OBI OBI HALL

Our 2011 AGM was held on the 30th June at the Obi Hall. At the AGM the business conducted by the Association during the 2011 year was approved by the meeting’s members and the retiring members of the Management Committee were re-elected to their previous positions. The ongoing problem of the hall property ownership via a Trust with no living beneficiaries and three Trustees was bought to the meeting’s attention, with the Management Committee to pursue this issue after the renovation is finished.

Prior to the recent rain, the balustrade was extended down the concrete section of the ramp. Because of the ongoing rain, the on site fabrication and attachment of the hand rails to the ramp has been delayed .

Our building adviser Lex Freiburg has inspected the renovation of the Obi Hall finding only minor defects.

MEMBERSHIP FEE CHANGE

At their last Management Committee Meeting on 18.06.12, the Management Committee passed a motion to increase the annual  fee for membership in the Obi OBi and Kidaman Creek District Association Inc from $10.00 to $15.00.

OUR ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 30.06.12  next Saturday at 3.00 pm.

The present Management Committee members have been nominated for election to their existing positions in the coming year, with the members indicating their willingness to continue.

No other nominations for the Management Committee have been received.

THE HALL

We are getting close to the last building inspection. The fitting of the balustrade and hand rail on the concreted extension to the disabled ramp should complete all the major work, with only the fitting of various small  fire, safety and disabled items then left.  But the hope of a completion in time for our AGM will not be realized, and the inspection by the Council Certifier may find more problems and bring more delay.

The nearly completed disabled parking area.

The last part of the disabled ramp with the balustrade to be continued down to the disabled car park area.

The ramp has been constructed to Australian Standards, which require a 1 in 14 fall on the sloping section and maximum ramp length sections of 9 meters followed by a flat landing with a minimum width of 1.2 meter to allow turning room. Tactile feedback pads have to be placed at the start and finish of the ramp.

Concrete access pad at the main stairs.

The main stairs will have hand rails on both sides, with tactile feedback pads  fitted at the top and bottom, plus bright markers at the front edge of each stair. These features will provide an aid for the visually impaired. The pad is wide for a reason, the Australian Standard considers the concrete pad to be part of the stairs, so, if the middle steps are 200 mm wide, therefore the bottom step is the first 200 mm wide section of the concrete pad.

The hand rail has to extend 300 mm past the end of the bottom step (200 mm wide), which means the hand rail will extend out into the pad 500 mm from the lowest wooden stair.

Drawing from Australian Standard AS 1428.1. TGSI – tactile ground surface indicator

Concrete progress on the front stairs, a hand rail while not compulsory will be provided

Filling in of  the wall lining on the right side the stage. That is not a horses head on the wall.

INSURANCE

When the hall renovation is completed our public liability insurance will be extended to cover general use by the Association and the hall itself insured for damage. Inquiries with our present insurer  indicate that full cover could cost more that $4000.00 annually, while some uses may requiring extra cover. The Management Committee is making inquiries with other insurers.

Below is a section of an Entertainment Proposal form which requests information to allow the insurer to set an insurance premium for an event.

ELECTRICITY IS CONNECTED

The hall has lights and power.

From the front without spot lights on.

From the rear with spot lights on.

Crash or panic bars on the main doors, with locks on all other doors.

If double doors are more than 820 mm wide, a panic bar is only required on one door. Our doors are 600 mm wide, so require two panic bars.

The faint glow seen inside the hall at night comes from the five emergency exit lights (each drawing 5 watts of electricity) which remain on at all times.

Above, looking from the stage.

Our ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM) will be held at 3.00 pm on Saturday, June 30^th at Obi Obi Hall.

THE DISABLED PARKING AREA

After taking  ground levels across the property at the rear of the hall, it was decided that the ramp would have to be extended, which will make the bottom of the ramp and the disabled car parking area be at the same level as the external kitchen bottom step, while still allowing water drainage away from the parking area. The floor of the ramp extension will be done in concrete with extended wooden balustrade.  The plan below has been approved by our Council Certifier.

THE DISABLED RAMP

After an on site hand rail consultation between the Management Committee, the Council Certifier, a steel fabricator and Builder Murray Peterson, it was found that the narrower width of the top section of the ramp beside the toilet wall determined the position of the hand rails.

Australian Standards state that there must be a hand rail on each side of a ramp at the same minimum height of 835 mm, have a minimum gap of 1000 mm between the hand rails and  to run continuously from top to bottom.  To maintain this 1000 mm spacing the hand rail has to be placed on top of the balustrade.

The galvanized pipe is of the correct diameter and in it’s approximate  position on top of the balustrade.

There are Australian Standards for the pipe diameter, the gap between the pipe and the balustrade, the fixing of the pipe to the balustrade, and for the way the pipe ends – 300 mm past the end of the ramp with a curved section, see the blog entry of  May 23rd. The particular standards for the position of the hand rails required individual designs for the hand rail at each corner of the ramp. Eventually a complete plan was formulated and in principle Certifier approval obtained. A hand rail design drawing will be drawn up and submitted to the Certifier for final approval.

At the rear of the hall property, our growing collection of  old roofing iron and cladding from  the hall

The pressure pump mounted on the concrete slab under the stage.

Water to the kitchen and toilets.

The kitchen sink is now connected to the waste system.

Angel Electronics of Maleny did the electricial installation.

The swallows enjoying the morning sun.