BOROUGH COUNCIL

Marlborough Express, Volume XLVII, Issue 34, 8 February 1913, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL

The ordinary meeting of the Blenheim Borough Council was held lust night. There were present: His Worship the Mayor (Mr J. J. Corry) Councillors W. Carr, F. Birch. V. Homos, B. J. Cooke, E. H. Eccles, W. J. Girling, &. S. Parker, and Graham GrufSths. A CLAIM. Mr W. T. Churchward, solicitor, wrote in behalf of Madame Sonia claiming £10 as damages in connection with a misadventure in which she slipped on the coating of tar being placed on the northern side of Hif Jh Street near The Express Office, auktaining injuries and having her clothes soLed. A dr&h letter from the Borough Solicitor refusing to acknowledge uTiy liability was adopted, and ordered to be forwarded to the claimant's . solicitor. j LEGAL PROCEEDINGS. With regard to the demand r.>ado by a Wellington agency for Gasworks supplies for the £36 deducted by the council as linterest on money drafted to England some considerable time ago, for goods which were delayed in transit owing to the wreck of the Aotea, the Mayor reported that Councillor Griffiths and himself had ' consulted the Borough Solicitor and, acting on his advice, now lecommended that the £36 be paid to the : principals, and that the Council proceed against Mr T. R. Bute tier (vith whom it arranged the purchase) for recovery of the amount. ; The recommendation w;*s adopted. • PIPES. ' The Lower Wairau River Board asked for. twenty pipes for culvert work. It was resolved to reply that this number would be supplied for £1 each. | The Foreman of Works was in- ! structed to immediately proceed to ; manufacture 200 additional pipes. ! , FIRE BRIGADE. i The Fire Brigade returned, with" : particulars, its account of £5 18s 6d ■■ for clearing out the baths in December. I Councillor Girling, in behalf of the ; Finance Committee, moved that the j account bo again referred to the • Brigade, with the intimation that it , would be acknowledged when reduced J •to a reasonable charge. It was cal- | dilated that £4 12s 6d would be a j iair payment. I The motion was carried. iln discussion, Councillor Parker \ expressed the opinion that the whole j • account should be questioned, on the j ; grounds that the Brigade was not i .- properly authorised to do the work. ' | This view, however, did not prevail, j : BRIDGE OPENING CEREMONY. ! s The Pelorus Road Board forwarded ' . a statement of the expenses incurred , jin connection with the Wairau bridge ! j opening ceremony. The Council's ; I quota on a 25 per cent, basis would be £12 10s. j | Councillors asked whether the item | .': of £3, the cost of conveying the; j Council's representatives to the cere- • | mony, should not be included in the \ ; general statement. j j The Mayor and the Town Clerk ; I were appointed to deal with the j j matter. j THE AUDITOR. | The Audit Department wrote! stating that the Council's balaa-'^- I | sheet for the year ended March 31st, I 1912, disclosed that the bank over- [ draft on the District Fund Account i exceeded the legal limit by £756 9s ? Id. It notified that unless satisfactory reasons were given for the excess, steps would be taken as , against the Councillors to e«.cuie ■' restitution. \ Councillor Girling, yin behalf of the : Finance Committee, moved that the i reply be drafted, by the chairman of the Finance Committee and the Town Clerk. ,He explained that in previous years 'no exception was taken to overdraft margins, though the excess on one occasion was £] 100. < The nj-esentt excess was accounted for 'by the business-like action of the Council in bringing all the liabilities j 'of the year into the balance-sheet in- i stead of holding them <.ver, as j formerly. j The Mayor said that the burden ] was really a legacy from tueir pre- j decessors. If the Aiidit Department i insisted on it* reduction, the Council ] would, he presumed, have to draw on •' 'its sinking fund. j It was left to th« chairman of the \ : Finance Committee and t,he Town \ Clerk to reply to the Department. , NATIONAL PROVIDENT FUND, i Permission was given to a lecturing j representative of the National Provi- ' dent Fund to address the L>« rough workmen on the municipal property ) during the luncheon interval and ;• after working, hours. i WAGES. | An application was received from '■ a Borough workman for an increase , of wages to 9s a day. . The Mayor, referring to the irmute book, pointed out that this wsige was already provided for in the < nsos of the men engaged in asp!i*!ting ard ditching work. ; THE BY-LAWS. $ Councillor Cooke, Chairman of the By-Laws Committee, said that the work of revising the by-laws had reached such a stage that a large section of them could be referred to the Borough solicitor. The questions of the registration of motor-cars and plumbers had not yet* been dealt with. Provision was made for the representation of the Co»ncil at the conference convened by the Picton Road Board to be held next day, to consider the question of setting up a comprehensive system for the regulation of motor traffic. Councillor Parker said that this was the only district in which a system of registering motor-cars was not in existence. He agreed as to the necessity for speed regulations with a general application; but, as far as registration of cars was concerned, there would be fees, and the Council should < see that these came into the munici- ; pal funds, as in other towns, instead " of being pooled. i It was agreed that the Council's in- ] terests in this respect should be pro- < tected. W 7ith regard to plumbers, the Mayor read a communication from the Health Department, the principles of which did not anneal to him, and asked the By-laws Committee to protect those tradesmen who were qualified by long experience and who, if not provided j for, within a certain time, would be called on, under the Plumbers' Re- ' gistrntion Act, to risk their status at a technical examination. STREET EXTENSION. < The- Works Committee submitted a ' detailed estimate of cost supplied by i the loreman in respect to the pro- - posed work of extending Scott Street i through Mr Rayner's property to 1

eluding footpaths, was set down at £264 15s 6d. The Committee recommended that the fencing, culverting, and formation, estimated to cost £146 altogether, be proceeded with at once, and the gravelling be held over. Councillor Carr protested against the work as one that had been foisted on to the Council to open up frontages in the interests of land agents. The Council was receiving only £50 from the interested property-owners. The motion to adopt -the Committee's recommendation was carried. THE TOWN HALL. On the motion of Councillor Carr, the tenders for the seating of the Town, Hall were opened. They were as follows:—A Patchett, 129"seats, according to pattern, £169 15s 8d; 143 chair ends, £71 12s 6d. E. Taylor, 129 seats, £172 18s 6d; 143 chair ends £73 17s 6d. Quotations from a number of outside firms were read. The matter was referred to the Town Hall Committee for .a report. ACCOUNTS. Accounts were passed for payment.