ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1800, 27 March 1888, Page 2

ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

The adjourned ordinary msetin? of tho 3out*oil wa3 held bat nlghfc. Pra?ent : Phe Mayor and Councilors Tusker, Raid, Roberts, Scaly, Thomas, &od Sootb. mayor's statement. The Mayor aaicl that ih« debit balance \t the Bank waa £1677 1* 43. The amounts which had boea received Blbce last meeting were : — DO3 licenses, £7 ; library aoooant, £1 si ; Borough aca 1 , £1 la ; earth, £1 103 ; rotita of reserves. £2 10a ; rates, 1886, £1 12 f ; rates, 1887, £6 33 ; rates, 1888, £23 8* ; licence, £1. lotal, £46 19. |Tbe amount of 1887 rites remaiatng unooltected waa £19 61 7d. CORRESPONDENCE. Letters wore read— (l) From Mr Taj ker oV j ictinej to proviao m lease to him of reserve lately oooupied by Mr Splllard. — The Mayor stated that be had arranged the matter wi^h Me Taaker In accordance with a decision arrived at by the Reserves Committee.— The action of the Mayor was approved. — (2) From Mr H. Ftlediaoder, conveying his thanks to the Council for the resolution parsed expressing sympathy with him m his recant bereavement. — (3) From Colonial Secretary's office, enoloaing "Gazette" containing notification of Council's acceptance j of Public Bodies Powers Act.— The Mayor 1 said the Oounoll waß now m a position to deal with the question of the rents of the reaervea.—Or Reid moved, "That the next ordinary meeting be called an hour earlier, m order that the subject may be disousßed."— Or Taoker thought a apeoial meeting had better be held, m order that the matter might have full consideration. — This view wss endorsed by Ora Thomas and Scaly, aa there were eleven oases to be gone Into.— -Ultimately it was deolded that the matter ahoald be brought up at next ordinary meeting, and dealt with when the ordinary business had bee"n transacted. — Or Thomas wished to know if the objeotlng lessees would be present to Btate their oases. — The Mayor asked Or Thomas to bring this matter up at a later stage of the evening.— (4) From ABhburton Publishing Company, m reference to an aooount for expenses Incurred la connection with advertising Sir Julius Vogel's meeting.— The Auditor had ralaed an objection that the Council oouldnot legally pay this amount, but an amount of 10a had been Bubaoribed by oue Oounoillor towards paying It. — Or Scaly suggested that the matter stand over till next meeting. It waa probable that the acoount would be paid m the maantlrae. — This oourse waa agreed to. — (5) From Mr Hale, requesting permission to burn rubbish. — Grauted, subjeot to the uaual oondltlons.— (6) From Aahburton Publishing Company, m reply to letter from Council, stating that it waa impossible to reduce advertising ratea, — Received. engineers' report. The Engineers reported as follows :— Water Races : The channel In Oharies street, between the Alfotd Forest Road and Winter's Road, hav'ng become very foul, we put on a man to clean it out. All the supply racea require their annual clearing, and a day or two's work ia also required m the open portion of the outfall drain. A building liceuße. for erecting scaffoldieg had been granted for a buildlog m Burnett atreet. (The above report waa prepared for the last meeting of the Council, but craa not then considered. Another roport had ateioa been rtceived m which the Engineers stated that thoy had, by tho dWeailon of the Wo.ka Committee, arranged to put tho clearing of the oatfail drain and wator races m hsmd at onoo.) The report was adopiod. RESERVES, The Reaervea Oainmiitee reported on the matters referred to it, Tho tender of Mr Harrild had baen accepted for certain sections, and tho Committee recommended that others be advertised for loase. Tho report waa adopted. JLIBRARY. TOI»« tllinttrjp- -.Qixn-im-itLoo — ercrfd"tht*V-Vj>-requeßt of the Council it had met to consider whether any eaviog could bo made m the working of the Library. The Committee did not sea that any saving oould be effected, unless no new books were purchased this year, when the outlay would be £13 less than last year. The report wa9 adopted . FIRE BRIGADE The Fire Brigade Committee reported as follows : — (1) The Committee had considered tho question referred to it by the Oounol), viz , how beat to give effeot to clause m Retrenchment Committee's reporb and recommended as follows, viz : That the two brigades ba aaked to meet and m a friendly way dißcusa tho ftaaibility of amalgamating the two brigades under one head (2) Your Committee also reoommend that the Fire-bell on the eastern side of the town be allowed to remain where it ia till the steam engine is procured, Cra Reid and Thoraaß voted a^alnat the n'rat clause, and Or Scott against the second. All three voted against the adoption of the report which was, however, carried on the oastlng vote of the Mayor. THE RETRENCHMENT SCHEME. The Committee which had been appointed to draw up a schedule of duties for the nawly constituted offioeß of Olerk and Engineer, m connection with the reaolutiou of the Oounoll to have its clerical and engineering work done at a cheaper rate than at present, submitted its report, which waa a lengthy one. Or Thomaa said that he noticed the report Btated the office hours were to be from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. He wished to know if the Olerk could not do the work within these hours, and had to work afterwards would he have any claim for payment for the extra work. He asked this question beoause he thought this retrenchment scheme had been rushed into a Httlo bltudly, and as would probably be' the oaae with the Engineer, they might h%ve to pay through the nose for it— the Committee appointed to consider the matter now proposing (0 give the Engineer £60. They might find after they had got the "cheapest and nastiest" man they would ultimately have to pay. What he wanted to know was if a man who conscientiously did the work could not do It all between the hours of 9 aud 1, would he be paid for the extra time he was employed. The Major said that he understood the intention of the Committee was fchat the office should ba open to tho pnblic during the hours specified, but that if the Clerk had not finished his work when the office waa closed, ho would ba required to stay until the work was done. He asked the mernbsra of tho Committee if this waa. not co. Cc Scaly, one of the raombara of the Committee, said that the Ma,yor had expressed the intention of tho Committee. Somotitnes there might bo a preasof work, and then the Clerk would have to stay till it was finished, but at other times when work was Black, he would be abla to get away when tho office was closed. Or Tuoker aßk'ed if tho Olerk wonld have to pay out of his own pocket for any extra* clerical assistances that might be required. At present £5 or £(> a year was expanded by the Council for assist: ance required by the Clerk, The Mayor Baid that he understood the Committee did not intend that extra olerical asslstanoe Bhould be paid for by tho Council. Or Reid asked if the salaries of the Olerk and Engineer svere to be fixed by the Schedule of Duties Committee or by another O >mnalttee, The Mayor Bald that the fixing of salary did not come within the office of the Committee to arrange the achedule of duties, but properly appertained to the 1 Retrenchment Committee,

