Napier Harbor Board.

Hastings Standard, Issue 249, 17 February 1897, Page 3

Napier Harbor Board.

The following statement by the chairman of the Harbor Hoard, which we extract from the Herald, shows the position of the Boat d at the present time : Mr Onnond said they could do nothing at present with the recommendations contained in Mr fair's report, winch would take some time to consider. The only tiling that occurred to him that they could do now would be to on with the protecting apron work, and he asked that action on the main report be postponed until he put before the Hoard some statement of their position ami how they stood financially. lie would give his reasons for giving notice of the motion standing in his inline. that the breakwater contract be terminated. When they entered into the present contract they did so with the viow of taking ihe breakwater as far as the Auckland rock, find it was at that time believed that with the money in hand rhe.v could have done the work to that point. The main objec-t of the JJoard was to endeavor to secure that end. but the late disastrous storm undoubtedly laid entirely rendered that impossible with the funds the Board h;;d at its disposal. Further, he thought it would be manifest to anybody who viewed the damage caused by the recent storm that- a very long time would be taken in reinstating the work to its former condition. To undertake the work Mould be to do it on terms exceedingly disadvantageous to the Board. He believed that for ;dl the extra work the Board was paying extravagant prices. In order that the ratepayers might understand the position he had had a statement prepared by the officers of the Board from the account*, anil a summary that he had prepared from those would, he hoped, convey plainly the position of the Board in regard to linance. and as to what funds were available. He had before lain three accounts From No. 1 he gathered the babiiioe of the loan account on July Ist, 1894, and immedia :eJ.v after the storm in that year, and what had been spent in the work of construction since that date. They had then in hand £190.024. Then lie had taken out the balance of the loan account—when Messrs Bell and Maxwell reported in September, 1894. The balance then in the hands of the Board was £128,980. The next was the balance of the loan account gi\en to Mr Maxwell when he reported. Mr Maxwell was told that there was an available balance of £tje.Boo, but the balance now turned out to have hf en £00.006.. The explanation of thi, was that the secretary had made a lnistak" in making out the figures. He iiad had prepared for him a statement of the loan account up to January loth. 18:(7, from the hooks, showing a balance to credit of £07.810 2s lOd. This included a debit due by the general account of XTo.IOO, which had been taken out of loan funds and used for general purposes, and in the meantime the cash balance had been reduced by that amount, leaving the available cash balance at the present time at £44,010. The next return showed the expenditure on the breakwater for all purposes out of the loan funds from July Ist. 1894. to January 16th, 1897. The sum of £22.:)01 hail been spent from July Ist. 1894. to December :-Jlst, 1894; from January Ist, 1890, to December :315t,1890. !■>:» had been spent ; from January, 1890, to December :>lst, 1880, £lo,o:i'2 ; and from January. 1897. to January 10th, 1897. £2:510, making a total expenditure from the time of the storm in July, 1894, to the present tune of £77,708. That sum included the following expenditure : Bubble foundation £'19.470, apron j£28,2C0, Glasgow wharf £O4BB, plant £7250, western mole £2094. and various other items of minor consequence brought up the amount to the total stated. Of the £77.708, between the date of the storm in 1894 and the last one, there had been spent on repairs to the breakwater £]0.85)4. That was the secretary's estimate from the book's, but Mr C'arr, who had been through the accounts with him (the chairman) informed him that there were many items of expenditure which should not have been included in that amount, which he could explain to the committee. He had been quoting from returns compiled by the secretary, but he (the chairman) had made his own calculations which he would summarise, and put as clearly as possible before them. The balance of the loan account on January Ist, 1894. was stated to be. from the books. £1 '■)'>.o24. They had expended since that date up to January Kith, 1897, £77.705t, leaving the amount to credit of.the lonu at £07.810, as cash available. There was a statement in the No. 1 return showing that with the deposit account and other amounts the credit to the Board on January Kith, 15',17. was £t>l,B-'57, and that included the sum of £ 1021.contractor's deposit account. That money, of course, had to be repaid, as it did not belong to the Board, and therefore reduced the credit, as he hail already stated, to £o7,Hlf>. Now. deducting the contractors deposit. £lO2l, and sums payable to the contractors. £'o47-J. the difference between the total of those three items, £22,090. and the £01.8:57 which was given as the actual cash bal

ante available was Xo'- 1 . Itjl. Then. ill addition Id the later --tun there were these contin}{cucic-s —ct;tu'''iit X'o'2ll, general account due to loan aceo.mt X'lii,l'.Mi, making a total of XMH.-K)7, which would make

a total of This was their financial position so far as la- uas able to understand it. The half-yearly interest was due at the end of March.

Mr ( 'hit's estimates for Itlliiif,' in the t P s and making liif at works securtu.i~i and lie (tin) cliainna.ni ei-rtainh was nut at pie-cut. disposed to &•> any furtln-r thtuj reitiNtutin-j tin.' work lo it-i former position, until tiny knew wtually hmv I'm/ work was standing and the co-its that tin se ivpair* would actually Inki.'. Alii'jli;;it tin- items of expense hlltee July, lK't-1, there were -unit', of cuiiM', lJi.it would not recur, such as I'iiliMr foiiuditlloll Xl'.'. IT<>, Wh.of X'i. l-». rock ri'ti ii i v itl .flolo.

H i Mt ri] mole 4,'2'if I. mid plant .1*720 i). In !.••>!hi' luio llic |>ositioii of atfans t!ic CollinUlll.-e. UlvY ll.til set Hp Lilrh f d tile account-, ot tin- l; t oi a Very Ullsal * i i I',til. The\ found that till' tiu.jkn Imd not In/|-!1 l.nlallc.'il since I>i ci iiiln r. lf.' i. There h.nl licet) a lu-w

j < !'a I I I[> it! I :!J the n hni tinker's dep..:: iin nt and v. I.i ;; tin 1 • —:■ >ll took I pi u i no tal uii'i* wa» sirurk. uor luni | there hceii a balance struck ;.y lo the 1 |»l'«-!»l lit ilioltil'! !.' '1 he coiiiiiiiUee, 111 j «iii[• 4in cxpe.li'.i the making up of these j iu""'"jU!it/. had employed < \ t.- a accountj who «ii. now at Ui.rk in tin* f ft«>'i«'lni v n fftllri-, 1 lie JM'CH-tnrV j plained lliat |t«-i«e in/ •><• hoiln-n had oc

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