BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXIV, Issue 4596, 10 August 1923, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

monthly meeting. The monthly meeting of the Paeroa Borough Council was held last evening., His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. Marshall) presided, and there were also present,: Crs. E. Edwards,, J. -W. Sileock, G. P. Lamb, H. M. Shand, T. P. Vuglar, P. E. Brenan, and the Town Clerk, Mr W. C. Alexander. BILLIARD ROOM LICENSE. H. E. Raffill applied for a transfer of the billiard room license previously held by B. Greig, Paeroa. A favourable police report accompanied the application.—Granted, subject to compliance with the by-laws. traffic LICENSE FEES. The town clerks, Auckland, Thames and Waihi Borough Council, and the Hauraki Plains County Council wrote acknowledging receipt of copies of resolutions passed at the recent conference of local bodies held in Paeroa last month. —Received. HEAVY TRAFFIC BY-LAWS. The Minister of Public Works wrote acknowledging receipt of a copy, of the Borpugh Council’s heavy traffic by-laws,, and advised that the. various matters referred to therein would receive his early consideration. —Re- . ceived. I FLORA STREET IMPROVEMENTS. A petition bearing eight signatures of Flora Street residents was received drawing the attention of the Council to the necessity for forming and metalling the street named. The petitioners stated that they had “suffered mud and slush for many years/’ and had not previously made any request, and they now asked that, their needs be placed first on the list of urgent works and proceeded with during the coming summer. On the .motion of the Mayor, seconded by Cr. Brenan, it was decided that the petitioners be informed that, the should ha,ve been presented and signed by a councillor to be in order. However,, the Council noted the representations, and proniised to give full consideration to the needs of the petitioners when allocat- ‘ ing and spending loan monev, it being quite impossible to form and metal streets out of revenue. CROSSING REQUIRED. W. H. Shaw applied for two loads of metal to be put on the crossing from the main road to Thorp Street. — Referred to the Works Committee for favourable consideration. BRITISH EMPIRE EXHIBITION. The secretary of the district committee of the British Empire Exhibition, Auckland, wrote advising that his committee had passed the following resolution: — “This committee regrets that the shipping companies have not, yet made any announcement of special fares to England during the British Empire Exhibition, and trusts that a satisfactory announcement will be made at an early.”. The letter stated that, a copy of the resolution had been forwarded to organised bodies and associations, asking for support and co-operation. The matter was referred to Cr. Brenan, the Council’s representative, for his action. £ REPAIRS TO BUILDING. . * A lengthy report, was received from the Medical Officer of Health, Auckland, with reference t.o a building situated in Belmont Road and occupied by Mrs G. W. Davis. The report stated that the building was in urgent need of repairs, and recommended that the agent for the owners should have certain specified repairs effected within - 28 days. Cr. Brenan said that the house certainly was in need of repair, but the trouble was that it was hardly rentproducing, and it would mean turning the present tenants out while the repairs were effected. It was decided that the Health Department’s letter and instructions be forwarded to the agent for‘the estate. MEMORIAL LIBRARY. The secretary of the Business Men’s Association wrote as follows :— “At our last meeting it wa,s resolved that this association was in full sympathy with the Paeroa Chamber of Commerce in its recent suggestion that the War Memorial should take the form of a memorial public li- * brary, as a library would be a far greater asset to Paeroa and more suitable as a memorial to our fallen heroes in the Great War than entrance gates to the Domain. It was resolved .that your Council be written to acquainting it of our views on the subject, with the object of enlisting sympathy and support." The Mayor said that he intended to call a public" meeting at air early date to consider the question of a war memorial that would be practicable. Cr. Edwards said that the Chamber of Commerce had never passed a resolution suggesting a memorial library. He was of the opinion that the majority of the members of the chamber were opposed to putting up a memorial library The Mayor said that he fully realised that it would be impossible to please everyone, but he was desirous of meeting the- wishes of the majority, Soever keeping in mind the nature of sentiment in connection with a war memorial to perpetuate the memory of the soldiers. ; WAR MEMORIALS. ' Mr A. Wilks, secretary of the Papakura Karaka War Memorial Committee, wrote in reply to the Council and submitted a photograph of the war memorial, which cost £7OO. —Referred to the War Memorial Committee. The Town Clerk, Otahuhu, wrote enclosing photographs of a'memorial erected to Maori War soldiers, and one erected by the parishioners, of Holy Trinity Church costing £l2O. BRIDGE INSPECTOR. The secretary of the Ngaruawahia Chamber of Cpmmerce wrote with reference to the constant inspection the many bridges in which both bodies and the Government had large sums of money invested, and was of the opinion that if it was necessary for the Railway Department to keep its bridges under constant inspection it was equally necessary for local bodies to do so. The

