HAWERA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 18 November 1924, Page 3

HAWERA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. . ROUTINE MATTERS. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Hawera Borough! Council was held last night, when there were present liis Worship the Mayor (Mr. L. A. Bone) and Crs. Osborne, Burdekin, Goodwin, Morrissey, Townsend, Brunette, and Reid. Leave of absence was granted Cr. Champion. Mr. H. L. Spratt made application for the use of certain of the borough tarring plant for tjie-purpose of laving down an asphalt tennis court. Borough employees , would carry out the work on a .Saturday afternoon, and they would be paid directly by him.- 1 - The application was granted, subject to the approval of the engineer.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS. The General Committee recommended : That the council consent to mortgage of lease re Mrs. E. Higgs, and that consent be executed,; that the request of the Hawera Tennis and Croquet Club for permission to use the croquet lawns at. the Bark for a week pi t.en days ill February next, on the bccasion 'of the 'Taranaki tournament, be granted; that the matter of compulsory rubbish removal be referred to the incoming council; that the matter of hiring or purchasing a horse be left in Cr. Morrissey’s hands, with power to act; that the Works Committee be empowered to act in respect to selling the old street mower; that the librarian’s report be received, andjhat the matter of a cupboard be left in the hands of Cr. Reid, with power to act; that the ranger’s report be received, .and that the matter of clearing gorse at Turuturu-Mokai Reserve be left in the hands of Cr. Townsend, with power to act; that the matter of papering at the cemetery cottage be’ left in the hands of Cr. Surrey, with power to act; that Cr. Townsend go into the matter of rolling, etc. of the soccer ground at the Park and’report to the council at next meeting; that the Reserves Committee lie empowered to . arrange for erection of shelter shed, chimney, and concrete tank at Waihi reserve, with power to act; that the donors of shrubs, etc., for the East End Bark be thanked through the press for their kind assistance ' The recommendations were adopted OFFICERS’ REPORTS. The engineer’s progress report# for October was as follows: The westmost flank at corner of Princes street and South road has been excavated, soil removed, metalled, rolled and grouted with bitumen for a distance of a chain at a cost of about £34 for one side of the road. In your instructions is a suggestion that other corners might be similarly treated. So far as I can see all other corners can lie safely taken if the speed demanded by .by-laws is observed. Any corners desired to be widened will be attended to. The pond near stables lias been syphoned out; cost £8 10s, estimate £lO. Cleaning of tlie pond is proceeding. Cr Townsend lias arranged that, m view of the .cost of removing the l'aupo at upper part, of pond, it be left over till next financial year. Further, as regards Park lake, I have arranged with him to clean out the visible and larger rubbish, such as tins, etc. Cost of complete cleaning is greater than one might imagine. If the council still desires complete cleaning it will be attended to. The matter of surface water from yard draiuing over croquet lawn has been referred to me. Before anything is done the legal situation may be considered. The natural drainage of l lie land is towards a hollow which recently was filled up and made into a tennis court. Water from the yard has, I believe, always flowed; in that direction, .although possibly the erection of the shed may have caused it to assume a more concentrated direction at two points. 1 understand that any lower proprietor lias to accent surface water from lands of a higher situated proprietor, but there are exceptions possibly. It would be possible to collect all water from the roof of the shed and discharge it into the street channels. .This would mean about £2O for guttering and pipes, which I will defer until council considers matter. (Plumber’s estimate obtained.) One or two complaints have been received about tar patches on oaths nut down a month or two ago in colder weather has become soft with the first heat of the coining summer. Sand has been spread on the patches. This trouble is liable to recur .until the sun evaporates the volatile constituents. The path at Park tennis courts will be constructed when weather is suitable. The usual maintenance work has received attention.

The Inspector (Mr L. Hunt) reported as follows: House inspection has been completed in High street, any necessary notices being sent to owners in regard*.to repairs, etc. Accompanied by the Fire Brigade Superintendent a thorough inspection was'made of business areas, special notice being taken of rubbish and empty cases being stored' in rear of premises, a number of shopkeepers being notified to remove same. Another inspection was made of fruit and fish shoos, and generally speaking they were in good order, al-

though a few minor defects were detected which have since been remedied.! Aii inspection. was made of all finials on premises situated in the business area. Some of these were in a decayed condition, and I removed them im-' mediately, being, as they were, a danger to the public. Seven persons were prosecuted under the traffic by-laws, a fine being imposed in each case. The Sanitary Inspector (Mr F. G. Coleman) submitted his report as follows: Puring the month of October three plumbing and three drainage permits were issued, and one drain of a! total length of 120 fe.et inspected and tested. Sixty-four premises were inspected and any necessary notices issued- During the month* the medical officer of health (Dr. Boyd) urns presf°"n, and expressed his pleasure at the clean outward appearance of the borough, but was surprised to hear that there was no systematic compulsory removal of rubbish. He stated that many towns of similar size to Hawera, and, in fact, several considerably smaller, in his district had adopted compulsory systems, and were undoubtedly the cleaner and better for it. Ibis matter has been brought up before, but for various reasons has not been adopted, but I trust that the necessary steps will bo taken in the near future to this .end.

Ihe Librarian (Miss M. Newland) reported: I bog to report that the number of members still stands at 460, seven leaving a;id eight joining during the mouth. Sixty-eight new books were bought, including five works of travel and four miscellaneous. The old books given to Fire Brigade and, Soldiers’ Club have been called for, but so far the Opunake lot has not gone, although I received a note saving that someone would call for them. ‘This was three or four weeks ago. Shall I divide between the other two ? I shall be glad if a receptacle could be fixed up for Mrs Green’s odd cleaning paraphernalia. At present everything is stuffed into the gas cupboard, a very unsuitable place. Perhaps a second-hand clipboard could be found at one of the marts and fixed on top of gas, as it will be a question of space. 1 The Borough Ranger’s report stated: The streets of the town have been free from straying stock during the past month. A horse that caused annoyance on the streets in the vicinity of Dixon Avenue for some time has been disposed of. There is a considerable amount of gorse on the road in front of the Turuturu Reserve. 'The reports were all adopted.