Thames Borough Council.

Thames Star, Volume XII, Issue 4010, 4 November 1881, Page 2

Thames Borough Council.

The usnal fortnightly meeting of the above Council was held in the Council Chambers, Albert street, last eveniog. Present —His Worship the Mayor (in the Chair), Crs Mc(iowan, Speight, Veale, Marshall, Bawden, Osborne, and McCullough.

minutes, &c

The minutes of the-previous meeting were read and confirmed, and a precis of the outward correspondence since last meeting read over.

APOLOGY. Ur Osborne apologised for the absence of Cr Wilson.

LETTERS, &C, W£BB READ—

From W. Howe, juur., Tararu, objecting I to pay the water rate with which he was charged, as he handed back the property to Mr Dean. Referred to tlie Water Supply Commit toe.—Mr W. Best tele graphed that £190 15s lid. gold duty, had been placed to the Borough's credit. Received. —Prom the Secretary of tiie Shortland Fire Brigade, applying for 21 new uniforms ; the writer said they were badly wanted. Jtteferred to Fire Brigade Committee.—From James Wright, engine keeper to the Grahamslown Fire Brigade, asking she' Council to increase his salary, as he was not able, owing to holding that position, to take other employment at a distance from the Thames. Received.— From E. W. Otvray, District Engineer, acknowledging Mr Dean's letter with the suggestion re the Waikato railway, and stating that it would shortly receive further attention. Received.—From Jas. Verral, of Shortland, staling that he thought his water rate excessive. Referred to Water Supply Committee.— From W. Plant, re his exhibits of potting at the Sydney Exhibition, stating that he had been informed that three gentlemen had promised to raise £15 towards defraying his expenses. He stated that he had written to one of them several times on the subject, but had received no repty. Resolved.that the Town Clerk be requested to report at next meeting on the connection between tlie Council and the Central t'ommittee of the Exhibition. — From a number of miners working in the Kuranui Gul'y, asking tlie Council to make a sledge track in that locality, or else lay it off and vote tnem £5, when they would do the work themselves Referred to Works Committee with power to act.—From Alexander Hanlan, asking the Council to hand over to Mr Read all monies duo to him in connectiou with his contract for the Waiotahi culvert, and revoking all previous orders (uot already paid) made by him on the money due to him for the contract. Resolved that notice be given to the persons who had obtained orders from Hanlan that a revocation of them had been received.— A bill of Exchange for £115 3s ild from Messrs Shand, Mason, and Co., money due to them for the articles ordered by the Council, w«s received. An invoice of the articles was also received.—From Mrs Pitkethley, asking that the rates on her smithy in Grey street be remitted, as it had been rendered useless by the flood Referred to the Charitable Aid Committee.—From Thomas Hammond, reporting upon the new school at the Orphanage; he said it had not been erected in accordance with the specifications, and recommended that £12 be deducted from the contract money to pay for remedying the defects. Referred to the Works Committee.

works committee's eepobt

This Committee's report was read and adopted. It was as follows :—The coor mittee have to report with respect to the various matters left in their charge:—(l) That the Foreman of Works has been ordered to lay down asphalt in front of Mr Litchfield rs (2) That the drains of Richmond, Baillie, and Mackuy streets, referred to by Mr Connon, have been ordered to be cleaned out. (3) That an arrangement has been effected with Mr Hewin for the right to divert the waters of the Karaka Creek through his allotment. (4) That orders for laying down tho platform over the water tablevat the end of the premises of the Bank of New South Wales in Queen street have been given. (5) That the Foreman of Works has been instructed to erect, at the least possible cost, the fence of the public pound where carried away by tbefl#6d on the 16th of July last. (6) That the majority of residents in Kirkwood street having requested the committee to improve the drainage of the street by laying down a water-table, and the formation of the footpath under bye-law 7, the plans and specifications are beiug prepared. The committee recommend that specifications be drawn up by the Foreman of Works, and tenders called for performing the Borough cartage for six months from the Ist December; tenders to be sub mitted to the Council at its next sitting. With respect to the applications made by Mr Cordes and Mr Townsend, the com mittee recommend that the matter stand over until the Engineer has certified that he has taken over the Waiotahi Creek flume from the contractor, when the question raised can more easily be settled.— j Wm. Wilkinson, Chairman.

tIBEAKY.

The Library Committee's report was received and adopted. It recommended that the windows in the reading room be made to open, ia order to improve the ventilation. Authority was asked to purchase " The Imperial Gazette of India," " Thompson's Materia Medica, 1' and Laurie's Homoepathic Medicine." Nine volumes had been received from Messrs Collins and Son of Glasgow.

The Turncock's report was also read and adopted. It referred to work done since he had last reported. The Foreman ot Works sent in the following report on the works in progress in the Borough. The report was read and :■—" I beg to lay before you the

fwing report for tbe month ending )ber 31st, 1881, of works completed still ia hand. I have finished the straightening of the Karaka Creek from Pollen street to railway bridge, and have fenced in and erected foot-bridges to the different allotments, and put a bridge on the Beach road over new line of creek, and lay before you the total costs of doing the same, viz : Timber for piling, sheathing, and capping, 14,821 feet, at 10s 9d, £79 18s 6d ; nails, &c., £5 13s; oxide of iron paint, los ; paint oil, £17 Is; carpenters' labor, &c, £45 18s lOd; total, £149 6s 40. Cost of Fencing : For pests, £5 ; Shortland Sawmill, rails 605 feet, at 10s 9d, £3 5s ; 750 Hobartown palings, £7 6s 3d ; binges, screws, and nails, £1 2s; total, £16 13s 3d. The total cost

