HAMILTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1291, 7 October 1880, Page 2

HAMILTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

—A- - A .si'Kcrvr, meet'Mg of the C mncil was held on Mondiy milif to coupler the matter of the bud;re apurJa'jhe-*. Present — His Wor.sh'n the M »yor, Ci -. Peat, Divis, MoGdingle, Puce, Jlill, and Jone-*. Tin; following letter was read from, the Uuder-Secrctary f<ir Pu!ilt<; Works:— PuUic W'orki Offce, Wellington, 7th September, 1880. His WoiOnp (he M i>ui ol Hamilton, St,—S t ,— Ihe Minister ot Public Works <lire< ts mo tr> intoun v>u tli.it he has j,'iven conideiation to yout kttei of till' 7th Julj, and to bta.tc db follows :—: — (1) l'h it the contract for erecting- the bridge did //''/ include the earth-work, in the banks tun.iinif the approaches. {2) 'lhe District En^incoi was authorised to i-\eii i"-o a fjcnoral supervision over the contract, tin* I'.utlnvork being- left te be earned out by the JSoiough Council. (3) A piopos.il appears to have been made, it is not < lear by whom, but most probably by the Rorouijh Council, to leave out two 40 feet spans and substitute earthwork, so as to absoib some surplus earthwork obtained by cutting down Victou i-stieet, a work briny done b\ the Council. (l) lhe lioroutfh Council state that the bank wis substituted on the recommendation of the Distuct Rnjjincei, who, howevei, says he did not recomiiK nd, but .ippiovcd of it. (5) lhe pir\onal supeiwsion of all the work \\ is cnti listed to the Borough Engineer, who would tlieiefoie be responsible ior the manner in which the earth-work wa:> put in. (0) Ihe " manner" above mentioned has led to the failure of the banks, which now require to be incieiscd in width and length as proposed in the enclosed memoi.indum bent to >ou may direct the Coiintj (') Engineer to proceed with the work at onue. ■I lie £133 10s about to be paid to the Borough Count il i> now temporal lly letamed, in order th.it it m.iv be applied towards the cost of this work when you have executed the same. — I have, &c, John- Knowj.fs, Under- Secretary Public Works. The Kngincei's memo is as follows. — lhe earth-woik of the approach had ne\er been properly completed eithei in slopes or length under the bridge. The tiacing herewith shows bj' areas tinted red the deficiency. The end of the bridge was pi. inked about H teet high to keep up the earth, and 111 ( onseqiienc c ,1 heaw pressure was pat on the end pic c winch forced the superitiucture upuajcli. I rec ommend the till 1 length and slope-) ot the emhinkment to t>e formed and punned .is haul as the material, ulmh is sand, will allow nut.ilhmj )o feet ot the lo.id next the bridge md giadin-j it, so th it the w.itei inav be diawn about 20 feet tiom the end; a bo\ drain to be put in theie: a puddled water table to b^ formed and di.uns lound the toes oi slopes. An edging ot tin f on top ot slopes will pie\entthe guttt 1 nig ot stopi -. into ruts. I attach a detailed estimate ofwh.it is lequned. In connection w,th the same subject, the Town Clerk read a letter from Mr M.ick.iy, formerly engaged .is foreman on the bridge work.-;, otic ing to screw up the biidire, &c, sb rfcinsr tcmn. (Jr. Mobrarrigle asked, with regard to the approaches what provision had been made for taking thn necessary land. Cr. Knox thought they would take it uudpi 1 the provisions of the Public Works Air. The M.iyor hardly knew how this could bo done iv the case of Seddon's land, an ngieemont having been entered into betwi'on the owner and the Council. Cr. Jon^s said they would hive to use the land in any case, whether they b i> ( ured it, by purchase or rook it under tlic authority of tho Public Woilcs Act., an.T it win for th n Council to determine winch of 1ho>»o two eour-es shoull be followed. li' they wore going to repu iate Syddon's cl mn. they must rescind the 3liyor\ resolution parsed at a foimcr meeting. The M.wor thought the mere act of ic^cimlmg tlic v< niiou would not. miteri.illy altei tho 0.1-e, bcoaise Mr Scddon would still hoi I them to their agrcemont. The Town Clerk le.id a letter fiom Mr Si'ddon ;>^ inn tor copies ot the papers relating to his cl.tim. Ci'. Knox s.iid hu would object to Mr Seddou yetting any p.ipeis. It was evident th it he begin to feel the ground mis ife beniMth linn, and he should be allowed to t.ike any -tep-. ho thought iit : the land should be taken under the Act. Cr. ]),iris moved that tho work should be carried out in accordance with the plan of the Government Engineer, and thufc (he l.ml nefos-aiy be tiken undi-r the J'ublie Works Act. Cr. Hill