PATEA.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 10 September 1924, Page 8

PATEA.

BOROUGH COUNCIL MEETING

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

A special meeting of the Patea Borough Council was held on Friday evening last to consider a request from the Patea Fire Brigade for the purchase of a motor reel. His Worship the Mayor (Mr P. S. Finlay son) presided; In explaining the business of the evening, his Worship said the brigade had already discussed the question of taking advantage of a first-class offer made to them by the Eltham Fire Brigade for the sale of a motor reel, and had decided to avail themselves of this offer. There was not -any doubt about the necessity for improving the fire fighting appliances of this town, and now that the opportunity had come to make a start in that direction he thought, with' the brigade, that the. offer should be taken up. The nr ice of; the reel was £l5O, and he did not anticipate any trouble in financing the purchase. j A deputation from the brigade then attended the meeting, and at the request of the Mayor, Captain L.; Adams stated fully the scheme mooted.; The matter was one of urgency, as the' offer was only open to them for a few' days, and he wished to thank the council for calling the special meeting' to deal with it. This offer of the motor reel was brought about through; the Eltham Fire Brigade joining the; Fire Board, and the latter body not requiring the reel. The Eltham” Brigade had this reel given to them by Mr Crabtree, one of the conditions of the gift being that in the event of anything happening to the Eltham Brigade; the machine reverted to the donor.. The reel had been handed back to Mr Crabtree, hence the offer to the Patea. Brigade, and he could assure them it was a perfect 'gift at the price. What the Patea Brigade asked was for the Borough Council to purchase the reel,, and the brigade to refund the money from time to time as funds permitted.! In reply to Cr Jones, Captain Adams; said the reason for desiring the ma-' chine was for rapid transit; he quitei agreed that their present appliances; would enable them to cope with any 5 lire ever likely to take place here for; several years to come. i - The Mayor stated that just at* pres-, ent the council could not finance the project, as they were fully committed,' but he felt sure that there would be; no. difficulty in financing the. scheme. ;

After discussion it was resolved that the request of the Fire Brigade be acceded to.

In reply to the Mayor, Captain Adams said that the brigade had a; caretaker who would be living on the! premises.

Cr. Jones, said that he. was quite in: sympathy with the purchase of the: reel, but he failed to grasp the scheme : for payment of it , and until he was satisfied as to. how the reel was. to be paid for lie felt lie must oppose any resolution that would commit the. council.

The Mayor stated that he was quite and whole-heartedly in favour of the : scheme put forward by the The council could not just at present- pay the amount required for the' motor reel, but would go as far as possible to secure the reel for the bvi/ gade. He favoured debentures being: issued, and by this means encourag-i ing the public to take an interest in the affairs of the brigade. The present appliances of the brigade would meet to-day’s requirements, but they must look ahead, and he quite agreed with the brigade’s request for the purchase of the motor reel. He felt sure that they need not worry about the question of financing the. purchase of the reel.

Captain Adams assured the council that it need not worry about the financial aspect, for if the council turned the project down the brigade would buy the reel, but as all property of the brigade was. vested in the council, they felt that it was only right to let the council have a say in the matter. v , . After further discussion, it was resolved that a committee consisting of two members of the Borough Council and two members of the fire brigade inspect the reel, and if satisfied to purchase same.

Cr. Jones said he was not satisfied with the arrangement arrived at and would vote against the resolution -\t present they did not know how the scheme, was to be financed, and he stiongly objected to the borough being called upon to foot the hill. He would like to know a little more about the inatter before voting for it. The Mayor fully explained the procedure in connection with the purchase ot the reel, and it was ultimately decnJed to close for the purchase of the