CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Post, Volume XV, Issue 144, 22 June 1877, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

The ordinary fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held yesterday aftefhodn at the Provincial Hall. Present — the Mayor and all the 'Councillors; bBPUTATibtfs: Several deputations waited on the Council: The first was from the Order of Odd Fellows. Mr. Thomas M'EBNziE, the spokesman, stated that the dbiect oi the deputation was to represent to the Council the hardship inflicted on the Order by the jtonfiscation of a portion of their land in the City by the officers of the Corporation for general public purposes. The land originally was six, feet under water, and was granted to the Odd Fellows on condition that they reclaimed it, but with the reservation that if they desired to 1 sell it they iriust purchase it before they could get a title. They' spent £1000 in the reclamation and another £1000 for the freehold, also about £3000 in buildings. The City Council resolved to widen Lambton Quay to lOOft. and the City Surveyor had the Odd Fellows fence removed, so that the line might begin from the corner of Grey-street. The Order thus lost 12ft lin on one side and 4ft of frontage to Lambton Quay. Consequently, having let 75ft ,of their 100 ft frontage, they , found on, measurement that instead of 25ft, they wOuld have only 21ft left for themselves, and had to negotiate with Mr. Barnett for the , return of 2£ft at a cost of £300. Their loss was estimated by experts at £400, and their solicitors advised them that they had a good claim, notwithstanding the City Solicitor's opinion that the land had been dedicated to the public, for the trustees had no power so to dedicate the land.- They Were unable to get their land passed through the Land Transfer Court, in consequence oi the specified quantity not being there. They did not wish to go to law,' but only asked, as a matter of .simple justice, compensation for the land taken from them by the Council. Mr. R. A. Marshall added that their actual money loss was more than £300, and £400 would not really compensate them. . The. deputation then withdrew. The Mayor said the City Solicitor had advised them that the Odd Fellows had no legal claim, and if the body would admit this the Council should meet them in a liberal spirit ; but so long as they insisted that they had! a good case at law, and came backed by a lawyer's opinion, he did nof see that the Council could • meet them. , -' On the* motion of Councillor George, seconded by Councillor Mills, a committee was appointed to investigate the matter" and report to the Council. Mr. Hearne attended to complain" tliat, in" the new burgess Ml he had been deprived; illegally of two votes. i The Mayor pointed biitthat tlie matter did not come under the Cognisance of the Council* Btr. Hutchlngs attended to complain of ,a nuisance caused by Mr. Gear's stable in Cubastreeti' The matter was referred to the Inspector of Nuisances. Mr.jRouNTREE attended .to make an explanation touching the tender for the kerosene store, but was referred to the Public Works Committee^ THB RECLAIMED LAND MdRTGAOEi A letter was received from the Manager of. the Bank of New Zealand; stating that, a release of the mortgage on the reclaimed land was not required, as the mortgage became'released ipso facto by payment of the sum for which the land was mortgaged i ' ' .THE BUILDING REGULATIONS. A letter was read from the Colonial Secretary, pointing out to the Council that as the. Building Regulations were passed under the old Municipal Corporations Act, but not' brought into force until the new Act became ' operative,- they were invalid. , A letter from the Mayor, disputing this^ view, and a reply from Dr. Pollen reiterating' and explaining it, also were read. The Mayor said he was not aware if any/ further action could be taken in the matter.' -Councillor George pointed out that the Council and not .the Government were to blame,, having acted informally. He moved that the necessary steps be taken, under the advice of the City Solicitor, to bring the'regulations into force as early as possible. THE THORNDON RECLAMATION. A letter was received from the Colonial Secretary, stating that the Thorndon reclamation would not oe included within the city boundaries until the work of reclamation was completed, but that the Government hoped the Council would take charge of that partforming the road within the line of Lambton Quay and the approach to the railway station. THE DRAINAGE OUTFALL. , < A letter was read from Mr. Climie, stating (1) that there was no danger of injury to the cables from the discharge of sewage into Lyell Bay, as the outfall point would be fully half a mile from the cable end. (2.) That Mr. Crawford declined to receive the sewage on his land', " unless discharged at a higher elevation than calculated upon, and also objected to its being discharged into Lyell Bay. (3.) That consequently he had marked out a new route, which would not interfere