BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Issue 3098, 2 June 1881, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

WEDNESDAY, JTJNE 1

The Council met at 8 p.m. Present—His Worship the Mayor (in the chair\ Councillors Monteith,, Swan, Wall, M'Kay, de Lisle, M'Dougall, Cotton, Ellis, and Leonard. BOROUGH AUDITORS. A letter was read from the Borough Returning Officer certifying to the election (unopposed) of Messrs Gillman and Liddle as auditors to the Borough of Napier. CONSULTING ENGINEER. A letter was read from Mr James Stuart notifying his acceptance of the post of consulting engineer in connection with the Napier water scheme, and statin* tbat on his return from the South the matter should hare fes attention. MR. J. R. DAVIEIjRuARRY. A letter waa read A. Lascelles, stating that he by Mr J. R. Davies to inform the Council that his attention had been called to the published accounts of the statements made by Or. M'Dougall and others regarding the state of bis quarry in Chaucerroad, and he had desired Mr Lascelles to request tbat the truth of the statements might be tested by an enquiry into the real facts of the case; such enquiry to be held during; Mr Davies' stay in Napier this week, and in the meantime Mr Lascelles was authorised to state that there was no truth whatever in the statements as published. The Mayor said he had made a careful examination into the matter, and found that Mr Davies had left bis quariy properly sloped off and in a perfectly safe condition, and it was the way in which a neighboring quarry had been worked which had led to the danger.

Cr. deLisle said the question was not as to who was to blame, but whether the quarry was in a dangerous state or not. Or. M'Dougall said there was an inacjuracy in the letter read. In the remarks made in the Council in reference to the qnarry there had been no reference to any blame attaching to Mr Davies. Wbat had been stated was that the quarry was then in a dangerous condition because Messrs Glendenning and Griffin were afraid to trespass upon the quarry lately worked by Mr Davies. He had stated that the quarry was then dangerous to life, and the truth of what he had said was borne out shortly after by a very large fall of earth. No one in the Council had said that the dangerous quarry belonged to Mr Davies. Cr. Swan said that Cr. M'Dougall's memory must be defective. If there had been no reference to Mr Davits' connection with the dangerous quarry, why was this letter sent to him ? tl^ Cr. M'Dougall said that Mr Davies had been written to on account of Mr Glendinning stating that he bad made an offer to Mr Davies. The offer had been declined, and it was because they were unable to come to terms that the quarry was in a dangerous condition. The Town Clerk bad written to Mr Davies because it was understood that it was he who would not agree to a change in the quarry. He considered a great deal too much had been made of the matter. Cr. M'Kay said that, after considering the matter, he was oot at all surprised that Mr Davies felt aggrieved. He left

the quarry in a perfectly safe condition, and if it had not been interfered with by other persona it would have remained safe. He did not tbink that Mr Davies should have seen anything in print reflecting upon him in connection with this matter. The owners of the other quarry professed to be aggrieved because Mr Davies would not allow them to do as they liked with his property. He thought the Council should express an opinion that Mr Davies was not at all to blame in the matter, and that he had left his quarry in a perfectly safe condition.

Cγ Swan said that the proposal made in Mr Lascelle3' letter should be acted upon. He would move that a committee of three be appointed to enquire into the matter and report at the next meeting of Council, the committee to consist of Crs. Ellu, McDougall, and the mover. PUBLIC WOBKS COMMITTEE'S BfiPOBT. The following report from the Public Works Committee was read :— Your committee having met pursuant' > notice beg to recommend the Council as follows : 1. That the sections on the reclaimed land be kept open for selection at the Town Clerk's office, and be offered at the upset price per foot already fixed. 2. That the tender of Mr Barrett for the repair, &c, of Burke-street for £24 13s 6:1 bo accepted. 3. That clauses 1, 2', 5, and 6 of the engineer's report be adopted ; that the deviation from the original plan of No. 5 contract suggested by the engineer in claure 3 bo adopted ; and that the enforcement of the bye-laws dealing with crossings over footways recommended ii clause 4 be authorised.

4. That four gas lamps be erected in Carlyle-street between the Royal Hotel and Miller-street, in positions to he defined and reported on by the engineer at the next meeting of the Public Works Committee.

