BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume XIV, Issue 2910, 28 February 1893, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting: of the Ashbui ton Borough. Council »*h held last evening. Present- Crs Thoma«, Cuthberrson, Paul, Flower, Jones, Scaly, Orr, and Dune in In tho alisene« of the M*yor in Chiistchurch, Or Thomas was ask«.» to presi le. FINANCE. -| The Chairman reported ihe debit bvlav.ee it the b«nk as standing at £948 11s, and the income received since last. meeting from fill sources £40 12s 81. of which £14 13* were ua domain account. Dog licansM ha i brought in £8, rents of reserv s £9 2* Bd, rafes £5, library :ic count £1 15s. SATIVE LAND LAWS. - The Native Land Liws Kef jrm League forwarded a circular requesting the Uoun cil'b co-operation in pbcaining reform ot' the laws rslating to native lands. The circular was receivad. FIRM BRIGADE. , Cr Outhbertson intimated that the annual inspection of the brigade and plant would take place on March 9, at which the Councillors were requested to be present. engineers' report. The Engineers' report was read as under:— Concrete Channelling Repairs.—The I Works Committee have had under consi- ' deration the question of repairing the I concrete channelling and recommend that the work shoul 1 be commenced without delay. The length requiring repair, more or less, would be about 180 chains, and the approximate cost we estimate at fro.a £25 to. £30. The asphalt channels may require a 6mall sum in excess of this amount to be expended if it is found much of it requin s renewal The pipe connections of the channels with tho outfall drain should also be examined and repaired if found necessary. Foot Bridges.—The Works Committee recommend that four foot bridges be fixed in East street, at the corners of Burnett street and Tancred street to the railway crossings. Shed at Council Yards.—lt is recommended that the leanto shed at che back of the fire brigade shed be extended about 33 feet, as far as the workshop, for the purpose of bousing the carts, etc., and giving more storage room for horse feed, etc. We estimate the cost at about £30, which would include the cost of repairs to the fence. Labor Gang.—The men have been engjued in watering streets, clearing grass off streets, and carting to section, miking and fixing foot bridges, carting rubbish from sif'e channels, grubbing gorse in streets, clearing channels, repairing fences round reserves and repaiiing traffic bridge, attending to water supply and other general maintenance. The report was discassed, and on the motion of Cr Seal?, a footbridge opposite the entrance to the Domain was ordend to be laid down. Clause 3of the report was held over for a fortnight, and the, remainder of the report was passed. The engineer* were requested to draw the atren»icfn of the Inspector to stray ducks in Cameron street. In reply to Cr Pau', the clerk said twenty-two dog* had been registered in the borough. It was decided to allow Is 6d to the Inspector on all dogs he caused to be registered. LIBRARY. Cr Paul pave the information asked for by Cr Orr at last meeting. He gave the history of the library from its commencement to the burning down of the old building opposito the school, and from that point to ihe handing over of the new building, e'c. to tho Council. He quoted the resolution under which, the whole concern was vested in the Council. A proviso in which wag that tho library or a museum was to be maintained in connection with it. The eubsoi iptiorks for eight years had been on an average £17 5s ; and for four years £12 10s per annum. The interest on £700 (building) at 7 per cent, as per resolution of the Council was £49,* giving a total of £61 I<K There had been an expenditure of £60 18s 7d per annum. There had been £300 paid to the Building Society and £75 liabilities. The building, books, and fittings were valued at £1000, leaving £700 as above. (Jo to 1888 a salary of £25 was paid to the librarian, but 6ince that date no separate salary had been paid, and no salary was provided for in the expenditure. The number of subscribers now on the books was 35, an increase of 15 in the last three months. The expenses of the reading room, apart from the circulating library is about £42 per aunum, which did not include any salary. After an open discussion it was decided to take the whole question in committee 'of the whole at, next meeting of the Council. EBTIMATKS. The Works Committee were authorised to draw up the estimates for the year 1893-4. LICENSL'S. Stephens Bros, were granted a petroleum license. ACCOUNTS, Accounts to the amount of £88 were passed for payment.