BOROUGH COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume V, Issue 387, 16 August 1911, Page 5

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING

The usual monthly meeting of Te Kuiti Borough Council was held on

3 lhe usual monthly meeting or le e ; Kuiti Borough Council was held on r \ Monday night at the Council Chamj ; bers. Present: flis Worship the a ! Mayor, Mr James Boddie; Councillors \ Forsyth, Sim-', Young, Hardy, Julian, 5 I Lusk and Somerville. 3 j During the reading of the minutes iuf the last special meeting of the ' Council, several Councillors ques- ' ; tioned the correctness of the wording i \of the motion finally passed, in which | a "competent authority" was to be [ j engaged. Cr Forsyth thought it j should _ read a "hydro - electrical 1 i expert," and Crs Young and ' | Sims were of the same opinion.—The Mayor explained the whole procesdi ' ings leading up to the adoption of the j motion, which was really his own, to | the satisfaction of the Council, and I ! the minutes were approved as correct. j Subsidy on Kates.—The Treasury ! j remitted £l3l Is sd, being 25 per ■ cent, subsidy on rates collected. —ReI ceivHcl. Gas Supply.---The General Manager ; of Railways wrote asking what system j of lighting was being adopted, and the net price charged by the Council. —lt was decided to write and say the \ Council was busy considering the question, and as soon as it had decided ! would let him know. | Sheridan Street Bridge.—Mr Jones j Prosser wrote enquiring when this ! bridge, allowed for in the loan, would Ibe proceeded with. Discussion showed ' that the proposed bridge would be a | foot one only, the estimated cost being ! £7O to £BO. The letter was referred i to the Works Committee. i Electrical Experts.—A number of applications were referred to the | Lighting Committee. • The Esplanade.- -Mr E. A. Power i wrote that the digging and planting | of a portion of the Esplanade had been ] done, and asking the Council to proj vide a sufficient sum to supply grass- | | seed. —Cr Lusk said he had seen the I I work and the lads had made an excel- j | lent job of it.—lt was decided to I grant the request. ' Cottage Hospital.—The Mayor said :he brought this matter up at the ; meeting of the Hospital Board, but I got little encouragement. The Board j was willing to pay any expenses in- ! curred in bringing sufferers in to Te Kuiti, but set its face against separate hospital accommodation. If the j ; Council still thought fit a public i meeting could be called.—Cr Forstyh [ said it was a very expenisve business 'having a local hospital. It required | two trained nurses. —Cr Sims agreed, j and thought a combination of an am- ! bulance station with the fire brigade j station would be best. —No action was I taken. | Works Committee Report. The ; Works Committee reported, recommending that Messrs J. Erickson's and J. H. Dillicar's matter* be attended to, and that the Engineer be instructed to prepare plans so that | tenders be called for the formation of i Tawhar.a street to connect with King i \ street. —That contractors be given j ; not later than 5 p.m. of the previous I i day notice of teams required.- -That j i tryes for carts used for contracting conform to County regulations. That j j drays shall hold at least U cubic yards i j of material. —That the words "Works ! Committee" shall be substituted for i "Engineer" in the clause dealing ! with disputes arising under contracts. I—That the Committee inspect the I drain on Te Kuiti 2B flat adjoining : William street.—That the Engineer prepare plans, etc., for a footpath continuation in Rora street to the entrance of the new infant school, and tht tenders be called for same. —That ; Travers' subdivision formation be j j 28ft wide.—That tenders be called for ! | widening the metal formation on j I lower Rata street. —That the Com ■ j mittee inspect the breastwork formai tion with view to having something ! done to it. —That the Committee iri- ] spect King street with a view to im- I \ proving the footpaths.—That Ngatai j i street be also inspected.—That notice j !be given Mr Todd to prevent his \ : horses wandering and that a carting j ! license must be taken out. The same Committee met on August 11th, and ' recommended :—That plans be prepared ! with a view to putting George street jin order. That a culvert be put in i near Wills' property, and an outlet to I continue to the drain be made. —That : the Railway Department be asked to i lower their present outlet, and the | | Engineer be asked to report. —That a | i culvert be put in when the drain | crosses Seddon street. —That tenders j be called for formation of a road op- j posite section 9, Te Kuiti 2B flat.-- ! That the footpath on Queen street be continued to South street.—That signs be erected in Rora street, King street, i Sheridan street, Taupiri street, Queen I street, and Duke street, j Crs Forstyh and Sims moved the j adoption of the report, i j Cr Lusk moved that the recommen- ! dations be considered seriatim.--Cr . i Somerville seconded. i Cr Sims thought that if the points ■ were considered seriatim they might ■ I as well do away with the Works Com- ; [ mittee. : ! Cr Forsyth said Cr Lusk had not 1 | attended until the last meeting and i | then objected to almost everything they 3 ! had done. | The Mayor said with regard to matr j ters referred to the Works Committee i ! with power to act there could be no ! objection. Other matters should be i I recommended to the Council. It might t : be well to read over the reports again I j and stop at any point where requested. i There were only one or two points he 5 I wished to ask about. e ! Cr Lusk said to read th? report e again over slowly would not occupy much time. s The Clerk then read the clauses reg ferring to contracts, o Cr Forsyth said the conditions under I- which conditions of contract were bei- ing worked were absolutely wrong, o Nn arbitration clause wa-i inserted. '- They would not hold water in a court of law.

