CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Post, Volume XIII, Issue 135, 9 June 1876, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

The regular meeting of the City Council was held yesterday afternoon.. There were present — his Worship the Mayor (in the chair), Councillors Cleland, Mills, Moss, Gillon, Dransfield, Ramie, Pharazyn, Greenfield and George. The minutes of the previous meeting were confirmed. CORRESPONDENCE. The Immigration Officer wrote, thanking the Council for the assistance they had rendered in finding work for foreign immigrants. Mr. George Atkinson wrote, asking the Council to allow the soiree to be held in aid of Paul, Reidal and Young, to be under their patronage. Request complied with. SCARLET FEVER. The Mayor said that as certain paragraphs had appeared in the newspapers with regard to scarlet fever, he had written to Dr. Grace, asking for, information, and had received the following reply : — Wellington, June 7, 1876. Sir, — I am at present treating six cases of scarlet fever in one house. The parents of the children consented to isolate their household, to warn off all neighbors, .and to take every possible precaution in their circumstances. Their washing is done on the premises, and their supplies are received as nearly as possible withwut contact with messengers. As soon as the children are up and out of danger I shall have the whole premises fumigated, the clothing disinfected, and if means will admit of it, the premises painted and whitewashed, the drains cleared, and the house evacuated for a month or so. In my op nion, the city ought to pay the cost of these last procedures. Generally, I would say to citizens, look alter your drains and dust heaps, and be intelligent in not exposing yourselves to the channels of contagion when the Tr rning note is sounded. —In haste, yours truly, Morgan S. Grace. TENDERS. The following tenders were received for the formation of the undermentioned "streets :—: — Bolton-street : Pudney, £775; Hill, £596 10s; Wilds, £2391; Robertson, £698: Neil, £459 9s;"Saunders, £554 4s. Mr. Neil's tender be,ing the lowest was accepted. Allan and Grainger-streets : Robertson, £427 ; Reeve 3, £220; Powell, £258. Mr. Reeves' tender was accepted. ■The following tenders were received for a supply of gravel : — J. Hill, 4s lid per yard, or £245 16s 8d for the whole; W. R. Welch, 13s 6d per ton. As the sample was not up to the mark, it was resolved that the Public Works Committee should be empowered to get a supply of proper gravel. RECLAIMED LAND. The following report was sent in by the Special Committee on Reclaimed Land sections, and referred back to the Committee for re-conslderation : — The Special Committee appointed re sale of leases of Reclaimed Land sections have to report that they have opened the tenders sent in, all of which are below the upset price .agreed upon by the Committee. They therefore recommend that no tender be accepted at present. PUBLIC WORKS. The Public Works Committee in their report recommended that on College-street being properly kerbed it should be taken over by the Council ; with respect to the charge made for water used for machinery, See., which was again referred to the Committee, they-recom-mended that during the winter months the charge be Is per 1000 gals., as the Committee already recommended, but they would suggest that from Ist January to 30th April' inclusive, it be 2<« ; that a drain Ije laid in-Hobson-street to carry off the storm water, MrrfiJannatyne having agreed to supply the necessary material; that the Davis-street fluming be continued, provided that the residents contribute one-hali the cost; that additional lamps be -erected' in various streets -and- that-ihe -new contract for lighting be entered into at an early date ; that the foreign immigrants who were employed at stone-breaking be discharged, as the necessary stone could not be obtained, owing to the want of labor ; that the Martin Fountain be opened at 1 o'clock *on the afternoon of the 14th instant. The report was adopted. WEIGHBRIDGE. Councillor Mills stated that complaints had been made to the effect that the City Weighbridge could not be depended on, and the matter was referred to the Wharf Subcommittee, who are to engage another man to take charge of it. CONSOLIDATION OP LOANS. The Mayor stated that the City Solicitor had drafted a Bill authorising the Council to consolidate their loans. This had been' done lest any of the borrowing clauses in the Municipal Corporations Act should be struck out next session. The Bill is to be printed. WATER. It was resolved on the motion of Councillor Gillon — That until water can be supplied by meter, the price to be charged for water as a motive power to engines be fixed, as per clause 8 of Public Works Committee's report, according to the estimated consumption ; that the previous resolution of the Council fixing a higher rate be rescinded, and that