HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

Shannon News, 22 August 1924, Page 3

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD.

THE MONTHLY MEETING. At Tuesday's meeting of the Horowhenua Power board, the chairman, IMr G. A. Monk, presided. Amongst the nusiness uead.t with were the following matters:— FOXTON BEACH. ■ Mr A. ivuss asKed u aaiytnliig mure, nan oeen uone anout urn r oxioii Beach. The chairman stated that the Engineer nau met tne peopie interested and. had uuvioed mem to sign up, stating wnat th<*y were prepaid io pay and that tne Board would . men consider 'the applications on meir merits. COOKING DEMONSTRATIONS. Mr iviatnesoii said that at last'.meeting oi nie school committee of the JL,evin D.n.S. a communication was received lrom the cookery mistress asking that an electric range be installed at • the school, the suggestion being that tne Education Board i pay halt the price, the Power Board ,to bear the remaining cost. She would then be prepared to give cookery demonstrations at tne school tree oi cost to the women of the town as well as the children. ■■■■■'■"

The chairman, isaid that the opportunity appeared to him to be a splendid one of getting a good advertisement for electric cooking. If the Board retained the right ito buy back 'the' range at the price paid by the Education Board, it would be safeguarded in case of any hitch occurring. The Engineer had stated that it would even be a good ithing' to offer prizes for cooking by electricity and he thought the idea was an excellent one. The proposal was adopted on condition that the cookery demonstrator give reasonable demonstrations . according to arrangement with the Board. , . TREASURER'S REPORT. The Treasurer (Mr iv w. Goldsmith), reporieu:— Loan Money on Deposit.—As previously reported, uio sum - b Oi a;<hßJu was placed ,on nxuu uepoiit With me Rami tor three months. The penuu expired on tiie Ist August unu tne deposit had eai;ned £43 ius m intoreist. Hall tne amount (£2500) was i:e-deposned lor a i-Uii'tner tliree montlis, tne naianoe being' paid into the Loan Fund Account.

£40,000 Loan from the Government Lite Insurance Department.—The amount, paid to date is one 'instalment of £IO,OOO and lour installments oi £3OOO each, making the total amount paid to date to be £22,000.' There; are - six more ' monthly instalments of £3OOO yet to be received. Board's Liabilities.—(l) Wiring Groups: There are now 12 Groups (including a motor group), which have been let to date and the total amountof the contracts is,' in round figures £12,977? On account of work done, contractors have been paid to date, the sum of £4774, leaving a liability, to be. met as the work proceeds,•■and; which, when completed, will: ?dtal about £B2OO. Small advances have been made on all installations put in under the group system, arid also m the Shannon Borough ' where current is available, many of the consumers have paid the Board for their .installations. The total amount received for these installation refunds, plus all deposits on account, come to- £2'J , J4 19s 2d. No installation accounts have been sent out where the current is not available. In the near future; other groups will be let and will have to be financed (in the' -meantime at anyrate), although (the requests for what may be called lengthened finance, have not bean so numerous as might have been expected. It is possible, that a lew large consumers may avail themselves of the Board's lending, policy, and ii this is done provision must he made for finance to meet the position. (2) .Sundry Contracts: 'jllie Board's liabilities under this head are approximately £3750. This includes £IBSO for wire, and £llOO ior transioriners and meters.

Interest.qn £BO,OOO Loan.—/The.halfyearly interest on this loan will, be due in Sydney in December, the .amount, being £;&00, plus exchange, 'ihe Sinking t mid (Oi £BOO will then oe due to the Public Trustee. .

Future Requirements.—it will be necessary at a very early'dale to go into the matter ol the further requirements of the Board to complete the reticulation' of the district so that tne necessary nuance can, be arranged.The money market may not he any too favourable lor tne raising oi loans, but it is essential to get the matter in hand in plenty of tune, so that the best arrangements possible can be secured. Current at Shannon,—The supply from the Mangaojre steam plant to the Borough of Shannon shows as- follows: — From 9th to 31st May, 2682'units. To 20th June, 5458 units. To 31st July 6030. units. The price charged to the Board, by the Government is 2.3 d per unit. With one exception,, afl consumers of the town have paid their respective accounts to the end of June. Agreement' with the Government.— Duiring the month 1 have been asked that ihe agreement between the Government and the Board lor the supply of current from the Mangahao Power Station should be executed. It has been pointed out that there will be no power supplied to the Board's lines until the bargain has been completed, so that although the agreement' is in some respects unfavourable to the Board, an endeavour , should be made to reach finality, at an early date.

In moving the adoption of the Treasurer's report ithe chairman stated that some steps should toe taken immediately to find out the state of the money market with a view of raising the remainder of the loan required. Before doing this it would be necessary to find out the Board's requirements. There were several ■ prospective large |eonsumeais who ■ would require* financial assistance arid it would ; be accessary to find out

exactly these amounts. Theie was another matter and this.; was that these heavy amounts would perhaps no standing ©at lor some time heiore any interest or change could be made —mat was, until .the juice Became available. He' would suggest -tnat me Engineer give tile Bbaru at next meeting ,an approximate estimate ui the money required j|or the next hi montns. it might he necessary 'to have the loan over-lapping the cue tnat was at present heiiig lilted, hut this could he arranged. •' a matter which required attention was one which, was coming up in Shannon at present, said uie chairman. . Very lew people ithere nau taken advantage of tne Board's linunciai assistance, but they were uomg ft now niuirectly by not paying up wlien the juice was available. According to the arrangement, uie ihstallauon charges became due as souii as power was turned on, and if this were allowed to> go on it would seriously affect tne board's financial arrangements. Either these people must pay up .oir interest should he chargeu. " aegardlng the agreement with the Government, the reason lor holding it up wajj that 'in other parts a discount of 5 per cent, was being allowed by the Government to consumers. This being so he did not see why the same discount should not be made available , to Horowhenua. Tne matter had been discussed at 'the meeting of Power Boards at Wellington as the result oi a remit from Horowhenua and the remit had been 'unanimously adqpted, protesting against this preferential treatment;. He would recommend that the matter be left to the Finance Committee. .

Regarding the chairman's statement of outstanding accounts in Shannon Mr Gunning stated that he was /of opinion that if the collector -were to be supplied with a list of those who owed accounts, the money could he collected without difficulty.' It was agreed., that 14 days' notice be given in the case of outstanding accounts after which interest would be charged at the rate of 8 per cent, on unpaid balances, subject to a reduction of 1 per cent, for prompt payment. The report was' adopted.