TOWN CLERK’S BIENNIAL REPORT, 1921-1923.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 2566, 12 April 1923, Page 1

TOWN CLERK’S BIENNIAL REPORT, 1921-1923.

FINANCE AND GENERAL.

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ughont the year. At the time of writing 29 permits have been issued for drainage connections representing 38 properties. The nightsoil fee will require to be levied for the ensuing year oil properties not connected up at the time of striking the rates and the question of refunding any of the amount will later have to be decided. It is more than probable that the change-over will take two or three years, as the service will require to be continued in respect of the properties outside the area at present reticulated but which come within the nightsoil area. The credit balance in this account has dropped by about £2O, now standing at £45 13s. “EIRE PREVENTION.—In response to requests a poll of the ratepayers was taken on the sth April, 1922, on the question that the Borough be formed into a Eire District. The voting was 145 in favour. and six against. The polling was very small but the result decisive. The Eire Board has now been formed and has taken over responsibility for (ire prevention. The expenditure of the Board is divided between (lie Government, the Insurance Companies and the Borough Council in the proportion of 10 per cent, 45 per cent, 45 per cent, respectively. A remit has, however, been forwarded from the Council to the Municipal Annual Conference that in future the proportion of contribution shall be on (lie following basis: Government 10 per cent., Borough Council 30 per cent., Insurance Cmpanios 00 per cent. The fate of this remit ream ins to he seen, hut it is likely to meet with considerable opposition from the Insurance companies. The water supply when boosted direct into' the mains front the pump is likely to prove ample for the most severe conflagration. A short report; on a practical test: was kindly published by the local press a few 1 weeks ago. This test would have satisfied the most doubtful as to the efficiency of the plant.

“LOANS. —Two loau.s have been raised during the two years of office, the first to extinguish the Antecedent Liability of £l,lOO at six per cent., was raised within twelve hours in the town, the second, the House Drainage Connection Loan, of £2,500 lias not all been offered, £4OO of it being raised at 51 per cent. The Council also holds £5,000 on temporary deposits and this sum has enabled the Water and Drainage works to be continued, although it is now all spent and more besides. “COUNCIL CHAMBERS.— The former olliees were burned down on the 2nd October, 1020, and a contract has been Jet for the erection of the new building to contain Municipal olliees only. The contract price is £1,120, in brick, the whole to he cement plastered. The temporary offices have served a good purpose and although a. suggestion has been made that the shed could he moved to Easton Park for a stand, 1 think it would not he much of an ornament, and I hat a more useful purpose could he served by using it as a >lorc-room, the whole of tin* stores required being purchased in bulk and issued to the various departments under a system of dockets as is done at Home and in the larger centres. As the original Council Chambers Loan was dually paid oil' in December, 1921, there will be no special rate to collect for the new offices. "WATER AND DRAINAGE.—As this heading absorbs more money than all the rest of the work pul; together, it is one that requires to he fully dealt with. In all the sum of £25,000 has been raised from the Stale Advances Office and the sum of £5,000 has been accepted as temporary deposits from townspeople to enable the work to be continued during the past year, in all a total of £30,000. This money has been made to go as far as possible, and the balance at Lhe Bank at the 31st March, 1923, is three shillings and eightpence. A considerable amount lias still to he paid out for accounts owing, the principal ones being interest £OBB, Riley (balance due on contract) £154, and A. and T. Burt for pipes £l4O, in all about £I,OOO, leaving several items still to be paid as the work goes on, such as engineer’s commission, further interest (the tirst year’s interest being paid out of loan). As far as I can see the sum of about £4,000 will remain to complete the balance of the sewers, but it should not be ever-looked that the substitution of cast iron for steel water mains entailed an increased expenditure of close on one thousand pounds and critics should not disregard the increased efficiency when comparing costs. It is pleasing to eport that the whole of the water reticulation

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has been completed according to plans, and all the headworks are now finished. If, instead of repaying the temporary depositors, the 'Council could make arrangements . with them to leave the money on deposit for so long as the 1924 five thousand should be forthcoming, then the work could be steadily pushed on with as long as the money lasts. The value of stocks on hand tools, pipes, etc., amounts to £409 16s 4d. The arrangement under which the Health Inspector tests and inspects all private drainage connections is working very satisfactorily.

