BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume X, Issue 761, 3 December 1870, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The usual" fortnightly meeting of the Council was held last evening, in the Town Hall. Present — J. Kilgour, Esq., Mayor, in the chair, Councillors Moore Woolcock, Coated, Barclay, and Wickes. "The minutes of last meeting were read. The Mayor said that, before confirming the minutes, he would draw the attention of the Council to what appeared to be an omission on his part at last meeting, that he should not have received the resolution " that the second contract be not let," as an ordinary motion, because it waa tantamount to rescinding a resolution of the Council, and ought to have been given notice of in the usual way. He had no wish to be obstructive, but they were clearly in a dilemma, and it was his duty to point it out before the minutes were confirmed. He had given notice of a motion to move that night on the subject, and he hoped it would be discussed, if the minutes were confirmed. They had evaded the Act, and he invited the members to suggest how they could get out of the difficulty. Mr Moore : Does your Worship rule that if we call for tenders we are compelled to accept them 1 The Mayor : No, it is the question of rescinding a vote of the Council. No other member appearing inclined to speak to the motion, .-""" The minutes as read were confirmed. Messrs D. Maclean and Co. applied for a lease of one acre of land for grazing purposes on Preston road. — Granted. The County Chairman wrote stating he had authorised the Harbor-master to have the life-boat put into a proper state of repair. Mr Andrews, Collector of Customs, wrote drawing attention to the utter want of accommodation for the Customs under the control of the Council, and stating that he was ready to meet the Council on the subject, previous to his laying his annual report befor the General Government. — A deputation, consisting of Messrs Kennedy and Moore, was appointed to confer with Mr Andrews on the subject. R. H. Johnston, Town Surveyor, wrote,, requesting payment of LlO, which the action of the Borough Council caused him fail in recovering from the Paroa Road Board. He had brought an action against the Board in 1869 for services rendered, and withdrew it at the request of the Council. — The amount was ordered to be paid. The deferred petition from the residents at the upper end of the town, requesting that the footpath be continued to the breakwater, was taken up, and the Town Clerk stated that ha had received the required guarantee for the payment. — It was resolved that the prayer of the petition be granted. A letter was read from Mr Reynolds, of Hokitika, stating that his tender for the building of the wharf was the lowest and was not accepted, and therefore he requested payment of bis three days' expenses and loss of time j because he reckoned his loss on the contract at LSO. He had not tendered for the second contract, because he had been told by the Town Clerk that that contract was not to be let, because the guarantee had not come in. The Town Clerk denied having said so ; it was Mr Reynolds who told him, and he was much surprised at it. The Mayor said it was clear that a breach of confidence had taken'place either with the Town Clerk or the members of the Public Works Committee ; for Mr Reynolds had told him precisely what had been stated in his letter. Mr Moore said that one man's word was as good as another, and they had no reason to doubt what had been stated by the Town Clerk. • Mr Wickes protested against the Council being brought to account by any contractor, and moved "That the leWeA^ cannot be entertained." "** The motion was seconded and carried. Mr Wickes brought up the deferred petition for the making up of Boundary street, when the matter was referred to the Town Surveyor to make up an estt mate of the cost of the work, and to report to the next meeting of the Council. The Mayor said he had given notice of a motion for the rescinding of the resolution passed at last meeting regarding the wharves, for the reasons he had stated at the opening of the meeting, and he asked that the re-consideration of the question should be allowed to stand over until next meeting, so that Mr Nichol might be present. Mr Wiokes moved— "That the Council do now adjourn." Mr Coaxes seconded. - The Mayor said that would shelve the question. The Town Clerk said the motion would stand first on the Order Paper for next meeting. The Council then adjourned for a fortnight. ' ' *