as soon as possible meters be obtained (the cost to be charged to consumers) ; all water for machinery to be then supplied by meter and charged accordingly. PURCHASE OF THE GAS WORKS. Councillor Dransfield moved the resolution of which he had previously given notice, with reference to the purchase of the gasworks from the present owners. He moved it because he thought it desirable that the Corporation should supply the people of Wellington with gas. He he'd that everything which took the form of a monopoly should be in the hands of the Corporation, and both gas and water took that form. He had the interests of [ the present proprietors of the gas-works, as well as of the ratepayers, at heart, and whether the motion were agreed to or not it would have a good result. Sooner or later the Corporation would have to supply the citizens with gas, and the earlier they began doing so the better, and the difficulties in the way would.be more easily overcome now than a few years hence. With reference to the price to be paid to the present owners of the works, Council should' take into consideration the 'fact that the gentlemen who had invested their capital in the concern entered upon it as a speculation, and ran the risk of its not being a "success. Therefore, as they had made it a success, it was only reasonable that they should expect to get a fair price for their property. At the same time the Gas Company should remember that they had no monopoly whatever, but were in the same position as any individual who entered upon a speculation. If they did not treat the Corporation in a fair manner the latter were at perfect liberty to go to Parliament and ask for powers to enable them to erect gas works. However, the Gas Company seemed willing to deal liberally with them, and, if his motion were carried, he would propose that negotiations with the company should be entered into as soon as possible by one member from each ward in the city, with the Mayor as chairman ; and that as soon as ' those gentlemen had come to what they conj sidered a fair arrangement, they should report their views to the Council, which would move ! in the matter. r Councillor Mills seconded the motion. In his opinion, the time had arrived when steps Should be taken in the direction indicated. - It had been suggested two or three years ago that the Council should acquire the gas-work<, but it was considered that negotiations would be premature, so the matter dropped. Councillor' Ramie would support the motion. There had been a good deal said about the Corporation starting opposition works, but that, he considered, would be a mere wa«te of public money. If the company were at all rea.«onpble it would be far better to take over their works. If such were dene the city would benefit materially. Councillor Pharazyn, speaking as the chairman of directors of the Gas Company, said the company had a good property which they would sell to the Corporation if the latter would agree to their terms. He would be very well pleased to see the works in the hands of the Corporation, but he was only expressing his own views and did not pretend to speak for the other shraeholders. He believed that if the

purchase were effected the town would be much better lighted. He was quite satisfied that the Corporation would meet with evenfacility if they entered into negotiations with the Company. Councillor Greenfield would support the motion, but thought the question might have been left in abeyance for a year longer. Councillor Cleland also supported the motion. He was of opinion that the sooner the arrangements were completed the better, and hoped that the negotiations would be entered into with as little delay as possible. It might happen that twelve months would" be required to complete the arrangements, so that it would be well to enter upon them at once. If the Corporation had the control of the water they should also have the gas works in their hands. Councillor Moss would support the motion. In fact, he had hoped to have seen the gasworks purchased two years ago. The Mayor was glad to hear Councillor Pharazyn, who was Chairman of the company, state that he for one would be prepared to meet the Council in a liberal spirit in this matter. He agreed with the remarks that had been made on the subject by the mover, and those who supported him. He hoped that the gas would be made more accessible to the people than it had been, and that could only be done effectually if the Corporation purchased the works . He also wished to see the price of gas lowered, and could not understand why it could be sold in England at prices ranging from 2« 3£d to 5s lOd per 1000 feet, while here it was 15s or 16s. The motion was then agreed to. It was resolved that the following Councillors should be a Committee to negotiate with the Company : — Councillors Dransfield, Ramie and Gillon ; and his Worship the Mayor. This concluded the business.