Here as promised is the update on proceedings. Our Dispute Document has been checked out by the Lawyers and we have been given the go ahead.  Our Dispute was emailed and hand delivered to the Mayor & MM on 17th Aug. Click here to read covering letter.

Click here to Read DISPUTE DOCUMENT.

Click here for appendix 6

Click here for addendum 8.

Click here for addendum 33.

Click here to view the gallery of pictures presented for dispute.

As mentioned in our last email, everyone that plans on participating in the dispute, needs to lodge individual Dispute Forms.  Click here for Individual Dispute Form (remember to mention all your erf numbers that will be included in withholding rates) – fill it in and fax or email it back to Paddy contact@sfbresidents.org or fax 042 294 1228.  These forms will be kept until 1st December and if the Municipality have not acceded to our demands by then, we will lodge these Disputes and start withholding rates.

Click here for Questions and Answers.  Please be sure to read this, as it will most probably answer all your questions.  Remember that the SFB Residents Association will cover the cost of interdicts to force the Municipality to re connect electricity ( if they cut you off)  from our War Fund, but this will only be applicable for paid up members.

Click here for those who do not wish to participate in the dispute.  We will be posting information to all those that do not reply, so if you do not intend participating and do not want to receive unwanted mail, please fill in your details. Depending on how many Ratepayers participate, we will be able to start making a difference in St. Francis Bay.

For all those that do not respond, we will send the details via the post. Details of the bank account to be used, will be sent out in the next bulk mail.

Once again I would like to encourage everyone to fill in a form requesting to pay their rates monthly, so that you will easily be able to withhold rates come January. Click here to get form to pay rates monthly.  Fill in and email to contact@sfbresidents.org or fax to 042 294 1228. I will then submit these forms to the relevant person at the Municipality.

You will notice with your new account that the factor has now gone up from .0035 in 2009 to .0037.  This is the reason that we encouraged everyone to make sure that their valuations were correct. The time has come to ensure that these higher rates are working for us.

Click here for comments and answers from Ratepayers.

Click here for Paid up Members
Click here for War Fund Contributors

Nuclear

The National Nuclear Regulator has a team coming down to St. Francis Bay for discussions with the Thyspunt Alliance.  We will update you on any progress emanating from this meeting.

Security

There has been a spike in House Breaking recently and crime generally, and we would encourage you all to be vigilant and to join Neighbourhood Watch.

Regards,
Paddy.

We would like to thank you for all your hard work and dedication. Hopefully this will encourage change.

Regards

Mike and Pam Almendro
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The whole web site is very impressive, as is the work on the beach. I do, however, have an itch I have to scratch: the unit of length is the “metre”. It could be that your webmaster has an American dictionary, as it is incorrectly spelled, “meter” consistently throughout.

Mike Inggs.
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Dear Paddy,
Thank you for your latest ‘Rate Payers’info.

I have picked up the following quote in the Caravan and Outdoor Life magazine which may be of interest,

Quote from Lyyn & Kate Findlay,Walkerville.

” The people take such pride in their town (Oudtshoorn) , and it was interesting to hear that it is run by the ratepayers not the council. This should happen in more towns, as the money is well spent and every penny accounted for “  !!!!.

I apologise if this in fact already known.

Best wishes,
Barry Wild
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What will happen if the municipality takes up the challenge & litigates against our action to withhold rates? What costs will incur & who will be responsible?

Geoff & Erica Knight
5 Laura Rd
St Francis Bay
6312
Tel       (042) 294-1021
Cell Erica (082) 261-1329
Cell Geoff (076)017-6445

Hi Geoff  and Erica thanks for the e-mail. The chance of the KM litigating against ratepayers is extremely remote. Any ratepayer has the right to declare a dispute and until such time as the dispute is resolved the KM is not able to apply credit control measures. The intension is to sit around a table in order to get our very serious issues addressed. This unfortunately is uncomfortable for certain officials who have been implicated in activities. As such they would try to discourage any real investigation into a host of the issues that have been tabled.

A process like this takes time to unfold and we as ratepayers will be able to decide on strategies as we go along. Being part of the National Taxpayers Union, the NTU and their lawyers will step into the breach should it be required. Currently 41 towns across South Africa have declared disputes with their Municipalities and as of date not one of the Municipalities has decided to litigate as they are well aware that the issues, like ours are very real and valid. Litigation would compel Municipalities to expose tender documents, personal ties with construction companies, nepotism etc. etc.

