BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Grey River Argus, Volume XV, Issue 1870, 3 August 1874, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

A special meeting of the Borough Council was held on Saturday afternoon, for the purpose of taking into consideration the suitability of the proposed site for the new 'JLelegraph Office. There were present — the Mayor, Councillors Moore, Kerr, Dupre, Glenn, Coates, and Acheson. •There was a misunderstanding amongst the members as to the holding of the meeting, as it appeared an agreement had been come to in the early part of the day that it should not take place. " The Town Clerk explained that in consequence of this understanding the minutes of the previous meeting were not ready. Mr Kerb, said that the meeting appeared to be irregular. Messrs Maclean and Hamilton were not present, as they had received notice that there would be no meeting, and it would be unfair to the East Ward to proceed with the business in their absence. He moved an adjournment until Monday, and a discussion on the motion was proceeding, when Messrs Hamilton and Maclean arrived, and took their seats. It was then resolved that the business be proceeded with, as there was a full meeting of the Council. Mr Acheson moved — "That the site for the Telegraph Office, as at present arranged, is neither central, suitable, or convenient for the public; and this Council desires respectfully to urge on the General Government the advisability of acquiring the reserve where the. Hospital now stands, and erecting the new Telegraph Office thereon, feeling assured that it would give satisfaction to the whole community." He said it might appear strange to hold that meeting after the very plain expression of opinion which had been given on the matter by the hon. the Premier, that he would riot interfere with the Telegraph Department, or with the Hospital Reserve ; but there might be other sites in town recommended to him for the erection of the Telegraph Office which did not meet with, the same objection, and which would meet the wishes of the people quite as well. No doubt the Borough Council was behind time in taking action in the matter ; they ought to have been called together to discuss it long before, and not wait till after a public meeting. However, it was quite evident, from the feeling of the public meeting that the new Telegraph Office should be put in a more central position than the site selected, and he thought that the Council should express an opinion, although late, that the Hospital should be removed from the centre of the town, and the Government offices erected on its present site. The Borough Council had not yet expressed an opinion on the question, and he thought they ought still to do so, as the representatives of the community of Greymouth. He would like the resolution to go as it stood, as coming from the Borough Council it might induce the Premier to alter his decision. Mr Hamilton had much pleasure in seconding the resolution. It embodied the resolutions passed at the public meeting. He might mention that the resolutions passed at the public meeting had been forwarded to Government^ as well as full particulars of the frontage, size, and extent of the present Hospital Reserve and buildings, and had pointed out that they would answer well for a Court House, Post Office, Public Works Office, and Survey Office, and that there was plenty of room at the back upon which to erect the new Telegraph Office. The Committee, at the same time stated, that Mr Cooper was leaving Greymouth for Wellington that day, and he had with him a plan of 'the building,- and would give the Government further particulars. He would mention that he, in; conjunction with a number of other citizens, had sent a telegram to Mr Harrison, which had been very much misrepresented. He would read a copy of it which he had. (It stated that the site chosen was; unsuitable for the building, and suggested a site on the Hospital Reserve, or on the reserve at the head of Mackay street.) It was written out, and he had obtained nearly allthe signatures to it before the public meeting was called. He then saw Messrs Wickes and Kennedy who were getting up ' the meeting, snowed it to them, and they quite approved of it. Mr Moore would move an amendment. Mr Yogel had stated his opinion on the matter as plainly as he could, and they ought to take his answer without further bother. It would be a very different thing if they had any other sites to offer for the Government offices, but they had not, and he thought the less they bothered the Government at the present time the better, as they were doing what they could to benefit this lown. If there was to be any bother, let it be about harbor worksv He moved— "That as action was not taken in a previous instance, when the opportunity was offered to the Council, no further communication be made to the Government on the subject." Mr Dupre said the Borough Council had been blamed for neglect of duty in this matter, but he considered that the Mayor was the only person to blame. : The Mayor complained of the remarks which were being made. Mr Acheson had misrepresented the facts of the case. A letter was written to Mr. Bonar, stating the department intended to erect a Telegraph Office and Post Office on the site proposed. Mr Bonar sent it on to him with a memo., asking if there was any "objection to the site, and he answered that he was not aware of any. They had no -better site to place at the disposal of the department. He could not help remarking upon the inconsistency of the members who were moving in this matter. When the building they were then sitting in was being re-built, these same gentlemen said uothing about the convenience of the public by putting it in a more central situation. If anything was proposed in the East Ward these gentlemen were sure to oppose it. He certainly remembered informing the Council that he had received the letter from Mr Bonar, -and the answer he had given to it. Mr Dupre said they were . informed three or four weeks after the letter was received. The Mayor said the Council was informed of it within fourteen days. Mr Aoheson maintained that the General Government had not yet received t*\e opinion of the Borough Council on the question, which they ought to know. The Mayor had already informed the General Government that there was no objection to. the pioposed site, but that waa not the voice of the Borough Council: or of the late public meeting of the

