PETONE AND LOWER HUTT

Evening Post, Volume CV, Issue 109, 9 May 1923, Page 2

PETONE AND LOWER HUTT

MEETING OF GAS BOARD

The first meeting of the newly-elect-ed Petone and. Lower Hutfc Gas Lighting Board was held last, eveningi Present: Messrs. W; G. Lpdoler J .J. Piper, W. Hay, W, G. Meldrum, A. J. Hobbs, W. T. Strand, and A. Anderson. On the motion of Messrs. Meldrum and Piper, Mr. W. G. Lodder was appointed the seventh member of the board. On the motion of Messrs. Strand anMeldrum, Mr.. W. G. Lodder was appointed chairman, the proposer, stating that the board was fortunate in securing the services of such a gentlelnan to preside over its meetings. The chairman thanked members for the honour done him, and welcomed the new members, Messrs. Piper and Anderson, to the board. ■ Mr. W. T. Strand was unanimously elected deputy-chairman. The Lower ■> Hutt Borough Council agreed to take delivery of 1000 gallons of tar per month at the price agreed upon, also to pay for six underzround street lighting meters, such, meters' to be the.property of the. council, the same to be installed at the board's expense ' on lamps chosen by the borough engineer. : Dealing with the same question, the i"et<me Council advised that it could not see its way to purchase the uridereround' meters, being quite, satisfied with the amount at present charged for gag to street lamps. After some discussion, on the motion of Mr. Hay, the patter wag referred back to the Petone Borough Council for further consideration. The Petone Borough Council advised that it was difficult to find storage for the tar requirements of ffie borough, and asked if some arrangements could not be made to reduce storage required to a minimum. Mr. Strand said that Lower Hutt was providing storage. Mr. Meldrum said that the Petone Council should provide its. own storage.'; It was nnally decided that the boroughs providing storage in the winter months would not be penalised at the expense of the borough, nqt, providing storage .for the make during the summer months. No action' was taken in regard to an offer from the City Council to take a supply of tar. » It was decided, on the application of Mr Aldersley, to. lay. gas mains, in Brunswick- street as soon as possible. A man named Williams stated that he had been dismissed by the manager for talking to a iworkmate, and that he had " only been jiaid. for the actual time worked. He considered that a day's notice ! was due to him. Mr. Hobhs moved that the action of the. manager be. upheld. Mr. ( Piper said he considered that'the day s notice should have been given, and_ that on the face of it the manager's action seemed somewhat harsh. The manager, Mr. Appleyard,. said that when the man was remonstrated with for not attending to his/ work, he said if 'the manager wai riot satisfied he would leave, and he was then told to do so. A day's notice wag not due to the man, who was paid by the hour. The explanation made by: the manager satisfied the board, and the letter was "received." ' The Railway Departonent advised that the rates on the carriage of coal conlS^ riot be: varied. . , The secretary announced that .the de- -; bentures.due to.the Petone and Lower Hutt boroughs were now to hand. The chairman and secretary were authorised to sign same. ■ The manager raised the question of the purchase of a portable coal convtvor for savine the present excessive cost of the handling of coal It was decided that a report be presented at the next meet--1 mg showing what saving would be effected by the installation of a conveyor. The chairman and Messrs. Strand and Hay were elected a works and finance committee. • On the motion of Mr. Hobbs, seconded I by Mr. Anderson, it was decided to accept the tender of Messrs. King Bros, to cart coal from the Petone Railway Station to the gasworks at the rate of 2s per ton, it bein? considered that £98 Der annum would be saved by. so doing as against the cartage of coal direct from the ship's side at 6s per ton. ' Another aspect of the question was the «aving of the cartage over the Hutt road ■ and consequent saving of the. road surface, also that the railway revenue would be assisted by the haulage of'coal from Wellington to Petone. '■ ■ ' Persuant to notice, Mr. Piper moved: "That the resolution agreed to on 6th •Tanuary 1923, making a charge, of 5s for inspection of house reticulation, be ' repealed." Speaking to the motion, Mr. ; Piper said that with a vi»w to the ' competition with electric light, it wa* bad policy to make the charse. He believed that all services should be inspected but as no charge was made for inspecting drainage connections. nr> charge should be made for inspecting gas services. Mr. Strand said he could not agree. The inspection c/>st ,the hoard money and should be paid Mr. Anderson thoueht the board had a right to be compensated for the cost of the inspection. The motion was lost, onl,T tho .proposer voting for it. , ' The chairmen raised the question of the payment of members for their services, allowance -for. which, was< made by the Legislature. He considered that the ?as undertaking was a commercial con-' cem. and the board should be naid for their services, as would ' the directors of a company. Mr. Strand said the spirit' of service by citizens should be fostered, and he was not in accord, with the idea /that too ma,ny boards were beine formed ; the more citizens it was possible to <ret to stive service to the community the better. The honour of the position should be' sufficient for members, and Personally he would object to receiving Payment. Mr, Hobbs tnoueht that members should be remunerated for .their service. He moved that the payment alWed by the Act—£so for the chairman ad 10s 6d tier meeting for other members—be oaid. Mr. Anderson seconded. Mr. Strand said he was not comfortable in voting on the question. He would like to have seen the chairman, who necessarily devoted a lot of time to th» work of the board, oaid. but personally he could not accent oayment. The motion was carried. For: Messrs, Anderson, PiDor. Hay and Hobbs. Ag&i™*Messrs. Meldrura and Strand. ■ ■•