BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Bay of Plenty Times, Volume XLIV, Issue 6711, 13 June 1916, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

ORDINARY MEETING

The ordinary meeting of the Borough Council was held last evening. Piesent: His Worship the Mayor, Mr C. E. Macmillan (in the char), Crs C. Whiting, K. Badger, S. Pemberton, J. G. Green, H. J. Day, T. Tanner, H. T. Castaing, and G. W. Brown Special Loan. Hon. W. H, Herries, under d«te May 25, advised that he did not nnticipate any trouble from the SolicitorGeneral's attitude but no clauses can be passed until towards the end .of the session, aa the Washing-up Bill is not introduced! until the last moments. In 'reply to Cr Castaing, the Mayor said that Messrs Sharp and Tudhope had forwarded draft Bill regarding the special loan of £4,300 to the Soli-citor-General. Cr Castaing moved—That Mr Herriea be informed that the draft Bill have been fcwarded to the Solicitor-Gene-ral and that he be asked to pilot the Bill through Parliament—Seconded by Cr Whiting and carried. Indignation Meeting. Replies from various members of the Cabinet, in regard to resolutions adopted at the indignation meeting held in Tauranga on May 26, which were published on Thursday last, were read. Two further replie3, since received, were read as under:— From Hon. J. A. Hanan, Minister for Education:—"l have to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of 30th Uto., enclosing copies of resolutions passed at a recent public meeting held in Tauranga." From Hon. W. D. S Mac Donald, Mm- ! ister of Agriculture, who in acknow- I lodging the receipt of the letter, said: "I have duly noted the contents thereof, and bag to thank you." Cr Castaing moved—That the letters be received—Seconded by Cr Whiting and carried. Valuation Matters. Mr H. H. Clemson, Borough valuer, advised that he had made subdivisions as follows:—(1) Mrs Freeth—Lots 226 and 231, Section 11. Lot 226, new rateable value, £6 10s; new capital value, £130. Lot 231, new rateable value, £29; new capital value, £450. As lot 231 is struck on the rental value of 149 per week, it must remain the same as before. (See Rating Act, section 33, clause 3). 2—Bishop Cleary, Lots 15, 16, Section II. —Application for exemption of Lot 16 as church property :—-The Rat ing Act only allows exemption of church lands when 'occupied' by churches, and as this lot is fenced in with the vicarage, and the vicarage is entered from it, Ido not see how it can be exempt, but in any case the rental of the vicarage must remain as before, viz., £33, so there is nothing gained in making the alteration. The value of Lot 16 is £160 and 5 per cent of this deducted from £33 leaves only £25, or at a rental value of 12s per week, wh'ch is too low and not a fair valuation." It was decided that a copy of the latter portion of Mr Clemson's report be forwarded to Rev. Fatter Van't Westeinde. Town Hail Contract. Messrs Ashton and Crump, under date May 27, wrote: —"We hereby give you notice that the fourteen days' grace for payment of moneys owing on the Tauranga town hall contract expired on May 27, and that 10 per cent interest will be charged on all unpaid moneys frcm the above date, provided for under clause 19 of the conditions of contract. If this matter is not brought to a final set- j tlement within seven days from the j above date we shall place the matter entirely in the hands of our *solicitor." The Mayor said as it was impossible to pay any money to the contractors without the certificate of the architect, he had consulted Mr Kirk, with the result that the amuunt due to Messrs Aahton and Crump, except a sum in dispute, had been paid to them. The Mayor's action wai approved Consolidated Statutes. Mr J. Friend, Wanganui, wrote offering to make annotations to the Consolidated Statutes, the fee being £3 18s 6d, plus postage. It wa3 decided to have the annotations made. Motor Car Drivers' Licenses. Mr W. W. Herbert applied for a license to drive a motor car for hire. jHe said he had owned and driven a ! car for many months, and held locomotive and traction engine driver's certificate of competency.—Granted,

