MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wairarapa Daily Times, Volume VI, Issue 1877, 31 December 1884, Page 2

MASTERTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the Council was held last evening, Present.—The Mayor, and Crs Chamberlain, Hessey, Johnson, Gapper, Muir, Bacon, Perry, 'Heron, and Williams. . The minutes of the annual meeting were read and confirmed. The following correspondence was read. . From G. Beetham M.H.R. re postage ofrateno'tices,and communicationtohim from the postmaster General thereon. •, From the secretary., library. ..com : raittee, notifying the. "resignation of Mrffish' as committeeman and the

selection by theoommittee ofMrW, Lowes in his place for tho approval of the Council, From Beard & Gray re the ease of Robinson v Borough Council, and demanding'the Bum of £3 the. .pnce,of. a hfirse .sold in the pound, the, property of Mr. Bobinson. '.::::.::■::■.,'

From©. Heron asking to be allowed t'o.-su-bleb >'part ; of section '•' 104' to Mi's Vikr- ; - *-'■•■ •'•• —••^V—-r

From the poundkeepef" 'reporting jpon-the moiitlis imppiinrJirig. by:..Q.-. Heron! tp sribiet'-'Vcertain' -section "to'' Mrs' 'Job yile,-With that- Mr Hel'bn'be responsible for. the rent.; Theapplication.;was'g.fahted..;';.";. The Mayor said with respect to the case of-'Bobinsonv the Borough Council demanding the sum of £3 the value of a certain'horse sold in the'pOUnd; the property' of the said Mr. Kobiusori—

.tlie. RM,'fixe'd the'value of "the horse a.li £10 : : les¥ tiie.sum of #l:;l|)''" pondage fees, that was £8 4s, aud:it wasia. addittioivto.this-umount'.that the•'applicant demanded the £3. • ,; Cr Heron moved that the matter be referred to the" : Borough solicitor and his advice be acted on,'. : Cr Qapper moved as. an amendment that the. claim ha.paid.- ..Hesaid it was contrary-to-liis. opinion '-and- '.advice, action had been taken ;'in dismissing Mr mittee appointed.'."to .go ! into the matter and report.. Some. Councillor.,at.the •time;twittei),'the Committee with not.,

■going tar .enough iu their' report;-and •■ 'orie.of theCommitteerpSe and •proposed' that the p'b.undkeeper .be dismissed forthwith'.- (Or Heron:"No !)■ That was done and it entailed a cost of £lO. He was of opinion that the poundkeeper' knew no more of the double dealing that took place than he did, The Council did not take the deliberation they should have done when dealing with the question originally. He for one would rather pay the £3 than incur any further expense,

Cr Heion said the remarks of Ci Gapper would bear explanation. He was a member of. that Committee and as one he was of opinion that they should dismiss the poundkeeper. His' action had been consistent throughout arid he had only said at the Council, meeting what he had said at the Committee meeting, and the decision of the Court had borne out the. action of .the. Council, The Mayor said he did not think they would gain any end by discussing by gone:. Or Gapper was only right to state his own opinion, but-at the same time when they received the report referred to he could not help remarking that "it had gone too far or not far enough," and if collusion existed the poundkeeper was not fit to be a servant of the Council. The report had left an impression on their minds that their servant had acted improperly, and yet it only reprimanded him,. Ho' thought they should spend 6s 8d on the question as to the claim for.,£3. ,'Cr Williams said it was only throwing money away to employ a solicitor to defend such a case; the Town Clerk ought to be in a position to deal with

Or Perry failed to see any reason why they should pay. Or Gapper had given no reason why they should pay the claim. Cr Bacon said the sooner they had done with it the better. If they took Or Heron's advice they would then have to take action. The outside opinion of the value of the horae was £l6.- ■ ' ■• -■■ The Mayor said the K.M. held the value to be LlO. They could not go outside for an opinion. Or Bacon'said the matter had not been a credit to the Council and the sooner it was done with the better. Cr Gapper's motion was then put and lost.

