CONTRACT TO BUY

Evening Post, Volume CXVII, Issue 144, 20 June 1934, Page 11

CONTRACT TO BUY

FULFILMENT RANTED

EDUCATION BOARD AND CITY COUNCIL

That the City Council' should he called upon to complete at once its contract relative to the purchase of the Education Board's property in Mercer Street was the essence of a resolution passed at today's meeting of the Education Board. -.-.•.. The subject was not' set dow& amongst those on the order paper, but Colonel T. AY. McDonald wag given permission to bring it forward. lie said that it would appear.as if some members of the City .Council wero not fully aware of the position and were not fully convinced that the purchase had already boeu made. . The property, after six years of negotiation, during which time the City Council had every opportunity of: ascertaining the value1 of the site, had been very- definitely sold in 1930 by the-.board to the council at an agreed-upon price of £.51,000, which was some £500 less than the Government valuation at that time. There was a definite undertaking as to the sale and purchase, and the necessary legislation was. passed.,in 1930. The sum of £20,000 was to be paid assoon as the legislation was through and the balance was to bo spread over three equal yearly instalments, a subsequent adjustment being uiado as to interest. To suggest that the board was exploiting the council, in demanding such a sum'as £51,000 was manifestly unjust. This price had bedn agreed upon four years ago; and it was no fault of the board's, if values sinec then had fallen.. If the contract cjitercd into four years ago had been . completed, the board would have savod by this time the sum of ESOOOJ as it was losing at the r'ato of £2000 a year by the non-completion of the contract. The impression seemed to have gained currency that the sale had never actually been made, whereas it had, and the contract entered ' into • should .be observed to. the letter.

' Mr. ,T.- J. Clark thought that probably the present' -Mayor was unaware of the arrangement made "by his "predecessor in office. "All-we ask," he said, "is a completion of the contract entered into. To say that the sum is out of all reason is "nonsense, since it is less than the Government valuation. If we allow the matter "to drag on, we shall "be guilty of neglect on our part." Seyqral other members pointed out that wfth :a iniieh longer delay in the completion of the contract, "the City Council • might elaini - protection from fulfilling .'its contract under the Statute of Limitations^ and the board would find itself in danger of being" left in tho air, especially as it had apparently been decided to build, the new city library on the site opp'dsite the board's. present-offices -and- hat on' the actualsite of -those-.offic.es. - -;■■---.-. -,> ■■ .