BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Standard, Volume XI, Issue 1263, 31 January 1883, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The usual meeting was held last evening at the usual place of meeting. Present; His Worship the Mayor, Crs. Lewis, Tutchen, Whinray, Somervell, Carlaw Smith, Townley, and Tucker. The Minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. The Minutes of the special meeting were also read and confirmed. OUTGOING CORRESPONDENCE. The outgoing correspondence was read, INCOMING CORRESPONDENCE. The following correspondence was then read :— Wellington, Jan 22, 1883. Sir, —I have the honor to acknowledge the receipt of your conditions for competitive schemes for a Water Supply. The conditions being of such an unusual character, I beg to decline competing. However, if the submitted schemes are not approved of by the Council, I should be glad to provide you with a design on the usual terms, and from having had large experience in hydraulic works, I have no doubt of being able to devise a scheme that would meet with the approval of the authorities.— I have, etc., J. D. Chinnie, The letter was ordered to be acknowledged with thanks. Mr Henry Clayton resigned his Councillorship. as he was about to take a trip to England. He had tendered his resignation at the same time as Cr. Clarke, in order to save two elections. A letter from the County Clerk was then read, drawing attention to the manner in which the nightsoil from the Borough is deposited in the sand on the Waikanae. After a long discussion it was resolved that the question be left over for further consideration. THE FIRE BRIGADE. Cr. Townley was of opinion that with reference to the Fire Brigade this question should be placed in a better position than it was at present. The Brigade was a very valuable institution, and he considered that it should be supported. Cr. Smith said that as some of the Insurance Companies had refused to render assistance in this respect, it behoved the Council now to take the matter into their own hands and he should advise that a special rate of Is in the £ be struck, which would be equivalent to £lOB2. If there was a special rate struck in addition to the £5O he considered that that would be ample to meet the requirements for all insurance purposes. He considered that Messi’s Pitt and Bennett, Mr Adair, and others should contribute pro rata. At present they had a good and useful plant for extinguishing fires, and he thought it was a pity to see that the efforts of the Fire Brigade were not carried through simply for the want of some organisation. Cr. Whinray moved, Cr. Tutchenseconded, and it was carried, that the grant of £5O to the Fire Brigade be carried on. Cr. Townley considered that it would be only right to take a reasonable proportion of the rates of the Borough for fire purposes. VALUATION LIST. In reply to a letter sent by the Council re valuation, applying for an extension of time for the preparation of the Annual Valuation List, and for the inspection of the same, the following letter was received :— Sir, —I am directed by the Colonial Secretary to request that you will be so good as to state for what reason the extension of time is required.—G. 8. Cooper. It was stated that owing to press of business and the indisposition of the Valuator, as well as the difficulty through the absence of a Deeds Registry Office of ascertaining the owners of many properties, the time for the extension of the assessment list be the 15th February and the time for the objection.

Cr. Tucker thought that an answer might be forwarded to the Government, informing them of the fact that through a great pressure of business, the completion of the roll had been delayed, and they would therefore ask the Government that fifteen days more be allowed for the purpose of lodging objections. Cr. Somervell said that there was not the slightest use at blinking at the plain truth. He considered that it was a case of gross negligence on the part of the Engineer. The matter had been entrusted to him to carry out in its entirety, and now they could not obtain any information at all on the subject. The Council was now at a great disadvantage. He (Cr. Somervell), considered that the Engineer had not done his work properly. After some considerable talk it was resolved that His Worship enquire into the matter, and that he be requested to see that the roll should be completed as once, and if not, that a special meeting of the Council should be called.

Cr. Townley considered that the roll could have been completed in a few days if any person had persevered. His Worship ; I quite agree with you. Cr. Tucker said that he did not for one moment suppose that Cr. Somervell meant to convey to the Council anything but the truth. At the same time he considered that no one could hardly fail to condemn the Engineer for his action in this matter. It was perfectly true that there was no Registry Office here where the numbers of the sections of land could be accurately ascertained, but that might very soon have been remedied by an application at the proper quarter. BOROUGH RESERVES. It was proposed by Cr. Tutchen, seconded by Cr. Whinray and carried, that an authorised surveyor be employed tef peg out the sections, and to prepare the plans of the Borough reset ves. An amendment was then moved by Cr. Lewis seconded by Cr. Somervell, and carried to the effect, “That the Engineer be informed that unless the Borough reserves be pegged off, and plans drawn on or before the sth Feb., 1883, the services of another surveyor will be engaged, and the cost debited to him.” INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES PEPORT. The following report from Mr Faram was read:— Gisborne, 30th Jan., 1883. To His Worship the Mayor. Sir,—l have the honor to report for the information of the Borough Council re Nuisances :—I beg to call your attention to the number of complaints I receive respecting the nightsoil contractor. Several householders complain of his non-attendance. When I spoke to him he refers to his book and show me that 5 out of 6 who lodge the complaints do not pay him, and further he refuses to empty their closets again until he is paid for what he has.done. He wishes to

