BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXIII, 13 April 1926, Page 5

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

j. FORTNIGHTLY MEETING. | Tlie fortnightly meeting of the Timam Borough Couue.l w.is lieltl last night, Presem.—-The .Mayor and Councillors T. W. SatterUiwaitc, P. ,). Kelly, H. B. Hawkey, \Y. Tutton, G. Benstoad, J. R. Hart, l l '. Ciiittoek, J. A. Hay and P. C. Vuinell.

j MAYOR’S STATEAIENT. The Mayor said tile town Clerk had supplied nun with a statement ol the iborougn luianees lor the past year, and this snowed that the Council had finished the year with a. credit balance of £08; but tnoy had exceeded their estimate by £3866 loslid. Included m this amount were sums wlucli could rigidly be regarded as capital, and special expenditure. Some ol the.se items were lion-recurring. Quite a lot ol The work they hud‘clone during the past two or three years might be regarded as luxuries, but tliey. wore works which'he would not like to sec Jett- undone —works such as that associated with their recreation reserves and tho hegonia house. Rut they would have to cut them out during the next fe«- years it they wore to oo all that was necessary m the way ol street form,at.on and tlie tarring ol streets and footpaths. Of the inonev spent during me past year £2794 would bo noii-reeurr:ng.

! WORKS COMMITTEE. The Works Committee reported as follows: — Site for Troopers’ Memorial, and tenders for removal of same.—Mr J. Hardmg was the only tenderer, at £llO. The borough engineer’s estimate was £9O. —it was resolved that tlie tender be not accepted, and that the Mayor and borougli engineer lie authorised to get the work done by day labour or otherwise. It was agreed that the lnemorial should bo placed in tlio eon ti e of the new grass plot; that the stone steps be dispensed with, and an earth mound substituted, tho mound to be topped off with ui stone platform round the base of the monument, the, reserve to be kerbed; Catherine Street frontage to be retained as a shrubbery and fenced off, and the balance of the reserve to be cleared of trees, shrubs and fences, and put down m grass, with flower . beds. Tbc construction of the mound, * grassing and gardening work to be left to the curator. | The representatives of the South African Coutingeiiters’. Association approved of tlie above. I’iirk. —The curator reported that the 'Allowing gifts had been received :—Mr J. Meehan, one'ken ; Mr E. Holdgato • ounr., a number of flower pots; Mr H. Holdgato, a number of- flower pots. Recommendation: That the donors be Clanked. . ‘ j Caroline Bay! hot'.sea water baths. — j Recommendation : That a comparative statement be supplied .showing the cost | of running the . bath's since the- new heating system was installed, and the revenue for the corresponding -period lor the last three years. Caroline Bay tea rooms. —-Letter received from Air and Mrs Darcy, applying to have living rooms renovated. Recommendation : That tenders lie invited for the work. LeGreii’s ' Terrace. —Petition from ■'Pendents and ratepayers asking to have 1 x- roadway . tar-sealed from Stafford •licet to the top of the hill facing Strathallan Street. Recommendation: That, this application be reserved foil future consideration, and that the borough engineer ho instructed to effect any necessary. repairs to the ■iHwiiy. Storage of'dangerous goods.—Kerbode pumps and inside'pumps. Letter Tom Chief: Inspector., of Explosives, pointing out necessary precautions, fecommendation : 'That the borough mgineer and Council’s inspector be instructed to see that the . Chief Inspector’s instructions are observed. Asphalt.—Letters'- -were -received from the TiniaruHigh School Board,: applying to purchase GO. yards of asphalt. The borough engineer, reported favourably. Recommendation : That the application be granted, at £1 per yard, * the Council’s yard. r , ; . . . ' Canada' Street.—Letter from Mr W. Palmer, complaining of the state nf tho roadway and the footway.— Borough engineer to make some improvements. A letter was received from the secretary of the Returned Soldiers’ Association, asking for permission to sell poppies on the 23rd inst. Recom-nw’-l-'tion : Granted. Relief work. —Letter from the South Canterbury Hospital Board, .stating that,the Board had decided that where able-bodied persons applied to the Board for relief, thev should be required to do some work of a public nature to the value of tho relief given, and tho Board now asked the assistance of loral authorities finding work. - Recommendation : That the Board’s proposal receive the support of the Council, and that relief work be found at tho Park and Bay. Ladies’ Rest,—From the Timam

