NAPIER MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Hawke's Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7548, 19 August 1886, Page 3

NAPIER MUNICIPAL COUNCIL

Wednesday, Auoust 10. Present— His Warship the Mayor (Mr G. H. Swot), and Crs. -Faulknor, Neal, Cotton and. Matgoliduth. Leave of absence was granted to Crs; Uornford, Lee, nnd Cohen. THE ATHEN/BUSr GRANT. Or. Mavgoliouth had given notice of motion that the £100 voted to the Athenanwi at the last meeting of tho .Council be withheld for twelve months, as owing to the damage done to tho Marine-parade by the sea all the surplus funds of the Council would be required to repair tho damage. However, lie asked leave to postpone the motion, as several Councillors were unavoidably absent. — Leave was given. CORRESPONDENCE The following correspondence was read :— From the Property Tax Department, forwarding £81 l4s lid, balance or subsidy due under the Local Bodies' Finance and Powers Act. ■ From the Colonial Secretary's office, asking for information ns to the officers employed by the Corporation, their salaries, &c— lnformation required to be forwarded. From the Gas Company, forwarding a guarantee for the payment of gas used m the lamps on Clive-sqnaro. — The Mayor said lie had signed tho authority. Mr Edwards had told him the lamps would cost about Is 6d each for two hours' burning.— Or. Margoliouth asked who had charge of the square ? — The Mayor said the Council had.— Cr. Margolionth objected that the Mayor had accepted a. responsibility the Council was not justified in incurring in the present state of the borough finances. Some philanthropic individuals had given four lamps, and the gift had cost the Conncil £5 to every £1 contributed. Had the Council now to appoint a caretaker? It would not do to let anyone light the lamps. When tho accounts were all in it would be found that the square had been a most expensive undertaking.— The Mayor said the square had up. to the present been a standing disgrace to the Council. Now that it had been put in proper order lie hoped the Council would not halt half way, even if it cost £100 a year.— The question then dropped. From Inspector Bullen, saying he had instructed the polico at Woodvillc to prosecute anyone found removing timber :rom the Corporation's bush reserve. From Messrs H. Williams and Sons, asking permission to fire off guns in the yard at the rear of Foster's coach factory, os they found it necessary at times .to discharge guns in connection with their gunsmifching business. — The Town Clerk, in reply to a question, said the practice hitherto had been to give permission for special occasions. — Cr/Margoliouth asked whether tho Corporation would be responsible in case of an accident occurring ? — Cr. Graham wanted to know if the same argument would not apply to shooting galleries ?— The Mayor repled in _ the negative, as the Council were specially authorised by law to license snooting galleries'.— lt was decided to take the opinion of the borough solicitor on the ■point raised by Cr. Margolionth. From Mr A. W. L. Cottrell, applying for an unconditional license (instead of a 12 o'clock license) for his billiard-room. He urged that at Hastings .two private billiard-rooms had unconditional licenses, and the same rule obtained at Wellington, Christchui'cli, Dunedin, and Wanganui. — The Mayor opposed the application, urging that the room was right in the heart of the town, and there might l>e danger if it were allowed to bo kept open to any hour. He thought it only reasonable that private billiard-rooms should be subjected to the same conditions as those in hotels.— Cr. Margoliouth thought that as long as the room was properly conducted there was no reason for limiting the hours in which it might be kept open,— Tho' Council resolved to adhere to its original decision. . From Mr James May, asking the Conncil to peg out the boundary of his section on the Milton-road, so that ho might remove tho wall now encroaching on the road. — Cr. Margoliouth proposed that the request be granted. — Cr. Graham opposed, on the ground that it was not the Corporation's place to survey private property. Let Mr May employ Mr Eochfort. — The overseer to wait on Mr May and ask him to have a survey made. t : From Councillor Cohen, tendering bis resignation as a trustee of the Napier hospital-. — The Mayor proposed that the resignation be nofaccepted. No doubt it was sent in in a moment of heat. He (the Mayor) would be very sorry to see Cr. Cohen retire.