MONTHLY STAFF REPORTS

Project Officer’s Report Sept 08

Project Officer’s Report Sept 08

Redevelopment Project
GCA grant 784,997.00
HIE grant 250,000.00
HICEC grant 100,000.00
CVS grant 750.00
HC discretionary fund grant 4,581.00
ERDF grant 231,220.00
Letterewe Estate 1,500.00
Plus loans and our own resources.

Other possible funders: We’ve applied to Highland 2007 Legacy Fund for 30k capital costs. Won’t hear back for a while (October). Monument Trust meet in November. If successful that could potentially replace much of the loan amount. We could (re)apply to E-on source fund for up to 30k – deadline 3rd October.

ERDF: I’m awaiting HIPP accepting changes made to application/annex figures/text, after which we sign and post that version. Workshop was attended in Inverness with much info gleaned about claiming: Claims, by way of progress reports submitted online and posted, are generally quarterly, but there’s a potential for claiming between the quarters as well if need be.

LEADER: We could potentially still apply to LEADER for part-funding of salary costs within the total 1,520,793, as match funding against HIE/GCA, so long as not directly match funding against the ERDF-eligible project management costs.
Otherwise, or as well, we could apply to LEADER for other non-redevelopment-project salary costs.

SIS loan/Triodos loan: SIS loan application will be progressed further by them next week.

CVS grant has now been paid to us. Will go into new bank account currently being set up for redevelopment income and expenditure.

Design Team
We need to aim to complete a swift decision process, with a written account of it, around the 12th September – the day after board meeting, or very soon after then. Perhaps we can hold a meeting for this specific purpose on Friday 12th. We then need to appoint the chosen design team, organise a meeting with them at the earliest opportunity, and issue sufficiently clear instructions as to their remit for working towards tendering for lead contractor(/s) and working towards building warrant.

Log building Course and chainsaw courses
First two chainsaw courses have been held. Dates for third course are 15th and 16th September.
Since last month a few names have dropped off the log course list, so less pressure for log course places than there was: 5 definites, 2 pretty definites but potentially needing to fit around Culag Woods training, and 3 further possibles.
Of these, 1 of the definites has already got chainsaw certificate, and the other 4 definites plus the 2 potentially dependent upon fitting in with CCWT have all taken part in the first two chainsaw courses.
Still to check availability with the further 3 possibles. If none of them could commit to availability for the 3rd chainsaw course and the log course, we would be in the position of having to offer all 4 places on the 3rd chainsaw course to people not intending to be log course trainees. This would be regrettable, but let’s hope it doesn’t happen.

Davy will be further discussing log-istics for the log course itself with Henry Fosbrooke very soon. The intention is to have an initial five-day stint in early October, to do debarking and other premininary practice work. The rest will be dependent upon groundwork timescale, which in turn will be dependent upon design team’s lead contractor/s tendering timescale.


Marketing lodge around redevelopment
To discuss with Assynt.Biz too (meeting Tuesday).
We’re currently offering weeks from beginning of August 09 onwards. Many enquiries have started coming in for next year. As yet only two bookings, both in October. This coming New Year week is not yet being actively re-marketed, but could be, if we are happy to resign ourselves to lodge internals not beginning until after then.

Other stuff:
New tumble drier purchased and installed in lodge, thanks to Mark.
Pigs installed in walled garden, again thanks to Mark for the delivery, and to the pigs also, who managed to cover most of the distance themselves.

New Deal work placement is going well. Since pigs started work in the walled garden, some fresh ideas of tasks for Marc would be useful.