NAPIER HARBOR BOARD.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5317, 26 February 1879, Page 2

NAPIER HARBOR BOARD.

Tuesday, Februaby 25. - ' ■■ - ',';.■ ; .'■ The new Board met at the Council: (' Chamber at 11 a.m. .: : .3:c..; : ; Present — His Worship .the • Mayors, • ■ Messrs. Stuart, Smith, Buchanan,; Wil- /', son, Robjohns, Kinross, and \ Colonel -~i Lambert. . ; ' ''. C: -;/:'■ l : - :^- ** Mr Smith proposed, and^&^Mayor ; seconded ' ' ThatMr, Buchanans!! sthe ' chair." - Carried. 'J^C',. / JSlr^j^" '•' ' ' Mr Buchanan 5 , ■on'taiing th6sKa^paid , ; that he was very, .sensible ,oi iih|^winor done him by 1 tlte Board, and^|h'ftt he would do his best to carry on the; business imposed on him as chairman. ~'%M?< ,;• Mr Smith proposed and it Lwasjiirried —"That the bye-laws . o£ : |||l|^oicl .' Harbor.Board be adopted.?'. -:-|ifPff 'V The minutes. of the previous 1 meeting were read and confirmed. „":%' . Colonel Lambert stated had been requested by Mr brmdn4fto*iriforiii-« the Board that, having been, called awar on urgent private business, he was ungbjfe to attend the meeting; • , . A The Secretary then ;' reailfa number . of letters and reports; ; to; Vthib J^Board; Amongst them was tHe report||^§soundings of the bar, which stated M!|t]a heavy sea had been expenehc\d\'6nlfcfie 15th inst. ' The effect of the Keayyfs.well on , the bar had deepened the sb ; ar fully two '; feet from the end of th§ i /eastern; pier .for a distance of 600 feet outride. the- bar|. so that, where there were 6n1yi:.15 feet .preY viously, there were now 17 feet of water. A letter was also read ffdm r Mr ' Weber, thanking the Board for the resolution passed at the last meeting^ offering him. £200'ayear to continue as Eiigiheepto the Board. He begged to stateTho wev^er, that, owing to other arrangements; made by him, he would be unable to fulfilt.the duties of Engineer to the Board alter thA . 31st March next! r ' .; " V -."'Wp A letter was read from the Engineers i stating that he had engaged the services "' of the steamer Manaia at the rate of £6 10s per diem. From the diver's report there were several large boulders at the bottom. It was a slow process, but that the raking would be of benefit was beyond doubt. . . , The Mayor looked upon the expenditure as a waste of public money. Previous to the raking, the depth of water was; 11 feet 6 inches onthe bar, but since the water on the bar had been reduced to 11 feet. • ' ,r,, >; A letter was read from the Engineer recommending the expenditure of £70 for ' piles for strengthening the pier heads. Mr Vautier was glad to see that the Engineer had at last come round to his way of thinking. £500 had already been wasted in strengthening the works, but had the Engineer accepted his recommendation, which he now adopted, there would have been no necessity for that expenditure. He thought it was want of knowledge on the part of the Engineer that had caused this money to be wasted. It was decided that the recommendation stand over until next, meeting of the Board. :■; ' The Mayor presented a petition embodying the resolutions that were passed at the public meeting at the Theatre Royal on Monday night in reference toV^ the desirability of having a breakwater, erected at Napier. He moved— " That the petition be taken into consideraticti at once." ' "' ' <*~ Lieut. -Colonel Lambert said that as there were a great many, new members on the Board— he' himself was one — lie thought that the consideration of the petition should, be. delayed. •, From the remarks of the gentleman.who'had presented the petition, it was evident -that that gentleman and the Harbor Engineer were hot on the best terms.- He. though^ ft'iwk: -i

viaable, on the part of the Board, to wait a little, so that the new members might make themselves acquainted with the present works. He would therefore move as an amendment—" That the petition be ■it taken into consideration at the next meeti ing of the Board, 1 ' The Mayor disclaimed any personal feeling towards the Engineer in the matter of the harbor works. It had been reprelented that the effect of the present works should be^to give lli feet of water on the bar, and they now had only, .abpu't. 11 feet; Ho thought it was .very, undesirable to spondany more money on those works, sind he hoped that in the interests of the people of Hawke's Bay, the petition he had presented would be taken into consideration at onco. • tMr Smith remarked that lately the meetings of the Board had been held monthly, whereas formerly they had fortnightly meetings. Colonel Lambert said he would be agreeable to have a special meeting called to consider the petition. Mr Kinross called attention to Bye-Law No. 3, which provided that meetings of . the Board should be held bi-monthly. After some discussion, Mr Kinross said he should second Colonel Lambert's amendment. He thought the consideration of tho petition should stand over till next meeting, as some of the members of the Board were absent, one of them being the Chairman of the former Board (Mr Ormond). Colonel Lambert's amendment was then put and negatived — Messrs. Smith, Stuart, Robjohns and Vautier voting against it, and Messrs Kinross, Wilson, and Lambert for it. • A question was then raised as to whether the chairman should not record his vote as well as private members. The Chairman, after satisfying himself by looking up the Act on the question, said he should be guided in giving his vote on this occasion by the length of time that would elapse before the next V meeting of the Board. If it was not to be for a month, he should vote for the Mayor's, proposition, but if the Board met in a fortnight he should certainly vote for the amendment, if only out of fairness to the new members. The Hon. J. N. Wilson thought it would be better to postpone the consideration of the question till next meeting. The question was then put, " That the . - petition be taken into consideration at the next fortnightly meeting of the Board," which was carried. The Mayor said he had another petition to present, signed by 420 residents of Napier, with reference to the erection of the Port Ahuriri bridge. He .moved " That the petition be taken into consideration at once." Mr Kinross suggested that the petition be taken into consideration in the usual way. The Mayor thoughtthe best plan would be to forward the petition to the Government. Colonel Lambert said this course would not be fair to the new members. He was not opposed to the bridge being built, but he did not approve of the course that was proposed to be taken with reference to the petition. The Hon. J. N. Wilson saw no objection in forwarding the petition to the Government. The motion wa3 then put and carried. Mr Kinross asked whether that would imply that the board sanctioned the petition. The Chairman said he presumed it would imply that the board had no objection to take to it. If Mr Kinross had any objection to state, let him do so. Mr Kinross said his objection was that -the engineers, amongst them Sir John Coode— no mean authority — had reported against the bridge. If the bridge proved any detriment to the harbor, they should not without discussion confirm the petition, and send it to the Government as the opinion of the board. He would - move as an amendment — "That the petition be considered next sitting day." Colonel Lambert seconded the amendment. The amendment was then put and negatived by 5 against 3, the noes being Messrs. Smith, Stuart, Robjohns, Vautier, and Buchanan; ayes, Messrs Kinross, Wilson, and Colonel Lambert. The question was then put " That the petition be referred to the Government for their consideration," which was carried. A number of accounts were then passed for payment. After some minor business had been . 'dißgosed of, the Board adjourned.