Mr Spencer said they were adopted by the leading engineers of the Dominion.

The Mayor said he was no authority on these matters, but if they were taking the power out of the hands of the engineer they were treading on dangerous ground.

Cr Forstyh said the Works Committee or the Council were more likely to give satisfaction to contractors than the Engineer. The Council should have confidence that the Works Committee would do nothing unfair to the Engineer.

The Mayor said the clause being dealt with was that referring to disputes arising under a contract, and the Committee proposed they should be referred to the Works Committee instead of the Engineer.

Cr Hardy said in the case of a building the architect was the sole arbitrator. In case of a dispute it might be re/erred to the Council.

Cr Forsyth commenced to explain, when

Cr Lusk rose to a point of order, saying that if they were going to converse they should be in committee. Cr Forsyth said a contractor's services had been dispensed with, and when the Committee asked the Engineer to furnish reasons no reply was received.

The Mayor said if the Committee was willing to alter the words from "Works Committee" to "Council" there would be no objection.

Cr Forsyth said he was quite willing to alter the wording. As things were, the Engineer had all the say and the Council and Works Committee were rjowhere. Mr Spencer: And do I not work in the interests of the Council and the ratepayers? Cr Forsyth said an impression had got about that some people were unfairly treated. The Mayor said only one man had complained. Cr Forsyth said there were more than one.

The clause was amended to read that in the event of any dispute between the contractor and Engineer or his deputy, the Council's decision should be binding and final on all parties. Cr Forsyth said it was highly desirable to get an arbitration clause put in the conditions of contract. He moved to that effect.

Cr Hardy suported the motion

At this point, Mr Lusk's amendment that the minutes be again read slowly was carried by 5 votes to 2. The Clerk then read the minutes.

Cr Forsyth explained motion by motion, where required. With regard to the Seddon street outlet, Cr Lusk explained his attitude in moving an amendment that the Engineer be asked to report. Cr Forsyth said it was on railway property and there was no use in going to expense until the Department had been communicated with. The recommendations of the Works Committee, as amended, were then adopted.

The Finance Committee recommended that Cr Hardy's offer to donate and plant trees on the eastern side of the footpath in Rora street be accepted, with thanks. That the Engineer be instructed to have suitable protection put round the trees when planted.—That the balance of water and street loans be applied for—That the Engineer get the drainage plans out.—That the balance of the drainage and general account monies be obtained as soon as possible. —That a library and reading room be erected to commemorate the Coronation --

That sketches of the proposed library and reading room be invited. Cr Hardy explained that on account of a letter from headquarters debarring them from a joint affair, they had cut out the hall from the municipal building. Cr Lusk said the idea was to start the library and reading room first and give the Government no excuse for withholding the subsidy. There would be a frontage enough for both the borough offices and the library.

Cr Hardy said he had ordered Oriental plants, but only Sycamore were available from Bennefield. The minutes of the Finance Committee were adopted.

Accounts. Numerous accounts were passed for payment, including £262 10s interest and £lO3 2s 6d principal on the State Guaranteed Advances loan of £15,000 and £4O 2s Id interest on the loan of £2005 5s 2d for metalling Rora street, etc., raised by the County Council. The Engineer's report having been read, Cr Julian said he had been told by a contractor that he had a conglomeration of figures worked out in decimals which he did not understand, and it was a pity the Engineer did not give him a little information. The Engineer said a man called Hale got the contract, and he went over the ground with him and showed him the pegs and had since visited the site half a dozen times. He saw a man named East who had taken over Hale'a contract. Ea3t had picked out all the soft parts, and left the others. To say he had no information would be wrong. As the Mayor had said,* he would not have far to go for it. It would cost £3O to £4O roughly speaking, to finish the contract. The contractor had absolutely refused to do | any more.

