OTAKI TOWN BOARD.

Otaki Mail, Volume XXVIII, 6 February 1920, Page 2

OTAKI TOWN BOARD.

MONTHLY MEETING. The ordinary monthly meeting of the above was held last night. Present: •'oiiimissioiiors 11. 11. Ollivor, R. M. D’Atli, .1. Meads, J. P. Brandon. W. Noble. Pttku Rikihaua. and H, Nieol- • on. Election of Chairman. The Clerk reported that Com. Brandon had been appointed in place of Worn. Brown, resigned, and called for nominations lor the position of chairCom. Brandon was the only onti nominated, and in accepting the poai- : ion- thanked members of the Board for 'he honour conferred upon him, and -aid although new to public matters, he would do fits best, and devote a deal of his time in the interests of the torn. He felt that he would receive ■II necessary support. Commissioners congratulated Com Brandon on his appointment, and said .■ they felt that he would do honour to the position. They promised to assist dm in the welfare of Board affairs. Dog Tax. The .eg tax' collector (Geo. Galla•_’her) waited on the Board and named -ever:,! ratepayers who refused to re-zi-t'-r dogs, their excuses being varied. One had said he had registered with the Native dog tax collector, another that hr- Would register later, a third that he was going to destroy ins dog, a fourth wanted reduced price, another maintained that the dog under his care was not his. another was going to send the dog away, another that his animal ■-•as under age. and the last that ho would register when the necessary money was available. Decided to take action against tietaul'ers after a reasonable time.

Com. OiUvtr Defend!) Hljnsolf, Com. Oliver said ho hud no wish to cause dissension in the Board, but wa* obliged to defend himself. It had, he believed, been said publicly by Com. Meads that as a member of the Road: Committee he 'the speaker) had failed to do his duty, and had been dilatory ■-■■or the ordering of necessary pipes for street intersections. Cora. Meads had gone further and said he had ' slighted the local agent. He gave such statement* an emphatic denial, and said they were nothing but falsehoods. He had offered to assist the Board to get the pipes, and thus, save discount and commission, and this he had done to the Board’s benefit. He had never slighted the local agent, and here again fora. Meads had told untruths. It had been agreed at the Board meeting that hi should act on behalf of the Board and aa-se expense, and he did not tee that he* had failed in his duty. He fcsd always done hi- best to fare the ratepayer:-. ' money, and as long as he was a member would continue to do to. Com. Mead* held that there had been a. delay in securing the pipe* for nearly , two years, and that Corn. OHiver had j adm-.-tr-u "-iTTyjrg the order for same in his pocket for tKrPe or four months, ; and had erc-n said he had r.o time for the iocsl agent. Com. Meads considered that the pipe”* could hare been got as. cheaply through M< William*. Cora. Ol’isver pointed out that it sra«. the curtailment of the m,iway service thus had tjni-fi'i the delay. Ijfe admilted that he might have irvi.-rlookts'J the order for a day or >.wo. Com. D’Atb endorsed Com. Oilivcr ! > remarks, and considered the latter had dose hi- best to secure the pipe*. It was considered that such a matter -should have been threshed out before the member* of the committee interested, and sot dragged befprs the public in the way it had bees done.

Eoadstaa’a Report. The roadman reported that all roads, except Miii Road, were in fair order. He suggested calling, tender* for 600 yards of maintenance metal, same to be in by next meeting. He reported

ili.'it tlie Raugiuru roads were good, but that the bridge was unsafe for traffic over 1J tons. He considered it needed attention. The Mangapouri creek was being attended to, while pipes near the Central Hotel had been put in with advantage. He wished to know it the Board was willing to asphalt a portion of the streets owing to cement lieing unobtainable. —It was decided to call tenders for the metal, and to asphalt from Cockrell’s corner to tho Jubilee Hotel corner (western sid'e). Miscellaneous. It was decided to ask the roadmen to put in time-sheets at, each meeting. In answer to a query the Clerk said it was false that certain accounts wore purposely held back as stated. The lamp-lighter, on being questioned. said the carbide used was to blame for faulty street lighting, while probably soffit* of the burners were out of order. . Accounts. The following accounts were passed for payment: —Treasury £l-’ Bs, H. "Webbs’ £l6 IDs (id. H. Knox £l3 10s, Clerk' £lo Is Art, Ok Gallagher £1 .17s Gd, V. Dwyer £0 18s, Frank Penn £•> 13s 9d. C. H. Williams £1 Os, Mangaliao League £1 Is, Chamber of Commerce £-j 13s lid, H. Cockrell £l-1 12s «d, Cement Pipe Co. £8 It’s 4d, S. B. McDonald £-1 10s 3d.