Municipal Matters

Levin Daily Chronicle, 14 April 1917, Page 3

Municipal Matters

LEVIN'S PAST AND FUTURE. MAYORAL ADDRESS BY MR BLENKHORN. .About forty burgesses attended the meeting'called by the mayor of Levin at the Century Hall last night, when his worship 'delivered an address on municipal matters. Mr 'Bknkborn said that the mot ting had been called in the hope of arousing a greater degree of public interest in municipal matters that had been manifest lately. /Possibly the' small amount of interest was duo to the lack of contentious matters in tho publicaffairs of the town. He thought there should be a more wide realization of tho responsibility and honor attaching to the office of borough councillor. He had always taken that view of the offico birr self. Ho did hope that this year llvre wruld not be the usual need to go into tho highways and by-ways to secure sufficient nominations, on tlio last day for nomination, to complete tho council. He had no wish to arouse a spr it of parochialism, but he did fc;'l the need for .Levin to awaken, now that Shannon was being formed into a borough and Otaki had a town board.

deferring to Lo.ia's portion financially, Mr Blenkhorn said tlie town was in a sound position. She had a population cf 1652 souls at last census, and lier total public debt was £33,000. Against (h's could be set down her endowments as well ai tho asset; represented by lier public works. From hor waterworks rates a revenue of £950 annually was obtained, and as the tatal intere.it amounted to only £1300, there was but little to be met out of .general taxation. The. loan would eventually "itself through its sinking fund. The gaswirks loan, however, was in a less satisfactory state, and his worship had t;> compliment, the retiring council on it; dccisirn to pay off from tho lenn a larger sum that ■vrns stipulated for in the terms under which the loan was rased. The original proposal provided for only £2800 being paid off in a term of twenty years, which was not enough. As to the gasworks themselves they had proved most successful. Last year they showed a profit of £500. In tho next year or so they would not have much chance of njaintaining this, as the cost of coal had increased very considerably. Notwithstanding this, there Was no present intention of raising the price of gas (applause).

Mr Blenkhorn n;>xfc spoke of the advantages Levin derived from her endowments. These had bren secured from the Government in exchange for gravel sites bought in Tiro Tiro road, at a cost of some £750. The borough reserves thus cheaply secured returned an annual revenue of so-

£500 in tho=e times. This showed that Lsvin had had srme good borough councils in the past.

The mnvor complimented the borough on tho probability of this hospital district being transferred from tho 'Wellington hospital district to that of Palmerston North. It was a change greatly to bo desired. Reverting to -financial matters, 'Mr Blenkhorn said that the borough now was practically clear of overdraft 5 there had been only the sum of £1 15s tc be paid to the banker as interest last year (applause). In one sense of speaking it co'ild be said that we were not actually free, but tho council was paving it=elf for a sum of money (some £200) already earmarked land put by by the council as the necleus of a" - fund for the purchase of .a road roller.

In passing reference to the matter of spepding pnblic money Mr Blenkhorn said there was a. possibility that the borough's present sonnd position financially would be disturbed if the wrong men were elected to run the .borough affairs. We were in a very sound position to-day, and we should endeavor to maintain that position. So we would be able when the time came, to do Mir part in re-settling the men who would come back from the war. The mayor next referred to the local proposal to spend a sum of £150 on improving certain reserves in the neighbourhood of the borough. He 'believed, he said, in the borough council "helping those who helped themselves"; but the present proposal ' of the lake domain boards was that the borough council meet the bill. To liis mind, that was a crude proposal. It seemed to him that if any councillor bad a particular fad for any particular subject lie could make matters very awkward. In concluding, Mr Blenk-horn paid a tribute to the excellent work done in the mayoral office by his predecessor (Mr B. R. Gardener), and his worship found further pleasure in testifying to the fact that as town clerk Mr Gardener liad proved himself a most capable and helpful officer; the borough was fortunate indeed in having tlio advantage of his services. Concluding hie speech Mr ' Blenkhorn said that in all his term as councillor and mayor he had done what seemed to him to be his duty; certainly no one had ever "had the loan of him" in any way. 'He} had done what he thought, flight, irrespective of 1 hvli'njt anyone thought, and he was glad to be able to say that the same characteristic applied to the retiring council.

In. answer to Mr F. \V. Parker Mr Bltnkhorn said the borough- water rates produced the amount lie had re-ferr.-d to; there were othe rsum coming in for supplies of water for power and supplies outside the borough, aggregating between £500 and £600. Really the waterworks seemed to bo making a profit. From power supply £157 8s was realised; for supplies to railway engines £86, gasworks £10, and various £25. Mr Blenkhovn, answering Mr Parker, said it was hia intention not to seek re-election to the mayoral chair. He did not think the public should expect too much from any one man,

and in any case, these offices should go round. Mr. McAlister asked in reference to the expenditure of £150 on the public reserves, would it not help to make the town more 'popular if public golf links and other attractions were provided. Ho said that if the lake were improved it would be a good thing for the town, even if the town derived no direct revenue from : the expenditure. Mr Blenkhorn said it seemed to him tlie borough council should say whether or not' the time was opportune. As to the golf-links proposal, Mr Blenkhorn said that he believed the expenditure there could be met largely out of revenue; provided Mr ICirkcaklie, tlio lessee of the grazing rights, was agreeable to links being pub down.

Mr Blenkhorn also spoke of the ne c d for some of tho old ex-counoillors coming out again; and specially referred to Messrs Parker, Matheson, Lancaster and Mackenzie. Mr J?. G. "Roc asked Mr Blenkhorn to reconsider his decision to retire from mayoral office; if he would consent to do so the "burgesses would be very pleased (applause). Mr Roe said ho had great pleasure in moving a hearty vote of thinks to Mr Blenkhorn for his address. | Mr Parker, in seconding the motion, said-there were others in the borough prepared to make a sacrifice and accept nomination to the council table if Mr Blenkhorn would re-consider his decision. Mr Blenkhorn said that if before nomination day a list of six or eight good men were shown him prepared to accept nomination for the council, he would be prepared to reconsider his decision, provided 110 one else had been mooted in the meantime. He would .say, however, that Mr E. 8. Lacaeter would make an ideal mayor, and he would like to see him stand for the office. Mr Lancaster said he would prefer to see Mr Blenkhorn re-elected. Mr Blenkhorn: Well, will you .accept nomination to the council if I change my resolve? Mr Lancaster: Yes, certainly (applause.)