THE GASWORKS

Marlborough Daily Times, Volume VIII, Issue 1955, 11 September 1886, Page 3

THE GASWORKS

I’UBLIC MEETING. Tho statutes}' rrn etiug to consider the question of the Corporation borrowing the sum of 1,14,000 for the purch m and extrn i >n of 'he Gasworks, or the ercc ; '/ tion of now one;, was held last night in \ Evvh t's flail, Between (jO and 70 burgesses were present. 'flip |oo)< the chair, nnd s*id Ijpt »s the ntfe|)dauco wag so sip ill Jl-> ijljestioned whether they should go ou with the uoJtng. Nj doubt the untoward |;iroumstanci*s unier which they met were responsible for this. The meeting wag, howtver, to n large extent a fqrini} ouo, and as tile reporters w.-re pre.eut the whole of the burge sls would know vrhat had taken place, and he thought it would be as well to go on with the business. He would retd the advertisement convening the meeting. The Mayor went on to say that the p oposal t) b irrow LI 4,000 for the purchase or erection of gasworks hal been before the burgesses for some time, and it was already understood that it was proposed to pledge a shilling rate as security for the sum to be borrowed, A public meeting had been he'd ou Jane 10th at which resoliftion'q had been passed in favor of thy Bqrough owning the Gasworks, and hp Council had prop jeded to act on the fesuhj.tions ; the other evening iu comlllittee the Council had dimussed the niatter for two hours, and they had Arrived at tbs oonolusiou to go to the