Or Held Bald tint be had eo'-fei tbe qu<s ioo, b^caaso tho amount of Bila?y. aod tbedn:lBa to be performed, would go together when Rppi'can's were being advertised for. Or Thonrts a^ked If applications had not already bean called. The Miyor sold that they had not, because for certain reaaona it had not bean possible to do so; Ho had tried to get the matter settled earllsr, but could not, and it was not yet complete enough to advertise for applications, unleas a ni3etiog were held after the present one, and the salaries fixed. Or Scaly s*id that the 'Committee did not think the fixing of salaries came within their funottona ; that waß a matter for tha Council. The Mayor suggested that to aave tJme the Council might go into the question and fix the salaries, the press representatives being asked not to mention the figures. Or Thomas said that the schedule of duties comprised more than the clerk now had to perform. If they wore acted op to they would be all that was required for a muoh larger town than Ashburton, and they might be swelled m suoh a way that the salaries would be a recompeuae for but a moiety of the work the officers would have to undertake Of Roberts asked if there was any motion before the meeting. The" Mayor said that there waa not. It had been hia intention to permit the diseosslon to be as free as poaaible but If Or Roberts rt>se to a point of order he would have to rule accordingly. Or Roberts said that he had no detjlre to baulk the discussion, bat he was afraid the debate would be a long one. Or Tacker moved tbe adoption of the report. Or Raid seconded. He thought the Committee were to be congratulated on tbe clear manner ia which their report was drawn up. The motion that the report be adopted was thea pat and carded, Or Thomas dissenting. engineer's claim, The Committee appointed to consider this question,' reported that they were of opinion that the Ecgineer had done a great deal of work for whioh he had received no remuneration. The Committee recommended that Mr Fooks be paid a sum of £50 In settlement of all claims. The Mayor Bald that the Committee were of opinion that Mr Foo'kb had a distinct claim against the Council, and that be had done a great deal of work for whfoh he had not been recompensed and for which, as a matter of fact £50 was a Bmall remuneration. Me Fooks had brought forward thematteraaa claim and it had to ba considered as such. The Committee found that vaiions works had been done upon whioh no commission waß oharged aud £50 was the earn agreed upon In set'.lemont of "he olaim. Or Roberts : Do I understand that Mr Fooke considers his claim a legal one or only neks it aa a favor. The Mayor : Quite a legal olaim. and one that could be enforced. Cr Koberts . The olaim goes back six years and why waa it not presented ere this. The Mayor Bald that that had baen conaidered by the committee and they would have wished that the claim had been brought down before. Bat that It hud not beaa ao did not affect the merits of tho ciae. Tho steps that had lotaly been takeu by the Council had brought the mattor to a head. Or Roberta Bald that if those steps ha 1 not been taken by tho Council, the matter miyht have gone on for auother six years. The claim ought to havo been put In before. Ho would certainly oppose its payment now, Or Thomas said that the olaim had been sent In previously. Or Roberts CBked why It had not been paid. Or Thomas said that It had baen re- - -«»»»ad.-..tQ a Onn«liUlCOj — UUU IL&.U H~gUOO~ many other things bad been shelved. Cr Thomas moved the adoption of the report. Gi Scaly aeoonded. He felt sure that if Councillors looked at the matter m a reasonable way they would see that Mr Fooks w>s entitled to some consideration. He h d been engaged on commission on money expended, but he hai had to do a great deal of work for which no provision us to paymant had been made. He had supplied reports and had prepared estimates for the guidance of the Ojuncll and had m addition done much other work. As to the remarks which had been made that. the olaim should have been brought m before, he considered this wjs a propar time to tring the olaim forward, just before Mr Fooka severed his connection with tho Oounoil. Cr Tacker said that he would be obliged to oppose the report. la the Counoll about twelve months ago a matter m reference to the Engineer came up, and the Mayor Informed him that every six or twelve months the Engineer waa sett'ed with for all work done. If the Engineer had any claim why had he not brought It forward before. He (Or Tucker) considered that if it had not been for the retrenchment Committee the matter would have gone on for ten or twelve years more, and then they might have got m a olaim for he did not know how muoh. Or Thomas : The Statute of Limitations. Cr Tucker : It soema to me that It is only the Statute of Limitations that bars a bigger olaim now. Cc Scott thought it strange that when the Engineer was Bqaared up with every six months or su he had not brought hiß I

