REORGANISATION.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 909, 31 August 1910, Page 4

REORGANISATION.

AT LOWER HUTT. COUNCIL'S STAFF UNDER NOTICE. . -Before adjourning on Monday, night, the Lower, Ilutt ...Bovpogh . Council : passed a molutio^''ac<!eptine v, thc\'npgn«iH6ii of, tho Engineer, and 'directing^.that the wliole-of the clerical aiid engineering staff receive three months',■ notice, ■ with permission, to apply for..reinstatement; and:-that-,.the council/proceed .with -the; ;of', the. staffarid-.adjust-, ,ment of salaries.' It is understood that the engineer's resignation takes-effect at the expiry of three mouths from date. In this connection, special interest attaches to the following report ; of the Finance and Works Committee ■ (the Mayor and Councillors Hawthorn nnd Macaskill), which was considered- by the council in committee on Monday night,and adopted:— In reference to Hie expenditure of; loan moneys since April 1, 1909, the , total amount expended is .£15,337 los. 2d. Of this amount JS7IS9 Ills. lid. lias, been expended oh drainage on the western' side' of the river: Jj4959 2s. 3d. drainage on ea'stern'side; .£2114 ss. Id. has been expended on surface drainage; .£573 13s. Bd. i.on. items, applicable to both western.and |'eastern sides. - ' " The statement of expenditure furnished the committee on August 15, 1910, gives full-details of the expenditure. -On July 1, 1909, the engineer furnished an estimate of the cost of the completion of the whole of the sewerage works and of ..Everest Street diversion, as from April 1, '1901, the amount estimated bvihini being r JCI6.SII 9s. Gd. ' As there was-a sum of i£10,848 then in hand, the balance to be found should have Men a sum of ;£59G3 Oa. Gdl ' This estimate is short -some .£9OOO, and, according to the engineer's present estimate, about .£SOOI will- have to be borrowed to complete tho work. ' Extraordinary .'discrepancies,.occur between the amount of the estimate and ; tho' expenditure.' For instance: The estimate of the wages for the excavation on the western side is J61375 Is. 6d., of <83 Bs. per chain, whereas the amount actually expended is ,£-18.50 18s. 9d., or. Xll 10s. per chain,, a difference of «fi347-i 17s. 3c.. I'At page 7of tho report of April I,_ 1909, tho engineer stated, "I "have allowed" liberally for the labour in my estimate, tlie prices. covering the cost for _ work' of a similar nature now being carried out." The estimate for the completion of the septic tank given in tho report is a sum of ,£3OO. The actual expenditure is i£Ull fls. lOd.. The engineer mentions, as an explanation . of, this enormous differ-ence--that-lie did. not tako into 'account tho sum of- ,£BllO ,'which, .had. been expended. on'.-lhe .septic ..tank, betweon April 1, 1909, and-July;-1," 1V09 : ;;;; If ■-"'-that explanation -is,- accepted,'.,ho-.is; h 6till'.loo per. cent out in liis .estimate.-':;. /,"'.'/ Comparing other estimates'", with the' expenditure we' find the' -expenditure on. cement on the,-.western; and;;.eastern sides greatly exceed " the ' - estimates;' . Contingencies wero . estimated 1 ;, at ,£l3O, whereas some ,£231. 9s. ltd.-'was expended. An estimate of 'X 358.15. 6d. was made for 250 house connections, .whereas somo JB2TS 16s. Id. lias beeii expended' on 130. As .accounting for this, excess: of expenditure the engineer, lias ; mentioned .that thcro were unforeseen difficulties in the laying of -somoi of' the drains owing to the' largo, quantity, of water; which was to bo met; with,, and' a - statement has been 1 furnished"by,;hiui to the committee showing that the work in Cuba; Street, .Victoria--Street: .arid . Wakefield Street cost.. 6ver.:'c£3(l..per .cliairi,where concrct 7 . ing, etc., had. to. be done. -The engineer-wiis.,asked whethiji'./he'-was aware as the work"'p'r6ceedcd,' that he ■ was ex-: seeding -tho estimate ■•'and/.'whether ha kept, tho council duiy.Viin'fjrined.; His answer is, that lie was aware, and that his report-showed that ho duly informed the council. The committee' has instructed tho engineer to'support this iu writing. ' , . .

