MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 3, Issue 694, 16 February 1881, Page 2

MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

-The ordinary, fortnightly meeting of the above was held at the Council Chambers' last evening, /' . . Present-His Worship the Mayor, and Ors McOardle, Gapper, Dixon, Bish, Perry, Bentley,Gray, Vile, and Russell. ,Jhe. Mayor, would; like, before" the minutes.wereuoonfiritted, to ball the-re-peer's attention; to the faot that : he (the' ilayrir) wa* 1 sometimes: reported- asiraoy,ingyor seconding;a;resolution, MMii : »!issell.- ; N^6ubt : th9;Mii.

tlirpugh thef similarity of the names when, '.'written, but he hoped that a little more ,care would be taken, as the mistake sometimes made him appear ridiculous. '...-.' : ■ The minutes.of the last ordinary meeting were read and confirmed j also the minutes of the special meeting re amalgnV ..raatiojio^ i .o6^s^9|^S&v. : ;r ■■•' ■'. .Outwards—To; Mr'RiCpookb.urn, re fencing his land in Hall-atreet, and cleanjrng.QUt the creek.;-: to Mr Oorp'e, inforra. i iiig him tliat'his tender for the supply ; o'f timber was accepted; to tne Minister of Publio Works, re'Beriningtbn's line. Inwards-From Gertain residents in tho Kuripuni distriot asking that'the road to tiie railway.plalforni from the main road at Kutfpuni be opened'■iip : -fpr the. convenience efthe. inhabitants, arid.visitors by 'rail..;;. ._■■■■ ;. r ' v .;,;'. ' ; ;■'''•' .' ;; y ■ Or Russell rose.-.to advocate''that-ths road applied for be opened.; He did not think; he could; state.Jhe matter mora clearly than the-way it was placed before by the.'memorial. He knew :of. settlers missing the train through the difficulty; of findings the way tp-wjllat., form.'lt wouldh'e ai very artd hembved the.adoption of the memorial, Cr Vileseconded pro forma in order that •the.matter.might be discussed. Or McCardle moved as an- amendment that the matterbe leftto the Works Committee toreport,on. -He.'would like to see' the work done ■ if-the Council could see its way; clear; .• . Or Bish suppdrled' the" amendment, as tliey'oould.then have certain information to go upon at nert'meeting,-..-.--.

The Mayor enquired;if this.W ever been named as astreetj;and'was'informed that it was -.named. Short-street, His ; Worship stated could then deal with the. memorial under the Act.

Or Gapper though? it waa a similar case to that or Viotofia-streetj which he bad had the onus of carrying through. On that street, the Counciljaid down a rule that they 'would -not 'entertain .the idea of making it until the : inhabitants thereon subscribed towards, its cost. He thought Villa-street neoded attention before they entertained a proposal with reference to a street so little frequented. 1 Villa-atreet had ten times nibre : traffio than the street mentioned in the memorial. He thought a definite statement of what the residents would give towards it should be presen* ted; till then, they >duld do nothing in 'the:m&j;ter. "',......-- •■. •

Mr. Shute, .who.attended with reference to; the'' memorial;'.said, he thought they could raise £25, and,at next meeting a definite statement could be made to the Council as to what would be subscribed. .

'Mr' J.' B.:Thdmpsbi), who' also attended,itated the manner in'.which the road."'had been laid off; and thought if they paid rates they ought to have a road to- their properties.. ''"., '-.'•'His Worship'.'giiggested; that the memorial'shouid be referred' back to the petitioners for and more definite-' information. 'V. ,x' f -:.'}'.- ': '? Cr' RuaselUwp'uld'li.kja.to speak as to the' amendment.;. He-pqittted out'that thisstreet.was laid."off?, long.; before several.other streets,- since formed, were reclaimed' fr'oni pasture' land;. : -They wanted the' road to euable them.to get to'a station: ■placed"-'for; the! -publio 'convenience, He-taight akte-'tha't he had:no.perßonai •thterea6 in the:Ma'l(si but':he looked onthe 'subjeot'oir'btpader; grounds than 'Self interest.' rWith;'r&Rar'd; to the trafljo spoken of-by; 6tl||t';'a|3ak3r3,' he had seen in'one night half'a'diiffih'people:oop out with'candles atibV lamps and find their way lover log3,•;fencea7and , ditches, and .thoughii'i't wrong'!thst -such a state o(•things'should be permitted to'oontinue. TJie-Mfiyor-rstatedine had been- wrong: in.taking Oc.Mc.Ctyrdle'samendment as it would not be im prtbei to do so-in the matter of receivtog/refrarts or memorials', He -would tliorefow'jput the 'original resolution;- . On; a; division Iner.'meraoriarwas ted : ayes C, litiea 4. f -V-'V'. .'. Or McCardla;moved. f ; 1, . That the orjalbe referred to the.Works Committeo to. report at .next- meeting. 11 Seconded by.Cr Rusßoll, arid carried without discmsion. ■• . - ...«; . ■

EBEJ3 BTfS. A letter was. read', from the Treasury statins that £G. 15s. had- been lodged to the fiorouffh ucoouut for fees and fines for the months of October- and December. WORKS COMMITTEE. The Works Committee, handed*in the orerscer's report, presented at its meeting, as follows;—.. ' : . OVERSEER'S. KEFORT, The Chairman Public Works Commitee.

