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Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 3 December 1924, Page 5

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HARBOUR BOARD AND COUNCIL.

COMMENTS AT PA TEA. BOARD MEMBERS ANNOYED.

[Strong comment on* the attitude taken up by the Hawer-a Borough Council in connection with certain, of the Patea Harbour Board’s financial arrangements was made at a meeting of the Board yesterday.] The 'Town Clerk of the Hawera Borough Council wrote asking for fuller information' in connection with adjustments made to the board’s 1921 and 1922 balance-sheets, in which interest on war loan certificates and war bonds (£IOOO and £220 7s 6d) had “improperly been credited to loan instead of to interest account.”

The chairman (Mr A. T. Christensen) said that Mr Pacey and he had interviewed a committee of the Hawera Borough Council, and he thought that they had satisfied the committee that everything was in order. It was his opinion that the council thought that the . board had been improperly u6ing some of the interest money in .the general account. The - board,‘however, had been aware of the fact that they could do no such thing, and they had not done so. In order to get more money in the board could increase the wharfage charge, but at the present time they were competing against New Plymouth, and consequently had not gone in for any large expenditure. Ihe board considered that any increase in the wharfage rates would be the means of drawing trade away from latea to New Plymouth. The chairman said that the board • had utilised interest money collected, and the balance o'f the interest account had,helped to reduce the debit balance of the general account, thereby reducing overdraft. No interest money -had been spent in general work. Mr J. R. Corrigan said it looked to him as though the Hawera Borough Council thought that they could manage the affairs of the Harbour Board better than the hoard could.. c *Th©y are asking for something they have no right to ask for,” he said. The chairman said that the board had to meet extraordinary expenditure in connection with their dredge, ‘ the ™£ e l! di . ture * n question amounting to £-wooo m the year, y This had caused them to adjust their finance, but he thought that at the end of the year they, would practically balance the account.

The chairman referred to a letter leceived from the -Audit Department, stating that that department would he quite satisfied if £32 17s 6d were credited to. the interest' account. Mr Corrigan: I wonder what the Hawera Borough. Council would say if we _ usked to see their correspondence? Mr A. N. Williams moved that the board advise the council that - they could not forward the correspondence as iwT but if the council were not satisfied they could examine books and Co ™s s P° n dence at. the hoard’s office. The motion was' seconded and' carried. OTHER BUSINESS. The chairman said that the past mouth had been a good one for shipping, a tremendous amount-of cargo navmg gone out of the port,'' During the month they had also had one of the biggest tides experienced: during the past 20 years, but unfortunately rain had resulted m a lot of silt and wood coming down. However, the dredge doing good work. Ihe harbourmaster, Captain W. Tinney, said in his monthly report that the channel over the bar Was straight, I'off 1 on the bar and about Uit 6m between the avails at high water spring tide At high water nelp tide there was lift on the bar and Bft 6m between the walls, with the navig--Ich a . n ,nel between the walls about 170 ft wide. On the 20th and 21st a fresh had come down the river, and a lot of silt and wood had been deposit's , Yesl made soundings, and found shallow' water, at Pulley’s wharf and at the viaduct. A lot of f a "u bad been washed out of the bay w ith the very high tides. - ™™,L? r^ g ! ma - ster ’ , Mr A - Mercer, leported. that since the dredge had been commissioned 2990 cubic yards of silt had been lifted and 'deposited at the mouth of the river. A number of large snags had also . been removed from the raihvay and grader wharves. Ihe engineer had reported that all machinery in his charge was in thorough good order, and everything r,V" good order on th e dredge Ihe reports were both adopted