BOROUGH COUNCIL

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 11, Issue 28, 14 May 1947, Page 5

BOROUGH COUNCIL

MAY MEETING HELD GENERAL BUSINESS The May meeting of the Borough ' Council was held in the Council ■Chambers on Monday night. Present: Mr B. S. Barry (Mayor), and Councillors C. S. Armstrong, R. T. Morpeth, J. H. B. Warner, S. - S. Shapley, J. Creeke, A. J. Canning, W. Sullivan and H. G. Warren. Messrs. F. W. Lysaght (Electrical Engineer) and L. D. Lovelock (Town •Clerk) were also in attendance. Mark of Respect The . Mayor stated that Mrs Cais- . ley had passed away recently. Mr •Caisley had been on the council and Mrs Caisley had done valuable work on many public bodies in the town. As a mark of respect to her memory all present stood in silence. Foreman’s Report The report of the Foreman-Engi-neer was read as follows: — - Hillcrest Auxiliary Reservoir: The installation of fittings etc. completed and the tank is now in use. Housing Department, GarawayCampbell Block: To enable machine to complete earthwork on this job, and following requests from the Housing Department, I had to find the cross cutters for trees. This of course will be paid as extras by the Department. The contractor has finished the earth formation and our work will start within, the next few days. To date I have been unable to finalise water mains and I propose to go to Auckland in the coming week to attempt to overcome the difficulties in respect thereto. Domain Board: The shifting of the Fire Brigade training track and •equipment to an alternative area in the Domain has been carried out. The cost was £25 and this is being met by an arrangement between the Tennis Club and the Domain Board. Electrical Engineer’s Report The report of the Electrical Engineer was as follows:

Control Line to Hillcrest Reservoir etc.: This work has now been completed and the job has been put into service. • New Installations: - The following mew installations have been tested and connected to the supply. Also a number of alterations and additions. Lighting and heating 5; ranges A; cylinders 4; motors 1. Building Permits: The building permits issued for the month are:— New residences 1; additions to residences 1; shed removal 1. The total value of the above buildings being £2385. Inspector's Report The Borough Inspector reported that two bulls were impounded in the Whakatane Pound were unclaimed and had been sold. During the past month he had given attention to overhanging trees and hedges and rubbish on the roadside. Regarding overhanging trees on the show ground, he had spoken several times about them, but could :not seem- to get anywhere. In Goul- , stone Road they were very bad. Overhanging Trees The question of overhanging trees .mentioned in the Inspector’s report was discussed by the council. A councillor, who was a member of .the Show Committee said that he did not think the matter had ever been mentioned to that body. The Clerk, Mr Lovelock was instructed to get in touch with the Inspector and to report the. matter to the cor- . rect body.

Copper Trails

A letter asking for permission to conduct a copper trail was received from the Parent-Teachers Associa-

tion. The Mayor stated that permis.sion had been granted but advocated that bodies should be discouraged .from holding this form of collection. ■Copper trails were creeping in and were becoming all too frequent. Fertiliser Works Cr Sullivan was appointed dele•gate to a conference arranged by the . "Tauranga Harbour Board with the • object of investigating the possibility of establishing a fertiliser works on the shores of the Tauranga HarJbour. Quarry Lease A letter from Melville Bros, re the lease o i the quarry was received. It was decided to execute the document allowing the use of the quarry until 1952. War Memorial The Department of Internal Affairs sent a further letter on the War.. Memorial procedure to be' • adopted. ’ ' " The Mayor stated that apparently the-only form of memorial.on which a subsidy, would be paid was a Com- ■ munity Centre.’He felt that a Community Centre would not be a suitable memorial for Whakatane as it would not receive the use it warranted. It was decided to await the booklet on the subject which the Department was forwarding at an early

date before any definite move was made. Ohope Improvements jPI request for an increased grant was received from the Ohope Domain Board. Also enclosed was a detailed .report of necessary works the Board intended to carry out. Members spoke in, 'praise of the chairman of the Ohope Board who had given great service to the com-, munity. The Whakatane Domain was the butt of considerable caustic comment and was stated by various councillors as being the worst of its kind in the Dominion.

A motion that a grant of £2O be allowed the Ohope 'Domain Board was carried. Subdivision

A plan of the proposed subdivision of an area in Bridge Street was received.

The Mayor stated that while the sections were in the borough the road was not, being in County Council territory. The road was formed and dedicated but was not metalled. The plan was approved. Rates

The Mayor mentioned the rising costs and said that it was not a time when rates could be reduced. He recommended that the estimated rate of l/7|d plus Id as formerly be levied.-- • ...

These figures are to be confirmed at a later date. . ' Borough Finances

, The Mayor stated that borough finances were in a very healthy financial condition. Ratepayers were to be complimented on the state of affairs. 1 He also congratulated the Clerk on the manner in which the report and balance sheet were prepared. The statement of accounts was’received.