THE HARBOUR BOARD

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 2, Issue 171, 10 June 1940, Page 5

THE HARBOUR BOARD

ANNUAL MEETING HELD

MR SUMNER RE-ELECTED

CHAIRMAN

The annual meeting of tlie Whakatanc Harbour Board was held on Friday, the retiring Chairman, Mr J. W. Sumner, presiding over Messrs J. A. Mitchell, C. Tickner. R. Ruddick, R. J. D. Brown, G. A. Brabant and C. T. Smith, the Secretary, Mr C. G. Lucas, and the Consulting Engineer, Mr C. H. Brebner. In reviewing the past year, Mr Sumner said that the principal iter) was the construction of the Centennial Park at the Heads (Harbour . Board portion). The Engineer was . to be congratulated on the work, the cost of which was £706 Kis 10d. ? There was a l-3rd subsidy by the I Government. . River Groynes. i Referring' to the river groynes | and stopbanks; the Chairman said ; Chat the Board had not been up the river for some time, but the membets should go up and see for themselves the improvements effected between the wharf - and the Paper Mills. The stop-'banks were as good as the'day they were put in. There would be no more public meetings calling the Board's attention to th 2 ■ state of the river from . the Mills dow T n and making the rash assertion that the Board was allowing the river to force a passage through the sand-hills, and thus spoiling the harbour. . / In reference to the Balance shee'., Mr Suniner said that it was seen that the Board had looked after the ratepayers' interests very well -without adding to the rates. The har-> bour had been greatly improved. Assets Improve, "Twenty years ago wc sat around the table for about two hours, de- < bating the increase of 1/lGth of a penny in the rates in order to meet our liabilities. In comparison i! has been pleasant work during the ( past few years." Mr Sumner added j that through* the splendid manage- ( meht of the Secretary, Mr G. G. Liicas, the Board's assets had vastly improved. i Continuing, the Chairman said ( that wharfage fees might possibly , decrease slightly, 'although the war , had not affected wharfage*; as much ] asf it might have done. Mr Sumner spoke of the purchasing of the launch and also of the reclamation .work done during the year. v Concluding his report, Mr Sumner said that his work had been made easy and pleasant by the assistance of the Board's officials. The executive officers, Mr C. G. Lucas and Mr C. H. Brebnei*, had been of great help to him. Assistance had klso; been readily rendered by the Harbourmaster, Captain Carey, Mr McKenzie and the office staff. He expressed his thanks to every memKer of the Beard for their co-op-eration.' Re-election of Chairman. Before, the election of the Chairman for the new term, the honorarium attaching to that position was fixed at £60 with travelling expenses to meetings additional. This' was the same as last year. Mr Ruddick, in proposing the reelection of Mr Sumner, said that he spent a lot of time on the Board's business and had a thorough knowledge of the Board's affairs. Mr Brabant said it was the Board's duty to re-elect Mr Sumner* if he would accept the nomination. Messrs Mitchell, Brown and Tickner added their endorsement of opinions expressed. Mr Sumner said he had retired from the directorate of the Rangitaiki Dairy Company in order to conserve his energies for the work to be done on the Hospital and Harbour Boards. He would enjoy doing the work as long as he could. He expressed his thanks for the nnm ination and confidence reposed in him by the members.