Levin Borough Council

Levin Daily Chronicle, 3 May 1917, Page 3

Levin Borough Council

THE STATUTORY MiEETING,

Levin's re-elected mayor and the newly-electedl borough council for 1917-19 were formally installed yesterday affcerncon, as by statute provided. Tho town clerk of Levin took the declarations of the mayor and councillors after which Mr Blenkhorn (as mayor), took the ch'air and congratulated councillors 'on-their presence and cxpre-se:: : a hope that their joint deliberations would ibe for the benefit of the town. There were present: Councillors IX S. Mackenzie. W. Ryder, W. Bull, F. E. Parker, K. A:(fcken, : R. ,T. Broome, E. ,S. Lancaster, D. W. Mathoson. .Congratulations were extended to the mayor by Councillors Matheson and Larcaster. Incidentally Mr Lancaster congratulated tho old council on what it had done, ins shown by the state of tlio borough accounts. GENERAL BUSINESS. The c uii"il tran-acted ordinary business, ii'- rutlined below.— J. E. Vaunsrl! (t'arterton), wrot" thn 1 tlio reside rfr of lis town and district M ere desirous of securing rabbits from j infested districts frtr shipment to London. He suggested that an endeavor be in ado to get Levin citizens to participate. . The mayor said that if the whole population of Levin scoured tho run they would not get any' great quantity, of rabbits. In tho south, the scheme could/ bo successfully be gone on with. The council decided that it could take no action. The Rev. G. B. Steph'nson invited the council to nttend a special church parnde nn pnnv suitable day to be fixed." on which rccasir n the sermon would' be on civic matters. Tho mayor and councillors expressed themselves favorable. nnd it was resolved that the council, wou'd attend en some suitable date to be fixed. A suggestion that a band be got to play the councillors to the church was less favorably considered. The hospital levy made by Wellington Hospital Board was received, and in submitting it .to the council the town clerk mentioned that the movement for transfer of this part of the district to Pa'merston North ll<j--'pi-ta 1 Boaard was prrgrc6sing, and the county's deputnt ; on was to wait on the Palmers toil North Board) o'n Thursday of next week. The Distinct' Engineer of Railways wrote that he had given instructions to have the approach path over the railway in Queen-street, Levin, levelled and evened up, as requested by the council. FOOD PRODUCTION.

■ Arising out of a suggestion conveyed in a letter from the Waipara County Council Levin Borough Council favorably .expressed itself towards the proposal that special .efforts be made to have flll suitable areas of land cultivated, with potatoes or other vegetables or cei'rnl crops as may be deemed suitable. The subject is to foe further discussed at next meeting of the borough council. MEN AMD MONEY. ' An application from the council"s surfacemen for an increase in wages was referred to the finance committee. While expressing himself favoral>le to the spirit of the application, the mayor said lie thought it should be considered whether the matter of superannuation should not be considered in respect of the council's - employees. Councillor Matheson supported the payment of at least ten shillings per da-v ; it was little enough to pay men in these times when the cost of living wn.s so high. Complaint, however, had been made by the overseer that certain men hntTl been unsober on municipal election day, and had put on their coats and bad gone home. In" answer to the mayor, the town cleric said that one employee had taken offence at being called "a fellow"' by th© overseer, and had* .put on 'his coat and gone home. The root of the trouble was the action of one would-be councillor who had been "treating" certain of the men. The men who had offended . had apologised to the foreman. Councillor Lancaster thought the men should be given a ohnnco to explain. Councillor Bull said'the men were under the impression that they had n half-holiday on that particular day referred to. The mayor said the council well might exercise its prerogative of mercy; this •was the first complaint against these men that his worship had heard. Evidently the foreman of works had consented to drop the matter; he had) made no formal complaint. Councillor Matheson said the foreman had publicly said that two men were no good; ho said so on the day, and 1 two days afterwards, and having said that he should face the music; he bad saidl he hoped the new council would back him up. The mayor said that probably the foreman spoke in the heat of the moment. Cr. Lancaster favored a straightout rise (as against superannuation) if the rise was warranted. Councillor Mackenzie found it hard to support a rise of wages for any employee who "was under a. cloud." He was at one with Councillor Matheson, and he would support anything that wouldi lead to giving a fair hearing to the men and the foreman, with a view to arriving at a fair decision. Councillor Parker said the application before the council concerned roa</ employees of' the council generally ; not only the present occupants. The fitness of certain of the present workmen was not at stake now, though it must come up in due course.

Councillor Matheson said he must insist that what was before the council was the application of these particular men for a rise in wages. The mayor answered that lie desired! to have the application referred in tho finance committee, so that the superannuation' scheme and the general issue also could bo reported upon; Vie council could then arrive at ia final decision. Tho council at this stage acquiesced in tho mayor's suggestion, and' the discussion then dropped. COMMITTEES. Standing committees were appointed as follows:— • Finance.—The mayor, Councillors Matheson, Lancaster and Parker. lighting. — (Councillors iM'atheson (chair), Parker, Mackenzie, Bull. Library. — Councillors Mackenzie (chair), Bryson, Broome, Aitken. ■Streets and reserves.—Councillors Lnnenster (chair), Ryder, Bull, Broome. Waterworks and sanitation.—Mayor (chair), Councillors Aitken, ißyder, Bryson. Council representatives on tho Fire Bigade Committee—Councillors Parker and Aitken. , BOROUGH ELECTORS' ROLL. j Councillor Matheson said that on j election day complaints were made by j people who found they were not on the j municipal roll. Councillor Matheson i quite understood that people were "responsible for this themselves, but some j did not realizo this. He thought tho town clerk should be allowed to explain. Mr Gardener said that the totni number of people who came in to vole and found that they were not eligible was six. Onlv two of these were ratepayers, and their names had been left off through transfers of, property. The l'o'l contained 936 names, which was a big total for a town of I©so people. People did not seem to care two straws whether they were oil or not; not a single person bad come in to inspect the roll and not one had made application. Tho staff had put many names on, and) had employed a canvasser to obtain names for inclusion on the roll, but really it was each person's duty to see that his or her name was on tho roll. WKRiAiROA-ANIZAiROA ROATX The mayor gave notice of motion —for next meeting—that the council's resolution to change the name of Weraroa-road to Anzac-road be rescinded.