NAPIER MUNICAL COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXI, Issue 5372, 3 May 1879, Page 3

NAPIER MUNICAL COUNCIL.

Feiday, May 2. v? TaTs' Council met at 7.30 p.m. „ Preaentr— Hia Worship the Mayor (in "Hh'eVchair), Councillors Swan, Tuxford, f( Cornford, Large, and Levi. \ t . '„ ^h©,.m inutes of the previous meeting {-were read and confirmed. ;isij;t.j. . .^CORRESPONDENCE. hci :TJhe following letters were read : — ; tuiii (From Mr John Gillies, honorary secretary., to the • Kaitangata relief fund, !< acknowledging receipt of the amount for-. '*■ warded ;to him by 1 the Napier Town Clerk. From the Town Clerk of Christchurch '"(two 1 letters) accompanying copies of plans for the town, hall and the municipal buildings proposed to be erected in Christchurch,,.; v!-:; ■ nnoi Ilr.oni the!. municipal solicitor, stating that jhe had written to the Napier Gas c'.hEbiripany pointing out to them the consequences of their not keeping to the terms of their contract with the municipality. 7 - Mr Salisbury's letter also pointed ■ !Ji '6ut the 'measures that should be taken against the Graa Company in the event of the terms of the contract not being adhered to. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE'S REPORT. The following report from the Public Works Committee was read : — The"!P&blic Works Committee haying met pursuant to notice, beg to recommend the Council as follows, viz.— 1. That a committee be appointed to hear what proposal the owners of the properties facing the Beach-road have to offer to the Corporation, such committee to consist of the chairman of the Public Works Committee, '«VCifc. .Cprnfwd, ! Large, Williams, and Levi. i X _ gy-'rpiiaVon t"he completion of the new hospital building the sum of £100 be granted by this Council in aid thereof . 3. That the offer of the Hawke's Bay County Council re weighbridge be accepted, 1 and that the Municipal Solicitor be instructed . to prepare draft of bye-laws for the borough, 4 fixing the fees at. the same rate as charged by 1 the Hawke's Bay County Council. JwV- ;4; That "with reference to a petition from aj< 3 certain expressmen, praying the Council to £'i cabmen from carrying luggage, a reply be forwarded that the Council decline to interfere in the matter. 5. That the -waste old timber from the Spit bridge be sold by auction. H.-H.f .i6.uThat- Mr Ernies' tender to fence the „, southern .portion of Clive Square for the sum 1 df'^6 Is' 6d be accepted. !/A-.)ir.J--7vi That 'the works proposed in the Becommendation Eeport of the Municipal Engineer \ ;,be ; authorised., iii '■>"* 8. That the vouchers for the expenditure during "iA-pril be passed and ordered to be paidji'-ii „ G-Eo. Ey, Swan, Chairman. .:■ '^'Vn 'connection with the first clause a > >; letter was readfrom the Hon. Mr Wilson in. which he, pointed out the objectionable nature of the course proposed by the j , Council with reference to the Beach-road, ; and suggested that the matter should be , discussed between the owners of the properties affected, and a committee of the Council. The clause was then passed. On the second clause being put, a letter '■;" , was read from Mr J. A. Smith, hon. secretary to the Hospital committee, stating that the Government would place another £400 on the estimates for the ."; hospital building, if there were £600 raised from the Hawke's Bay and the ,• r ■ Munioipal Councils. The Chairman of the Public Works Committee said that although the , financial condition of the borough did ■ not permit the assistance being given to the hospital building that waa desirable, atill, under the circumstances, the committee thought that £100 should be given 'in order to make up the £600 with the '— -£500 that had been voted by the Hawke's Bay Council. r i' -The Mayor would have liked, if it had been possible, that the Corporation should have given £250 towards the hospital ,„.- . building'fund. The £100 would certainly 7 enable the Hospital Committee to get a : i subsidy from the Government that would !IK-: 'jsjiifiipp for erecting the building, but f<< " when that was done there would, be

