mr. Blakeley (nominated trustee) were not in attendance this task would be completed at a future meeting.
6. Church Commemorative Plaque. Messrs. Bentley and Scholes attended ‘St. Peters at Leeds’ (Leeds Parish Church) on Saturday 23rd November and met with Reverend Tony Bundock to discuss the plaque. They viewed several existing plaques and Mr. Scholes took photographs which were circulated at the meeting. Reverend Bundock suggested the Memorial Chapel as a suitable location for the plaque, positioned between the windows. Mr. Kibler proposed a brushed stainless steel plaque on an oak backing and he offered to produce a three dimensional computer image to present at the January council meeting. He requested that Mr. Scholes compose a draft inscription for this initial proposal.
7. Correspondence. Mr. Toulson had been in touch with his friend, Mrs. Valerie Davies, who had helped to arrange the speaker for the Ladies Evening. Mrs. Davies advised that Mr. James Woods (the speaker) had expressed a fear that he might struggle to attend if the weather turned bad on the evening, as he would be travelling from York. Mr. Kibler had also spoken to Mr. Woods and was aware of this potential problem. Mr. Murray had previously advised that he had booked thirty seats for the dinner following Mr. Woods’ lecture. Mr. Kibler asked if Mrs. Davies would be coming along to the event. Mr. Toulson offered to get in touch and ask her to reconfirm with Mr. Murray, especially in view of the fact that the meal needed to be booked in advance.
Mr. Murray sent advice that his contact at ‘Doosan’ (corporate member) had left the
company and that we now no longer had any contact with this company. He also reported
notification that Mr. K. Parry (member) was no longer in contact and that he had not been at the recorded address for over two years.
8. Journal. Nothing to report.
9. Current Programme. All events in place for the current session.
10. Membership. Apart from the above correspondence from Mr. Murray there is nothing to report.
11. Next Session. Mr. Toulson offered to contact Frank Smith to see if he would be interested in giving a lecture during the next session. Also, Mr. Toulson said that he would ask Mr. Smith if he would consider speaking to the ‘Manchester Association of Engineers’. It was ‘Manchester’ that kindly suggested we contact Nigel McKnight, who came to speak to us about the World Water Speed Record. Putting ‘Manchester’ in touch with Frank Smith would be a way of returning the favour. At the last meeting Mr. Shergill said he would contact Dr. Simon Rudman of Leeds University to request a lecture. As Mr. Shergill was absent this would be implemented later. Mr. Kibler agreed to contact Harry Jackson to see if he would be available for a lecture in the next session.
12. Website. Mr. Toulson commented that the website is up to date, but that he would welcome any contributions in order to keep the content fresh. Mr. Kibler suggested that Mr. Toulson might contact Nigel McKnight of the ‘Quicksilver’ Project to request updates which could be presented to the members on the website. Mr. Toulson said he would add a link to the Quicksilver Project website, perhaps on our front page slideshow.
13. Golf. Nothing to report as yet on the 2014 event. Mr. Bentley had earlier advised that the outstanding debt of £495.00 had recently been settled, thus completing the 2013 account.
14. Annual Dinner. Mr. Rogers advised that as the dinner had been moved into the month of May there were no actions required until the New Year.
Any other Business. Mr. Rogers had visited Mrs. Armstrong and received a box of papers from the late Michael Armstrong (former treasurer and trustee). The box contained copies of past accounts and general correspondence. Mr. Bentley noted that the box also contained papers relating to investments owned by the association. It was decided to keep documents of interest and dispose of the remainder. Mr. Toulson offered to take appropriate documents to lodge with the association archives held in the library of the University of Leeds. This would be sometime in the New Year. There being no further business Mr. Kibler closed the meeting.
……………………………………………President. ……………….. Date