Foxton Borough Council.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVIII, Issue 3581, 5 October 1905, Page 2

Foxton Borough Council.

SPECIAL MEETING RE WATER AND FIKE PREVENTION SCHEMES.

A special meeting of the Eoxton Borough Council was held at the Chambers at seven o’clock last evening, when there were present— The Mayor (Mr B. G. Gower), Crs Gray, Frahkknd, Coley, Stiles and Shadboh. After discussion’,- it was finally decided that the following proposals relative to water and fire prevention schemes should be put to the meeting of ratepayers in the Public Hall: — No. 1. A proposal to borrow £4OO for Fire Prevention in Main Street—- ,. £ £ A second hand manual m& engine for 16 men to deliver 60 gallons a minute to a height of 70 feet, together with Jo feet of auction hose, 350 feet hose, two branches and i-into-a Union 80 “ hour” concrete tanks, St!Hk below levj of road in Main street, at eqi. ial distances f o hold £I l 8 gallons of water ea£U . /.;« * 2 O “ Improvement of wind-’ mill pump and laying of overflow pipes from same to concrete tanks,” building to' I'c'Use engine and plant, arid also cost of raising loafi ;;; 200 400 The difference betwcfe’i? tflfi cost oi new and second hand engine boss would be about £75. The items quoted are those omitted (from the levised scheme proposed by Mr Haywood and earned by the meeting, 'the alterations do not materially affect tfi-e' Cost of the scheme, which will work oUt at about the same figure. No, 2. ■

A proposal to borrow £4OOO for Fire Prevention with a mile circuit in Borough— A steam engine, to be stationed at some central place on river bank to be connected with a circular systeni of pipes laid below the streets with hydrants fixed at intervals, to which hose could be attached. It is estimated that a full head of steam could be obtained in seven minutes and two jets of water thrown to a height of 200 ft at any point within the mile circuit.- £ £ Estimated cost of high pressure double cylinder pteam fire engine ... .... xooo Estini:F ecl cost of iron pipe watci' mtP ns > laying the same, hydrant, a °d other necessary equipWfilF 3 000 4 000 No. 3<

A proposal to borrow £BOO id erect Borough Council Chambers on the Council’s section adjoining the Post Office in the Maid Street.—A building to accommodate the piiblic library and public reading room, a Council Chamber, Mayor’s office, Town Clerk’s office and two shops or offices to let, and a residence for the Librarian in accordance with plan as shown herewith.

jt is estimated that such a building can be erected for a sum not exceeding £BOO, and that the present building would readily let for say £26 per annum, and the two shops or offices would each produce a similar rental, or a total revenue of £7B per year. The loan required, £BOO, should not cost more than 5 per cent (that is £4O per annum, leaving a balance to the good of £3B a year) this at least should recommend itself to all ratepayers as a sound and payable investment, and will tend to reduce rates rather than increase them.

AT THE PUBLIC HALL. A FREE AND EASY GATHERING. The Council then adjourned to the Public Hall, where a meeting of ratepayers hid been called. With Cr Baker, the aforementioned! Councillors took their seats on the platform (the Mayor in the chair.) There were about 25 ratepayers present. In his opening remarks, the Mayor spoke strongly against the laxity of ratepayers in Borough affairs. A meeting had been called to discuss important matters concerning them selves, but he was sorry to say there were few present to take part in the proceedings. Re the fire prevention scheme, something was badly needed, and the Council had drawn out two proposals to put before them, one embodying a cost of and the other It was for the ratepayers to say which of these two schemes, it any, they preferred. No. 1 scheme would only provide for protection of fire in the vicinity of MainStreet (manual engine), while No 2 scheme would provide us with a steam engine and would cover more parts of the borough. He wished ratepayers to understand that only those whom the service would affect would have a vote on the subject, not the ratep tyers of the whole Borough. He called Mr Fraser (Town Clerk) to read the proposals to the meeting, and it was for them to say whether or not a loan for any of these proposals should go the poll Mr Fraser then read proposals Nos, 1 and 2 (mentioned above). Mr Alex. Spoirs ridiculed the scheme supplying Main Street for the paltry sum of £4OO as ridiculous. He doubted whether this meeting could be held, and claimed that all the ratepayers should be present, before the question could be dealt with at all. Insufficient notice had been given, and the full proposals as submitted should have been published. Cr Coley said that Mr Speirs had misunderstood the Mayor re the M iin street scheme.

The Mayor therefore called upon Mr Fraser to read the Act relating to the point as to the voice a majority of ratepayers had at such a meeting, but still Mr Speirs maintained that the meeting was not representative enough to deal with the question, and he held that the whole of the rate-

payers of the Borough should he rated accordingly. __ Cr Coley said he was dea*>? ®P posed to water only where those jnas. got the benefit were prepared to p'v for it. He did not wish to see peopl* taxed for what they never got. 1* speaker continued that the. cry tor improvements mainly enanated ironJ “ Birds of Passage ” who had no stake at all in the town. _ , - Mr Hennessv was in accord with K>t Coley’s idea that those who received benefit only should pay for it. _ On an interjection from the Mayor that he should read the papers aUd thus find out what the Council were doing, Mr Speirs said that the papers took nO notice of their doings, ana thus he know nothing. The £4OO scheme was to his mind worked out by some aroatuer who knew nothing about it. He strongly objected to river water being used, for househola ; use especially, as it was in a bad atate, jand would certainly C ftU?e. disease. He was also against the erecu’ou m a reservoir tank on the such a course would not feasibly unless the tank was erected high the air. It would require at least £IOOO to provide any workable scheme at all for Main street. Thereupon Cr Baker assured MJT Speirs that the matter had been faHy »one into by an expert, and the cost based on his opinion. That expert b ad also aduised suc “ h4 * scheme' aS being one to come within flip limits tft finance and suitable# Cr Stiles did not think they needed to provide for life extinction outsider Main street at pilf-fnt. W ® ?? tSl ft' were quite satisfied. Personally, he -was not prepared to go.m for Rowing £4OOO. He thought 3 sewage scheme was needed first. Mr Spelt's still argued that the Main street scheme Could not be out for £4OO, but the Mayor assured him that they could, his authority being Mr Gilberd, a recognised ex

