ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1811, 10 April 1888, Page 2

ASHBURTON BOROUGH COUNCIL

I The ordinary meeting was held laat evening. Present — The Mayor and Ore Williamson, Sootfc, Roberts. Scaly, Reid, Tucker, Thomas and H. Frledlander. Or R. Bird the newly elected Oounoillor took hia seat. mayor's statement. The Mayor said that the debit balance at the bank waa £1504 la lid. The amounts which had been received since last meeting were : — Library acoount, £1 2a ; dog licenses, £5 10a ; rents of reserves, £12 2* 6 i ; rates 1887, £7 7a; rates 1888, £79 7e. Total. £105 8s 6i. , The amount of rates for 1887 remaining uuoolleoted was £12 91 7d. CORRESPONDED OE , j Letters were read {1) From the Treasury advising the payment of £140 12a 6d. — The money had not yet been received. : —(2) From Mr W. Spance applying for i earth. — Referred to the Works Comt mittee.— (3) From Gotmty Ooanoil applying for Ooanoil's share of expeosea inoarred m connection with the Ashbarton 1 Traffic Bridge.— lt waa decided that the i amount should be paid. — (4) From the r Superintendent of the Western Fire Brigrde stating that m aooordanoe with the j Oounoil'a suggestion, the Brigade had had , a conference with the ABhbarton Brigade, , bat the latter body having no intimation of the Coanoll'a Intentions nothing was * done. It was suggested that the Committee of the Council should oonfor with the Brigades, when something definite I might be arrived at.— Ot Scott bore oat the mala faots of the letter. If an 3 amalgation took place It would necessitate 1 the inoiease of the membership of the 3 Brigade to A greater extent than the j rales allowed. The Aahburton Brigade i had been unable to answer the other Brigade's enquiries as to providing uniforms or making provision for the Western 3 engine,— Or Williamson moved that the : f matter be referred to the Fire Brigade , Committee to bring up suggestions.— Or . Scaly seoonded the motion.— Or Scott aaid that anleaa the Committee had some authority from the Council, matters would 1 not be advanoed.— The Mayor said that 9 the motion did not contemplate a cont ferenoe with the Brigade jaat yet, bat t that the Committee should bring up a 3 report for the Ooanoil's guidance. — After j further discussion the motion was oarrled by five to four. LEASES. ■ * A deputation of lessees of Borough - Reeerves, who some time ago petitioned i the Council to reduce their rents, again { waited on the Council m order to adduce farther reasons why the redactions aeked for should be granted. About nine gen* 7 tlemen attended. * Mr J. Ward, on behalf of the Building i Society, a body which held a number of 3 Borough leases, first addressed the Council. He said that m one case the rent received for a building and aeotion did not oover * the ground rent, and m six months the , rent of the reserve would be increased. jf He expressed his confidence that the 3 Council would take a reasonable view of the matter. ' Messrs TaßkerandJ. Scaly addressed the Council, Btating that the reserves I were Bold at high prioes m good times. Since then property had decreased m 3 value, but the rents of the reserves m V creased every seven yeara. The latter gentleman said the Government had aeen the necessity for rednoing these rentß, 1 having laat aeanlon passed a measure 7 enabling local bodies to make redactions m tenants' rents r Messrs John Orr, W. Patching, Steele, t J, L. Brown, and J. Keir addressed the Council, pointing out the hardships of their particular oaßea. Mr Brown said fc those gentlemen who had built on » their sections were m the worse position, j but unless the rentß were reduced there i was no likelihood of buildings being erected on the reserves that were not built upon. Me J. Keir, for Messrs iP. '• and D. Duncan, said that hia firm took a \ section which would not now bring £100 r by auotion. Daring the past Bix years they had paid £210 m rent, and by the teroiß of the lease that rent would shortly * be raised. The section was not worth £1 ' a year to them, they could not build on it * or sab-let it. t The Mayor explained to the deputation s that the Counoil had adopted the Looal i Bodies Powers Act m order that they j might deal with this question of leases. It was the Council's intention to go into 5 each case and deal with it on its merits. * Consideration of the respective oases would be held when the ordinary business f of the present meeting' had been trant sacted. The deputation thanked the Oonnoll and withdrew. APPLICATIONS. Messrs Harrild and Stribling applied for the lease of certain reserves. — Referred to the Reserves Committee with power to act. engineer's report. The Engineers reported that It would be advisable to metal before winter, the lengths of Btreets and footpaths formed m the spring and early summer, viz, :— Mona Square and part of William street, requiring 400 to 500 yards. An application, had been made by a resident of Tancred street, and there waa a quantity m Mona Square requiring removal. A bnilding licenae had been applied for for scaffolding m Tanored street. The report was adopted. engineer's claim, The Committee appointed to consider this matter, and which had been requested to bring up a further report aa