thought the action of tho Council Li tho m lttcv ot Ihe cLiim should lir-t be cleaied up. The M.iyor had earned a io«olution confirming the arrngemenfc to p'neli.iso, isnd Milx-equently to that <ho bmgPNses had hold a meeting at which it was decided to repudiate the whole tr.ins ictinn Ho would move th it. tho Mi)oi\s lesolulaon be u^cinded, and th it lhe C Miuf'il f .ko no further action with ivsrurt to S ( >« I<]<;.i\-> cl litn. The Mayor said such n resolution could not b- 1 moved without notice. Cr. Mc({ iriiirlesdd he had given notice to move a uriilar motion at the no\t ordinary meeting. The m )Diou of Cr. Dav.s was .seconded by the M.i \ or. Cr. Kuo'c moved t>; an amendment that the matter be dctrnvd uutil SeddonV claim, had born settled. 1 Cr. Price thought it a gre;it pity to (IpIly the woilcs; they iniirlif, go on with the .s,dc of the cmoankment opposite to Sedcl'ju's land The present was a favourable time to <:et l.ibout. The amcLidmeub was seconded by Ct. Jones, and, on beuig put to the meetin<r, tin ie voted for it— Cm Knov, Jones, McG.iriigle, and Hill. For the motion there voted— the Miyor, Ci-. Pf.it, Price, and Davis. The M iyor gave his easting vote for tho motion. Cv. Hill : Am Ito understand that tlw work will go on at once \ The M nOl . Yo. (Jr. Hill : Under who>e supei vision r Tho Mayor : It will bo carried out a cool ding to the plans of the Government Engineer, by the foi.vm.iu of works. Cr. Jones \\ished to know how the work was to bo measured ': Cr. Price said that was an easy matter. He moved that the work be proceeded with by Mcshis Livingstone and Booth. Cr. Knox thought they were getting themselves into a nice little mess, They could not commence this work without nmshmy it. Jf tho Council were determined to buy the land, let them do it against tho express wi&h of the burgesses. Cr. Jones said they could not be tcx> careful how they went to work. The letter from the Undersecretary expre^sly stated tbat the work was" to bo done under the supervision of an engineer. Cr. McGarrigle thought they could gel, the services of the Resident Engineer, but he could not bee the use of exercising &uch undue haste. After ,sorae further discussion, Cr. Hill said he thought it would bo better if it could bo done for the money in the bands of the Government, to carry two timber spans over the present approach. This would ensure greater durability. Several Councillors spoke in favor of an eai(,h cmbjnkmcnt. The Mayor moved, " That before takiirgany steps to carry out the above resolutim, the Government be applied to for the services of Mr Beore to carry out the work." Cr. Price seconded this and withdrew his first motion. Cr. Knox moved, "That no steps be taken rr bridge until liexfc meeting, except that the Mayor request the assistance of vho Resident Engineer." Cr. Jones seconded the amendment. On being put to the meeting, tho motion was cart icd, the voting being 1 tho same 1 as in the previous oaso. CV. Knox moved, " Tbat the Mayor bo asked to call a meeting of the ratepayers tq f\ooi(so whether the works should bo carried out until Noddou's claim had beciy settled." The Mayor, however, refused to accept such a motion, it bfiing-, ho said, ultra iucb. They were there as delegates of

the ratepayers, »nd now it was sought to throw their duties on the peot>le who had elected them: " Cr. Knox s4id he would take the usual oourse of getting a meeting together by requisition to the Mayor, and the matter dropped. Mr Cumming wrote to the Council asking them to take «ome nteps to prevent the traffic across Sydney Square. It was agreed to post a notice asking poople not to use the square as a thoroughfare. A circular was read from the Railway Manager asking for suggestions re timetable. The opinion was generally expressedtthat the table suggested by the Pirongia Highway Board was very suitable, but the Council decided not to offer any special suggestions. A letter from Mr J. K. McDonald re the water on his land was referred to the Works Committeo of which Cr Hill was elected temporary chairman. The Mayor wished to know if the Council would appoint a deputation to meet the members for the district co confer with then* on the various matters of interest to the Borough. It was agreed that the deputation consist of the Mayor and Crs Hill and McGarrigle The following accounts were passed for payment: — J. Knox, 4s ; returning officer, £2 2s; N. R Cox, ISs 3d; Government Storekeeper, £2 os ; Daley £12 10s ; coal, 9s ; Peacock £9 18s. An account of Vialou and C». for 6s ll^d was deferred. This was all the business.