BOROUGH COUNCIL

Grey River Argus, 7 February 1941, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL

Monthly Meeting There were present at the monthly meeting of the Greymouth Borough Council last evening the Mayor (Mr F. A. Kitchingham) who presided. Crs. H. Herring, J. Anderson, J Saunders, J. B. Kent, G. R. Harker. C. Neville and R J. Williams. Apologies were received from Crs A, H McKane and F. F. Boustridge, The Land Officer, Railways Department, Wellington, advised that the proclamation allocating railway land to the Council for road purposes at Omoto would be short y gazetted. It was suggested that the lease to Mrs E. Sharpe be terminated as from January 31. It was decided to advise the D° partment that the proposal was satisfactory to the Council. W. Roberts applied for permission to erect a garage on borough reserve in Town Belt North. The application wa s granted on the usual terms, at a rental of £1 a year. 3ZR COVERAGE.

The Director, National Broadcasting Service, Wellington, in regard to Station 3ZR, wrote stating that ’’ was recognised that the service area was limited. Inquiries made indicated that the reception of the station I in Greymouth itself was at all times satisfactory. Plans w?r e being prepared 10 provide a first grade service for the West Coast and for other areas at the opportune time, but it was not desirable under existing circumstances to proceed with work involving considerable expenditure. _ ! Cr. Saunders moved that the letter be received, but that the Director informed that it was no; entirely satisfactory. Cr. Anderson said that he did no! think any councillor could fairly say that the transmission was distorted. Cr. Kent: Some councillors say anything. The Mayor said that the main complaint was in regard to coverage Cr. Saunders said he could' not hear the station at Gladstone, but Cr. Kent said it could not even bo heard in parts of Greymouth Cr. Kent said that lack of power had nothing to do with distortion. When Mr Spiers started th c station he was blamed, but it wa s no fault of the station. Outeide influence': had much to do with it. The coverage was not what it should be. Cr. Saunders: The coverage was hotter than it is now. Cr. Kent said he was not an authority on coverage and ’ preferred to deal with facts.

Cr. Herring seconded the motion, saying that in use of threatened floods 3ZR could be of great use to the farmers in the country,'as it was ; the only way thev could be acYised. | The Council should ask the Director i to have the power increased to pro- [ vide better coverage. Cr. Kent moved as an amendment. I that thn letter be receivedyCr. Kent’s amendment was not seconded. Cr. Anderson said the Council was not being entirely fair in snying H'-nt the reply was not entirely satisfactory. He had given the reasons why coverage was not I here and he also '■aid there was no distortion in transmission. He moved that the Director be thanked for hi s reply, but that the Council' wished to stress Ihe necessity of improved plant and its urgency. ' . Cr. Harker said (he urgency ol the mailer should be stressed as 1L was the only moans of communicating with the county in an emergency. Cr. Kent seconded the amendment. Thp amendment wa« carried, Cr. Saunders opposing, and, as the motion, was also carried.

The Secretary, Municipal Association, asked if the Council would be represented at the Municipal confidence in Auckland on March 3. Th e Mayor said he would be unable io attend. H e did not know the views of the Council. Cr. Herring moved that the Council be not represented, Cr. Neville seconding. In reply to Cr. Anderson, the Mayor said he did not think a conference was needed every year There should be a two years’ lapse as it look too long to consider limits. The motion was earned Cr. Neville moved that the Council be not represented by the Town Clerk at the Town Clerk’s conference, _ Cr. Kent said h e lelt the Councd should be represented The Mayor asked if the motion meant that if the Town C.erk went he should pay his own expenses. Cr. Neville said that no doubt the Council would foot the bill if the Town Clerk took his holidays. In reply to a question, the Town Clerk said he had no wish to go. The motion was carried. The Presbyterian Church Summer. Conference Committee wrote thanking thc Council for allowing them the use of Dixon Park for a garden partv during the conference. R? F. Woodhouse, Tainui Street, forwarded a rough sketch pan of his building, ana askeu the Council when considering his breach of the by-laws to bear in mind that when starting the repairs he had not realised that he was committing a breach. He had in mind the fact that several old buildings, both public and private, had recently, been repaired in wood, some actually in the town area. In reply to the Mayor, the Engineer (Mr A. J. Fairmaid) said that the Opera House- was one of the buildings referred to, but the work conformed to the oy-laws. At .Mr Woodhouse’s a portion had been added at the back contrary to bylaws. He had renewed studs in another portion of the building and closed m a. verandah. He felt sui> Mr Woodhouse did not intend to commit a breach of the by-laws The Mayor said Mr Woodhouse had done the work himself. Even it it. was innocent he felt the Council should prosecute. He moved that, proceedings be taken. The Council had had it “put across” them in all directions, but Mr Woodhouse was one of the few candid enough to tell them that it was his fault. ‘.TnCounci! might have granted an exemption. Cr. Herring seconded the motion. Cr. Saunders suggested that th-’ Council not press lor a penalty. Cr. Kent, said that it setmed if the application had been mad,,. ” would have been granted.

Cr. Harker suggested holding the matter over until Woodhouse mad' 1 an application which the Works Commit! e P could deal with.