claim up before, bat had only done ao whßn notice had been given him. { Cr Reid aald that he had supported Mr Fookß* claim being referred to a committee, but he would havo liked to have aeen a more explicit report. He thought the report should pivo the grounds on whtoh the recommended award waa baaed, more especially when tiie sura proposed to b 3 given was bo large. If It was cioarly shown to him that Mr Fooks had a claim against the Council ho would support it« being paid. He suggested that the report should be referred back to the Committee for further Information. Cr Thomas maintained that Mf Fooke had done a great deal of work for which he had not been paid. He had brought a claim before the Council, once if not twice, and this claim had been referred to a Committee, but proceeded no further. Certainly Mr Fooka had not pressed the matter after that, but how few of them would do bo and risk a preoarloua position. Mr Fooks iiad urged lite claim before, he hnd made hla poaltlon unassailable and oonld get justice outside if he liked. At the aanie time he had no objection to the report being referred back, aa the Oommlttee ware quite prepared to adduce fuels and figures iv support of their resolution. Or Reid then moved that the report he referred back to the Committee for further information, Cr Thomas withdrew his motion that the report be adopted, and that moved by Or Reid was carried. LEASES. Or Thomaß asked 1 if the holders of leases would wait on the Council at the next meeting, when the question of redup. tlon waß oormdered. He 'fought that the petitioning lessees wore entitled "to state their oases to the Council, Tha Mayor said tho malts? waa one for the Council to decide. Subsequently a petition which had been received waa found to Btate all the reasons m Bupport of tho request for reduction. Oc Scaly s.*id he had no doubt the Council would be willing to hear the lesaeea if they chose to oome, and Informed the Oauuoll m writlug of their intention. At a hv.er stage of tba meeting Or <

Thomas moved that the petitioners fcß reduction of rent receive notice tbafc thJr osses will be considered at next raeetiDß of the Oounoll. The motion was carried. FIRE BaiGADE STATION. Or Sootfc moved, "Tnat the Oounoll take Into coaaldoration tho advisability of removing the Fire Brigade station to Its original site m the Triangle " He said that as the Council had evidently ahelved Indefinitely the question of the site of the bell he felt it his duty to bring thia matter up. The Brigade felt tbat something should ba done, and he now wished to see If the Oounoll dealced to help the Brigade, or to throw all obstacles In their way. The Mayor thought tbat notice should be given ef the motion bo that Councillors might have an opportunity of giving due consideration to it. Or Soott accordingly gave notice of his intention to move at the nexs meeting In the direction above Indicated. lIOENSB A keroaane Hoense was granted to Mr J. Orr. PAYMENTS. Accouuts amounting to £14 were passed for payment, SALARIES. The Oounoil then want into Committee to fix the salaries m connection with the newly constituted offices, and on resuming j adjourned, _