TURUA TOWN BOARD.

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVIII, Issue 5125, 13 May 1927, Page 4

TURUA TOWN BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. POWER BOARD CHARGES. The regular meeting of the Turiiu Town Board was held on Wednesday evening, Mr J. Mules presiding over Messrs C. Scott, J. McConnell. J. H. Johnston, J. Schmidt, J. T. Davies, S. G. Williams, and J- E. Green (clerk). DOMAIN. The Turua Domain Board wrote thanking the board for its donation o,f £lO, and also- for its donation of metal for the concrete cricket pitch. SETTLEMENT WITH COUNTY. Mr Williams asked if the £25 granted by the County Council for the Oparia Road maintenance had been received. Mr Schmidt suggested that some members of the finance committee should visit the county office and go into the whole statement between the board and the council. It was desirabl that a statement should be obtained annually. On the motion of Mr. Williams it was decided to ask for a statement of the account for the- past financial year. HANDRAILS. Mr Williams reported that the handrails had been erected on the bridges over the Willow drain and at the Piako Road corner, and a very good job had been done. Members expressed satisfaction with the work, and Mr Scott suggested that photographs be taken of the bridges, as they were the only works the board was proud of. The clerk reported that the work and material had cost £25 12s for the two bridges. Of this the County Council would pay one-n ROAD MAINTENANCE. The chairman mentioned that there were several places on the bitumen road which required attention. The work was left to Mr J. McCnonell to have undertaken. ELECTRIC POWER METERS. Mr Scott: What about those meters ? The Chairman : Oh ! by jove, yes. Everyone is growling. Mr Scott said that since the electric meters had been installed consumers had had to pay about three times as much as when on the fiat rate. If a consumer complained about his meter he was charged 10s. Other members gave instances of their own experiences, and it appeared that it cost over 6d to boil aketile. The charges by the meter ranged from 215 to 5 times as much as when on the flat rate despite rigid economy. Some- members mentioned that they had given up using the electric lights in their bedrooms and were reverting to kerosene or candles. Mr Johnston quoted the case of a farmer who used a 20-watt stove and paid £l6 a year on the flat rate. At his house he used a 10-watt grill, and on the meter charge, while, using the power as sparingly as possible, the cost would be £26 a year. After discussing the working of the Power Board, members asked if anything could be done. The opinion was that unless the meters were faulty the matter was more than the Town Board could undertake.. It appeared that the charges were more or less governed by those levied by the Government.

The clerk was instructed to write to the- Power Board protesting against the high charges under the meters and point out that the members of the board found that complaints by the public were more than justified by their own experience-.