PAEROA BOROUGH.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 5065, 15 December 1926, Page 2

PAEROA BOROUGH.

MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING. ROUTINE BUSINESS. The monthly meeting of the Paeroa Borough Council was held' last night, His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. Marshall) presiding over the following : Crs. E. Edwarhs, P. E. Branan, F. E. Flatt, J. W- Silcock, H. J. Hare, G. P. de Castro, E. A. Porritt, J. Pinder, and the town clerk (Mr W. C. Alexander). Contrary to the usual routine, owing to the visit of His Excellency the Governor-General falling on the, regular meeting night of the council, the finance and general meetings were taken together Jast evening. . SEWERAGE CONNECTION. In reply to a request the district engineer, N.Z. Railways, wrote advising that the department would proceed with the connection of the stationmaster’s house to the borough sewerage system. A request wa& made to have the connection relaid in 6in pipes and lowered at the northern end. An inquiry was made as to the amount of Jhe annual charge for the sewer connection. The Mayor intimated that the work had been .authorised, The question of chojrges was left in the hands of the town clerk to reply. PAEROA HOSPITAL. Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P., wrote acknowledging receipt of correspondence in connection with the erection of the Paeroa maternity and casualty hospital. He stated that he had interviewed the Minister of Health and had placed before him. the protest passed by the council against the tactics of the Thames Hospital Board. The Minister had promised to h.ave the whole matter inquired into, and his decision would be forwarded as early as possible. It was resolved to thank Mr Samuel for his efforts on behalf of the /district. POLICE PROTECTION. Mr A. M. Sajm.uel, M.P., acknowledged receipt of a resolution passed by'the council asking that .an extra constable should be -stationed at Paeroa. The matter would be placed before the Minister of Justice at the first opportunity and his decision forwarded to the council. The writer gave it as his opinion tlrajt the ap.pointment of .an additional official was essential. Mr Samuel also said that the matter of the removal of the electric lighting from the police station and lock-up would receive his attention. In a subsequent letter Mr Samuel said that after interviewing the Ministed and the Commissioner of Police he believed the question of lighting would be satisfactorily adjusted. He was not so hopeful about the request for the extra constable, but the Minister had given a promise to consider the matter and advise the council in due course.Cr. Silcock, in moving that the.com.munications be received, remarked th®;t the member for the district had done some good. -- ' WOOD STREET FOOTPATH. The Paeroa District High School Committee made a request for a por.tion of ' the Wood Street footpath leading to the girls’ playground to receive attention.

The Mayor said he had investigated the. position, but he could not agree that.the position was dangerous. The; suggestion of the committee to place metal was sheer waste of money in aftcount of scour. The solution was for the committee to prevent the overflow df storm-water, or else to the portion ref the footpath.

Cr. Pinder, said that, the committee should be compelled to prevent the overflow of storm-water.

Cr. Silcock said that the pipe s,hoiild be removed, because it was certainly a danger from slipping. The Mayor said that it was not so necessary tp remove the old ghfe pipe as it was to prevent the scour and to have the footpath built up to its permanent level, which would mean that the gas-pipe would then be coveredCr. Hare said that for the borough to concrete the area would cost about £5, and he would much like to see it done.

On thq motion of Cr. Brenan it was decided to defer the matter until Cr. Silcock had had an opportunity to go further into the matter .with the School Committee. He was desirous of assisting the committee but the council could not, afford to waste money.

Cr. Edwards seconded, and said that probably the committee during the Christmas holidays could evolve some scheme to divert the storm-water off the footnath. APPLICATION FOR MACHINE. An application was received from the Paeroa District High School Committee for the, use of the tar-spraying machine to enable necessary tarring and sanding to be carried out on the schoolgrounds. It was pointed out that the Auckland Education Board was supplying the tar, but the committee w a is required to defray the cost of the sand ?nd labour. In order that the, expenses of the essential work should be kept down as low as possible the council was asked to loan the machine and if possibly, assist in the supervision of the work. A request was also made for a yard of metal chips to carry out preliminary patching work. On the motion of Cr. Edwards it was resolved to supply the chips at cost price. The Mayor pointed out that the; committee was not asking for financial assistance, and suggested that the; use of the machine and supervision should be granted, subject to the exigencies of borough works. Cr, Silcock moved that the request, be granted subject to Suitable arrangements being made with the Works Committee. Seconded by Cr. Hare and carried. AUCTIONEER’S LICENSE. A Te Aroha auctioneer, forwarded a cheque for £5, which t,hq council had claimed under its by-laws. The auctioneer stated that he was paying the money under protest, and claimed 1 that his auctioneer’s license entitled I

him to sell goods with reserve without paying additional fees. The Mayor said that the matter had been referred to the solicitor for the Municipal Association for an opinion. 1

The action of the town clerk was endorsed.

