HAWERA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume XLI, Issue XLI, 12 February 1921, Page 7

HAWERA BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MONTHLY MEETING. The monthly meeting of the Hawera ,' Borougn Council was neid last evening. Present: His Vv'orsiup tne Mayor (iur E. Dixon>, ,and Urs Cameron, Morrissey^ Lewis, J oil, Uo'rmley, Spragg, [ Hayton, Reid, and Osborne. j CORRESPONDENCE. The engineer, reporting on the request by Messrs uuih.li. ana Gibson (architects) for permission to dispense with parapets wnen erecting the Soldiers' Cluoy stated that ne, was averse to the proposal from a fire-fighting point of view. . v ~: The State Advances Office wrote stating that the purposes of the loan, of. £10,000 (part of £15,000) included, according to the application, street lighting and beautifying grounds, and as the Department was not authorised to lend money for these purposes a fresh form was being forwarded, -' in which. the separate amounts required for each of-the other purposes 'tvere to be shown. It was pointed Out that in view of the stringency of the money market only applications where the money was required for urgent and'essential public works were receiving favourable consideration. . Thei Town Clerk had 'replied, amending the application to £14,900, and assuring the State Advances Office tfcat the whole of this amount was for work of an urgent and important character. .. \ . iv/rTfe May(?r ld he had suggested to Mr Sturrock that it would be helpful it they could obtain for the first year a f P^t of the £16,000 loan and also of the £20,000 loan. Mr Sturrock had- - said thatr if only £1000 of the larger loan could be obtained it would be of' great advantage. He took it that the\ Council would leaVe it with him to make the best arrangements he could. Un the motion of Cr Osborne this waa agreed to. Mr Kata Thompson made application tor a relaxation of the building bylaws in connection with a motor garage he proposed building. He wished to buildl within six feet of his boundary, but there would be no-building within * ■ t°t the garage.—Refused. Mr J. Sturrock (engineer); reported breaches o; the building by-laws on • the part- of Mr, J. G. Grant, who had not farst obtained a permit from-the Board of Trade, and Mr Familton, who ' had converted loose- boxes into stalls by enclosmg same with wood walls and A doors, the work being done for Mr Hook. As this was,in the brick area,' he recommended that no relaxation be granted. ; It was decided to draw Mr Grant's attention to the breach he had com-" nutted, and to insist upon compliance with the by-law in the case of'MrV Hook. Mr J. C. Speddmg (Auckland) wrote stating that he had received a cable offering Canadian cement at £10 per ton c.i.f., main ports, New Zealand, shipment February or March. It was stated that the Council did not require cedent at presents and supplies if ordered would not keep. - The price, in any case, * was not inviting. The letter was received. Tie Hawera County Council wrote urging upon the Council the necessity for carrying out the work in connection with storm water on Tawhiti road. , ', The engineer reported that half of the storm water had been diverted along Collins street, and the remainder would be dealt with in the new £20,000 loan. A : reply, to be sent in terms of the engineer's report. ' The Park Tennis Club wrote requesting that the toi toi fence- at ,tW.Uf back of the courts be cut back," 's^v / that the wire netting running along the fence could he renewed.—Dealt with in report. The Department of Internal Affairs wrptey thanking the Council for attention to the graves of New Zealand sql« f% diers and veterans.—-Received. The Commissioner of Crown Lands applied for^the use-of a room in the Council Chambers for the purposes of the auction sale of reserves in the / Ohawe Town Belt, advertised for February 16. —Granted: ' Mr R. H. Nolan wrote thanking the Council for the kind resolution passed in reference to himself On January 26. Messrs Wilsbn and Canham, Ltd.;'" applied for-a Renewal of their lease of. a store in Princes street.—Granted. » ENGINEER'S REPORT. The engineer (M^ J. Sturrock) reported: The annual tarring of streets of the' borough has been commenced. South road, High street (from Park to Collins street), arid part of Prince^ street have been coated with Socony^ asphaltum, which we obtained some time ago. This asphaltum is a simifar preparation to the Union asphalt road binder, with which the test was made versus tar opposite Syme's mill. Thattest proved the asphaltum to stand for over two and a half years against one year for the tar. I decided to "switch over" to asphalt, and commenced with ' Glover road last year. Unfortunately the grade of asphalt was not quite suitable, and the surface was slippery. Last year, however, Mr Craven,- the American representative of the Standard Oil Co.'s asphalt department, toured through New Zealand, and waa wise enough to ascertain in every locality the character of the climate. From this he determined the class of asphalt suitable,, and as their price waa best qiir last supply was obtained from that company. The stuff is more costly than tar, but is less "costly wlien the A wear is taken iSho account. I expect the roads iasphalted this year will not require to be coated again for two "or perhaps three years. j INSPECTOR'S REPORT.- \ The inspector (Mr F.; Given) report- t ed that, during the month he had issued 14 permits for sanitary plumbing work and' 12 permits for drainage work. Both plumbibg and drainage work continue to be carried out in a most satisfactory manner. The six extra wire receptaelfes for the disposal of paper, skins, etc., were completed and to hand, and he was erecting; them as time permitted. He was having notices written on galvanised tin, painted white, with black lettering, pointing out the use of these receptacles, in both the English and Maori languages. The natives were undoubtedly the worst offenders. In connection with the boxthorn hedges, which . , were a menace, to the borougn, and for the safety of the public should, be eradicated, because however neatly they may be .trimmed they were still a danger, he strongly advocated, the abolition of those within the borough, and trusted^ that the Council would move in this direction. During the month he had had few complaints; the conduct of the population had been orderly. The health of tbe population of both the borough an^ the• county of Hawera was extremely satisfactory. ~-- \He thanked the Mayor and* the councillors for allowing him the privilege of attending the Now Zealand Sanitary Inspectors' Cnni'erorice lately held in Wellingtpn,/and also for paying his expenses. Several important points were discussed, which 'would be mostbeneficial to tho borough. * i" WORKS COMMITTEE'S REPORT. 1 The Works Committee reported that,,,

