BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLII, Issue 13636, 17 March 1915, Page 7

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The ordinary meeting of the Gisborne Borough Council was held last night, there being present : The Mayor (Mr W. G. Sherratt), Ors. H. E. Bright, T. G. LaAvless, (i. Wildish, H. E. Hill, J. Brown, A. Wade, and H. Miller.

The special or?dev deciding to raise a £2000 abatoir loan was conlirmed, and the- necessaiy resolutions m connection therewith were passed.

Ors. Brown and Hill were appointed to sign the district electors' roll, there being no objection thereto. The secretary of the Drivers' Union wrote stating they had been informed that the Council had deducted from the pay of one of its drivers the following days : Christmas Day, Boxing Day, and New Year's J>ay; also from another driver New Year's Day. They were led to believe that the two drivers were permanent men, and according to the agreement with the Couincil the men Avere entitled to those days off, also x pay for same. He trusted the Council would look in.to the matter, as this was the third time that they had had to call the Council's attention to breaches ot* the . agreement. — The Mayor said one man was away on holidays, and Christinas and Boxing Day came m that period, and the other man. was on holidays during New Year week. — On the motion of Cr. Bright it was decided to place the facts before the union, and state tliat the Council could not see its way to accede to the request. — Cr. Brown : It is a nice move to get off at that time, so as to get these two days in.-rCr. Wade said no explanation should be necessary.

Mr R. U. Burke, on behalf of P. A. Johansen, forwarded deed of dedication for the Council's acceptance of a strip of land m connection; with the widening of Leith street. — Referred to Works Committee. ;

On behalf of residents and ratepayers of Aberdeen road between Carnarvon street and Disraeli street, Mr Geo. H. Carruthers and six others wrote asking that something be done to put that road m a decent state of repair, particularly the footpath, . which was a menace to public safety. — The Mayor said the Works Committee had inspected the road, and there were no doubt some bad places. Ho suggested the work should be placed on tne list for April. — This was agreed to. The Cook County Engineer Avrote asking permission to connect Mr Keaue's residence by telephone \\4i£h the quarry line. — Left to the Mayor to arrange terms.

Writing m reply to: the Council's lettor to the Minister of Internal Affairs, Mr F. T. O'Neill, assistant under-secre-tary, said it Avas not usual for the Governor to appoint trustees for a. cemetery unless the title was vested m the Crown. If the land acquired *by the Borough and Cook County Council was conveyed to his Majesty, the trustees could be appointed as requested. He suggested, however, that the local authorities mentioned shoudd Tetain the title, and themselves ; make any necessary arrangements for the maintenance and supervision of the cemetery. — The Mayor said the Act provided for on.c governing body being - appointed. ll of suggested the Cook County Counci] should be asked to take charge of it. — GV. Bright said .Mr Warren had always taken an interest m tho cemetery. — The Mayor said the old cemetery was vested m the Crown. The Borough paid two-thirds for the new cemetery and the County one-third. — At the instance of Cr. Bright the matter was left to the Mayor to confer with the Cook County Couincil Chairman and sec what arrangements could be made.

The report of the meeting of the various committees (previously published) was considered.

Regarding Mr G. Taylor's application for a common drain for five houses on the corner of Kahutia and Gr«y streets, which the committee decided not to accede to, Cr. Lawless pointed out that Mr .Taylor intended putting m a sixinch main, and to connect the houses to that. He thought, if the inspector saw no objections, the request should be grafted. — The Mayor said the inspector and Health Department were not m favor of the proposal.- — Cr. Wildish: That being so jt ■> shall not'' press the matter.

