NAPIER BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume XII, Issue 231, 12 September 1922, Page 5

NAPIER BOROUGH COUNCIL.

ORDINARY MEETING. Tho weekly meeting of the Napier Borough Council was held last evening. The Mayor (Mr. J. B. Andrew) presided and there were also present: Crs. F. G. Smith. W. Harvey, J. Black, R. B. Clark, J. C. Bryant, S. Wood, A. Hobson, B. B. Creagh, P. Ashcroft. The Hawke’s Bay Education Board wrote stating the board had acquired the interests of the lessees of the Harbour Board section forming part of the new site for the Napier Technical School and asking council to vest in the board the freehold of the area of lac. Ird. 23 l-sper. and also to arrange for the closing of and the vesting in the board of portion of Faulkner street. The board adhered to its previous statement to give the council the first option to purchase tho present Technical School buildings, tho price to be fixed by arbitration. The Mayor stated he was averse from letting the Government secure the new area unless something definite was done to show that the Technical College was to be started. Others concurred in this view and the council decided to do nothing until something definite was in view. A letter was received on the question of employment of returned men. The Returned Soldiers’ Association stated they had a number of men urgently requiring work, many of them being married men.—lt was decided to continue the employment of returned men and to subsidise the £l2O offered by the association £ for £. The Plunket Society asked for a rebate on their concert charges for the theatre.—Cr. Ashcroft moved that the matter be referred to the Finance Committee. He said ho thought the charges for the theatre, especially for charity functions, should bo revised. He did not advocate no charge, but thought the charges for local functions should be more reasonable.—The motion was carried.

Cr. Bryant moved to set up a committee to go into the matter of the annual recurrent loss on the Napier baths, with a view to reducing or eliminating it. He said the last four balance sheets of the baths justified inquiry. The annual loss on working account was £460. while the interest and sinking fund amounted to £354 annually. In other words the weekly loss was £l6 5/-. not allowing for depreciation ,etc. —The motion was seconded by Cr. Clark and carried. It was reported that 246 cows (3 condemned), 131 bullocks (1), 1867 sheep, 81 lambs, 91 pigs (3) and 30 calves had been slaughtered at the municipal abattoirs during August. The Finance Committee recommended the building of a ladies’ rest room on the Athenaeum reserve.—A committee was appointed to go into plans with the overseer. A special Baths Committee reported having met representatives of the Napier Swimming Club, as a result of which they recommended: ■*— Season tickets: That season tickets be issued as follows: Adults £l, Juveniles (under 14 years) 10/-, members of swimming chibs, adults 15/-, juveniles 7 /6. Concession tickets: That concession tickets be issued at the rates fixed for last season, i.e.: 30 baths, adults 6/-, scholars (14 years and over) 2/6, juveniles (under 14 years) 2/-, financial members of swimming duds, adults 4/6, juveniles (under 14 years) 1/6. Surf door: That the surf door be kept closed, in accordance with the previous resolution of the council. Rent of baths for sports: The committee cannot see their way to recommend any reduction in the rent previously fixed by the council, i.e., 20 per cent, of gross takings at doors with a minimum charge of £2 2/-. Cr. Ashcroft said if these charges were to be agreed to the work of the committee set up by Cr. Bryant’s motion was unnecessary. The recommendations were deferred for a month. A return of water meters showed: Napier borough number of properties 2567. on meters 496. balance on flat rate; Napier South properties 728, with metres 469, on flat rate 259.