MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE MISTY CLIFFS VILLAGE ASSOCIATION HELD AT THE SCARBOROUGH COMMUNITY HALL, ON 3 APRIL 2005.

1. WELCOME:
The Chairman welcomed all present and in particular Councilor Nicki Holderness and Graham Noble, Chairman of Scarborough Ratepayers' Association.

2. APOLOGIES:
Jorje Pringle; Andy Rush; Tony & Shirley Turner; Brian Marsh; Ansie Eastes

3. PRESENT:
Jonathan Schrire; Doug & Barbara Tunbridge; Anni & Mike Lehr; Leon Morris; Tim Anderson; Lyn & Tony Mossop; Schalk Visser & Jose Gorgulho; Jeanne Maritz; Mr & Mrs Visser; Jeanne Rossouw

4. PROXIES:
Proxies were received from : Fussell; Du Toit; Turner; Marsh; Jon Kerr; Harris.

5. QUORUM:
The Chairman noted that in terms of the constitution the meeting had a quorum, being at least 25%, including proxies, of all paid up members of the Association.

6. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF PREVIOUS AGM 25 JULY 2004:
Proposed: Doug Tunbridge; Seconded: Tim Anderson. Unanimously accepted.

7. CHAIRMAN'S REPORT & RESOLUTIONS re Public Benefit Organisation:
The Chairman noted that in the interest of brevity he would not detail the various individual housing and other matters that the Committee had handled over the year, but concentrate on the two main issues facing Misty Cliffs: - the completion of the new roads project and the management of the building of new houses and their impact on the environment, both of which would be addressed in more detail during the meeting.

It had become necessary and prudent to register MCVA as a Public Benefit Organisation, so that it would not be subject to tax, and SARS required that the Constitution of PBO's included certain standard clauses. Tony Turner was in the process of arranging this with KPMG and establishing the wording of the changes to the Constitution. The following resolutions were put to the meeting and approved unanimously:

1. That the Committee be authorised to amend the MCVA Constitution in order to comply with the requirements of the Income Tax Act so that MCVA may apply to be registered as a Public Benefit Organisation the income of which is not taxable.
2. That such alterations be circulated to all members once they have been made.

8. The Chairman then introduced Cllr Nicki Holderness:

1. LOCAL GOVT elections were coming up, probably early December 2005, which meant that many issues were being postponed until after the elections and others which had been approved in principle might not be implemented before the elections. The Council Budget had been increased from R11bn last year to R17bn this year, but the N2 Gateway Housing project would be absorbing much of the extra funds. It was not yet known what would happen to the surplus Electricity Fund money.
2. Housing arrears (rates etc) were increasing by R70m per month. Housing and school projects in Masipumelele and in Dido valley were being proposed, and this raised expectation of housing delivery, which might not be met. There were serious doubts about the capacity of the SPM to cope with its various functions which meant that if communities wanted things done they had to drive these themselves.
3. Discussion of the Second Draft of the INTEGRATED ZONING SCHEME. The scheme relating to single residential areas permitted as of right two houses on one erf, three storey buildings, certain home businesses. Site coverage of buildings was increased to 60% of site for sites between 350 and 500 sq metres. No recognition was made of special rules relating to building in fire zones, nor of encouraging solutions to water shortages, such as storage tanks.
4. Certain areas had been mentioned as meriting SPECIAL OVERLAY ZONES, eg Fish Hoek, Simon's Town, etc., but not Misty Cliffs nor Scarborough. There was still great uncertainty how overlay zones would be imposed.

9. GRAHAM NOBLE was then invited to summarise the position relating to the creation of SPECIAL AREA STATUS for Misty Cliffs & Scarborough. The Draft Structure Plan put forward by Council had been rejected by Province. This means that after several years of work, in which Misty Cliffs and Scarborough jointly proposed Architectural Guidelines which recognized Special Area Status, these guidelines were not approved by Council. In short the likelihood of being recognized as a Special Area or Conservation Village looked remote at present.

In spite of the lack of formal recognition, most people building houses responded positively to the guidelines recommended by the residents' associations, and the Council generally required the associations approval of plans before the Council would consider plans.

