WATER SUPPLY

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20572, 4 June 1941, Page 4

WATER SUPPLY

CHOICE OF PROPOSALS MR. FURKERT TO REPORT COUNCIL’S DECISION The Gisborne Borough Council last ■evening decided to invite Mr. F. W. Furkert, former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department, to report upon the respective merits of the Vickerman and Clapcott gravitational water schemes. The decision, was taken at the instance of the Mayor, Mr N. H. Bull.

“Since my election as Mayor and for a long time before the election, I have taken a keen interest in the water .supply problem, and it seems clear from the reports in the hands of the council that we are more or less tied down to a gravitational scheme,” said the Mayor. “It seems, further, that since whatever scheme we may embark on will raise questions of cost and various engineering problems, and the council will require some independent aid in this respect.

“It occurred to me that the former engineer-in-chief of the Public Works Department, Mr. F. W. Furkert, might be available to give this independent advice. Ido not think there can be any question as to Mr. Furkert’s qualifications, and his ability to give us competent and independent advice. I have had some correspondence with Mr. Furkert. without in any way binding the council, and I have been advised that his fee for consultation on the water-supply problems would be 100 gns.”

Mayor Takes Initiative

Mr. Bull said that he felt the council would be well served, and would serve the public of Gisborne well, if it secured the advice of Mr. Furkert on its: water-supply, problems. He therefore moved that the council invite Mr. Furkert to consult with the council and advise on the respective merits of the Vickerman and Clapcott schemes, at a fee of 100 gns. In reply to Mr. J. H. Hall, the Mayor explained that the council could hardly expect the consultant to take a “free hand” in respect to the water supply question generally, at so restricted a fee.

Mr. J. J. Macdonald seconded the Mayor’s motion pro forma. Mr. Hall advocated giving Mr. Furkert a free hand to consider all phases and proposals of the supply problem.

Mr. H. E. Maude suggested that Mr. Furkert might expect to have more data placed before . him than the council could supply. Lacking such data, he might have to spend some time on the investigation.

The Mayor said that he had given Mr. Furkert copies of the Vickerman and Clapcott reports, and he thought that Mr. Furkert, in quoting his fee, was well aware of the extent of the consultative services expected of him. Issue Narrowed Down Mr. Maude thought that if a consultant’s services were required, it would be advisable to have a personal discussion with Mr. Furkert, so that he would know exactly what was expected of him, and quote a fee accordingly.

The expenditure of much paper and time had seemed to him to have narrowed down the. issue to a choice between the Vickerman and the Crapcott schemes, said Mr. G. Bradley Smith. The council had “humbugged about” with the question long enough, surely, and he warmly supported the Mayor’s move to get a decision as tween the Vickerman and the Clapcott schemes. There should be no question of the intrusion of other schemes. Mr. R. Morse, while agreeing in principle with the Mayor, considered that the council should remember that Mr. Clapcott had asserted that additional data would be required before his scheme was proceeded with. The point was: was the council in a position to put enough data before Mr. Furkert for a conclusive judgment? Geological data, he thought, was what Mr. Clapcott had meant. Geology of Mangapoike Mr. F. Tolerton said that Mr. Clapcott had been a little uncertain about a fault on the site of his proposed dam, and he had wanted geological data there. Mr. Tolerton held that the issue was simply between the two gravitational schemes. Dr. A. L. Singer supported the Mayor’s proposal, and said that the council would have to know from Mr. Furkert what additional data he required, before it set about collecting it. Otherwise a lot of time and money might be spent uselessly. Mr. G. J. Jeune agreed that the council was now limited to a choice of one or other of the gravitational schemes. He considered that the council should procure the consulting services of the best available and most experienced engineer to analyse the reports and data. Mr. Macdonald said he had seconded the motion with pleasure. The water question had been a matter of deep interest to the public for years, and he thought that the Mayor’s .proposal was the first step towards solving the problem.

In reply to Mr. Morse, the borough engineer, Mr. E. R. Thomas said that Mr. Clapcott considered that he had sufficient data to submit to a consultant on his scheme. He (Mr. Thomas) did not consider that sufficient data was available. x

Replying to Mr. Hall, the Mayor said that the consultant undoubtedly would take into account any necessary adjustments to the pipeline. The Mayor’s motion was carried unanimously.