to the grounds on which waa based its recommendation of making a grant of £50 to the Engineer, foe services for which he had received no remuneration, produoed a statement from the Eagineer showing m detail a number of works for whloh he had received no payment, gjla reply to Or Tucker the Mayor said that the Engineer had been paid commission on all worka executed. Or Scott asked where was the Committee's additional report. The Mayor said that at the last meeting the Committee had been asked to adduce further information and they had accordingly produoed Mr Fooka' statement. Or Scott said that was Mr Fooka' version. Whore was the Committee's supplementary report. The Mayor said that the statement comprised the additional Information asked for by the Council. >; The report of the Committee brought np at last meeting and recommending the payment of £50 m settlement of all olatmß was here read. Or Ffledlander said that though a member of the Committee he had not been able to attend, but he would express his opinion now. Taking the whole matter into consideration the Bum of £50 was not a large one to settle the claim which Mr Focks undoubtedly had against the Gounoll Aa fitßt he waa rather antagonistic to the claim, but when he looked into the matter he reoogaieei the ! falrnesa of Ml' Fooka 1 application. From the knowledge ho had of the Council he ! wai m a position to know thai; the Engineer had done a great deal of work } for which ho had not received any remuneration. As it was possible Mr ' Fooks waa on the point of aevering hia l connection with the Borough, the present l was a proper time for the claim to ba brought forward, and the Counoil should consider it m a fair spirit. $ Or Roberts again opposed the Commit- c tee's recommendation. He repeated what 3 he had previously Bald, that the Engineer 1 should have sent m his claim long ago, ( and not when his aervloes were going to b be dispenstd with. A number of the e items referred to m the statement were s very small, and he did not sea anything to juatify the ol«lm| j fc

Or Thomaa produced a balky document j consisting of * manuscript copy of bylaws ' which had been drawn up by the Engineer, and were referred to m his statement, and asked how much Or Roberta would oharge to do a similar work. la reply to Or Scott, the Mayor Baid that since 1880 the Eagineer had been paid by commission upon all works executed. The Engineer had done a great de*l of work m connection with undertakings which had been proposed but not oarried oat. He (the Mayor) had no desire to lead the Council but; only to place the facts before them. In regard to the by-laws referred to by Or Thomas the Engineer had a great deal of work to perform, and that work required maoh vigilance and carefulness. Or Bird gave the same Information m regard to the by-laws. He was quite sore Mr Fooks was entitled to Borne remumeration for that particular work. Or Soott said that his reason for asking the question In regard to commission was that he noticed m the Engineer's statement some works whioh be was almost ; certain had been undertaken by the Council* There was an item m regard to the Fire Brigade station : now the station had been shifted, and he presumed the Engineer had received his commission. Then there was another item for water supply, on whioh he thought the Council had expended money. Or Reid asked if the Engineer was paid commission on the gross amount expended m any work, inoladlng material, horse feed, etc. The Mayor Bald that snob, was the »r---rangdmentt Or Scaly referred to Or Soott'a remarks. He said that the water raoe referred to by the Engineer was one m connection with whioh he had a good deal of work, bat whioh had not been constructed. It was one proposed to be constructed through the river bed paddooks, bat after the Engineer had been put to muoh trouble the Council had deolded not to oonatraofc it. Although some of the items of Mr Fooks' statement might appear insignificant, still many important works were Bpeolfied, and sorely the Council would not objeot to pay for work which it had got done. The work extended over five years, and all the Committee proposed was a payment of £10 per annum, and daring the period they had had the akill aud ability of Mr Fooks at their disposal. He did not see why the Oonnoll should expect Mr Fooks to work for them for nothing. Or Robertß : The account ahould have been rendered before. Or Thomas : It has been. Or Reid was pleased to see thac they had now faller Information before them. He recognised that Mr Fooka should have some remuneration, but he would be against giving so much as the report recommended, though he would agree to a smaller amount. He bad always objected to the syatem of commission under which the Engineer worked, aa he did not think the syatem a wise and judicious one. Or Friedlander didn't know if some Councilors were aware of the aeriona oharge they were making when they stated the Engineer had been paid for some of the works mentioned m hia statement. Or Tucker opposed the claim. He thought the Engineer should have sent In his claim every six months, when he was squared np with. Besides the Engineer got commission on timber and material, the looking after of which