Th e motion was carried The Mayor, said the Works Committee had discovered a garage converted into a dwelling place in Cobden on its last visit. Guinness and Kitchingham applied , for th,-. transfer of taxi service, from E A. Brown to Ronald Lawrence McQuinn, consent being given, Mr A. M. Carroil and jlaughlcrs wrote lha-iking the Council for l its expression of sympathy in their bereavement. The Health liisp'w'or (Mr .1 Linford < submitted, a lengthy report in reference Io th- fly nuisance, and suggested a number of preventative measures. The report was received and it wa s decided to hand it to the press for publication The Mayor said the report showed that most of (he breeding was done in private refuse heaps. BOROUGH TRAFFIC When a report of the chairman of trie Traffic Committee (Cr. Kent)

came before the meeting, Cr. Neville moved that the report be considered at a meeting of the Traffic Committee. Cr. Kent: Is it not time we stopped fooling? The report was before the whole Council at the last meeting. Cr. Harker said that no meeting or the Traffic Committee had been held. Cr. Kent: Because the Traffic Committe has never functioned. I beg to tender mv resignation as chairman because the members are the same as those on the Reserves Committee and perhaps they can carry on. ' The Mayor: Someone else on tne Committee might hold different views from yours Cr. Kent: I have tried for two or three years. I think the public understand the position. The Mayor: 1 think every meeting you have called ha s been attended. Cr. Kent: The Town Clerk can bear m e out. There are no minutes or anything else. Cr. Neville: Th e last meeting called by Cr. Kent was fully attended, Cr. Kent: And the reason of it? Cr. Neville: At that meeting it was decided to divide the duties of the traffic inspector. You never called a meeting. Cr. Kent: Point of order. Meetings have been called and have not been attended. The late Cr. Raterson was the only one who used to attend. ‘ j The Mayor: That’s not mil, wi. Kent, and I can’t allow it. Cr. Kent: There is no record ot meetings kept. You can find alt the meetings of the previous Council s traffic committee on the files. The Mayor: You are saying that the Town Clerk is neglectful in his duties. 1 Cr. Kent: I never said anytlnin, about the Town Clerk. After the Town Clerk had scat died for th,, minute books, he informed the Mayor that no meetings had been held recently. Cr. Kent (to the Mayor): If you want it to go on, you’ll have to call the meeting' vourself. The Mayor: No. You’ll have to call it. Cr. Kent: All right. Let us havit after this meeting to-night. The Mayor: If you hav» a hve o'clock mooting you’ll get through it quickly. The discussion lapsed without <’ motion being put to the nuefng.

COBDEN FLOODING. Thomas Clarke, Riccarfon, wrotcomplaining of the damage done l ° his section at the corner ot Warn and B’ackett Streets, Cobden, by flood waters which made a washout 10 feet long and 12 feet wide across the section. H P asked rhe Council' to make good the damage done, as the Hooding had been uc to the tact that the six-mch stoi n water drain connecting the sump } Blackelt Street with the out!all n Ward‘Street was unable to deal witn the water. It was decided that Mr Clarke be approached concerning th,. laying of a piped drain through bis section, from Blackett o-ieet discharge into Range Creek with a view to obviating further flood damage of the nature of that. > ecentl > C> The Mayor said that if Mr gave Irs permission the matter <ouio bo rectified. WORKS COMMITTEE The Works Committee reported:— A tour of inspection was made a the following are the recon in bndations of your committee: I,ldt “T open drain in Hall Street from Waid Street to Range Creek be cleaned out and that the outlet pipe to Range Creek be extended upstream for IS feet to enable additional area to be obtained for a turning space at this present dead end; that the

Borough Engineer report upon the application of Messrs Wisdom and | Fleming for the piping o f the creek through their properties Lots 1 and 2 Section 151, Sturge Street; that upon completion of the clearing of the slip in Leith Crescent, the men be employed upon the Levelling of that portion of Petrie Avenue btween Tarapuhi and Herbert Streets, nreparatory to sowing the same down in grass; that Lombard Street, being in suitable condition, be tar-sealed; that towards the proposed improvement of the vicinity of me R.W.D. and N.Z.R. Offices Block, Mawhera Quay, two storm water sumps be provided, one at the north-east-ern corner at an estimated cost of £lO, and one near the south-western corner at an .estimate cost of 135, provided the P.W.D. find the pipes, estimated cost of £l2; that boundary markers be provided on the aerodrome, as requested by the District Engineer, Public Works Department. The report was adopted. Cr Kent suggested that the work of attending to the potholes at the approach to the hospital should be speeded up as a number of car axles had been broken there recently. Cr Saunders moved that the alterations to McGinley Park should be attended to. Cr Kent said that he could not see any good purpose in moving the present fence. Cr Williams seconded the motion, saying that it was proposed to increase the size of the park by moving the fence, at the same time doing away with an untidy piece of land. The motion was carried. The Engineer said that the cost of the markers at the aerodrome would be approximately £22 10s, the Public Works Department bearing half the cost. The Mayor said that' the aerodrome was supposed to have been finished in December, 1938, but the new portion was still not usable. Something had to be done about it. The matter was referred to the Reserves Committee.