As a Ratepayers Association we are well aware that it would be far easier to ignore what is happening to our funds and let the rot continue but on principle we have decided to draw a line in the sand and force the Municipality to address these issues. The press is on our side as well as many of out neighboring towns. Ideally we would want to have a great relationship with our council but unfortunately it appears as if they are more inclined to look after their own personal interests rather that the interests of the communities they are supposed to be serving.

Geoff the SFBRA would never expect all of the residents to join in the withholding of rates but we do expect that many of us would and to date we have had many volunteers who are willing to assist us in the very challenging job of administration of funds, service delivery (only if necessary), emergency services etc.

Thanks so much for the interest shown.
Best Regards,
Joe Oosthuizen.
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I would like to know if being a CSF resident precludes us from the SFB Residents Ass Municipal dispute.

Thanks for all your hard work
Verna and John Hanley

Thanks for the e-mail. Verna at this stage only St Francis Bay residents have declared a dispute but we foresee that other towns will decide to join in the dispute at a later date. We are moving into unchartered waters and I am sure that we will pick up valuable info during the next few months that we will be sharing with other towns. The admin and other service delivery issues we hope to sort out fairly quickly and unless the KM gets its house in order we will advise other towns to join us in withholding rates.

We will keep you all informed. Thanks again for your show of support.
Regards,
Joe Oosthuizen.
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Hi Paddy,
Most interesting reading your minutes are. Here’s hoping that the proposed actions will result in positive outcomes.
I have a few issues and maybe you can direct me as to who I can forward the jist of this to:
1. I was horrified to find that I had to pay over R900 for my 2nd boat licence the other day (in my case this is a jet ski) I am not allowed to use the jet ski on the river so can only putt out of the canals into the ski canal and out to sea where I mostly fish. Where does the R930 come from and for what? This is gross exploitation as I see it and a serious rip off. Were I not so law abiding I would not have licensed the jet ski and simply have used it. I will not pay this ridiculous licence fee again.
2. The End canal in which I reside has not been dredged for 10 years as is my understanding. My jetty is high and dry at low tides, is unusable and requires continual maintenance ongoing as a result. A year or so back I paid Brett Firth to dredge the area around my jetty with limited success. How can we live on a marina and have this sort of thing?
3) I fill the potholes in the vicinity of my house, maintain my own verges, have manufactured my own Spray Ave and Moby Dick Wharf road signs, all of which have again been vandalised (one of the poles has been completely broken off this time. Who is doing this?) and so I can go on. What begs the answer is simply what does this municipality actually do to justify the rates that we pay. Massive rates by comparison as well.
Your assistance would be appreciated.
Kind regards
Alan Orchard
21 Spray Ave
Erf 1446

Hi Alan,

That is exactly the reason that we have called a dispute, because we are fed up with all this exploitation.  You issue re licenses and dredging, I will forward to Bennie Morsink and ask him to get back to you.  I know they have had people dredging the canal recently.

Regards,

Paddy.
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Gr8 work Joe and Paddy!
Kind Regards,
D.G. (Tich) Robb,
Chief Executive,
Stansfield Motors Limited,
P.O. Box 45,
Blantyre. Malawi.
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Please remember that if you withhold your rates and you are planning to sell your property the municipality will not give you a clearance certificate.  In essence this means that the attorneys will not be able to hand in all the documentation needed at the deeds office for a transfer.

So if you are planning to sell you should keep on paying.

Willie Groenewald.

Hi Willie,

Thanks for that.  If you read the section on Questions and Answers in our email, we did cover this.  As has been done elsewhere, anyone who plans on selling or has sold their property, simply notify the Residents Association and their portion of rates gets paid over to the Municipality who then issues the rates clearance.

Regards,

Paddy
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Our Public Meeting of 23rd July was very well attended and all were in favour of Declaring a Dispute with the Municipality and withholding Rates, barring one person. Click here to read the Minutes. I have been holding back on this email so as to include the Dispute Notice, but it is still with 2 sets of Attorneys for review, so I thought I would just keep you posted anyway. Given the list of demands (lengthy audits etc) submitted we were advised to give adequate time within which the Municipality could respond.  We have given the KM until 1st December to rectify the situation and if this does not materialise, we will start withholding rates as from 1st January 2011.  The Dispute process requires a full Dispute Notice from the Residents Association as well as an individual Dispute by all those planning on taking part in the action.  As soon as we have the go ahead from the Attorneys, we will send out another email with details of the Main Dispute and Individual Dispute Documents.

