HOKITIKA NOTES

Grey River Argus, 18 June 1949, Page 2

HOKITIKA NOTES

(Our Own Corresnondont) STREET GRADING

Mr. P. Johnston. Borough Engineer, at the Council's ordinary meeting, reported as follows: —l ast week opportunity was taken to hire the County grader to improve the shape and surface of the streets. The majority of the streets have been shaped and the results have been quite satisfactory to date. As soon as the County planer is available all the streets which have been shaped off will be surfaced, which should make an improvement. In shaping the streets it. has been necessary to remove quite a lot of the larger stones near the surface and these have been carted away as much as possible, but the remaining ones will be all moved to the edges of the streets during the course of surfacing and also carted away.

A councillor said: This is a big improvement, but in a week or two the roads will be covered in pot-holes again. Is' there no possibility of the Council procuring a grader of its own to connect to its tractor ? The engineer reported that he had been in touch with Mi’ .Buddy, of the Railways Department, with regard to maintenance of bridge approaches and .street crossings. The Department had no hard and fast rules but usually meets the local body concerned on a 50/50 basis. The Council asked the engineer to make further inquiries.

After discussing the condition of the water supply in North Revell Street, the Council gave permission for longer pipes to be installed. Owing to breakdowns in equipment, the Engineer recommended that the tarsealing of streets be not proceeded with until more modern appliances pre obtained. His recommendation for the purchase of a new 15cwt. truck was accepted. The vehicle is to be delivered within the next two weeks

Those present were: The Mayor (Mr. A. E. Perry), Councillors S. Havill, D. D. Lyness, H. A. Thompson, H. C. Peat, I. J. Preston, L. S. Ross, S. J. Roberts and Mr. P. Johnstone.

At the abattoir, stock slaughtered for the month of May were: Cows 15, bullocks 94, pigs 30, sheep 121, calves 11, lambs 27, heifers 20. Fees for the month were £ll2 Os 9d, compared with £95 Os 8d for the corresponding month last year. The sexton reported five interments for May. The treasurer’s statement for the month showed receipts at £505 10s 9d, expenditure at £1,375 10s 2d.

The following applications were referred to the Engineer: H. B. Preston Ltd., Gibson Quay, application for a permit to effect repairs to tearooms in Revell Street, asking if the Council would waive the provision of By-law 17 in respect of the closing in of u small recess eight feet wide, which will be the only alteration, and make repairs to outside walls where duroc sheets would be used in place of weather boards.—Granted. N.Z.R. Road Services ,Hokitika ,asked to have a culvert constructed to provide access to the yard adjacent to the Road Services Garage in Sewell St., and enquiring the approximate cost. From Mrs. M. J. Tennent, 220 Hampden Street, asked if the Council could install a new water service from Hoffman Street as the present connection of Hampden Street is corroded. Guinness and Kitchingham, solicitors, Greymouth, forwarded memorandum of transfer, G. G. Wright to the Westland Catchment Board in respect to M.R. No. 575 for consent. A. R .Elcock, solicitor, forwarded memorandum of transfer respecting section 512 recently sold by Mrs. K -S. Coles to Mr. R. E. Tully, and stating that as the vendor has other land contained in the same certificate of title it was technically a sub-division and asking for the Council’s consent. A. R. Elcock, solicitor, forwarded a plan of sub-divi-sion of sections 894 and 895 for consent, stating Lot 1 containing 6.94 perches would be transferred to the owner of the adjoining section No. 50G, to improve his frontage. The Housing Construction Division, Christchurch, advised that a change in the procedure to have part reserve 589 (Howitt Square) set aside for housing purposes has been decided upon and use cannot therefore be made of a resolution already passed revoking the reservation for municipal purposes, as the land will now have to be taken by proclamation under the Public Works Act, and a'king the Council to consent. G. P. Diedrichs. 73 Revell Street applied to lease Lot 30 of’Reserve 492 for a period of 21 years, with right of renewal, under Sec. 5 (e) of Public Bodies Leases Act, 1908, and the first schedule thereof.

The Engineer, N.Z. Railways, Greymouth, asked if the Council has proposals to prevent the views at the level crossings in the borough being further restricted by buildings being erected in close proximity, pointing out that it is recognised that improved view is preferable to any mechanical warning device and stating that the Department intends to remove two buildings at Hampden Street for view improvement.—Approval was expressed at this decision and the Council is to assist by prohibiting the erection of buildings in close proximity to level crossings. Miss B. F. Goudie, 146 Hampden Street, wrote that she disagreed with the legal opinion regarding the interpretation of “dwellinghouse” m the interpretation clause of the Bylaw and pointing out that as By-law No. 4 was not clear and likely to be a contentious issue with each successive Council, the matter should be referred to Mr. J. O'Shea, solicitor to the Municipal Association of New Zealand, who deals with this type of question.—Received without comment WATER SUPPLY. The proposed Lake Kaniere water supply pipe line was discussed. The Engineer, Mr. Johnston reported the consulting engineer, Mr. R. A. Campbell, stated that he did not consider a survey of the proposed line was necessary at this stage, and that th» amount allowed in his estimates was sufficient to cover the excavation and clearing of the proposed line, there being ample information in his reports and estimates to place before the Loans Board for their consideration, and the Council would have to decide upon the size of pipes to be used. “I would recommend a nine-inch pipe,” stated the 'Engineer. “On Mr. Campbell’s figures, an eight-inch pipe would deliver 405,000 gallons, which allows 18 per £,'ent. for future demand after allowing 100,000 gallons for the two hospitals. In view of the fact that at present there are

over 500 premises which do not operate septic tanks and eventually when these arc brought into this system, plus the additional demand for new buildings, it does not leave a great deal for the future demand of th? town.”

It was decided that nine-inch pipes be procured.

Cr. Lyness referred to the tar-seal-ing of footpaths by borough employees for residents who desire to have such work done at their own expense. The Engineer gave an approximate cost per foot for the sealing which proved Io be fairly reasonable.

Members were of the opinion that the roads required tar-sealing before footpaths, and even though no cost would be involved to the Council, it would necessitate employees being taken off other work to do the sealing. ‘‘lf it would mean the hold-up of work on the roads, then I am not in favour of it either,” said Cr. Lyness,

“I think the idea is an excellent qne,” stated Cr. Preston, “but it is one that cannot be undertaken by the Council just yet, as we already have ample work.”

Cr. Feat asked if Sewell Street could be made the main entrance to the town, and tar-sealed throughout. “The road could branch off the main highway at the foot of the hospital hill,” he said, “and would thus eliminate the danger at the present busy railway crossing in Weld St.” The Mayor: “There is quite a lot in what you say, but considering the usage over a long number of years of the main highway as the approach to Hokitika, I believe it would take some educating to change the trav elling public’s habits.” Cr. Peat drew attention to the condition of the old Town Hall site, and asked if anything could be done for its improvement. He referred to the many old buildings in the borough. The Council decided to extend congratulations to Sir E. H. Northproft and Sir J. P. Heenan on their Knighthoods.

Cr. Lyness referred to necessary repairs to the public library. “This matter had been discussed in February,’ ’lie said, “but as yet nothing had eventuated. A sub-committee, consisting of Cr. Lyness and Cr. Havill was appointed to deal with the matter accordingly. It was decided to ask the Town Planning Board, Christchurch, to supply a competent officer to visit Hokitika and advise the Council.