It was AGREED after discussion that

1. MCVA & Scarborough should make input to the Draft Zoning Scheme and press for Special Overlay Zones to be imposed protecting their areas against some of the potentially harmful clauses in the Draft Integrated Zoning Scheme. Submissions needed to be made to the scheme by 11th MAY 2005.
2. The Guidelines already drawn up could be used as a basis, but the focus of our submissions needs to concentrate on general principles (like two houses on one erf, height limits, ie not three storeys, business activities) and not to become a detailed architectural manual.
3. The person at Council most involved is Ian MaClaren and then Chris Sullivan. It may be prudent to contact them to discuss such submissions.
4. In response to a question, Cllr Holderness advised that there are extensive procedures to follow before resorting to suing the Council to enforce action. In particular one needed to leave a paper trail, in which we record our approaches and requests. If one gets no results, one can then approach the Municipal Ombudsman and the Public Protector before taking legal action.

10. DOUG TUNBRIDGE then outlined the operation of the new process relating to APPROVAL OF NEW HOUSING PLANS AND CONTROL OVER BUILDING AND ENVIRONMENT.

a) Architectural Advisor: MCVA has hired an Architectural Advisor (AA), Gerrie van Tonder who lives in Scarborough, and who will scrutinize all new building plans. Brian Marsh has drawn up a detailed job specification. The AA will be paid out of the scrutiny fees levied on every new house in Misty Cliffs.

b) Environmental Control Officer: - In his report the Chairman had advised the meeting of a workshop in August 2004 in which a set of aims and objectives (vision) relating to the protection of the environment had been drafted by Doug Tunbridge and agreed by the Committee (only Ivan Harris disagreeing).

1. Accepted that all existing erven may be fully developed, but that the present township boundaries of Misty Cliffs should not be expanded, ie no increase in the present built envelope.
2. The areas surrounding Misty Cliffs should remain undeveloped.
3. Houses should be built in accordance with building regulations and Special Area Status guidelines.
4. All properties within Misty Cliffs should be accessible via a paved road.
5. All damage caused by road and house building should be rehabilitated and all gardens and un-built areas should be planted with indigenous vegetation (fynbos).

In response to these concerns MCVA has created a new position of Environmental Control Officer (ECO) whose job includes supervising and controlling new building work, seeing that builders do not unnecessarily damage the environment or neighbouring plots, ensuring that the roads are not damaged by builders, seeing that those responsible for maintaining the fire break do so, and encouraging the removal of alien vegetation. Copies of the ECO job description were made available to the meeting.

Tim Anderson has agreed to do the job of ECO and the Committee has agreed to pay him a nominal fee of R1000 per month for this. The job will require regular inspection and visits and few people know Misty Cliffs topography or the new road as well as Tim. Tim was thanked for agreeing to undertake this job.

The cost of paying for an ECO and managing Misty Cliffs in an increasingly professional way requires an increase in income. As a result the following resolutions were put to the meeting and passed unanimously:-

1. That the process relating to building plans approval and environmental monitoring and control, including the hiring of an ECO for R1000 per month, be approved; and
2. That the Annual Membership subscription for MCVA be increased to R300 per year effective immediately.

11. ROADS: The Chairman commenced by paying tribute to those who had been essential in driving the new roads project, especially Doug Tunbridge who headed the roads committee, and Tim Anderson who was project manager. Doug then gave an update on the roads position. ·

• The total cost of both phases will be in the order of R2.4 million. The First Phase probably cost the SPA around R1 million, significantly more than their budget of R700,000, largely because of problems with the contractor. ·
• The road was now being extended to the last two stands. Doug advised that these two owners who previously had no road access at all, paid twice the normal contribution (ie R81,000 each) plus the costs of the environmental report relating to this extension. A completion date of 7 May was now anticipated. ·
• Of the 44 owners who benefit from the road, 33 contributed (75%), - 25 in full and 8 partially. 11 owners made no contribution or did not fulfill their pledges. ·
• If two of the pledgers actually pay the amounts pledged, the full cost of the project should be covered. If not, there may be a shortfall of around R20,000. ·
• Doug paid tribute to Tim Anderson, whose on site knowledge as Project Manager enabled us to find another contractor (Jamaal Lodewyk) when the original Phase 1 contractor backed out of his contract; and to Andy Rush, our consulting engineer whose commitment to the project has gone beyond the bounds of duty; and to Jonathan Schrire for his support at critical times.