“RESERVES. —A new room was added to the Pound-keeper’s cottage at -a cost of £45 19s, and the water service has been laid on. The Council should shortly connect the premises to the drainage system. The Section in the Avenue No. 488 formerly leased at a rental of £2 12s 6d per year is now leased at an annual rental of £5. The lease of the Target Reserve has again changed hands, but the rent so far has been paid right up to date. A donation of £lO was made to the Rifle Club to assist in the erection of a new shed and the sum of £lO was voted to the Society to subsidise wages spent on maintaining Easton Park and other works. The transfer of the Native Cemetery (now known as Ihakara Gardens, to the Council has not yet been completed, although I am assured that the delay is unavoidable. The supposed transfer of the land adjoining the Cemetery has never taken place, and there is now no power by which the Council can accept as the original section of the Act was repealed, on account of the misdescription of the land. The ornamental fencing fronting Easton Park was painted in September, 1921, and this work requires doing again. The Reserves account is in debit £32 9s 9d, against last year’s debit of £9l 15s lOd. It will be noticed that rates charged against the various reserves amount, to £55 8s 9d, and as none of this land is exempt within the meaning of the Act, the charge is right and proper. The sum of £l7 9s 3d collected by the Beautifying Society towards conveniences was handed over to the Council and a convenience was accordingly erected at a cost to the Reserves account of £29 10s 3d. “PUBLIC WORKS.—The work comprised under this heading consists mainly of maintaining the various roads and streets and drains throughout the borough. The estimate provided at the beginning of the year the sum of £1,200, and at the 31st March the sum of £l,llß 9s 8d was spent. The work done counted as new work consisted of erecting culvert fronting. Easton Park, top-dressing roadway facing Town Hall, tarring Clyde Street, spreading additional metal on Whyte Street, planting and faseining river bank, relaying Avenue Road path and asphalting Robinson Street path. A start has also been made to asphalt the south end of Main St. and as the tar ordered has now arrived this work can be pushed on with. The purrhase of 600 yards of metal from the Manawatu County Council was a good/speculation. If possible it would be advisable to secure'the same quantity this year in addition to the 200 yards of Belmont metal required for Johnston St. In addition to metalling Johnston St., it might be advisable to consider asphalting a footpath on the east side of Johnston St., from Cook St. to the Avenue, and if funds permit to asphalt the south side of W)hyte St. footpath. A footpath along the south side of Thyune St. is also needed as is one along the north side of Cook St., down to Futter St. These matters will no doubt be decided as time goes on and funds permit. The taxi stand was removed from Main St. to the south side of Clyde St., and it would be desirable that this portion of Clyde St. should be asphalted along to the Motor Coy.’s premises, especially now that new shops are being erected along that frontage. The footpath along the north side of Union St. requires attention, and this will no doubt be attended to in due course. The street lamps have given little cause for complaint, and with the advent of hydro-electricity a certain amount of' labour will be released for other work, as the present work of lamplighting will not then be required. As a preliminary measure the Council decided to increase the number of lamps to 40 when the current becomes available. This number will cost approximately the same as the present 37. One matter that required attention for many years was attended to, namely, that of revising the by-laws. The work involved was quite considerable and was dealt with very expeditiously. The by-laws came into force on the 14th August last. The matter of rubbish removal is one that should be considered and it will be noticed that the sum of £SO has been provided in the Estimates •for this service. I think the work could be done for that amount, and by providing the. money out of general rates the burden would not be very great and would obviate collecting small fees for the service. This would also serve as an inducement to householders to get rid of the rubbish as I know that many do not favour the fee system. I would not suggest for a moment that hedge clippings and such like should be included as rubbish —the term should cover household refuse and ashes only, in the case of shops, sweepings and refuse only, not

packing materials which could be easier burned. If the dustbin system were adopted the scheme should work satisfactorily. The Palmerston North Borough Council sells dustbins to householders at a small profit and the system works well there. The water service has been laid on to the Triangle and instructions are now awaited as to the exact locality and pattern of the drinking fountain authorised to be erected. The trough at the corner of Union St. and Futter St., ,is in working oi’der with the exception of a ball-cock which can be purchased at any time, and a spring tap has been affixed at the end of the water main in the Avenue as instructed. Water has also been laid on to the trough at the windmill and this mill .js not now required and could be disposed of as having served its purpose, a ball-cock is all that is required at this convenience, to complete the job. “GENERALLY. Under this heading I deal principally with the items in general account which have not been touched on. The amount of general rate collected is £1,564 Is 2d with arrears outstanding of £4B 0s 2d. The sum of £3O 0s 3d was collected by way of 10 per cent, penalty on rates unpaid on the 9th December last. The total amount of hates outstanding (general and special) totals £B3 12s 7d. All the rates for the previous year have, however, been collected, the arrears being only for the year just ended. License fees show an increase of over £73 for the year. Office salaries and expenses remain the same. ‘Several items on the expenditure side of the sheet are non-recurring, namely, printing the by-laws £47 14s, and a transfer to the Antecedent Liability Interest account 0f.£48 2s 6d. The debit balance stands at £4,766 2s, to which should be added the proportion of Antecedent Liability extinguished by loan, £.LI 9s Bd, a total of £5,13711s Bd. After allowing for the £5,000 advanced to the Water and Drainage Loan account the account actually stands in debit £137 11s Bd, but as the year commenced with a debit-mf £399 3s Id, the result must be admitted as very satisfactory. “There is just one other matter I wish to mention before concluding and that is to draw the attention of the Council to the provisions of section 3 of “The Rating Amendment Act, 1922,” which provides that the Council may give discount on rates for prompt payment, in the same, manner as the 10 per cent, penalty may be imposed for late payment. As the 10 per cent, penalty has been imposed during the past few years it would seem only fair and equitable that persons paying promptly should receive a discount, and I recommend to the Council that a discount of 2A per cent, be allowed off all rates paid (excluding the sanitation fee) within thirty days of the date of demand. T also omitted to mention that T have provided in the general estimates the sum of £l2O for a public convenience. This sum may not cover the whole cost of the work as the nearest sewer is at the junction of Duncan St. and the right-of-way between Clyde St. and Ravensworth Place, but any deficit could be made up next year when the estimates are being prepared. lam assuming in this instance that the convenience would be placed under-ground at the north end of Main St. This mattei will no doubt come up for discussion by the new Council. If any matteis have been overlooked in this repoit I must plead lack of time as. the Easter holidays intervening since the end of the financial year have not left much time to get the report written.”