BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1655, 6 September 1887, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary fortnightly aiaetlog of the Ashburton Borough Council was held la\t evening. Present— The Mayor, and Ors Williamson, Reid, A. Robert), Tncker, R Friedlander, Harrison, Thomas, and H. Friediander. UATOB'B &TATIMENT. The Mayor said that the dobit balance at the Bank was £934 12*. The amoucti whioh had bsen received since last meet* ing were : Library account, 14s ; license public bulldingn, £1 ; cost of summons refunded, £L lls ; asphalt acoount, £5 15s 6d ; dog liotimo, 5* ; rents of reserve, £2 10i ; rates, 1886, 13> ; rttas, 1837, £46 8s ; total, £58 16s 6d. The amount of rates outstanding was £132 lls 24. CONG RATULATOItr. The Mayor briefly welcomed Or A. Roberta to the Council table. COBBESFONDKNC G. Letters were read -(l)From Hampstead Town Board re Board of Health, and also asking when it would be convenient to the Oouuoil for a deputation from the Board to wait upon it to arrive at a mutual agreement In regard to the belts. The letter had been replied to stating that tha Council would receive a deputation that evening.— (2) From the same, stating that the deputation ooald not wait upon the Oonnoil that evening. On, the motion uf Or Thomas, the matter of Belts was referred to the Works Oommittee to report — (3) From Mr W: Badger In regard to statutes. — (4) From Mr W. B. Donahlre, asking why work promised In Altken and William streetß had not been carried out. Thj letter was rath-jr strongly worded, and stated that the ratepayers m that part of the town had been shamefully treated. — The Chair man of the Works Committee thought that a letter worded m such a way should not be reoelved by any public body, He explained that it would have been impossible hitherto to do the work, the roads having been In such a bad state that carting shingle would have oat them up till they were impassable. Under these conditions, therefore, the Works Committee had allowed the contract for shingling to stand over till tbe weather got better, when it would be resumed.— Or Thomas said that while he to a certain extent agreed with Or Williamson's remarks aboat the letter, he sympathised with Mr Denshire, as h6 knew tho condition of the road m question. He, therefore, moved that Mr Denshire be informed that It had hitherto been impoesible to carry out the work, but that it would be put iv hand next week If the weather were favorable.— The Mayor agreed with Or Williamcon that to have carted shingle recently would have had the effect of destroying the roads alon^ which the shingle was carried. He also agreed that tbe letter was not couched m proper torma, and he thought, with other Councillor*, that it would be best to allow it to lie on the table. — The letter was ordered to He on the table, Or Thomas dissenting. engineers' repobt The Engineers leportod as follows ; — Protective Works : All the piles have been driven for the four groins below the bridge, as well as 17 piles to carry a light protecting fence for the willow plantations along the river front of the paddocks about 35 chains In length. We beg to hand you herewith a plan showing position of groins and new fencing, etc. ihere has also been about 17 chains of gorae and willow facing or kerblng constructed along the river banks, and three of the groins have been filled m with gorse fascines and shingle. The remain ing groin we have considered advisable to leave until a portion of the embankment shall have been done. With respect to the embankmout, we represented to the Works Committee that owing to other necessary work the Council teams would not be able to do the work for some time, and according to tho Committee's Initruotious we have advertised for tenders for supplying aboot 300 yards of shingle, nhioh would suffioe for about half and the most pressing portion of the work, the total quantity needed for the proposed embankmoats at both the protective works being about 600 yards. The tenders will be laid before you this evening for your decision.— Plan tiag : The plantation belti around the paddooks below the bridge are nearly filled up, and the planting of larohes In the 10-acre reserve ought to be finished In two or three days. The willow planting has been commenced, and as we shall now have hands to spare, we hope to complete it this week. Besides the protective works and planting, sundry routine works have been attended to. Mr Orr's wall at the back of his shop has been finished satis factorily. The report waa adopted. iNsrtcroß of nuisancis' beport. The Inspector of Neisances reported that m compliance with the instructions of the Oounoil he had served notioe upon several owners of sections to trim trees overhanglqg footpaths, and m all oases the notice had been complied with.— He wished to bring under tho notioe of the Council the dirty state of the right-of-way leading from Moore street io Tanored street. He understood that several owners were Interested In theright-of-vray, and he was at a loss to know who was actually responsible for Us mainfcunanoe. He had served notice upon an owner m the locality to drain his section, but as he had ascertained that that section was a receptacle for all the storm water of the vicinity, he had thought it better to bring tho whole matter before the Council.— He had served notices upon two residents' 9 of the Borough to remedy imperfect drainage. One had oomplled with the notioe, but the other treated the laspeotor with a certain amount of contempt, saying r^hat there was no need to take steps to 'enforce the by-law till the warm weather ha,d set m.. 'Cr R. "Friedlandor aaid that the first portion of tho report was not correct. The right-of-way was properly shingled and m a perfect state of order, but tho seotion adjoining Mr George Kidd'a blacksmith's shop was m a deplorable stato.