It is vital that all those who pay annually for their rates, arrange for monthly payments, so that when we start withholding rates, you can come on board.  Click here for form to change to monthly payments. Fill in this form and either email it to the address on the form, or fax it to Paddy on 042 294 1228, and I will get it to the right person.

The withheld rates will go into a Special Account and will be used to address outstanding issues in the village, such as roads, beach repair, mowing verges etc.  All Residents will still be paying electricity, water, sewerage and refuse removal to the Municipality.  The Municipality may however try to cut lights and water off, but an interdict to force them to re connect can be obtained.  The cost of these interdicts, will be covered by the War Fund which you have all been contributing to.

For those who may be concerned about this move, 40 Towns across South Africa are withholding rates very successfully at the moment even though there has not yet been a Legal Ruling on the matter. The first Metro on the East Rand, has now also declared a dispute.  We have tried every other option open to us to persuade the Municipality not to squander our funds, but to no avail.  The time has come to stand up and be counted.  Unless we fight for our rights, we will get the Municipality that we deserve.
Click here for relevant Questions and Answers. This should address any concerns that you might have.

If you have any other concerns, please contact Joe or Paddy contact@sfbresidents.org or 042 294 1689 or 072 17 15 109 (Joe) 082 426 5060 (Paddy)

Please email us with your comments and we will post them on the website.

Residents were wonderful in pledging support to help run the town.  We have volunteers to cover each category which is fantastic. Our thanks to all these people.

On the Nuclear front, the Thyspunt Alliance have done fantastic work in dissecting the Specialist Reports and finding huge flaws in them.  This should keep Arcus Gibb busy for some considerable time trying to sort through that. Wind Farms are also receiving a lot of attention.
We would however like to stress that the St. Francis Bay Residents Association is not anti Nuclear or Wind Farms, we are just apposed to the chosen sites.  Wind Farms in principle are a good thing, but they need to be positioned well and limited in numbers.

The good news, is that our Beach is doing wonderfully well.  It is now possible to walk the entire Beach even during most high tides.

The Democratic Alliance is having their AGM on Thursday 12th August at The Golf Club at 6pm
For those members of our community who are unhappy with the current ANC lead Council, and  want to see a change, the DA would like to see you at this meeting.

The Appeal hearings are still ongoing.  I was told by Peter Gerber, that he is awaiting dates from the Appeal Board, for the next sitting and then he will be able to get back to those who have not as yet been given a date.  Please drop me an email if you have not yet heard, so that I can send Peter Gerber a comprehensive list of people still waiting for a hearing date. contact@sfbresidents.org

Click here for paid up Members
Click here for War Fund Contributions
Click here for Membership Form

Sandals Guest House is having a special for Women’s Day.  Click here to view.

House for Rent:
3 Bedroom, 2 Bathroom Retirement Home in Jeffreys Bay available to rent at R4000 pm. Within a secure Retirement Village that has Frail Care on the premises. For more details contact Paddy 042 294 1689 or 082 426 5060.

I have interview a young man called Thembelani Mayoli who speaks beautiful English and Afrikaans and is urgently looking for any sort of employment.  He matriculated at Nico Malan High School and spent a year at Nelson Mandela University, studying Human Resource Management until his funds ran out.  He has a basic knowledge of computers and should anyone be able to offer him employment, please be in touch with Paddy at 042 294 1689 or 082 426 5060.

Regards,

Paddy.

Q:  If you declare a dispute with the Municipality, does that mean we automatically withhold rates?

A: No. The Dispute is delivered to the Municipality and includes our demands. We then give them until 1^st December to respond and rectify the issues.  If this does not happen by 1^st December, we then start withholding rates as from 1^st January 2011.

Q: Does the SFBRA lodge a dispute on behalf of all Ratepayers in St. Francis Bay?

A: Yes the SFBRA does lodge a dispute on behalf of all Ratepayers, but each Ratepayer also has to lodge an individual dispute. These forms appear in our email as a click and must be filled in signed and faxed back to us.

Q: Will we be notified should the Municipality not abide by our demands?

A: Yes you will all be informed via email, sms or post, after the deadline of 1^st December.

Q: What section of our Municipal Account will be withheld.

