BOROUGH COUNCIL

Grey River Argus, 10 February 1928, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCIL

ORDINARY MEETING. The ordinary meeting of the Grey mouth Borough Council was held last evening, there being present His Wor ship the Mayor (Air J. W. Green sladot Councillors J. McGinley, J. B. Kent. S. B. White, I?. J. Williams, G. Perotti, •1. A. Kitchingham, D. M. Robertson, and J. O’Brien. The Secretary of the Municipal Assotion of New Zealand advised that the annual conference will take place at. Nelson on Wednesday. 14th March at I 11 am. There would be one voting de--1 legato for each borough and two for those of more than 10,000 population. Cr Kitchingham moved, that the Mayor and Town Clerk be delegates. The Mayor said he might not be able to go. Cr Kent moved that in the event of the Mayor being unable to go, the Deputy Mayor or Cr Kitchingham be delegated. Cr McGinley seconded. Both j motions were carried, the Mayor re- ! marking he would like to see Councillors attend, as the conferences were most informative. Mr I. Willis, Blaketown, wrote re questing the Council 1o extend the water supply along Collins Street. On the motion of Crs McGinley and Kent, the request was referred to the Works Committee. with power to act. In response to a request by the Jubilee Committee, it was resolved to de- | clare Jubilee Day a public holiday, and to do all possible in the matter of pub lie. holidays on the occasion. The Secretary of the Department < f Industries and Commerce advised that the proposed conference will be hold in the Department’s offices, Worcester i Street, Christchurch, probably on 14th • February next. It was stated that Mr •las. Kennedy (Gas Manager) would be attending the conference. 1 he Secretary, West Coast Agricultural, Pastoral ami Industrial Association applied for a permit for clay pigeon shooting matches on Victoria Park on l."th and 16th February. The request was granted. The Town Clerk, Green Island Borough Council, wrote requesting the Council to support a remit to the Municipal Conference to the effect that th' Government should take over the con I rol and maintenance of the main highways. The letter stated the Council considered this work' a national, not a local body, obligation, and it had been expect d that the Highways Board would have taken it off the shoulders of 1 ;ie local bodies, whose ratepayers could not maintain the burden wherewith they were now saddled. Th? roads through boroughs were used for outsid< vehicles. 'l'hcy asked other Councils Io support 1 he proposal that the Gov eminent maintain all the arterial roads Cr K nt said their delegate to thMunicipal Con fere n<-e oiiyht to endors the proposal. The main highways wer ' of little use to small boroughs. Ct Kitchingham said he saw the Government’s object in the matter of highway maintenanc? in towns. It co-’t twice as much to maintain the portion of the main highway that ran through smh a borough as this that it cost to keep up a similar length of the highways in the (•(•untry areas, because the traffic within the town was so muck greater, and therefore the wear air’ tear. Buses ami cars that did not go beyond the borough plied on the highway and wore it considerably. He did not think they had any chance of altering the Government’s attitude on the matter. Cr Kent contended the suburban reading was the more costly, and said this was illustrated in the greater cost of the Paroa road part of the local highway than the part be--1 w e n the Suburban Hotel and the railway. The Engineer, on being appealed to. said he did not think the highway on the outskirts was more costly to keep up than it was in the centre of the town. The Mayor said the highway within the borough cost £lOO a mile per year. On his motion, it was decided to supply Councillors each with a copy of the proposed remit for consideration before deciding, and to inJform Green Island Council of this course. Messrs Hannan and Seddon, borough solicitors, wrote re the case of the Boroug(h Engineer, v. Mr G. Anderson, stating that convictions had been secured, and asking if the Council wished to take any further steps in the matter, as the offences were continuous. It was resolved, on the motion of Crs Kitchingham and Perotti, that the letter be referred to the Engineer to fu r nish a report for the next Committee meeting of the Council. The Minister of Finance wrote stating that an expenditure un to the sum of £250 would be validated in connection with the Grey District Jubilee, provided none of it was contrary to the provision in the Municipal Corporations Act relative to the Council spending money on puldicat ions, such as booklets. The Mayor said that al- - the Council had laid out £l2O in connection with the Jubilee Souvcni r Book, and if that were included in the limit, there would only be £l3O left which the Council could spend over the whole of the Jubilee functions, and such a limit would certainly fail to cover what obligations the Council would have to meet. They had had a grant of £l5O from the Government, but this had been handed directly to the Jubilee Committee. He would sug gest that the Town Clerk communicate with the Ministry to ascertain whether llm £l2O spent would be regarded ae advertising expenditure. This was agreed to. The Engineer of the Power Boar I wrote requesting the Council to carry out the work of replacing broken asphalt in the vicinity of the Board’s poles, adding that the Board would pay for the work. It was resolved, on Cr