was In the hands of the foreman. He was going to oppose the claim ; it was of no uae perhaps because it was bound to be carried, A Or: Oh Is it? Or Thomas : Would you oppoae it before the Judge ? Or Tucker: Yea. Or Bird said that although he had hardly had time to consider the matter folly he was aatiafied the Engineer had a olaim. Or Soott was on tbe point of speaking, when Or Williamson raised a point of order saying that Or Soott had previously spoken. The Mayor ruled against Cr Soott. Or Soott said that he had only asked a queatlou. Or Tuoker asked if anything waa before the meeting. The Mayor said that the Committee's report had been re-read and was before the meeting. The Engineer's statement was explanatory of the report. Or Friedlander thought that Or Soott had a right to speak aa he had not addressed the meeting previously. Or Williamson had no objeotlon to Or Soott speaking, but he wanted some finality to the diaonaalon. Or Scott wiahed to know if aßking a question oonstitnted addressing the meeting. The Mayor said that it did not. Or Soott said that was all he had done* He theu went on to Bpeak In opposition to the claim. Or Williamson here moved the adoption of the report. He said that Ors who were not convinced after hearing the supplementary report had made up their minds not to be convinced. He spoke at length maintaining the justice of the claim. For hia part he dida'fc oare whether the Council adopted the report or not, but if they were wise they would adopt it. Mr Fooks had a claim and if necessary conld substantiate it. In the next place those who had seen the Hat must have reoognlaed that work had been dene and not paid for. It was all very well tossy some of tho Itema such as inspecting buildings were small matters, bat he had notioed that some Ors would not leave their business to attend to committee w:>rk and yet they saw nothing unreasonable m expeoting Mr Fooks to leave his work to be at the beck and call of the Council. Or Friedlander aeoonded the adoption cf the report. Tho Counoll by ■ reßolving to pay the Engineer £25 per annum at a time when there was little work doing ahowed that that they recognised that the previous arrangement did not recompense him. The Engineer had done work for the Council for whioh he had not been paid over a term of seven years and the Committee merely recommended the payment of a sum of £7 per annum for this period. Or Roberto said that the Engineer had received his 7 per cent commission during that time. Or Friedlander Baid that the 7 per cent commission was likewise continued under the retaining fee system. The Council should consider the olaim m a fair and 4 equitable manner. He was satisfied Mr Fookß had a legal claim. How would it look for the Council to go into Ooatt without a leg to stand on. After further discussion a good deal of which was m regard to the order of the debate, Or Reid moved aa an amendment that the snm of £30 be paid to the Engineer m remuneration of hia past services, The amendment was not Beoonded and accordingly lapsed. The motion was put to tho meeting and carried, Ora Reid, Soott; Roberta and Packer dissenting. FIBE BBIGADE B,EK>KT, A report on two amall firea wbb submitted. Attention was oalled to some small repairs needing attention.—Conslderation was deferred till next meeting. FIRE ENGINE STATION. Pursuant to notice Or Soott moved that » Committee be appointed to take Into lonaideration the question of removing the Fire Brigade station to ita old aite In the triangle. He aald that he waa Bare evary Councillor was aitlafied that the Triangle ite waa the best, and he waa aura that iy«rybody was satisfied that tho present ite waa about the worat m the town. The motion was not seconded and ipaed, ,

EXPENSES. * Cr Sootl moved that; the nm.. < th. W M eem Brigade h.%SSSS^ some definite arrangement has been made Id the direction of amalgamation or otherwise. Hb Bafd that as matters stood, If a aei-ious fire broke oat, the Western Brigade would not attend, or wonld have to pay their own expenses. Or Thomas seconded the motion. Or WHHamaon considered notice of motion would have to be aiven, as tha Oounoll had already decided flatly opposite to the direction moved In by Or Scott. An irregular dlflonsalon took place and the Mayor ruled that notice cf motion was necessary. OOKQRATULATOBY* The Mayor congratulated Of Bird on his r election to the Council. ADJOUBNeD. ' The Mayor pointed out that the annaal householders meeting took plaoe on the next meeting night of the Oounoll. H« wished to know If the Oounell wonld adjourn. It waa deolded that the meeting of the Oounoil should be deferred for a week. PAYMENTS, Accounts amounting to £67 15a 6a were pBBBed for payment. offices. About fourteen application* were received for the offices of Olerk and Engineer, oonjolned or separately. The Oounoll went Into Committee and on reinmlng ifc waa reported that Me Ohaelei Braddell had been appointed to both offices. BESEBVES. The Oonnoll went Into Committee In regard to the application of lessees of Borough reaerves for a redaction In thel* rents. After a lengthy consideration thw subject was postponed for four week* when a special meeting will be held. The Oounoll adjourned at half-pait eleven.