COUNTY CLUB

Grey River Argus, Volume XXXII, Issue 5354, 26 November 1885, Page 2

COUNTY CLUB

The annual meeting of the Grey County Council was held yesterday at noon. Presenc— Crs Clifford (chairman), Marshall, Guinness, Ryall, M'Kechnie, Foley, Warren, Taylor, Parfitt. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, the Council proceeded with the ELECTION OF CHAIRMAN. The Chairman explained that the first business before the meeting was the election of a chairman for the ensuing twelve months, and read the section of the Act bearing on the matter. The Chairman then moved that the appointment of a chairman for the ensuing year be postponed till 1.30 p.m. — Cr Guinness moved that the adjournment be till 1 p.m. ! , which was carried. Previous to this the Council held a private meeting of nearly half an hour. ; On resuming after one o'clock, the Chairman returned thanks to the Council for the hearty support they had always accorded him, even in the disagreeable task of curtailing expenditure. He was happy to be able to inform them that the County was in a better position financially than ever it had been since the first year of its existence. Last year they were indebted to the amount of at least £4000, while this year they owed only £2900. H e then called upon the Treasurer to read, as more properly belonging to his office, a detailed statement of the financial position of the council. This Cr Taylor did.. i Cr Guinness said that although this was not the proper time to criticise the balanct sheet, he might point out that there were j several items appearing on it, that strictly j speaking could not be indued as assets. He would, however, reserve any remarks I till the report o? the Finance Committee was brought up. Cr Ryp.ll »noved that Cr Clifford be appointed chairman of the Council for the next twelve months. As Cr Clifford was the first member of the Council who broke the system of perpetual chairman that had existed previously, and although he held with the principle of the chairmanship going round amongst the Councillors, he thought the least they could do would be to re-elect Cr Clifford for another term. He had proved a very efficient chairman. He had shown great courtesy and consideration towards the various members of the Council, and given his best attention to their business ; and under his management the finances of the Council had improved, while a good deal of useful public works had been carried out during | the same time. Cr M'Kechnie seconded. Cr Taylor moved that Cr Marshall be appointed chairman for the next 12 months. Cr Parfitt seconded. He understood that last year it had been arranged amongst them that the office of chairman should go round amongst the Councillors. Cr Marshall spoke at some length on the subject. He said that after his long service of about eight years he was naturally filled with the ambition of being chairman of the Council. Last year it was understood that the office of chairman was to go round ; and he was surprised to see the hitch that occurred. He was free to admit that Cr Clifford had been a most efficient chairman, conducting the business with tact and impartiality.;- but it should not be said that the Council was dependent upon one or two members. So far as his recollection served him, however, he could say that Cr Clifford took the same view as himself, namely, in believing that the office of cha'rman should go round. In fact he was under the impression that last year the chairman led them to believe that he would assist In carrying that principle into effect by not offering himself for re-election. Indeed it was a surprise for him to see Cr Clifford again offering himself as a candidate for' the <3hairmanship. Personally he was indifferent whether lie was elected or not. but as he had served in the Council so .nany years and some of his friends were desirous that ■he should aspire to the chairmanship he had no option but to offer himself as a candidate. He had no hesitation in putting the matter to the lest. He supported Cr Clifford last year for the chairmanship, but he did so on the under standing that the office should go round amongst the members of the, County Council, or such of them as deemed themsftlves qualified for, and aspired to, the office. He was perfectly certain on that point ; and he confessed that he was surprised to see Cr Clifford nominated again for an office that hs led them to believe he would not again contest. Cr Guinness proposed that Cr Taylor be appointed chairman. Seconded,. but the motion was rejected by five to four. The Chairman then proposed as an amendment that Cr Warren be appointed chairman. Oa the motion being put to the meeting it -was earned by five against four. Cr Taylor then moved that Mr Guinness be elected chairman of the County Council for the ensuing twelve months.— Mr Guinness said he must decline to oppose Or Warren as a candidate for the chairmanship. Cr Warren returned thanks fer the honor that had been confei'red upon him. He said that it was entirely unexpected. He had not the remotest idea that he would be nominated ; but as he had been placed in the position he could assure them that he would not disgrace it.. He would always maintain its respectability. He might not be endowed with overwhelming ability, but he could assure them of his honesty, and they might rely upon it that whatever he did would be fair and square and above board. Speaking was scarcely his forte, and he would not inflict them with an long rigmarole, and he would merely thank them sincerely for the honor they had conferred upon him unsolicited, and assure them that so far as his ability went he would do them full justice. Some discussion ensued as to whether all the nominations be received at once or whether the first nomination should be treated as a motion, and the second as an amendment. — Cr Guinness moved, in order to test the matter, that the nomination of Cr Clifford be treated as a motion, and that if the amendment on that was rejected that it be competent for any other member of the Council to propose another amendment, so that every member of the Council might have an opportunity of taking what action he thought proper in the matter. — Cr 4 Parfitt seconded. ' ' Cr Ryall moved as an. amandment that all the nominations be reciiyedafc once. The Chairman Said that ,3Udh, i^'moile. of

