OTAKI BOROUGH COUNCIL

Otaki Mail, 13 July 1923, Page 3

OTAKI BOROUGH COUNCIL

MONTHLY meeting. •flic unliuarv monthly meeting of the above was held yesterday i’resent: ills Worship the flavor • Uramlon). Cr*. H. Etlmisfer. T* o'Knurlie. I*. Kikiliumu U. l»)'l° r .* <-• Kil.-l.v. An apology Tor alisence was received Lon, Cr. Cockrell. Drainage Works. Mr Jiekell, engineer of I'alinerston, united on the Council 'dmive to mattol., i„ .mention " it ft Ike wafer , non- deal! with in emittluit Mr. Jiekell mil tee.— U " *'■' w W retained a- "'-"A ’ M „ a ,l, lt Mr. Davie* P>oceed to lolj," rst(1)1 Norik to discuss drainage | Wanted. j \V. I’. Ed" aids wrote, asking for a ~,,,1 opposite liis promise* to be tilled in.—Attended to. ' * The Ottiki CUatuber of Commerce drawing attention to tile open rains, " hick were insuitieienl ly bglitml and which as left were dangerous.— , The Clerk said he had writ ton to the contractor on the mailer. Tiie Ranger. H. Phillips wrote resign!tig his posiranger and sexlon. —Fresh applications were received and that of .toe ilakaraia accepted. (Mher appli*s wtu .j \y Lima, R. B. Anderson, A. Bis hop Turn Ihainson. T. Swensson. August Wallace. M. Tahiwi, and H. . ilakaraia. f Territorial Training. | A letter was received from the Der.jnce Department. stating tluit the cueist« would go into training from the loth to the gist duly, and ihe Torri-v-riMs from the 20th. to the goth, Aagust. and asked if the dates were suitable.—The matter, said the Mayor. cue for the* employer.-, of labour, j j. :1 i ,r> far o> llio Council was ■ ■niti'enieil j , tl.c oat' - could be approved of. . Street Expenditure. j ■ Mr. Dsiics submit ted a tnlde ul | ] .....pciiditure, slating also iliar the I'oinrie.t for carting metal on i'lisman J | Eonii had nmuuutcd to £OO, while an- , wlrm- goo vards were needed. lie de- j ; shed ... -co footpath improvement done | , on Kirlt si vet, but Jimmee prevented I caten-ive work being eafried out. tie | , ;iL(, wished to sc much-needed work , .lon,' along Domain Hoad and Mourn, , Street, and the Waereuga footpath ex- s was his intention, he stated. | n, keep a man with a horse and cart . on patching work. It was his wish ill- , ,-n (o do more tar work and he asked ifc-it t.-n.i,■ i- lie called, especially as there* was plenty of local labour. —The work as outlined by the engineer was approved of. By-laws. 1 Mr. At.more waited oil the Council J and reported that prosecutions for excessive driving of motor ears had been j . beard and had been successful. The ’ magistrate had suggested the advisabil- j by of inserting a speed limit, and if t ’ the limit were reasonable would support ’ j ihe by-law. Mr. At more said that the I present by-law embodied the provision! a- to the speed in “the Motor Keyula- j Com Act llmS” and had been adopted, by many boroughs. The Council would always succeed in a prosecution j as long as it could prove that the , ~ .-peed was excessive, having regard to v die amount of traffic in the street at j the time, or which might reasonably , i in* expected- to be there. The obieetion I tc* a speed limit was that an offender might plead that the limit was too low . on the particular occasion as in the . case of a holiday, when there was little , traffic in the street*, and Ihe by-law .mi;ht be then be held to l*e unreason- , able. As most of the eases would be heard by Mr. stout, however, he , thought 'hat perhaps it might be auvis- , able to insert u speed limit, but in such | a aasc a lower rate of speed should be i j rovided in main streets and on the county road than in the other streets , Ilf the Be*ough. Liis object in appear- i u,g before the Council was to acquaint file Council of the position so that the , advisability of ut>y alterations could i lie considered. Cl'. Taylor said he war. the lirst. to be ■ onvic'ted under fhc by-law a.mi he !sought that if he had pleaded not guilty, the whole of the ea.-'e- would L'eve been. 'T--missed. Ihe magistrate , had asked for the speed limit, ami was i ;old the drivers of the ears were trav- ' tiling at a dangerous spied. He thought a speed limit should be mentitnod, and considered twenty miles an Tour apart front th<> austn street was ■ ■j.'H: unable. I Cr. O'Rourke thought tho Py-law as j it stood well drafted and quite .sutlici | rut. ami said all they had to do was to | ' prove the speed was dangerous. If this j proved the If-.VI. bound to con- j Tkjt. The by-law', he considered, wnsj Hound, and maintained 2u miles an huurj ' on v clear road was net dangerous. Th* Mayoi agreed that 20 miles p**r hour was not an excessiv ; rate, but there was no doubt, some motorists drove ai. an excessive rate to the danger of childreu. Cr. O’Rourke suggested that if an alteration was to be made To the bylaw, it be done in the form of an addition. Cr. Kilsby agreed that there were av.il) a few motor hogs about, while Cr. J Kil mister said if n new by-law was to bv added it, would be just as w ell to I leave it for a time as others would probably be added in connection with the Drainage by-laws. I It was decided that the matter be; Hi eld in ob'oyauce. -dr. Atmere in the meantime to get Mr. Btout’s opinion Regarding Hie speed limit. Kirk Street. Mr. Davies stated that he had explained '.Civic Sir-i t with a view to j'or in i jiHou of a footpath on one side. Tlii-*, he eon-ddereii, would com £l4 t to form, j grade, and tar v, :lb and. Whilst t lie* j work wae very detirubb, it was doubt-j £-cd if the Council 't. finances justified] ■gx» Scmation at jtMsat. The previous '

