CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Post, Volume LXXV, Issue 49, 27 February 1908, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

_«. COMMITTEES' REPORTS. LAST NIGHTS MEETING.

The fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held last night, the Mayor presiding. There uere also present: Councillors Luke, Smith, Cohen, Ballinger, Hales, Shirtcliffe, Biss, Fisher, Fletcher, Carmichael, Hindmarsh, 'M'Laren, Morrah, Murdoch, and Godfcer. BATHS AND CITY RESERVES. The commutes recommended — (l)Th'at the application of the Wellington Amateur Athletic Club for permission to hold an evening sports meeting on the •Basin Reserve on Wednesday, the 4th •March, be granted. (2) That 'the application of the Port Nicholson Athletic Club, for permission to hold evenn; •ports meetings on the Basin Res*rvo on the 26th February and 11th March be granted. (3) That the committee be granted power to deal with the hours of opening and closing tho baths and for the necesary extra labour necessitated by -the extension of the hours W bathing at the baths on Sundays. (4) That the price of the packet of twelve tickets for admission for adults to fhe Te Aro baths be reduced from 2s Gd to 2s. (5) That th© council allocate a further sum of money necessary to r mplete the work of top-dres.ing the KAburnr Park with soil: (6) That occou_its amounting to £9 11s 6d be passed for payment. The eommjtfcee also reported that it had considered the suggestion wade by Mr. F. Davies for the improvement of the town belt, but could not recommend the adoption of same. That they had decepte'd the tender of Mr. •A. Raven to supply bread to the Zoo, at 3d per loaf, delivered. That there was no evidence of the lessees of the towh. belt sections taking steps to eradicate the g'orse, as provided in terms of their lease, and the committee therefore desired instructions from the council a* to what steps should be taken to ensure the work being carried out. That the engineer had submitted rough plans of the proposed addition, to the Te Aro baths. The committee desired necesary power to have detailed plans prepared for approval of the council, and the calling for tenders for the work. The committee had instructed the superintendent to report generally on the staff under his control. T.h& committee requested that the work authorised to be "done at the Queen's Park to allow the road to be opened to the public be given effect to as soon as po'sjible.. Councillor Luke, who moved the adoption of the report, moved that clause 5 be deleted, there being good reasons why the work should not be gone on with at once. In answer to Councillor Fisher, Councillor Luke said the committee had given a lot of consideration to the matter of Te Aro baths," and had tried to have the matter pushed on with all poseiblo expedition, but the city engineer was impressed with the fact that drainage and water reticulation of the suburbs was the most important matter for the corporation officials' attention ~at present, and that the matter of the baths must be secondary to that. Plans>, however 1 , were being perfected, and the work would be gone on with as soon us possible. ; The i report -was agreed to, with ths #eletum of the clause specified,' by Councillor Luke. BYLAWS AXD STREET-LIGHTIXG. A lengthy report was submitted by the Bylaws ana Street-Lighting Committee. It recommended — (1) lhat all applications for additional lamps be postponed until the beginning of tho next financial year. . (2) That lamps Nos. 60 and 72, opposite the Government railway station, be removed and re-erected at corner of Lambton-quay and Hunter-si rest, and corner of Victoria and Allen streets, as recommended by tho electrical engineer. (3) That the application of, Mr. fiarmer for permission to erect two dwellings in Ken-■wyn-terraco be refused until .the street, which Mr. B?thcl entered into a bond to complete, hae been passed, and the council's requirements contained in the bond have been adhered to. (4) That the council recognises, that the Dresden Piano Company's building in Brandoaslreet is erected eleven inches back from the correct boundary of Brandonstreet, so that in case of the company at some future time wishing to Te-erect the premises the company . Cjould build up' to thjß Correctralignment. (5) That the name of "Pfirk--street," Gpldiesbrae, be changed to "Grant-road North,"' as requested by the residents of sucfi street. (6) That the application of Messrs. Williams and Meredith for the consent of the council to a proposed right-of-way off Lambton-quay to Messrs. "U'Ewen and Churchill's premises, bo granted, subject to the conditions imposed by the city engineer. (7) That the application of Mr. H. P. Hanify, for permission to construct a street 66 feet wide ofi the Upper end of Arlington-ton-street, be granted, provided the line of the proposed sewer is slightly altered, and subject to the city engineer's requirements being satisfactorily carried out. (8) That the application of Mr. T- J. M'Carthy for permission to erect a shop in Tinakori-road be refused, as the application is not in conformity with the building bylaw. (9) That the application of 'Miss Millar for permission to erect a wash-house at the rear of a dwelling in Martin-street be refused, as th-3 proposal does not comply with the requirements regarding air space. The committee reported that it had received a recommendation from the superintendent of. the Fire Brigade to the effect that a Gamewcll indicator be purchased for the Central, Fire Station, and ths committee recommended that such indicator be purchased by the council. In regard to clause 9, a point was raised by the Major that no application had been made to the committee as yet. It was only before the council informally. Councillor Murdoch said he believed I that Mr. M'Carthy had already smarted building, though he bad no permit The .Mayor said if that was so, Mr. M'Carthy should be prosecuted. His Worship v.as only concerned as to the method by which applications should be made, and tbir stage at which they should come before the committee. Ho understood that in this case there had been no application made for permission to build in face of the TegulatlOßS. Councillor Fisher thought it should be made clear to Mr. M'Carthy that he could be treated in no different manrer to any one else. His application to the- City Engineer had been refused on ths ground" that the bylaws had not been complied with, and he should be made to comply with them. . Councillor M'Laren said that Mr. M'Caithy'u action in building before he got a permit was a breach of the whole spirit of the bylaws. He would like to see the committee take a firm stand on this matter, and recommend that Mr. M'Carthy should be prosecuted. It seemed to Councillor M'Laren that to do otherwise would be to encourage the formation of slums. .In summing up the remarks concerning Mr. • McCarthy's application, the Mayor said there had been no conspiracy to interfere jviih the officers of the council, and