The report was adopted. In his routine- report, the Town Clerk stated : —

Electrical : Twelve chains of cable have been erected, and nine house connections made. fSeventy-three notices were 'served on all consumers owing February accounts m arrears that lighl would be cut off if account was not paid by 22nd inst. . Finance : The credit balances of the several remaining loan accounts are as under: — The sewerage and other miscellaneous works loan : llecreation grounds £803 6s Id; waterworks £5435 Is 9d ; iiouse connections, £3411 18s 4cl — £9650 6s 2d ; (£BOOO is on fixed deposit, and balance current account). The waterworks loan, 1912, of £15,760, £1327 6s lOd ; (£IOOO on fixed deposit). The Gisborne road construction and metalling loan, 1912, of £15,750, £882 6s lid. The Gisborne cemetery site loan 1912, of £2500, £594 5s 3d. The Gisborne extension of electric ; light and power loan, 1913, of £15,000, £3334 11s 3d (£2500 on fixed deposit). The following shows the unexpended balances on the various streets: — Crawford road £203 2s 9d, Hall street £152 13s 9d, Hurahura road £56 18s 6d, Nesbitt, Rangi and Materoa streets £137 0s 6d, Rawiri and Tukura roads £79 Is lid, Read's Quay £154 5a 11, Sheehan street £82 12s 7d— £B6s 15s lOd. Temporary loans deposit account: Cr., bearing interest, £12,428 10s; not bearing interest, £940— £13,368 10s. General account : District fund account, ' Dn, £12,041 7s 4d.

Expenditure on streets and bridges for 11 months ended 28th February; 1915 : Estimated £11,462, actual £11,157. Plumbing and drainage : Eleven additional water-closets were connected, making a total of 2185 to date. Five notifications of choked drains were attended to, the result showing : Three cases coarse .paper, 1 case jam tin, 1 case compo m joint near the sewer. Sheehan street loan ; - Excavation is nearly completed for the storm-water drain, Stout street 1 ' to river, aa previously decided on, and pipe-laying will be commenced immediately. Sanitation : Sanitary inspections were made, and the conditions at the places inspected, with the exception of a few minor complaints, were fairly satisfactory. The inspector visited the sanitary depot on the 4th inst., with reference to a complaint made by a lady : and found the conditions existing there satisfactory. (I may state that the lady accompanied him during % the inspection, and she was satisfied with the surroundings.) Kaiti camps : I further beg to report that I have been approached by the persons occupying the beach during the summer months with referenco to being allowed to leave the framework of the camp standing during the winter months providing they pay a small fee, say, 10s, for the right to do so. t The reason for asking for this concession is to enable the occupier to secure the same section each year ? they also^ state that if the Council will grant their request it would enable them to take some interest m the section they occupy ; and it will give them a chance to beautify it. All camps have to be removed by the 31st inst.

The repairs authorised to the Turanganui bridge are now completed; as it was found necessary to repair another chord m the western end of this bridge, I would recommend that "the by-law requiring traffic to proceed at a walking pace be enforced. A commencement has been made to remove the metal from the deck of the Taruheru bridge, and any decking found to be rotten will be renewed. The lower bracks where decayed will also be replaced, and any other repairs necessary will be attended to.

Tho Mayor remarked that they had exceeded the estimate as far as tho sewerage was concerned, but they were just within the estimates" for streets. !He thought the position was fairly sat- ; isfacory. I The Mayor moved that the request of iKaiti campers be granted. — Cr Lawless ! seconded the motion. — Or. Wildish did I not think any person should be given a prior right to the sections. Everybody should make an application and take their chance. -— Or. Brown,' m t •

agreeing to this view, .viid he Ava-s opposed to giving the light of proprietor ship. The first come should be first served. — Cr. Bright .viid m addition to that, by leaving these frames the appearance would be an eyesore. They were flimsy frames and could be easily removed.— -Cr. Wiade concurred. — The motion was lost.

Regarding the overhauling and repairing of the tramline locomotives Cr. Brown suggested they should ask the Government inspector, who was m Gisborne, to inspect the engines. — Thih was agreed to.

The report was adopted. Accounts passed for payment were as follows': General account £2120 15s 7d, original loan £47 14s lOd, supplementary loan £200 15s Bd.

Or. Wildish referred to the necessity of the footpath on the eastern side of Ormond road being put m order, also the footpath m Hall street. The former work should be placed on the estimates for next year.