L Council had given a tarred surfae from each house to the metal portion o - tho road, and this, in most eases, wa still in good Order. The centre of tin road should, however, receive grave e where it was low. Miscellaneous. From Otaki Fire Brigade, thanking • idle Council for its donation of £lo. — I- I Received. From Municipal Association of New Zealand, stating the biennial conference would be held at Christchurch. — Decided not to be represented, Mr. _ Davies being too busy* to devote tho r time required. From F. W. Box. drawing attention I to the bad state of tlic entrance to his ! : roperty. —Attended to. j It was agreed to effect improvement , f at the entrance gates of the cemetery, ' and to do other work required, j The Engineer (Mr. Davies) and Cap- ! taiu Mathie were appointed fire inspectors, and Mr. R. Webby as water inspector. It was memtioned that the ambulance was still being stored, and a desire was expressed that it be offered for j sale. Recently, while stored in tlie | Council's yard, said Cr. Taylor, parts had been removed and in consequence it. had to be towed to its new quarters. - —Decided to sell the ambulance by tender. Tt was agreed tu increase Mr. Baker’s salary to £l-11 per year, it being con- ■ idereil the rise was well deserved. It was decided that the Council meet again on Thursday next til 11 ti.ni. A letter was received from the Frirne I Minister in reference to the proposal of the Council to place £-1.000 of the I balance of its .Sewerage Doan account «n» deposit with the Bank of New Zealand for three months at 01 per cent j interest. and stating Ire would bet pleased to carefully consider the Conn- J cil V representations. Correspondence was read from Harjiper and Atmore stating Mr. Blair had now executed his agreement for sale and purchase of the cati-hineiit area, and the submission to arbitration. — Ideal to be affixed. HEALTH INSPECTOR’S REPORT. Report month of dtine: —‘‘Otaki has been I’iee t’rmo notifiable infectious diseases during the past month. There is little of note to report this month. Weekly visits have boon made, and sundry inspections, chiefly of -food premises. have been carried out. There ha? been no sanitary work done under the by-laws requiring attention. A special visit of the Medical Officer of Health was also made during the month, a report of which you will receive in due course. (Signed) J. W. HUGGINS. Inspector of Health.” LAMP-LIGHTER' S REPORT. *‘l have much pleasure in informing you that the lamps are ill fairly go ml order, and there are now seven- , teen (17) lamps in working order. I suggest the following lamp tit Mr. H. t Cockrell’s corner be moved to Mr. I Ditukley’s corner, as I think it would give more light; also the lamp at Messrs Bills ,v Moore's corner, Otaki Railway, to be moved to Mrs. Quill's corner opposite, to give better light. (Signed) O. MASSE, La nip-light or. ’ ’ FOREMAN ’ S REPORT. •‘During the month my work consisted principally of supervising water j works contract. Messrs Morgan & Sear- j ■ m-ke are making fair c-progress with their contract. A test was made on the Domnin line, which was satisfactory with the exception of it few joints. Mr. •f. Guy has finished las metal contract • hi Tasman Road. I Mi 5 yards being put on. A small st retell from Mon tore House to the railway crossing could Jo with some metal, while Kangiuru Ruud I want? patching. Mr. Melrose asked if something could be done on the toot- j p: th in front of the section belonging to the Hospital in -Mill Road, he would then keep it in order. The people are using the ead of Uiverbank Road for a dumping ground, ttuil it will soon be blocked if something is not dune soon. 1 am getting the fire-hydrants (11 coverings) made and same will be put in position next week. (•Signed) 11. WEBBY. Foreman.” TOWN CLERK'S REPORT. The Town Clerk reported; —‘‘As instructed inquiries have been made re the formation of this Borough into a Fire District. The Act forwarded by Inspector Hugo will be placed on Council table. A Borough cannot make application to be formed into a fire district unless tlie population is 2,odd us at last census. A poll of ratepayers can then be taken. Two Boroughs may unite to make up the required population. but this cannot apply to Ottiki. The Council should now ajjpoiut one or two tire inspectors now that the liighpresfctire may be used for tire extinguishing purposes within the Town Cemetery: t would recommend the Council to consider the advisability of widening the road-way near to the entrance gates. Councillors '"'HI be I'nniiliur with the difficulty faced in tryirt° to turn cars anywhere on this road. [f is suggested that the high banks of sum! near by be scooped into the hollow, sowing it later with grass. The banks would also require fascining. The cost, j however, should not exceed £ls- Vvith I regard to the cemetery account the j credit balance now stands at £ls lbs. 7d. This Will not allow for a large amount I #f trimming for the paths, but c few j loads of metal ought to be placed in the I Methodist section. Re Ambulance: —The Council should further consider the ambulance now • tored it: Mr. Taltcrstill’s shed. Re Water Supply:—Now the head works are practically complete my Tisiti; will only be about onee a month, i ~hil*T the foreman will make a weekly * inspection until tve know its requiieIra (tuts. The Council should appoint a water inspector. A fair number of application* are now in for connecting up I tfjc system. The time occupied will bs ilhcmt onA-day par tro*b. autnc