citizens. The Government should be put right with regard to the matter. Mr Glenn supported the last speaker. A telegram should be sent to the Government, explaining that the members of the Council knew nothing about the question as to the site until after an answer had been sent by the Mayor. He thought a telegram should be sent- to, Mr, Lemonasking him to place the building in a more central situation. Mr Kerr considered that the object o the meeting was two-fold — First,'- to strengthen the resolution passed at th 3 late public meeting ; and, secondly, to remove aspersions which had been cast upon the Council for neglect of duty in this matter. His Worship the Mayor had been blamed for the answer he had sent to the Government without consulting the Council. At first little notice was taken of the building, as it was supposed only to be an improvement upon the present offices. He remembered the Mayor mentioning the letter he had received and the memo he had written on it, but the Council then did not chose to call the action of the Mayor in question. No doubt the Mayor would have pleased them better if he had retained that letter for an expression of the opinion of the Council. He denied that the Council had neglected their duty in the matter. He co aid not understand Councillor Moore's remarks as to not bothering the Government. What they wanted was worth asking for, and he believed if they obtained the Hospital site for the Government offices, it would satisfy the whole community. Mr Hamilton said the matter was certainly represented to the Council, but no action was taken because they had no idea that it was intended to erect a large building costing some LISOO. It was the cost of the building that had made the Councillors and the public take action .in the matter. .The subject was certainly mentioned to them by the Mayor the first meeting after the letter in question was received, and that was the time that any objection ought to have been taken to his action if they wished to do so, but then they had not the slightest idea that anything more than the removal of the present buildings was contemplated wUjv some additions. He could see no harm m^ sending the telegram proposed. -~ Mr Maclean said the only regret of a number of members seemed to be that such a building as .that contemplated should be " buried " in, the east end of the town ; but he had no objection to its being placed in a more central position if the site could be obtained. : : n , Mr Moore : Did I notask your Worship at the time if one site only was mentioned, or whether any alternative site was suggested ? , ; ; The Mayor : No alternative site was mentioned. All I was asked was if I knew of any objection to the one proposed, and I said I knew of none; ; '■■' \"* Mr Moore withdrew his amendment, and the resulution was carried. Mr Dupre moved, " That this Council would respectfully draw the attention of the General Government to the position of the Hospital, it being situated in the centre of the town and where it is thickly populated, so that if at any time we should be visited by any contagions or infectious disease, it would be likely to prove dangerous to the whole community. We therefore would urge its removal to the reserve set apart for it-" ■'„':..': Mr Aoheson seconded the motion. Mr Hamilton pointed but 'that all cases of infectious or contagious diseases, were excluded by the rules of the Hospital; and the words were unnecessary in the resolution. . He moved that they be struck out. Mr Maclean seconded the motion. After a discussion, the _, voting, was equal, when the Mayor gave his castingvote for the amendment, and the resolution as amended was carried. Mr Kerr moved, >( That , these resolutions be forwarded by 'telegram to the Hon. the Premier of New Zealand.";. Mr Acheson seconded the resolution, which was agreed to. ■ Mr Kerr said he had another resolution to propose, but after the explanations which had been given it did not seem to be so necessary as it did a few days ago. A telegram appeared to have been sent to Mr Harrison, the member for the Grey Valley- . ; Mr Hamilton thought this had no bearing upon the subject of the special meeting. . Mr Kerr said the resolution he had to. propose was as follows :—" That the,following resolution be forwarded by tekap gram to W. A. Harrison, M.H'R.:— ThfT in the opinion of this Council the Railway Reserve, at the east end of Mackay street, is not a central, suitable, or convenient site to erect the new Telegraph Office on." That had a distinct bearing upon the object of the meeting, and he moved that the resolution be sent to Mr Harrison. The gentlemen who had sent the telegram referred to by Mr Hamilton ought first to have called a public meeting, and been guided by the expression of public opinion, instead of taking it upon themselves to act as they had done. Instead of consulting the public, they had been guided by their own private feelings. The head of Mackay street was no more central than the site proposed by the Government, so far as the public convenience was concerned. The Mayor did not think this came within the business if the meeting. Mr . Acheson wa3 of the opposite opinion ; the sending of such a telegram to Mr Harrison might have biased him with regard to the site. . : Mr Hamilton said that when he started with the telegram he was not aware that a public meeting was to be called. It did not matter the least to him where the Telegraph Office was built, and he would not oppose the motion, but to Mr Harrison it must appear strange that he received a telegram from nine members of the Borough Council as against twelve other gentlemen in Greymouth. The Mayor mentioned that the resolu- ' tions passed at the late public meeting had been telegraphed to Mr Yogel, and also to all the West Coast, members, asking their support. The resolution was then agreed to, and the meeting adjourned.

A box of quartz speoimens, with gold visible in every portion, has been forwarded to Hokitika from the Caledonian Company's claim at Larry's Inangahua, this week. The "Times" tells us that the specimens are now in the hands of the legal manager, Mr Beit, in Revell btreet, and, taken as a sample of the reef, which is reported to be from 18in to 40m in width, there can be no question a s to the ultimate value of the Company's property.