BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Oamaru Mail, Volume IV, Issue 1319, 29 October 1880, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council was held last evening* when there were present—Hia 'Worship the Mayor, Councillors Blair, Hardy, Hassell, Headland, M* Combe, Otterson, Procter, Smith, Sipence,. and Sutton. The of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and the outward t correspondence was read and approved. ; A letter was read from Councillor Townsend applying for leave of absonoe, as he purposed paying a visit to Melbourne. Leave of absence was granted. Permission was granted for the transfer of the lease of s&Qfcion 20, block 29, from Mr. J. K. Anderson to Mr. Dalgleish. Mr. John Locke wrote tendering his j resignation as one of the auditors. The Mayor suggested that as an election of Mayor would take place next months the election of a successor to Mr. Looke might be fixed for the same time. The Town Clerk read a clause in the act showing that it was nat necessary to hold a public election, until the date of the annual election of auditors in June* the Council haying the power to fill up an extraordinary vacancy. The resignation of Mr. Looke-, was , accepted. The Auditors, Messrs. Church and Locke, wrote stating that they had completed the audit of the booka and acoounts of the Council f&r the half-year ending : 30th September, adding that they had ! pleasure in stating that they had found ! the bouka and accounts most carefully kept, They also drew attention to the fact that the Council had not fixed the i sum payable to them for their aarvices. Councillor Proctor moved, and Councillor Blair secondedj that the honorarium of the Auditors for the past half-year "be LlO. The mover stated that the work during- the past half-year had been very heavy, and that a small addition to the honorarium had been well earned. Councillor Otterson proposed as an amendment that the amount be the same as last half-year. The amendment was seconded byCoun-' cillor Hasseli, and carried John Lemon wrote stating that he had received a telegram from his agent intimating that he had sold the debaa--tures in Melbourne at L 95, the jxrinoipal being re-payable in thirty yea,i'3. The ftlayor said it v;-aa" desirable that the debentures be printed without delay, and hp w.a& willing to, go to Ikmedin the. following morning, make arj raivgements for their expeditious printing, jand remain there until the Work was completed. It was necessary that the debentures should be a§iu to Melbourne as ■ early as possible, aucl he thought it probable that the debentures might be got ready by Saturday next; Qn the motion of Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Sutton, the arrangements for floating the LIO,OOO loan was approved, and the form of debenture submitted by the Council's Solicitor was adopted. The Town Clerk read the half-yearly balance-sheet for the- six months ending 30th September last. —The balance-sheet was adopted. Councillor Smith introduced a deputation from the Excelsior Cricket Club, consisting, of Messrs. Bannerman, Fenwick, Forbes, M'Leod, Moore, and Snow, i He said it would be remembered that the Club some time since applied to the Council for •permission to form a cricket ! ground on a- portion of the reserve in ! Cheliher--street, The Council had agreed jto gra,nt the request on the land being [obtained from Mr. Blaokj who held a lease, possession of the land had been : ohtainod, and the ground could have been handed over on the Ist September. The Qlub had collected a sum of money to be applied to the formation of the but before doing anything toi obtain some further information, Mr. Bannerman said tion wished to know whether "the Council had th§, tjo give tjhe dlub a lease ofth,& ground, sp that they might haw an right ta the use of so

much of the ground as they might specially prepare for tho purposes 0 f cricket, so that outsiders might not ] lavo the power of taking possession of tho ground. The Mayor said he did not think the Council was legally in a position to pivo the Club an exclusive right to the ground or an absolute lease of it. At the same time.he thought the Council would extond to the Club every possible protection, atl( j he did hot think if the Club pre pared and improved the ground that " any purson would interfere with them. A similar course had been pursued in regard to tho Old Cricket Ground, and no one had interfered with the old Club. He thought the Excelsior Club would be perfectly safo in forming a ground. Councillor Smith mentioned that lie had been in consultation with the Council's' Solicitor (Mr. Baluier) upon the subject and that gentleman had given the opinion that the Council could not give a lease of the reserve. Councillors Headland, Hassell, Blair' and others said that the reserve being set apart for ' the benefit of the public generally it would be unfair, even if the Council had the power to do so, to gi VQ one Club an absolute right to the sole use of the ground. Mr. Bannerman said the Club would like to feel assured as to their position if they laid out money upon tho ground. Unless they had some guarantee tho ground might be taken from them, andi other clubs might have an equal right to, use the ground. In reply to a question, Mr. Baunori. nai) said that about L 35 had been collected for the improvement of the ground. The Mayor remarked that ho saw no reason why tho ground should not he permanently used as a cricket ground or for sports. Any improvements that nn'Mit tie carried out should be in koeping with, some general scheme of improvements. After some further discussion, it was intimated that a written reply would bo sent to the Club, and the deputation having thanked the Council, withdrew. ' Messrs. Julius and Balmer wrote applying for the assent of the Corporation to the right-of-way between the Empire Hotel and Mr. C. Danaey's shop, and. stating that the application was made iu accordance with section 24 of the Municipal Councils Act Amendment Act, 185®;. —Some discussion took place upon thomatter, during which the Mayor said the: Council should be extremely careful in, recognising these private streets. It was ultimately resolved on the motion of Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Spence, that the matter be referred to. tbq Public Works Committee for report. Mr. Sandison, the Acting-Engir.eor was appointed Building Surveyor under the Municipal Corporations Act, 1870. Mi\ J. Johnston forwarded plans and specifications of business promises for Mr. Jas. Gibson, Papakaio, in Thames-street, between Messrs. Familton and Markham's, and applying for tho usual permission.—Permission was granted, tho erection of the building to be subject tothe approval of the Building Surveyor. The Finance Committee reported recommending a reduction of all wages men. to 7s a day wherever possible, and tht. the present foreman be replaced by a man more in need of employment. With reference to this latter suggestion, the ComI iniittee expressed the opinion that no men 'of independent means should he in receipt of wages from the Corporation. Tho Committee certified to the correctness of the following accounts General, LB2 133 lOd ; gas, LG6 3s ; waterworks, Ll9B 5s 4d ; total, L 347 2s 2d. Councillor Headland said that tht principle sought to be laid down was a. very singular one, and he could scarcely at first sight agree with it. It was not. offering any strong inducement to laborers, to be provident to say that as soon as they had saved a little money their services: | should be dispensed with. A discussion followed, during which Councillor Otterson said that no fault was found with the manner in which tho foreman had discharged his duties, for ha ti'j a very good man, and had given evp.ry satisfaction. The Finance Commitfceewore, however, of opinion that, the post slmulil b» given to a married man, and tb ought, in the present depressed state o£ affairs, the Council should endeavor to give employment to men in greater need of it than the present foreman. Other Councillors agreed with these remarks, and tho report was adopted. A long report from the Public Works Committee was read and adopted. The most noteworthy item was £ recommendation, in accordance with the request of Mr. P. Aitchison, on behalf of the. Trustees of the Georgetown Cometery,. to sell section 19, Georgetown, for L3o' for cemetery purposes. The Finance and Waterworks Committees jointly reported, giving a list of the 1 pipes promised in lieu of compensation for land taken for waterworks purposes, ; and recommending that the pipes should j be put in at once. The report was adopted. The Council then went inVo. Committee upon matters of finance, ami: the reporters were excluded.