MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume 5, Issue 1433, 18 July 1883, Page 2

MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

* ■ The Council held its usual meeting at tho Council Chambers last evening. Present—His Worship the Mayor, and > ;;< Crs Caselberg, Chinchen, Chamberlain, " Foist, Gapper, Heron, Perry, Price. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and and correspondence read, CHIMNEY SWEEP, A letter was read from the Napier Town Clerk, stating they used the ordinary sweeping machine in that : town, but that the sweeps were licensed and a scale of fees iixod, also that ■■'■■■ sweeps were regulated by by-law. THE ABYSSINIAN WELL, A letter was read from Mr S. King, don, stating he was prepared to accept . i. ■' the Council's proposal to make tho Abyssinian well effective for the bonus ' of £2O. as offered.—(Appjause.)

overseer's heport, The Overseer, Mr Croad, reported re works in progress in the borough; also; ■ that Mr Dixon had shifted his fence from the road, but not the hedge. The Mayor said the only recommendation the Works Committee had to make was that Bannister street and Lincoln road be scraped. With regard to Mr Dixon's hedge, it was decided to leave the matter over for a fortnight to give Mr Dixon a further opportunity to remove it. ; The overseer's report was then adopted.

WORKSOP ROAD. The committee reported having ex-: -'. amined the filling up done by Cr Gapper on his land, and the stats, of Worksop road, and .could not recoin-; |. mend the Council to take any action in the,matter, Cr Feißt stated that the unanimous opinion of the committee was that Cr Gapper was perfeotly justified in the Jtb action he bad taken. There was jjoX watercourse where Cr Gapper jjad filled the hollow in his land..

Cr Chamberlain said the only course the Council could take under the Ad, If the matter was a nuisance, wag to give the offending person notice and put a drain through his land, Cr Chinchen held it was a nuisance aw) would like to know what the Council intended to do,

;■' The Mayor said there was no doubt ■ J i in his mind that the matter was a nuisance. There were two feet of water backed on to the road, and if a small child fell into it ho would probably be drowned,

Cr Gapper emphatically denied the Mayor's statement: it Svas most untrue I

', Cr Feist: It's quite a mistake, . 1 The Mayor would appeal to Cra Heron and ; Price to confirm his statement.

Cr Feist appealed to the other mem- " ■ bersofthe Committee to corroborate his statement that there' weronbt'threi' ; ' • : ''• inohes of water in the hollow, A'liCr. Heron,said the only '■■<■ >li Council couldido, was< to.'fill up the hollow in the road as soon as they could afford to das?, r ) •;.a , --r . r ■>- -,--> . when the road was made, his work, backed up the water, to allow' a : culv>rt to be put through, and let it run through his land, but. he would not

make his land the outlet for nil tho water collected in Worksop road. If he did there were others interested who would come upon him for damages, Or Porry: Jt is clear to mo that all Or Gapper wishes to do is to forco tho Council to make Worksop'road, Cr Gapper: No! Cr Feist explained that.. when the. Committee visited the spot complained of thoy went in a buggy as they thought they would bo unable to get across' on foot, but they found no more water in the hollow than on any oilier portion of the road, and could have.gone right through on foot.-. It'was not fair for Councillors to cavil at tho report without having taken the .trouble to test its accuracy, ' jfle Mayor said if the hollow was a us he believed it was, the Council, { should 'compel i Councillor Gapper to re-open it,. ; He did not care if he was accused of cavilling whilo he felt he was doing his duty to the Council and the ratepayers, In his opinion legal advice should ; have been taken on the question. Cr Caselborg: Could a lawyer say what wa3 a watercourse 1 (Cr Feist: Not any more than you could !) I thought engineers were tho best authorities on such points. Cr Price thought they were wasting time in discussing a subject which it was evident many of the councillors did not understand. His wished tho question put, The Mayor: It is a pity councillors do not take the trouble to make themselves acquainted with the subjects which come up for discussion. The report was then adopted. FINANCE COMMITTEE, The Finance Committee reported tho following accounts correct,.and recommended their payment : £ s. D. Wages, etc 51 G 6 Bapp and Hare 1 14 0 Smith and Hogg 15 6 Fire Brigado* I 14 0 A. B. Bunny 12 11 4 Toomath .',. 3 ]6 10 Ing»m 0 16 11 T.E, Price 0 19 0 Overdraft, Mi 10a 9d. Tho report was adopted. POUND RECEIPTS. The Poundkeeper reported total receipts for the month as £8 6s. AN EYE TO THE FUTURE. The Works Committee reported having written to Wellington to ascertain the cost of gas tar, asphalting, and a road sweeper. NUISANCES,

