BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 1 October 1880, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL .

The fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council was held last evening, when there were present— His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Otterson, Hassell, Spence, Sutton, de Lautour, Townsend, Hardy, Procter, Smith, Headland, Blair.

The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed, and the outward correspondence was read and approved. Mr. John Mainland, in acknowledging the Councils vote: of thanks for his past services and regret at his retirement, stated that if at any future time he had the honor of a seat at the Council, it would be still his desire to do everything he possibly could to forward the interests of the town.

Permission waa givoo to Captain Sewell to transfer the lease of section 18, block 37, to,.Mr. R Butt.' Permission was given to Dr. Wait to put in a glazed or iron drain-pipe across Ure-street, opposite his house.

Mr. J. C. Gilchrist wrote with reference to the settlement of hia claim for land taken for the waterworks,, and asking the Council to take the matter into consideration without delay. The letter was referred ■so the Waterworks Committee, a,nd it was understood that the matter would be dealt with as quickly as possible. Mr. J. C. Gilchrist also wrote forwarding a claim for L 9 6s 6d for 1500 cubic feet of stone quarried upon his land,— The matter was referred to the ActingEngineer. Mr. Patrick Ford wrote forwarding a statement of £he money he alleged to be due to hiiri on account of work performed I at the tunnel.—Some discussion took place upon the matter. It wa!s dfecided to reply that tho Council did not recognise the claim. The following memorial signed by 18 persons was read:—"We, the undersighed, beg to lay before you that we are out of employment now for a considerable, long time, and that we feel the hardship of these dull .times, and wo trust that you can see your way Qlear to give us some employment so as to keep ourselves and •our..families from starving. We will be content with anything reasonable, either day wages or piece-work. Knowing that the Council is in financial difficulty we will not push for money till such tinao as the Council will bo more able, to pay, if you, would give an order on some storekeeper to supply us \yith a certain amount of stores weekly, Trusting that you will take our case under your consideration.," <fco, -

It was decided to reply expressing the regret of the Council that the prayer of the,, petitioners could not be complied with!" ' A letter* from Mr. John Anderson, with reference to a further reduction from his account for the supply of pipes, was Referred to the Waterworks Committee.

The following letter from the Engineer was read have the honor to direct ydur attetiticin to the large quantity of unuaecl piateriojin pijui) plant left over on (?puipletion of the mains, amounting in valine id aiorne Kviridreds of pciunds, which is presently stored at tho gasworks, j It t o ( Qn^i^t% ; sonia tons of Raskin yarn for" packing, wKich will he. very liable to deterioration from mice and other oauaes. There is also a quantity of

bends, junctions, aluice-valvea, and othei! special castings of sizes that will not ha required in future extension of the mains' and some four tons of lead. I would bon to suggest that a complete catalogue of such portion of the material as it be deemed convenient to dispose of should be prepared, and submitted to likely buyers, as, for instance, the Timaru Corporation." The matter was referred to the Waterworks Committee to confer with the Acting-Engineer, and with power to act. A letter was read from the Acting. Engineer stating that when he acceded to the Council's request to take charge of the waterworks he had not raised the question of an advance of pay, and as he had been put to considerable expense in travelling over the waterworks, he asked the Counetf to grant him such a sum as would rocoup. him for his outlay.—The matter was referred to the Waterworks Committee t& consult with the Acting-Engineer. The Special Committee appointed at the last meeting to consider the best modo of arranging the clerical staff reported recommending that the offices of Towii Clerk and Treasurer be combined; that an accountant be engaged at a salary of LISO to keep the accounts and act g ene . rally under the direction of the Town Clerk ; and that Mr. Gilmore be appointed General Collector, under the direction of the Town Clerk.—After some discussion, the report was adopted. A further paragraph in the report re. lating to alterations in the Council Chamber wa3 referred to the Public Works Committee with power to act. The report of the Waterworks Com. mittee, dealing with several matters of detail, was read. The report was adopted save the clause referring to the charge for water for motive power, which was ordered to be considered at a special meeting to bo held this evening. With reference°to the other matters, it was resolved, " That Flaherty's contract and all other papers; connected with it having been carefully gone into by the Committee, tho sum of L 1347 17s 3d be passed for payment, and that the balance, L 562 Os lOd, charged for stone-work, ordered by the late Engineer without? any sanction of the Council or Waterworks Committee, be referred to the Acting-Engineer, and any other persons Flaherty may appoint; that consumers of water should be allowed to lay on eithor lead or galvanised wrought iron pipesand that section 13 (a), paragraph 3, shall read—' Exceeds Ll2 10s but does not exceed LIOO, L 6 per centum on such value."'

On the motion of Councillor Spenco, it was decided to ask the Acting-Engineer to supply the following information with, reference to the maintenance of the waterrace, including intake and reservoir; (fy How many men are employed, and rate of wages; (2) how manjl overseers or foremen, including those in permanent charge; rates of wages respectively; (3) estimated cost of keeping race and other works in efficient repair for 12 months. On the motion of Councillor Otterson, seconded by Councillor Procter, it was resolved " That a stand-pipe (| inch) and tap be erected at the junction of Hull and Arun streets for the use of ratepayers in High Ward j who are at present unable to obtain benefit from the water supply though rated for the same." The Mayor, referring to his visit io Wellington, said that he regretted tohnvo ito report he had been unsuccessful in hj» mission. In consequence of a report of the Public Accounts Committee brought up last session, to the effect that in futuro no loan should be made out of the trust funds upon any other than tjie securities of New Zealand or other Governments, or upon bank deposit receipts, the Ministry had felt constrained to decline to sanction the advance of LIO,OOO to the Counoil out of the trust funds. The Counoil, having passed a vota of thank 3 to the Mayor, rose.