with Mr. Crawford's property, and probably would be less costly, as although the length of tunnelling would I>9 increased, the total distance would be shorter. THE NIGHT WATCHMAN. A letter from Mr. W. M. Bannatyne, as Chairman of the Board of Insurance Agents, was read. It was to the effect that the Insurance Agents would not contribute £100 towards the salary of a night watchman. TOWN BELT LEASES. Mr. W. T. L. Travers, as City Solicitor,, wrote stating that the Towu Belt leases had been prepared, and were ready to have the Corporation's seal attached to them. In reply to a councillor, The Town Clerk stated that the seal would have to be affixed in the presence of the Mayor and a councillor. The MAYqR said he declined to act in the matter. It was then decided that if the Mayor were absent the seal should be affixed to the leases in the presence of two Councillors. CORPORATIOX OFFICIALS. The following report was brought up by the special committee : — " That the City Surveyor be requested to tender lps resignation, and that in the event of his fading to do so before Ist July next, he be' then giyen three months' notice that his services be dispensed with ; but that in any case his services be retained as engineer of tlj3

waterworks contract and wharf extension contract nntil their completion. " That the whole of the officials in the City Surveyor's department be given three months' notice, and their services dispensed with. " That a committee of inquiry be appointed to investigate the Charges made against the Wharfinger — consisting of the Mayor, Councillors Moss, Greenfield, and Ramie. "The dorainittee are of opinion, that the whole of the direction of the Corporation business should emanate from the Town Clerk's office, he being recognised as the chief official of the Corporation, as required by the Municipal Corporations Act." The Mayor moved that the report be adopted. After a few remarks from Councillor Mills against ibs addption of the report, the motion w^searriid: • PUBLIC tfORJCS COMMITTEE. The Public Works Committee -brought up their usual report. It was to th'fe effect that the Thofndeii . stream' tietw&en MltrpHy ftnd Muturoa-stfeets should be covered in at a cost of £1,400, provided the residents wlio had petitioned the Council on the subject paid half the cost ; that a drain be made in Walter-street at a cost of £140, provided the residents paid half the cost; that Mr. Turnbull -was preparing the plans and specifications for the Corporation offices, and tha.t it was probable that a tender might be accepted at the first meeting . of the Council -in July ' that Mr. Turnbull should fee'eive 3 pet cent. Upoh the contract price for the new offices, and that he should now be paid one-half the premium of £200 for the Town Hall plans; that in the .matter, of grants in aid to the fire brigades, both brigades should be treated alike, but that no further grant be made until the Council had heard from the insurance agents on the subject ; that Abel Smith-street and John- t street be repaired; that persons using water .for ether than domestic purposes be no longer -supplied j that if the Government would allow a "time gWi" to toe fired frpm Mount Victoria daily, the Corporation should supply ihe gtih and ammunition; -that the portion of Lambton Quay in front of the General Government Buildings be formed. The report dealt with various other matters of minor importance. ¦ The Mayor stated that tlie report recommended that several streets should be repaired, but he wished the public to understand that the work would have been done before now had the Government done justice to the city. He mentioned that the Government had been asked to adiust the boundaries of. the city so that it would include tJie THofndon foreshore, but they would not do so; He considered that that was not doing justice to the city. All the Council wished to have the power to do was to spend Municipal funds legally upon Municipal property. But, as he had already shown, the Government had refused to give them any control over the foreshore.., It was likewise unjust to the" city to exclude the Hospital and College reserves from the city boundaries: The trustees of those reserves were going to lease portions of them, and because they were outside the city boundaries the lessees would not have to pay any rates. And though the Government treated the city so badly, they'e'xpected the Council to spend the ratepayers' money on property over which they had no control, while at the same time the Council was ttnable, from want of funds, to repair many streets Which required repairing. The report was then adopted. DRAINAGE COMMITTEE. ¦ The report of the above committee, which had met that afternoon, was read. It was to the effect that Mr. Climie should be paid £300 • fdr his services up to the present time, and that his salary be fixed at £8(J0 per annum from . the 11th inst. , .1 Councillor Moss complained that while the reporters were allowed to attend some committee meetings, they were not admitted to others. That