OPOTIKI COUNTY COUNCIL

Opotiki News, Volume II, Issue 190, 2 June 1939, Page 2

OPOTIKI COUNTY COUNCIL

monthly meeting i "1. - i ■ . The monthly meeting of the Opotiki County Council was held in the county .chambers this morning. Present: Mi\ W. A. Gault (chairman), Councillors G. J. Neilsoh, \V. Butler, T. Burke, CL W. Fair weather, R. A. Hedley, A. E. Ellake, S. Maxwell, j. T. Clark, O. Black, J. McDonnell, G. S. Moody ; Mr. J. r l[.. Merry (county clerk,) and Mr. AT'. AA\ Upton (county engineer). The minutes of the previous meeting were continued arid outward correspondence approved. Inward correspondence The Minister of Public Works, the Hon. R. Semple, wrote stating that he had given the question of sealing the Otar a road to the aerodrome full consideration and that he regretted that the question of sealing county roads had not yet- been settled. The Opotiki Bacon Co. wrote re the cleaning cf Duke Street drain, stating that notliingj had yet been done. The chairman said! that a legal opinion had been obtained which stated that as no county ratepayers complained of the drain, the council had no authority to clean the drain. The Borough Council, however, could have the drain cleaned. It was decided to reply along these lines. Mr. Roberts. Public AVorks Department engineer, wrote re the drain near the aerodrome, stating that the ..matter was being looked! into. The Commissioner of Transport wrote re the restriction of speed cu the Hospital Hill, stating that twomiles was rather drastic. The area did not appear to be well populated, and it was suggested tliait warning signs be used. The clerk said that- signs were-- there already. There was ■ a number of children residing on tliohill, and also a large) amount of pedestrian traffic visiting the hospital, and there was no foot-path.. it was decided to reply, along the lines suggested. Mr. H. 1... Twistleton asked for permission to split posts from logs on the road. It- was decided to> get a report from the engineer. Mr. Twistleton also wrote complaining of the bad state ol; the Maromoko road. The AA’aikoliu County Council wrote suggesting the council give its support to complaints re the bad state of the main highway between Gisborne. and Opotiki. It was decided to support the representations. The secretary of Hikutaia Domain Beard wrote asking for assistance from the council. Or. Miaxwell explained what- had been done ill planting trees and forming tracks. The chairman said that the Domain was. an as.set to the district. \Cr. Clark proposed that be donated. This was, seconded by Cr. Black and carried.

Mr. H. W- Holmes, Torere, -wrote stating that cows, bulls and pigs were always .on the ..ro.ad and , it was. impossible to keep a garden,—-It was left to the clerk to reply. The Raukokore Bridge Celebration Committee wrote inviting the' council to attend the bridge opening. Cr.. Fail-weather stated that the opening wag now on 6th June at IT; CD -a..in. It-was decided to reply stating that as-, many of the councillors as-possible, would attend. Tliei district engineer, M'r. Ronavno. wrote asking for recommendations re ‘ main highways, enclosing a memorandum, which stated that it was not proposed to extend the main highway this year. . . .... The chairman oil the Centennial Committee wrote appealing to the council for £69. Or. Black suggested sending the council’s financial report. The letter was “received”. The Opotiki Borough Council asked, for delegates to thei Centennial Celebration Committee. Or. Moody said it must be decided shortly if anything was going to he done.—-Delegates were appointed. The Commissioner of Crown Lands, wrote re a section purchased in 1905. at Kutarerc. The department sought information re relatives. it was decided to forward information. The Crippled Children’s Association wrote .stating that it was anxious to get into touch with -local bodies, with the object of forming a local committee to make recommendationsregarding children ‘needing assistanceThe secretary stated lie would be- visiting Opotiki on June 9tli. The chair-, man was appointed as a representative to the local committee. ... - The National Peace Council of New Zealand presented a petition for a \vorld conference, —‘ ‘Received’ ’. r J’he Department of Land and Surveys wrote enclosing schedule and, notice of transfer fees for the couu- 4

cable (Whakatane tie line;. 297 consumers’ service lines totalling 1159 route chains of line.

