KARANGAHAPE HIGHWAY MEETING.

Auckland Star, Volume VI, Issue 1679, 6 July 1875, Page 2

KARANGAHAPE HIGHWAY MEETING.

THE animal meeting of the Karangahape ratepayers was held last evening in the Newton school-room ; more than a hundred porsons were present. Mr. 0. Mahon was called to the chair, and having stated the object of the meeting, called upon Mr Francis Cherry to read the balance-sheet, which had been prepared by the auditors, Messrs. Haslem and Barnes, and which appeared as follows : —.Receipts : To rates collected, £385 178 6d ; subscribed by ratepayers, £5 10s ; amount received from Colonial Government, £127 10s ; from Provincial Government, £100 ; received under Dog Nuisance Act, £35 ss: total, £G54 2s 6d. Expenditure : 1 o forming roads, £419 11s ; metalling and channelling, £231 Is ; bridges and culvert?, £10 ; other works, £26 Gs 5d ; to commission. £20 18s ; salaries and rent, £15 19 4'l ; Dog Nuisance Act, £10 16*; sundries, £6 lGs 2d : total, £741 7s lid. Amount, of rates payable for the year, £391 17s 7d ; amounts received, £342 14s 8H ; total amount of arrears for past years collected, £43 2s lOd. In answer to questions from ratepayers, the secretary said the arrears of rates in the district was £79 4s lid; the greater part of which he thought might be recovered. He also stated that two itema, viz., a balance of £01 9s 9d, and the balance in hand on the Ist Jnlv, viz., £4 4s 4d were not mentioned in theofficialbalance-sheet. MrGarrettinformed the meeting that three tenders had been received for the supply of metal, aDd the lowest tender had not been accepted. Mr Warren in reply said there was a difference of a penny a yard in the tender and the second tender had been accepted because he was a resident, and was prepared to give three months credit, which the lowest tenderer could not give, and last year the lowest tender was received, and in the middle of the year the Eoard was without metal. A complaint was made by Mr. Garrett as to the unsarisfactory way in which the rates had been collected; one gentleman in Queenstreeb has neglected to pay rates for two years upon property which he held in Newton, and the result was the purchaser had to pay the arrears. Mr. Wells spoke of the difficulties he had experienced in collecting the rates on the said property. A number of other complaints were made by ratepayers, some of a very frivolous nature, after which the report and balance sheet were adopted. Mr. Cherry then moved, and Mr. Warren seconded, " That the rate for the ensuing year be one penny in the pound on the value to sell." Mr. Garrett moved, and Mr. Jamieson seconded, " That for the ensuing year all new works be performed by contract according to plan and specifications." These resolutions were carried. The next business was the election of trustees for the ensuing year, when the following gentlemen were nominated: — Messrs. F. Cherry, James Cox, Thomas Barnes, J. S. Duke, E. Stevenson, Morrison, and J. Warren, out of which number the following were returned :—Messrs. Cox (107 votes), Barnes (K>2), Cherry (99), J. Warren (89), and J. S. Duke (86). Messrs. Haslem and Stevenson were appointed auditors, and Messrs. Garrett and Carlyle, fence viewers .The business then closed with a vote of thanks to the chairman.