BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume XVII, Issue 2413, 23 April 1874, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the Borough Council was held on Tuesday .evening. Present — His. Worship the Mayor, Crs Nathan, Watt, Bamber, Laird ChadwieJj, Brown, aud Duthie, MINUTES. The Clerk read the minutes of the previous meeting* also minutes of special meeting which lapsed. Minutes confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE!. Letter from Mr Edward Churton drawing attention to the danger of flooding from

an open drain near his premises. Referred to Works Committee.

From Mr Jainea Anderson drawing attention to necessity for improving drainage at the back of his premises. jbingiueer instructed to prepare specifications and call for tenders.

Letter applying for lease of sections 951, 475, aad 480. Reply postponed for consideration.

Letter from Mr D. Thompson soliciting subscriptions to Fire Brigade Fund, and towards maintenance of night watchman. £20 voted in aid of Fire Brigade ; Council declined to vote a sum towards night watchman.

. Messrs Watt and Pharazyn requested to use their influence with the Provincial Government to secure an extra policeman for Wanganui, so as to provide an additional constable on duty at night. Lutter from Mr Taylor desiring to lease three acres on the Town Belt from the Council direct, which are now sub leased from Mr Harwood. Council declined to interfere in the matter. Letter from Mr L. Sinclair applying for the office of Inspector of .Nuisances at £30 per annum. Ordered to lie on the table. : . RESERVES. Or Brown moved that Crs Brown, Nathan, and Chudwick be appointed to inquire into the condition and value of the unlet Borough Reserves, and report to the Council. Cr Bamber thought a regular plan of the reserves should be prepared by the Engineer. Cr Duthie supported Cr Brown's motion, and suggested that Cr Brown be chairman. Agreed to. WATER SUPPLY. It; was announced that the Engineer had received two letters from England with regard to the plant for the water supply. Cr Watt thought the proper course would be for the correspondence to be sent under cover to the Council, to be read by the Clerk. Cr Duthie concurred with Cr Watt. The Clerk *then read the following correspondence : Borough Engineer Department, Wanganui, April 21st, 1874. To His Worship the Mayor, aud Borough Council. Gentlemen, — I have the honor to request a reference to report No. 10, dated Bth Oct. last in which I estimated the 10 inch main at .£lO per ton, free on board, At that time mercantile members of the Council stated the price was ridiculously low aad could not be executed. lam just in receipt of advices from James Tate Esq., an English Engineering Agent, to the following effect. " I let your contract for the water supply to Wanganuai to the most eminent and trustworthy contractorsjrecommended whose tender I have accepted or oehalf of the Corporation of Wanganui, COPY O3? .TENDER ENCLOSED. f in Liverpool in London 1 10 inch pipes, f,o.b, £9 5s £9 7a 6d 8 do do do £9 7s 6d £9 10s Od 6 do do do £9 10s Od £9 12s 6d 4 do do do £9 12s 6d £9 15s Od 1 3 do do do £9 17s 6d .£lO

| Bends, branches, £a., £12 15s \, "The contractors are Messrs Cochrane Grove and Co., who have carried out works of great magnitude for Mr Hawkesly and other engineers, the Bristol Water Works &c."

This gentlemen, is in round numbers ,£SOO under my estimate. — I have, &c, Millar, F.S.A. Borongh Engineer. Institution of Civil Engineers ; Great t&eorge Street ";'- ■ Westminister, 0 '. Feb, 17th 1874/) Gentlemen,— On behalf ofjthe Mayor and Corporation of the Borough of Wanganui, New Zealand, I hereby accept your tender of the 17th inst., for the supply of the water pipes, etc, required for said town at the prices stated in your Schedule. * ' I will furnish us soon as possible, the de- ! tails necessaary to enable you to proceed with the work without delay. Payments will be made to you by the Bank of Australasia on production of certificate with Bills of Lading and policy of .In-j surance. — I am, &c, J. S. Tate. Cr Duthie thought the letters from the English ffrm were very satisfactory. The Engineer hail however not forwarded the originals to the Council, and it was important that he should do so. He could not understand why the Council should be placed in such a position, seeing they were the principals in the matter. Cr Watt said because the Council had not concurred with the Engineer with regard to his reading the documents he had left the Council Chamber in a temper. It was necessary that the Council should bring the Engineer to his proper bearings. If the Council did not make the Engineer submit, it would not be doing its duty to the Borough. The Mayor said the Engineer had placed on the table a copy of the official portion of the correspondence. The persona at home' appeared to be under the impresssion that the Engineer was the person they were contracting with. The correspondence sent home should have been covered by a letter from the Council, but this did not appear to have been done.

