BAY POWER BOARD

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 158, 15 March 1939, Page 3

BAY POWER BOARD

THE MONTHLY MEETINC OPOTIKI STREET RIGHTING TOWER AT. WHAKATANE HEADS FURTHER INVESTIGATION . N ,v . >, i The monthly meeting ol the Ray of Plenty Electric Power Hoard was held in the board room at Opotiki yesterday. Present: Messrs. 'Pi J, Burt (chairman), J. W. Sumner, J. A. Alitchell, D. W. Spence (Whakataiie), W. A. Gault, S. Maxwell, W. T. Barrett (Opotiki). Mr. J. J). Dicker (en-gineer-manager)'and Mr. G. A. Hathaway (secretary) were also in attendance. TJie minutes" of the previous meeting were confirmee.! and accounts dealt, with. Exhibition.—The Auckland Centennial Exhibition Committee wrote asking for a contribution. Mr. Hathaway said the board had already decided to pay £9O for the Electricity Court, the -'payment to be spread over three years. Mr. Dicker also spoke on the matter and the board decided to reply along the lines/ suggested -by Mr. .Dicker. Acquisition of Land.—-In conuecton with the acquisition of land in boroughs outside power hoards’ areas, replies were received from the Tauranga Power- Board, Waitemata Power Board and the Waikato Power Board, stating that these boards had found it necessary to secure empowering legislation before purchasing land in adjoining towns. Improved Lighting.—A letter from the Opotiki Borough Council asking for suggestions for the improvement of the lighting at the intersection of Church and Main Streets was read by Mr. Dicker. Air. M'axweil said that Opotiki was cue of the most badly lit towns in tiie country. Air. Dicker agreed with Air. Alaxwcll’s remarks and stated that other towns were using improved systems. The old system was all right when put in Opotiki and was still just as good as then but new and improved' •systems had now come iuto operation in other towns. r l’he matter was left in the bands of the engineer. Power for Whakataiie Heads:—l lie question of the supply of power to.the Whakataiie beads again came up tor discussion and Air. Spence said the board should make an early decision and considered there were great possibilities of development in building at the head!s. He moved that the board favour extending the supply tc the heads provided the revenue was sufficient and! there wa s a reasonable return on the expenditure. The motion was seconded by Air. Alitchell. Air. Maxwell moved as an amendment that the final words of the motion read “that sufficient guarantee can bo provided”. There was no seconder. After further discussion Air. Spence agreed tq alter the wording of his motion but Air. Sunnier said he objected to the words that the board was in favour. He moved! as an amendment that the engineer prepare estimates of the cost and obtain the requisite guarantees for the proposal from those who would install power or otherwise contribute to the cost. The amendment was seconded and Air. Spence then withdrew his motion. Air. Sumner’s motion was then put and carried. Possible Power Shortage.—.V letter from the Electric Power Boards and Supply Authorities Association dealt with the supply of power. A conference of North Island supply authorities was suggested. It was stated there would be a likely shortage oi power this year or next unless immediate steps were taken to cope with the position. Air. Dicker stated that the people in the south were very worried. —lt was decided to leave the matter in the hands of Air. Dicker. Engineer’s Report.—The engineer’s report was approved, favourable comment being made, on the very substantial increase in the number of ranges installed during the past 12 .months. General Business. Air. Alaxwell referred to interference to radio sets by lealfs. Air. Dicker said the leaks were only very slight andl in reference to trouble on the Paerata line said that every autumn the: birds trouble. The birds would fight together in heaps

and. when their wings . touched they caused a. short and tell to the ground. 1 in view of the Easter holiday period • it was decided to hold' the next meeting of the board oh. 18th. April. ENGINEER-MANAGER’S REPORT Mr. J. D. Dicker, the board’s en-gineer-manager, reported as follows for the month of February; Line Ejection: 39.3 route ch'ains 11,000 volt lines. 44.16 route chains 400 volt on 11,000 volt lines, f 1 2„po,Je ;; sub structure complete witiPlOO P;.v.ja. transformer. 1 single pole complete, with Id k.v.a. traijsf(^|nei. One new street light orectCllFMsfdge- ) i cumbe township. • 1 s Manawahe: 2 single pole sub strue- > fcure.s erected complete phase transformers—one 3 kispp' and ; Olid 7i k.v.a. A further tvggsiriServices completed amounting to $75 route ', chains. The total number dlLiustalla- \ „ tions connected to‘ is ■ 13 dairy ’34 houses, all and 1 school. ' - {%y Consumers’ Service Lines: (Includ- :■ a,. ing Manawalie) —23 new service lines jj 'completed totalling 79.61 route chainsd ofl ine. ■ 4 .service lines dismantled totalling y 16.24 chains of line. Line Maintenance: General main-J tenance work carried out as required, | a. large proportion of which consti- j tilted tree cutting in both areas. & For the purpose of allowing the P. i W.D. construction gang to erect the S new line over the hoard’s line, the following) sections had to lie cut off.:— % . 9th. Feb., Otakiri Road and Grieves ; Road 10.30 a.m. to 1.30 p.m. 10th., I (Otakiri store to Onepu, 11. Id a.m. to | 1 p.m. 13th., Soldiers’ Settlement -j Read, Otakiri, 9.10 a.m. to 1 p.m. j 11th. February supply to Taneatua 4 . feeder interrupted between 1.58 a.m. >. and 5.03 a.m. due to the; failure of an '[ insulator on an 11,000 volt air break )■* switch. ; j 13th. February, Paerata branch out f between 2.30 p.;in. and 3.45 p.m. | (Cause not known). 21st. February, ;! Paerata branch out between 6 a.m. j . and 6.25 p.m. (Cause not known). 4 Twenty-two consiimers’scrviee lines j overhauled and repaired. Consumers ’.Connected to 28th. Feb- \ s ruarv, 1939 (duriijg the past month), i —Ranges 5 k.w. a’ml over, 2 new con- ) nections. 3 reconnections, d disccnneo- j tions, 589 total to date, 546 corresponding period 1938. Ranges 2 k.w. ; v up to d k.w., 1, 0, 0, 81. 69. Total ; ranges, 9,3, d, 670, 615. Motors (excluding lnilking ai d bulk supply): 3, 0,0, 165, 140. S mps and offices, 5, 0,0, 242, 225. Houses, 22, 6, 11, 1.749. 1582. Pumps, 8 . 2 . 2, 436, 385. Daily water heaters. 5. 0,2, 559, 535Domestic water heaters, 7,4, 2, 665, ; 608. Total water heaters, 12, 4,4, | 1224. 1143. Milking plants, 6, 2, 2, 1 659 , 626. Separator motors, 3,0, 0, J 363. *341. Total consumers, 27, 5, 8, j 1978. 1860. Total connected load k.w., ) 8835 k.w. , 8349 k.w. - f IMY.I). Supply ; i Tliore were no j shut-downs during" the ‘month. i