NELSON NEWS

Evening Post, Volume CVII, Issue 102, 1 May 1924, Page 8

NELSON NEWS

CITY COUNCIL MEETING

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)

: : NELSON, 29th April. At the City Council meeting on Mon.day, the Mayor (Mr. W. Lock) gave a very comprehensive report for the year on city affaire. A ..lot. of interesting information was given. Dealing with finance; a credit balance of £1200 was ] -shown in the \general account. 'The wisdom of continuing the policy of constructing new works out of reveni" was questioned. "Last year the council expended over 50 per cent, of the ordinary street maintenance allocations (revenue* on new work. This amounted to £264 fa" and in addition to this something over ioOO was expended on new drainage extensions making a total of £3250, which is equal to almost a s£d rate; whereas if this amount had come out of capital expenditure; by loan, and not revenue, rt would only have cost to provide for &? tere?' ,and sinki *S f«nd on the. ft th*■?. i ? Under ifl rate> instead oi the s a d rate—an enormous saving lo the ratepayers." ''The council expended on streets including maintenance and new work? apS!Tfinfe y £a BOO0 ' and ?? r street **& TW, I . . new bnd Se over the Brook street stream is practically completed The cost of this bridgP will be approximately £400 " h c ,3t V°/li Undred -dWeIHnSs had been elected dunn? the last two years, the £200,000 Many additions to the sewere had been made. The cost of pump y^ar S" 8 Had bC6n duHng fche Pa^

The £20,000 authorised for improve ment of the water reticulation was bei"/ exP«nded"; £10,000 had been spent 12 months ago. and the balance was now being expended. The incompleted p- r ; fcions are: Bridge street to Waimea street, 8m mains; Trafalgar, Hardy, and Bridge streets, 7in mains; Brougham street, Shakespeare Walk, and Taiman street, 3m mains.

Under the ■ heading "Gasworks"> it was stated that the present works were re-erected about 20 years ago. The re--30,000,000 feet per annum. Additional •§.i^ ers '^ ere re 9u»-«l at. a cost of dbIUW. bmce electric installation the demand had. been slightly less. The net result, however, was an increase of 5,500,000 feet for the year.. The year opened with a credit balance, of £2830, and 20 tons of coal. The end of the. year showed a credit balance of £2178/ and the coal in stock was worth £2700. One bed of retorts had been, rebuilt, and another was nearin" completion, • and this part of .the works would be in first-class order for the commg_ winter. The net'profit, after providing for interest and sinking funds, was £2791,. which was, £579 . less than last year.. Bad coal and an increased percentage "in unaccounted-for gas would more than account for this.. '.

The method of collecting the rates in ono sum and;, giving a discount "of 5 per cent.. had proved a success." Previous councils : had-to pay.7 per cent, on overdraft until the rates came in, amounting in some years to as much as £800 or £900. The rebate more than- covered what -would have had to be paid oh interest on overdraft. Office expenses under the new system had resulted in a further saving of £250. The amount of uncollected rat in past years ramred ■between £2100 and. £2800; this year £1560, on which 10 per cent, additional was payable. . :-..-. k Keferring to the electric installation, if was stated that it was satisfactory in every way, and it was confidently anticipated that by the end of'the. financial year the account would have a substantial sum to its credit. Basing their judgment .on the results of. similar plants, the. consulting engineers anticipated that, .there, would be 800 consumers within two years of establishment. The council had already received 730 applications for current. It had 24-7 street lamps, at a cost of £1000 per year, whereas it had 178 gas lamps that cost, the same price. Sixty-nine additional lamps were being got, and a total illuminating power of 23,720 c.p. and extended hours of lighting, compared with an illuminating power of the gas lamps of 8900 c.p. and a shorter period of service. -

The necessity of an improved rubbish service was also dealt with, atd the report concluded by stating that further expenditure was required on the cemetery. .■ ' .

•Councillor. Moffatt said the thanks of the council were'due to the Mayor for his comprehensive report, which 'showed a very satisfactory state of affairs. After dealing with several aspects of the report, he expressed the opinion that credit was due to the Town Clerk (Mr. G. E. Edmonds) for his work in connection' with the proposals to collect the rates on one demand in one sum.

Councillor. Gibbs congratulated the Mayor on his lucid explanation of the city's affairs.

When the bylaw fixing the minimum area: of building sections came up for confirmation, Councillor Moffatt said there was-a strong feeling in the city that the area should be one-eighth of an acre, and not one-tenth. He was of opinion that in a residential city like Nelson a minimum of a tenth of an acre was too small. He moved an amendment that the area be one-eighth. The motion was seconded by Councillor Nightingale.

The Mayor said, he had always sup ported an eighth of an acre. *

Councillor Edwards could not support the amendment. The matter had been thoroughly discussed, and a tenth agreed on. The amendment, if carried, would hit the working man hard, as there were m facilities for people getting to the outskirts of the city by trams, etc., like there were in big cities. ' Councillor Gibbs was in favour of an eighth, but, as the council had already expressed the opinion that a tenth of an acre was sufficient, he was inclined to support Councillor Edwards.

Councillor Coltman opposed and Councillor .Russell supported the amend ment.

The amendment was lost. Ayes: Councillors Nightingale.-. Moffatt, Russell, and the Mayor. Noes: Councillors Coltman, Strincer, Plum, Edwards, Watson, and Gibbs.