The Mayor, in answer to Cr. Flatt, said that the onus was on itinerant traders to ascertain from the. borough office the position.

To test the feeling of the meeting Cr. Flatt moved that on future occasions the town clerk take, action against itinerant traders. It was not desirable that the town clerk s,houid have to chase after such people.

In seconding; Cr. Edwards said that it was time a definite stand was taken in such matters.

STATUTORY HALF-HOLIDAY.

The Labour Department wrote dajrwing attention to the Shops and Offices. Act, 1921-22, J>y which the council was called upon to hold a spe- • cial meeting in January for the purpose of deciding what working-day in the week should be. the statutory halfholiday. The letter was received and referred to the town clerk to arrange. Cr. Flatt remarked that there would be a “hot go” this time. WATER CONNECTIONS. Applications, for water connections to Mr W. Malcolm’s section- in Miller Avenue, and one to the block of new theatre buildings were made by a local plumber.—Granted subject to the approval of the foreman. INVESTMENT OF FUNDS. The Department of Internal Affairs Wrote advising that an Order-in-Council had been issued extending the scope of section 117 df the Municipal Corporations. Act, 1920, so as to authorise renewal fund commissioners to invest funds; in the bonds, debentures,'’ or other securities of any road board, town board, or electric power board in New Zealand having authority to borrow money. It was also pointed out t,hat authority had been given for a borough council to invest reserve funds in the bonds'or debentures of the aforementioned locajj authorities. LIBRARIES’ ASSOCIATION. The Libraries’ Association bf New. Zealand wrote advising that the nAxt ■ conference would be held at Wangaiiui in February next and inviting the council to send one delegate to the conference, THE MOSQUITO PEST. A lengthy, circular was received from the medical officer of health, Auckland, with reference tn dealing with the mosquito pest. The circular was referred to the •Health Committee, with opwer to act. Cr. de Castro said he would be pleased tn go into the matter, and he hoped that the assistance of the health inspector would be forthcoming. APPLICATION FOR CROSSING. Mr A. E. Gunn applied for a crossing to his property in Andrews Street and offered to do the work to the; satisfaction of the council. Permission was also sought to remove three; cubic yards of s,oil for filling purposes from the opposite side of the road. Cr. Edwards said he was familiar with the position. If the bank was removed it would be to the advantage of Mjacent residents. He moved that the application be granted subject to the approval of thq Works Committee.

Cr. Brenan seconded, and said he hoped that blue prints would be supplied in orthodox style. Cr. objected, and instanced how the Council had threatened to prosecute a ratepayer for having attempted to make his own crossing.

It, was pointed out that the case referred to was somewhat different in that no application xvas made to the council.

Cr. Hare said a charge should be made for pipes supplied and the time of the foreman in inspecting the work.

The Mayor said he. was not opposed to the crossing, but if the application was granted it, would be establishing a precedent. He thought that applicators,, should remit the necessary charges for pipes and supervision fees, when making an application. Cr. Edwards said he was prepared to alter his 'resolution to the effect that the application be granted provided the applicant paid the supervision fee.

Cr. Hare sajd that while recognising that the applicant, was an engineer and fully competent to handle the job, he should not be given any privilege over other ratepayers. The amended resolution was; carried. It was also resolved that the application of Mr R. S. Kajlu be granted on similar terms. STATION ROAD DRAIN. ' With reference to Station Road, drain, Cr. Pinder said that portion of it was in a filthy state and required immediate attention. He suggested that the top end from the bridge to Thames Road should be at once cleaned out. The was about'an inch of yellow scum on the top. ' On the motion of Cr. Flatt, seconded by Cr. Edwards, the matter was referred to the Works Committee, with Dower, to act.UPPER HILL STREET.

Cr. Silcock drew attention, to the scour of storm-water at upper Hill Street, which was becoming detrimental to traffic. It was resolved that the Works Committee make an inspection of various urgent matters at 1 p.m. today.