fencing and other things to be done that would cost about £100, and the furniture would cost about £500 ; so that altogether a large amount would be required; before the hospital could bo made ready ;f or the reception of patients. He would have been glad therefore if the Corpjoration could have done more. That, however, was impossible just now. . . ,' Or. Large believed that the Mayor 'had expressed what was the general feeling of the Council. Just now they could! not do more than what was recommended! by the committee. As soon, however, as they were in a better financial position the matter could be. considered again. The clause was then passed., on : The third and fourth clauses were passed without discussion. On the fifth clause being put, Or. Levi stated that he had been requested;by the Municipal Engineer to say that {if the timber referred to in the report were offered r at auction it would notjrealise an amount that would pay expenses, and that he thought it would be better to! accept Mr Davies' offer of £7 for the timber. Cr. Levi moved to that effect., ! Cr. Tuxford seconded the motion. Or. Aahton oppoaed it. He considered ; that when the engineer received instruc T , tions he should carry them out, and if he , had anything to urge against thbse instructions he should write to the Conncil, instead of waiting on any Councillor. He (Cr. Ashton) believed the timber would fetch more than £7. Cr. Large quite agreed with Cr. Ashton, that when a line of action wa3 geoided upon by the Public Works Comfnittee, that action should be carried out by the engineer. Or. Swan said that the PubjiciWorks Committee had considered it woujd ' 3e irregular to accept the offer made by Mr Davies. It had been previously cleoided by the Council that all works j and:, Bup^j plies should be tendered for, aftdion'the: same principle it™ was"" thought -that; the timber should be disposed of in a public manner. It was . certainly only a small matter, but it was the iproper course ; otherwise they would perhaps* be told that the timber had been sold in a hole-and-corner way, or that a favjor had been granted to a contractor. For those reasons the committee had decided that the timber should be sold* by auction. With regard to the remark! that had fallen from Cr. Large, ho (Cr. jSwan) hoped that that councillor would always be of the same opinion as he had expressed in the present instance — that the decisions of the Public Works Committee should be carried out. °"';. 1 Cr. Large : Yes, when all the members are present at the meeting. ' , 1 The Mayor said that there were; some 3500 feet of the timber,- and ..though it might n6t realise much, t he ( , did not con^ sider the Council should > dispose! of it privately. .. •/, • 1 ifj4- ; Cr. Levi said he had. ■ not ; seen .the : timber, and knew nothing; about it be-,. yond what he had been told by the engineers. He had no feeling in the matter, and would withdraw his motion. ■.-,■■ The clause was then passed. / _, • The sixth clause was passed : without discussion. li '. i On the seventh clause being put, it was agreed, at the,, suggestion of Cr. :i Large, that the ground in Clive square;.be sown with grass seed, and,. at the suggestion of the Mayor, that the engineer bedirected to have the holes in the streets filled up. . The clause was then passed, ds was also the clause for the payment of the month's accounts. INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES' REPORT. The report of the Inspector of ! Nuisances was read. It stated, that there had been only one case in which ithe ihspec- ' tor had had to take action, and in that instance the person concerned had' been fined 10s with costs. In other respects the sanitary condition of the borough was good. HACKNEY CARRIAGES. .; , • ■ The report of the inspector stated that/ he had found all the hackney carriages, horse-harness, &c, in first-class condition, with the exception of carriage No. 18, tha proprietor of which had promised to effect the necessary repairs before the ;renewal of his license. • The Town Clerk stated that there was one driver who had been fined twice for being drunk, and it was for the Council to decide whether that driver's license should be renewed. Cr. Large thought it would' be anything but a nice thing for people to bo driven by a man who was drunk, and he . moved that the license of the driver in question be suspended for a month. In reply to Cr. Cornford, the Town Clerk stated that the' first occasion on which the driver referred to had j been fined was in August last, and the second was on the 17th of October. [ - ' ■ Or Cornford thought the date of the offence being committs'V was too far batfk to be acted upon. • .',.... Cr. Large thought so too, and consider-' ing that the man had ; Bince. become a. teetotaller he would withdraw his motion. NOTICE OP MOTION. ' Or. Swan gavef [notice to [ move at -the, next meeting of the Council, ".That this.. Council does not consider .; it expedient I that the office of Fire. lnspector, should be held by any officerof the Fire 'Brigade^' The Council then adjourned. 1 • • < •