Kitchingham’s motion, that I his matter be referred to the Engineer on which to confer with the Power Board’s Engineer, and reach an agreement, preparatory to proceeding with the work. Mr E. I. Lord, Organiser of the Grey District Diamond Jubilee Committee, tvrote requesting assistance towards entertaining the children, on the occasion of the Jubilee Celebrations. All local bodies were being asked to help. The Mayor said that the Council would at next Committee meeting have to consider the whole question of its expen-1 diture on the Jubilee, in relation to, its obligations in subsidising functions, 'rhe Jubilee affected the whole district, and it would be one of the most important events in the history of the town and district of Grey. He trusted other local bodies, such as the Harbour Board, would lend substantial help. The Celebrations must have a very real ami lasting value for the district, as an advertisement. They must use this fine opportunity to boost the place. The influx of visitors would be increased, as the resources and attractions of Grey became better known. He intended bringing up the matter at next Finance Committee meeting, in order to finalise the Council’s relation to the .Jubilee in the matter of expenditure. ENGINEER'S REPORT. The Engineer, Air A J. Fairmaid, reported as follows:— Streets.—Marlborough Street footpaths between Shakespeare Street and Palmerston Street have been tarred and sanded, Shakespeare Street has been tarred and sanded from Alexander Street to Buccleugh Street. Drainage.—A blocked sewer in Lombard Street has been cleared: also the sewer joining Tainui Street sewer between Pukctahi Street and Murray Waterworks.—The reservoir has been kept full each day with an average run of 11 hours. Steps were taken to increase the flow into the basin, and thus pumping was carried out continuously during the usual hours. The 2 in. main has been completed in Collins Street ami connections made to the houses fronting the street. On account of connections to be made to the housese fronting the street, and various maintenance jobs, the Marlborough Street main has not yet been commenced. Relief of Unemployment Relief Works.—The sewer in the southern end of Johnston Street Ims been completed. Tin* relaying of the faulty portion of Johnston Street is in handshrd hrdddf Johnston Street sewer is in hand. The eon neut ion of the new sewer to the old Johnston Street sewer has been made. The final clearing-up work along the lin ■ of the. new work is proceeding. Bridges.—The stringers and part of the deck of the lower Marsden Road bridge has been renewed. The prepa*alion of tho limber for the upper bridge is under way. The dismantling of the old bridge shows that their eon lit ion was worse than outside appea»ance indicated, some stringers having no sound timber left in them. Reserves.—Another bay has been added to the swing in the Children’s Pari; ami trapezes will be put there. The limber has been cleared from the bed of the creek below the footbridge, and a stone retaining wall is under construction. Fire Control in Low Pressure Area.— The low pressure area of the town is generally, in the higher levels, and in that portion on the terrace extending towards Marsden Road. At present a 6 inch main extends from Mawhera Quay and Tainui Street intersection to High and Buccleugh Streets. Radiating from this is a system of 3 inch an 1 4 inch mains. On account of distance from the source of supply, that is, draw off from the intermediate points, and of elevation, the water pressure during the day time is very low. In December last an attempt was macle to improve fire-fighting ability cast of Tainui and High Streets, by closing all valves lea-ling off westwards from the«« streets and thus dividing the town into two portions. The part east of these streets was supplied as at present, the western part was served by the main along Mawhera Quay. In ease of fire in the eastern part, the closing of one valve in Mawhera Quay would have cut off the whole of the town in the eastern part. This procedure would have worked all right had it not been for the filling of the baths, and it is the best possible solution of the difficulty under present circumstances. It may be that now that the public are accustomed to the slight inconvenience occasioned by the filling of the baths, the method proposed would be again resorted to. At present all but three valves are closed on this line, thus four valves only require to be closed in case of need. Arrangements have been made to (dose these as quickly as possible in! emergency. General Improvements in Water Supply Undertaking.—The report and estimate for this work is ready for typing. Building Permits issued, 26/1/28 tu 4/2/2S inclusive: G. Patterson, addition to dwelling, Milton Road; F. Sparks, dwelling. yßlackmore Street; S. B. Knowles, dwelling, Blackmore Street; J. Kelly, addition to dwelling, Blake -put:xo[v ‘os-noq[.woj ‘uosoo|o Q -pa-GS er Street. The total value of building permits issued for the month of January was £7187. y Cr Kitchingham asked what arrangement had been made as to turning oft valves in case of fire. The Mayor said that the Engineer had arranged for two men to do the work, instead of one, for the future. On the motion of Cr Kitchingham, it was resolved that the rental of the area named Revell Camp, which had been vested in the Council, be the same for the lessee (Mr Sullivan) at it was formerly, namely, 30s per an num. On the motion of Cr Williams, it was, lesolvcd to write to the Railway De-

part men t asking that the dangerous practice in connection with shunting operations on the wharf, opposite Boundary Street, be discontinued. Cr Williams stated trucks were* bumped opposite the street, and did not stop till they were in front of Messrs C. Smith’s shop, endangering the publicon the wharf. WORKS COMMITTEE REPORT. Cr Williams, for the Works Committee, reported as follows: — Re Mr McDougal’s application for drainage and water service, we recommend that, owing to pressure of work in hand and the extent of this work, the open drain cannot be undertaken at present, but may be reviewed later; also that water be laid on from the present main in Ida Street, as outlined by the Engineer, as soon as required. We looked into the matter of street repairing by contract, and recommend that it is impracticable to do this work other than as at present. We recommend the purchase of a crushing plant be considered as early as possible, as good roads are almost impossible without proper material. The following is a list of works authorised to be put in hand as soon as possible:— (1) Peake Street, footpath formation, 2) Asphalt iu front of Fire Station, High Street. (3) Road and footpath formation, Boundary Street to Preston Road. (4) Footpath, east side of Blake St, Blaketown. (5) Rigg Street, tar sealing. (6) Doyle Street, formation. (7) Reid Street South, footpath improvements. (8) Palmerston Street, footpaths improvement. (9) Also several footpaths to be tar sealed in the order agreed on by th? Council. Cr Williams said the Ida Street job mentioned was too large to start at present. The Committee had found contracting would not do as well as their present method for street repair work. A stone crusher was urgently needed. They had a long programme of works ahead, and must make every effort to cope with it. The report was adopted. In reply to Cr McGinley, the Engineer stated that he had not yet been able to go into the matter of Doyle Street, Blaketown.