Johns River

Full meeting minutes will be available online shortly

Proposed Resolutions

The AGM opened with the resolution of Joe Malvicino and Paul O'Brien, who wanted for the delegates to Council's 355 committee to remain there until the mission of the committee was completed.   The membership present voted and the motion was passed.

There was then a lengthy 20 minute run-down of the rule changes which the Management Committee proposed for the Association.   Ten of the 11 changes were accepted, the only exception being the powers of the president.

Officer Reports

The President opened the reports section with a brief run-down of history of achievement, including how our voices have been heard in many circles, and how we have built the association, both in paperwork and reputation in the short months since incorporation.  Read the full President's Report here

The Treasurer, Chris Bawn, then reported on the finanacial background and current status of the association, the full Treasurer's Report is here.     Members were also presented with a brief report on the website from the Media Officer.

The Vote!

The committee was dissolved and Councillor Richard Wilson chaired the meeting and managed the voting process.   Ballots were handed out to all members, with additional ballots for all offices also given to those holding proxies for members unable to attend.

Once all had marked their ballots, Councillor Wilson oversaw the impartial scrutineers, who laboriously went through the ballots to ensure an accurate count.   The actual votes were then announced and all members cheered in the new committee.

The Year Ahead

Re-elected President Glen Ferrero then resumed the meeting chair and walked the members through roughly two dozen issues, from water management, road construction, the village history, to broadband availability, 355 committee delegates, the hall grounds and trustees, and other plans for the future.

Meet and Greet

And, just like at the end of every good meeting, everyone stood around, chatted and met the new and re-elected committee members.   The Management Committee collected some great new ideas, and really got a feel for who wanted what, why and when!

Recent Reports:

The President's AGM Report

6 April 2008

PRESIDENT’S REPORT   The first six months of the Johns River Community Progress Association has been a busy time for all involved. There have been great advances made in getting the community's message to the powers that be and letting them know that the community has a strong voice when combined. The inaugural meeting set the agenda for the interim committee and we hit the ground running. Incorporation, as the first important step followed by banking requirements and statutory needs under the Associations act. The challenges set down have been well and truly met by the people you entrusted this work too and I am proud of what the committee has achieved in the short time since incorporation.

The association has established an enviable reputation, for the professionalism that we display, in our dealings with all we have encountered including but not limited to the Greater Taree City Council, The Roads and Traffic Authority and even our State Representative Mr Rob Oakeshott.

The comments received have been positive and congratulatory. These are helpful in vindicating the direction of the Association set by the current committee. The website continually gets glowing praise from those that have viewed it and is another testament to the diligence and foresight of the people who you elected to interim positions on the committee.

The inclusion of two delegates from the JRCPA Inc. on the Johns River Post By-pass Design Committee set up by Greater Taree City Council has been a great win for the community. The delegates of the association Mr Bruce Shaw and Mr Chris Bawn have been provided with many great ideas from the many community forums that were held by the association and attended by the whole of Johns River.

I am very pleased with the outcomes and hope to take an active role in the future delivery f service to the Johns River Community. There is still a lot of work to do and I have faith in the community to make the right decisions on how it wishes to progress.

Treasurer's AGM Report

6 April 2008

The JRCPA Inc opened a Bank Account with the Laurieton Branch of the Holiday Coast Credit Union on the 7th December 2007. The balance of that account as at 29th February 2008 is [balance provided].

The Association has 68 members (as at 31st March 2008) – who are all financial members and available to vote at meetings of the JRCPA Inc.   The Balance Sheet (assets and liabilities) of the JRCPA Inc as at 29th February 2008 is as follows [the Treasurer presented the report, available to members at the AGM and on requests].

The Income and Expenditure of the JRCPA as at 29th February 2008 is as follows [Balance Sheet Presented].

The JRCPA Inc has no property and as such no mortgages, charges or other securities are in existence.   It is the Management Committee's view that the current Annual Membership Fee remain at $5.00 per member and the Subscription Fee remain at $10.00 per member.

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Media Officer's AGM Report

6 April 2008

Starting up any organisation from nothing is a big task, and our Progress Association was no exception.  In addition to posting information at the store, doing mailings, and flyers, we decided early on to start up a website, at johnsriver.com.au

Because it is 2008, and the internet has brought an additional dimension of workload, we decided to cleave off some of the duties from the Secretary position, which is busy enough with meeting minutes, publishing agendas and other duties as listed in the Association Procedures.

So, media officer basically handles getting the word out once the Management Committee has decided what to do and say.    The website has been really useful for news organisations to get their information about what’s going on in Johns River.

We noticed that a lot of the two-page spread in the Manning River Times came from the Association website.  Reporters from the local television news broadcasts, Prime News and NBN News also referred to the site in their interviews with me, Deena Lane, Wendy Bawn and Tony Galati.

The interviews are online now on the website, you can watch the videos there as well.   The Committee decided to open the web site to local commercial interests by allowing advertising on the JRCPA website. The Committee will dedicate a portion of advertising revenue to a subsidised membership fund allowing community members to apply for subsidised memberships. Details will go out soon to community businesses with rate and advertising opportunities. In addition to the website, advertising may be available in a future printed community updates for members.

As media officer, I update the website at least weekly, sometimes two or three times a week as events and news comes in.   I also field phone calls from media, most recently from The Land newspaper, who interviewed us about the bypass for a piece in their publication.

We do a lot of printing – from the Community Update flyers, to hand-outs like at this meeting, posters, and a fair amount of internal documents related to planning, meeting minutes and urban design options.

One of the best things about the website is that it is a permanent repository for all of our communications, photos, articles, announcements, and we even store copies of posters and community updates from the past.

We do realise that many of our members don’t have internet access, and to this end, we’ve thrown around the idea of possibly having a printed quarterly update flyer for village residents, just to let them know what’s going on.

But it’s important to maintain the Association documents in a place accessible to all, and the website helps local government, politicians, the RTA and construction firms to make sure they understand our position for the future of the village and our agreed village design concepts too.

The online gallery contains plenty of photos of the village and will act as a living record of Johns River from now forward.

All of the design plans submitted to the RTA are there, along with presentations by our delegates to the Post-Bypass Committee headed by our local councillor Richard Wilson.

If you do happen to be online, check out the great aerial shots of the road construction, courtesy of Bruce Shaw and our local aviator Mr. Grant Burley, just super.    If anyone has anything they think might go on the website or be published in an upcoming flyer, just let me know.

We are thinking about setting up a history subcommittee to ensure that our local history can be preserved and put online for future generations, who undoubtedly, will be online and wondering what life was like here back in 1858, 1908 and 2008 as well.