BALCLUTHA TOWN COUNCIL.

Clutha Leader, Volume IV, Issue 172, 26 October 1877, Page 6

BALCLUTHA TOWN COUNCIL.

The regtOar meeting of the alto re body "■was held on Tuesday night last. Present: IT-lie Mayor-, and Councillors Cramond, Maosonald, Canning, Doull, Dunne, and Hogg. The minutes of former meeting were read ar.d confirmed. GO'-HKS-rON DENOE. The 'Town Clerk read the following "letter :— 'To the Mayor and Councillors of Balclutha. Cetit.cm-.n, —I <-anr.ot surmise Mm roasons you 'had in obstructing our streets with those barri•cnrles and trees cof.fer.iry to the Act of Parliament by which you wre -constituted a Cowr.eil. — nye. and the Acts of Parlianient, iv every -civilised country — even common sense. Allow tne to bring' beforo yom- notice': if any on« iii the town -or -court try gets hurt by those nuisances on our street T d *übt the damage will < exc-ed the amount paid for a like obstruction -some yeais since. Trusting you may see your way to their he ing ■ removed, and as soon as possible, -lata, Gentle•men, yours respectfully, A ..LAN C. CAMrBEI.L. Balclutha, Oct. 23, 1877. Councillor Canning moved 'that the letter be received. Seconded hy Councillor Dunne. On being put to the rote, the result 'was— For the motion, Councillors Canning, Dunne, aud Doull ; against, Councillors Hogg, and J/laedonald. The Mayor gave his casting vote against ithe motion, and the letter consequently "•was not received. RESERVES. The Mayor reported that the Reserves •Committee had, after inspecting plan of the River Trust Endowment, selected a •block adjoining it of the extent cf 3 955* • acres ; and he mentioned that the block -also adjoined one intended to be applied -for by the Athenaeum Committee. •REPORT. The following report was handed in by ■ the Public. Works Committee : — Yoar Committee hej- to report that pLns and • specifications have been prepared by the engineer "for the following works : -(1) liaising and gravelling Charlotte-street ; (2) extension of '00-iglas-••sti-t-et; (:-:) formation ■of Cronmr-street ; (4) formation of Stamford -street. They have to report that they resolved to call for tenders for : - (1) raising' nnd gravelling ' Charlotte-street ; (1) extension of Douglas street • •(3) formation of Cromar-street, from main road to where it joins Stamford-street ; (4) formation - of Stamford-street from main road to where it .joins Cromai' street. Your Committee recommend that the culvert required on Douglas-street be erected by day labour after the contract has been carried out. The Mayor drew attention to a decision formerlj^come to by the Council that all works agreed to be "done should be done in rotation, those first agreed to being first earned out ; and said lie thought there were works passed by the Council a considerable time ago, such as Barr-street, wliich were not mentioned in tlie report, «nd which apparantly were to be lost sight of. Councillor Doull explained that Barrstreet could not be formed until the railway crossing was constructed. - Councillor Hogg complained that tendors were advertised for for certain works, while no specifications had been drawn •out and the Works Committee had not certified to the. plans. He believed only a couple o£ days had elapsed between the ' - specifications being ready, and the time for lodging of tenders being up. He would like some explanation about the cause of such confusion. A long discussion took place regarding the whole affair. The Mayor said the en- _ gineei* had not been able to get the plans ready so soon as he expected, and consequently a delay had oceured. Councillor Doull thought the Mayor was to blame for having given the Clerk instructions to ad- j vertise before the Public Works Committee had examined tlie plans. i Eventually on the motion of Councillor Doull. the report was adopted. ACCOUNTS. The following accounts were handed in : — Time sheet for painting bridge from October Bth to 20th, LlO 2s ; A. Bain, boxes for wells, L3 5s 6d ; Robert Grigor, taking levels of streets, preparing plans, &c. , and work in connection with selection of endowment, L 34 13s. The foregoing were passed for payment. •-'A. Chirnside's account (LlO6 9s) was, on the motion of Councillor Cramond, referred to the Public Works Committee, as there appeared to have been n -misunderstanding with regard to the extras included in it. Tho account was made up as follows : — Contract for formation of Gordon and Douglas streets, JL.9B ; extras for forming Douglas and John streets, L2 9s ; extra for raising Douglas-street, L 6 : total, LlO6 9s. TENDERS. With regard to tenders laid on the table for works advertised -for in accord- ; ance with Public Works Committee report, Councillor Macdonald moved that the tenders be returned unopened, and that fresh tenders be called, the time to be extented f oi**- a fortnight. Councillor Dunne seconded, -and the motion was carried. A SUGGESTION. Councillor Cramond called -attention to the unbusiness-like way in which acco\mts were passed. They were simply read over • by the Clerk, and underwent no examination whatever He thought it -would be well if the Finance Committee looked all accounts over before .presentation to the Council, so that there might be some . guarantee for their correctness. He also thought it would be well if labour accounts -and those in connection Avith the bridge were presented monthly instead of fortnightly. In the case of such works-as tho wells, -for instance, instead of the whole «of -the accounts in connection with them -coming before the Council at one time, they came in separately, and confusion was created regarding the total expense of -such works. It was resolved to act upon the suggestion for the future. THE .ArAIN ROAD. In accordance with notice of motion, Councillor Cramond proposed, "That the main road, from John-street to the southern boundary of the town, be formed and metalled." He said it was fifteen years since the road had been formed by *he Provincial Government, and the road was now in that state that patching would no longer do : it was completely worn out, ■and required forming afresh. He estimated the cost at L 220, and thought the "work should be undertaken before February. It was a heavy work, no doubt ; but he thought if the Finance Committee Jaid their heads together, they could ar-

