TE KUITI BOROUGH COUNCIL.

King Country Chronicle, Volume VI, Issue 422, 13 December 1911, Page 5

TE KUITI BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A meeting of Te Kuiti Borough Council was held at the Council Chambers on Monday evening. Present His Worship the Mayor, Crs Lusk, Julian, Tammadge, Hardy, Fin'ay, Young, Sims and Forsyth, CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondence was dealt with as follows: —• Lnrigan and Co., requesting parmission to ereit guard posts beside verandah posls in Rora street.—Request granted. Gillanders and Weir, requesting the balance of purchase money for land acquired from them for water scheme. —Received.

L G. P. Spencer, intimating that in his opinion before replying to E. Porter and Co's. communication with respect to the stone eruser, a definite courae should be decided upon as to him the machine is to be placed, where, how it is to be worked and what nature the various products are to be; suggesting also that it would be advisaole to send some one to confer with Messrs Price Bros., Thames, as to the cest way of attaining the desired end. —On the motion of Crs Forsyth and Finlay it was decided to have the crusher erected at the quarry reserve opposite Mrs Bund's property.

A. and T. Burt, Ltd., intimating that requisites would be furnished as ordered. Also quoting prices for materials and water meters. —Received.

E. J. Fenn, with respect to electric lighting scheme. —'Received. Spiral Pipe Co., with reference to non-receipt of payment for water pipes, and in reply to a statement that the pipes supplied were not according to specification. The letter requested payment for the pipes without further delay.—'Referred to the Works Committee.

Railway District Engineer, Ohakune, enclosing account for £4 18s 2d royalty on gravel.-—-Received. Hydrants. ■ — Quotations were received from A. and T. Burt, £8 15s; and J. Burns and Co , £8 10s, for hydrant. Upon a reply being received from E. Porter and Co. the clerk was instructed to order the hydrant from the lowest tenderer.

H. Pithie, asking why his tender, which was lowest, 'for the Fire Brigade station, was not accepted. —The Mayur said he thought that applications of this sort should not be encouraged.—Cr Tammadge said the matter had been dealt with by the committee withuut prejudice and he agreed with the Mayor's remarks. — Received.

Burning Rubbish. The borough contractor wrote, complaining of the practice of burning rubbish in the back yard 3 instead of having the rubbish removed. —Referred to the Sanitation Committee with power to take action. TENDERS. Rimu Street.—J. J. K. Powell, £245. The amount was considerably above the engineer's estimate, and the tender was not in accordance with requirements, therefore it was decided to call for fresh tenders. William Street. —H. Carr, £67 10s; M. J. KeanH £9S 15s. The tender of H. Carr was accepted and the matter of connecting William street with Te Ahuroa road was left with the Works Committee to deal with. Street Levels. —The tender of L. G. P. Specner was the only one received, and being considered too high, it was decided to call for fresh tenders.

Lighting Loan. —Arrangements for advertising the special loan in connection with the lighting proposals were approved, the amount necessary to cover the expenses and loan being £7035.

Fire Brigade.—The report of the committee stated that the superintendent said he had arranged for six or seven volunteers to assist him in case of emergency. Steps were being taken to establish a new brigade. Borough Requirements. —It was decided that the memorials in connection with the taking of land for a nightsoil depot and Messrs Winger and Smith's property be signed by Crs Forstyh and Sims and forwarded. Drainage.- —In connection with the drainage tenders the Works Committee reported that the lowest tender was in excess of the amount of loan money available for the work even if concrete pipes were used. The engineer was in attendance and suggested that by leaving out a short length of sewer for the present the position might be met. The concrete pipes would probably be found more suitable in wet ground than earthen ware pipes. They were being extensively used in other places and made a tighter joint the other pipes. On the motion of the Mayor and Cr Julian, the matter was referred back to the Works Committee with power to act. The Water Pipes —The engineer, in reply to the Mayor, said he thought the watering of the streets subjected the joints of the water pipes to rather too great a strain seeing that there W33 hardly any draw off and the full pressure was on. He suggested the wisdom of putting in concrete blocks at the base of the hyrdants to minimise the strain.- —On the motion of Crs Forstyh and Sims it was decided to carry out the engineer's suggestion.

Stone Crusher.—After conferring with the engineer it was decided on the motion of Crs Lusk and Hardy that throe screens of different sizes, together with bins, be installed with the crusher.

Dam Site.—The Works Committee reported that when the present works in connection with the water scheme were completed there would be no funds available for the erection of the dam. Even with the 10 per cent, additional which the council was entitled to raise the amount would fall short of the requirements by over £2OO. Asked by the Mayor if the cost could be brought within the amount available the engineer said it could be reduced if there was no provision to be made for raising the dam later on. This, however, he thought would not

for another season when it would be seen how the suppy went but he would not advise spending money on temporary works. IF tenders were called for the work they might get a price below his estimate. Gr Hardy said it was no U3e spoiling the ship for a pen'orth of tar. Other contingencies were bound to arise ; the town was growing faster than ever, and they would not have sufficient water. He thought they should raise sufficient money to do the work properly. Gr Young said as the work of building the dam would take four or five months the present arrangements would have to suffice for the present summer in any case. He moved that the matter be deferred for further consideration. The motion was seconded by Cr Lusk and carried. Rescinding a Motion. —Cr Sims, in accordance with his notice of motion, moved that the resolution passed authorising the clerk to pay moneys to contractors on the certificate of the engineer be rescinded. Cr Sim 3 said the seconding of the motion had been attributed to him, but he had no recollection of having done so. The motion was passed as the meeting was breaking up and there was evidently some confusion about the matter. He desired to have the motion rescinded as he disagreed with the principle of the motion. The council would be .entering on some large contracts shortly and he held that all accounts shouln come before the Finance Committee. Cr Forsyth, in seconding the motion, said he agreed withCr Sims' remarks. It was an easy matter to provide for progress payments. The engineer could furnish certfiicates a day or two prior to council meetings. The Mayor said the matter was in the hands of the council. Personally he did not care what view they took of it. The motion was passed on the explanation of the clerk to meet cases of emergency. If the council had not sufficient confidence in their treasurer they would rescind the motion. -..■■ •

CrSims: I rise to a point of order. The Mayor is quite wrong to place that interpretation on my motion. I explained that I disagreed with the principle of the original motion. 1 take "it as a personal reflection to have my meaning twisted. The Mayor: Whatever you mean your motion does bear that interpretation, Cr Sims.

Cr Hardy said he saw no reason for heat in the matter. Why not rescind the original motion and then authorise the clerk to nay moneys up to a certain amount.

Crs Lusk and Tammadge supported Cr Hardy's suggestion. The original motion was rescinded and on the motion of Cr Hardy seconded by Cr Tammadge, the clerk was authorised to pay any amounts up to £2O on the engineer's certificate, when necessary.

In view of the ordinary meeting of the council falling on Christmas Day the next meeting was fixed for Tuesday, December 19th. Leave of absence was granted to the clerk for the Christmas holidays.