Crs Forsyth and Julian moved that tenders be called for the completion of the contract. —Carried.

Water-pipe Line. —In reply to the Mayor, the Engineer said the waterpipe line would be at the end of the town by the end of another week. Drainage —The Enigneer suggested they should have their own man to superintend the drain-laying.. Crs Young and Forsyth moved that plans and specifications be prepared for the drainage work, and that tenders be called. It was important to have a clerk of works on the job. - The motion was carried. Cr Lusk referred to the proposed closing of the cemetery close to the railway station. He did not know of any real objection to closing the cemetery. Bodies were constantly being brought and put there in a state of

decomposition. H? felt it was urgently necessary that the cemetery be closed.

cr Sims moved that the matter be dealt with at the next meeting of the Council, and that Mr Hetet be given notice to that effect. —Carried Cr Forsyth moved "That no works be proceeded with until such works have been first before the Works Committee. —Cr Sims seconded. Cr Forsyth said all loan money would have to be spent as allocated. Work had been done which had never been before the Council at all.

The Mayor asked which work? Cr Forsyth: That metalling for instance.

The Mayor said the Engineer had been generally instructed that work that could be done within the specifications could be gone on with. Cr Hardy said the Awakino road got into a very bad state during carting, and it was necessary that something be done at once.

Cr Julian thought three or four heads together might pick out weak points.

The Mayor said that was not the point. —The motion was carried. Cr Forsyth further moved: "That all tenders involving works or materials required in works be opened by the Works Committee for their consideration and then referred to a full meeting of the Council for decisiun. The motion was carried.

A third motion was proposed by Cr Forsyth: "That before tenders are called for any works or material required in connection with works, the plans and specifications be submitted to the Works Committee, explaining that when the Engineer was away the Works Committee would have the opportunity of familiarising itself with them.- -Cr Y r oung seconded, and the motion was carried. A fourth motion was moved by Cr Forsyth: "That each member of a committee receive three clear days of the meeting of such committee. Cr Lusk agreed and said there should be a regular meeting time, as well. The Mayor said that was the only point he disagreed with them on. They were all busy men, and if the motion was carried out they would not always get a quorum. Cr Sims opposed the proposal, holding it was hardly practicable. Cr Lusk thought that if the Works Committee met an hour before the Council meeting time it would suit them.

Cr Forsyth said it would suit him, but in deference to the opinion of the Council he would withdraw bis last motion.

Cr Sims asked the cost of the breastwork construction.

The Mayor explained that on the recommendation of the Engineer the cheaper form of construction was adopted. The bigger scheme would have cost £I2OO.

Cr Somerville said he was with the Engineer at the time, and they considered the present work would do for some years.

Cr Forsyth said the thing was gradually sinking, the wires breaking and ihere was a danger of it catching fire. In fact, he did not think it would be altogether a bad thing if it did. It had been patched up, but was in a dangerous state. It was a mistake to spend money on work that would not last 5 years. It was far better to spend money on permanent work.

The Engineer said to put up completely permanent work would cost £SOO in concrete and another £4OO for timber, which would be covered up when the deviation was made. He admitted it was sinking, but he would bet £SO that it would not fall down. He had erected similar breastwork before the Boer war which were still standing.

The Mayor said the cost had been £353 and £570 was allocated.

The Engineer admitted there was a certain danger from fire, but with a water plug handy it would not go far. if a lire started it would not penetrate, above a few feet. The Mayor said what surprised him was that they had so many engineers at the table and none of them had seen the difficulty before. It was _ the cheapest scheme he had seen, and he was glad to see the Engineer had kept under the estimates, and it was of sufficient value to last some years.

Cr Sims said Cr Hardy was the only Councillor who had spoken from an engineering point of view. He, the speaker was not an engineer, and when passing the work he had been pretty well insulted by residents in the town.

Cr Hardy said they only voted a small amount of money to Mr Spencer, and he had used it to the best advantage. The breastwork was built on the latest scientific principles for such work and was right, up to date.

Waiteti Road.--A petition from settlers on the Waiteti road was submitted for the Council's endorsement, asking that land be taken and the road be continued through to Poro-o-tarao. —Cr Julian said just before he left the Works Department, the sum of £25 had been put on the estimates to carry the survey through.- -The Mayor was authorised to sign on behalf of the Council, and the seal of the Council would be affixed. Rate. A rate of Id in the £ was struck over the whole of the Borough.