SHANNON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Shannon News, 22 April 1927, Page 3

SHANNON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

FORNIGHTLY MEETING. On Tuesday evening the last meeting of the present Council was held. Present: The Mayor (Mr E. Butt) and Crs. Thwaites, Dowries, Richards, Spencer, Hyde and Hook. HOSPITAL BOARD LEVY: A circular was received from the ■ ■ Palmerston North Hospital Board showing the Board's levy for the year to.be £l3l Os 9d. as against £126 5s 10d for the previous year. The slight increase Was, brought about by the increased valuation. ■ RENEWAL OF LEASE. An application from Mr. W. Gardner for a renewal of lease of section 340 Nathan Terrace, on the same terms as last year was granted. CONFERENCE TO BE HELD. ' The clerk of the Manawatu County Council wrote advising'' that it is pro- * posed to hold a conference of representatives of local authorities mentioned v in the Manawatu-Oroua Eiver _ Board 's report,', as contributing bodies with a view to protesting against the contributions assessed. The * meeting will. be held in Palmerston North, on Thursday, 21st- Ap ri "- Tn e - Council were asked to appoint del** gates to attend: —It was resolved that ■ as a Council they protested, against the Shannon borough being assessed at £9OO, as they considered the amount too much. Also that they will be pleased to cooperate with them' for a reduction an the' assessment. MAIN HIGHWAYS. ■ A reply was received from the Horowhenua County Council granting permission to their engineer, Mr. AndeiBon, to furnish the Council with an estimate of the cost "of construction of ■ the Main Highway through the Borough, his fee being the actual cost to his Council. On the motion of Cr. Hyde it was decided to accept Mr. Anderson's services. DOMAIN LIGHTS. The Secretary of the-Shannon Football Club,, wrote stating he had been instructed to enquire how the Council ""' arrived charge of 3/6 per hour • for 2i units in the use of the electric light at the. Domain by the Club for training purposes. The- Club thought the charge was rather high. The Town Clerk was instructed to inform the Football Club, that the charge had oeen assessed by an expert as a safeguard against breakages and wear and tear brought about by the use of the lights. Cr. Richards pointed out that the i Club were paying 1/4 per unit, ; which only cost the Council Bd. He thought' the margin was too great, and as the town benefited as a result of football, the Council should reduce the charge. Cr. Hook recommended that the Club pay 1/- per unit and pay for any breakages during the season. In'reply to the Mayor, the Town Clerk stated the sum off £5 had heen received .for the use of the lights during the past season, out of which £1 19s 0d ' had been paid for light; while auothe:globe would have to be purchased a v . a cost of £l, leaving a surplus of £2. The Maj-or pointed out that possibly during the coming season the remaining globes would have to be replaced. He said the. Council did not want to make any excess profit. Finally Cr, Downes moved and Cr. Richards seconded, "That'the arrangement now in vogue, be carried on till the beginning of the 1928 season, when after renewing breakages and any fixtures the. Council refund 75 per cent), of any surplus to the Football Club.— Carried.. THE RANGER. In submitting his report, the Ranger, Mr J. A. Swindlehurst, wrote enquir-. ing if the fortnightly reports asked for. .weie because the Council were not safc isfied with the manner in which he was carrying out his duties. Cr. Eichards said that when he mov edthe motion, he did so, because he „ considered the Council should know who » was being summoned. The t Mayor stated he did not think it right that the names should be sent to the Council. If Cr. Eichards wanted to see'the names he could see thea at the Borough Solicitor's office. Cr. Spencer- said the Eanger was a good servant to the Council. He did his work well and he should not be continually harassed by the Council. ' Cr. Downes was. of opinion that all that was required by the Council was a report similar to the one received that: evening. If names swere put in, there • would be a certain amount of string pulling and this report avoided that sort of thing. On the motion of Crs. Thwaites and Downes it was resolved to notify Mr. Swindlehurst that the oCuneil's request in no way reflected on the wayhe carried out his duties and a similar report to what he had furnished was all that was required. . LOCAL UNEMPLOYED. In connection with the motion by Cr. Thwaites with the view of absorbing local unemployed, that the contractors for the bridge and road construction be written'to requesting that as far as is practicable they will give preference to local unemployed; the Town Clerk had communicated with the District Engineer, who replied stating that Mr. H. P. Peacocke, of Wairoa, is the contractor for the bridge. Also that the approaches to the bridge on the Manawatu aide of the river will be carried out by the'Manawatu, County Council, but up to the present it has not been definitely decided who will undertake the road work on the Shannon side of the bridge. EANGEE'S EEPOET. The Eanger (Mr. J. A. Swindlehurst) leported as follows: Five horses ani three head of cattle have been impounded since his last report and the names of seven owners have been handed to the Borough Solicitor to take action.— Adopted. ROADMAN'S EEPOET. The roadman (Mrj. F; Haley) Tepor.ed on the monih's work as follows: Have carted 31 \ yards of metal to dump in Grand street. The grader has been over Ballance, Margaret, Clapham, Grey and Stout Streets, East Eoad j and the Main North road, and all big | 6tones have been raked off. The runners, on the bridge in Margaret street have been put in; and the cables tight- . ened. on' the bridge over Stansell 'a {train - • to -Mr. Wilkingon'a pro--4 *,'*<■ ,"

perty. The battens and material havo been brought in from the head of the waterworks, The footpaths from the Picture Hall to the Post Office have been tarred. The pipe line and galleries at the waterworks have been inspected and the wat3rmains scoured. Have collected and carted away rubbish to the dump: —Eeceived. GENEEAL.

Cr. Hyde drew attention to the charges made by the Palmerston North Hospital Board to Shannon residents for the use of the ambulance, which he said was £3 15s Od. This he thought was excessive as any of the taxi proprietors could do the trip for £2. He moved and the Mayor seconded: "That the Hospital Board and the Manawatu County Council be written to protesting against the high charge.—Carried. Mrs Nicol, libarian, was appointed caretaker of the ladies' rest room.

Cr. Thwaites pointed out that in the past the caretaker of the Municipal Buildings has had to provide brooms, "brushes, soap, etc. He moved that the Council supply these articles: —Carried. Cr. Eichards drew the Council's attention to the state of the drain at the corner of Stout and Whittaker streets, which he said became blocked wheii there was heavy rain and the water lies about the road for some time after —Left to the Eoad Committee to attend to. STATEMENT OF ACCOUNTS. The Town Clerk presented a statement of accounts, ending March 31st, 1927. which showed the general account to be £4l 16s lid. in credit; workers' dwelling, worker's account, credir £324 Is 2d; worker's housing loan, credit £lls 12s 4d; water supply maintenance credit £sl 15s sd; water supply loan, credit' £Bl 10s lOd; Highway* No. .60, dr. £SO 4s 3d.; library, dr. £53 2s. 11.; hospital, dr. £22 0s lid; Shannon loan interest, cr. £46 15s. lid. The statement showed that £2301 9s. Bd. was struck for rates, of which £2116 16s. Bd., has been collected; The amount of rates outstanding on 31st March 1926, was £2218 19s od., as against £390 15s. 6d., this year. The Town Clerk seated that since the statement was made out the latter amount has been reduced. The borough debt is £18,660 6s. Bd,. The Mayor, in moving the adoption of the statement, said it must be considered very satisfactory, the balance of £4l in the general account showing that they had kept within their bounds. The report was adopted. Accounts totalling £2lB were passed for payment.