Feilding Borough Council

Feilding Star, Volume X, Issue 92, 9 February 1889, Page 2

Feilding Borough Council

Thursday, Fubruar* 7, 1889. The ordinary monthly meeting was held as above. Present — Dr Monckton (Mayor), Crs T. K. Chamberlain, H. Rutherford, E. Goodbehere, W.E. Chamberlain, J. C. Thompson, Haybittle, G< W. Fowles, F. Thompson. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. From Audit Office, Wellington, asking the Borough to pay in £3 auditor's expenses. From Feilding Fire Brigade, forward' ing resolutions passed at public meeting, re artesian wells. From J. H. ; Blackmore, applying for the office of poundkeeper. (This offer had been accepted temporarily.) From John Turner,' late Dog Tax Collector, referring to the judgment recorded against him in the B.M. Court, and ask' ing for certain reductions to be made on the grounds that several dog licenses had not been paid to him. : From Hopkins and Sharman, Palmerston, making an offer to drive for artesian wells. - -; - From John Murch, applying for the right to remove clay from West street. From G. C Hill, handing in Borough valuation?, the total of which are £9349. From W. W. Corpe, applying for the right to cut flax on the Borough roads, and offering to pay Is per ton for 5 years. From P. and J. Bartholomew, asking permission for the same right. From H. Worsfold, calling attention to a nuisance in Queen street. From E. Goodbehere, resigning the position of Trust Commissioner. From Oamaru Borough Council, circular, re consolidation of Loans to Local Bodies. From Library Committee, asking the Mayor and Councillors io patronise the entertainment in aid of the Library, on the 15th instant. From C. Bray, resigning his position, as Engineer to the Borough Council. From W. Beading, applying for the : position of bill poster for the Borough. From W. and R. M. Reid, applying for permission to burn certain hush in the Borough, known as the Duke of Manchester's block. From John Prior, enclosing lease of the pound, and giving instructions as to its completion by the Council. From Public Works Department, circular giving notice of its demise. . Report of Public Works and. Finanoe Committees .were read and accounts amounting to £31 13s lOd and £8 6s 8d passed for payment. The sum of £8 was ordered to be paid to the credit of the Auditor-General. John Murch'B letter was referred to the Public Works Committee, to report at the next meeting of the Council. The valuation list of properties in the borough was ordered to be laid on the table. CUTTING FLAX. The Mayor said there were two applications for the right to out flax on the sides of the streets in the Borough. He thought as one had made an offer of payment tenders should be invited. Cr J. C. Thompson said he would propose that Mr Corpe's offer be accepted. This was not seconded, but Cr Rutherford said he would move as an amendment that tenders be invited for the right of cutting flax in the Borough, Cr Haybittle seconded.— Carried. Proposed by Cr E. Goodbehere, seconded by Cr H. Rutherford, That the Inspector of Nuisances be requested to attend , to the nuisance complained of by Mr H, Worsfold, and have the matter remedied if necessary. — Carried. The resignation of E. Goodbehere, a» sinking fund commissioner was accepted. Mr H. L. Sherwill was appointed in his stead. The circular from the Oamaru Borough Coimcil was again read and the Clerk instructed to acknowledge receipt and promise support. I With reference to the letter from the Library Committee, Cr J. C. Thompson thought it should lie on the table. Ultimately it was Proposed by Cr Goodbehere, seconded by Cr Haybittle, That the patronage of the Mayor and Councillors be extended to the Library entertainment on February 15th.— Carried. The resignation of Mr Bray as Engineer of the Borough was accepted. Proposed by Cr Goodbehere, seconded by Cr Rutherford, That a license as bill poster be issued to Mr Reading. — Carried. The application of W. and R. Reid was considered and it was proposed by Cr J, C. Thompson, seconded by Cr F. Thompson, That permission be given to Reid Bros, to burn bush, they being responsible for all damage. — Carried. Proposed by Cr Goodbehere, seconded by Cr Rutherford, that the lease (prepared by Mr Prior) of the pound premises be approved, and the Mayor and Cr Haybittle be authorised to sign, and the Borough seal be affixed thereto.— Carried. Re the letter from John Turner Proposed by the Mayor, seconded by Cr Haybittle, That in the matter of the Dog Tax Collector no action be taken. — Carried. In reply to Cr Goodbehere, the Clerk reported that about 30 dogs had been registered already this year. A couple of tenders which were put in at eight o'clock were ruled " but of order" and not received. The advertised time was 4 o'clock. The following tenders were opened :— Poundkeeper. — J. H. Blackmore, £20 or half the pound and notice fees' 8 Mills, £20. Ranger.— W. Golding, £25 per annum ; J. T. Foster, £20 ; S. Mills, £20. Ranger and Poundkeeper. — George Fidler, £40 ; or as ranger only £20. Cr Goodbehere mentioned, incidentally, that it was a question whether Mr Blackmore could act as poundkeeper and public librarian at the same time. Complaints had been made recently that he (Mr Blackmore) had not been attending to his duties properly as Librarian, consequent upon the extra work put upon him as acting poundkeeper. The Mayor explained that as only one horse had been impounded during the time indicated, it was hardly possible the complaint could have been made on that ground. Proposed by Cr J. C, Thompson, seconded by Cr T. R. Chamberlain, That J. H. Blackmore be appointed poundkeeper at £20 per annum. — Carried. The Mayor said he would suggest that the ranger be not appointed until after next meeting, in order that the grass in the streets might be eaten down during the interval. & Cr Fowles objected as did several other Councillors. . Cr Haybittle said complaints had been made of cattle getting into private, gardens. •th herfor<:l ob J ec *ed to cattle grazing Cr Goodbehere strongly opposed .the matter being held over. If cattle wereallowed to run in the streets accidents might happen and the Council run into hundreds of pounds of expense Proposed by Cr J. C. Thompson, sec ' ondedbyT. R. Chamberlain, That J T Foster be appointed ranger at £20 ncr ■•'•' annum. — Carried. iv--" ; Tenders for H^ubner's Road^T * * Cwnmuw, £2 15s pe^ciain; Younger