Women Citizens’ Association, suggesting Hint some provision should be made to supply tea and cocoa to girls m the litueii hour. Recommendation: 'That the Mayor and Councillor Bcnstead he appointed to report thereon. , , Horse feed.—That the tenders for oat sheaf chaff and oats be ret erred t, Councillors H;iy. and Bcnstead, and the borough engineer, with power to net. . Waterworks. —Cleaning water race. The borough engineer supplied a .schedule of cost for the last three years. Recommendation : that tlie borougli engineer be instructed to plenum .specifications tor cleaning the water race, and that tenders be invited for the next cleaning in October. Timam Milling Company.—l lie borough engineer informed Hie ”}<'!’i.'.'Jw that this company had submitted plans of proposer! additions of extra storeys on walls which were not of the strength required under the by-law. He recommended that the appl.eatmn bo dealt with under the modification < Luis' • Recommendation :'J hat the °P' 1 ] 11 " 1 , Messrs Turnbull and Rule, be obtained under the modification C ‘Bt’ 6 John' Ambulance applied to have rates remitted on tlieir hall in Lattnj Street.—Agreed to.

general. , , A letter from Mr W. H. * suggesting that they should barn m th--Public Library, pianoforte n ’"f“' 1 educative nature, was, oil die m ot '° of Councillor Yinncll, rclencd to the Library Committee. ~ , Atcssrs Turnbull and . Rule, aielilteets. in reply to a question to them, wrote approving of the P for additions to the 1 imam Milling Company’s building, under the modification clause.- —Agreed to.

twit 1 PRIVATE installation. Referring to the private installatimi branch of the Electric Ligh V ment, and tho proposal -to rent * in or near the mam thoroughly e, Councillor Bcnstead said that beioie thev went into the question pi a tdianyof location, they should decide "bf-V* 1 - 1 it was a necessary municipal actnitj. He did not think that it had evei shewn a profit, and could not see vlp they should continue to run a private installation department at a c “ llsK ‘? " able loss. Councillor Bcnstead . aso criticised the nature of the foitni„hth report of this department, and said that, if this was all the information the committee received it was not worth much. He moved that the Boiough Electrical Engineer be asked to report on this department, with a vu w to ascertaining whether it is noith while continuing it. . „ Tho Deputy-Mayor said the figuios for the year would be available shortly, and he suggested that the question of getting n> report on it should be ucltired until then. . . Councillor Bedstead agreed to tins. Councillor Kellv said it should bp remembered that the Council should be out for service, and not merely lor profit. . , , .. Councillor Bcnstead- said he quite agreed with this, if the private installation was supplying a useful public scivice, it should be retained ijie.spoctivo of whether it paid directly, but his information was that it - ever had paid from its inception, and so far as he knew, it did not supply a necessary public service. Referring to the proposal to renovate the Caroline Bay tea rooms, Councillor Satterthwnitc said lie hoped the Council threw out the tenders when they came before next meeting, of the Counoil, as he was opposed to the Council doing this work —it was the dutv of the tenants to do it. Referring to the cost of cleaning the water-race out annually, Councillor Bcnstead said the return supplied by the Engineer showed that it had risen in the past three years from £239 to a little over £SOO this year. Up thougTit that some more economical method (if doing this work shou’d be devised, and to this end he moved : —; cn 'l’ll at the date and amount of money spent on the, improvement to the water race during Air Rolleston s mayoralty; and (2) the nature and extent of the- improvements effected to tiie race at the time ho submitted with the approximate length of the race so improved. (3) The date of tlm resolution last vear. instructing the Engineer to report to the Council on a more economical method ol maintaining the race. Councillor Bcnstead also moved that the clause ill the- report of the Works Committee be. referred back to that Committee.' This was seconded bv Councillor Sattertliwaite, and carried. Councillor Kelly said that every member of t)>“ Council should be in possession of the inform ition which would be before the Committee, and care should be taken to differentiate between the cost of repairs to the rare, and the cost of maintenance.

Tlip Alavor said Unit a cony of the information supplied to the Committee would be supplied to every Councillor. A discussion, initiated by Councillor Hawkey, took place concerning the tarring of more roads this season. All Ccuncil'ors spoke on tho subject. It was explained that it was too late to do any more of this work this season, and a decision was reached that it should be started early next season, and pushed on as expeditiously as possible.

The report of the Works Committee was adopted, with the exception of the clause which was referred hack. Councillor Benstend drew attention to the state of Sehvyu Street, from the bridge to the Borough boundary on Grant’s Hill, and said it was time that some improvements were made. He had already brought the matter up several times, hut the Engineer had done nothin n ,beyond filling; in the deep ruts. There was no footpath and no watertable, and pedestrians had no possible chance of getting quickly out of the wav of cyclists or drivers of motors. That day a little stil l had been seriously injured through a collision on the road in question. He moved that the Borough Engineer be instructed to report on the necessary work. Councilor Hart endorsed Councillor Bcnstead’s- remarks and seconded the motion, which was carried.