I bog to report that in Queen-st. between Chamberlain's baker shop arid Mr Feist's, there is a section of land not fenced, abutting the footpath, which I think is tho property of Mr A. W. Renall. A section corner, (Queenst., and Bannister-st.) not fenced where the late fire was, the piles standing about six inches above the ground, which is dangerous in dark nights as it is near the footpath, the property of Mr \V. Lowe?, A section of land not fenced in Queen-st., near Waipoua Brewery, Trust land. I also beg to report that the house occupied by Mr Crimp, in Queen-st., the property of Mr A, W, Renall, • the water ■ spout attached to tho roof of tho house, in wet weather, empties itself on tho footpath, contrary to the laws of the Borough, Also I report tho continual nuisance of horses tethered on the street. The Counoil has from time to time given permission to erect post on tho footpath to tether horses, and as soon as they horses are left they are on the footpath. I think parties should not be allowed to put ono pose up unless they put three,' with a bar or chin inserted therein. Out of the many posts oreeted in Queen-st. there are only two places properly constructed—that is Mr Caselberg's and Mr Wagg's. I am, itc,,

J. C. Ingram, Inspector of Nuisances,

Or Price did not think the posts were a nuisance, but tho chains were a nuisance to people crossing tho street,

Cr Caselberg said the chains were a great convenience for little boys to swing upon,

The Mayor said lie had taken the chains off his. posts, as people wore always complaining of being trapped by them on dark nights. Cr Gappor said the only place whero the chains were required was in front of tho County Chambers, where horses were tethered for an hour or two, He moved that the County Council be asked to erect two or more posts, and connect them with chains. He also moved that notice be given to fence in each case montioned by the Inspector. Cr Chinchen Becontled.—Carried. HANNIBTBR-STREBT.

Cr Gapper moved that a footpath be made from Mr Macara's corner in JJixofiwept to Mr W. Dixon's house in Banflinter-Btreet, so as to keep the watu 1 off tho road, which was now. a quagmire. To form the footpath and open up the water table clown to the Masonic Hall, would keep the road from getting rotten, and savo exponse in the future, • :,,;. The Mayor seoonded, Or Heron thought the matter should have been brought before the .Works Committee before being brought up in the Council, and moved as an amendment that the question ho referred to the Works Committee. Or Chamberlain seoonded. • ■ Cr Feist said he considered Chapelstreet should be scraped and: metalled first. He i wished to know' whether tho residents of Bannister-street would; contribute to the work'. Cr Gappjsr said ,t]ie whole cost could be charged against the residents'under : the Act, Cr Caselberg said as a schedule was drawn up of works, which should, first, undertakenihei would like to see it adhered to;'; Cr Price pointed out that the worklT on the schedule were those 1 the Council had to pay for,' the'ifresent'prbpOsal 1 . was one for which'the'resident paid.' Cr Caselberg, paia 1 /this would-be all very well if the'residenta/werei'made to pay, which had riofalwayabeen'the' case. ,'4Bl .81 '/.Hi. .7'Ai|BT»! The amendment was then put and carried, the resolution being lost.

VILLA-STREET, Cr Gapper moved that tenders be called for work in Villa and ,Bentley streets, the next works on the schedule. If the Council intended to do any fur : . ther work, they, should lose no time, as from tho formation of the ground these works could be done more cheaply iA tho winter than in summer. Or Chamberlain seconded. : Or Heron moved that it be referred to 1 the Works Committee, as there was really no hurry. In a few weeks the overdraft would be reduced, and they would be in' a better position to undertake the work. > Cr Perry seconded. He said Cr Gapper seemed inclined to ignore tho Committee. Tho Mayor advocated day labour instead of tonders,. He fell sure that with their overseer a.id staff thoy would save by doing it themselves. Beferred to tho Works Committee. RESIGNATION, Cr Gapper tendered his resignation as a member of the Works Committee. The resignation was accepted and Cr Perry elected to fill Cr Gapper's place. MUNICIPAL CORPORATIONS AOT. Tho Mayor said Mr Beetham M.H.B, had forwarded him a copy of the above, and ho moved that the Council appoint a committee to consider it, so as to make any suggestions which might be necessary, and forward them to Mr Beetham to have them introduced into the Act. Crs Caselberg, Price, Feist, and the Mayor were appointed to report to the committee in Wellington, the Town Clerk to assist them, WATER SUPPLY. . Cr Gapper said he had been making enquiries as to tho best source for obtaining a water supply in tho future, and had received a letter from Mr W, Faulkner, of the Fernridge, offering to sell land which would form a watershed, area 100 acres, at £lO per acre, Cr Gapper said the figures wore too high, hut his object had been that the Council should secure a watershed for a pormanent supply of water for the future. The matter should have been seen into before, and the land acquired from tho Government, instead of having to purchase it now at such a high price, The land was about seven miles from Masterton, and was mostly bush, tho Bluck Creek running through it. Tho Mayor said it would be a step in the right direction if they could only seo some way of finding money to acquire the land, Cr Caselberg said the Town Lands Trust might find tho money. (Laughtor.) He moved a voto of thanks to Cr Gapper for the steps lie had taken in the matter, Cr Foist seconded, m, The motion was carried, and the Council adjourned,