TUAKAU.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 7, Issue 437, 27 December 1918, Page 3

TUAKAU.

i BOARD VACANCIES PAYEES' meeting. •attended meeting of rateras held in the Tuakan iall last Friday evening, sr circumstances that had and were attendant on the ns of Messrs W. J. Deeble, , and W. Barnaby as meme Town Board. H. Tapper (Clerk to the resided as convenor of the md at the onset asked that mould djal with the ques e tKe>sjfl>sting, and nothing king in regard to the Board's i stated that it was an open it in September last the s working in anything but and thereby the interests epayers suffered to a ©wrAt one time the bank was in such a condition nld not be drawn otiend itly die weeded with The Board's r an instalment ot £5,000 >f the £12,000 frsea the oat Depejrtmeatwe*, howinted on NoUfchg 23rd. est per month ■Mjinliont s, so that every Mftth the is not spent # cost the 210s. The Board did not her with the result that nbers had resigned. The td arisen through one memI". Mungall), who was not a Mr Tapper added that ailed the meeting in the terests of the general wele district in order that the atld be so formed as to r the funds of the Board best interests of rateHia action in calling the light be questioned, but as had been short of a suffiber to form a quorum he jht the better plan would t the position Wore the ratepayers. „.-<^» Mr W. J. Deeble, the late Chairman of the Board, said tb#time had arrived when something had to be done to acquaint the ratepayers of the Workings of the Board. Trouble had been caused him in his attempts to carry out what he bad in his mind in the interests of the ratepayers. He mentioned, for instance, that one member proposed resolutions at a meeting, and none of them were seconded, as they were of a very foil nature. It took them from 7 30 Km until midnight to do nothing. aughter.) When work was gone was gone for ever, and with the summer months at hand he mainjlained that the Board's work should he proceeding apace, but instead of that one member had proved an obstruction. Plans and specifications of work were being held up, but, in his opinion, the financial position was not as bad as the Clerk had stated Mr Deeble went on to say that the influenza epidemic had retarded the Board's operations. He (Mf Deeble) had stopped men working, and by so doing had saved the ratepayers £BO. Mr Deeble claimed that in any expenditure made by the Board he had acted as if he wss using his own money. One member, he continued, who was not a ratepayer, had been very antagonistic to the working of the Board, and had endeavoured to stir up dirty water. In reply to Mr Lapwood, Mr Deeble said the opposition and ob- • struction came from only one quarter on the Board. 'ln conclusion, MIT Deeble suggested that the ratepayers should 1 ask the remaining members of the Board to resign, so as to then pick out seven men, and to return them. : He contended that a man who paid £BO a year in rates had more interest in the welfare of the district than a man who paid nothing. Mr W. Gubb remarked that Mr Deeble had not stated his reasons for resigning. The reason they resigned was on account of Com' miasioner Mungall who had proved an obstruction to the Board's work. Mr Gubb outlined the various matters that had taken place from the time of the recent biennial election until he found it time for him to "pull out" Referring to the expenditure of money, he said the main street had cost the Board £I2OO. The street was left in a deplorable sthto an 1 the work with White Bridge was preceded with. The bank overdraft was over and above the limit. An application for an instalment out of the loan of £SOOO was granted and on that, being received he moved that tho Engineer should be instructed to prepare plans for the construction of the main street in tar macadam and tarring and sanding and concrete to the school. The work of the Engineer had been criticised unfavourably by Mr Mungall who insists rightly or wrongly that the Engineer's services should be dispensed with. He (Mr Gubb) considered that such was not a proper procedure to adopt and he maintained that before they dispensed with the ser vices of a servant they should bring in an independent engineer for him to inspect the work. Mr Mungall wanted the Engineer to go without a fair hearing. He (Mr Gubb) maintained that neither he nor any other man in Tuakau were qualified to pull any engineering work to pieces. They certainly could form an opinion and if they thought they were in the right they could take steps as above. After what had taken place he resigned. With Messrs B&roaby and Deeble resigning the lot of chairman would have fallen on him but b» could not accept the pomtion to play with the Engineer. If he had stepped in Mr Mungall would have been antago nietic to him and they would have

