ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume V, Issue 1400, 9 December 1884, Page 2

ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary . fortnightly meeting of the Council was held last evening in the Council’s new Chambers, Library Buildings. Present—His Worship the Mayor and Grs Harrison, A. Orr, Bird, Lsggatt, J. Orr, Sealy, Thomas and Friedlander. MAYO .’s STATEMENT.

T 1 e Mayor before proceeding to make his usual statement congratulated the Council upon having assumed occupation of their new Chamber, which ha thought admirably adapted to their requirements, but at no distant date ho hoped they would be able to erect even a more commodious building for the transaction of municipal business. He stated that the Bmk overdraft was L 927 3? 10J ; the amounts received since last meeting ware —Earth, L2 ICB; rent of reserves, Ll 3 ; rater, L 23 5s ; weights and measuies, 3s 3d—total, L 33 18 i 3d. COU'.EKTONDENCE.

The following correspondence was road: —(1) From Mr A. D. Austin, the District Railway Engineer, staling that the Commission re unemployed had reported that several men had waited upon the Commission daring their sitting in Ashburton, and expressed their desire to secure Government relief werk Mr Austin requested the Mayor to forward the names of the men that they might be provided with pisses to Waikari. (2) From the Colonial 8e: ret ary, acknowledging the notifioition of Mr R. Friedlandor’s election as Mayor. —(3) From the Secetary to the Commission rc unemployed, thanking the Council for the use of their Chambers, and the Mayor for hia attendance at the sitting. UNEMPLOYED. The Mayor said that thirteen men had attended the sitting of the Commission, and expiessad themselves prepared to accept Government relief work, but only two had since presented themselves to sign tho form required to secure passes. PETITIONS.

A petition from Mr R. Alcorn for leave to place a culvert across the side channel opporito his section in Burnett street was granted.

A petition from Messrs Curtis and young for the enlargement of a culvert in Cox street, East Belt, was referred to the Works Committee, engineers’ REPORT,

The Engineers’ report was read as fo Sows :

Regulation of Water Supply: The Works Committee recommend that a man b ■ employed by the Council, t > live in the house proposed to be erected by Mr Turner, and attend to .he water supple, and the amount to be repaid to the Couec l to be estimated at the end of three or six months, when the matter can be arranged on a fair basis, on accounts to be I ept by the E”gineer. We estimate that such an arrangement would be economical, as the man sh ml. take-charge of a d keep clear all the races and channels on the west side of the railway; those on the other side can then be attended to and kept in order in a more etficicn' manner than has been the case for the last few months.—Shingling, : The Works Committee recommend that Wills street W. (to chains) and Grey street (33 chains) be shi gled before the new formation be too much cut up. We have the work dose in Wills street hy the contra tors for shi glinj the Hospital road at the contract price, but the contiac ors ask is 6d par yard for shingle to be delivered in Grey street. They have already delivered more than the amount contracted for.—Mona Square: It is also i\ commended by t-'e Works Committee that a pump, be fixed in Mona squire for watering the horses.—Asphalt : The footpaths, especially in t-.'rsl street, will soon require a thorough repair ami dressing. We I have received a letter from Mr Bradley, in which he offers to ke p in g -od repair for three years the whole of the aspiialt footpaths in the Borough for the sum of L 35. This would be, roughly calculated, about 2 1 4 d per square aid.—The la'.or gang have been employed in lowering Cass street nil forrn'mj Alike. l street, removing rubbish off streets, working at out; fall drain, putting in culverts, clearing side channels, moving office fuaiitiitc, and fittings, etc., into new office, attend ng to waiter sup-, 1 ply, etc. f 1 MILL RACE lOTA ICE. A prolonged desultory discussion took 1 place in respect to the first clause of the ' CiKtnoeva’ rep'.rt, and it was ultimately 1 os dv, d— •* 1 hut the Council consider j hat Mr Turner as proprietor of the mill i nice should centred the intake at the river , by one of bis own men.” ■ |