' MR. RIX-TROTT'S REPLY. ; 503113 OF HIS DIFFICULTIES. , Tho engineer lias' furnished tho .'council with tho following'statement iu reply to the above report■ "I liavo to say that I have never made the statement to the council .that somo of the work had cost over X3O per'chain, and that I had drawn the council's attention to such extra expenditure.' "For reference, at the.cominitteo meeting I had had soino notes prepared, and in . (ho notes I say some of the. works cost .£3O - per chain, which is quito correct. '

"I stated that my..reports.showed from time to IjiuV that the work'was moro than myiestimnles; "In report So. 94, June 25, 1909, I speak of the Water, running sand, and logs, and feo on to say., that I hope to reduce the pumping considerably. < "From report No. 97, -till the completion of the western side the reports show chainage and expenditure, as Into as No. 104, November 19, 1909, and 105: they show the cost to be over <£11 per chain. "In my report No. 106, December 22, 1909, in-.answer to an .instruction, I.report the cost of the (thirteen chains almig Wakefield Street goi,ng ea3t to 15s. l!d. per chain, and 1-1 i chains along Wakeiield Street going'vest to have cost ,£lO os. 9d. i>er chain. . "I stato that this is one of tho deepest places for water, and that in no portion of tho borough will there be such; a volumo of water _lo'-deal witlr again, my inference being that as it was by tho creck there would not bo so much water to contend with elsewhere, and at tlie same time knowing that the work, in Aljcetown. was nearly completed at this date. "But as an example of the utter unreliability of the ground I would draw tlio attention of the council to tho present position of tho contractor for section 1, where Mr. young started to work from King's Road' going northwards. There was every prospect of this going 'ahead rapidly, the ground being better and 110 water present, but on reaching Brunswick Street he has encountered very bad ground with water, logs, and running sand, and- the work will cost him' treble his estimated cost. . . "Although I knew the work was costing more than my estimate, I was sanguine enough to hope to meet with better ground and to be.ablo to come put somewhere "within my estimate, but this-was never realised. "And though I have to admit that the work lias cost =£11,195. per_ chain, which included cost of pumping," timbering, .liirb of engine, "and the concreting of ; the bottom and sides of a considerable 'length of the pipes (thereby increasing the quan-" tity of cement used to a considerable extent) the ballasting of .the trenches whero the-running sand was excavated to -form a' bottom for the' pipes to lie "upon, I fail to see-how the work could have been carried out cheaper. "Tho contract let for section. 1 is costing the council for the pipe-laying alone, an average of over-<£ 9 per chain, without any attention, such as levels, etc., from myself. "I must here inform the council that I have had a daily account kept of tho cost of the work executed by the contractor. Mr. Young's estimate for'that portion of tlie ■ work from Racecourse Bond to Bellevue Gardens was .£ll lis. per chain—some seventy chains in allwhile the actual coSt to him has been botween ..CIS and .£l9 per chain. .. "Under these circnmstances, can tlie council hope .to obtain contracts to do the work from the same contractor, Mr.Young, or by some other contractor for the' price.Mr. Young, is .doing tho-. work for now 3- - - ; "Though the greater portion of the low-lying work, in Alicetown, and even Bridge and "Herbert Streets, was "laid" in : water, and in some places 'water came to within 12in. of tho surfaco of the road, still tho . sewers are . practically watertight, considerably beyond tlio allowance of leakages which is allowed by the best authorities for water-logged ground. J, test .was repeatedly made before any house connection was. put ,in, with the same results every time. "In connection with . my. estimate .. of 300 for the'completion 1 "of ""tlio' eastern" soptic-tank, I would point out at that timo I was in tho midst of the inquiry,, when I prepared the estimate, and had many documents, etc., to prepare for the inquiry,'besides my, regular'.work to look after,' and I undoubtedly gave tho price as 'from July 1, the; dato :6f..* Jthe report, and not from March SI. This is lwrno out by the fact that only .£lll had been spent on the eastern septictank on. jMarch .si, and I had just completed a.much smaller tfuikala-cost of£1200."- 1