Thames Borough Council.

Thames Star, Volume X, Issue 3330, 25 August 1879, Page 2

Thames Borough Council.

A special meeting of the Council was held this atternoon. Present—His .Worship the Mayor, Crs Brassey, Hansen, Price and Mennie. , The Mayer gave an account of his labours on behalf of the Borough while in Wellington. He and Mr Speight had waited upon : the Government aud asked them for a vote of money to pay off the Borough overdraft, and to set apart land in the upper Thames as an endowment, and the result was, that two thousand acres of land near the Aroha block were proclaimed, and get apart as an endowment, but Government had informed him that , there was no fund from which they could vote a sum of, money. He had interviewed Government in respect to ; the petition re merging of Parawai into the Borough, and was informed that the matW, shad ; been .settled i before he arrived. The Government had satisfactorily settled the Water Supply difficulty, and the Domestic Supply would soon be the property of the Borough."^ ■ In connection' with the above the following letter was read :— ' ] Memorandum of Aoeeement made and entered intb this ( sixteenth day of August, 1879, between, the Honorable John Sheehan, acting for and on behalf of the General Government of New .Zealand, of the fint part; Alexander Brodie, Chairman., of the Thames County Council, acting on behalf of such Council, of the second part; and < William McCnllough, 'Mayor of the Borough of Thames, acting on behalf of the Council of that Borough, of the, -/, third part ■• v . ■■': ;',' '?> :' * ' ' ; ' . Whereas by an agreement dated the 2nd day of December, 1878, between Oliver Wakefield,' Under-Secretary for Goldfields, of the one part, and Alexander Brodie, Chairman of the Thames County Council, of the other part, the property known as the Thames Water Race was transferred to the Thames County Council, subject to the approval of the Government; and whereas it is intended to give effect to such agreement by the' issue' of a Proclamation, under certain, conditions, hereinafter mentioned, .the several parties hereto agree as follows:—- j ; 1. That the Government will placer on the Estimates the sum of two thousand five hundred pounds, to be paid to the County Council, in consideration of which the County Council will allow, without other charge or compensation, the use by the Borough Council of the Water Hace Supply for extinguishment of fires, and help of the Domestic Supply whenever the same falls short of llie'dpmestic. rer quirements. To give effect, tp this, the nine-inch main of the Domestic .Water Supply at the junction of the two services at Albert street shall be always kept amply supplied with water from the Thames Eace, and available for i mmediate use by the Borough, the valves being, kept open (excepting at times' when re« pairs are necessary). 2; That the opening and closing of the valves at the junction shall be under the control of the CountyauthoritiesV ; 3. That it is distinctly understood that no water taken from the, Thames Bnce under the above conditions shall be granted by the Borough to be used for motive power, manufacturing purposes, or for any other than purely .domestic purposes only. This exception not to apply to the water required for shipping. Whenever the Domestic Supply shall fall below tho | actual requirements of those parts of the I town which are not connected with the nine-inch man, then the County Council will supply water to the extent required,: for the purposes, heretofore mentioned ; only; and subject to the. same, conditions and hereinbefore provided in respect of the Albert street junction, by permitting the Borough Council to connect, with the Thames Race at such as the parties may agree upon. If they cannot a^ree, then an engineer to be appointed by General Government to settle that point with which a ,connection can , bejtiij be; established, regard beingiiad to the 'efficiency and proper ■ working 1 of the Thames >Race, and the necessities of the Borough. 4. That"all expense of connection is to be borne by ,th© Borough. : : i 5. That it is specially understood that all the mains and services be^nging to ifche Domestic Supply are to be kept in thorough good order and repair, so as to prevent waste. ■ ' - ', 6. That, the Government will place on the estimates the sum of one thousand pounds, to be paid to the Thames County Council, in consideration of which, the County Council will hand over to the Borough Council all the interest now held by the County in the Domestic Water Supply—such interest being now; estimated at'two-eighths of the whole—and will also assist ia making good the transfer by the Parawai Highway Board pf the interest now. held by that, body, and>ill do all such other acts and things as may be required to complete the title of the Borough to. the three-eighths interest as above. 7. That should the Parawai Highway District merge in the County before the transfer of its share to the Borough is made or is complete, then the County ■hall be deemed to hold such share as the property of the Boroagh, and will transfer it at once without further consideration. - 8. That the sums above mentioned are to be paid over to the County Council immediately that the same have been voted by Parliament, and on completion of the terms and conditions above set forth. 9. If at any time, by reason of defects or for other reasons, the County Council should determine not to repair or renew the 20-inch main now connecting with

street and their reservoir, they undertake to connect immediately therefrom with the nearest or other best; point on the line of the nine-inch mains belonging to the Domestic Water Supply south of its present termination, near the Governor Bowen Hotel, in Owen street. The County paying the expense of such connection. John Sheehan. Alexander Bsodie. Wii. McCiriiriOtrGH. ' Signed by the said"J^n'^'Sn'eleP"' 7*'"''1' '°'" *'* ban, Alexander Brodie, Wm. McCullough, in the presence James Mackay, ; ■ : Special Commissioner. , Wellington, 16th August, 1879. The following letter re the Tairua affair was also read :— "General Crown Land Office, Welling, ton, 16th August, 1879.—Sir,—Eeferring to your numerous personal interviews with the Hon. the Minister of Lands and to go in letter of the Bth inst. to the Hon. the Premier, I have the.honor to inform you that the Commissioner of Crown Lands at Auckland has been asked whether, in view of the fact, that a large number of persons would be thrown"out, of employment if the lease over lands at Tairua is granted to the Sash and Door Company, as proposed. In the event of the Board not agreeing, the Minister of Lands is of opinion that under the exceptional circumstances as represented by you the Governor should be advised to withdraw the land in - pursuance of the 16th section of • The Land Act,' 1877.—1 have the honor to be, sir, your obedient servant, H. J. H. Eliott, Undersecretary.—His Worship the Mayor,: Thames." ; 'i : After a desultory conversation the meeting adjourned. , ,