Cr Perry moved as an amendment that they defend the action, but do not employ legal advice. Or Williams seconded, The amendment was put and a division called:—Ayes, 5 : Crs Bacon, Muir, Gappov, Perry, and Williams. Noes, 5: Crs. Heron, Hessey,. Johnston, Chamberlain,'and Caselberg. ,The:.amendment was lost by. hot-' casting vote of the Chairman, Cr Heron's motion' was put and carried..- : . ..••• ••••■•;;; /; Re the letter from the Secretary to the Library Committee—Or : Gapper moved.and..Cr Williams seconded thatthenominationof Mr Lowes be con-firmed,-Carried. ■- The.'- letter' from the PostmasterGeneral to.Mr G, Beetham in reply to the Town Clerk's, application for exemption'from postage on rate notices, was laid on the table. A requisition was read, from certain ratepayers asking the Council to suspend action in the matter of the gas question, until a petition that was about to be presented to the Mayor be dealt with. •

The Mayor said the question to be considered was whether it was not advisable to leave it in abeyance until they had read the Gas Committee's report,' ... Cr Bacon said as one of the- Committee they had no report to nlake. Cr Gapper moved that the requisition be complied with. The petitioners would be the principal consumers of gas, and they asked that action be delayed, He thought nO ono had a better right to be listened to than those who would be called upon eventually to pay for the gas, The Mayor said it would be more in

order to take-cognisance of tho report of the Committee. First, they should have: the report read and then stay proceedings or otherwise.. Cr Bacon seconded tho motion. No regular meeting of the Committee, on the gas question.had been held, and nothing had been done officially. ' •' Cr Chamberlain moved as an amendment and Cr Johnston seconded, That the report of the Committee be read first.—Carried. The report of the Committee upon the Gas stated they had received a draft agreement from the Borough of Cayersham, but as the meeting was bo small, it was.left to the .Council as;a whole to deal with, and they recommended that the. sum of £2 2s be paid to the'' Borough 'ofoCaversham.—The report was •■".'"'■''' "" Or. Wiiiiams moved, That to ques.

tion of gas be left over for four weeks. He did hot ■want to shelve the matter, but there was a great feeling outside that the Council was doing a wrong thing' in granting a monopoly to'a Company without having inserted a purchasing clause.. The public meeting would be,called in the! meantime, and the public.who were interested would be given the opportunity of expressing their wishes. His motion was only an amendment upon-Or. Ganpers, in so far as fixing a definite' time for action by the Council being delayed..,.. .... .... ... •. •' ■ -Tlib Mayor at this point explained that .-lie • had' received a requisition dated 27th December asking him to call a.public meeting to reconsider the gas question. He had only-received it that evening and could not explain why he hadnot received it before. He made this statement to show it-was not for want of courtesy that he had not called a meeting of the public.

Or *Bacon seconded the amendment. It was holiday time and as' a qreat many..people would be .away!they should.not hurry the matter. ■The 1 amendment was pub ■ and' a division called," Ayes 4, Grs ■ Bacon,' Gapper; Perry and Williams; '.Noes 6, Ore Muir, Heron, Hessey, Johnston,, Chpberlain ; . and the. .;Mayqr, ; ...Theamendment.was lost -.'.,-. v . ■'.,•'•■.-■". •- ...

The original motion .was .then-pW :anH-iamedi : "V*- i: ! : ''--~i .

The Pound Committee rjipbrteffW' they had dealt with tenders for fencing :tke pound.- Bo'ntly Bros, tender having been, accepted at £2 5s per chain, The'report was adopted.' ' '"".'■""'' The Works Committee's report was read and adopted, The-Overseerreported: (1) Stevens & Madsen had done no more work in Columba road and Kuripuni street, but. had stated they would prefer forfeiting the deposit to proceeding with the work. (2) The men had been employed opening up water tables and cleaving up QueenStreet since last meeting. (3) A rough estimate had been made of the co3t of Jthe work proposed to be undertaken in Renall-street, £7? 19s. ■ It was resolved that the work in Benall street be done by the staff, there being no other work of importance in hand; that Stevens. & ■ Madsens' time for .making. Columba road and-Kuripuni Street having expired, fresh tenders-be called for the work. That the Works Committee be authorised to prepare a schedule of Works required to be undertaken; The wages sheets were examined and passed for payment—£23l9s (id. '

The Mayor waa appointed a member and' Chairman-of the Finance Committee.' A memorandum was. handed in to the Mayor trom Sergeant McCardle asking him to bring under the notice of the Council the necessity of providing a magazine for explosives. Referred to the Works Committee to report; upon at the next meeting of the Council,' Wednesday, Janutry Uth was fixed upon for the proposed public meeting re gas and the Council adjourned.'