NEW PLYMOUTH BOROUGH.

Taranaki Daily News, 4 May 1917, Page 6

NEW PLYMOUTH BOROUGH.

C $?B- "* ;y ; i - MAYOR'S ANNUAL REPORT, At the initial meeting of the new council on Wednesday evening, tlie 'Mayor (Mr. C. H. Burgess), delivered the following report:— 1 • loans; At March 31 last tlie total amount owing amounted to £324,75S borrowed for the following purposes: Waterworks, '£63,032; electric light, £55,9G9; streets, bridges, ete., £107,637; sewerage., £16,252; abattoir, £9308; baths, £3000; municipal offices and museum, £6000; ] tramways, £60,500; £134,200 ejjpiros in 1922, £155,500 in £1933, and £35,057 arif Government loans spreading over a period of years. It is more than probable we shall require further loans during our term for electric light and tramway departments, " S .V f£42,000 LOAN. The f£42,000 lias easily the largest amount still to its credit, viz., .E^GO. Some comment has been made regarding the executing of works under this loan, but I can only reiterate that the Council is in no way to blame, circumstances having been against us. On obtaining estimates from our late engineer it was at once seen that the balance available, as per Mr. Skitrop's schedule was not sufficient, and the Council decided to raise the extra 10 per cent, on the streets portion of, the loan, in order that the work might be completed in full. The amount was £3OOO and was raised without any cost to the Council and is in hand. CARRINGTON ROAD. By March 31, 1917, just on £2OOO worth of works was authorised, the chief being Carrington Road, which is now under way. The original idea of extensive filling in of this road has been .departed from, but improvements, not originally contemplated, are to be made at the junction with Pendarves Street ty widening at this point, which is very narrow and somewhat dangerous. CUTFIELD ROAD. Cutfield Road, which has been in the transition stage for some time, is one of the first roads to have attention after Carrington Road, and here the intention is to extend to Wallace Place, the original plan being to Gladstone Road only. MANGOREI ROAD. Estimates are in hand and work authorised for Mangorei Road, tat here again no new work was to be done beyond Rimu Street but the matter was referred back to the engineer .to furnish estimates for completing to the Borough boundary where the. need is almost as great ns is that of the lower part. WIDENING. v The widening at the Devon Street entrance is under consideration, but it will be necessary to acquire a portion of the land required under the Public Works Act and steps are being taken accordingly. Tlie engineer is fully nware of the importance of completing the works under this loan, and I am sure will lose no opportunity to carry out the Council's wishes in this respect, so far as circumstances permit. It is unfortunate that at the present his time, to a very large extent, is taken up with the preparation of plans, etc., for the erection of a new dam at the intake. :£22,000. LOAN. There is still a balance of £I2OO for destructor and- £ISOO for Brougham Street culvert (or bridge) and the Council will need to take these two matters into consideration this year in order that we may know if the full amount allocated will be required. The engine ;r informs me that we need not expend such a large sum on the destructor. "£6OOO LOAN. , This is still in hand, but at the meeting on April 2, the Council gave authority for the calling : of tenders for the museum and same with plans and specifications will bo submitted for your approval at an early date. The proposal is that the museum be erected at the back of the Carnegie Library, fronting Ariki Srteet. MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS, Tlie vote for the municipal offices will not now be required except as regards furnishing, which I think is necessary. The question arises as to how to deal with the balance, and if proposed to be used for any other purpose the.necessary authority will have to be obtained to uo

Since the destruction of the Theatre Royal the want of a suitable, hall has been greatly felt, and though under present circumstances a town hall or theatre is out of the question, the erection of a concert hail for general purposes might he considered, or it might he advisable to obtain authority to invest balance in war loan certificates, and at the end of the five years form a nucleus for a larger scheme and the loss, of interest meanwhile would be , very small. When this property was bought it was the intention of the Council that all themunicipal buildings should be erected here. We have Borne two acres altogether. TRAMWAYS. There is a balance of approximately ;'£*2fioo, but various requirements, such as shelter sheds, tools, etc., have to be provided for, and it is as well to keep a balance in hand for contingencies. The engineer reminds us that we shall "fortius near future have to seriously consider the procuring of further rolling stock." ' ' Taking our population Touglily at 8000, we have carried the wholei people once in every three days or rather less. The New Plymouth public have caught the tram habit seriously, and this augurs well for the future of the system.

