STRATFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Stratford Evening Post, Volume XXVIV, Issue 83, 14 March 1916, Page 2

STRATFORD BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETINO. The monthly meeting of the Stratford Borough Council was held last night, when there wfcre present : His Worsh-'p the Mayor (Mr J. W. Boon), and CVs A. J. Davey, E. W. Hancock. S. B. Hunter, T. Lawson, fi. W. Mills, J. H. Thompson, E. S. Rutherfurd, and W. H. H. Young, CORESPOXDEXCE. T. Mercer wrote withdrawing his offer to take over the lease of Webster Dobson and Co.'s shop.—Received. C. M. Birkett wrote asking that as the Council was metalling part of Flint Road, would it put in a crossing to his front .gate and milk stand at his expense.—Cr Thompson moved that the request be granted.—Carried. \ '

) S. H. Moon asked that the Council put the footpath in front of his residence in Miranda Street at its permanent level and grade the road, as lie intended erecting a fence on the frontage—Referred to in Works Committee's report. J A petition signed by John Fitzgerald, Harry Cheeseman, and H. Cockjburn, ratepayers in Portia Street, requested the Council to raise the level on the east side and widen the re-i maiuder leading into Page Street be-i ■fore winter sets in, as the storm-water • from Hamlet Street formed a lake, leaving them six inches of water to jwade through to get to their properties.—The Mayor moved "That the I matter be left to the Works Commit-; I tee to report." Seconded by Cr Law* json, and carried. I W'. "W. Hodge replied to the Council's letter, and stated that £2 p?r | annum was an overcharge for the "obscuration',' of the frontage of his.sccjtion, No. 778. Evidently, said the writer, the Council did not understand the seriousness of the matter. !He insisted that the Council should .take steps immediately to prevent the r street water from Page Street.;'and; JBr'oadway running over the section.j Some time back he. strongly objected' |to the engineer turning the water un-, der his building, and his reply waaj I that it was a natural .water-way, andj that the writer had no say in the 'matter. .. . 2 ■&& soon as Ithe Council had the earth removed from beneath the building, he would then ascertain the extent of the damage by •water to the foundations, and the ! Council would be asked to pay for j same. "Fancy," he wrote, "If you] turned the street water under the H.B. Clothing Co.'s premises or placed a huge fence round the County Hotel, of course the occupants would'' isay ■ nothing, but chew. gum.. How-, ever, if lam required,to chew gum, I.< must first be payed for. this delightful ! occupation." Accompanying this ef J fusion, was 1 a formal notice 21-1-16, to remove the obstructions: by Ist March,, otherwise a charge of £1 per week would be made.. . j The Mayor said the earth,was being removed. " ■

j Cr Thompson said they had .cut a few inches off the fence to separate it from the building, and in his opinion that was all that was needed. I Cr Hancock said that if it was his .building he would not have allowed the earth to be put there. It would cost about £4 or £5 to remove it. It bad no right to be put there in the first place. No doubt the earth damaged the foundations, i The Engineer said the earth had 'been put there with the object of forming a footpath in Page 'Street alongside the .building. The work of removing the earth was commenced at about 2.30 that day and would all be removed by 12 o'clock next day. Four, men were employed. It was the first occasion, in his experience, that a ratepayer had objected to a footpath being put alongside his building. j The Mayor moved: "That the letter be'received, and report that the work was being attended to."—Sec* onded by Cr Young, and carried.

! The Secretary of the Treasury wrote informing the Council that the Governor's consent for loans of £16,000 for electrical supply and £SOOO for street improvements had been gazetted .—Received. i E. S. JLtutherfurd, secretary to the Stratford Lawn Tennis Club, asked for a remission of the rates due on the Club's property for the year ending March, 1916. The writer pointed out that the Club had twelve of its members at the Front, and in consequence of the diminution of membership the Club was not able to meet any additional financial burdens.—Received. ABATTOIR MANAGER'S REPORT. The Abattoir manager (Mr A. M. Spilman) reported that during the month of February, the following stock were slaughtered:—Cows 56, heifers 46, oxen 2, calves 4, sheep 252 lambs 58, pigs 18, tripes prepared 20. Slaughtering fees amounted to £53 14. 9ci. Stock condemned: Cows, two wholly, one partially; heifers, ' one wholly, four partially; ; sheep, 1 wholly. The post and rail I fence from the main gate to the cattle pens has been erected.— Adopted. INSPECTOR'S REPORT. W. Barlow, Borough Inspector, reported that during the month he impounded 6 head of cattle, 12 street lights were put in, 6 lights given to Fire Station, 3 persons were convicted for keeping unregistered dogs, 1 for riding a bicycle on the footpath, and 1 for allowing cattle to wander.— Adopted. j

ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Borough Engineer (Mr T. 1). Sullivan) reported on the progress of works for the past month as under:—, 321 cubic yards of metal have been, crushed at the ford site. The road roller and stone crusher is now eh* gaged on the Stratford County works. Thirty-seven cubic yards of sand have, been carted from the Patea River. ( Patching has been done /where; re-, quired. A cast iron crossing ha*| been put in for the A.W.R; Com-J pany, Broadway. The excavation work in connection with W. Besley's, entrance has been completed. Thei new outlet to Victoria lake has been completed. A holding yard-has been; constructed at the stable paddock. A

post and rail fence has been erected at the abattoir. Motor speed boards have been erected. W. Green is progressing with his contract for the Flint Road metalling. I have let the work of supplying 40 cubic yards of gravel on the Kopuatama Cemetery to Mr Stocks for -Is per yard. A sewer connection has been put in to Mr T. G. Grubb's, Cordelia Street, The work of tar and sanding footpaths in Broadway is almost ' completed. The work of tar and sanding footpath from Mr McAllister's studio to Mr S. H. James' store will be.put in hand, immediately the weather!. js! favourable. Please instruct me as toi your intentions re further tar and' sanding works. I would advise your Council to prohibit the work of lapsing footpaths; because it has a most damaging effect on them. It would also, l)e wise to see that spouting and; 1 downpipes are kept in proper order; and so prevent water from falling qir,-j ect on the work just about finished.' I have taken levels for footpaths in: Juliet Street south, and will soon be in a position to put the work in hand. —Adopted. Cr Thompson said' the work of [tar, sealing the Broadway footpaths about completed. The work Was, Vera satisfactory. . ■

Cr. Hancock also referred to the excellent condition of the footpath. He was well satisfied with the work. ; . The. Mayor moved: '.'That no more tar and, sand work be put in hanc| after the, present work is —Carried/ '^ouil The Mayor said that at the present time they should absolutely prohibit! the hosing of the footpaths. If the tar was wetted it made it porous and it would not set. In twelve months it would not matter so much. A rose on tbe end of a hose did not do a great deal of damage. Cr Hunter said the by-law prohibiting the hosing of streets after 8.30 a.m. should be enforced. Cr Mills said that in the near future it would not hurt the footpaths to be hosed down. The water kept the footpath clean.

WORKS COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The committee recommended as under:—That kerbing and channelling be completed on south side of Regan Street between Miranda and Portia Street, Broadway from Fenton Street to bridge on both sides, and kerbing only on south side of Regan street between Broadway and railway line. That the work of forming and grading Miranda Street near south side of Seyton Street as requested by -Mrs

I Moon be not proceeded with. That ; wooden kerbing be placed on paths opposite Alger's, Ttohhon's and Anderson's business places in Began Street. That eastern side of Broadway footpath between Fenton Street and bridge be repaired and hollow, on • ' western side be filled in.—Adopted. i Cr Lawson said that in his opinion the channelling on the east side of Broadway between Fenton Street and the bridge was good enough. Kerbing ' was necessary. Kerbing and ehannelI ling on the west side was needed. He | said that there were other parts of I the town that required attention, and i mentioned in particular, the footpath between Fenton and Regan Streets • on the Town Hall side. I Cr Hancock said that channelling I work should not be done out of revenue, as it was permanent work. j The Mayot said that a certain ! amount of the work should be done j each year. | Cr Hunter said that some of the | streets were in an awful state. It I appeared to him that repairs should ibe done to the streets before the kerbing and channelling was put in hand. Cr Young moved ; "That the work of channelling the south side of Regan Street between Broadway and railway line and the channelling of the east side of Broadway between Fenton Street and the bridge be deleted from the report."—Seconded by Cr Hunter and carried. I.;! ; ■ '.;«<•! [:■■. i ■<■■: : '.' > ; \&\) j ELECTRIC LIGHT. | Cr Hunter said that now the mat- .

[ ter of taking over the Electrical j Supply Company was at a deadlock, the Minister of Internal .Affairs' should bp notified. This .should be done so the Com.pjvny woiihlt.yiot steal a march by applY-ijigfoil: an Extension of rights. '(.]! '.,:' , 'fv \ The Mayor moved ; 'That no solicitors shall appear in the proceedings or before the valuers to argue for either Borough Council or the Strat•ford: Electrical Supply Company, and that the valuers, if they do not agree, shall call in a third party to act as umpire, whose word shall be final on' , all cases; also that the words in the ! latter clause of condition, marked 9, | which reads, with; the .exception of any, ! legal costs incurred,by the .Electrical; Supply Company,J;i|connection, there-; with,'be.deleted), also the Avn.rd eHii-' .tration be deleted.", ;- j en''". Thompson, in seconding the J motion, said the resolution would tend' to clear the matter up and bring to a finality. * Cr Hunter said that the word 'arbitration' should be deleted. The Mayor stated it would be impossible for them to hear the matter in an arbitration court if the word arbitration was deleted. The resolution was carried.

GENERAL. On the motion of Cr Young, seconded by Cr Thompson, it was decided to leave the matter "of the erection of a shelter shed at the Kopuatama Cemetery in the hands of the Mayor and Cr. Thompson with power to act, the cost of the shed not to exceed £25.

Cr Thompson moved: "That the Works Committee report on -a stock route over the river at Brecon Road." Seconded by the Mayor and carried. Cr Lawson moved: "That the at* tention of the Borough Inspector lie drawn to the question of overhanging hedges." Seconded by Cr Mills and carried. The Mayor moved ; "That the Borough Inspector be asked to inspect the backyards of business premises in Broadway at least once a week.—Seconded by Cr Rutherfurd and carried. The Mayor reported that with Cr Thompson he had inspected the creek in Broadway North. The trouble was due to the effluance from the septic tank, and it had been arranged with the owner of the property to build a concrete sump to abate the nuisance. He suggested that pipes be put in to carry the water from the springs ! which existed on the property. He ; stated that at the present time no nuisance existed. The work of budding a concrete sump was commenced on Saturday. The Mayor's action in the matter was approved of. On the motion of Cr Young, seconded by Cr Hancock, it was decided to accept the offer of Green and Chard for the supply of "21)0 yards of broken metal on Regan Street, west at 7s per yard. Accounts amounting to £152 2s 5d were passed for payment.