GORE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Mataura Ensign, 22 April 1913, Page 7

GORE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

THE MAYOR'S HOXCEAEIUM.

The ordinary meeting of the Core Borough Council was held last night in the Council Chambers and attended by the Mayor (Mr D„ L. Poppelwell) and Councillors Martin, Paterson. Smith, Rhodes, Burrows, McDougall, Fretwell. Christie and Kelly.

CORRESPONDENCE. Smitli and Dolamore. solicitors, wrote forwarding a memorandum of a lease from Mrs Landels to the New Zealand Express Company, which provided for a right-of-way and required the consent of the Council. The matter was referred to the Finance Committee with power to act. F. W. Mac Lean (inspecting engineer of railways) wrote regarding a conversation he had had with the Mayor on the 4th ult. with reference to the vatant section at the corner of Main and Hedwav Streets with a view to con-

I turning* the Main Street footpath.in a t «traight line to Medway Street. He ■tated that there did not appear to lie fcnv reference to the matter on the , Departmental files and if the Council r ■rished to proceed with the matter it Nrould he well to write to the district •ngineer. The letter was received. I Robert Richardson, Croydon, wrote I applying for a license to cut dead wood \ in the Croydon Domain for a period to fee determined by the Council. The ■natter was referred to the Reserves .■ Committee to prepare regulations. T. S. Oswin (Government Valuation Department) wrote stating that owing to"pf«ssure of work the valuer would the somewhat late in completing valuations of new buildings, and he wished to intimate this in order that the Council might defer making its estimates of the 1913-14 rates if necessary. The letter was received. ; R. Bleakley (health inspector) wrote: atating that he had received a com- , plaint from Mr A. Latham regarding a i nuisance arising from a deposit on a lection at Gore. The writer stated that as the matter was one concerning • the Gore Borough Council it fcrould doubtless have the matter attended to as early as possible. K. Cameron (supervising inspector for the Department of Public Health) wrote to Mr Latham in response to a .communication from him on this subject intimating that all such matters within the Borough of Gore should be brought under the notice of the local authority which had very full powers under the The letter was received. [ FLOOD DAMAGE. Thog. Ambrose wrote stating that the Bfences on sections 8, 9, 10, IJ, and 12, Pfelock XVIII., Gore, had been comr pletely washed away by the recent l flood, ;ind he asked the Council to give k borne assistance to re-erect them. • If ■ the Council would provide the material rthe writer would find tlie labor. The L letter was referred to tho Reserves ■ Committee with power to act. K John J. Kennedy also wrote with reBference to the boundary fence between Hgthe Domain and his property, which Mhad been washed away by the flood. ¥ flhe domain was leased by Messrs Shirley and Wbytock and the writer had to i arect a fence which would cost £G ss. ►• He asked the Council for half the cost.

fEh'e letter was referred to the Finance .Committee with power to art.

H. \Vhittingham and Co. also wrote in reject to the fence anlund Block H of the domain, which had been washed

•way by the recent flood. The firm was quite willing to erect the fence if the Council would find the material. !At present the section was of no use *nd was only on yearly tenure. Shirley *nd Whytock made similar application. The letters were referred to the Finance Committee with power to act. A. Kroning (inspector of works) reEorted that the damage to the streets y the flood was bring repaired. Main Street had been almost fixed up. Ontario Street had been badly scoured, but had been repaired. Other streets bad also been attended to. The river was too high to obtain gravel. A small bridge over Broughton Street had been Washed away but had been replaced. Several of the willow trees on the Mataura River bank had been uprooted. T4ie report was received. W. Scott (electrical engineer) reported' that owing to the flood the generators at the Mataura Electrical Works bad been damaged. He was assured that repairs were being effected as quickly as possible. A trial run had been made, but it did not prove satisfactory. So far as the local works were concerned little damage had been done. The pump motor had boon hauled clear of the flood. The series transformers were submerged but were in satisfactory working condition now. He estimated the damage to the fences, fittingß and furnishings connected with the works at £2O. The supply. wires running underground from the switchboards to" tlie distributing pole were fairly low for testing purposes but need cause no anxiety in tho meantime. He recommended that ihey be removed at intervals and placed in suitable insulating compound. The fire engine had been put- into commission on April 1 and had been running continually ever since in order to cop© with the demands for water. He respectfully ashed t the Council to increase his remunorjtw&in whatever way it might deterterjmine. The letter was received and •dthprjty given to carry "out the work suggested.

