HUTT BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 594, 24 August 1909, Page 7

HUTT BOROUGH AFFAIRS.

' SPECIAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT. EXCESS OF EXPENDITURE. X 7758. ,V. Tho Special Committee, consisting of tho Mayor of Lower Hutt (Mr. E. P. Bunny), and ' v Councillors Baldwin, Kempthorne, and Poarco, set up to report on the expenditure of the loan, presented the following statement to last night's meeting,of the council — The committee is of'opinion that all these j, purposes for which the .£52,0(10 was borrowed, and the snms allocated for, them/ should havo , been kept separate in the accounts, and in such'manner that there would have'been no possibility of either tho several purposes oV the loan being' confused, or the allocations for >one purpobo being used for some other purpose. « The voting paper used at the poll on NovomH bor 3, 1905, recited that such sum (£52,000) is * to be expended as hereinafter set lortli — \ Drainage, sewage, and sanitation, ,£29,100; water 6upply, ,£17,800; street improvements, , £4800 Owing to the fact that the three items of creek diversion, surfaco drainage, and sow- ' age.swero included in tho general heading of "drainage, sewage, and sanitation" in the votv ing' paper, it has been contended that tho councils were not bound to observe the alloca--1 tions made for tho separate undertakings in ■ the report ot the engineers, which iroport un- » doubtedly 'formed 'the basis upon which tho •works were-settled, and tho amount of the, 'loans fixed. The committee is unablo to adopt this view, because, unless tho allocations fixed . by the engineers were observed, there was no r other guide, and the councils might, if tho , contention above referred to is correct, havo ' spent nearly the whole of the money on any one of the purposes of surfaco drainage, creek diversion, or sewage, leaving an absolutely i inadequate sum for the carrying out of the other'purposes of th 6 loan, all of which the councils were bound to regard as of equal importance-to the ratepayers. There can be J no question that a very considerable sum of money was spent m street improvements, over and above the amounts authorised. Report I No. lfrshows that tins amount'is ,£3122 12s. , 10d.'-

Water, Supply and Surface Drainan.B. A''sum of .£2077 4s. 9d. was expended on the - ' water-silpply loan,, in excess ot tho amount authorised. The increased expenditure" in this work is partly accounted for owing to the , extra'cost of machinery, including engine and pipes; and the increase in lengths ot bores of mains, and also to tho cost ot the reservoir and pumping fetation sites being considerably more than was estimated. As against this extia cost, there was a contingency fund of ~ .£ISOO provided for in tho loan. As"-explained before, s there was only a sum of *930 allowed for carrying out the Mirfaoe drainage. According to- the engineer's roport in 1905-7, ££4iG5 Bs. lOd. was spent on surtaco drainage; in 1907-8, 3s. 9d.; in 1908-9, 45722,43. 9d. Therefore, although thcro was only"i93o contemplated in the report as being sufficient for surface drainage, jet a sum of JE5669 17s. 4d. was spent. Extraordinary confusion arises owing to the mixing up of certain 1 items of street improvement with the sur'fate drainage. Report No. 11 contains certain items under the head of "street improvc- • menta." For instance, the first item is Middle Waiwetu Road and drains, £1306 15s. 9d. In'the engineer's report, there is only i'w Of ,£595/95. Id., mentioned as being, expended on' the Middle Waiwetu kerb and channel, whereas there is a sum, ofi £1919 15s. sd.,gnentioned as heme spent on the Middle Waiweti) dram under the item of "surfaco drainage,"

