BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XII, Issue 1128, 9 March 1872, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The Borough Council met last evening. The Mayor was in the chair. The Town Clerk read copies of letters addressed to the Hon. Mr Fox, the County Chairman, Mr FitzGerald, and Mr Blackett/gon the subject of public works, and of applications to the Waste Lands Borrd. „ THE COAL RESERVE. The Town Clerk read a telegram which had been received from Mr G-. S. Cooper, Under Secretary, stating that the Government had been advised that the opinion of the Borough Council and the Borough Solicitor with regard to the Coal Reserve could not be entertained— that the reserve had been made not for the maintenance of the navigation of the river, and mainly, if not wholly, for the purpose of a Corporation endowment. Mr Whall explained that, so far from it being the wish of the Council to claim the reserve for general Corporation purposes, they had, by a letter to the Government in March last year, expressed a wish that it should be reserved solely for, the improvement of the river, and that the Corporation should deal with it only as a Harbor Trust. . . The Mayor said Mr Reeves was now thoroughly well acquainted with' the subject of the reserve in question, but he had recommended that, when the Assembly met, the Corporation should furnish every inf orraation on the subject. It would be the duty of the Council to have that done, and he had not the slightest doubt that the reserve would be devoted to its proper purpose, which was simply what the Corporation wished to see done. Mr Moore suggested that the telegram should be acknowledged, and a refence made to the previous correspondence by the Corporation, which clearly showed their wishes and their understanding on the subject. • Mr Kennedy, seconded by Mr Wooi.cock, ' proposed a motion to the effect that, in acknowledging the telegram, intimation should be made of the Council's opinion that the purpose of the reserve was the maintenance of the navigation' of the Grey River ; and this motion was agreed to. . . THE WHARVES. , An application was received from Mr George Martin for; apportion of the wharf upon which to land coal, and, in connection with this subject, the Clerk represented that the present* occupiers refused to pay the full rent, in consequence of the removals to which they had been subjected ; and he as'ted for instructions. .: Mr Kennedy referred to the mistaken ■ idea which had, apparently, arisen as to the occupation of the wharf .with coals. The intention was that the coal should! only be landed on the wharf, certainly not deposited there. All the. wharfage which they derived, and much more, would be required to make good the injury done to the wharf, if the present system were carried out. Such an occupation of the wharf as was allowed was entirely unexampled, and was , contrary to the distinct resolution of the Council. Mr Moore said the report of the Public Works Committee on the subject was that the wharf be left intact, but that the coal might be placed alongside it. It was a well-known fact that much of the expense of maintaing the wharf was due to coal being placed upon it, yet the parties who were causing this expense now asked for a reduction of the charges paid. After some discussion, it was agreed that a place be assigned to Mr George Martin for. the purpose of landing coal, in accordance with the existing resolution and the report of the Public Works Committee ; and that the rent in all cases should be collected without abatement. •■•■•• REPORTS. The Mayor and Mr Kennedy, as a Committee appointed to borrow from the General Government L4OOO for Municipal purposes, reported that they were successful in carrying out the object of their appointment, and on terms which they hoped would be considered favorable. A full report would be made to next meeting, the deed having only been signed that evening. \ The Mayor reported that Messrs Hind- 1

marsh and Moss had been elected, without a poll, as Auditors and Assessors. The Finance Committee reported, thai they had made arrangements with the Bank of New^ South Wales for anexteh-'.;;' sion of the overdraft to LBOO, upon condi- ' tion that the same should be positively reduced to LSOO on the Bth Apru. ; rv, > The Public Works Committee recommended that the contract for Boundary street should be cancelled, and that the contractors should be paid L2O less for ' the work done than the contract price, and the street should, by contract, m repaired and completed forthwith. The Committee also recommended that Arney street bridge should be repaired with piles instead of sill trussels, and that all timber used should be black birch. The Surveyor reported that Alexander street culvert had been finished by day labor at a cost of L 29 6s, and that Custom House, Marion, and Waite streets, would be finished at a cost of about Lls for the three. Tainui street had already' cost L7B, and would cost about L 95 when complete. It was originally estimated at ' L 25, which just filled the breach made by the flood, but he had received instructions' to complete the street as far as the south side of Mackay-street. : Attention was drawn by Mr Kennedy to the propriety, in connection withthiswork, of removing the bell-tower, which was at present an impediment to traffic, and no ornament to the street; and, after some conversation, it was agreed that some other site for a tower should be selected; * Some other reports on streets were made hy the Town Surveyor, and the Town Clerk read, some correspondence on the subject of jarrah timber. > An application was received from Mrs Rolf, as to a claim for work done byherlate husband, but, after explanations as to the nature of the claim, it was agreed that it could not be entertained. . i Some intimations of appeals against, the rate of assessment were received and referred to the Public Works Committee ; and, after some other business, the Council was adjourned.