Before the meeting was declared closed the Mayor was asked to temporarily leave the rccm, and Councillor Burrows was voted to the chair. The chairman stated that ai this was the fast meeting of tho old Council over which the Mayor would preside it was the usual.custom to hand over the honorarium to the Mayor. On the motion of Councillor Smith, seconded by Councillor Paterson, it was decided that the £75 honorarium be handed over to llr Poppelwell. Councillor Fretwell said that tlr.> incoming Mayor, whoever he might be, would have a very heavy year's work to face, and he considered £75 quite inadequate to recompense him for his arduous work. He therefore gave notice to move at the noxt meeting of the Council, "That the Mayor's honorarium for the ensuing term be fixed at £100."

Councillor Burrows, on handing the Mayor the £75 honorarium, said that the Councillors unanimously agreed that this amount was a very poor compensation for the loss of time and the great amount of work which, he (the Mayor) had given to the affairs of the borough. On behalf of the councillors the speaker thanked Mr Poppelwell very heartily for the courteous manner in which he bad always treated the councillors, remarking that they could all depart ktijwrrflg that there had never been an vefalj scene in the Council during the Mayor's term in office. The Mayor then resumed the chair, and in returning thanks for the honor-

arium received and the kind remarks nmde by Councillor Burrows, said that he was quite aware that any grant made to the Mayor was not in the nature of remuneration for work done, but as a gracious appreciation of services rendered. As this was the last occasion on which lie would preside over the present Council, he wished to take the opportunity of expressing to c'e and all his appreciation and gratitude for the courtesy which bad been shown to him during his term in the Mayoral chair. There had been occasions on which they had not agreed, and times when there had been a strong difference of opinion ; i'hil there was a vast difference between that and unruly scenes. Never once during his term had it been necessary for him to say more than "Gentlemen, I must.ask you to pay attention to the chair." The Mayor concluded his remarks by stating that it had always been a pleasure for him to preside at the Council meetings, and he hoped that, though they had often had differences of opinion, they would still be good friends. He also expressed the hope that his successor in office would have as smooth and enjoyable a period of office as lie (the speaker) had enjoyed. GENERAL. Accounts amounting to £l.>"o 14s were passed for payment, the principal items being:—lnterest on loans £778, broken metal £lßl 16s 6d, cartage, £9B 10s. sundries £1.32 12s, electric light poles £4O. wages £319 los ( (id. A. Kroning (inspector of works) reported that during the month 11 mudtanks had been put in. The willows alongside the river should be trimmed. The willows were also affecting the Waikaka. He recommended that the water from Talbot and Wentworth Streets should be taken past the East Gore school and into the Waikaka River and not down Hamilton Street as at present. The report was received. The Lighting Committee recommended :—(1) That Mr John Day's application for electric light installation in Hamilton street, East Core, be granted ; (2) that the neeossary polos and wire ho ordered in. accordance with the engineer t* recommendation ; (.1) that the transformer in Wigan street be removed as recommended by the engineer; (4) that the incoming Council be recommended to either increase the engineer's salary or make other arrangements; (5) that the extra staff at the pumping station he paid 25 per cent more than the Jiward rate : (Pi) that a spoeinl vote I of £2o be voted i:, Sir P-ot'i !■:;;• hi;-| service.- in eonne-tion with the tern-1 porary water supply.