LOAN PROPOSALS

Feilding Star, Volume XVI, Issue 4011, 10 June 1920, Page 5

LOAN PROPOSALS

MAYOR HARFORD'S FIRST J YEAR. ] ELECi'IUC LiUixT ADDITIONS. Less than 30 ratepayers attended the public meeting in the Oddfellows' Hall last night to hear Mayor Harford give a resume of the past gear's work of the Borough Council, and to explain the Council's loan proposals shortly to be voted upon, jfr i\ill report will be published to-mor-row. The Mayor explained that the Council proposed to borrow £1,000 for additions !t,o the electrical plant, to in- l elude storage batteries, wires, and poles for extensionsj.ajoLd to wipe out the overdraft on the working accounu. In regard to (the storage plant, when this was installed it would znean itlhat from midnight to daylight the town could be -connected with the batteries, and tlrus save the wages of a man during those hours. The batteries could also be used for taking part of the jJivli load, by supplying current generated during the slack times* of itShe dajr. Further, electrically driven motors and lorries were coming into vogue, and the additional plant could be used for supplying these vehicles with electricity. The whole proposition was practical,, money-saving, and necessary. The Mayor added tha't< when the hydro-electric , scheme was .in use, the storage plant would be of great use because it would ihelp to keep down the peak load, on which the Council would" ue charged all the time by the Government, whether they were using the current or not. Provision had been made, conclud- j ed the Mayor, for getting the neces- !• sary money from the Public Trust, at the lowest current rate of interest — •5£ per cent. , ROADING SCHEME. AVhile not desiring to be egotistical, the Mayor claimed that no one in the borough had taken more interest in road-making than he. He was firmly convinced that the roads must be tarsealed to make a good job. They were fortunate in having a practical illustration of the tar-sealed mad in Fergusson street. This road had been treated some four or five years ago, and had not cost one penny per square yard to keep in order. By lantern slides, the Mayor lllus- ' trated the proposals for roading the borough. It-was proposed to borrow £20,000 for this purpose. SOLDIERS' MEMORIAL. A picture of the proposed memorial for fallen soldiers was also shown. This, said the Mayor., was to be erected in granite, in the centre of Manchester Square. He proposed to raise the £3,500 by debentures issued locally. Replying to questions, the Mayor staid it was not proposed to put tall trees in the centre of the road. The cost of 'the Soldiers' Memorial, £3.500, included the cost of erecting and placing on the names of the fallen soldiers. Mr H. Tolley proposed a vote of thanks to the Mayor for the lucid wav in which he had explained the proposals; also that the meeting pledge itself to support the proposals. M> Tolley explained the benefits to bo derived for each and every proposal of the Council. Feildmg had arrived at the stage when it had erther ti make progress or go back, lney could not stand still. The motion was seconded by Mr A. H. Sutton and carried unanimously. The meeting then closed.