Patea Borough Council.

Patea Mail, 7 February 1882, Page 3

Patea Borough Council.

The monthly meeting was held last evening. Present : The Mayor (in the chair), Councillors Taplin, Aitchison, Mahony, Adams, Dixon, Black, and Ho with TRANSFERS. Transfers of sections were agreed to—from D. M. Warren to W. Brown, section in Egmont-slreet, and from W. Dale to A. Young, part of section 4, block 40. CLUB LICENSE. Government sent an intimation that a liquor license has been issued to the Patea Club. The amount of license will be payable to the borough. URGENT WORKS. The Works Committee reported as follows : Since last report 104 loads of gravel have been deposited on the most broken places of Bedford and Egmont streets at a cost of £2O 17s 9d. This gravel was procured from the Patea Heads, and seemed the best procurable there, but still of a very inferior quality, and unsuitable for carrying heavy traffic ; therefore your Committee decided to get no more from that pit for the present. A prospector was sent out to find better gravel if possible, and succeeded in finding a likely deposit on suburban section No. 3. Arrangements were made with the owner of the land for the gravel at 3d per yard, and the pit is now being opened up ; samples of the gravel are in the office. A gate and posts will be necessary to allow drays to pass through two paddocks to the pit. Should the pit turn out satisfactory, the Committee recommend that it be purchased. Day labor amounting to £8 lls fid has been employed in procuring gravel, cutting docks and thistles, and attending to footpaths and watertables. The Committee inspected the road to the proposed new rubbish depot, and found no great obstacle in connection with it. Regarding the most urgent woik required on streets, independently of works referred to in borrowing scheme, your Committee recommend that Victoria street be formed full width from Egmont street to west side of Grey street, and thence have the centre eased off with an easy grade to the next sand cutting ; drain from the coach factory to the creek to be filled in on 9in. drain tiles ; remove the wooden bridge and substitute 12in. drain tiles, so that the ditch may be filled in the full width of street ; form footpaths both sides, and clay all sand}' places. That York street be widened at least 15 feet, as the present narrow roadway is quite inadequate for the heavy traffic to and from the wharves. That the footpath from the Post Office to the corner of Victoria street be kerbed. That the footpath on south side of Norfolk street be repaired at once. That a former vote of £3 for repairs in Suffolk street be expended when conditions by owners are complied with. That drain mouth at corner of Victoria street be -supplied with a proper grating and the necessary filling done in connection with it. That the footpath on south side of Cambridge from Dorset to Devon streets be completed. Mayor : I should like to ask the Works Committee to give an approximate estimate of the cost of widening Victoriastreet. Councillor Aitchison : The length is about 16 chains, and the formation alone would cost about £4 per chain. About £IOO would he the total coat of formation, tiling, and gravelling. The report was then adopted. YORK STREET. Agreed that lenders he invited for the proposed work in York-street, leading to the wharf, if there be time to take levels and advertise before next meeting. FINANCE REPORT. The Finance Committee reported as follows : 1. That a select committee be appointed to examine the Valuation Roll, with the view of taking objections to the palpable errors and omissions therein, and to instruct the Town Clerk to 'make such objections in the manner provided for by the Rating Act. 2. That until the Valuation Roll is corrected, your Committee are unable to present a true statement of the revenue of the Borough. 3. That in view of the County rate having been withdrawn from the Borough, a rate of Is be struck for the years 1882-3. Clauses 1 and 2, dealing with the Rate Roll, were adopted on the motion of the Mayor. Agreed that the Mayor, Councillors Adams, Black, and Taplin be a Committee to revise the Rate Roll ; also that the Clerk be the officer to take necessary objections in Court, under the committee’s instruction. Clause 3, as to the amount of rate, was postponed. COUNTY AND BOROUGH AGREEMENT. The Committee appointed to confer with

the County Council reported that the following had been agreed to : That a sum of £6O be paid by the County Council to the B trough Council in settlement of all claims (under clause 32, M.C. Act), and that the Borough pay 4-7ths and the County 7 Councils 3-7ths of the cost of maintaining the Patea bridge ; this arrangement to hold good fora period of two years. DOG COLLARS. The Dog Collar Committee reported having accepted the tender of G. T. Potto for the supply of dog collars for the year 1882. EARTH CLOSETS. Councillor Adams asked what was intended respecting earth-closets, and enforcing the adoption of same. Mayor : I intended asking the Council to obtain necessary information and one or two specimens. I find that people are anxious to have earth-closets, but little is known about them. Councillor Aitcbison moved “ That information be procured regarding earth closets, and that one or two specimens be obtained as samples.” Councillor Taplin thought the Council should advertise for specimen closets. There are enough tradesmen in the place to procure specimens, without the Council going into the store-keeping business. Let the Council advertise that it is their intention to put in force bye-law 104, Councillor Adams : Those by T e-laws are in force now, and don’t need advertising to give effect to them. Councillor Aitcbison : I hear questions asked every day on this subject. Motion seconded and carried.