WILLS AND GREY STREET. i On the motion of Cr J. Orr it was resolved that it be a recommendation to the Works Committee to let the work referred to in the sec nd clause of the Engineers’ report stand over until the autumn, but any part of the work which is pressing, the Committee have power to execute. PUMP. It was resolved to erect a pump in Mona Square, as recommended by the Engineer. ASPHALT POOTPATffS. Consideration of Mr Bradley’s offer to keep the asphalt footpaths within the Borough in repair was deferred. DEPUTATION. A deputation, comprising Messrs Cayton, Simmonds, and Stephenson waited upon the Council, and pointed out the damage sustained by property abutting on Aitken street by the footpaths in that thoroughfare being formed considerably higher than the adjoining sections, Mr Clayton briefly explained the facts, and Mr Simmonda supplemented his remarks by stating that there wore sixty sections abutting on the street, of which fifty would require t > be filled up at an average coat of at least L 25 each, to place them on a level with the adjoining thoroughfare. The Mayor said that the levels of the | steoers had been fixed in the original plan ! of the Borough, and the position of which the deputation complained had not been ' brought about by any action of the Council, but promised that the matter should } receive conaideraiion.—On the suggestion ( of Mr Harrison the petition of the deputation was referred to the Works Comj mittee and the Engineer, LIBRARY COMMITTEE. The report of the Library Committee ■ was read as follows ; f Your Committee has the honor to report, for , the information of the Council having met or , the 28th November, when the following reso--0 lutions were resolved on, viz;—l, That the 9 sura due to the Building Society be paid off. J 2. That the Library be open for the exchange . of books every day except Saturdays between 0 the hours of three and four in the afternoon, n and on Thursdays and Saturdays betweer seven and eight o'clock in the evening. Youi 0 Committee ■ ecided on allowing Mr Gourlay, ,e the Librarian, one month’s salary on his leav,a ing. It mas resolved that the moving to th< 1_ Library be commenced on Monday, the is d December. Your Committee instructed thi d Engineer to have a closet erected on the re h serve, and fenced in so as to hide it as much a

possible. Un the motion of the Mayor, seconded by Or Friedlander, the report was adopted. IKSFgOTOR op nuisances’ report. The inspector of Nuisances’ report was read as follows and adopted : Since the previous meeting of the Council I have the honor to report as follows : —Re the complaim: of the channel in Cox street, the nuisance was caused by the channel being deeper than the culvert, which allowed any refuse to lodge, the flow of water not carrying it through the culvert. This matter is being attended to. —Re the bad smell complained of last week coming from the butchers’ shop in Tancred street, it was from fat which had been brought from the slaughter yards to be sent away by train, which, owing to the Show, did not leave till the following morning, when the nuisance was removed.— Re the side channel at Mr Lancaster’s butchers’ shop. This channel is very often flushed with water, but unless swept down to the East street channel it will I not flow into it. Mr Fooks told me he would see if the channel had sunk at all. I will see Mr Lancaster re h wing a grating placed at the opening of the pipe that runs into the side channel, to stop any refuse passing through, I have also to report that the dead horse reported in the river-bed was buried at once. ELECTION OF MCYOR. A letter was read from the Returning Officer notifying Mr R. Friedlander’a election as Mayor for the ensuing year. GRASS IN WILLS STREET. Or Harrison called attention to the long grass growing in Wills street, and suggested that it should be mown. 1 The matter was referred to the Committee. HOUR OF MEETING. Cr Thomas moved —“That for the future the hours of meeting for the A.shburton Borough Council shall be as follows, viz , during the months from Nov. to April, 730 p.m., and during the balance of the year, 7 p.m.” The motion was seconded by Or J. Orr and carried. STREET WATERING. Cr J. Orr moved —“ That the Mayor, the Town Clerk, and Councillors be empowered to nnke enquiries re the beat and cheapest means of watering streets, more especially East street, and also the best plan for providing a drinking fountain.” fie said that it was quite‘'time the very necessary work of street watering was undertaken by the borough. He adverted u not in the interests of any particular section of the ratepayers, but as a general convenience. As regarded a drinking fountain he was satisfied that it would confer great benefits both upon man and beast during the summer months. He was confident that the street watering would not involve a large expenditure, and the experiment could be trie I upon the more populace parts of the Borough without inflicting an injustice upon the others. Cr Thomas seconded the proposal. He said that from enquiries he had made, he was satisfied that the work could be easily, well, and cheaply done. While in Christchurch recently he had seen an appliance precisely adapted to their requirements. A pump driven from the nave of a dray while carrying the water supply, would distribute the water the whole breadth of East street. In case of fire the pump could readily be disconnected from the dray and used as a very effective auxiliary fire engine. A street two chains wide could be watered with this appliance as rapidly as a dray could travel, and its cost would not exceed L2O.