1 so'it would appear that altogether a sum of £2515 is Gd. has been 6pent on tho Middle Walwctu Road. This appears to have been, under tho circumstances, an extarordiuary expenditure. There can bo no doubt that items of large amount has been^included under the heading of "surface drainage," in the former report were inoluded' under the heading of "street improvements," the object being to reduce the excess of expenditure shown in Report No' 11 upon street improvements. 1 Tho Excess, of Expenditure. ' The excess of expenditure shown by the borough engineer's report on surface drainage and street improvements amounts to .£4739 17s The committee finds that a sum of .£391, being part of the coat of a roller and stone crusher was wrongfnlly charged up to waterworks and drainage, if so charged in. the' balance-sheet of 1909, whereas bV a very libeial allowance under those headings. i Summarising, the committee-finds the total excess expenditure to be —(1) On water supply, <£2077 4s. 9d ; f2) street impiovements and surface drainage, JAW 17s , (3) amount ltnpropeily charged to waterworks and .drainage, I £441; total, £7758 Is 9d I In regard to the expenditure of .£B5l 0s 4d on tho road between the railway station and the Hutt Bridge, the report states, in the absence of any estimate, we are of opinion that the council? 1 did not realise the expenditure they wore committed to Tho same general observations will be found to apply in the case of "other large sums of money spent on stTeet Tor instance, -£279 wai spent on the Ahcetown kerb and channel and £2153 from the Queen's Road to Nai Nai Lane In tho case of the Bridge Street drain there was an estimate as to the cost. The engineer reported that the cost would bo .6418, whereas the aotual expenditure v. as J6737. We desire to call attention to a very important piece of evidence given by Major M'Donald, which'no doubt had an important bearing upon tho reason for tho continuance of the da) -labour system He admitted having stated that in consequence, of day labour being used in connection with a Certain work, a sum of £S<X> had been saved This he stated on 'tho authority; of the borough engineer Tho real amount «aved was £7. No explanation of this discrepancy appears in the evidence '■ Previous Estimates of the Deficit.

:;(^?i^e , 'nfldJ'that:.'Oh>Novemher'.23,;l9oß; No. l' ;('.' committee Cf,/the (council repprted.as follows— , / .(; VThe'cbmmitteevhasiconsidered v the(return pro-^ :,/ pared/by.^heltowfi/clerkivaiid.has fully invei-', ' ; -tigate'd: •the'-V'cbhditiori'fcfih'anciallyj,' (. of tlm "./.'drainage •loan; ..and,\is..quite'.-satisfied. that tho ,(;( /will/b9,/ca'rried/ont(as ; ;'near.the ostj-.'/(.-mate-,; ,Mr(.(Russell/states that //. this:/resolution:-.was '(passed/ ; hfrer, v a ./long in■//^yestigation/.and"after/examining (the: engineer. ';; •,,Again,('h'e;states/that/he (made/the(annonnce- :..■,■' /rhenti th'at/ie2soo.(,wbhld(he required to' finish, .^'/.hut>;";the'"'en'Eineer-//did-;'n6t',' ! ''agree that v I :.v.(j,Then; : .finally,//we,vhave//the/ engineer's'report, i .'.(/ m.ade/bh/July 1, .190?./6tating',.tha.t(he ; would ':'..; /require. i!5000/tp/, complete. ' : ~;-}'. : if .:'•-,. :■-.$ '