Or Duthie said the drafts were paid by the Corporation, and therefore they mus|> be the contracting parties. - ; f The Mayor said that should properly be the cisc, but there was nothing to show it. How were the letters addressed. * Cr Brown — One is addressed to His Worship the Mayor and the Corporation. Tne Mayor — Then the original correspondence should have been handed to the Council, and opened by . the Clerk or me. Mr Tate had evidently made the contract on behalf of the Corporation.

Cr Duthie said it was time the existing system with regard to original correspondence should be stopped, and with this view the Council should demand that Mr Millar should hand over the original correspondence to-morrow morning. The Mayor said the Council should not act hastily. A great deal of the correspondenoe was addressed to the Engineer, and was legally his private property. Cr Watt, said it was not usual in other Corporations for Engineers to withhold original correspondence from the Councillors. ASPHALT. A letter was read from several owners of property in Ridgway Street desiring the Council to grant assistance, to wards laying down asphalt in front of their properties. Cr Dnthie moved a resolution to the effect that the Council would be willing to assist in laying down asphalt from any one corner to another, provided the residents interested are unanimously in favor of defraying half the cost, and that the writers of the above letter be informed accordingly. Cr Beaven seconded the motion.

Cr Bamber suggested that the present system of permitting the contractor to acoept the risk of collecting half the money, should be adhered to.

The motion was agreed to, ACCOUNTS.

An account was received from Mr Edmonds for £41 2s, for work done, which was certified by the Engineer.

Cr Duthie desired to know by whose order the work had been done.

Cr Nathan said the Engineer had no order to do work to the exteut oi £15 in front of the Ship Hotel.

Cr Diuhie said there was a claim for £26 or £27, whereas no Committee had power to authorise any work exceeding £20. With regard to the portion opposite the Ship Hotel it was evidently an excessive charge, arising out of an old contract, in which, after a contract had been made for asphalt at 3d per yard, a claim for 6d a yard had been made, which fwas - paid in order to avoid trouble, on condition that the footpath should be done at the same price from corner to corner. After that was done a claim was made for work done in front of the Ship Hotel, which was repudiated. He hoped in future the Works Committee would confine itself within its powers Cr Nathan and Cr Brown denied that the Committee Lad overstepped its powers. Cr Watt said no doubt the work opposite the Ship Hotel was more difficult than elsewhere* The matter had been pending a long time, and it ought to be paid. Cr Laird moved, and Cr Chad wick seconded — '• That the portion of the account certified to by the Engineer, be paid." Agreed to. Cr Watt moved — •' That the remainder of the account stand over for the Engineer's certificate, with the oxctption of the item of £15 for the S.'iip Hotel, in settlement ef which a sum of £7 iOa be offered." Cr Brown seconded the motion. Cr Dnthie deprecated any departure from the original bargain. It was merely giving £7 10s away.

Ci Brown said Cr Duthie was endeavouring to obtain a cheap reputation for econo•.ny, and seeking to create an impression tnat the Council was spending public money recklessly. He contended that the motion was perfectly reasonable.

Cr Laird said the contract price had been 3d per yard, and that price had been paid twice over. The sixpence per yard included the piece opposite the Ship Hotel, and it was unreasonable that a further claim should, now be made. The Mayor said he would support Cr Watt's motion because it appeared that the contractor had under-estimated the cost of repair. Cr Bamber said a portion of the contract was worth considerably over 6d yer yard. He supported Cr Watt's motion. Cr Duthie deuied that he had opposed the motion in order to obtain popularity. He considered such insinuations grotsly impertinent. T.ie motion having been carried on the voices, Cr Duthie demanded a division, and was the only Cr who voted with the noes. An account from Mr Allen who said he had frequently applied for payment, and would next time send the account to the other side of the Bench, viz., the Resident Magistrate. On the motion of Cr Bamber, seconded by Cr Brown, the account was ordered to stand over until next meeting. FINANCE. The Finance Committee reported as follows,:—-•■-.. .-•-*■•-- ■-•'■'■-■ : .-•.-«^-~~ > ** ! -*"' --:-**' MONTHLY REPORT OF THE FINANCE OOMMirTEE. . Your Committee ha.ye to report the following payments since the 10th ult. on Pullic Works account — for labor ,£3O Is 3d ; gravel 19s 8d; timber, .£26 14s 4d. On Hospital account, £70 10s 3d ; Bridge and Wharf ,£2O 18s 1 Id. Loan account, for water supply, .£l7 Is 9d ; Drainage, £364 13s lOd : Reserves, £4> 2s 6d. Total, £385 18s Id. Salaries, Clerk and Solicitor £45 15s. Grand total, £656 6s 6d, Since the same date the receipts have been, Ordinary Revenue account from rates &c, £359 9s pound, £9 19s ; total, £399 Bs. On Hospital acconnt, £26 19s 9d ; Bridge and Wharf account, £398 7s sd. Grand total, £824' 15s 2d.,j On the 10th inst. the Bank overdraft was on ordinary revenue account, £361 18s 9d ; Bridge and Wharf account, £938 18s; Loan account, ,£lB4 0s lid; Total. £2183 18s Bd.