A: All property rates and environmental levies would be paid into a Special Account in the name of SFB Residents Association.  You would pay Electricity availability and consumption, Water availability and consumption, Refuse removal and sewerage levy over to the Municipality

Q: Can the Municipality cut off our electricity and water.

A: Legally the Municipality cannot cut off water and also cannot cut off electricity if you are paying that over to them.  They may however try to do this. Should this happen, it must immediately be reported to the SFBRA and an interdict will be obtained to have it re connected. The cost of this interdict will be covered by the War Fund to which residents have been contributing.

Q: Can the Municipality attach my house for not paying rates.

A: In all of the 40 towns and many of them have been doing this for 2 years now, this has never ever happened.

Q: If I want to sell my property and are withholding rates, how do I get a rates clearance.

A: You contact the SFBRA and the rates relevant to the said property will be paid over to the Municipality in order to secure a rates clearance.

Q: How do you propose to use the funds which will be paid into the Special Account.

A: We will use these funds to mow verges, fix pot holes and other services.  We will however be careful not to spend too much money so as to have the rates available to ratepayers who need rates clearances.

Q: Will your books be audited and available for inspection.

A: Yes our books will be audited and will be available for inspection by an Appointed Municipal Official and all of those Ratepayers who are withholding rates and paying into said account.

Q: Will you be employing staff to do the services which you plan on taking over.

A: We will be outsourcing all of these services.  Tenders will be advertised and we will make use of predominantly local companies. The provision of tenders will be that staffing of companies comprise of predominantly local people (those from Sea Vista).

Q: Does everyone have to take part in the Dispute in order for it to proceed.

A: No, not everyone is obliged to participate.  It is the experience in other towns that have gone to Dispute, that a small percentage of people participate and when they see that things are getting done, more and more people come on board.

Q: Who will effectively be running the village?

A: The SFBRA along with several volunteers who have undertaken to assist us.

MINUTES OF ST. FRANCIS RESIDENTS ASSOCIATION PUBLIC MEETING

23^RD JULY 6PM AT VILLAGE HALL

PRESENT:

Committee Members viz: Joe Oosthuizen, Hilton Thorpe, Bennie Morsink, Tony Moore, Chris Barratt, Anne. Knight, Keith & Shelley Donaldson, Warren Manser and Paddy Oosthuizen

Councillors: Ben Rheeder

Estimated  public attendance 200

WELCOME:

—        Importance of keeping Residents informed.

—        There are a few important issues that need to be discussed but the focus will be on:

—        Declaration of Dispute with the Kouga Municipality

—        Nuclear

—        Other Matters:

—        Beach Update

MATTERS TO CONSDER IF DISPUTE IS DECLARED:

—        Have Ratepayers tried all other alternatives?

—        Have Residents got grievances to justify withholding rates?

—        What is the legality of this move?

—        Are any other Civic Assocs. withholding rates?

—        What do we hope to achieve?

—        How will ratepayers manage this move?

—        How would the withheld funds be utilized?

—        How long would this action last?

—        How will this move impact residents?

—        Who would be prepared to help?

MUNICIPAL MATTERS (PRIOR LIST) – FIRST KM & FEKRRA  MEETING

—        Implementation of a Dispute Resolution Mechanism

—        Complaints Handling by Kouga Municipality

—        FEKRRA Matters

—        Residents Complaints

—        Participation in the Budgeting Process

—        Rectification of the flawed Valuations process

—        The release of the latest Auditor Generals Report

—        Improving Transparency of Tender Process

—        Hydrological Survey of Kouga Region

—        Fire Protection and Plot clearing

—        Clarification of sales of eight erven in Jeffries Bay

—        Recouping of missing Eskom prepaid meters money

—        The KM’s proposed Newspaper

—        Unsatisfactory Disciplinary Hearings

—        The unresolved saga of Japie Jansen and Fred Dennis

—        Most of these issues remain unresolved

HAVE RATEPAYERS TRIED ALL OTHER ALTERNATIVES

—        We have exhausted our options and matters do not seem to be improving.

—        Letters and reports to KM.

—        The use of FEKRRA to highlight grievances.

—        The Use of the Press.

—        Letters to the Treasury Department, the Auditor General and the Public Protector.

—        Letters to the MEC.

—        A Facilitated Workshop where we made use of Christo Nel a Nationally renowned facilitator.

—        FEKRRA follow up meetings.

