BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, 18 January 1916, Page 8

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

JRECENT SOLTAR FIRES. NEW SYSTEM FOR HEATING SOLTAR. The Borough Council met last night. Present: The Mayor (Mr. C. H. Burgess), and Crsi L. M. Monteath, A. H. Johnstone, W. A. Collis, F. E. Wilson. W. F. Short, F. J. Hill, S. J. Smith, J. f. Mannix, A. E. Watkins, and J. S. S. Medley. The various reports, which were published yesterday, were adopted. The Council then met as the Tramways Committee. A committee, representing the Electric Light Committee, and the Tramways Committee was appointed to confer as to what charges should be made to the tramways department for current supplied. Crs. Medley, Wilson and Smith will represent the Tramways Committee, i and Crs. Monteath, Hayd'en, and Watkins will represent the Electric Light Committee, with the Mayor as chairman. The Council then met as the Works Committee. The engineer reported that "the present method of boiling tar for use on the streets is primitive, expensive, and highly dangerous. We have had two fires already, and another is .likely to occur at any time. I have to recommend that boiling of tar. by use of fire as at present, be discontinued, and that it be heated by steam.'' The borough engineer '.-.'. s authorised to purchase a steam plant for heating soltar at an estimated.cost not exceed" ing £3O. The chairman of the Fire Board (Mr. F. P. Corkill)', wrote in regard to the fire amongst the Council's soltar on January 12, and .referred to the fact that there was a' similar outbreak on December 0. The letter ended: "I have to point out that each time the brigade is called out there is involved certain actual expense besides wastage of hose, to «ay nothing of the time of the firemen and tho alarming of residents. About a fortnight ago my attention was called to the employment of unprotected fire at the place where the outbreak occurred, and it was urged that this was not only a menace to neighbouring houses, but it was a breach of one of the by-laws. May I ask that you will be good enough to have this matter carefully looked into, with a view to safer conditions being established?" The engineer reported that in the fire on January 12, the damage was estimated at £5. The Mayor said that the chairman of the Fire Board stated that the amount of damage done by the last fire was £IOO, instead of £5 as reported by the engineer. In reply to this the engineer presented a detailed report showing that the damage amounted to £C 13s. After some discussion it was decided to inform the Fire Board that acting on the advice of the borough engineer, the Council had decided to instal a new system of heating soltar; and that having received a detailed statement from the borough engineer as to the loss, the Council cannot see its way to agree to the lump sum of £IOO as the damage,