BOROUGH COUNCIL

Rotorua Morning Post, Volume 1, Issue 205, 22 April 1932, Page 6

BOROUGH COUNCIL

* ♦ REGULAR MEETING - CORRESPONDENCE, REPORTS AND GENERAL BUSINESS. WORK IN THE TOWN. The Rotorua Borough Council met on Wednesday evening, the Mayor, Mr. T. Jackson, presiding. Then were present Crs. G. Urquhart, 0. H. Coleman, E. T. Johnson, N. M. Keane, W. Galbraith, A. Sm'.th, L. J. Bayfeild and H. Tai Mitchell. A letter was received from the Valuer-General, advising that in view of the possibility of an Assessment Court requiring to sit to hear object'ons to valuations in this district ■ during the year, and in view of the fact that the three-year period since the assessor was appointed expires ■ on the 31st June, 1932, early steps should be taken to give ratepayers an opportuifity of selecting the pei - son to be appointed for the next three years. — It was decided to takc the necessary steps to eall for nom-ua-tions for an assessor. The president, Rotorua Boy Scoita Comm'ttee, wrote applying for por--mission to hold a small campfire swearing-in ceremony in the Town Square at a later date, when the Commissioner would officiate. All precautions would be taken against damage and the area would be left ck-an and tidy. — The application was granted. The Town Clerk, Whakatane, advised that his Counc:l had made representations to the Government that the provision of the Financial Expenditure Adjustment Bill be extended to provide for the compulsory reductiou by the banks of interest rate upon advances, such reduction to be commensurate with the other reductions proposed in that measure, i.e., 20 per cent. The Couucil's support for the representations was requested. — "They should be compelled to reduce it like anyone else," remarked Mr. E. T. Johnson, and the sentiment received general support. It was decided to support the representations. An application was received from Mr. A. D. Hardie, Ti Street, applying for a perm't to have a petrol pump installed at his residence in Ti Street. — The application was refer'red to the general committee. A letter was received from the general secretary, New Zealand • branch of the British Red Cross Society, submitting a deta'led summary of proposals evolved and endowed by Col. the Hon. Dr. W. E. Collir.s, C.M.G., M.L.C. It was proposed to establish a fund and to ask the Council of each centre to allow a street collection to be taken up one dry each year in aid of the fund. The suggestion was that in the event of any great disaster, such as floods or earthquake, money and equipment would be ready for use at a moment's notice. — It was decided to refer the matter to the general comnrttee with power to act. It was decided, on the recommendation of the parks and reserves committee, that the waste area on th 1 south- end of Eenton Street be clcaved up and planted to conform wr.h the treatment of the area adjoining. . , which is und er the control of the Tourist Department. Engineer's Report. The borough engineer, Mr. F. C. Bunyard, reported ior tiie period en Iing March 31. Bitumen street intersect'ons had now been finished and the weather for tms work was id'eal. This work eonipleted, the scheme of bitumen roauing for which p.ortion of the £10,0tU loan was carried. The whole of tae; work proposed, together with some, . extra work, had been completed with-' in the estimates. The borough b tu- ■ men staff had carried out their work' in a very creditable manner. It would now be possible to commence on the permanent footpath work, for which loan money was avaiiable and moulds were be'ng preparecf for an experimental length of coucrete footpath. A section of permanent footpath. had been laid down m Eruera Street in front of Mr. L. Woolliams' buildings. The frontage in Tutanekai Street had been repaired. On the Rotorua-Whakatane mai* ' highway some 200 cubic yards of local metal had been laid, covering q : length of 10 chains of road 22ft wide, The balance of the road had been pu- ' miced where necessary. The Rocj-rua-Cambridge road had been damag•ed by the recent rain and n start had been made to re-sheet same. On the Rotorua-Napier highway, the new length of road had been ma n- . tafned by the Public Works Department. The edges of the bitumen surfacing had been maintained by the . borough staff. The oats crop from the Kuirau raserve and the town belt in PereriLa Street had been chaffsd and 5tons 8cwt of good chaff was obtained. The Puarenga bridge on the Whakatane Road had been temporarily repaired and more permanent repairs were to be made. This bridge rqu'red to be replaced with a new cov crete one. The bridge over the Utuhina stream on the Old Taupo Ro:.d required further repairs and further work would be required during the coming year. The borough crushing plant had ' now been removed and re-erected at „ the borough quarry. A tender had ; been accepted for connecting the elec tric motor to the supply mains. During the recent rains, considerable damage was done to most of the borough roads where not bitumen surfaced. The locaj metal surfaced roa b in almost all cases required complet j- ■ ly ra-sheeting. The amount of mate- '• rial required "for the pumice and local metal roads during the coming winter would be very considerable. The following work had been carried out by relief labour: — Sewerage farm: grubbing and clearing; a'srodrome: clearing broom, gorse, e'tc.; Pukuatua Street railway culvert: filling in '«arth; Pererika Street: widen- . ing and cycle track; Pukuatua Street: . levelling street frontages; Hinemoa Street: levelling street frontages: . Marine Parade. cleaning around , hedge plants; drains : railway and othsrs, cleaning-; sundry small jobs. The report was adopted.