PETONE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1909, 18 November 1913, Page 5

PETONE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

SIX MONTHS' FINANCE. The usual meeting of the Petone Borough Council was held last evening. There w.cre present the Mayor (Mr. J. W. M'Ewan) and Councillors Trueman, Jones, Findlay, Towusend, Brockelbank, Cox, List, and Forsyth. Prior to the ordinary meeting, a special meeting was held, at which a resolution was passed by way of special order fixing the price to be charged for an extraordinary water supply at Is. per 1000 gallon. A resolution was also passed by way of special order, making a by-law to license and control billiard saloons. ,

A report by the borough engineer in regard to the enclosed arm of the Hutt River was read, and it was decided to submit it to the Hutt River Board. Th& engineer stated he had made a systematic inspection and in his opinion tne enlarging of the outlet from the arm would, to a very great extent, minimise the trouble. The half-yearly statement of accounts, as presented by the Mayor, showed that in the general account the receipts estimated for the year at £9942 had for the six months amounted to £4061. The amount yet receivable totalled £5881. In the gasworks account £4942 had been received, and £4537 was yet receivable for the next six months. In tho waterworks account the receipts had totalled £774. The uncollected rates as yet amounted to £1089. This account would show a surplus approximately of £300 at the end of the year. Tho estimated expenditure for the year was £9870,' and for the six months past ?it had amounted to £5298. In the Town Clerk's department the expenditure had been £2715, leaving £2393, to bo expended for the next six months. Similarly, in tho engineer's department, the expenditure had been £2582, leaving £2180 for the coming period. In- the gasworks account the expenditure for'the past six months had been £5228, leaving. £3972 unexpended, and in, the waterworks account'£lo7o, and £755 respectively.

In reference to the installation of a. light at the Gear Company's crossing the stationmaster at Petone wrote offering the cost of installing the automatic lighter, and in addition the sum of £1 towards the cost of lighting. Tho offer was accepted. A letter was received from Mr. T. M. Wilford, M.P., to the effect that he had succeeded in getting the Boat Harbour clause placed in the Municipal Corporations Act, and if tho clause passed tho Upper House' it would be incorporated in law. The letter was received.

The borough engineer (Mr. A. Cowie) reported that, as soon as tho weather permitted he intended going on with the tarring of Jackson Street. Ho would go on with the footpaths as soon as tliis was finished. The tide' wall on tho esplanade 'would. have been completed before this, but for tho want of cement. The only part remaining to te done was a small part in front of the cart access to tho beach. The piping of Moran's Creek would have been gono on with but for the shortage of cement. The 18-inch pipes through Mrs. Udy's property had been laid and a claim for £30 14s. 6d. for the cost of tho work had been rendered. In regard to the waterworks, several small slips and wash-outs on tho pipe line had occurred lately. Repairs had been executed and additional groynes put in to strengthen tho weak places. Tho sewage engineer reported that tho septic tank had been practically completed. The outfall sewer and the necessary manholes were also completed. Fivo thousand eight hundred and fifty feet of cast-iron delivery mains had been laid to date. The cost of the scheme to October 31 had totalled £6557 10s. 6d.

The gas manager reported that 2,551,500 cubic feet of gas had been manufactured, and over 69 tons of coke sold. One thousand seven hundred and eighty-two gallons of tar had been sold to private consumers. The sanitary inspector (Mr. W. B. Gough) reported that he had made 186 visits of inspection during the month. There was considerable discussion over the drainage connection asked 1 for by the Gear Company, the cost of which would he £36 if borne by the council. It was eventually decided to let the Gear Company pay tho cost of the connection. The health inspector wrote notifying two cases of infectious diseases within the borough. Building permits issued during the month were reported to have amounted to £577 making the value for the.year £35,485.