The Drainage Plans.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XL, Issue 7790, 15 March 1904, Page 5

The Drainage Plans.

A Payment to Cr Bastai

Its Legality Questioned.

A special meeting of the Borough Council was held last night to discuss the legality or otherwise of paying Lr. Bastin £225 for production of plans of the septic tank system. Tho Mayor, referring to the business in hand, said the meeting at which it had been decided to pay this amount to Cr Bastin was perfectly legal but, according to the Borough solicitor, this particular business had been illegal owing to an informality in giving notice of the busAiess to be transacted Cr Tolley enquired if the Mayor ruled the business referred to null and 'void.

| The Mayor : I do not know fiat I have ruled it, but the Borough solicitor has decided that the special meeting theld, on Feb. 25th was legal so far as the first portion of the business was concerned, but on the second portion his opinion, formed on the. notice sent to Councillors, was that the business should not have been taken without notice of a "(further special meeting to consider the drainage scheme." Those words had been omitted, and ther^'orethe lattosf portion of the business of the special meeting was informal. Cr Tolley : Then we commence de novo, but I wish to know if we can discuss the question of voting money to a man already a member cl. tihe Council ?,

The Mayor said he thought the question of paying Mi- Bastin was on all fours with the problem, " if the Council purchased goods from a tradesman, not in the Council but who was subsequently elected thereto, would the Council be justified in refusing payment after the tradesman entered the Council ?" He did not think the law on the subject, which was the information desired by Cr Tolley, applied, to work done before -a Councillor took office. Cr France said he did not think Cr Tolley wished to show spite in connection with the payment of the money to Mr Bastin. ! Cr Tolley : He is paid already ' Cr Franco ; _es, but it can be refunded. If there was a desire to place the Council upon a legal footing the discussion was very well, but if not, then iio good purpose could be served 'by further discussing the matter.. He thought the only thing' necessary, or that the Council could do, was to act on the advice of the Borough solicitor- and pass the motion in a legal form. He, consequently, moved " that the Council pay Mr Bastin £225 for the i production of plans for the septic I tank as authorised by the Council and the balance of £425 to be paid to Mr G. L. R. Scott."

The Mayor did not put the motion, "but, continuing the discussion, said that at the last meeting t-he question on which they seemed to split was whether the vouchers in connection with the work should 'be produced to the Council. He understood Mr Bastin was prepared to produce them to the auditor "but did not think he should be called upon to show them to the Council. Cr.Tolley said he had. objected at the time to the way it was proposed to spend the money and if his m&mory served him. i-iglit Mr Bastin had promised that any payments made should be under the control of the {Council and the Council would know how the money was being ;paid. It was stated at the "time that' a ceruain firm in the South was to be employed jin the production of tpe plans, and it was only right the Council -should know if a portion of the money had been, expehdod in that' way or not-. He considered the dignity and integrity of the Council was at stake. Cr Bastm, he understood, was willing to produce the documents but there were names attached to them that he was not willing to have published. It was a1 very nice state of affairs for a public "foody spending public money. He thought that for the credit of the Council, as evidence of its integrity and. of the integrity of Mr Bastin and everyone else, it was absolutely necessary the vouchers should be produced. To have them produced he was willing to go to any length the law allowed. He objected to the .Council passingl money to a Councillor—Mr Bastin was a Councillor—Cr. Tolley emoting the Act in support of his contentrbn to that effect. He appealed to the Council to refuse to vote the money, for the sake of its own crdit, till the documents were"produced. - One Councillor—a resolute nia-n^—who was absent thait night, intended to bring- the whole matter under the, notice, of the. Government Auditor and have the business properly overhauled. Rather than have t-iiat done the Council should take a firm stand and have the vouchers produced. The Ijest friends or *Hr Bastin should insist upon that course being adopted. A desultory discussion followed Cr Tolley's remarks, the Act being searobed as to whether Mr Bastin was a Councillor yet, he not .having made the- necessary declaration and whether the Act prohilritod payment for work done by a' person" before he became a Councillor Ultimately it was decided to adjourn till to-night, <and in the meantime tihe- BorouWh Sdlioito/T's opinion will be Obtained on the ajuestion of the paymerit of the money.