RATE ROLL. extraordinary objections. Mr D. M. Harris had sent in an account for £lO, his claim for preparing the Rate Roll of the borough, as per agreement. On the question of its being paid, the following remarks were made. Mayor : This account is not certified to, and I don’t feel disposed to certify to it as yet. The Valuation Roll is not made up in accordance with the Act at all ; and as to the errors and omissions, I am at a loss for words to characterise such a piece of work to put before any body of men of ordinary intelligence. I don’t know what the clear duty of the Council is in the matter, but I suppose the Council should pay for work when it is done in a proper manner, and not before. The Finance Committee have gone through this Roll, and I think they will bear me out that it is a most extraordinary production from beginning to end. Even the form of schedule has not been complied with. Of the large number of leasehold properties in this borough,. only some three or four are filled in. As samples of the roll, take a few instances. Mr Rhode’s new bootshop is put down at £2O annual rating value, and Mr Barker’s large grain store is put at £lO. The new building and section of the Bank of New Zealand are put down at £l3O a year.

Councillor Black : I doubt whether you can rate that, as it cannot be occupied yet. Mayor: It does not matter about occupation. Mr W. Cowern’s residence up the road is omitted altogether. On the river bank the Harbor Board sold some small leasehold sections near the wharves. Mr Taplin bolds a section on one side of me, valued at £4, Mr Eyfon holds on the other side of me, valued at £3, and I come between them with a section precisely similar, hut valued at £l4. There is not a shilling difference in the value of any of those three. These are only samples. Oouncilior Adams : Yes, and Mr Dale’s auction rooms and offices are valued at £2O, and Mr Cowern’a auction rooms at £4O or £45.

Mayor : The Act says (he valuer shall not go below 5 per cent., but it seems to me he has done so in many case. We have now to consider whether this work has to be paid for straight away. I fancy this Roll should stand the test of a Court before it is paid for. If the man is entitled to his money I don’t wish to keep him out of it. Councillor Dixon : If that Roll is not complete, how is it to be expected we can pay for it? It should be referred back for information. Councillor Adams : As a member of the Finance Committee I can bear out his Worship’s remarks. The roll is very unsatisfactory.' It is compiled in a very extraordinary manner; but we have decided not to object to the Roll as a whole, and therefore I consider we shall have to pay for it. If we objected to it as a whole, our responsibility for this account would cease.

Mayor : To object to the roll as a whole would cause serious loss of time, because the whole process of notification for inspection would have to be gone through afresh. The Finance Committee thought we could arrive at what we want by objecting to portions of the Roll. Agreed to let Mr Harris’s account lie over. ACCOUNTS Passed for payment : —W. Dixon painting notice board £1 10s, labor £8 11s 6d, Keys carting gravel £2O 17s 9d, E. Mercer 7s, Kenworthy £4 10s, D. M. Harris rent of office £3 15s, Mahoney & Co. 2s Lyon & Blair engrauing borough seal £1 16s 6d, Hamerton advising Mayor &c. £2 8s BJ, Daily Mail £2 2s, A. Black 15s, IS COMMITTEE BUSINESS SECRET ?

Mayor : Before going into committee to open tenders, you will clearly understand that the object of going into committee is to give more freedom in debate, and Councillors are then at liberty to discuss, if necessary, the character of any one applying for a situation under the Council. It is not intended that any proceedings in committee should be made public in any way whatever. Indeed it is intended that, by going into committee, the usual publicity shall be avoided, and that Councillors shall be protected from the consequence of anything they may say about the character of appplicants for an office. If that protection be taken away, Councillors will not be able to speak with that freedom which their duty requires. Then as to a Councillor’s vote in committee, wo all know that when there are applications for an office, we as Councillors are often asked for a vote here and there ; and the principle is that no one outside this table knows how any 7 Councillor has voted. It is very necessary that I should make these remarks, because the proceedings of a late meeting while in committee were considerably dilated upon by the Evening News ; and although I don’t care who knows how I vote, still I noticed that the whole proceedings in committee were made a subject of severe newspaper stricture. I think it is necessary that it should be understood that when we go into committee, we have the same privacy as if the reporters were not present. We do not ask them to retire, but rely 7 on their honor and descretion.

Councillor Black : How did the report of that committee become known to the newspaper ? Did the reporter (who was not present) apply to the Town Clerk and get the information ? [Note : The late Town Clerk was not present at the time referred t§..] Mayor : I am not saying that this information was obtained in any other way than that. When we go into committee, we do not request the gentlemen of the press to retire. I don’t know how the information was got, but it was published. APPLICATIONS—ENGINEER AND SURVEYOR. The Council then went into committee, and opened seventeen applications for the joint office of Engineer and Surveyor to the Council. The following applied : E. J. Campion, Wellington ; Roland Garratt, Wanganui ; W. Knott, Patea ; J. Philip Armstrong, Palmerston North ; C. D. Irving, Wellington ; Geo. Harden, Patea ; E. H. Beere, Wellington ; N. Marchant, Wellington ; W. Q. Rutherford ; T. W. Downs, Bulls; Ernest Combes, Patea; H. W, H. Graham, Nelson; E. Tregear, New Plymouth ; C. Davy, Wangaehu ; F. Fairbairn, Dargaville ; L. Smith, and C. E. Watkins, Dunedin. The list was eventually reduced to three names, and the appointment was deferred till Wednesday evening for further information . GRAVEL TENDERS. The Council, while in committee, opened tenders for gravel, and agreed to recommend the acceptance of Mr Keys’s tender. MISCELLANEOUS. Councillor Taplin complained that a cow and calf have been allowed to damage trees in the planted portion of the Domain. The Mayor promised to ascertain. Mr Potto’s tender for dog-collars had been accepted. Council adjourned till Wednesday.