leave those person’s closets until they become a nuisance, and then for me to summon them. I tell him he must empty them according to his contract whenever it is necessary, and if they will not pay him, he must sue for the money, I would point out to your Council that if you will allow the contractor to refuse to empty closets, the closet in question is not only a nuisance to the owner of the closet, but also to the surrounding houses. Dogs.—There have been 76 dogs registered during the past month. Horses.—l have impounded 25 horses and 12 head of cattle during the present month. —I have &0., Thomas Faram, Inspector of Nuisances, BOROUGH RESERVES. The following letter from Mr J, O. Barnard, Inspector of Surveys, to the Town Clerk, Gisborne, was read Sir, —In reply to above quoted letter I beg to state that although Mr Drummond had a plan of the Borough Reserve® at this office (inasmuch as it was simply a plan of the intended sub-divisions) the actual pegging or marking off the sections, in accordance with such plan on the ground not having been done. It was unfinished also as a plan in more than one particular. I told Mr Drummond on Monday last that I could take no cognizance of the plan until the matter wa® completed on the ground, as well as on paper. Had the sub-divisions been completed I would have examined the work. J. Oram Barnard, C.E., Inspector of Surveys. HEALTH officer’s REPORT. The following report was then read from the Health Officer, Dr. Pollen To the Chairman of Board of Health, Gisborne. Dear Sir,—l am happy to be in the position to report that for this season of the year the Borough of Gisborne is in a fairly healthy condition. Some cases of fever of a typhoid nature have appeared at the upper end of Gladstone Road, and a few isolated cases elsewhere, but on the whole, up to the present time, this number compares most favorably with former years. The prevailing complaints are summer diarrhoea, billious, and mild intermittent fevers, and these are for Gisborne unusually numerous. The Inspector of Nuisances has not reported anything extraordinary to me lately, and I have every reason to believe that the sanitary condition of the township is in its normal condition. With regard to the wells in the Borough I think it is important that householders and others should receive warning occasionally about the danger of drinking water contained in some of them. My attention was drawn lately to some well-water which, if not actually poisonous, contained matter almost certain to produce sickness of an alarming nature.—l am, etc., Hy. Pollen, Health Officer, ABERDEEN ROAD. A letter was read from Mr W. F. Crawford with reference to the state of Aberdeen Road. This was ordered to be acknowledged, with an intimation that the matter would be seen to as soon as possible. Cr. Smith, speaking with reference to this, said that he considered Mr Crawford’s request a most reasonable one, and he thought that the Borough Council were bound to put the road in a proper and reasonable state of repair. He did not see why Mr Crawford, who paid heavy taxes, should suffer any more than any other ratepayer who paid a great deal less. PRINTING. The following letter from Messrs. Chrisp and Dufaur was read :— From Messrs. and. Co.. Gisborne, 27th Jan., 1883. To the Town Clerk, Gisborne, Sir, —We hereby give you notice that we have this day assigned all our interest in the Contract for printing for the year, 1883, for the Borough Council, to Mr James Snyder Browne, of Gisborne, who will be prepared to give any reasonable guarantee for the faithful performance of the same, and trust that the Council will accept him as our assign,—-Yours obediently, F. Dufaur and Co. Cr. Whinray considered that this was simply a farce, and he would protest against it. It was resolved that the assignment be accepted from Messrs. Chrisp and Dufaur to Mr J. S Brown, and that Mr Brown could sign the necessary sureties and give guarantees for the due performance of the work. After some discussion amongst Councillors a* to “digging about for people’s motives, ” and as to whether they should take Brown for Chrisp, or Chrisp for Brown, it was thought better to take the Brown, so long as the proper guarantees were entered into for the due performance of the contract. PAYMENTS, Payments to the amount of £B4 12s 2d were passed. Mr Oxenham’s account for £240 18s Id was passed conditionally on the understanding that the County Engineer assess the work. After some routine business the Council adjourned at midnight.