Queenstown Borough Council

Lake Wakatip Mail, Issue 4484, 10 September 1940, Page 3

Queenstown Borough Council

MONTHLY MEETING.

The monthly meeting of the Queenstown Borough Council was held in the Library on Thursday evening. Present: His Worship the Mayor (Dr. W. A. Anderson), Crs. W. Mclnnes, J. P. Fix, A. A Scheib, G. A. Herbert and H. GauntletHOurtis. Minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, also those of three special meetingsi held during .the month. Outward correspondence was approved and inward received. CORRESPONDENCE. J. W. Heenau ~ under-secretary to the Minister of Internal Affairs- acknowledged receipt of letter regarding the Emergency Precaution Scheme and recinested to be informed in the event of there, being any change of personnel in the organisation.—Received. G. L. Laurenson, Commissioner oS Transport thanked the council for its co-operation in. distributing the leaflets “War—Conserve Resources.’’—Received. A letter was received from the Department of Internal Affairs. Wellington, in connexion with the evacuated British Children Scheme. A circular was to be distributed to all persons who had offered to provide accommodation for the children. —Received,

H. D. London, District agent for the Social Security -Dept, wrote in connexion with ,she recent Arbitration Court Order increasing by five per cent, from August 11, the wages paid to men working under award®, industrial agreements or apprenticeship orders. This decision affected the Scheme 13 work the wages increase to be met by the council.—Received.

L. G. Lynch, secretary Queenstown Football Club applied for a reduct- ’ ion in. the rental of the. Garrison Hall on the occasion, of a dance in aid of the Fighter Plane. Fund.—The writer to be informed that the Hall is granted free of charge for patriotic purposes. The secretary, Dunedin branch of the N.Z. Crippled Children _ Society asked for assistance in. maintaining the Society’s efforts during the period of the war. As a result of the many calls on the public for war purposes- their annual income was likely to suffer materially. An annual grant for three years from the council would be greatly appreciated. —The Mayor pointed out that the. Borough was in the Southland district as far as the Crippled Children Society was concerned and as they anticipated an appeal from that branch they could not see their way clear to assist the Dunedin branch. C. H. McKay. Borough solicitor, notice that in the matter of the Bankruptcy Act of 1908 application will be made by William LoveOl Davis for an order of’discharge at Invercargill on October 29th.—Received. A circular regarding the Emergency Reserve Corps Regulations. 1940, was ! received from the National Service Dept. Wellington. Copies of the

regulations were received.—The Mayor stated that he and Cr. S'cheib had attended a meeting at Invercargill on Wednesday last when the Hon E. Semple outlined the schemes of tire Home Guard, etcs, to a representative gathering. The meeting was most enthusiastic, the Minister being emphatic that New Zealand was worth defending and could be defended. The Mayor was thanked for his report. H. G. Boyds, engineer of the hcav-ly-completed drainage scheme, Avrote asking if everything was' satisfactory and asked for a statement showing the total cost of the job so that he could assess the balance of feesi.— Toavu clerk reported that the statement had been forwarded to Mr Eoydis. The county clerk, Lake County, asked for the Council’s vieAvs on the matter of Hospital levy for capital expenditure. In the vieAV of the. county council it seemed unreasonable to apparently lessen the load on posterity at the expense of the present generation.—lt was decided to support the suggestion of the. County -Council. a C. H. McKay. Borough solicitor, notified council that G. F. Murchison had sold a narrow strip from section 7 block 33 to the owner of the adfoini.ng section. A. F. Griffin, this involving a subdivision Avhich required the consent of the council, also sealing and signing.—Consent given, the Mayor. Cr. Scheib and ToAvn Clerk to sign agreement. •The agreement between James Strang Campbell and the Queenstown Borough Council re sale and- purchase by instalments of the Mackenzie camping ground was submitted to the meeting, together Avith the account for solicitor’s fees and deposit required.—The account® Avere passed for payment. The Otago Employers’ Assn. Dunedin.. Avrote stating that Avherc the amount at present being paid to employees is in excess of the award rate Avith 5 per cent, added, no action under the recent Arbitration Court order need be taken. —Eeoeived. The Christchurch TramAvay Patriotic Committee circularised the council regarding an appeal on behalf of the Christchurch Welcome Club Avbich caters for the entertainment of members of the forces Avhose homes are aAvay from Christchurch. —It was decided to lorAA'ard the letter to the Patriotic Committee for their consideration, it being felt that the council aavus not in a position to contribute to Christchurch patriotic schemes. E. J. LoAven and D. Galbraith, plumbing contractors., advised that owing to the increase in labour and ina-. teria.l costs since their tenders Aveire accepted for the installation of the sewerage under Borough council Loan they Avill be unable to carry out such contracts at the figures quoted. An increase of ten per cent. Avas necessary to cover the extra cost. —It pvas resolved to inform the Avritens that as- the council Avas unable to alter its. agreement the con* tractors would have to get the extra money from the householders concerned.

W. A. Bodkin, MR, wrote in connexion with a petition lodged by the Mayor and Council protesting against the inclusion of the Borough of Queenstown in the Lake County Power Board. As. the matter in dispute seemed to have been settled by the inclusion of most of the Lakes area in the Central Otago Power Board he considered that the petition could be withdrawn.—lt was decided bo instruct Mr Bodkin to withdraw the petition.