all that had been dono was to ask the City Engineer to supply the grounds of his refusal to grant the permission to build. The bylaws stipulated that this should be given, and it was quite ri^ht it shoiud be. How the papers came to be sent to the committee his Worship did not know. He had not tried to interfere with tho officials in tho execution of their duty, and he had no intention of doing so ; any one who mado any insinuation to tho contrary was doing unworthy thing (hear, hear), but his Worship intended., j as long as he occupied his proscnt position, to see that the officers rjroperly fulfilled their duty to the public. Respecting the last item in. the report, the Mayor suggested that it should bo postponed. From all one heard there might be developments that would necessitate the appointment of a new superintendent before long, and it would be well to consult him before ordering the Gamcwell indicator, as there were said to be varying opinions concerning the best one that could be secured. This course was agreed to, and the report as amended was ndopted. FINANCE AND PROPERTY. The committee recommended. — (1) That Mr. S. Williams, assistant building inspector, be granted seven months' leave of absnnce, if the City Engineer can arrange for the temporary filling of his position. (2) That Mr. C. Ivory be granted a rebate of rent of £1 per nnnum m his section No. 24, Town Belt, a portion of it having been taken to give access to another section of Town Bert. (3) The committee regret that in their opinion the application of the Eastbourne Borough Council for the services of the City Engineer, for a report on the waterworks of Eastbourne, must, in view of the work being done by him, be refused. (4) That the offer made by the Public Trustee, as trustee of the late Mr. M. T. M'Grath's estate, bo accepted. (5) That accounts amounting to £10,881 Is 7d be passed for payment. The report was adopted as submitted. ' LEGISLATION AND LEASEHOLD. The committee recommended that the application of Messrs. Young and Tripe, on behalf of Mr. F. G. Bolfcon, for extension of time of twelve months in which to convmenco building on sections 133-4, Lambton Reclamation, bo granted, provided that the buildings are commenced within tho period above stated* on sections 120, 121, 135, and 136. — Agreed to. LIBRARIES. The committee recommended, — (1) That the chief 'librarian be granted permission to act for t-lie Dunedin Library Association during his trip to America. (2) That tenders b? called for the supply of library books and periodicals (as usual) for "two years. (3) That tenders- be called for the bookbinding contract for one year only, instead of for two years. .The committeo reported that it had accepted the resignation of Miss N. Sampson as library assistant, i In moving the adoption of the report", Councillor M'Laren spoke of the regret felt by the committee at the loss of Miss Sampson's services. The report was adopted. , ELECTRICAL MATTERS. , The Power Station and Tramways Committeo recommended. — (1) That a booster bo ordered for the Island Bay Tramway line, as recommended by the Electrical Engineer. (2) That tenders be called for 230 Electric Watt Meters, as recommended by the Elec- j trical Engineer. (3) That the electric light mains be extended to Hataitai, at an estimated cost of £277. The Mayor -explained that the booster was a, very necessary expenditure, tHough. an expensive one. It would involve an expenditure J of some five ihousand pounds, but the effect of installing it would be to minimise the cost ol running the section. The report was adoptrd without amendment.