HAVE RESIDENTS GOT SERIOUS ENOUGH GRIEVANCES TO JUSTIFY WITHHOLDING RATES?

—        Millions of Rand have been wasted or disappeared from  Municipal Coffers. (AG Report)

—        The promise by the KM to address the way out of line Valuations has not materialized.

—        Ratepayers and Residents input into the budget has been totally ignored and no written reply on any of our inputs has been received.

—        The infrastructure of the town is being allowed to deteriorate. (Ineffectual Municipal Mgmt. Team).

—        There is no transparency in the budget.

—        None of Ratepayers offers to assist have been accepted. (Regarded as insignificant sector)

HOW LEGAL IS IT TO WITHHOLD RATES?

—        Rates are being withheld by forty towns across South Africa in some cases for as long as two years. Currently the legality of this has not been tested in court.

—        It is not legal to impose a rates boycott but rates have successfully been withheld from Municipalities in Trust or holding accounts. The details of these monies are supplied to the Municipalities monthly.

—        If Ratepayers pay their Service Fees (eg electricity, water and sewerage) the Municipality has no legal right to cut off these services. (But they try to).

—

WHAT DO WE HOPE TO ACHIEVE?

—        Better service delivery and corruption free local government. This should reflect in the AG’s report

—        A transparent understandable budget where ratepayers inputs have been taken into account.

—        Non political appointments within Local Government so that our Municipality has the capacity to provide better, cost efficient service delivery.

—        We would like the gross irregularities and misappropriation of funds addressed in a decisive manner. Officials must be held accountable for their areas of responsibility.

—        Residents would like to be seen as a resource and utilized as such.

—        That proper valuations get done across Kouga.

WHAT RATEPAYERS AND RESIDENTS ARE DEMANDING

– DEADLINE 1 DECEMBER 2010.

—        Honest and efficient local administrators who are qualified to do their jobs. (See 2009 Report on State of Local Govt. in South Africa by Dept. of Cooperative Governance & Traditional Affairs).

“Insufficient human and financial capacity to deliver on constitutional and legal mandates and on citizen expectations”.

“Too many opportunities for fraud & corruption to take place. Nepotism, Cronyism, Poor ethics, Poor values, Weak accountability frameworks. Political factionalism results in territorial economic elites”.

—        A full independent forensic audit be done on the affairs of the KM.

—        That the current CFO be removed from office. – He does not enjoy the confidence of the local community, does not allow participation by civics and does not look after the interests of Ratepayers. The Sundays River Municipality where the CFO comes from is in turmoil.

—        That a life style audit of the financial affairs of the Mayor, his cousin Fred Dennis and the CFO be undertaken.

—        That the inputs that were submitted by Ratepayer Associations be accommodated in the budget.

—        That all valuations that are 33% over or undervalued compared to last time be re-assessed (as promised by the Mayor)

—        That the total Salaries and wage component of the budget be reduced to no more than 35%.

—        That the shortcomings in our infrastructure be addressed in transparent systematic way.

—        That the key recommendations of the AG’s report be implemented with immediate effect.

HOW WILL RATEPAYERS MANAGE THIS ACTION?

—        With difficulty but it may well be worth the effort.

—        We would need to take care of at least the following:

—        The admin of the rates payments and submitting a record of monies in our own rates account to the KM monthly.

—        The calling for tenders, the adjudication of tenders and the awarding of tenders. The monitoring of progress and payment of contractors. (Nothing bars us from using KM approved contractors but they will have to go through the tender process).

—        Communication with the KM and Province.

—        Possible legal actions.

HOW WILL THIS MOVE IMPACT RESIDENTS?

—        Threats

—        Attempts to stop supply of Electricity

—        Periodic disruption of services if we are not organized

HOW WOULD THE WITHHELD FUNDS BE USED?

—        To build up the infrastructure in St Francis Bay and Sea Vista.

—        Sewage works capacity

—        Roads

—        Street signs

—        Beach facility upgrades

—        Cutting of verges

—        Town maintenance

—        Accounting and administration

HOW LONG WOULD THIS ACTION LAST?

—        Until such time that the KM agrees to our legitimate demands and provides us with firm measurable undertakings. These undertakings must be on the go so that ratepayers can see that these undertakings are simply not empty promises as in the past.

WHO WOULD BE PREPARED TO VOLUNTEER TO ASSIST?- About 30 people volunteered

Questions from the Floor:

Does everyone have to participate and if not what percentage makes it viable?