Your Committee having at last received the Solicitor's opinion is enabled to state that the, Council is now in a position to issue debentures under the Borrowing Act, and as drafts against Water works plant may soon be expected it recommends that tenders be invited by advertisement to be sent in by Ist July for a portion of the Loan say £10,000. Further, it is desirable that the Council at an early opportunity should resolve itself into committee and agree as to the reserve to, bo put upon this issue, Tenders from the several printing offices . were received for supplying debenture forms, and that of Mr Willis' being the lowest was accepted.

Intimation has been received from theBank that in accordance with the general advance of interest it will have to charge the Corporation an increase rate of 1 4 per cent. Cour committee would direot attention to the high price, recently paid for timber and suggests that tenders, should again be invited for this supply.. . ■. .: " The workmen and contractors under the Council suffer ineonvenienca from the delay and irregularity in their monthly payments. This is usually caused by one or other of the committee failing to meet to pass accounts. With the approbation ot the Council this coinTuiittee w6uld propose to pay accounts on tne 7th of each month, and when that day falls on a Sunday then on the following day, and trusts that the other committees will cooperate and thus enable prompt payment to be made in futux*e.

J. D. Duthie, Chairman. Cr Ddthie concluded by moving the adoption of the report. Seconded by Cr Chadwick. Cr Watt supported the motion, and expressed his gratification that the loan had proved a success. He considered £10,000 would be sufficient to raise at present, but it was a question whether that amount could not be secured by an overdraft. It was a question whetbei the loan could not be more advantageously raised as a whole than a portion of it. After some further discussion Cr Duthie withdrew his motion, on the understanding that it be discussed at the next special meeting. engineer's correspondence. A letter was read from the Engineer covering copies of correspondence with the home agents for the private use of the Council. Cr Duthie moved : — . , . ". That the Council having taken the Engineers report No. 20 into consideration regrets its insubordinate tone and especially censures the reference in grossly abusive terms to a professional gentleman, a stringer

here., also the statement that by furnishing the Council with the required correspondence, the Engineer would be placing it in ' unscruplous keeping.' When the Engineer was requested to furnish copies of his correspondence with its London agents the Council did not suppose that matters of a private nature were intermixed in the official letters of one of its officers, and it has now to request that the Engineer furnish copies omitting such clauses as are of a private nature, and further that in future no correspondence drawings or any communications on the business of the Council be sent "to England by the Engineer unless]under seal of the Corporation, nor until duplicates are placed in the hands of the Council " He spoke strongly in condemnation of the terms in which the Engineer's report; was couched. Cr Watt referred to the 6th schedule of the Act, and seconded the motion, which he thought was only right, and would convince the Engineer that the Council " wtxs not to be trifled with. The motion was unanimously agreed to. GAS REPORT. Cr Duthie desired to know what had been dove with reference to the gas report. Cr Chadwick said the only power given by the Council was to make enquiries as to the, cost of the plant &c. All the members of the Committee, except himself, had left the Council, and nothing further had been done. NIXON STREET. Cr Duthie moved that it was desirable that the upper portion of Nixon street should be cut to its level and metalled to to its proper width, and that the Engineer be instructed to prepare plans and specifications of the work for nejet meeting. Cr Chcdwick seconded the motion. Cr Watt suggested that the motion should be postponed until Councillors had time to inform themselves by actual inspection whether the work was necessary or not. The motion was negatived on a division. MARKET SQUARE. Cr Bamber moved that further expense in connection with the Market Square should be suspended until the Reserves Committee have considered the matter. Seconded by Cr Laird and agreed to. THE SWAMP. Cr Laird moved that power be given to the Works Committee to authorise a payment of 24s to Mr Edwards for improving the drainage near his house. The Council was counted out at 12.30 a.m.