PATEA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 4 December 1924, Page 6

PATEA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

. SIUNT(I.IiV MEETING,. The monthly meeting of the Patea Borough Council was held on Monday evening last, his Worship the Mayor (Mr P. S. Finlayson) presiding. A letter was (received from Messrs Hamel and Rutherford, stating that all matters in connection with tne> drainage at the Kakaramea Dairy Factory and adjacent land landowners was about settled, and recommended that the deed between the council and the company be signed.—Resolved that the recommendation of the solicitors be accepted, and Cls. Watson and Jones be authorised to sigh oil behalf of the council. Mrs M. E. Smith wrote for permissio, to cut grass from streets contiguous to her property.—Application granted. The engineer to the Rangitikei County CoUhcil wrote, forwarding quote for supply of gravel.—lt was resolved to obtain a sample of the gravel. The Minister of Health wrote re sanitary inspector’s duties, ahd pointed out that all reports bit tills borough from that officer must be on the Ideal council’s paper. A deputation from the Kakaramea Co-op. Dairy Company waited on the council with reference to the c-haiges for electric current. Mr Pearce slated that the company had not received any official notification from the borctgh of the rates to he chafged, but they had seen them in the rpewspapei’S; and if the charges, as printed, were cor-1 rect, it was going to be too expensive—more so than coal. The charge of 4d per unit, less 10 per cent, for the first 800 units, was the stumbling block. At present their coal charges worked out at about £24 a. month, but if they used electricity the cost would be very much higher, and would be far too heavy after th© flush of the season was over. Mr Meharry (manager) endorsed the remarks of his chairman. The Mayor stated that the council was; not out to rob anyone, and m fixing the charge for the first 800 units at 4d less 10 per cent, thought they were doing a fair thing, both to the council and the daily company. Or. Honeyfield said that "on the figures supplied by Mr Pearce and Mr Meharry the company’s coal account only amounted to about £2BB per annum, or equal to. abollt ten tons per month, which seems a very low estimate for a factory turning out about 600 tons. Mr Pearce said the company did not ask the council to supply current at an unprofitable rate, but certainlv did want' to. got it at a paying rate to themselves. The deputation thahked the council and then withdrew. After a. general discussion, it was resolved that the rates already fixed wore the lowest at which it Would pay to supply. ThO usual resolution fixing the dog tax for the coming year was passed, the fee remaining the same as last year —2s Qd for drovers and 10s fox" all others. was resolved to offer the position of dox tax collector to the collector of last year, and if not accepted to advertise. It Was resolved to hold a special meeting on the 15tli inst. to deal with Cr. Jones’ notice of motion to reduce the number of councillors from r.ine i to six, and also to take other busii ness offering. The Town Clerk read a report of the principal business transacted at- the recent municipal conference, and on ‘the niotioii of Cr. Hoiieyfield, seconded by Cr. Peacock, the Mayor and Town Clerk wel*e thanked for the valuable report presented. The Mayor reported on behalf of the committee set up to inquire into Mr Egan’s complaint t© removal by someone of certain water connections from property, leased by the council to Mr Egan; The Mayor said the committee had inspected the property, and was far from convinced that the complaint was fully justified. As Mr Egan was in charge of the property, he was surprised that a better look-out had not been kept by him. Cr. Jones said that as one of the committee li© had very little to add to what his Worship had said. His persona.]. opinion was that the matfei should never have been brought before the council. Egan was the lessee, and I should look after his own interests, and I the committee could not possibly re- § commend reinstatement of anything ! alleged to have been removed from the property. The council had no liability in the matter at all.

The following reports were adopted— The General Purposes Committee recommended that permission be granted Mr L. Campbell to screen a, picture programme on Christmas night. That the letter from the Pa tea County Council accepting the council’s offer to contribute £IOO as its share to the filling in of the creek at the Pa tea Station bridge be- received. That the letter from the Health Department covering a copy of the regulations to prevent the contamination of food during manufacture and sale be referred to the By-laws Committee. That the Noxious Weeds Inspector be requested to make a. general inspection of the borough at an early date. That Mr Hickev, lessee of sections 2,5, 7, 11, block 9, Stafford Street, he notified that by permitting the small bach on this property to be occupied without proper connection with the borough water and drainage system he is committing a breach of section 36 of “The Health Act, 1920.” and that the building must either be vacated or improvements effected within fourteen days from Tuesday, November 25, 1924. Electric Light. Water and Drainage Committee. —A deputation from the Kakaramea Dairy Co., Ltd., consisting of Messrs Pearce (chairman), and Sheilds (secretary), waited on the council in reference to the charges for electric power consumed at the Kakaramea factory. The committee resolved: That the manager and chairman of the Kakaramea factory be asked to meet the council at its next meeting on December 1, at 8 p.m., when the power sharges would be fully discussed. The electrical engineer’s report i'oi November stated :—During the mouth the maintenance of a continuous supply caused a. considefablc amount of anxiety, through the excessive use and Pi many cases careless waste of the water by consumers. On three successive mornings the tower was empty, and this being a matter of vital importance to the town in the event of a fire, steps were immediately taken to conserve the supply by warning the consumers that any "cases of wilful and, careless waste of the town water would | be summarily dealt with. The morning following the date of the public warning -the tower registered 3ft. of water, which proved that the water was being wasted in many cases. The number of gallons consumed during November was 1,227,600, as against 960,000 during the previous month, showing an increase in consumption of 267,600 gallons. Ail inspection of services was made, with the result that several taps were re-washered and many were found to be simply in need of turning off, as the water was not being used for any purpose. Several hoses were also playing about 5 a.m. and the owners were apparently still in bed. Although the supply is normal once again, the greatest economy in consumption must still be enforced, as the dry season which

is experienced annually iii Patea is yet to come, aiid should the consumption during the coming two or three months equal that of last month the position of the town would be an unenviable one. The hydro, plant has run 738 hours, generating 117,749 electrical units. A new laminated belt has been fitted on the governor. The water supply in the dam lias been very satisfactory during the month, varying from spillway to 6in. below. The new cable has been run in Cambridge Street, and most of the house services changed over; but, owing to the urgent work on the other parts of the town this street has not yet been completed. The lines in Leicester Street have also been renewed and, changed over to the opposite side, the street lamp on the. corner has alsc. changed to the opposite corner owing ,to it beiiig erected on the P. and T. side. The house services in Lincoln Street have been raised on to the tops of the new telephone poles. The bare wire from Egmont to Middlesex Street will have to be feplaced with insulated wire. This work will be done during the coming month. Olle 35ft. pole is required at the corner of lOgmont and Victoria Streets, and as there is not any in stock I have arranged with the P ; and T. Department to get one, which can be replaced when the consignment of poles arrives.