LAWRENCE TOWN COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume VII, Issue 423, 6 January 1875, Page 2

LAWRENCE TOWN COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the. Council .was held in the Council Chambers on Moudf/ evening. Present r The Mayor -and a full Council. , . '■ . - , , The minutes of the previous regular meeting, and of a special meeting were read and confirmed, The Town Clerk then read the outward correspondence. The inward correspondence was as follows : Letter from the Provincial Secretary, in reply to one from the Council regarding shortdated sentenced prisoners sent from Queenstown to Dunedin. Letter from Mr. W. D. Morrison, in reply to one from the Council allowing him a certain number of days to sign the contract for

the water mains, otherwise his cheque would be forfeited. Mr. Morrison stated that the contract was completed ; and as for signing the agreement, he had waited upon the Council's officer on two or three occasions to do *o. The Town Clerk stated that Mr. Morrison had waited upon him with reference to : the matter, and would not sign the agreement stipulating that the work should" be finished in two months. That afternoon Mr.- Morrison had declined to sign it. ' — The Mayor remarked that he did not think the Council rould take any notice of the letter, for according to their previous decision Mr. Morrison's cheque became forfeited. Cr. Fraer was of opinion that the work shonld be gone on with without delay. H.t was only fair and equitable to the inhabitants of Ross Place and the adjoining streets that the mains should be extended. He then, in order to ascertain where the difficulty existed between Mr. Morrison and the Council, moved to the effect that a committee, consisting of the Mayor, Cr. Ferguson, and the mover, wait upon Mr. Morrison, and find out what he means. The present position was % very unsatisfactory one. . , Cr. Cox seconded the motion, but would not like the committee to have power to decide the matter without referring it to th« "Council. , "■ Cr. Walker was prepared to say that tie whole thing hinged upon a slight difference that exists in the weight of the pipes. He wa9 certain that Mr. Morrison was quite agreeable to go on with the work if the Council would allow for the 161bs. ' extra weight of the pipes. After some conversation on the subject, The Mayor remarked that the Council shoul! not act as a lot of schoolboys with, contractors. He could not have agr>ed with the motion but for the fact that Mr. Morrison has obtained the only pipes in New Zealand suited for the work. ' f The motion was then put and carried. Cr. Fraer thought there should be Order papers laid on the table, so that the order of the business for the meeting would be known to the Council. He would move that 250 forms be printed. The motion, not being seconded, lapsed. ■ Cr. Fraer, with reference to the letter from the Colonial Secretary re short-sentenced prisoners being sent to Lawrence gaol, moved, " That a letter be forwarded to the Colonial Secretary, asking that short sentenced prisoners from Cromwell, Queenstown, and Arrow be sent to Lawrence gaol, instead of to Dunedin." Cr. Ferguson seconded. Carried. The following accounts were referred to. committees :— T. Arthur, £1 4s. 3d. ; r L. C. Holmes (Town Clerk), £17 10s. ; W. H. Smith (inspector), £10 ; Anderson and Brmiton, £1 ; R. Andrews, £1 45. ; M. Hay (expenses to Dunedir), £10 135. ; Tuabbka Times, £4 195. ; Herbert and Co., £2 9i. ; R. Tuckey, £2 13s. 6.1. Cr. Middlemiss asked that a complete statement of the cost of tho weighbridge be placed upon the table at next Council meeting. All the accounts, he believed, were now in, and it wtJuld be well to know how much the weighbridge had cost. Agreed to. Cr. Fraer, in referring to the amount paid to tho Inspector of Works, would like to know if any time was mentioned when the Town Hall contract should be completed. He thought if. very strange that £Z 10s. a week should be paid for supervising two men's work. The Mayor said lie was glad this matterhad been brought forward. The Council at present were paving Si. a day for tho inspection of the work of a man and a boy. The thing was most preposterous. The contract time for the completion of the work was either the 13th of October or November last. The Council should take some steps to get Messrs. Mears and Whifctet to push, on the work. He had called Mr. Smith's attention to the slow manner in which the work was proceeding. The fact was, the contractors were sending their men all over the district to do any little job, and leaving the Town Hall alone. Cr. Fraer moved " That a letter be sent to Mr.,Lawson, informing him of the unreasonable time the contractors are taking to .complete the contract for ths Town Hall, thus causing delay aud exponse to the Council ; and that the Council a c of opinion that the original time fixed upon for the completion of the work should be adhered to, after allowing 'a fair time for alterations sanctioned by tho Council." Cr. Sheath secondedCr. Cox thought it unnecessary to write to Mr. Lawson. A letter on the same subject had been written some fortnight ago, to which he had not replied. - The motion was put and carried. Cr. Fraer's notice of motion regarding byelaws was then brought forward, but after somo conversation he, with the consent of the Council, postponed the consideration of it until he received further information. The Mayor said, in reference to the case ia court against Mr. John Menzies, the Magistrate had non-suited the collector. The case, he held, should be brought by the Council, and not by the collector. Cr. Fraer moved, " That a fresh summons be taken out against Mr. John Menzies in the name of the Council, and under the XV., clause of the Act." Cr. Cox seconded. — Carried. Cr. Fraer moved, " That a letter be sent to 1 Mr, M'Coy informing him that as the Council intend. making fresh arrangements regarding their legal work, his services will not b© further required." Cr. Cox seconded. — Carried. Cr. Fraer moved, " That a letter be sent ,to Mr. M'Coy and Mr. Copland asking them o6mm what rates they would do the * Corporation "* legal work, such work to be particularised." Cr. Cox seconded. — Carried. In reply- to Cr. Middlemiss, .the Mayor said the portion of the stand pipe at head of Colonsay-street had "arrived, and' would' be fixed by Mr. Barnett in the course of a- day or two. ..'_," Financial report No. 11, for £548J 4s 6,d was received and adopted. The Council then adjourned. .