subject to U:e police report being favourable. Mr W. Nicholas, Omokoroa, applied for a motor car driver's license. The application h?d been referred to Constable Skinner, who advised that the police had no objections.— Granted. The cletk, in reply to a question by Cr Whiting, said the ability nf applicants to drive cara was tested by Constable Skinner. Entrance Asked For. Mrs E. S. Hors-ick wrote as follows: "I shall be glad it you will place before the Mayor and Councillor?, at their first meeting, the position in which I h'nd niyse'f placed in connection with a recently purchased property in First Avenue. Before acnuir ing it I was assured by the owner, <>n the authority of a resolution passed by the Ctuicil, that no street formation work tnerein would be undertaken, judge of my surprise then, later on, after purchase, to have the tenant coming to me with the news that earth was being banked half-way, if not higher, against the fence, spoiling the fnnt. and most certainly lowering the value of the property. 1 wjsh to make tV-is point clear to the Council that if I had for a moment thought that they would so scon make null and void the foregoing resolution I should not have purchased the property. I have now respectfully to avk if relief will be given to me to the extent of the Council raising the fence and giving me a decent en* trance. This, I think, would be but reasonable under the circumstances, and I trusr, in due course, to have a favourable reply." Cr Pemberton said the rilling was not within three feet of the permanent level. Cr Whiting said the Council's resolution was to the eftect that they would not fill up to the levels p;epartd by Mr Cliraie. The filling had improved the footpath. Cr Badger contended that the footpath was decidedly better as a result of the fillirg. Previously he had seen it scores of times when the water was up to people's ankles. The Town Clerk was instructed to reply on the lines indicated by Cr Whiting. Labotrers" Dispute. Mr S. E. Wright, Secretary of the Auckland Provincial Employers' Association, wrote regarding local bodies' labourers' dispute. A copy of the Employers' ccuiter proposals was f rewarded. Mr Wright, in noting that the Council was willing that he should represent it, said he would do all in his power to at least secure a fair and just awjrd.—Received. Alterations to Valuation Roll. Mr D. J. Simmonds wrote consenting to his name being placed on the valutaion roll for Lots 604 to 613, inclusive, section 2, in lieu of Mr W. A. Fountain's. Messrs Sharp and Tudhope requested that the following alteration remade on the valuation roll: Mr F. Western to Mrs M. E. Baylis, lot 335,. section 1. Mr H. T. Castaing applied for the name of Mr J. W. Hardley to be placed on the roll for lots 76 and 77, Section I.—Mr Hsrdley signified consent. lit was resolved that the alterations, as applied for, be made. Request for Payment. Messrs Brown, Neave and Courtney, so.icitors, Wellington, wrote on behalf of Messrs Boving and Co., Ltd., i applying for the immediate payment i of £46 0s 6d, and stating that failing the receipt of the money within a reasonable period they were instructed to take the uaual steps to recover the amout.t. The Town Clerk replied that be had forwarded a copy of the account for ■ the engineer's verification. Messrs Boving and Co. also wrote on the same subject. Messrs Climie and Son repoi ted that the sum of £46 Os 6d is the balance of 10 per cent due on the contract for the supply of headgate, strainer, supnly pipes, etc. Payment fell due in January last. There is a small contra account for lengthening valve spinile, supplied too short. It was decided to pay the amount due immediately. Messrs Turnbull arcd Jones, Ltd., Auckland, forwarded of their account, showing amount due for the unnths of January, February, March anj April, to the total of

£220 19s Bd. They asked for payment of this amount before May SI The total of the accent to May 23 was £371 14s lid. The Mayor explained that the money was due by the electricity department. Another letter from the National Electrical and Etigintering Company, for about £600 was submitted by Mr Mandeno, The Town Clerk W3s instructed to write to the two iirrns informing them that the Council was moving in the direction of raising a special loan in order to enable it to meat i s financial obligations. Liquor Licenses. Mr T. R. W. Phillpotts (Clerk of the Tauranga Lie nsing Committee) for warded certificates to authorise the issue of packet "licenses for the Ngapuhi, Ngahawa, and Tasman; publicans' licenses for the Masrnic, Star, Commrcial and Tauranga Hotels; and wholesale license to Messrs Guinness Bro*.—Left in the hands of ths Town Clerk. Application for Rebate. Mr H> T. Castaing wrote applying for a rebate of half rates en part lot 76 (valaution £61) and on part lot 76 (valuation £82), the properties having been vacant for six months. Cr Castaing pointed out that one of the shops had been empty for nine months and the other for six months. The Mayor said the point was whether the premises were v ioecupied for six months during the rating year, that is six months prior to March 31, 1916. Cr Castaing replied to the effect th 11 the premises were untenanted for a portion of two rating yearn. The Mayor referred to the Act, which showed that in order to obtain a rebate the pr perty must te unoccupied for six months within one rating yesr. Cr Green moved—That th? applicant be asked to furnish dates, and that the matter be investigated and reported upon by the Finance Committee.—Seconded by Cr Whiting and carried. Municipal Association. The Municipal Association of New Zealand forwarded copies of resolutions carried at a meeting of the Executive and Legislative Committees held on May 1, 1916.—Received. I '*■■<& Report on Accounts. Messrs H. W. Climie and Son, Raetihi, forwarded a report dealing with various accounts submitted to them.— It was decided to refer certain accounts to the Town Clerk and the Finance Comnnittea to"deal with. Resignation of Bandmaster. I Mr C. H. Oliver, Secretary of : the Municipal Band, under date June 10, forwarded letter received by him from Mr A. H. Foxcroft, who stated that owing to the members of the Band failing to roll up to practice better, he thinks it is best that he should resign from the position of bandmaster. Mr Foxcroft's letter was j dated May 29. The Mayor eaid had he known the stale that the Band was in he would not have asked it to take part in tbe memorial service to the late Earl Keener. He moved —That the letter be received, and that Mr FoxcroftV resignation be accepted, on condition that he undertakes that the Band instruments are returned to the custody of the Borough Council. The motion was seconded by Cr Green and carried. Cr Badger: Ha 3 the Bandmaster ever reported anything to the Band Committee in regard to the Band? Cr Dry: He has made no repoit. Cr Badger: That is very strange. Cr Bro7?n: Han the Band Committee met during the last six months? Ct Day: fso. The Mayor pointed cut that the rul^s of the Band did not give the Borough Council any voice in the selection of a bandmaster. "If you have another Band see that the Borough Council has a voice in the selection of bandmaster,'' said Mr Macmillan. Cr Badger maintained that the Bandmaster should have reported the condition of affairs to the Borough Council Committee. Cr Brown moved—That the Band Committee be asked to furnish s report to the next meeting of the Council on Band affairs, and submit suggestions for lesuscitation of the Band. —Seconded Dy Cr Whiting and carried. Legal Costs. Messrs Sharp and Tudhope forwarded costs uf Messrs Martin and Martin in connection with electric light loan £26 13s, and a certain claim £1 Is. The Mayor said it was intended to request the Municipal Association to help to defray the legal costs.