day, for instance, the Drainage Committee had sat, and he did not arrive till the meeting was neai'ly concluded, and lie would not know exactly what had taken place, because the proceedings would not be reported. He might state that if he had been at the '¦ meeting he would have opposed the motion to pay Mr. Climie £800 a year. He held that when important committee meetings were held reporters should be present, and he asked the Mayor to rule, once for all, whether every committee meeting should be open to reporters or not. The Mayor did not think any ruling whs necessary. He had always held that committee meetings were no moreprivate than any others, although either the Council or a committee might resolve at any time that their proceed* ings should be private. He advised Councillor Moss to table a motion on the subject. For his part, he was always guided by the wishes of the Council. The matter then dropped, and the committee's ' report was adopted. . '. - ' CONTAGIOUS DISEASES ACT. ! On the motion of Councillor George, ; seconded-by Councillor Mills, it was resolved " That the Government be requested to bring the Contagious" Diseases Act <intq operation in Wellington." ' ( . " ' , >T BASIN RESERVE. o , Councillor. George moved that .£2OO be expended in improving the .Basin Reserve. ' " Councillor Mills secoiided the" iriotibn'. ' - After some disCUssibri the" motidd was agreed to. ._''."' • The Mayor gave notice tliat at the next meeting he would move that the money just voted should be expended under the supervision of the City Surveyor. 1 TE ARO RECLAMATION. t ' Mr. C. O'Neill, Assistant Engiiieer, reported as follows on this subject i — " In obedience to • .your instructions, 1 prepared a plan of the Te Aro foreshore, containing an .area of seventy acres, as included in grant NO. 8866 under 1 the Public Reserves Act, '1834y3indihave the honor to submit the same to you ) and have laid; down thereon the portion which maybe first reclaimed, distinguished by the green border<on plan, and containing an area of thirty-eight, and a-half acres or thereby. , , , ' ' " This reclamation- will give a total wharf frontage of: 1645 ft, viz. ; 475 ft in line.of Har-bour-street as anjinner whai'f (of smaller ship--ping, and 1170 ft ,as ah outer whai'f . for itjie Jargest shipping. I111I 1 he, soundings' taken show a :idep,th;of 20tt at low .water alongside the outer : wharf/ which wjirbfe o ipi'incd in,,br,eaks.fpr the better berthing of vessels, and sheltered by the Queen's ' Wharf. • .c " '..' , ",The breadth i of wharf ahd street will bet 150 ft from building line to th,e M outer' line of wharf » The street from Sarhor-stre'Ct/round by high-water mark, will jbeylOOft- wide. All ¦ the other streets will be,6'6ft,wide. ' ' i,, "The 'proposed reclamation will incluae' about 156'chajns long of streets, Jaaving an area of 19 acres, and. a buijd.ing area of 19£ acres, .with a frontage of l2#t)oft. " I estimate the cost ,of ,the proposed works as follows .—Wharfs, &'c' £40,000; earthwork, £58,500; total, £9"8,500." The Mayor moved, "That the Council take steps for the reclamation of the Te Aro Foreshore, and ¦with this view, resolve to raise a special loan, with the consent of the burgesses of the city, in terms of part X of Municipal Corporations Act, 1876. ' 'He suggested a ' loan of £!00,000r f The motion was agreed to, the amount of the loan and the question of compensation to owners of water frontages being postponed. THE RECLAMATION AND WHARF RAILWAY SCHEME. Councillor G. Allen .moved — That a committee be formed 'to' watch over tho interests of the city in connection with the proposed reclamation up to the second T <of the Queen's Wharf. He complained that the Government and Chamber of Commerce had treated the Council with discourtesy in not consulting them on the subject. The scheme would injure the Corporation property,' and the whole proceeding was a monstrous one. They oiiprht to consult their solicitor on the matter. Councillor Mills seconded the motion, deeming it desirable to co-operate with the Chamber of Commerce- in the interests of tho public, although he approved the scheme with certain modifications. Councillor George defended the scheme, but would not oppose the motion. Councillor Dixon took the same view. Councillor GreenfielO supported the motion. He did not believe the Government would take away part of the wharf without ' consulting the Council, The Mayqr agreed with him, and contended tliat the scheme would take away several bcrtb,s, while the Government would collect dues from the breastwork: Councillor G. Allen having replied, adr vocating a railway wharf, the motion was put ', and carried nein. con. ''' TQWN BELT RESERVES. Councillor J. A. Allan's motion, that a premium should be offered for the best scheme' 1 for utilising the reserves, was agreed to. NEW- BYE-I.AWS. '"" Tho new bye-laws proposed by the Mayor, prohibiting riding or driving round corners faster than at a walking pace, and otherwise j regulating the street traffic, were carried, '