Mr Fraser thereupon mentioned! that the concrete tanks could be built for the price flamed, a contractor undertaking to do it for the figure. . Here Cr Col'ey reminded Mr Stißirs that the tanks were to be built Of concrete not wood. (Laughter), Mr Hennessy wished to know whether it would be possible to wore a pipe from the! AwahOU creak, but was assured that it was unmanageable. Then Mr Speirs rose to his feet again, and the Mayor had to read the conditions once again. Cr Speirs thought it would be Jtwpossible to get the required number <w men to work at the engine. H© thought the initiative should come from Main street ratepayers themselves not from to-night's gathering. The Main street ratepayer should go round with a list and see what money could be raised for the purpose. Then go to the Council with their object in view. iiere Cr Coley was called upon to , explain the working of the Blenheimscheme* and mentioned that the water there was used for fife-prevention only, not for household use. From th« time that the fire was lighted ifl their engine till 160 pounds of pressure jyas on it look seven minutes. of the £4OO scheme, Cr Coley thought they just might as well chuck 400 sovereigns in the river, the same as they did with the £nm spent on metalling roads. From an interjection by Mr Hen* nessy, Cr Coley replied that he (Mr Hennessy) would have made a IoS 01 roads if he was left in charge. In reply to farther questions, Cr Coley, assured Mr Hennessy that “If you w£.nt water, you can have it at : £4OOO. You can’t get i* - at £400.” ■ Mr Hennessy wished to know whetlur the unimproved value would carry the same rate as the improved Cr Coley briefly replied that he would get a special Act of Parliament passed to meet Mr Hennessy’s cas' • > Mr F. W. Frankland rose to hiff feet and signified his to second a proposition by Mr Speirs, provided it was in the form of ao intermediate ono between Nos, i and 2 schemes put before the meeting. Or Speirs then went into the word* ing of his motion. Mr Frew wished to know whether the proposals submitted were agreed to unanimously by the Council, and was assured such was not the case. These proposals had been mads out to see what the ratepayers really wdfited, a cheap or a more expensive one* OT none at all.

Cr Shadbolt spoke, saying that oa the night of the last Council election he bad told them they wanted water* He had been returned on the progressive ticket, and meant to go infer progression. If you go in for ascheme go in for a good one. Borrow £sOr 000 and he done with it, and bring water from Shannon, and then you will have water tor all purposes. Mr Stibs said he was really against both proposals, but would vote for an intervening scheme. Cr Baker thought Cr Shadbolt's scheme was not within their means at present. Mr J. Hurley wished to know the de* fined area, which brought forth the reply that they were not yet defined. The Mayor mentioned that if Mr Speirs scheme was carried, it seemed to him it would mean extra expense by the employment of a man to look after the engine. Mr Edwards thought engineers would be found in the town to work the engine for nothing, but the Mayor discredited that suggestion. Mr Walker was in favour of the £4OO scheme, and thought the majority of Main street residents would be against

Mr ‘-peirs proposal. A similar scheme •o throne suggested bv Gil herd had worked in Marton successfully. Mr ser as a ratepayer wou’d certain! • object to Mr Speirs’ scheme on the a nod that it was the work cf an annt He certainly preferred the scheme of an experienced hand, that of Mr Gilberd. With the No i schema, the first was the only cost Mr Spe'rs' amendment was then put to the meeting and lost on the voices. It read :—“ That the two water schemes presented to this meeting ar« not considered to answer the present require nents of the Borough, and that it is durable that the Main street only

bo supplied with for fire purposes, and that & iteam fire engine be procured to drive 3 jets and that pipes oe laid in Main street, and that only tire persons served should be rated for fche Scheme.” Mr Haywood rose and proposed that No. 1 Scheme be put to the meeting, with certain alterations. He had known similar schemes to have worked successfully in small towns in inland Victoria. He would like “ 6 or more tanks ” to be inserted instead of “ four,” and Mr Jenks thought that the cost apportioned to the “ improvement of windmill pump and laying of overflow pipes from same to concrete tanks ' ’ could be more wisely spent by the forming of more tanks.

The meeting agreed with this and eventually Mr Walk*' sec l onded Mr Haywood’s proposal Vc No. 1 scheme, anu it was 'carried. Mr Speirs thought Scheme No. 2 should also be put to the meeting, and eventually the Mayor consented, the scheme being rejected with a decisive “ No.” Cr Baker thought that some 'Scheme may be brought in whereby the damming of Awahon Creek would supply extra water for fireprevention purposes. THJi NEW teUIUHNO PROPOSAL. The Mayor then brought the imaStter of the new Council premises lap. It was proposed to build on the Council’s property, near the Post Office. All Would agree the present building did not meet requirements, and if the new building was erected more inducement would be given to ratepayers to come and listen to the business of the Council. All the Councillors present agreed with the proposal, as did Mr Speirs, Mr Speirs proposed that- the scheme for a new building, as read, meet with the approval of those present. This was seconded by Cr Coley and carried. The meeting then closed with a vote of thanks to the chair.