CITY COUNCIL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume IX, Issue 300, 19 December 1874, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL.

Fhidat, December jg. A special meeting of tbe Cuncil was held last night for the purpose of uhcuuing the desirability of raising a loan to pay of! the li»bi ities incurred for the Waimea and Nilenreet sewers. Present : all the members but Mr Thompson Cr Bubn said thßt in giving his notice of motion be had but one object in view, namely, io p%y off their liabilities by a loin which would be Obtained at a lower rate of interest than was beini? charged the Council fur their overdraft. The sewerage works had been undertaken in consequence of a let er received from the Board of Health which n'tually compelled them to do it, as it was csnsliered better that it should be carried oat under the supervision of the Board of Works than of the B ard of Health. Ait-r some deliberation it had been arranged to obtiiu the money Irom the Bank, and to repay it when the t<,wu became a municipality and had the p >wer to raise a loan, a pawer that the old Board did not possess, tie now propofed, if it were legal, to raise £2000 by ban to be repaid by instalments daring fifteen years by a speei »! rate, as be considered it only fur that thoße wbo were to come after, and to reap the benefit of tbe work, should help,to pay for it* construction If this coarse were not adopted, ths money would hare to be paid out of the general r»w», thereby stopping all other work p. Tbe special rate would not exceed a penny in the pound, nor would any of it be required lor six month*, and it would be tho means of

reJucing the general rate in future jews, tie would move — *' That, in the opinion of this Council it ia expedient that the sum of £2000 bs raised on debentures, for the purpose of paying for, and completing the sewerage," Cr Fell seconded tha resolution. Cr HABDOWpresentid a protest from c?rtain ratepayeis which has already appeared in our columns. Cr Bokns, after mature consideration, had come to the conclusion that it was not desirable to borrow. He thought the overdraft cou'd be raid without borrowing. At the present assessment the general rate would this year be some £300 more than last year. He could not tea the necessity for raiding a loan, and believed that ninety out of every hundred of the ratepayers would be p'eased if tha motion were negatived. The streets were all in excellent order, r-nd the £1200 that would be left after meeting tha overdraft would bo quite sufficient for all their wants. lie would mova as an amendment — " That this Council, to lessen the overdraft at tbe Bank, pay the sum of £200 month y from the ordinary rates; that is, £200 on the 15th of January. February, March, April, and May, in ail £1000, for the year 1875; and the balance in sums of £200 in the months of January, February, March and April, 1C76." Cr. Haddow would fecond the amendment. He felt sure tuat the loan would be illegal, as the Act provided for money being raised for " expenses to be incurred " whereas this wfls »o pay a . old debt. The Board of Works had left them as a legacy a dtbt illegally contracted, and he bad no desire to hand that legacy down to his successors. When a complete system of loans lor public works should i be proposed lie w 'uld be prepared to support | it, but he could not see liU way to agresiog to this one, which wou'd cost a good deal to raise. Cr. Peli. had co desire to be stall extravagant, but it appeared to him to te necessary for the efficient working o£ ths Council, to raise a loan. 1 hey were henvily indebted to the Bank, which had already pressed them to reduce their overdraft and was likely to do so again lhey had given p'.eiges ts repay it, and were b lunl to redeem chose pleJges. It they did not, he scarcely knew what post ioi tbey would occupy or what position the Bank would take up. The retrenchment proposed by Cr. Burns ho considered wouM be most niffij'jlt to carry out He did sot think the Council was so well placed as the Board of Works had bi en. The temper of the former appeared to be fickle, and uncertain, and he looked upon it as a body possessing far kua credit than the old Board. It was a painful position to ccsupy but so, he believed, it was. It would not be trusted bo implicitly as the Board , and in view of this he did nat sea how they were to avoid pajing off the money. Besides, many improvements were required, and it would be impossible to c*rry them out if the debt was to be pnd out of the general rates. He had no sympathy i with those who had signe 1 the protest, as the object they had in view was simply to avoid tbe payment of an additional rate, and not the good ot the town generally. He believed that if the ratepayers properly understood the question there would be a 1 :rge majority in favor of th-j loan. Tbcv had not yet obtained their solicitor's opinion, and he hid of course been arguing on tbe assumption that it would be legal to raise a loan. Cr Weight considered it would he better to jay tbe debt out of ths general ra'es, and saw no necessity for borrowing. Cr Fell said that no one had yet stated how the overdraft was to go on. They had pledge i themselves to pay it off, and the Bank of New Zealand were not fools to bs trifled with. Cr Haddow said that the Bank held £3"00 on Ihe gas and water wo ks account without interest, and he did not think it would he hard upon them. He did not believe that the credit of the Council waa worse than that of the Baard.of \Vbrks, as they did not carry on ihei r business in so loose a manner. Cf Bcaxs thought the Bank would be weli pleased to receive £1000 in five months, in instalments of £200 a month. Cr Stringer said the Board of Works knew they were acting illegally in starting the work. Why were ths bricks ordered be-fo-e the money was authorised to be raised? This might be a stinking matter to bring up, and certainly was uupleasant to some of them, but he felt bound io refer to it. He was against borrowing at all. Tha work had been done illegally hf the Board, and now" the Council was asked to raise a loan to pay for it. Cr Hoopep. had been a pirty to the action of the Board of Wo;ks, but although he felt anxious to obtain the money, he should Jiko to avoid askin? the ratepayers for an additional rate. He thought the Bank would be satisfied if £1100 were paid oft in a few months, bo aB to reduce the overdraft to its legal limits. They would have to borrow some day for the extension of the sewerage works, and for that ho shou'd be prepared to sup ort a loan, but they should be very careful about increasing any fresh debt. Cr Fell said that it had taken two years to pay off £420 out of the general rates, no important works being undertaken in the mean time, so that he coul r scarcely see how they were to pay £1000 in flve months. The Mayor was sorry to find there was opposition to the loan. The special rate need not cxc ed a penny in the pound, nor need the whole sum of £2000 be rai-ed at once, if the rates came in as quickly as Cr Burns s.emed to hope. He thought it very doubtful whether the Bank would agree to accept monthly payments. Cr Bcr.v, in reply, said that the position was thus : Under tlie Board of Works Act, the overdraft was not limited, but waa merely a matter of arrangement, whereis the Act under which they were now working i orbale that it should exceed £500. IE Cr Burns' amendment were carried they would only have £1040 to expend upon works ami salaries during the current year, lie admit cd the ii jam ice to the ratepaje:s in those streets wbeie the sewers were, a< lie mights iy, private property, and should like t • see some arrarig'ime \t whereby they might, te recouped, and Ihe sewere became th'prop :-ty of the Council Is was always an undi rsr. -.od thing that the Bank was to be r jpaM by loan, and he did not tfrink it would be right fjr ihe Council to refuse it. Ifc being understood that a deputation was t-> wait upon ihe manager of tbe Bank to ascertain his views, Cr Burn's smendmeni was then put- and. carried. Aye* s : <jr Btirns, Wright. Haddow, Stringer, and Hooper. .Noes 3 : The Mayor, Cn Burn and P-'II. The Council then adjourned until Monday, t-ie 28th inst.

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