range to raise the money. He wss lecidedly .averso to any more bonus, but suggested . that tbo rates might be mortgaged, or something of that kind, to -meet the case. He could assure tlie Council that if another winter's traffic passed over the road, the expense of the work would be greatly increased. There was no seconder to the motion, : | which consequently lapsed. NO NEW works. I Councillor Macdonald, in accordance with notice of motion, moved, " That no j new works be undertaken until those already ordered be carried out." He said he was almost sorry no one had j seconded Councillor Oramond's motion. If ; there was a work in the town which j deserved the title of urgent,. "it was'-the one suggested by Councillor Cramond.' But as the Council stood pledged to such a number of works, he thought it would be wisdom to get those out of hand before beginning any fresh ones, especially of so haavy a nature as re-formingthe main road. ! They could not withdraw from these works to which they stood pledged, and he thought the state of the finance of the Council precluded them from undertaking j anything further at present. , Councillor li ogg seconded the motion, j bvung afraid the Council would not find j funds enough to carry out the works already under w*j,y. Councillor Canning opposed the motion. ; He thought it was like a -man taking the pledge to keep himself sober : if the Council knew their funds were short, surely they could trust themselves not to pass extensive works or works not urgently required. Eventually the motion was carried, being amended to read as follows :— " That no further works, unless very urgent, be taken into consideration till those already passed were tendered for and decided upon." CONNECTION OF RENFREW AND DOUGLAS STREETS. Councillor Dunne, in accordance with notice of motion, moved, " That this Council take into consideration tho necessity of joining or connecting Renfrew and Douglas streets." Tho motion was carried, and a Committee appointed to report upon the matter. FOOTPATH NOU TII OF BRIDGE. Councillor Canning, in accordance with notice of motion, moved, " That a footpath from the northern end of traffic bridge to the end of the fence leading from the bridge northward be formed and gravelled out of bridge revenue ; also that the road line within the fences bo properly formed and metalled out of the same funds?' Councillor Hogg objected to this motion. The bridge funds were for the purposes of the bridge, not for such works as the one proposed. Councillor Doull seconded tbe motion. _ Other Councillors thought with Councillor Hogg, and Councillor Canning withdrew his motion. He said he had originally proposed to do the work out of the ordinary revenue, but his colleagues at the Council Board had advised him to bring it forward in tho amended shape. He had done so, and now he had to complain that lie had been led astray by his fellow-Councillors in the matter. RETURNS. Councillor Canning moved, " That tlie Clerk be requested to lay before the Council at its next meeting detailed schedules of the expense of following works .-—Test wells ; planting trees ; printing and advertising account for past year." Seconded by Councillor Doull, and carried. A SUGGESTION. Councillor Dunne drew attention to the inconvenience caused by tho three trees planted at junction of Elizabeth and Renfrew streets, and suggested that they should be removed.— Agreed to. This concluded the proceedings.