Sir,—l submit to you the following report oh the works in. progress in the Borough of Masterton..:—

Mr Burgess is progressing with his contract in Lincoln Road very satisfaq, torily, A good portion qf tho road is almost completed. Mr IJounslow is progressing, with-his contract in Victoriastreet very satisfactorily, and by to-mor-row evening will have it completed. There are-a few irregular placos in the footpaths, but they are of no consequence, Tl|e Upper plain road now ought to be taken into consideration, and have a coat of metal-put on it from the top almost tq thebottpp. If left much longer it will be impossible for the contractor to do it by the time the bad weather sett in. It iaof'no'use."to pafoh It, as it has been patohed for the. last five years. I would also call the attention of the Council, now that ilie footpaths are made in Victoriastreet, to tl)e necessity of giving notices to parties owning land abutting on tho said street to fence in their properties, as tHe linfaes and vehicles will, cut them to. pieces,,. Mf Hounslow' ir still cutting down the'lidoi of 'Johnston-street and tho-Manaia.Road. I should recommend that: the.Manatftji-^oadOreceive a little attfihiioii, as the formation of* the said .road is now flut ; right£thrqu.gh in--planes, and if left till'the bad fweatheD 'sets; in ■soma. P.ir.tsrof ifwiUbe/almost imassable, Mr employed by tho Works•'Onrnnjittea'tcbiblqan out the Kuripuni drain,: and.he will finish the jbb by Wednesday-midday.: \- ■ .v.i-.:';:-- .G;-HutroN, .?•;,

: m , „ -£,;.'':»: J ;. : i Overseer. ..The'Mayor stated with,referenoe;to the report that he/had instructed' the overseer to see the contrictor''whenever he saw that a roatj needed repaired ifcre the iifl'c'eßMry.'work;' donerand-if tifiktraQ. tor did not: do the worli tq. rqoqtt tq the Council. ' '

Or (iajppar thought Chey had made 4 mistake'iii letting other 'coritraots to the contractor for keaping the roads in repair, He. thought the work of .this contractor in Victoria-street the worst pieoe of work in the Borough, Resides'this, the bi!dina,ry roads were not.properly attended'to';by the contractor, 'He .qbuld point put 1 at Knripuni, several places where could be employed'for two months, and nothing 'was'befog done, the contractor having' sold one of his carts, on the ground that ho had not' enough, for it to. dp, He thought' the roads were, being too muoh neglected,. "'

' The Mayor cpiild not agr'ea with Or Gapper that a man should not be allowed to have'other contracts :beoause: he. iind work in:hand.: they-rented, oertain work done on could compel' the coii|raotor to! dp jt, ■ and he always'found tjiat; if,the : contractor was ;told to do any work he.clid jtjminediately. They bnly.wanted be a • littlemorestrictinhis'dutiesrl- : ■ < ' •: • i|f^ n !^

He thought as tho work was not passed in victorw-street. the Works Committee could refuse to take it oyer till the work Was Satisfactorily performed. Cr Busaell rose for the purpose of replying to Or Gapper. He thought it : not;righ.t,that ; a.lot of novices should say -What was»trood piece of work and what : waß not, He considered the work in Yictorhvstreet nsgood a piece of work ns aiw that had been done in the Borough, Or Gappor thought the formation of a road should be passed before' the metal was put on. ■ This had not boon done, and he reiterated his opinion that the work in this street warthe worst he hiyd seen done in the Borough. Or Bentley supported Cr Gapper's view, and thoujht contractorsishouldbe com--pelled to fulfil their oontraota to the very letter. He also thought the road contractor should not bo allowed to take other;works while he had that contract, as complaints were going tlio rounds of the Borough that he was not attending to nil ordinary work, through having other contracts on hand. The matter was hero allowed to drop, the Mayor remarking that he had no doubt the report would be pretty well .understood after being so well ventilated. issnioiE KEPOBT.

Tho Clerk feadthe annual report of the Masterton Institute, which will be. published in our next issue. The rojpprt.was adopted on the motion , of the Mayor, seconded by Cr McOardle. ■ A/unanimous vote of thanks on behalf ;• of. the ratepayers, was. passed to the Committee, with a special refer"jnc'e to Mr Hales the Secretary, on the ■■■ motion of Cr Bish, seconded by Cr Dixon. .; Or McCard(e stated that to-night a frosh VCora'm'ittee'had to be appointed or the pre''sent one reappointed, and he proposed " That the old Committee be reappointed for the ensuing year," •Or Bish had much pleasuro in second- ; ing tho resolution and spoke in flattering terms of the members proposed. "■ The resolution was carried unanimously. BOItOUOU SURVEYOR, '■ ■'■ Three applications were received for the office of Borough Surveyor, Mr God- . -frey Russell being appointed to the oftice. ,'r.. ■•■•■ ASSESSMENT ROLL .;. . •'• The Mayor pointed out that it was usual to authorise the Clerk to attend the ; Assessment Court on ' behalf of the Borough; and', asked, that the Clerk be , given the usual instructions, which was done.. ~. (Balance of report m mat imt.)