GREY HARBOUR BOARD

Grey River Argus, 14 October 1936, Page 6

GREY HARBOUR BOARD

MONTHLY MEETING. At the monthly meeting of the Greymouth Harbour Board last evening, there were present Messrs P. J. McLean (chairman), J. Ryall, A. 11. McKane, D. Tennent, G. E. Perkins and W. Clayton. An apology was received from Mr G. Perry.

The Treasury Department remitted wharfages £629 Os lOd; wharfages on State coal £509 17s; rents and royalties £157 17s.

The Marine Department advised the appointment of Mr A. 11. MeKane, as a member of the Board in place of Mr J. W. Greenslade as from October 7. The chairman welcomed Air MeKane, who, he said, had lived on tne West Coast for many years and had taken a very keen interest in local body affairs. He was sure Mr MeKane would be an acquisition to the Board and he was pleased to welcome him. He moved that Mr MeKane be appointed to the Finance and Executive Committees.

Mr J. Ryall, who seconded the motion, said that Air MeKane would be a valuable member in view of his long association with local bodies. He congratulated Air MeKane on his appointment.

The motion was carried. Air Ale Kane briefly returned thanks. The Marine Department wrote approving of the purchase by the Board of an o—6o feet pattern magnetostriction echo depth recorder. ■The Engineer was instructed to procure the recorder, the cost being about £596 installed.

In reply to Air Ale Kane the Engineer said that the recorder would be fitted to the tug and would automatically record depths. At present soundings would be taken about 50 feet apart. The recorder would place beyond question the accuracy of the bar depths. The Westland Provincial Organisation. N.Z. Centennial, advised that the Board’s proportion of £lOO preliminary expenditure would be £8 10s. —The amount was passed for payment.

The South Island Travel Association wrote in reference to legislation authorising expenditure by local bodies for the Association’s funds and the representations made thereon to Hons. D. G. Sullivan and F. Langstone. The Association advised that the Board's contribution at 6d per £lOO was £4 19s, and at Is, £9 18s. The chairman’s motion that tho amount of £9 ISs be paid was carried. The Association’s work, he said, was deserving of the support of all local bodies.

The Publicity Manager, N.Z. Railways. forwarded copies of a folder, “West Coast Wonders. South Island, New Zealand. ’ ’ J. R. Leitch advised that tho price of Blackball coal had been increased by Is 6d per ton as from September 1."

The application of D. Calwell, cadet, for annual leave, due, was granted. The Greymouth Plunket Society applied for a donation to its funds.—The usual donation of £2O was passed for | payment. The application of G. I’. Buchanan for renewal of timber cutting rights over 110 acres, Block XI, Arnold S.D., the previous right having expired on September 21, 1936, was granted, subject to the area being utilised. Harvey MeLaughlan applied for resilience site on land now held by Fauth and party, at 9} Mile, Coast Road, two chains by two chain. Fauth and party intimated that they had no objection • —The application was referred to the Engineer and Secretary to facilitate the grant as much as possible. The application of E. Sheppard for boat shed site at the southern end of the boatsheds in Blaketown lagoon was granted at a rental of 10s per annum. John Connally applied for 21 year?’ lease of Section 8 on sea side of Coast Road, 8J mile peg, and the application was referred to the Secretary and Engineer for action. The following applications were granted:— Transfers for consent: Lot '1 of Lots 1 and 2, Section 18. Res. 1485 ILaketown, Archibald McMasters to Arch John McMasters.—Surrender of lease by Archibald McMasters. Leases for completion (per Guinness and Kitchingham): Lease of Lot 1, Section 18, Res. 1485 Blaketown, one year from 1/11/36 (Archibald John McMasters), (a) Sections 16 to 35 inclusive and 754 to 757 inclusive, Block X, Arnold S.D., Dobson Flat (estate Enmund Stratford. deceased), 21 years from 1/1/1930. (b) 400 acres Pt. Blk. 10, /Yrnold S.D., Dobson Flat (Estate E. Stratford), 21 years from 1/1/1930. Section 253, Dobson (James Thompson), 11 years from 1/1/1936. Block 11, Te Miko S.D., Coast Road, 11 Mile (Jemima Perrie), 21 years from 8/9/1936. Leo Pope advised that he had disposed of section at Wallsend to G. Croft. Tre secretary’s recommendation that the Board consent to an assignment of cancellation, of the present lease was adopted. The chairman stated that the Government’s proposals for an elective Board had been dealt with in committee and he moved that the Board agree to the proposals subject to the number of Government nominees being reduced from two to one, the Board to consist of nine members. The motion was carried. The General Committee’s report was adopted as follows: Receipts: Shipping dues £539 4s Id. royalties £157 17s lOd, rents £49 15s sd, hire and sale plant £3B 15s 9d, honey storage £1 Bs, Aecd. Insurance Commission 6s 6d, wharfages £ll3B 17s lOd; total £1926 5s sd. Balance on fixed deposit £3000; Harbour Board Fund Account, credit balance £2758 15s sd. Accounts for pavment £1532 2s 2d. Mr Ryall asked who was responsible for the' upkeep of the road in front of the Cobden quarry, stating that it was in a very bad state at the present time.

