STRATFORD.

Taranaki Daily News, 21 August 1916, Page 3

STRATFORD.

LIGHTING OF STRATFORD

MEETING OF RATEPAYERS,

(From Our Own Correspondent.;

A meeting of ratepayers to consider tic question of the borough taking over the Electrical Supply Company's undertaking, was held in the Town Hall on Friday evening. His Worship the Mayor presided. There was but a fair attendance. ,

Trior to discussing the lighting question,, his Worship moved :'"That tWs meeting urges on the general public the desirability of supporting the war loan/' Mr J. B. Richards (president of the Stratford Chamber of Commerce) seconded the motion, which was carried. His Worship said the lighting question was not a new one to the ratepayers. They had voted on more than one occasion, and there was scarcely an election of councillors that was not being fought out on the lighting question. The lighting of the town was only one of the important works the council had to look after. The matter of lighting the town •had been fully discussed by the previous council, and the opinion was expressed that they should install an entirely new plant, and with that end in view the council had engaged Messrs H. W. Climie and Son to furnish them with a full report. Three different systems of producing electrical energy were submitted—hydro, Diesel and steam plants. The choice lay between the two former, and >the hydro was selected as being the most economical. Die cost of this plant was estimated at £33,000, but the receipts would not meet the expenditure, and there would be a loss of £7OO. per annum. Besides the plant was to be erected thirteen miles from Stratford, and the previous council had to turn the proposal down. The present council, as soon as it took office, decided to come to some amicable arrangement with the present company and decided to meet thein. After many conferences both parties "ame to terms, and it was decided to appoint arbitrators from both sides and value the undertaking. A clause to safeguard the ratepayers was inserted in the agreement, that the copper lines were to be valued, not at war price?, but at the average price ruling in the past live years, this being the basis of valuation. For many years the council had been paying the company over £.IOO per annum for street lighting and the public buildings controlled by the council, and he candidly admitted that the street lighting was not as it should be, and it was not right that they should depend upon the business people of the town to light the main street. The council would have to improve it, and the only way they could make it satisfactory would be to own the concern. (Applause). In arriving at the goodwill, provision had been made in the agreement that it should be valued as if/the concession ended in three years' time. It had been said that the company 'had perpetual rights, but the council had wisely safeguarded the ratepayers' interests bv having a clause inserted, that whatever the term of the company's tenure was, the goodwill should only be valued as ending in three years' time. The arbitrators arrived at £S()0, whereas four years ago the company wanted £400(1. He admitted that the value of the water rights (£1030) was more than he expected, but no doubt the arbitrators bad good reason for making the valuation at the price stated.

The question had been asked, why did not the council put in a new plant? He, would himself have liked to 'have started with a new plant, but tHe price of putting in a new plant, owing to war rates, made this impossible. The Minister of Public Works (Hon. W. Fraser) had also written to the council as follows :—" I see no reason to depart from any former decision, viz.. to decline to grant the renewal of the license asked for by the Electrical Supply Company. I have already informed .that company that I must recognise the borough council of a town as the exponents of the will of the ratepayers in preference to the request contained in a petition signed by a section of the said ratepayers. I may as well inform your council, however, that if it has not made arrangements a reasonable time before the .said license expires, I may feel constrained to renew the said license for a limited period." The audience could see that the Minister would not allow the town to remain unlighted, and unless the council put in a plant, the Minister would grant the company an extended term. Now to put in a plant was easier said than done. There were great difficulties in the way. The present company held the rights to use one side of the street, while the iPostal Department iliad the opposite side, so the council could not ""* *'">'r poles up. The only alternative was to put the wires under the ground, arid Messrs Gliraie and Son estimated that'it would cost £l4-00 to do the business portion of the town alone, and this price 'had not been included in their original estimate of £33,000. Outside the business.area they might put their wires up by putting their poles up along•nde the fence lines, but then again there would be difficulties in crossing the streets. S"o it looked almost impossible to put up their poles and lines until the company's term had expired. Now the company could not be compelled to pull jown their poles until after the last day )f the expiry of their concession, and even then reasonable time would have to be given them to do the work., and until the council had erected their wires the town would be in darkness, and the work would take a considerable time to do. Even then the company might contend that their rights did not end there, and would naturally fight the matter in the law courts, and even if the council won the day it would be a costly item. In conclusion his Worship impressed upon ratepayers that even if they were paying £IOOO more for the concern than what it was worth, it was much better to, pay the extra amount. By doing so they 1 were saving possible law suits, and they would have control of the concern, and he believed that evervone present would agree that the concern should be owned by the ratepavers. (Applause). He moved.- " That this meeting of the ratepayers affirms the principle of the municipality controlling the lighting system of this borough, and supports the proposal of the council to raise a loan of £IO,OOO for the purpose of acquiring the plant and undertaking of the Stratford Electrical Supply Company, Ltd." Cr Young, in seconding the motion, said in comparing other schemes the present concern would be the cheapest for the borough and the best for the burgesses. The present company was lighting the town for about sixpence per unit, while under the scheme suggested by Messrs Climie and Son it would cost !)d »er unit, and he felt sure the resi-,