e'o will he to inspect the work find enter of into a book at the office, the number :i«. of ordinary taps, hose taps, date of into spcction, aird the name of the plumber el who installed the pipes. Street: —Estimates for proposed street works will be submitted at this Council meeting. These have boon ° drawn up on Hie assumption that, (1) I ~ no substantial increase of footpath form- j ation will be carried out this year; j v (2) that the piesent footpaths will be : preserved. The streets for some time to come will require a large amount of ’• patching. This I think can be met by e keeping the permanent liamls of the street stall on patching only. Any 1 ether work will be carried out by casual j labour, where such cannot be done by tlie foreman. , ‘ Test of .loio.ls: —As previously nr- ' * ranged the length of mains laid along Domain Road was jointed with molten lead. On inspection live were found to in* leaking; they were however I caulked up under pressure. The next section of pipes laid by Ihe contractor' (Aotalci along with Kangitira and 11i ■Streets East.) were jointed with lead | wool. On eHpn one joint was found to give small drip. This test was adm'l-ted by the workmen 1* be j excellent, whilst a -imilar result was,' obtained at a later test. ] t ( Whilst reeuguising that molten lead makes good joints it must give way tu the more modern method of jointing with lead wool, both from the standpoint of efficiency, and cost. On Monday, July lltli. the Eire Brigade used the water supply for practice. The display goes to prove that (when the japes along Waereuga Road tire linked t;p. f and the reticulation completed') the result will lie ill excess of anything I promised in niv previous reports. With . a view tc* finding out if tlie rate of How j into the tank would be equal to a con--1 tioous heavy draw oil*, nearly duo.ooo J gallons of water were passed through the meter in L’4 hours, bv opening the valve near to the Telegs’aph Hotel. Before starting, the water in the tank was 1 foot I inches below the overflow. and after finishing it was 1 foot S inches. The bv-pass •"ill be finished ( ' i in about a week’s time, and brought into use io allow the tank t" la- iltorouglily donned out. After this the 1 Domicil may look upon the water supply , *' as being permanently turned on, and completed, with the exception of re- 11 tiou!utioi] within the Borough. T ex-» pact the pipes will be laid in the (own J ' area within three weeks’ time, but , ' from the financial statement tu he pres'eiited to the Council, it is obvious that no further contracts can be let this q year, unless financial arrangements are made to secure a portion of the balance of £7,1.11.111 from the State Advance Cilice. The matter of extraordinary supplies q (by meter or arrangement) should be considered by Council, also rate (if 1 any) this year for domestic water supply as set. out in the Municipal Cooperations Act section. j,