AKAROA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Akaroa Mail and Banks Peninsula Advertiser, Volume 2, Issue 113, 17 August 1877, Page 2

AKAROA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

: ♦ Wednesday, August 15. Present—His Worship" the "MayOr, Crs. Waeckerle. Penlington, Cullen, Brace, Chidwick, arid Annand! " CORBEsPONbKNO*k • '■'•''■ Letters Were read—• From H. H. Fenton, enclosing report i as requested, on Ayhner-and Jollie streets,"Cr. Penlington rooved ? arid. Cr. Cullen seconded/tbatthe 1 report be received, but whether the Council was in a position to* afford the expense Of the work, was a matter fori consideration. , From the Clerk,' to the Road Board, stating 'tliat the Board were prepared to - carry out their portion oftlrewprk on the cemetery- road uniformly With' that* of the Council. . : i! /7i ' It was agreed that the letter be acknowledged, and; that the. Council. proved-with j the workj.fqf, which Specifications fhould be drawn up. ,7.. ,-.•-' ,'-*:"/ 7 V? !-.. Cr.' Cullen inpyed that tenders/ %c dn- : vited', the same t6 ; for increasing present of the Ce-he-tery road to -12ft all through:, :'?/. . Seconded by Cr'.;Bruce. .' ,",..! From Mr.'Mahhanche, asking for ciilyert to be placed :betwee'ri.h"ia property and Mr. Kissel's-to carry.off- the .water-that always settled about ■ i 7 ,1 I'M*,/ ' ;' Cr. proposed, and Cr. Peri'.ingion seconded,that |he..tJlerk write to Mr. Malmanche, t mfoi9n«figr tjb ftt tlie Courieil could riot 5 puvMproperty.! -..- ?■; '. ■'•:' :;?A * ",' t Tile' followiiig 1 letter was read irom Mr. Montgomery re the gtant and site forithe new public buildings. : Wellington, August 2,1877,. Sir,—l have the honor to acknowledge' receipt of your letter of the 26th 7 ult.; in ; which'you stated'that you had written to the Minister for Public Works, by'the same post, requesting'him to place on the estimates,! the sum of three thousand pounds, to defray the cost of the erection, of riew public buildings in Akaroa, and that -the Council suggested for the site of the new