fallen out with the result that the Clerk would also probably have resigned. Mr Tapper, he added, had been taken on at a salary which no one else would have accepted and it would be bad policy when half of the money was spent and when he had everything at his finger tips to cause him to resign. He would be very sorry indeed to see Mr Tapper take up that attitude. Mr Tapper had always had the accounts audited by a Government auditor and had always had them passed without a tag, having been complimented on his work by the Auditor. Mr Mungall was the next speaker and occupied the floor for over an hour. He led off by saying "lam the obstructionist." (laughter). He went on to remark that he had been a member of the Board for six weeks, during three of which he had been in bed with the " flu," but during his term as a member he had arranged to have £4339 of the ratepayers' money spent on work of interest to the community. He proceeded: "Is that obstructing the work of the Board. I am the man who is doing the work, and lam not hankering after the position of Chair man. I don't want it. They can all have it" He added that he was a great believer in a Town Board office and he thought they should have an office of their own. When he went on to the Board and made investigation he found the work half done. Mr Mungall next criticised the work of the Engineer in connection with the Bridge. His chief complaint was the broken wing of the bridge and the question of weep Wee to let the surface water away. The bridge, he claimed, had not been constructed according to specifications. They had a special meeting to discuss the matter with the Engineer and at the meeting when the speaker was questioning the En gineer the Chairman endeavoured to put a motion that the Engineer's excuses be accepted. Mr Mungall said he objected without a full meeting of ihe Board as the meeting was informal. He questioned the Engineer regarding 18 3inoh weep holes. The Engineer stated he did not know they had to go to the wings. He (Mr Mungall) showed him the specifications with the 18 weep holes included. The Engineer then asked the Board to excuse him as he had overlooked them. He afterwards stated that there were eight 9 inch weep holes in the drum which the contractor had been instructed verbally by him to put in. He later sent a note of apology to the Board intimating that there were only four weep holes instead of the eight as he had previously stated and he asked the Board to accept an apology. Continuing Mr Mungall said he wm dissatisfied with the Engineer because he had not constructed tha bridge according to specifications. He (Mr Mungall) subsequently got the 18 weep holes put in. In connection with a bonus of £33 10s voted to the contractor Mr Mungall said he would have liked to have given him £33 10s out of his own pocket but not out of the pockets of the ratepayers. The Board paid £l6 10s for an anchor to support the broken wing of the structure, a proposition he was against. When amotion to accept the bridge was before a meeting he objected and thought that before the bridge was accepted they should meet the ratepapers and explain the position. Mr B. 0. Geraghty very briefly assured the ratepayers that the broken wing of the bridge was as good as gold. Mr Deeble contended that Mr Mungall instead of offering some useful suggestions was always faultfinding and obstructing the work of the Board. Mr Gubb said he was not going to sit on the Board with a man who would not listen to reason. Regarding the bonus awarded to the contractor Mr Gubb claimed it was totally inadequate and that they were lucky the contractor did not throw the job up. £IOO would have been a decent bonus for the large amount of trouble encountered. Mr Mungall, he said, was also antagonistic to the Clerk. Mr W. G. Graham stated a crisis had been reached and no benefit could be derived out of discussing the past. It was their duty to have the vacancies on the Board filled to the best advantage. He intended to offer bis services. For the last 22 years he said, he had dealt with boys and after hearing the various speakers he had come to the conclusion that they were absolutely childish. (Laughter). Every man had not the same opinion, but right prevailed in the end. They however, required unity. In conclusion Mr Graham eulogised the services of Mr Fultoa as a chairman, of Mr Boutley as Engineer, and Mr Tapper as Clerk He had always Lund them, he said, capable men. The Chairman then asked the meeting for a resolution to be proposed. Mr Deeble moved and Mr C. Finch seconded that Messrs W. G. Graham, W Gubb and H. V North more be asked to accept nomination to fill the vacancies on the Board, and this was carried. A vote of thanks to Mr T ipp r for presiding terminated procee lings Polling to fill the vacancy on the Tuakau Town Board created l»y th > death of Mr J. H. Crai? is in progress to-day, the candidates being Messrs J J Dromgool and Dynes Fulton. It is notified hy advertisement in this issue that nominations for th* three vacancies on the Boar 1 caused by the resignations of Mess's Deeble, Barnaby, and Gubb, will close on Friday next at noon, an I that polling, if any, will tike plac j on Wednesday, January Bth.