Cr Harrison said if the cost of the ne

cessary appliances was so small, he was surprised that the residents in East street had not already provided themselves with them. He still failed to see why the burgesses generally should pay for watering the principal thoroughfare. He objected to it on principle, and thought, if- required, a special rate should be struck for the purpose. If East street was watered at the borough’s expense ratepayers in other localities might fairly demand to have their streets watered in the same way. He was convinced it would require a dozen men and an annual expenditure of L 1,200 to keep the streets watered. [Or J. Orr remarked that it might if syringes only were used.J He (Or Harrison) wou'd be the last to oppose a wish of the burgesses, but he felt sure that in this instance he had the burgesses with him.

The resolution was then put and carried and on the motion of Or Fiiedlander, seconded by Or Sealy, Ors J. Orr, Bird and Thomas were appointed a Committee to report to the next meeting of the Council upon the proposal. TIUFI’IC BKIDUE. The Mayor reminded the Council that L 7,000 had been voted by the Government for the construction of the Ashburton traffic bridge, lie noticed that the County Council had yet done nothing in respect to initiating this very important work, but the matter was of such vital moment to

the borough, that he thought that Council should appoint a deputation to wait upon the County Council at its next meeting and urge chat the undertaking be put in hand. The Public Works Act made provision by which either the County Council or the Borough Council could construct the bridge, and whichever undertook the work would have piwor to levy a rate upon the other body in proportion to its rateable valuation. It would be better

fur the County Council to undertake the work as they had their own Engineer

av.liable, and on the valuation basis

would be the larger contributor towards the cost. Or they might empower their

leputation to state an amount they would ae prepared to subscribe. In any case the present was the time to act, as they had a Government which had shown a disposition to treat them at least favorably, while its predecessor bad evinced an utter disregard for this part of the colony. It was resolved to allow the matter to stand over until next meeting. BATHIN'}. Gr Harrison suggested that bathing should be permitted in the Domain between daybreak and 7 a.ra.—His Worship the Mayor and Or Bird thought it would not be decorous without the erection of sheds, and Cr Friedlander considered some provision should In made to guard against drowning accidents before the practice was permitted.—Cr Harrison said that in face of the objections raised he would not press his suggestion. valedictory. The Mayor said that as he hoped to be present at the installation of his successor he would not that evening bid them farewell, bub being the last meeting at which he would preside he wished to express his gratitude to Councillors for the courteous consideration and support he had received from them during his occupancy of the Mayoral chair. He spoke in all sincerity and wished each Councillor to accept the acknowledgment. They had sunk,all differences of opinion in their solicitude for the welfare of the burgesses, and ho would leave the Chair with very pleasant reminiscences of his term of office.

Cr Friedlander said that the unbiased manner in which the Mayor conducted the business of the Council had won for him the esteem of every member, and it gave him (Or Friedlander) particular pleasure, as the oldest member of the Council, to express the regard felt by the Councillors for their retiring Mayor. He trusted the Mayor would be long spared to fill a prominent position amongst them, and would at some future time again accept the position he was about to vacate.. He (Mr Friedlander) hoped- the Mayor would at once give them an assurance that he would allow himself to be nominated to fill the vacancy which would occur in the Council by his own elevation to the chair. The Mayor in a few well chosem words acknowledged the compliment paid him by Cr Friedlander. He expressed a hope that his successor would meet with the same pleasant experiences as he had done in the occupancy of the chair. He did not think that he would contest the first vacancy in the Council. There were * younger aspirants for the honor for whom he felt that he should make way, but at some future time, if health was spared him and the burgesses wished it, he might rejoin them. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to Llls 16s 5d were passed for payment. NOTICE OF MOTION. Cr Thomss gave notice that at next meeting he would move- that a street watering apparatus be obtained at a cost of not more than L 30.”

The Council then adjourned till Wednesday, Dec. 17, at noon.