  12. TREASURER'S REPORT
  Lyn Mossop reported on the financial position of the Association, and copies of the Financial Statements for year ending 28 February 2005 were available. The net cash available to MCVA was approx R49,000 less the accountant's fee. The balance of cash was held by MCVA in trust for the DSTV scheme (see below).

  Last year 37 owners out of 61 paid their subs, which is not satisfactory. It was agreed to send an email trying to encourage more to subscribe, and at the same time inviting new people to join the Committee.

  13. DSTV:
  There were now 10 subscribers and 2 more potential. The scheme had not yet paid for the installation which was why there was so much of their money in the MCVA bank account.

  It was suggested that it would be preferable if the MCVA financial statements did not include the DSTV figures, and Lyn will discuss this with the accountant again. It was emphasized that the DSTV scheme although included under the MCVA, was run as a separate matter and all the costs were borne by DSTV money, and not by general MCVA money.

  Jonathan paid tribute to Lyn Mossop for the exemplary way in which she maintained the books and administration of the MCVA.

  Graham Noble raised the issue of baboon monitors and explained that the funding provided by Council, Parks Board and the recent pledge by National Dept of Environmental Affairs, was still not enough to cover the R500,000 pa which the monitors cost. Scarborough Ratepayers' Association contributes R7,500 pa to the monsters via pledges. It was pointed out that MCVA does not have sufficient funds to support this, and that perhaps individual residents need to be encouraged to contribute their own money. Agreed that this matter would be discussed at the next MCVA Committee meeting.

  14. ELECTION OF COMMITTEE:
  The following have declared themselves not available for re-election: Turners, Pringle, Schrire. An invitation was extended for nominations to join the Committee. Jeanne Maritz kindly agreed to stand. All those standing for election were elected with no objections.

  The Committee for the coming year therefore shall be

  1. Tim Anderson
  2. Anni Lehr
  3. Jeanne Maritz
  4. Brian Marsh
  5. Lyn Mossop
  6. Leon Morris
  7. Doug Tunbridge

  Jonathan recorded his appreciation of having worked over the last 7 years with the other committee members and thanked everybody for their friendship. Doug thanked Jonathan for his contribution on behalf of Misty Cliffs.

  Addendum - Saturday 1st April 2006

  Objections to MCVA AGM Minutes 3rd April 2005:

  Thank you, both Doug and Leon, for the time and effort spent with us discussing some important issues & principles pertaining to these Minutes.
  As we are unable to attend the AGM to be held Sunday 2nd April we would like to record the following:

  Point 10. b) "…..a set of aims and objectives (vision) relating to the protection of the environment had been drafted by Dough Tunbridge and agreed by the Committee (only Ivan Harris disagreeing)."

  Point 10. b) 2. " The areas surrounding Misty Cliffs should remain undeveloped."

  We request that the reference to Ivan be removed from the Minutes. The implication being that the conservation and restoration of the area is not of primary interest to him.
  We believe that our very active and expensive on-the-ground restoration of the area surrounding Misty Cliffs and beyond establishes our bona-fides. It also enhances the value financially & aesthetically of every property owner in both Misty Cliffs and Scarborough, as well as adding a unique element to their lifestyle: to a have access to a private fynbos reserve!

  Except for the sea-facing western boundary, the Misty Cliffs village is surrounded by land owned by the Baskloof Trust and is zoned Rural. This allows for certain statutory rights and is therefore in conflict with Point 10. b) 2 of the vision, which we are unable to subscribe to.

  We would like sincerely to thank the Committee and Chairman for all the commitment, effort & attention given to the many issues affecting our lives and property in Misty Cliffs.

  Sincerely,
  Ivan and Danielle Harris