— Cr, Margoliouth thought it was not fair to compel a man to keep his seat, if he wished to retire. lie would bo very glad, to see Cr. Cohen retain the position, and would suggest that tho resignation should be accepted, bnt that Mr Cohen should be asked to allow himself to be re-nominated. — Cr. Graham said Cr. Cohen was willing to be re-appointed.— Cr. Margoliouth said in that case he would agree to the course proposed by the Mayor,— Ultimately it was agreed to accept the resignation, but to ask Cr. Cohen to consent to be re-nomi-nated, From the road overseer, forwarding a letter from tlie Rev. W. Welsh, complaining, of the offensive state of the lagoon ■ near Battery-point Mr Welsh described •the stench as unbearable, and alleged that his family and other residents near the lagoon were suffering in health in consequence. — Tho overseer reported that the jflarbor Board had ordered measures to be, taken to improve the condition ot tho lagoon, but in his opinion the only cure was reclamation.— Referred to Public Works Cbmmiileo. From Fire Inspector Miller, forwarding the accounts of the Napier and Spit brigades, and certifying to tho clliciency of the brigades. t From Mr R. Lamb, asking what proportion, if any, Iho Corporation would bear of tho cost of forming the footpaths round the New Zealand Insurance Company's new building in a similar manner to tlie footpath round . the" post-office— The overseer reported that the cost of tlie work would be 23 per yard, and recommended that tho Council should contribute one-third. — The Mayor said the proposal meant laying down a permanent footpath at a very small cost. — The recommendation of tho overseer was agreed to. OVEItSEEItS HEFORT. ' The road overseer's report dealt with the following matters;— (l.) Water supply to site of breakwater. The cost of a_2in. pine from the medium pressure main in Waghorno-street would bo £IGO. (2.) Lucy-road. The cost of a protecting wail from Mr Ritchie's gate to the bottom of the road would be £2 10s or £3. (3.) Water supply at breastwork. There was no piping in hand for this work. (4.) Sea wall. He reported on tlie damage done by the recent heavy seas. Ho pointed out that concrete and stone work on a shingle foundation could not bo relied on, and recommended sheet-piling as the most suitable protection. But he suggested that before any oxponso was incurred the position of tho Council with respect to Beach-road, also tho probable effect of the breakwater on the beach fronting tho town, should be considered. The report will be found dealt with in tho Public Works Committee's report. rUISLIC WOBKB COMMITTEES KKI'ORT. The Public Works Committee made the following recommendations :— 1. That tho Harbor Hoard ho Informed that tho Council nro not In a position to lay water mains to tho breakwater silo as requested by thorn. . . , , „ 2. That tho ovcrscov bo instructed to fonco tlio lower portion ol Lucy -road In terms o£ his report theroon. ... , , / 3. That, tho ovcrscor bo instructed to propnro nltornntivo plans and estimates p£ tno cost of tho repair and improvement of tho sea wall, Marino-parade, (1) by shoot-piling, and (2) by concrete or stone wall, and report lo tho Public Works CommiUooou boptomborl3lh. 4. That tho roport ot the comnutteo for lenßing iho borough roservos, horowith forwarded, ho adopted, nnd tendors invited for tho survoy of tho resorros now romninlng unlct. 5. That Mossi'B Dinwiddio, Walker and Co. be allowed to take copies of Iho largo map of Iho town rocontly prepared by Mr Rochfort in toriny of their letter of tho 20th nit. 0. That tho vouchers horowith forwarded, £07 ITS 6d, bo passed aud ordered lo bu paid.