— The Inspector uhould have made enquiries before bringing the name of the firm with which he (Cr Friedlander) was connected into the matter. Aa a matter of fact they had nothing to do with tbe right-of-way m .question. — It was resolved that ihp Clause bo roforrod back to the Inspector with instructions to tako immediate actioix to a bale the nuisance on tho section atfjuining the right-of-way. .7 With regard to tho case of " coutomptf ' tho Inspector was instructed to soa tHe by-laws carried out. 1 DOQ TAX. Cr Thomas asked wha'j amount had boon received for dog tax. The dogs m the town aoemod to 1)0 increasing, but ho <jd not thinkUhe amount received by wayTof licenses had increased m like proportion^ ■ The Clerk was instructed to supply -the inforuiatioaat next meeting, "S: • UIVER PHOTEcriON; $' In reply' to Cr Thomas the Engineer stated that' only about £2i would be- requirod to finish the protootivo works be-low , tho bridge. | Cr Harrison gave notice of inotionf re- ! ferring to the production of a return , showing tho amounts expended on the works below the bridge and near the Old j Men's Homo siflco July, and the oatimated amount to'^o still expended. t THE ENOINEEa. I Cr Williamson, m pursuance of a notice < given, moved that the Council pay a re- ] taming fee to the Engineer. He spoke to j tho matter at some length, i In rpply to a quoetion, Or Williamson < said that l\> proposed tho amount of tho I retaining fee should be £25, tbe comruis- j aion to be continued as at present. < After some diecußsJQn the motion was t carried. I

KINUTBS. Cr R. Friedlander, who had previously made some reference to the matter, said (hat he wished to ank the Council If It would allow certain parts of the minutes of last meeting to be expunged. He could point to a precedent bo that what he asked for was nothing out of the way. The Mayor said that before going any farther it would be necessary foi 0* Friadlandor to table a motion. Or R. Friedlander said that he had in* dioated what he was going to move. The Mayor aatid that an lndioation wai not aaffiolenfc. A motion was requisite and he must accordingly aak for one, Or R. Friedlander aiked if he might see the minute book, aa ha oould - not frame hit resold tion without leeing It. Or H. Fried lander pointed out that a motion auoh as that contemplated oould not be considered that evening It would ba neoemry to give notios for naxt meeting. The Mayor laid that he waa aware yat what form the resolution was going to take. Cr R. Friedlander said that the motion was " That the minutes lelating to Afr Andrew Orr'a brlok wall be expunged." He was not moving this without preoedent. A gentleman, who had oocnpied a Mat on the Oouncll ever since It had been eitab* llsbed—he referred to Or Williamson— . had once proposed a similar motion. [A Or interjected a remark to the effect that it was not right, and Or Friedlander asked for the protection of the ohair while he was speaking] He thought that it would. be within the recollection of Ots that after it bad been resolved to raise a loan under the Local Bodies Loana Act, Or William* son, moved that that portion of the minutes referring to the nutter be axpunged. This waa carried undor the chairmantbip of the present Mayor. Perhaps Or Williamson would bear him out In what he said. Or Williamson said that perhaps ha had moved that the resolution be resoiuded. Or R. Friedlander said that If " rescinded " were the propar term he would substitute it for the word v expunged " m his motion. Cr H. Friedlander again polnttd out that it would be waste of time to discuss the matter further, as it would ba neoesßarp for notice of motion to be given. The Mayor said that he qulta agraed with Or H. Friedlander, but ha had allowed Or R. Friedlander to speak on, because other wUe it might have seemed to him that he was not getting fair play, HuWover he would now say that ,notlfe of motion was necessary. Further, ha thought it was not In the powar of the Oounoilto eatertainthe proposal under any olroumstances. The Oouneil oduld pass a resolution revoking anything that had been previously resolved upon, bat it had not power to strike out any portion of thi minutes, which were held to be a true and correct record of business transaofced by the Oouneil, After a few further remarks the Mayor ruled that the motion oould not be pat. Or R. Friedlander aaid that he had been misunderstood. He had pointed out a preoedeut which had oocurrei when the present Mayor occupied the chair. The Mayor said that whether there waa a precedent or not made no diffjreace. If the Council has made a mistake previously that was no reanon why It should repeat it. It was no use hunting op the minute book for precedents as he would decline to accept the motion. Some farther dlaousslon arose aft to whether the motion might be considered by Buspeodlug the rules. The Mayor ruled that it oould not be. It contemplated business of an extra* ordinary nature, and it was therefore necessary for notice to be given. Or R. Friedlander, having m the mean-' time examined the minute book said that he did not thintc there was anyone more, willing than himself to own up with good grace when he found himself In error. He had been mistaken when he stated that the resolution moved by Or Williamson was oarrled under the Cualrmanahip of the present Mayor. Ho had found that It had been carried when he (Or Friedlander) occupied the chair —on the last night, ha believed, that he presided at the Council table. The Mayor thought that this aspect of the matter had already been fully enough discussed, and they should let it drop. Or R, Friedlander said that he simply desired to acknowledge that he had been m error. Subsequently Or R. Friedlander gave notice of motion for next meeting to the same effect as the motion that had been proposed by him. TENDERS. P. Coatello's tender for shingle at 9d per yard was accepted. VALEDICTOKY. Ors Harrison and H. Friedlander, two of the Crs who retired by rotation, made a few remarks on the occasion of their leaving the Council, stating that if the burgesses saw frt to again return them they would do their best m the future as they had m tho past. COMMITTEES. Cr A. Roberts was appointed to the seats on various Committees vacated by Cr W. Roberts. LICENSES. A public building license wan granted m respect of the Orange Hall; Accounts amounting to £145 Os 9d were passed for payment. Some discussion arose In reference to to an item of £115. expenses Inourred In connection with Sir Jalius Vogel's meeting, Crs Tucker and Reid contending that It oould not be properly paid by the Borough, A long argument arose, but ultimately the accounts were passed. NOTICE OF MOTION. Notice of motion was given by Or Thomas that m future expenses incurred m connection with meetings held m regard to other than Borough matters be borne by the requiaitioniata. The Council then adjourned. !