BOROUCH COUNCIL.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 2267, 12 August 1908, Page 3

BOROUCH COUNCIL.

ORDINARY MEETIN C..

Tho usual fortnightly mooting of the Gisborne Borough Council was hold last evening. Present: Grs. Bright, Somervell, Whinrny, rettie, Sawyer, Williams, and Sheridan. Tlio Mayor (Mr. W. D. Lyennr) was absent in Auckland attending the American fleet celebrations, unci Cr. Darton, who is in Napier attending tlio meeting of tho llnwko’s Bay Education Board, sent an apology. Cr. Whinrny was voted to tlio chair. CORRESPONDENCE. Mr. J. Spence asked tho Council to repair the footpath in Stanley Road, and stated that carts and motor cars frequently uswl tho footpath instead of tho road. He suggested that a notieo be put up warning offenders. — Tho matter of driving over the footpath was referred to tho polico to prosecute offenders. An invitation was received for tho Mayor and Councillors to attend tlio conversazione in connection with tho Winter School. The invitation was accepted. Mr. H. J. Brownlee applied for tho permanent levels on Gladstone Road. Information to bo supplied as soon as possible. Tho Department of Lands informed the Council that steps would he taken to acquire a scenic reserve at Wailiirere, and that it was hoped tho Council’s contribution would bo subsidised p for £by tho Government. The best portion of the scouery would bo included in the reserve. The letter was considered satisfactory. Or. Sheridan said the land was valued at £5 10s per acre. Tho Chairman thought tho owners would accept a lump sum for the site. Crs. Sheridan, Pettie, and Whinray woro appointed a committee to_ confer with tho Lands Department in selecting the reservo. The Railway Department wrote stating that the annual rental of tho ballast pit at Kaitaratalii was £lO, and not £5. Cr. Sheridan said the Department offered to soli tho pit at £125. Tho oriniganl rental offer was only £5 por year, and now that had been doubled. He moved that the Council offer the Department a rental equal to 5 per cent on the capital value of the site. The motion was carried. Mr. E. H. Mann, solicitor for Mr. Tattley, Whataupoko, forwarded a deed of dedication for a strip of land conditionally that the Couch form a footpath near his property. The deed was accepted. Tho Valuation Department forwarded a voucher for £ll2 10s.—Received. REPORTS. The Abattoir Committee recommended that no reduction bo made in •the charges for killing pigs and other stock. The Chairman said ono man could do all tho killing at present required it the abattoirs, but under the law it was compulsory to employ moro men. The charges for killing were fairly high, and ho thought the question of reducing the charges might be in viow for further consideration.

Cr. Williams said it must not be forgotten that bettor accommodation was provided for stock at the borough abattoir's than at places where the charges were lower. Cr. Sawyer suggested that the killing could be done by contract. The work would be clone just as efficiently and the Council could save £l5O a year. Cr. Sheridan: Contract work is all very well, but it docs not always worlc out as a benefit. Cr. Bright did not think the contract system would answer. Tho ono thing necessary was cleanliness and efficiency, and those things would not be maintained under the contract system at as high a standard as by clay labor. The Sanitation Committee recommended that property owners near the railway reserve, Whataupoko, he Requested to drain their sections and keep them clean. Cr. Williams said he had visited the locality, ancl found a number of shallow drains, which would cause diphtheria and other infectious diseases. He thought that cither the Council should see that the drains were kept clean or the householders allowed to construct a,, large drain across their, properties. The .small drains were a source of clanger to the locality. Cr. Somervell said the ground was very swampy, and it would he necessary to see 'th;d were kept open. Thejßf.cjrt was adopted. - J. R. ’Little) reported that he had inspected the borough during the fortnight, and had found a bad condition of dra.inigo in various localities. He had .lone his best to remove the conditions iu the localities affected. The committee was requested to visit the localities, known as block 15, to report upon the advisability of filling in tho drain running between Oobden and Grey Streets, which Cr. Williams described as a hotbed of fever. The Borough Overseer reported that the rough weather had caused the ••©ads to require a good deal of attention. Tho Wa.inui Road was in a had condition, and was unequal to carrying heavy winter traffic, and some restraint should be put' upon the heavy loads passing over it., The reoairs to the Hirini Street bridge had been completed, and the path in Ruteno Road formed. He had called for tenders for 1000 yards of Patutahi road metal. Cr. Sawyer said he thought it was rather late to make a by-law for this winter governing heavy traffic, but he thought a by-law should be passed by next winter, as a great deal of heavy brick carting was done on the road. . In answer to Cr. Bright the Overseer said that if the heavy loads were but on four-wheeled vehicles the roads would not he so badly cut up. Cr. Sheridan said there was already a by-law to deal with the question, and all that was necessary was to enforce it. . _ Cr. Bright said many carts earned over 1000 bricks to a load. Cr. Sheridan moved that the Waiiiui Road be closed against heavy traffic until tho summer. The motion was carried and the report adopted. VICTORIA ESPLANADE. Cr. Whinray drew attention, to the need for some protective works being undertaken on the Victoria Township Esplanade. Ho thought a small comnittoe should consult with the property owners with a view of suggesting that tho cost of any work undertaken to protect the sea wall would lie subsidised by the Council £ for £. The position was a serious one, as the sea was steadily encroaching. Jhe foreshore had been conveyed to the Council by deed, and ho thought die property-owners were entitled to some consideration from tlio Council. Cr. Bright sajd he could not see why rates should bo used to protect property that was being built on the od tr c of the sea; but he would have nonobjection to a committee bringing forward a report. CY. Whinray: The borough accepts rates from the properties and should protect them. , . Cr. Sheridan said tho Council had considered the question in 1906, and tho motion merely went over the same ground again. A protective wall would cost from £ls to £25 a chain over a distance of about 60 chains. The "Council then offered to sneno £l5O towards protecting tlio properties on the seawall, and lie thought the residents could not expect more Cr. Bright said the land that did belong to the borough had been wash--o<lCi\ Williams said lie supposed tlio esplanade was a very variable piece of land, and to re-form the land would need the using of a portion of the sea beach. ~ ~ Cr. Sheridan: The width ol the land dedicated by tho property-owners varied from 1 foot to 7 feot.. Inc Council had planted trees on ■ the beach, but the property-owners had done nothing beyond handing over n narrow strip of land. Cr. Somervell thought it would cost more money to protect tho properties on tho sea hoacli than the properties were worth. If anything could be done effectively to form an esplanade it might be as well to do it; but the Council could not spend mo-

noy to improve private property erected on the sea wall. Ci- Pettio thought tlio Comimtteo should report on the question, an< come to some final decision. 110 had been told there was not so much sea erosion before the groyne was built. Cr. Sawyer said that as tho Council lmd accepted tho translor of tho land it was only just to do somethin protect the properties. Ho would like to see the committee report on the question. . . Tho Chairman's motion was earned. Tho Council then adjourned.