[ distance beyond the junction should be carefully considered before- a final decision is come to. All car branches from Egmont Street would then ba 3d sections. In all extensions of tramways the question of road reconstruction has to be taken into account and provided for outside of the actual tramway requirements. ELECTRIC LIGHT. There is one point that calls for our serious attention, and that is the position as regards our ability to supply power. He quoted froln the engineer's report (previously published). Nothing as regards a report on the Mangamahoe dam is to hand yet. Latterly both the borough engineer and elec- |. trical engineer have had to dcovte a goou deal of their time to the dam and this | with their other duties lias- kept them more than fully occupied. We have on order a 250-killowatt machine for which we have funds in hand but through the unfortunate scouring out of the dam our arrangements as to finance will be materially altered. The engineer has recommended an entirely new dam at a cost of approximately £2OOO, and of which' you have informally approved and will ba asked to confirm at this meeting. The question as to financing this heavy expenditure should engage the attention or the Council at the earliest opportunity. WATERWORKS. v In his annual report the engineer draws our attention to the fact that we are extending our water services with sma.l pipes to too large an extent, and recommends that we discontinue this policy .as far as possible and where the distance for service is over 100 feet, 4-inch mains should be laid, which would be permanent. • This is, however, a big question especially at this time, but one that should not be lost sight of. The engineer also draws our attention to the waste of water going on, and 1 would mention the fact that tops continuously running into the sewers have a very serious effect on the efficiency of the septic tank, and this should be avoided as far as possible. Waste also putunnecessary work on the filters. Personally lam of opinion that water should be paid for not on the value of property but on the quantity used. The only cure for waste is the system ol paying by meter, as we do for our electric light and gas. To instal meters, however, at the present time, even 'if deemed advisable, would be a somewhat serious matter, but the question will have to be faced sooner or later.

/■!?- STREETS. The amount allowed for expenditure under this heading is about the same, as last year, but of this £I3OO is earmarked for "new work" aa distinct from the ordinary maintenance and repairs. Various streets were to have been repaired ai\d tarred out of the £20,000 loan, but unfortunately the tram track took almost the whole of this money, and as it is not feasible to borrow further for roads at present we must do what w« can out of revenue. Authority has been given the'engineer to provide new machinery, comprising a tar macadam mixed and distilling plant, etc., amounting to about £BOO. Tar is responsible for another £SOO and repairs to crusher plant, roller and traction engine is responsible for another £3OO. The engineer jjas also under consideration the question as to whether our present mode of carting could not be improved upon and carried out fit le?s cost and more efficiency by other methods. In these times of shortage of labor and with an extensive borough such as wo have to cope with, it is necessary that, within reason, all labor-saving machinery should be. taken advantage of. The initial cost may be heavy, but the ej:tr.i amount of work accomplished more than •justifies their adoption. Thq engineer informs me that two men working hard will mix 10 yards of tar macadam per day, while with tile machine the same two men will easily put through 40 or 50 yards per day, and u.lB means a material saving and much greater expedition in the making of our footpaths. LIBRARY. In September, 1011, a 'resolution was passed that £IOOO be set apart to be devoted to the purchase of books and magazines for the library and that the library committee have no further responsibility. ; This arrangement was so far satisfactory, but the Council did not then 'par in the succeeding years make, any provision for dealing with the extra expenditure, with the result that each year the library has been debited wtih a loss which it has no means of repaying and under the resolution had no responsibility to do so. This loss at the end of 1916/17' amounted to £594 8s 6d. It seemed unreasonable to continue this course., and in the estimates for this year provision has •been made for the full working expenses and a further sum by way of sinking fund to reduce the accumulated debit balance. I hope this policy will be continued in the future.