4. That the • Inspector of Nuisances be instructed to rigidly enforce the pan system, and to see that all cesspits are abolished and filled in. 6. _ That Mr W. Parker, .senior, be appointed Eeceirer of Rates at a salary of £156 nev annum. 7. r x'hat tho vouchers for the expenditure of the Council to the 30th of May be passed and ordered to be paid. Q-EORGE Henby Swan, Chairman. Clause one and two were passed without remark. Iα connection with clause three the following report from the engineer was read : — engineer's beport. 1. Burke-street. —Tenders for tins work are laid before the Public Works Committee for their consideration. 2. Drainage Scheme.—l am now engaged in preparing the plans and specifications for the works required to complete the drainage scheme, and will lose no time iy i bringing them before the committee.

4. No. 5 Drainage Scheme. —This contract is now rapidly approaching completion, and T beg respectfully to suggest, for the approval of the committee, a deviation in the direction of the last 200 feet in length of the outfall from that shown on the plans. If this length of 200 feet be carried along the railway embankment, as shown, the probability is that the sewage matter will remain about the sides of the embankment and form a most offensive deposit, exposed at low water to the full effect of the sun. If, however, it be carried out in the direction in which it crosses under the railway embankment it will have the effect of carrying the sewage matter right into the tideway, and at such an angle as to secure its being caried. out by the tide. The extra cost that would be incun-ed by this alteration would be only £40.

4. Crossings. —I beg to call atttention to the crossings into various properties. Clauses 15 to 20 of the bye-laws bear directly on this question, and might witli advantage be put in force. 5. Trees.—l have arranged that the dead trees in Munroe-sfcreefc be replaced and fenced in, and that the tree-guards be removed where necessary in Clivo-square. 6. Wagnorne-sfcreefc. —Tenders for the work required to be done in connection with this street, and with the urinal and horse trough at the Spit, W'U be laid before the next meeting. Eobeet Lamb, Municipal Engineer. Cγ. Ellis opposed the deviation of the sewer as referred to in clause three of the engineers report. It was patent to everybody that the sewer would have eventually to be carried below the bridge, and only to carry it out to where the engineer proposed would be a waste of money. The plan had been gone into by a competent engineer, and they had better abide by it.

Cr. Monteith supported the clause,

Cγ. M'Kay was satisfied that the divergance would be a wise one, and the money in carrying in out would be well spent. The piping after passing the culvert had a bend, and went along the side of the railway in shallow water, and in summer the refuse would lie on the bank and be a great nuisance. The proposal of the engineer was to carry it to where there was deep water and a strong current, and even if it only lasted for a few years it would be money well spent. It had been said that the Harbor Board might object, but he had made enquiries and did not think that would be the case.

The dance was then passed

Clause four in the Public Works Committee's report recommending the erection of gas lamps in Carlyle-street elicited a leugthy discussion, and was finally passed. In connection with clause five a report was read from the Inspector of Nuisances stating that the waste water channel leading from the waterworks in Daltonstreet through Thackeray-street had been closed by the owner of town section No. 353, thus causing the water to become stagnant and causing a nuisance, more especially to the occupiers 6f the Temperance Hotel in Thackeray-street, the channel passing under that building. The silt traps at the foot of Shakespeareroad on being cleaned out last week caused a most offensive smell in the neighborhood. The inspector had spoken to the engineer on the subject and they both thought the work had better be done at night, and oftener than had been done hitherto. Several persons had complained of the want of a public urinal between the town and the Spit, and he suggested that if the Council decided on erecting one to place it near the horse-trough at the Spit end of the Shakespeare-road. During the past month the inspector had made an unusual number of complaints to persons for infringements of the Nuisance Act, but in every case the nuisance had been attended to and bad given no further trouble. On clause six being read, Cr. Ellis said he had suggested the appointment of a committee to see if they could not do without a receiver of rates, and so save the ratepayers £156 per annum. Cr. Swan said the matter had been discussed in committee, and it was thought inexpedient to appoint such a committee. The clause was adopted. VOUCHERS. Two vouchers for expenditure on account of charitable aid, and one for gas, which had been sent in late, were added, and the vouchers passed for payment. The Council then adjourned.