JO – We can start with small numbers, this obviously diminishes the chance of making an impact if we do not have a large fund to use. Sannieshof started with only 20% of the residents withholding rates and now have 80% plus withholding.

Q- If one is selling a property, you need a rates clearance certificate and if we withhold rates we will not get this, how do you propose to handle this.

JO – We did discuss this with NTU and in cases like that we would simply pay over any rates withheld to the Municipality for that particular individual so that the clearance is given.

Q- From St. Francis Chronicle. Are any of the other FEKRRA towns also considering withholding rates.

JO –Not at this stage.  St. Francis Bay is the most organized of all the towns and has the largest membership. They may well follow suite later on.

The Meeting was asked for a show of hands for those in favour of Declaring a Dispute and those against.

Of the approximately 170 people present, 169 were in favour and 1 was opposed.

A bulk email is to be sent out to all out of town residents informing of this action.

NUCLEAR

Progress Report on Thyspunt

—        Formation of Thyspunt Alliance.

—        Acknowledgement to Trudi Malan and Helmie Tilders for initiative, to Cheron Kraag for a major donation, and to other donors

—         Engagement of leading environmental lawyer, Cormac Cullinan, by the Thyspunt Alliance.

—         Responses to the First Draft EIA  submitted to Arcus Gibb by the closing date of 30^th June.  Details on Residents’ Assocn website: www.sfbresidents.org

—        Numerous errors, omissions and superficialities in specialist reports, and evidence of bias by consultant.

—        Serious problems identified with Thyspunt site, plus failure to investigate alternatives.

—         Confusion over technology – Generation 111.

—         Heritage component now being pursued by Koi-San community, with support from Dr Jan Binneman.

—        Chokka Industry ignored.

—         2^nd draft promised by Arcus Gibb.

—         EIA in total disarray, but Eskom carrying on regardless.

—         Protest march in Jeffreys Bay last Saturday. Well attended.       Mayor undertook to meet Alliance to discuss problem areas.

Have probably won the latest skirmish, but huge political pressure, and war certainly not won

ST FRANCIS BEACH PROJECT

- New high In July

—        The volume of the sand on the beach had doubled since the project was started some twenty months ago. (41.8 to 84.4 thousand Cub meters).

—        During this period the average beach height has risen by just over 26.9 cm

—        The weakest area along the spit “the narrows”, has improved dramatically. In November 2008 the average beach level in this area was only 7.3 cm. Currently the ave. beach level in this area is 37.5 cm.

—        SIC have doubled the number of vertical drains along the beach and it appears as if the trend of improvement will continue.

Sandvolume
St. Francis Bay

2600 Metres long and 60 Metres width

Analysis

Apologies    H. Thorpe (HT), T. Moore (TM), A. Cadman (AC), M. Simms (MS), A. Knight (AK),

Welcome     JO welcomed all present especially Eddie Elton (Civil Ing.) who has just completed an inspection of all the bridges in St. Francis Bay.

Approval of minutes of March, 2010 meeting
The minutes, were approved. (BM & JO).

Presentation by Eddie Elton.

• Thorough investigation of all the bridges in St. Francis was done.
• All bridges needed routine maintenance, but the Bridge on Canal Road leading to Shore Road was of grave concern. The supporting structure is corroding and will need quite a bit of work. EE advised that this be taken up with the Municipal Authorities asap to ensure that repairs are done to prevent a serious accident.
• The full presentation with pictures is available from Joe Oosthuizen.

Finance

• Current Account balance at R74,525.70 and Stanlib at R165, 378.55
• It was noted that several Residents had queried subscription payments not being reflected in the paid up list. It was felt that urgent attention be given to sorting these problems out and that they be updated regularly.

Services – Bennie Morsink

• Nothing to report.

Beach

• JO reported that the Beach was looking good.  A few pipes were exposed, but Neil Brent was to re-insert them on 25th June.
• The sand being dredged in the canals will be dumped on the beach accesses where there has been some erosion.
• Volume of sand according to the last survey is 75,000 m³. Next survey middle of July.
• The Golf Course has been asked to re-enforce their windbreaks.