andLaing, £2 2s ; G, S. Smith, £1 9s lOd ; J. Beffit> £1 17s 6d. Proposed by Cr Haybittle, seconded by <3r Rutherford, That "Smith's tender be accepted for Hnbner's road. — Carried. Proposed by Cr Fowles, seconded by Cr W. E. Chamberlain, That tenders be invited for metalling Fitzroy street, Railway line, Gladstone street, and Russell street, tenders to be in by next meeting of the Council. — Carried. Proposed by the Mayor, seconded by €r J. C. Thompson, That the Clerk prepare the estimates for the year and lay them on the table next meeting. — Carried. ARTESIAN WELLS. In accordance with notire the Mayor moved, seconded by Cr Fowles, That tenders be invited for boring for artesian water at per foot. The contractor to supply pipes* In speaking to the motion the Mayor said he would not take up the time of the ■council by replying to many of the objections to the proposal which had been raised in the correspondence columns of the press. The writers might put what they had to say very learnedly but — they "were just in the same position as the members of the council — they knew nothing about the question and could know nothing until a practical experiment had been made. All they (the council) had to do now was with regard to a possible expenditure of £40 or £50, which would probably in the future save them the expense of thousands of pounds to bring in water to the Borough. They should be willing to spend a few pounds to see if they ■could get artesian water. He would limit the Council to boring 200 feet. He was in favor of offering a reward to the first person who got water. He was aware some of the Councillors were against the motion, and also a number of the public outside. As t j the propriety of striking a rate or raising a loan he would be opposed to either. The Public Works Committee had worked so well that the overdraft at the bank was now almost extinguished, and neither a loan nor an extra rate woaldfbe necessary, as the ordinary revenue would be ample for the purpose. Cr J. C. Thompson said he did not think the outside public were opposed to the trying for wells. They were only opposed to the imposition of an extra rate. He would support the resolution as it would be a means of improving the value of property in the Borough. Cr F. Thompson would like to know the diameter of the pipes to be used. Cr Fowles said the first thing was to prove the water was there, the diameter of the pipe was a mere secondary consider ation. The Mayor said if they got water with a. two inch pipe at a cost of £40, he would sink a well on his private ground at once and others would follow his example. Cr Rutherford was opposed to spending the money of the ratepayers on artesian wells, it was money thrown away. There were other and better ways of spending the money. " Cr T. R. Chamberlain supported Cr Rutherford. Cr J. C. Thompson said if the Council called for tenders they would know what the work would coat. Cr Goodbehere would sooner see the thing done by public subscription. He considered it would cost conside .-ably more than £40 to sink 200 feet. He though ■that sum could easily be raised by public subscription. Cr Haybittle sympathised with the promoters, but thought they could not take m JE4* of the revenue, or less or more, in ranking experiments. He mentioned that » iaaxi time ago the Council could not <afftrd to mend the Warwick street bridge, <anl if that money (.£4O) was spent on the saS bridge it would be a direct benefit to » great number of people. He generally opposed the scheme on the grounds that people could not afford it. Cr Fowles thought the most serious argument in favor of the resolution was tie prevention of fire. The Mayor, in reply, said he would not »lvi6e dr.ving but boring. He quoted tie successful' cases at Awahuri The •whole question was whether the Council would authorise him to call for tenders in order to discover the probable cost. He believed if they got artesian water the actual value of property in the Borough vould be more than doubled. He only asked that they should authorise him to ascertain the probable cost of the undertaking, and before that had been done he •rould not expect them to go further. T The resolution was then put and on a division was carried. The Mayor then moved, seconded by Cr J. C. Thompson, That a bonus of £25 \e advertised to be paid to the first person vho strikes artesian water within the Borough of Feilding. Cr Goodbehere was opposed to the notion. Cr Haybittle also opposed because he did not believe in playing fast and loose ■with the ratepayers money. The Mayor, in reply, said he considered it was rather a narrow minded view to consider the £25 thrown away. Cr Goodbehere objected to Councillor s who opposed the resolution being stigmatised as narrow minded, simply because they did not agree with it. After an explanation the Mayor went on to say that the £25 would be money well and wisely spent. It was with the !hope that private enterprise would be thus encouraged, and the necessity done away with of accepting tenders at all. Cr F. Thompson questioned whether the Council could legally offer a bonus, and the resolution was altered to meet that difficulty. The resolution was then put and carried on division. For — Crs J. C. Thompson, JF. Thompson, G. W. Fowles, W. Chamberlain, and Dr Monckton. Against — Cre Haybittle, Rutherford, Goodbehere, and T. R. Chamberlain. The meeting then adjonrned.