MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

Cromwell Argus, Volume IV, Issue 163, 24 December 1872, Page 6

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

The Council met in the Town-hall on Thursday evening. The Mayor, and Councillors Marsh, Wright, and Grant, were present. The inward correspondence was unimportant. The Mayor laid on the table a circular he had received from the Secretary to the Benevolent Institution, soliciting a donation from the Council. No motion was made on the matter. Plans of work proposed to be executed in connection with the town race were laid on the table, and the Mayor read the specifications attached. Two tenders for constructing a reservoir and laying pipes wore received ; but as several blanks left in the specifications had not been filled up, it was decided to return tbe tenders and invite fresh otters, —the time being extended till the 2nd proximo. It was unanimously agreed to appoint Mr Duncan MacKellar as Inspector of Works to the Corporation, the remuneration being fixed at 10 per cent, upon the cost of all works undertaken by the Council. Cr. Marsh called attention to the state of the town race. He had never seen it in a worse condition than it was at present: it was filthy in the extreme. The Public Works Committee were requested to attend to the matter. The Mayor said the local paper had frequently made mention of the irregularity and insufficiency of the water-supply, but it had failed to point out that whenever it was turned on, it was stopped as it came along by persons filling their tanks and watering their gardens: in fact, everybody looked after No. I. He (tbe Mayor) was sure he was as anxious as anyone could be to remedy the inconveniences arising from scarcity of water, and lie thought the Council had done all in its power in the matter of water-supply. The Council might have some sins of omission to account for in connection with it, but certainly none of commission. Cr. Grant was in a position to state, from personal observation, that the boxes across the “desert” would fill up with sand in the course of an hour—faster, indeed, than a man could empty them. Cr. Wright considered that no one had a r/fnt to check the flow of the water in any /vay except by allowing it to run naturally into tanks. After some further discussion, the Mayor was empowered to make such arrangements as he might deem necessary for ensuring a constant supply during the holidays. Accounts as undermentioned were passed for payment:—John Wright, for cleansing and attending town race and street-channels, £2l 13.-. 4d. ; H. \V. Smythies, quarter’s salary as Town Clerk, and commission on monies collected, £l6 10s. ; Matthews and Fenwick, for printing and advertising, £3 2s. The Town Clerk was directed to remind the Corporation Assessors of the necessity for commencing their duties at an early date ; also, to write to the Provincial Treasurer asking tbit the fees received since last April for dogs owned within the Municipality, ■bo remitted to the Corporation. The Mayor mentioned that Mr Shepherd, M. H.R., had never replied to tbe telegram sent him by the Council regarding the appointment of a bailiif. The Town Clerk was instructed to communicate with the Superintendent and Secretary for Gold-fields on the subject. The Mayor said ho was aware that some very eligible tenders had been sent in to tire Government for constructing the proposed horsetrack to Quartz Beef Point, but nothing had yet been heard as to whether any tender had been accepted for the work.

It was directed that a letter he sent to the Secretary for works asking information on the subject. The sum of 10s. 61. was voted to minimise the Mayor for cost of telegrams in connection with the commonage question. The Council then adjourned for a fortnight.