‘sl new transformers erected ot a total capacity of 415.5 KVA. The above, includes the' Manawahe extension. and from the revenue received during the first quarter in which supply has been available fo this section, the Manawahe revenue should approximate £SOO per annum. • The total, route miles of lines now in service as at 31st-. March 1939' is as follows: 264.6 miles 11,000 volt lines... .34.75 miles 400 volt lines. 96.0 miles 400 volt lines on 11,000 volt lines. 381 distribution transformers of a total capacity ol 5128 KVA are ill-ser-vice over the above mileage, of lines. •Maintenance.—During the year the necessary! maintenance on the reticulation and plant required to .secure a satisfactory service has been e;trried OMt - • ' , vo ’To have undertaken during thejpast year certain major periodic .overhauls such as transformer overhaul, oil filtering etc., would have entailed further capital outlay for additional plant and. increased maintenance costs during a year when the board’s finances were required for a programme of new capital works in excess 'of normal. By the end! of the present year the majority of tin's work] should be completed, and 1 havei accordingly' increased the maintenance estimates

for 1940. Servicing Consumers’ Installations and Equipment.—'l'lie - cost to the beard for this service amounts to £2,170 13s which is £3OO Jess than last year, and can be attributed to the systematic overhaul of consumers’ service lines carried-.out during the previous year. . This is an important service rendered to consumers, the annual costs to the hoard) being close t<> that of general system maintenance.

Comparison Schedule of Servicing Costs and Number of Faults for Fast Five Years. —Number of faults charged to board: (Year 1939) 2169, (1938) 1776, (1937) 1729, (1936) 1884, (193 d) 1609). Number faults charged to consum-

ers: 2625, 2516, 2186, 1892, 1491. Total : 4794, 4292, 3915, 3776, 3100. Cost to consumer: £773 9s lOd, £615 15s 7d, £458 2s 7d, £455 6s 2d, £430 12s 9d. , Cost to board: £2-170 13s, £2470 15s rßd, £2074 Is Bd, £1605 17s 2d, £1507 ‘ 19 s. ; iCost of range servicing: £sll 5s

lOd, £715 14s 9d, £482 13s 4d«, £391 12s 6ch £320 19s Bd. 'J’he total number of faults charged to the board for 1939 includes the total number of range faults for the year—639; at a cost to 'the board of £Oll 5s Kid, equalling 16/- per range fault. Analysis of Trading Department. Expenditure: Materials £8849 11s lid, wages £2309 13s 4d, transport £BO2 Is lid, proportion of administration

and office expenses etc?, £B3B 2s', baddebts reserve £785 ll.s, net- profit £l,075 7s 3d (7.3 per cent). Total £14,660 10s sd. Sales totalled £14,630 10s od. The attached statements, tables and schedules will serve to indicate to. members the financial position with respect to the year’s revenue and expenditure, together with technical details and ai graph showing the percentage of working co.sts to revenue as compared with the Dominion average for all Power Boards.

,'J ji e total number of sliutdowns for the year on the P.W.D. supply to the board was 20, amounting to 34 hours 25 minutes, of which number ll was by arrangement. In conclusion L wish to thank the chairman and members for their assistance, and to the members of the staff whose valued, co-operation lias been fully appreciated. 1 TA BDES PR RISEN TED The tables presented by Mr. Dicker were of a very comprehensive' nature, and proved to be very interesting to members of the board. The statement of comparison between actual and estimated expenditure and revenue, showed that the estimated! expenditure for the year ending 31st. March, 1939 was £51,550 while the actual expenditure was £52,064 11s lid. The board undertook additional work during, the year, making the capital expenditure £11,438 16s 7d, as against the estimate oi: £9,969,00. Receipts from the sale ol electricity totalled £47,904 9s Id, as against the estimate of £46,333. Summary of installations Analysis of Connected" Load and Revenue as at 31st. .March 1939 showing Comparison with 1938. f Domestic installations (1938) 1583, (1939), 1768; connected load k.w. U 938 ) 5530, (1939) 6116; revenue (1935) £18,284 (1939) £20,354. Commercial lighting and heating 2.25, 210; 204, 218; 3369, 3470. Street lighting 3. 3; 15, 15; 467, 482. Commercial power 144, 164; 326, 365; 674, 1.046. Bulk supply —, 1; —, 3370; —, 1231. Industrial supply 8,8; -718, 681; £4, 880, £4184. l’umps 351, 444; 257, 291 ; £2013, £2339; milking plants, 610. 634; IH7, 1146; £14;14), £14,117; separator motors 313, 366; 73, 78; £705, £6Bl.

Connected load k.w. (1938) 8240, (1939) 12,280. Revenue totals, (1938) £44,534, (1939) £44,904. Total number of consumers as at March 31st. 1939, 1994, an increase oi 10.2 per cent. Total number el : ranges installed in above, G 74, equalling 38.1 per cent, of ranges to domestic consumers. Total horse power of motors connected to system, 2482. Total number of water heaters, 1229 . -~ Table Showing Percentage <>i Revenue from Respective 'lynos of Load: —■ Domestic revenue, 43.0 per cent. ; milking plants, 31.8 per cent.; pumps, 5.0 per cent. ; general power. 2.2 per cent.; commercial light and heat, 7.4 per cent.; industrial power, (factories), 0.0 per cent. ; streets lights, 1.0 per cent.