though desirous of .assisting the soldiers, they could not" recommend, on account of the risk from fire, the relaxation of the building by-laws in respect to parapets. The application for relaxation made by Mr Thompson was refused. The circular re Mount Egmont metal was referred to the engineer, with power to act. ""■ •■,■

GENERAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT.

The General Committee recommended: That the Park Tennis Club be informed that the Council Could not do more than trim the toi toi hedge\sufficiently to allow of repairs to the fence; that Messrs Wilson andCanham be granted a renewal of their lease for 12 months; that the matter of disposing of the shelter shed, fertces, etc., at the pound be left in the hands of the Mayor, with power to act; that the engineer be asked to report as to the possibilities of the spring in the reserve next the hospital; that the Reserves Committee, with the addition of Cr Joll, go into the of beautifying this reserve7; that a special committee, consisting of Crs Morrissey, Reid, Lewis, and Osborne, be set up to deal with any plans that may be submitted -by tenants of Section 37 in terms of their leases, the committee to have power to act; that the Parkinson bequest be expended in the erection of a fernery at the park, and that the* Park and Reserves Committee obtain suitable designs for submission to the Council; that the chairman of" the Cemetery Committee be authorised to have the path and. yard at the cemetery cottagß tarred £ that the matter of removal and te-6rection of stables be left un the hands of the Stables Committee; that no action be taken in the matter of erecting • a stables cottage at present; that Mr A. Hunter be thanked for the loan of a horse.to assist in the work at the park.. , The reports were adopted. Accounts totalling £2402 19s 4d were passed for payment.

The Mayor explained that there waa a balance of £593 from the £6000 loan which had not been spent on the pur■pose for which it had been raised. This amount had' been lying at the hank earning no interest,^ and was even / a charge upon the Council, and it had been decided to pay the sum into the Public -Trust in part payment of the sinking fund of the £6000 loan. c The Mayor, referring to section 37, borough reserve leases, stated that he had been given to understand that it would De possible* to open up . the streets in five or six: weeks, so as to give tlie lessee; access to their sections. Notices had been served in regard to the removal ,of fences. Tbe leases sb^ild be ready in about a week. The. Town Clerk: They are in the bonds of the printer now.

On the motion of Cr.' Reid the matter of providing a drinking trough in some convenient place was referred to the .Works Committee for a report.-