buildings, that part of the Reserve 1901 > where Leprous blacksmith's shop at present stands. You mention also that the 'school playground requires to be increased and you express ah opinion that I shall be able to make out a strong ease. In reply, I have to state that I put a notice on the Order paper (before I received your letter) asking the Minister for Public Works, what action had been taken in the matter, and if he would lay the correspondence on the table. His reply was, that he had not been able to find any cor- [ respondence on the subject since 1874* and that in effect, no steps had been taken since the repairs had been executed. While this question was on the notice paper I received a number of telegiarns, from residents in Akaroa, objecting strongly to the removal of the public buildings, to a site at either end of the town. Not having heard from you, I concluded the Government had it in contemplation to change the site to some' part of the town, which would be objected to very strongly by a large number of the inhabitants, and I therefore replied that I would object to a change of site to either end of the town, if such change would be against the wishes of the residents. I do not know whether the site proposed by the Council will be strongly objected to ; but if it be, I would suggest that every endeavour should be made to prevent disunion, or. strife among the residents, touching this matter. Of course it is possible, and I fear provable, that the Minister for Public Works Will not comply with the request of the Council, respeting the grant. I shall make "It my duty to call on the Minister, at his office, and support the request of the Council for the £3000, and I will communicate with you as soon as I have information to gjye,.—l have the honor to be, Sir, - ■'Your Obedient Servant, W. Montgomery. Cr Penlington moved, and Cr Chadwick seconded, that the letter be received and acknowledged. From Mr. Fenton, stating that in defiance of repeated instructions from him, the contractors persisted in using wire nails instead of Ewbanks, as per specification, in their work on the curbing of footpaths. Cr Cullen desired to know whether the work at present being proceeded with by contractors, had been tendered for. .On receiving an answer in the negative, he said that the work should have been tendered for. It was only fair to the other tradesmen. Cr Waeckerle said that Messrs Sigiey and Dixon had done their work in such a straightforward workmanlike way, that he felt sure they could not have got the work better or cheaper executed. % The Mayor said the first work of the " kind had been tendered for, and that that work had been so satisfactorily done, that the remainder of the same class of work was given to the same parties without further tendering. ;■•,"'- Cr Cullen repeated his. former remarks, and said he had ho fault to find with the present contractors or their work, but in the interests of the trade all work should be tendered for. For all they knew, they might have got tlie work done cheaper, and the specification adhered to ; the present system was apt to make contractors think the Council could not do without them, hence they did what they liked,;and ignored tlie specification. He begged to propose that the specification be enforced right rhrough the work, it being optional for the contractors to reriail those portions not according to specification, or submit to a deduction from money due to them, to be fixed by the Engineer. ; Cr Penlington seconded the proposition. From F. Halm, enclosing pound report and fees for the month, 9a. It was arranged that'the Poundkeeper be instructed for the future to pay the money accruing quarterly, his report to be sent in monthly jas hitherto. From E. C. Latter, informing Council of a shipment of 1311 ft timber per Alice Jane. strfet lamps. The. Mayor drew the attention of the Council to the necessity for hurrying on this work. He was of opinion they should be erected at once, and laid before the meeting a. suggestion as to the distribution of the.lamps so as to afford equal benefit to all.. After considerable discussion it was decided to place them as follows j'.brie on the curbing opposite Mr. Aiining's; one at the Mail office corner; one about the centre of the sea wall; one near Mr. Kissel's residence ; one at the corner of Mr. Vangioni's, and the sixth, at the further corner of Grehan road. It was moved by Cr Penlington, and seconded by Cr Cullen, that tenders be invited for supplying kerosene, lighting and cleaning lamps, according to specification, the same to be seen at the Borough Council office, up to the 29th instant. ...... . PAYMENTS. , Tlie following accounts were passed for parent:— ''„■'■ j •-■'-■■■•■ '■• : ., • .-'••»: 8 U - Jl O'Brien , ... ... 17 0 E.C. Latter ... ... 20 5 9 •■ . Billens 1 19 11 |- F.Hahn : ... ... 214 0 •J.J. Kissel ... ... 1 12 0 .Town Clerk. ..; ... 8 .6 8 Day labour 3 12 0 Cr Penlington remarked on O'Brien's 'account for carting metal, which I !"was at the rate of 18s per day, thought charge excessive,: and'that Council should.only pay 'at 'the "same rate as others; Is per hour. j ,Cr Annand asked whether the. specifieatidns had been made out for filling in the road from Hi. GK Watkins, to opposite his residence.. > , ... 7 The Mayor replied that no'specifications had been prepared. Cr Annand proposed, :ahd Cr Cullen seconded, that tenders be invited for filling in the road from 11. G. Watkin's, to the wharf. ' ;. - ■'■'■ •• It .was, proposed by (Jr- Penlington, and seconded oy Or Waeckerle, that those inhabitants, who had bpeiv benefitted by the first contract for. footpaths, viz., in Church street, Aubrey-street,' and Bruce's Terrace, be called upon to;pay, their share towards the same at once. -~- - ■ Sopie discussion then ensued on Cr JPenlingtbh's reiriarks with regard to the matter of Councillors resigning- in September next. ' The Mayor referred to section j57, in the Municipal Corporations, Act which provided for the.case of a Council, consisting of less than'ten members, 'including the Mayor, and in which the was clearly laid down that all the Councillors go out in September. > , - The Mayor stated that the funds in hand belonging'to the Akaroa Borough Council, amounted to £152.

—-. ______ _— -' ; ———_-——— Cr Cullen said he would like to' see the of the Jollie-street work proceeded with at once. It was a most important work. • , Cr Waeckerle drew attention to the financial position of the Council, and *thought they should be cautious in incurring expense until Ihe funds in hand were of larger amount. Cr Cullen proposed, and Cr Bruce seconded, that Mr. Fenton be instructed to .-•lay off the levels in Jollie-street and Aylmer-street, the cost of the same to be rendered in two separate accounts.