Nuclear

• CB reported that and extension for submissions has been allowed until 30th June.
• Submissions from the RA, KT and Fosters have been sent and the appointed Attorneys will take the matter further.
• When the St Francis Kromme Trust asked Arcus Gibb for the minutes of the Specialist Reports where they decided on the rating to be given to certain criteria, they were informed that they would have to access this through  “Access to Information”, which they will do.
• CB reported that HT had met with the Director General of Dept. Energy, who is to visit the area.
• HT was told that the Government were not able to afford Generation 3 Technology and that Thyspunt was more than likely going to be Generation 2 Technology.  The EIA however has been done for Generation 3 Technology and would probably be invalid.
• BM reported that sea and land surveys were being conducted in the area.
• JO stated that The Kouga Xpress featured a number of articles opposed to Thyspunt.
• BR also reported that the community of Oyster Bay were now more opposed to Thyspunt than before, since they have discovered that no Insurance Company will insure for Nuclear Related Accidents.
• CB also wanted it noted that the Kouga Municipality never attend stake holders meetings, but it appears that they hold private meetings with Eskom and Arcus Gibb.

Municipal Issues

• JO reported that since the Mediated Workshop was held with the Municipality, only one meeting has been held. None of the undertakings at that meeting have been honoured. In fact the Municipality emailed their Minutes of the Meeting with Undertakings and Deadlines but still no action.
• After several requests for another meeting, JO reported that they scheduled a meeting for 24th June and then promptly changed it to 1st and then to 7th July.
• BM recommended that a communicae be sent out to the Residents suggesting that a dispute be declared with the KM and that Rates are withheld.
• It was agreed that all the homework  be done in order to get the systems in place, so that once we have the mandate, we can speedily proceed.

Ward Matters

• BR reported that a Safe House has been secured for use in Sea Vista. Funding is needed to furnish it, which BR is looking into.
• The new Ward Boundaries have been Gazetted. BR is pleased that his recommendations have been included. SFB will now be Ward 12.
• A Log Cabin has been erected for the Sea Cadets in Sea Vista at the Bus Stop.
• The casting of Street Blocks is a work in progress and needs to be fine tuned.
• BR said that R1 Million was allocated by the Municipality towards Big Screen Viewing Sites, but that Sea Vista was excluded.

Canals

• Dredging is almost complete.
• A  Meeting was held to discuss the purchase of a dredger, but it was agreed that this would be delayed given that dredging only needs to happen again next year.
• The Riparian Committee is investigating building their own dredger.

Aesthetics

• CB reported that they have had complaints about the issuing of Tax Clearance Certificates, but this will only be issued if the dwelling complies with the plans lodged.
• EIAs are to be done for any building or alteration which is within 100 metres of the ocean. This applies to owners in the Estuary and the Tidal Zone.
• RA to get clarification if this regulation is to apply to Canal Homeowners as well. CB to send a letter to KM.
• The cost of a basic EIA is approx. R15,000.00. The Ward Committee also need to be notified about all EIAs.
• Specifications for a Thatch Tile by Harvey Tile was sent to the Aesthetics Committee, however this was turned down. KM to inform them in writing.
• Occupation Approval for a house in Borrie Bend to be raised at the next  aesthetics meeting and if necessary followed up with a  letter sent to KM (by CB).
• CB reported that at the Aesthetics Committee Meetings, those who have an interest in Projects Presented for approval, are asked to recluse themselves from the decision making process.
• BR reported that the SFB Building Regulations, have not yet been promulgated.  There are certain legal issues still being dealt with by the municipality.
• JO to send a letter to the Mayor requesting that the SFB Building Regulations be finalised as soon as possible.

Tourism

• BR reported that the present system is not working and that plans are being put in place to rectify this.

Fire Protection

• KD reported that at his last meeting with the Fire Department in Humansdorp , he was assured that funding would be made available in the new Financial Year (starting in July 2010) for a Fire Station in SFB. The plan was to have 8 retained Fire Fighters and 2 Officers controlling it.
• The Kouga Municipality wanted complete control and were not interested in a partnership with the Residents.
• The Residents who had volunteered money for the project, were also not interested in donating money towards equipment if the Municipality had control of it.  They were of the opinion that it could easily be moved and used elsewhere.
• KD is planning a Fire Awareness week to educate Residents. Notification to be put on the website.

