HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD

Shannon News, 19 December 1924, Page 3

HOROWHENUA POWER BOARD

, MONTHLYyMEETING. > j Themonthly n meeting >, o£ • -the Ho ro- ;• ivvhehua Po>vef;;Board wasjbeld in,.the, , Y/M,CiA. i^oomsy-j Levin, .-on:. Tuesday, - the Chairman,-. Mr. G. A. Monk,„prosid.ingii::l Also.; present/ti/ Messrs Brown,, .Barber, Seifert, ;G,nn.ning,:andiMathesou,.VLeavq;,.of absence; was granted tO'*Mr, A./Koss.:,; : -t/v I ,j . -i • Accounted-„ v i,;y/. • | (Accounts totalling;£332S ; iis TOd..wore' passed „; for payment, ./ this including' /half-year’s interest;of...£22oo, :,. ; •V Correspondeucei/j l The Public Works Department gave formal notification that power would be supplied on a quantity maximum according to terms of agreement, as from January Ist, 1925.—Received; Otaki Installation. '* Mr. G. E. Watson, Otaki, wrote enquiring when power would be available in his locality, Hautere Cross.

The chairman said that in reference to this Ire thought thb trouble was that these people thought they were being left. The other people in the district were being wired up, but as the ■ present applicants were at the end ol a road the engineer proposed to serve th'em with* a lowrtension wire, lie proposed that the matter be left in the hands of the engineer for attention—Agreed t'.. Inconvenience from Stoppages.

The manager of the /'Otaki Mail” wrote asking that if possible he be notified when power wag to be turned off on account of repairs, etc., and stating that on several occasions the stoppage of. power with which he was working machinery had caused him considerable inconvenience. 'Mr. Kilsby stated that he had be'en communicated with by, the. manager of the ‘' Mail, ’ ’ who on on'e occasion had been in the middle of printing the paper when the power was turned off.

Mr. Brown said that lie had also suffered from this cause. The juice had been cut off in hi s flax-mill, recently, and 'was off for. three hours. If they could only be notified when a stoppage Was going to occur alternative arrange ; ments could be made. Even. if they could be uotifjed definitely . when power, would be resumed, it would be useful.

Mr. Gunning spoke on the same lines. The engineer stated that in cases where a stoppage had occurred, he had been unable to obtain definite information as to when the power would again be available. He had rung up Mangahao, but all he could get from them was that the power would be turned on as soon as possible.

It was decided to write that when possible, notice would be given jas asked. Reticulation to be Pushed Ahead.

In moving the adoption of the engineer’s report/ the chairman stated that at last - meeting the engineer ■ and he had been authorised to put one of the Board’s cars in and take out a new one. It was now found that it would bo necessary to send out another inspector and organiser to form hew groups. It was thought advisable therefore to obtain a new car. Now that the power was on it was desirable that canvassing should ,be pushed ahead as quickly as possible, so as , to bring the power to every part of the district. The suggestion was agreed to. Good Service Recognised.'

There was another matter which the engineer had not included in his report, but which might b'e taken in connection with it, said: the chairman. This was the recognition of the oxtra work which had been done by the Line Foreman and Installation -'lnspectors. All of these officers had. done many hours of work each week above their correct time and he recommended that thig be recognised to the extent of paying each man £lO for overtime. It was also recommended to appoint the wife of the Shannon sub-station attendant, as as-sistant-attendant, at the, remuneration of 10g per week. Mr. Matheson protested that if the Board was paying overtime, they should know just oh wkat scale it was being paid.

The engineer stated that if the overtime had been taken on an hourly basis it would have cora'e to considerably more. This payment was in respect of the livening-up period and was not a thing which would recur.

The Board went into committee at this stage to discuss salaries, and recommendations regarding ' overtime payment and the Shannon appointment being carried. Work Progressing Satisfactorily. In wishing the members of the Board, at the' conclusion of the meeting, a happy festive season, the chairman stated that he thought he would be safe in saying that during the past twelve months, the Board had done very good work. Within the next twelve the whole of the reticulation of the district should be completed. They had certainly got on well and in this connection he would like to say that they had had every assistance from the public. The Board had recognised that in offering electricity to the public they were offering a very sound proposition and the public’s attitude had been confirmatory of this. A return of Xmas greetings by members of the Board concluded the meeting.