length of LI 2,001) for the purchase of the Giiswo ks, and if '.hey could not purchase hem fur that to erect taw ones. Mr Pritchard had off red the work* to the Bo ougli for L14.U00. an 1 they had now •o cocs’d r what they should offer, Mr Li.,h’fo(.'t, who had valued the works at ilie t quest of the Con il, consid red hem wmth 1.9926 At N w Plymouth, where the cui.sumptii n was r.itlur smal or liaii in B eidnim, the value of the works was 1,6f1u0 : and the p ice of gas was 12s 6d. Assuming li,,t ti.c Blenheim works wire worth ab nt a fourth more ttiao hose of New Plymouth it would bring ihc value to ..limit L975U. In his opinion the vitlue of tlie works would not be in excess of Lit),out). The large gasholder now b. ing erected was iiuicti larger than would be wanted for- the present generation an I of course th. y sli ud not pay for w I;ii they did not want. He mentioned t is by me wiy.liu 1 it was a mater they should ke pin view. There wai another way of arriving at the amount they Hoould give for the works, and that mis the amount of profit ..ml i tcrest they would require to make it worth their while to purchase the w m ks. The dividends paid on g.is shares ranged from 16 per cent to 10 per cent, but lie would be willing to accept the lowest rate. There 1 was another important ronside ation, and that was ;he price they should charge for their g'S. As the price ■ f gas was 12s 6.1 per thousand in New Plymouth where the consumption of g.s p-r annum was about 3,000,00 > cubic feet, he thought the price in Blenheim might reasonably be about 11s 61, but his calculations were based on the same rate as New Plymouth viz., 126. The annual expenses in connection with the Gasvorks would amount to L 1650, and the returns L 2502 which would leave a profit of L 952. tie had ascertained that the sum of Ll-1,000 could be borrowed at 6 per c- nt, and by putting by LBO for between 40 and 60 years as a sinking fund, they would extinguish the debt. He had ascertained that they could borrow the money for 60 years. At the ra‘e of I2s 6d the works would only pay 8 per cent interes’, and the sinking fund, but if they reduced it to 4i fid they would be Lit to the bad. The various valuations were nc.r'y all about L 9,500, and tic y might consider tl at *s the value of their works, hut not Lo be ungenerous he would say LIO.OoO. The Council were disposed to allow Llooo-for goodwill, and also took into considi ration the fact that at fiist the proprietors could not have fouud the works a profi able concern, and thus they had arrived at thtir decision to offer LT2,000, Thoy had also borue in mind that it would cost LIO.OOO to erect new works and if they decided to do that they would be paying interest for a long time (while the works we o being built) without any return. He thought if the prrpiietors refused their offer the Borough should proceed to erect their own works, and the burgesses Bhould then imniedix’elyeonnecl their services with the borough mains (Hear, hear). The C'ouocil proposed to borrow L 14,000, as they would require some capital to work upon. Even if the burgesses gave them consent to the borrowing of L 14.000 his own idea was that the Council should only borrow L13,0G0, and if they erected their own works perhaps L 12,000 would be sufficient. He was not sanguine that then would be an increase in the quantity ofthegis sold. If they reduced the price the consumption would be inc eased, but this would cut both ways. In conclusion His Worship explalued that the rates would not be increased, as the works would pry their own expenses, anrl there was no chance of the shi ling rate being collected. If they neither bought the preseut works, nor erected new ones, they would have the Wairau Gas Bill making its appearance in the House again, und it might pass, if they could not, as they had done before, urge t l at that the corporation intended to posj.’si the Gasworks. He would be glad to answer a_uy questions, or hear anything that the "burgosses had to say on the subject. Mr Earll hoped the burgesses would sanction the borrowing of the money. He instmc.d the success that had attended the purchase of Gasworks by the corporations in other towns, lie would moved— That the loan as propose 1 by the Borough Council be obtained. Mr Renfrew secondej the motion pro forma. Did His Worship know that the plant of the present works was old, and would not increase in value. Part of it belonged to a shipwreck (laughter) The Mayor was not aware of it. Mr Renfrew thought the best way to have ascertained the value of the works would have been to have called for tenders for new works. They were asked to pay for a gasholder that was larger than they would require, for some years by the Mayor’s own showing, In answer to Mr Gillespie tho Mayor said he thought they might go on aDd erect gasworks, but could not sell gas until tho agreement between Mr Pritchard and the Corporation expirodMr Dodson, M,11R., said that if they did not purchas Mr Prichard's lworks, he no doubt would go on aying mains until the expiration of his time, lie (Mr Pritchard) was not prevented from doing that, and they need cot think they could snuff Mr Prichard out. He believed the Corporation would do wisely in giving Mr Prichard L 12.000. Ho was not aware that the plant was old ; the gasometer might he, hut tho mains were all now. People must have gas, and unless thoy decided to purchase tho gasworks tho present proprietors would bavo a monopoly. Ho hopod tho proposal would be carried at tho poll (cheers.) Mr J. Williams, who had several times interrupted previous speikors, spoko in favor of all nving the question to remain in abeyance for the two and a half years remaining of Mr Pritchard’s contract. Mr C. Williams asked Mr Earll how it was he proposed to givo Mr Pritchard a L2OOO boi us. Mr E >rll poin'ed out that it was usual to give something beyond the actual value for a going concern. Mr C. YVi'liams said they had employe.l a valuer ; why not abide by his valuation ? Why should they not call for tenders for the erection of gasworks, and e uploy a lot of men who were now idle ? Air Renfrew—That’s the tjcjm.t, ojd man! Mi’ Augustus qsked whether Mr "Williams would sell his business without a bonus. Mr Williams: That depends on whether I could command it. Other speakers having given their views, the Mayor said tit t if fh- y erected new works the interest while they wore build'ng would amount to Lloo\ and before tbe works became profitable they wot.l l have cost quite L2 )00 over the LI0,0l)0 which it was estimated they would cost. The motion was put and uanied on the voicei with a few dissentients. The Mayor s *id it was not worth wl ile to “ count noses,” as a poll would have to be taken Mr Djdson and others tnought that as the vote had been challenged a show of hands shon d betaken, nud this was done with tie following risult : —Ayes 30 Noes 2, the disenttents being Messrs J William’s and Renfrew. The Major anounccd that the poll would be takea sn Saturday week, and after tne usual compliment to the Chairman the meeting terminated.