Letters concerning the same subject were received from J. O’Shea, secretary of Municipal Corporations, and from J, Wood engineer-in-chief P.W.D., who stated that the intention (Of a suggested draft is that the borough will be able to join the new electric power district at any time it may wish to do so. .upon the council and the Electric Power Board reaching agreement. A copy of the draft was enclosed. —Received. G. D. Cochrane, secretary Municipal Band, made a request that now the town wharf had been repaired the council should erect a shelter at the end. The. pier was .a better place than the Park for the Band to play, there being more likelihood of more revenue being obtained if the Band played nearer the town .—After considerable discussion it was decided to inform the writer that council could not see its way to erect a shelter on the pier. Mrs Jessie Hyndman wrote complaining that the power available for her electric range was totally inadequate for cooking .purposes. The range was. definitely not at fault. An improvement in the position would be much appreciated.—The writer to be informed that the. best supply avariable was fit her service, but the house was at the end of the line. The matter of power was further dealt with in the lighting report.

H. Braden applied for an increase of 4s 6d per day in Iris contract. —After discussion it was decided to offer the contractor a bonus of £lO at the completion of his contract. Librarian's Report

The Librarian reported that the membership had increased to 462 as against 159 last month. 687 books

were issued. Fees and fines amounted' to 18s 3d. The chairman of the library committee reported that the Country Library van had visited the district last month and 190 books were placed on the shelves. Periodicals are being stolen from the read-ing-room and when the offender is caught .action will be taken according to the notice placed therein. Hydro "Electric Report.

H. Tomkies stated that both the Hydro and Diesel plants were in good working order. The dam aind pipeline were inspected, and found to be in good condition, there being a good supply of water. A Quantity of detail work was completed. The telephone had been installed during the month of August. The Diesel plant was in commission for 14 hours during Die month. Electrical Inspector’s Report. W. Nelson reported that two applications for light wore received during the month. The service line iu Ballarat Street from the corner of Camp Street to Rees Sdreet was overhauled. Several street lamp brackets were overhauled. Council was. reciucstcd to make, some date for overhauling the transformer and also to purchase one or two spare transformers to have on hand in case of emergency. The new time switch would be overhauled within a few days.. The Mayor, .chairman of the Lighting committee, said that with regard to complaints about poor light and power the trouble was that the hydro was being overloaded, but when the borough was, linked up with the' Central Otago Power Board this would be corrected. Or. Gauntlett-Curtis said there was trouble from power-house to consumer. The constant overloading was a strain on. the machine. Ratepayers were not getting a fair deal as they were paying . for light they did not use . He moved that the inspectors be invited to a meeting of the! Lighting committee to answer Questions.. The motion, was. carried unanimously. It was also decided to write asking the Dunedin City Council if it had any more transformers. 15 and 5 for sale.. The Electrical AViremen’s Registration Board informed the council that a penalty of £2O is provided for electrical wiring work which does not comply with the safety regulations, land ali-t> a penalty of £SO for any unqualified person doing the work. Any person who refuses to give information that will lead to the identification of the person who did any electrical wiring work on any premises is- liable to a fine of £5. The lighting reports, were adopted, it being decided to send away the time switch for overhaul immediately the new one had been installed. Works Committee Report.

Cr. Schell), chairman of the AVorks committee, in submitting bis monthly report stated that two water connections had been put in. The pumping . station, had been satisfactorily attended to. A number of sewerage connections had been made. The pipeline discharging from the septic tank was not anchored and the pipes were in danger of breaking at the joints fu a heavy swell. The town wharf job

was nearing completion.—Considerable discussion took place regarding the slowness of the work on the town wharf, protests being made that council was not getting value for the money expended. Cr. Scheib said that although slow, a good job had been done. There was more work than met the eye. He paid tribute to Mr J. Powell, overseer. W, P. McDonald Beu Lomond Station had asked the Works chairman to attend to the fence around the cemetery. Ho offered wirenetting for the job and Cr Scheib offered barbed wire—The offers were accepted and the matter left in the bands of Cr. Scheib. The Works committee was authorised to-look into the matter of erecting sinks, wash-basins and conveniences at the Mackenzie camping ground and to put in a report at the next meeting. OTHER MATTERS

It was resolved to approach Mr £. Biattiu regarding the position of caretaker of the Mackenzie camping ground ..offering him a pent-free house and the usual commission in remuner’ ation.

Cr. Scheib stated that Mr Prior. P. AA r .D. had inspected the concrete mix* er, which he valued at £2lO, and bad promised to report to P.AV.D. jobs in various, districts he visited. Arbor Day was fixed for AA'ednesday September 18th., the usual program to be submitted to the school authorities, viz; tree-planting on the Queenstown Hill and sports at the One Milo. A vote of £4 for prizes for the sports was made. It was decided to plant young poplars from the Gardens.

Cr. Herbert was appointed a mem ber of the Lighting, AVorks and Li brary committees.

Or. Mclnness suggested that a check valve. be installed in Henry Street to reduce the water pressure in the town and send a greater pressure. up the hill to give the householders on the higher levels’ a. better supply. He also made a suggestion that the channel at Brewery creek spring be piped or a- wall of concrete be crocted to retain the water.

Or. Scheih pointed out that there was seepage which would be Lost if the channel was piped. A culvert would improve matters. Gallons of water were going .to waste. —The committee was instructed to attend to the matter and report at next meeting.

Or. Gauutlett-Curtis spoke of the large amount of shingle being deposited on the water float as far along as the wharf. Alter some discussion it was decided that the matter of removal be held over for a time.

The notice of motion laid on the table by Or. Fix at the last meeting, viz- “Miss McTnnes having ..given .satisfactory service as librarian, the po---.sition, now be made a permanent ome , ,’ i) was passed unanimously. A lengtl iv report from H. G. Boyds, regarding the working of the sewerage scheme was read. The writer staled that a little constant vigilance and attention to points, which lie had outlined would usually prevent anything going wrong. Accounts were passed for payment as follows: District fund account ,£613 13s 3d; sewerage account £2O 11s.