The Engineer stated that the Board was responsible for the road between the railway lines. It was a difficult matter to keep it in good order. On Mr Ryall’s motion the Engineer was instructed to attend to the matter. Mr McKane asked what the Board proposal to do with the old shed opposite the quarry. The chairman said that it was intended to replace it in the near future. On Mr McKane’s motion, the Engineer was instructed to report to the next meeting on the average earnings of the employees at the quarry. ENGINEER’S REPORT. The Harbour Engineer (Mr D. C. Milne) reported for the month of September, 1936:—Cobden quarry: Quarry operations during the month were carried on with interruptions owing to wet weather. A considerable quantity of stone had accumulated on the floor of the quarry as a result of a number of minor blasts fired -recently and this provided the quarry output for the period. The stone which had been obtained from the upper benches was generally in large blocks up to 300.

tuns in weight and cut readily into convenient sizes for use on the north breakwater. The quality of the stone is excellent and this is reflected in the. high proportion of first-class stone obtained. The output .for the month was as follows: North breakwater 1168 tons Ist class, 393 tons 2nd class. 72 tons 3rd class; N.Z. Railways 285 tons 2nd class; Spoil dump, 434 tons. North breakwater: Sea conditions during the month were moderate and the deposition of stone was carried out without much interference. The subsidence which was caused by the storms of the previous month was repaired and a quantity of large stone was placed on the head. The total quantity of stone deposited up to the end of the month is as follows: Ist, 9202 tons (40 per cent.), 2nd 7894 tons (35 per cent.), 3rd 5836 tons (25 per cent.); total 22,932 tons. South breakwater extension: No movement was observed in the stonework and the staging, which has recently had extensive repairs. is iu good condition. A number of sounding beacons which had been swept away by heavy seas during the previous month were replaced. Railway maintenance: Repairs were carried out on the line to the north breakwater and the re-conditioning of the weigh-bridge siding was completed. Slipway at lagoon dock: The construction of the slipway was continued intermittently as tidal conditions permitted and this work was completed during the month. Plant: The extensive repairs which were necessary on the top tumbler of the dredge were completed and minor repairs were effected to the ,25-tou crane, steam shovel and tug. I The chairman said that, a failamount of damage had been done to the north breakwater by recent heavy seas, but the Engineer was so far unable to ascertain if the flood had done any damage to the wharf. In a special report in reference to the effect of aerodrome extension on the tidal capacity of the lagoon, the Engineer stated that the total area of the tidal compartment occupied by the aerodrome including the proposed extension -was 22.7 acres which represented a potential tidal capacity of 9,000,000 cubic feet or 18 per cent, of the total tidal compartment for the lagoon dock scheme. A new alignment of the embankments would provide an additional tidal area of 17.2 acres reducing the loss to 5.5 acres, representing a potential tidal capacity of approximately 2,000,000 cubic feet or 4.3 per cent, of the total tidal compartment. The decrease would not seriously affect the scour of the bar.. The chairman said the aerodrome was an important matter, and it was pleasing to know that the extension would not make one inch difference to the tidal waters. The difference to the tidal compartment was infinitesmal. The Board should not put any obstacles in the way of extending the aerodrome, the plans for which had been held up in the meantime.

Mr Tennent said he was pleased to know that the loss would be only four per cent and not 18 per cent, and he was quite satisfied with the report. The chairman, moving the adoption

of flic reports, remarked that the aerodrome was a matter of public necessity. The reports were adopted. HARBOUR MASTER’S REPORT The Harbour Master (Captain F. W. Cox) reported as follows: During September the bar maintained an exceptionally good average depth, and the weather generally was favourable for shipping movements. Depths at high water for September were: Springs, Sept 3, bar 281 ft, river 231 ft. Sept. IS. 27ft and 22ft; Neaps, Sept. 10, 27ft and 22ft, Sept. 26, 23ft 7in and 20ft 7in. Month’s mean average: Bar 26ft 6in, river 22ft. Rainfall for September was 8.22 inches and fell on 24 days. Maximum fall for 24 hours 1.40 inches on September 12. The shipping return for September was: Inwards, 30 steamers, 13,081 tons; outwards, 32 steamers, 15,519 tons. Dredge: Repairs to top tumbler, etc, was completed and the dredge is now available for dredging. The recent flood has altered the previous conditions and it will take several days to fully ascertain what future work must be done. On September 22 Captain J. Reeves started his annual holidays of 34 days. A. Cornell is acting in his stead. There is nothing else of importance to report, the ordinary routine duties having been regularly attended to and satisfactorily carried out. The report was adopted.