Valuations

• PO reported that JO and PO attended a meeting with the Appeal Board, where opportunity was given to state the case of the Residents of Kouga and SFB in particular.
• The Mayor had promised that a Residents Committee could be formed to assist the Appeal Board and act on behalf of some of the Residents.  This never happened and when this was explained to the Appeal Board, they stated that application for this had been made to Bisho but it had not yet been approved.  It was agreed that to implement such a Committee at this late stage would only delay the process, and was thus not viable.
• JO presented a very strong case to the Appeal Board i.r.o. the sub standard job done by the valuer and asked that the Residents be given the benefit of the doubt.
• PO pointed out that several Residents who had followed the process were not scheduled to appear before the board.  The Board stated that anyone who had lodged an Appeal would be given a hearing, even if they did not represent themselves, this would be done in their absence.
• JO also asked what process was in place to deal with Valuations that were either 33% over valued or 33% undervalued even if no Appeal had been lodged. The Board stated that this was outside of their mandate and this should be taken up with the Municipality.
• When asking Peter Gerber (representing the KM) how this was to be done, he said that the Municipality did not have the capacity to do this.
• JO pointed out that the Mayor had ensured that this would be done.

General

• JO asked Chris Barratt whether he would consider joining the RA as a permanent member as it was felt by all,  that he makes a very valuable contribution.

Date for next meeting 29th July at the Heritage Centre at 5pm.

We have had some welcome rains and are holding thumbs that our dams start filling up.

Valuations

Appeals have begun and again I urge that you make sure that you feature on the list if you have lodged an Appeal. Click here for an update on a meeting with the Appeal Board Members.

Nuclear

• Our heartfelt thanks are to go to the Thyspunt Alliance who have put in hours and hours of work and have done a fantastic job, and along with the Attorney who has been appointed, we hope to succeed. This however all comes at a price.

• The Supertubes  Surfing Foundation who is a member of the Thyspunt Alliance, has set up an SMS number to enable folks to donate money towards our Legal Expenses. To donate R10 sms the word SUPERTUBES to 38665.   I hope you all saw Carte Blanche on 25th June where Trudi Malan featured
• Click here to view a summary of  submission lodged by the Alliance
• Click here  to view submission by Legal Representative
• Click here to view comments by Hilton
• The “NO NUKE AT THYSPUNT” march will happen on Saturday 17 July 2010 at 9.30 a.m. opposite Billabong Factory shop – to march to the Municipal building between 10.15 and 10.30 a.m.  We need as many people as possible there to create the biggest impact possible. Please wear yellow or black.  Everybody can bring their placards, SA flag and vuvuzelas and and make a noise!

FEKRRA

Yet again the Municipality have not honoured commitments made to FEKRRA.  Click here for unanswered questions.  Click here for Minutes of last meeting with KM. These questions are going to be re-asked for the 3rd time at a meeting scheduled with the Municipal Manager on 19th July.

IMPORTANT

A Public Meeting will be held on Friday 23rd July at 18h00 at the Village Hall (to accommodate PE property owners) to discuss unresolved issues with the Municipality and possible action to address this, to include declaration of a dispute, withholding of rates and taking over the Management of certain aspects of the town.  The SFBRA feel that this is a huge but beneficial step, but in order to make this happen, we need support from the community.  We need at least 10 people who are prepared to get involved and assist in running the village.  This is a huge amount of work and cannot be done by a few members of the committee. Tenders will be sought and everything will be outsourced, but a Management Team will be needed to take the decisions and do some administration work.  Supervisors will also be required to check on the contractors. If we do not get the support of the Residents to assist in this matter, then all attempts to try and get the Municipality to improve service will be stopped, as it would then be seen as a pointless exercise.

Click here to read The Minutes.
Click here for Paid up Subs
Click here for War Fund Contributors
Click here for Membership Renewal.

General – Thanks

Our thanks go to Eddie Elton who has just done an Engineering Survey on all the bridges in St. Francis Bay. His findings were that the bridge on Canal Road towards Shore Road, was in serious need of maintenance.  This has been reported to KM. A complete review of the bridges is available from Joe at The Chem-Dry SA offices.

Thanks also go to the Resident on Ralph Rd who has personally paid for the repair and tarring of that section of Ralph Road. This is just another indicator, that Ratepayers are fed up waiting for the Municipality to do their jobs.

Thanks go to the Eltons as well as The Links for the wonderful job they are doing on The Community Garden.  It is looking great.

Click here for some delightful pictures of Tessa (from Sandals) and the children taken at the recent Show Jumping Competition .

Tanya Loots’ Self Catering Unit is the latest to be listed on our Tourism Section click here for more details. http://www.thetinshack.co.za

Orchid to St. Francis Glass for excellent and prompt service.