dents would object to paying more than they were at present, 'if tile council had installed either the Diesel oil or the steam plant, there would be a loss of nothing less than £1)00 per year, lie could sec no ot'ihcr way but to recommend the ratepayers to buy out the present company as being the best ! for the town. (Applause). The present hydro plant enabled the company to light the town s0 cheaply. Another reason why they should purchase it was that they would have the advantage of not paying inllated prices for copper lines. Copper before the war was' £OO per ton; at present it was £10(1. If they waited til! the end of the company's term the cost of litigation to determine the company's tenure might cost more than what the company were now asking for it. He failed to see how they could do any better than take the plant over, and strongly advised them to do so. (Applause).

Cr .7. IT. Thompson said it was the first time in the history of Stratford that tbey had a unanimous council on the question of the lighting of the borough. In past negotiations the goodwill had always been the stumbling block, but on this occasion two outside accountants were appointed, and the result was that they arrived at a fair price. The valuations throughout were not guesswork, but made by experts who knew their business. The 'present company bad gone ahead by leaps anil hounds, and deserved every credit for (he way they had lighted the town. The voltage for some time bad been over the standard as provided in the deed of concession, and the present machinery was sufficient to cope with the cxtention of business for many years to come, The town wanted to progress, and it

v,-ns not lighted as it should be, and unless Hie council owned the undertaking they could not carry out these improvements. The borough would have to pay .-CIUOO in interest and sinking fund, but the council could save £405 which the company now paid in income-tax, directors' fees, etc. Taking the expenses of what tin; council would have to pay in which the company now paid, but which tile council could save, they would make as much profit as the present company was now earning'. The loan and terms of repayment were as good as any Government loan, and the council was fortunate in being able to secure the money on such favourable terms. There hail been a lot of talk about the wcii, but no trouble had been experienced with it since I'KN, and it had stood the test of •Hoods since that time. Motoi power 'ivas taking the place of water and other powers, and last year the company bad returned them a net profit of .{"3 SO. Taking the price per unit paid in Stratford, ami comparing it with other towns of a similar ;ize, it was easily the eliKi|>est. Twenty-seven miles of line had been erected by the company in order to put the street lighting on a separate circuit, and the street lights could be trebled with advantage at a small cost to the council. If they owned the concern they would light Broadway, and "jring it up to the standard of other towns. Out of thirty-five lighting concerns in New Zealand, only eight were owned by private' companies, and where the lighting was owned by the people it bad proved a payable proposition without exception. Some ratepayers thought that because a rate was struck that it would be collected, but if the council only did the business that the company was doing at the present time there would be no need to collect the rate. He warned ratepayers not to listen to street-comer gosip, ind counselled them before believing any false -oports to ascertain the truth from the town clerk. He hoped they would induce all their friends to vote for the loan on Friday next. , Cr S. B. Hunter asked as business men if they were purchasing n business would they take the word of the man in the street or that o,f competent experts'; The question each and every ratepayer should ask hirusalf was, "Is the concern worth taking over, and will it pay the borough to do so?'' It hail been suggested in some rpuirters tli they should hiatal a new plant with 220 voltage instead of 100 as at present, but he wanted to warn them that if they did so practically every shop and house in the borough at present using the light would have to be re-wired, and the expense would fall heavily on the consumers. Besides, those who were using motors would have to scrap thein, and further the larger voltage would mean paying fully twenty-five per cent extra for lamps, and articles used for heating purposes. It bad ben said the present plant was obsolete, but if they relied on their experts the plant was quite good for many years to come. It 'had been suggested that they were paying too much for the watei rights, but it must be remembered that they were in perpetuity, which meant for ever, anil the day after. (Laughter). In some places they bad to pay the Government one .twentieth of a penny for each unit generated, but these rights bad been secured by tlie company before this act came into force. A rumor had been circulated that if the council bought tli; concern they would immediately charge one shilling per unit. He could give tiicm the council's assurance they would not pay a penny more than at present, Hut if the ratepayers did not purchase the present concern and the council did not) come to terms with the company, and they were granted a fresh license, there was nothing to prevent the company charging one shilling per unit. In thcinterest of the town it was the duty of every ratepayer to support the loan. (Applause). After questions had been asked and satisfactorily answered by the chairman, the motion was put and carried unanimously.