CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Star, Volume IX, Issue 2771, 4 January 1872, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

Tins Day. This afternoon* a special meeting of. the City Council (was held to consider the report of the Gas Committee. Present —His Uor ship the Mayor, Messrs Barnes, Livingston, Mercer, Neale, Ramsay, and Winter. The Town Clerk read the report as folThe Committee reported that its special attention had been directed to three points. 1, The purchase of the existing works by the Corporation. 2. Arranging a new contract with the present proprietor of the works on terms which would be satisfactory to the public. 3. The erection of new works by the Corporation. The Committee had before it the report of Mr A. K. Smith, which it accepted as being approximately correct as to the estimate of the cost of new works, and the price at which gas should he supplied to the Corporation and private consumers. Referring to the first point, the Committee ascertained that the representative of the proprietor of the works had not at present the power to conclude a sale of them. Furthermore, the price which the Committee had been given to understand by the representative of the proprietor, would he required, was so greatly beyond the present value of the works, and the cost at which new works of a better description might be erected; that the Committee abandoned any further consideration of that proposal. Proceeding to the second point, the Committee felt that if a favorable arrangement could be made with the proprietor for a term of years, there were strong reasons for adopting that course, first, in the consideration due to the proprietor on account of the large amount of capital embarked in his enterprise, having for its object the supplying of a public want; and secondly, the risk of the Corporation embarking in a competitive business. The Committee therefore determined to communicate •jyith the proprietor to the effect that it would Recommend tbe Council to cuter upon such a contract for lighting the streets upon liberal terms, rather than proceed with the erection of new works, provided that the proprietor would, at the same time, come under an obligation to supply private consumers at a reasonable price. The terms fixed upon by your committee were 12s 6d per 1000 ft. for private consumers, and L 8 per annum for 288 street lamps. The price of 12s (Id was estimated, on the information supplied by Mr A. K, Smith’s estimates, as being liberal to the proprietor, and that was confirmed by the fact that the proprietor had since advertised that price to private consumers engaging with him for a term. The pi ice of 1.8 for street lamps was very liberal as the following calculation would show ;—Under the contract the lamps are stipulated to burn |r feet each per hour, to be lighted 22 days in each lunar month—or an average burning 74 hours each. This would give for the lamp burning the full quantity of 44 feet per hour each, au annual consumption for each of 9,888 feet, costing 12s 6d, equal to L 6 8s 6d. There was to be added the expense of lighting, extinguishing, and cleaning, which might be taken at 2us to 27s Cd per lamp, but on the other side there was a set off the expence in receiving so large an amount in one payment from the Corporation as compared with t]re pollection of u similap amount from private consumers. The proprietor having declined the offer, the committee recommended the erection of new works. In doing so it did not lose sight of what had been already said as to the risk of the Council entering on a competitive business, but at the same time it was to be borne in mind that whatever inconvenience might in the first instance arise from this cause, the fact would be that the works were owned by the citizens at large, and any depreciation in revenue would be made good out of rates on City property, and must end in carrying the day against any private works. The cost assumed by Mr Smith of the construction of new works of sufficient magnitude, complete with all connection, is about L 20.000; these estimates arc suppprtpd by is known of results of similar works fn New Zealand and elsewhere. Mr Mercer moved, and Mr Neale seconded, the adoption of the report. r J lie motion was carried unanimously, and on the motion of Mr Livingston, the Committo were requested to recommend further steps to be taken. The meeting was held too late to enable us to give an extended report. We shall do so to-morrpij.