letter suggested that a competent inspector might be employed permanently by a number of counties and boroughs grouped under the Highways Act. The Mayor said the suggestion was no doubt a good one, but as far as the Council was concerned It only had one bridge of any size under its control, and he was of the opinion that the expense of the appointment, of an inspector would not be warranted at present. MANUAL TRAINING SCHOOL. The following letter was received from the Minister of Education—"l have to acknowledge receipt of your letter of July 16 asking when a derision in regard to the proposal to establish a manual training centre at Paeroa is likely t.o be reached? and to state in reply that as this question is bound up with that of the establishment of a technical high school at Paeroa, which cannot well be considered before the cases of Tauranga and Dargaville have been dealt with, it is .improbable that, any decision will be reached during the present financial year.- You may rest assured, however, that action will be taken when more urgent matters have been provided for, and financial conditions are more favourable.” The letter was received. WAIHI HOSPITAL CAMPAIGN. The secretary of the Waihi Hospital Ba’l Committee wrote seeking the Council’s support in the raising of funds for the Waihi Hospital. The letter stated, inter alia, that any money raised for that purpose would carry a Government subsidy of £2 4s for every £ raised. It was resolved that a reply be sent to the effect that the Mayor of Wr.ihi had already, by letter, introduced and authorised a lady collector, whose appeal had been officially supported by the Mayor. Therefore, the matter had already been dealt with. The action of the Mayor was endorsed, and it was decided to recommend the appeal to the Paeroa public. WANDERING STOCK. The president of the Beautifying Society wrote drawing attention to the havoc being done to the railway station section and Methodist Churci coiner by wandering cattle and horses at night, and asked that the ranger should be instructed to search out the offenders and take legal proceedings against them. Cr. Vuglar said that the ranger could not be exp'ected to be out all hours of the night to impound cattle. The salary attached to the position was only a nominal one. Cr. Edwards said that the worse offenders took advantage of the nights to graze stock on the roads. Cr. Sileock suggested that a telephone should be installed in the ranger's house. It was suggested that the Mayor look into the matter of installing a telephone, with power to act. Cr. Edwards thought that, it might be advisable for the ranger to be excused duty during part of the day and to devote his attention to. duty at night for a while. The matter was referred to the ranger, with special instructions to core with the nuisance. WATER CONNECTIONS. J. Hubbard wrote asking the Council to supply him with a definite pronouncement as to whether it intended supplying a water connection for power purposes. He stated that some three years ago, when the water was first promised, he had gone to the expense of getting a Pelton wheel, pining, and valves,, but had not yet received the water,. —Referred to the Water Committee for a report. Cr. Sileock asked what was being done with regard to installing a wa*-er connection to the residence of Mrs Alctfck in Andrew’s Street. The Mayor said that he would t.ake the matter up with the foreman. SEWERAGE CONNECTIONS. j # Hubbard advised the Council that no Buchan traps had been installed oil his properties, and that same had since been installed at his own expense, and he asked for an allowance pn his charges for sewerage connections as a consequence. Referred to the Works Committee. NOXIOUS WEEDS'. Cr. Sileock drew attention to the state of the gorse on Primrose Hill and the domain in the vicinity of the school. The Mayor said that he had already conferred with the foreman and a contract, for cutting the noxious weeds would be let in the near future. He agreed that the gorse was getting bad, and should be kept down to a minimum. SEYMOUR STREET CROSSING. Cr. Edwards stated that the Seymour Street culvert crossing required immediate attention. The culvert appeared to be blocked, and the adjacent area was becoming flooded. — Referred to the foreman for attention.