Clauses 1 and 2 • were passed without discussion. ' ' On clause 3 the Mayor said ho thought tho time had arrived when the Conncil should, consider the possibility of widening Beach-road, and so making a grand drive along the best sea frontage possessed by any town in New Zealand. If means ' could be devised tho Council had the power to make Napier the Scarborough or Brighton of New Zealand, with the advantages of climate and position tho town possessed. As it was, the beach was occupied by a lot of sriiall dwellings, but if his suggestion Avero adopted the Council would see large dwellings erected for the accommodation of pleasure-seekers. If the work could not be done all at once it might be started and carried on gradually. Now was the time to consider the question, before any money was spent on repairing tho present sea ■wall. Cr. Ncal said the object of the clause of the committee's report was to iind out the cost of doing what the Mayor proposed. Cr, Margoliouth said the overseer was to he asked to report on the cost of widening the street by twenty feet. But as to the large scheme propounded by the Mayor, he thought that that was at least twenty years ahead. Itcouldonly be done by extra borrowing, and that meant extra rating, and ho would oppose any further borrowing. The Mayor said there was nothing in the clause of the committee's report to show that widening the road was contemplated. As to the means, the rate would come on the owners of the property fronting the road, if three-fifths of them agreed to do so. Cr, Graham thought the Council did not own an inch of the road — he believed it belonged to the Harbor Board. That question wanted settling before anything else was dono. As for the Mayor's glowing picture, he fully expected to hear him talk about ships lying up to the road. The Mayor : W e're providing a breakwater for the ships. The clause was then passed, as well as j the clause relating to vouchers. THE "AKMY" NUISANCE, Cr. Margoliouth asked if the Council had received any official -notification of the result of tlie appeal in the processions bye-law cases. . . The Mayor replied in the negative. All that had boon received ,was a telegram from the borough solicitors' agents in Wellington. Cr. Margoliouth said ineaiis should he taken to obtain some official notification, and tho police should enforce the byc-law< The Mayor said he understood that the Court directed the Rrsident Magistrate to .call up the defendants and inflict a fine. Cr. Margoliouth said that though in the first instance he was opposed to the passing of the bye-law, he noticed that lawabiding ratepayers fully recognised the value of it, and whenever they required to play or march in procession they asked the permission of the Council. Therefore lie could not see why one section of the community callin" themselves the Salvation Army should he allowed to deliberately sot themselves to defy the law, notwithstanding they knew that the Supreme Court had uphold* the bye-law. They were deliberately breaking the law night after night. When they wrote to the Council pretending to ask permission to march they impudently added that they would march all the same whether permission was accorded or not. There might be some excuso for. them if they could prove that they had improved the morality of the town or the law-abiding proclivities of the ratepayers. But they had been here two yearn, and he did not see the slightest difference, either in the police reports or anything else. He thought that notwithstanding tho absence' of any official notification the police should be requested to arrest night after nurht_ those who broke the bye-law, until a majority of the ratepayers decided that they were to be allowed to. make night hideous in the way they did for their own peculiar amusement. Tlie Mayor said tho Resident Magistrate had been away for a week or ten days, and that was perhaps the reason ■wliiy the defendants in the recent cases had not been called up and fined according to the order of the Supreme Court. Cr. Margoliouth said that did not affect the future. What he wanted was to see the bye-law enforced now. No doubt the men would refuse to pay the fine, and they would then be sent to prison. No doiibt also they would try to raise bogus sympathy and cry out about persecution and so on, but that cry was all rubbish. Cr. Graham said he had no doubt the Resident Magistrate would do his duty when ho received an official notification. But after all the "hideous noises" were not so dreadful as represented. Cr. Neal said he opposed the bye-law when it was passed, but ho quite agreed that the Council must enforce it as longas it remained. He believed that a majority of the Council would give permission for occasional processions if they -were approached properly. The constant defiance of tlie bye-law had in great measure stopped the sympathy of those Councillors who opposed it, aud the "Army" had almost shown that there was a necessity for it. The Mayor said he would speak to tho Inspector of Police on the subject. MISCELLANEOUS.. O.wing to the absence of four Councillors the special meeting < to consider the proposed bye-law relative to tarred footpaths and the meeting of the Board of Health to consider the A'.vatoto nuisance were postponed. Messrs Hodgson, Black, and Williams were appointed returning ■ officers at the election of three Councillors in tho place of Councillors Welsman, Faulkner, and Margoliouth. The Council met as the Meanee Domain Board, when a letter from Jhe District Auditor was read, asking for the balancesheet of the Board.— The Town Clerk was requested to attend to the matter. Tlie Council then adjourned.