including fencing being £165 19s 7d. I have finished the watertable and footpath on .south siiie of Willoughby street trom Lilchfield's to the beach, and the holders of property will have to contribute as follows, viz :~R. Douglas and Co , 167 feet at Is 4 I per foot, £11 2s 8d ; R. Douglas and Co , 3 extra cart Crossings, £1 10s ; Me Ewan, 55 feet at Is 4d, £3 13s 4d ; Litchfield, 118 feet at Is 41, £7 17s 4J. —Total, £24 3s 4'd. I have erected a foot bridge in the Waiotahi district, in the plane of the one lately t/ carried away by the flood, and completed the Addition to the bridge in Baillie" street. I have attended to the footpath in front of Mr Hales', Queen street, and put it in good order, and laid dovn a box dram near Mir Dod's Queen street, Shortland. The drains have been cleaned and attended to in the following streets, viz :~Ahrahaui street, Queen street, Baillie street, Mackay street, Willoughby street, Grey street, and Lower Pollen street. We have laid down during the month, for repairs, 159| yards of asphalt damaged by the late flood. The following roads have been repaired with metal:—Queen street, Cochrane street, Pollen street, and Beach road near Ooromandel street. The workmen are preparing for laying down at once the watertable in Richmond, Pollen, and Grey streets. T. G. Comes has fiuished his contract for Queen street bridge across the Karaka Creek, according to plan and specificitioas, and to entire satisfaction. Scliofield and p irty have started work and arc now making good progress with the work of straightening the Karaka Creek, iv No. 2 contract. In conclusion I may say that th» work of straightening the lojrer. pan of the Karaka Creek being completed I shall bo abl • to get on faster with other works as required.—Thos. Rawden, Foreman of Works." TENDEttS. The follow.iug tenders were received for the approaches to the Queeu street bridge.:—Dickey Bros, £205 10s ; M. Casey, £228; John Allen and Co., £262; Thomas Scanlan, £304 ss; John Townsend and Quinlivan. £345 10s. The lowest tender was accepted.

The Relieving Officer's report was receired aud adopted. He slated that the relief list for the month contained,33 names, and the amount spent on rations was £29 5s 7d. He also reported that he had removed Mrs Timmins and, all her belongings to Auckland. The Health Officer reported that seven' deaths had occurred in the Borough during the monih. No fresh cases of scarlatina had been reported. The Financial Committee recommended for payment accounts to the amount- of £612 10s.—Adopted. , . VALUER. Ou the motion of Cr McCullough, ■ seconded by Cr Osborne, it was resolved that Mr Fleming be appointed valuer for the ensuing year. GAS. Cr McCullough moved the notice of motion standing in his name, " That a committee be appointed to collect information and re pert upon - the desirability of . the Council acquiring the Thames Gas Works on behalf of the ratepayers, under the provisions of the Municipal Coporations Act." In speaking to the motion, he said many citizens were inconvenienced by the want of light in the streets of the Borough, especially at the crossings. During the late bad weather, and while the paths were in a muddy state, travelling even through the main streets at night was attended with great inconvenience. Iv thinking over the best way tosecure light for the streets, he was led to believe the gas works in Mary street could bo secured for the ratepayers,- when it would*'. ' become the duty of the Council to see the streets properly lighted. .At the present charges for gas it would be almost impos* sible for the Council to pay the cost of street lamps; but, if the Corporation owned the works, the object would not be so much the desire to make money, as tosecure advantages for the citizens. He might mention another fact, that there were Only about 350 consumers of gas on the Thames—a very small proportion of the population, and the reason given why more persons had not used it, was the high rates charged. It was possible that held by the Corporation citizens would be induced to use the gas more largely, and a reduction might be made in the charges. He pointed out (he clauses in the .Municipal Corporations Act under which a loan could be floated for the purchase of the gas works, and stated his only object in bringing forward the motion and asking, for a committee was that information might be obtained on the subject. -

Cr Veale seconded the motion.

Cr Speight did not favor the scheme, ' and was of opinion that instead of the.' Borough making 8 per cent,,. under.* its • management 8 per cent, would -,b4 lost..' ■ / Cr Bawden approved of thp 'motion^.; It was quite in order to enquire into the matter, and if it could be shown that .

advantages would follow to the citizens, Cr McOullough deserved thanks for bring-

ing the subject forward

Cr McGowan said upon consideration he did not see any hurm in appointing the Committeeas requested by CrMoOullough. In fact it might be found desirable to raise a loan tor the erection of gas works

for the municipality, as it was just possible the owners of the present works would re-

quire too much for them, as probably they

cost too much in constructions

The resolution was then put and agreed .. to, upon which Cr McCullough proposed ' the following committee :—His^ Worships^ the Mayor, Crs Veale, McGowan, Mennie, and the mover.

The Mayor questioned the wisdom of the proposer in placing his name, on the committee, as he was opposed to the. matter. - .

Cr McCullough trusted when mqr&S light was thrown upon it His Worship would think differently.

I-EVEB HOSPITAL. Cr McCullough asked what steps had been taken re the fever hospital. It was now a month since the committee was

appointed, and nothing further had been heard of it.

The Mayor said all that had been done was to see Dr Payne who had promised to report on the matter.

Cr McCullough moved that the Council ; take into consideration at next meeting the desirability of appointing an engineer. He considered the Council were imposing upon the Foreman of Works in requiring him to attend to more work than he could

well do. Mr Kawdon was a competent

overseer of work, but it was too much to

require him to draw plans and specifications for large bridge works, culverts, <fee, whiiA of late he had been asked to do.

The Council in giving any man. more work than he could well perform was making a mistake, and one which often led to errors being made that' entailed great loss.

This concluded the business.