Various Points. ■ A further matter to be noted is that as soon

l .'Work : -byV.'daj: : ;v'■.labour^',"a/''cohcTusioiK'corab/.to,'--no ■'■ doubt,;.upon /./-/the'statement/of.the.engineer.that/there would Xv be: a.considerable Un'the : cost, ; a; number :* . of-.- appoihtmentsuwere, :iiiade. to /the 'engineering; ".''Staff,-.'-as 'a v result.'of'which'the. cost^ ./'(/department ..was about vtrebled.^! ; At; one time ';we find that; in addition', to the engineer, there; -(/was; a'clerk of : works,'a f| kind.-.of assistant en-: ':.■;■ .; ginebr.: in the -person of Miv M'Ca'rthy, .and.-.a'' ~ 7,ioreman.'.'.'.lt'.is;difficult' to 'know'! what/were .'-'the''exact;duties of the^..borough engineer,. un-\ '■'-'■ .less; t hey: ,weropurely to exercise some kind of' > : .'■supervisten'byer'his' subo'rdinates. The evi- /// dence: goesto show^ha't..the-plans, details!'and. (.(/ /spebifications;were''suppiied'Dy/Messrs/; Meason 1 '.•■:;.' and. Marchant; .'the I- borough.: en gi rieer ■ merely \ ; •.' -issuing the instructions 'as --to'what works/were ;. /'/to be-done. /;■(/;'"-:■'' ;.:(/'<//-/-:'-'-^ : .V..',''' : V'( '■ \ . . .vThe^ /'/.('his'v having:-. originated /the" high-pres'stire l water' '',■:, ( scheme .is/not home 'out \by. : the /evidence. The! ; :Vsbther;'. stafement^in., the! report:.which ,it■:■ i 6 ; :.:. ('necessary; to-noticVis the "denial by: Mr. ;Rix-( ■V . Trott.'that//any/.mistake .(occurred..:: during the ';;;; construction'of;the.reservoir^.'ltvis.'plain;from: ' : th.e(,;eTidehce: given:. .thafc//the'/'pipes were' (not' . :put.;.intp;.the solid, /in/consequence of .■' which, . ;"omission considerable,delay„and.additional ex- ~:; 'pense.were : occasioned..;r;^;'; ").:h"; : J r yJ " ''■?-":': vJ-sTHB V '.' as ; , .to'.whether : the .treasurer has/fulfilled his-duty. ■ '.'We' ; :think" that it was:the duty of 'the' treas:::..Urer;;:to,;,haye i .,kept/:separate, accounts;bf-;.'all. :.;-■'•: moneys 'allocated ...to.: the several special ptiri:; piTses'/of ythe' loan.'.wHchi' defined .■'.;,; above,' and!_wo regret .that 'his not "haying'done ■ : ;so!i'must: hive, '/rendered- easier ■• the/' process ..of :.'/ .excessive'expenditure 'which:has /been going on. the i''• cdunoil to; any,(excess of loan expenditure,' he / ~ (shouldyhaye V safeguarded ''; {ing that 'fact, in .the • minnies. :■ //. "„ : ,":>. ...,,. ,'■'-.' ■'':■'.■'.;-:;.; ln<V«j»a'fd; to; the -future,.position 'of:!'the engi- :-'/. nee'r; (the(/'majority^,of/.- the .'committee prefer ..";(. : thati'-that /question, , ..shoiild" be (left 'to: a -deci-' ';(sion.^ 6t (the/council'(without-'any recommenda-///(-.'tion.''"-'.-.''.'^"''.'.".-'-'.-'■',;.','''■.■ '/•.-'■ . ; ''. l .'-/''./''".'-''---,.-"'' -'•■'•.-•. ;(( . i/.., v /(•■•-(.(■'-^'Piscusslon./JAdjourned.•.;;./.;•;(: / : ":((':- -^''■^Councillor <!lere':mdyed;':that((the;/reportibe //'/. forwarded yto' : . all the.'ctmhcillors tos allow them ":>; 'to fully consider"it:-/- ; ( ; v?-s,' v; /-/. /;-./.;* j; : ; This/was/seconded byConnoiUor Barlow, aiid )'■':'■'■'carried. -///■■ ( ;; .'" : ' ! '-// ;^'U^- : ■ ; •.'..: ■', "■ ■'.'."■■ . F,:.':,,Mr.(.Purser';(the; treasurer):' Shall'l have an .(./'. /opportunity/to .speak/on;(tho/portion : of-the."re-, // ; '.iport : concerning ■•■ me?.■'. • ! ■■/•- , ; , ''■; /( /■ •(.■..•' '■-'•'•; ■"■■; The Mayor: Tho evidence, has b?en heard, ';-/;. and-if (the cenneil'-; thinks it 'necessary, the op- '•:■;: p'ortnnity :wilL. ! be/given. : // : ,.r.::. '■■■~ •■■•■•'-• ; ; / Jt- was decided to hold a, special meetihg on >■:■• 'Friday .week! to 1 , consider' the ■ report. '->S