MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XX, Issue 3900, 17 April 1877, Page 2

MUNICIPAL COUNCIL.

Monday, April 16. The Council met at 7.30 p.m. Present— His Worship the Mayor (in the chair), and Councillors Lee, Tuxford, Lyndon, Yautier, Holder, Neal, Williams, and Swan. The minutes of the previous meeting were road and confirmed. REPORT OF PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE. The following report from the Committee was read : — The Public Works Committee having met, pursuant to notice, on Thursday the 12th April, 1577, beg to recommend the Council to give o fleet to the following : — 1. That the tender of Messrs Madden and Parker for forming Beach lload for the sum of ±'140 be accepted so soon as the required sum of £70 has been subscribed by tlie inhabitants. 2. That the wall in the Shakespeare-road be taken down and rebuilt to a height of 3ft. (Jin. and the top part laid in cement, and that tenders be called for the work. o That with regard to the scheme for lighting the town with gas your committee beg to recommend as follows : — (1.) That the town be lit with gas, and that 3(i lamp-posts be placed as shown on the plan of the engineer. ( > 2.) That the 36" lamp-posts be of totara. (3.) That tenders be called for supplying and fixing the above 3G lamp posts complete. (4.) That the offer of the Gas Company to supply the gas, and light and clean the lamps at £10 10s per lamp per annum be accepted, provided that it be distinctly understood as to the definition of moonlight nights, and that the work be performed to the satisfaction of an officer appointed by the Council ; the company to connect the posts with the gas pipes. (5. ) That the Gas Company be requested to lay pipes from their mains in Clive Square for the purpose of supplying two lamps to be placed at tlie corner of Hallway and Munroestrects, at a distance of about 5 chains. 4. That the Town Clerk be directed to write to all the auctioneers requesting them to state the terms on which they will sell the leases of the Corporation reserves on the 3rd May next. 5. That the boundaries of the Botanical reserve be re-surveycel and pegged out. 6. That the offer of Messrs Hills and Oxenham to sell to the Corporation certain road metal and rubble at 2s 9d per yard be declined. 7. That no further permission be given to any person to take material from the Town

Hall reserve till the present contracts are completed. 8. That the raihvay authorities "be requested to cause a ez-ossing to be made in •Lever-street, and that the engineer be requested to report on the cost of forming the roadway. 9. That tenders be called for lightering and carting the Waterworks plant, ex " Andrew Reid." On the 3rd clause being read, a discussion arose upon the sites for the lampposts. Cr. Neal said that it was distinctly understood at the meeting of the Committee that the sites should not be those n the plan of tho Engineer. Cr. Holder said that all that was understood was that there should be some slight deviation. The Mayor said that the question of site was governed in some measure by the objection of the Gas Company to lay pipes to the lamps at any considerable distance from the mains. Cr. Tuxford would like that there should be two lamps in Dickens-street, and one at the posts in the lane from Tennyson-street to the church. The Mayor : Making 39 lamps instead of 36. Mr Tuxford : Yes. The Mayor said it was evidently a matter for the Council to determine, whether there should be 36 lamps or 39. There was also a discussion as to the lamp posts being of wood or iron. The Mayor said that wooden posts were quite a thing of the past, and were not in use in the smallest boroughs. Cr. Swan thought that before deciding the matter they should ascertain the cost of iron posts. Cr. Lyndon moved that the posts be of iron instead of wood. Cr. Williams seconded the motion. Cr. Swan suggested that the motion should be amended to the effect that tenders be called for iron posts. Cr. Lyndon said that would follow as a matter of course. Cr. Swan thought that by passing the motion the Council would commit themselves to having the iron lamps, without having the knowledge as to cost which would be obtained by calling for tenders. Ci\ Holder coincided with Cr. Swan. The Mayor said that the calling for tenders could be done afterwards. The motion of Cr. Lyndon was then carried nem. con. Tlie question as to the sites of the lamp posts was referred back to the committee. Sub-section 5 of clause 3 was also referred back to the committee. On the 7th clause being read, His Worship said that it was very desirable that steps should be taken to ascertain whether there was more than enough " mullock " for the requirements of the municipality. There were contiimal applications for permission to take the stuff for filling-up sections, and as it was so desirable that that should be done it was a hard matter to have to refuse. Of course, if there was not more than the corporation wanted for the streets on the reclaimed ground, there must be refusals given to such applications. Cr. Neal said that the engineer's estimate was that there was barely sufficient for the requirements of the corporation. Cr. Lyndon said that his impression was that there was more than twice what the corporation needed. Ultimately the clause was passed with the understanding that the engineer would be requested to make a survey so as to ascertain the amount of " stuff" contained in the town-hall reserve. The remainder of the clauses were passed. COLLECTION OF LICENCE FEES. The Mayor said that some time since he had written to the Colonial Treasurer a long letter, with schedules attached, respecting the collection of license fees. Not receiving any reply, he had communicated with Mr Ormoncl, and had received a telegram that the letter had been mislaid, and requesting him to address the Colonial Secretary on the subject, as the matter was in Ms department. He (the Mayor) had accordingly done so, and was in the hope of soon receiving a satisfactory reply. Of course the borough received the revenue from the licenses right enough, but the mode of collecting it was very unsatisfactory. The Collector of Customs just Look what money was paid to him. He knew nothing at all as to who should pay it, and of course there were many persons who did not hurry themselves to pay. This could only be remedied by the borough being empowered to collect the fees. BANK COMMISSION. The Mayor read a letter he had received from the Manager of the Napier branch of the Union Bank, respecting the payments made in London by the bank on behalf of the Corporation in respect to the Waterworks, the bank, at the time the payments were made not being in funds in London from the Corporation. The manager's letter stated that at the time the payments were made, or in other words, the bills negotiated for the persons who drew upon tho Corporation, tlie rate of exchange in the colony was 3| per cent. His Worship said thatit was within his knowledge that the rate paid by the Harbour Boaad to the Bank of Australasia was 2 per cent., and he believed the Union Bank would accept the same rate. Cr. Holder wished to know whether it was the fact that the Corporation had borrowed the money in London, had it sent out to the Colony, and now were paying to have it sent back again in order to make payments for the water works plant. His Worship said it was so, and he would explain it in the most simple way possible. Tho Council had been desirous of procuring the plant in the Colony, and that was why they had the money sent out. Of course there would have been a saving in the commission if the money had been left in London, but then the Corporation would not have had five per cent, for it, as they had been getting here. Upon the whole, therefore, he did not think the Corporation had suffered any loss by the transaction. It was then agreed that the Mayor should be authorised to arrange with the bank for a commission of 2 per cent. ROADS TO THE BREASTWORK. The Mayor informed the Council that he was in hopes that at their next meeting he would be able to laj r before the Council the opinion of the solicitor as to whether the Corporation or the Harbor Board was the body liable to keep the roads to the breastwork in order. REPAIRING THE STREETS. Cr. Swan drew the attention of the Council to the fact that the engineer had not complied with the direction of the Council in respect to hlling lip the holes in the streets. Cr. Vautier said that the engineer had informed him that it was no use doingsuch work in dry weather. Cr. Swan thought the engineer should carry out the directions of the Council, whether those directions were right or wrong. The Mayor said that the matter would be mentioned to the engineer. The Council then adioumed.

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