nmcxlnri was J.icctly contrary to their ii . j,'i in tho past, as well as against ruiison and common sense. Cr Guinness spoke at some length in favor of the amendment, the result being that there were five noes and four ayes. The amendment was therefore rejected. Cr Guinness then proposed that Cr Taylor be appointed chairman. He said that he was well worthy of the position, both in respect to ability and long service. Cr Marshall seconded. As he was out of it, as he might say, nothing would give him greater pleasure than supporting Cr Taylor's claim to the office. Or Parfitt also supported the amendment. Cr Ryall hoped that if Cr Taylor was elected he would attend a little better to the business of the Council than he had done latterly. Cr Taylor said that he had attended to J his duties as well as he could ; but during ' the last year, as they all knew, domestic troubles had to some slight extent interfered with his usefulness. As a rule, however, he could honestly say that he invariably sacrificed his personal interests in favor of the business of the Council. The amendment was then put, with the result that it was rejected by. s against 4. The Chairman then put Cr Taylor's amendment, that Cr Marshall be appointed chairman, the result being that it was rejected by five against four. Cr Clifford then moved that Cr Warren be elected chairman. On a vote being taken, the result was that there were fivo votes for, and four against. The result was received with satisfaction by the public who were present, who signified their feeling very audibly. The Council then adjourned until 7.30 p.m. On resuming at 7.30 p.m., some discussion ensued as to the extension of the track from Irishmans to New River, with the view of ratifying the action of the late chairman. — Cr Clifford defended his action as having been taken purely in the interests of the ratepayers and the council. — Cr Guinness supported the action of the chairman as being in the interest of the ratepayers. The Chairman took a similar view, and it was resolved that his action in the matter should be confirmed. The action of Cr Clifford in writing to the Mines Deparaneni was confirmed. The following tenders were then opened and dealt with : — Gravelling Coal Creek Road. Dent and Collard £559 5 0 Wm. M'lntyre 813 5 0 Coleman Hynes 560 0 0 Jas. Butler 594 15 0 O'Donnell & Lutgens (accepted) 404 G 0 Culverts on Hohonu Road. O'Donnell and Lutgens ... 168 18 0 Coleman Hynes 183 12 0 Jeremiah Sullivan .#207 10 0 Conelius O'Brien 204 7 0 Frank Whyte (accepted) ... 145 10 0 Improvement of Main Road near Joyce's Brewery. Wm. M'lntyre 150 0 0 Jas. Butler 46 8 0 O'Donnell & Lutgens (accepted) 41 9 0 Improvement of Road at Brunnerton. O'Donnell Bros, (accepted)... 30 0 0 Michael O'Reilly 33 0 0 On the motion of Cr Guinness the particulars of Mr M'lntyre's olaim, and the report of the Engineer upon it, were read to the Council. Mr M'lntyre made a full explanation of the facts of the case according to his interpretation of the con--tmct. Considerable discussion ensued between Mr Higgins (Road Overseer) and Mr M'lntyre. Council then went through the items in .dispute in order to be the better able to arrive at a decision as to the points in dispute. — Cr Rvall pointed out that according to the terms of the contract the decision of the Overseer was to be final and binding.— Crs Guinness and Marshall urged upon the Council that they should take an equitable view of che matter and not cut down the contractors to the very lowest limit. The amount of their claim against the Council was. some £45 The Road Overseer said that the contract was taken so low that the con tractor could not possibly make anything out of it. — Cr Guinness moved as an amendment that the Engineer be instructed to cancel the certificate and settle the amount in dispute at £140 — Cr Foley opposed the claim of the contractor. The Road Overseer's report was then put and adopted. The Council adjourned to 1.30 p.m to-day. '