Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1911. NELSON MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVI, Issue XLVI, 26 June 1911, Page 4

Nelson Evening Mail MONDAY, JUNE 26, 1911. NELSON MUNICIPAL ADMINISTRATION

THE ENGINEER PROBLEM. IT is satisfactory tlia.t the City Council ■J 1113 decxkxl tt> re cons idea- .ths whole question of the appointment of an addi-'t'iiKi.-al professional ofticiajl before finally committing itself to call' applications for 'the appointment of a. gas engineer. The •mat-tor .is tci be discussed at a special meeting on Thursday evening, <to "which the report of the Gas Com,mitte,e has "been referred, and ifc is hoped that 'C/oiinciUCors will review the oositio.n care- . . • fully b-efo.r® arriving, at a final decision. The present situatiqn is tlrat :the .City Surveyor, wild" has been relieved of the duties. 'of gas engineer without relinquishing the fu'i sala.ry of his dual pest, has been on sick leave, whiich has expired without his .return. It is more tha.n doubtful if he will come back, and it may be assumed that the post is tpractiically vacant. A lia.rg-o maj.crity in the. Council desires to appoint a gas >Einginieer with duties separate and virtually independent from those of the City Surveyor, and' the proposed remuneration is £350 a year. In the first place, it is doubtful'whether a first-class man would stay long fcr that salary. In the we'xt, in view of the condition- of the drainage, and the certainty that .import a nit and critical work will have to be uinderta.k.ern as a matter of urgency iin coiwnectiotn with the water supply, it does mot seem possible, desirable, 'or .economi.ca.l .to carry oil much. luiniger without a, City Engineer. N,o efficient. professional man, even without tho •charge .t|f the gas supply, can. be secured at much -imder £350 or £4OO <a year. lianoe, 'w,ith a City Surveyor and 1 a. g*ut eingine<?ir eni-pl'oy-c d, the annual cost would .be a,t leaeit £7CO. On tb? other hand, the ariiniual •expenditure of the city has gradually increased of late years till it is now nearly £3OOO per anm-unii more 'tha.n it- used t.-i be, without a. corr-esp'ondiMig increment in revenue ; and' a- large outlay oil drainage restoration! -a-nd water-,supply improvement- musit be fa,qcd ;befi.ttie very long. Can the ratepayers .staind tliisse additional burden's, with the .normal increased annual 1 expenditure and the £7OO a, year fcr eingin.eers (or over £2OO a year bevo.ui'.l -t-lic nrosoiTt pnvmen!} .added 1 ? *** " * »

What would' Ire the rios-itio-n with, a gn* ■engineer ami ,n;> City Surveyor ? Of all i- tic- problems of the city services the gas is the least troub'.c-souie. It does not pay a.s it should, it is true; a.nd' there is waste in leakage, a.nd im.ore ought to bo m-ndo .of it. But the .supply is n,\:t •adlitaK.v inferior a.lid lire service at Va-?t its way. Beyond dou.bi, Die time has t-o-jr.-:' fin- i-C/ii'-wal of ww-u-out 'mains, and there should be. management t.-v promote rat.her than hsndcr extrusion. But while a gas engineer with duties co.u'fin•od to the gn.s woilk:- and su,p7)ly migln effect some im'provem.?n.t, he would havf nothing t/- do wii-K ether e't.y iprc'olemt that urgently diimaiul solution—which nKist enta.il the- ro-st of profe.s w:o-nal advice and mn-haps eyem siia>ervision. The tendency, under thes-'-e eondiitioiis, might t.- • drift- back into a system that has •a.jw-ays (jjrevailod liere, ■of combining? the ouiees if gas .&!:igin.e«i' and City Surveyor, and gradually the diutLes of the -latt-e-r miig'ht- be taken ovor by the former, and th.e offices mig.h.t be a.malgamrjtied. Jn other words, t.h>e city wc.u:ld siim;ply return to a that-hadi bcco*a-lterad, it being discovered mtjuths or years that itao a..'uCirat'ion had ibc.en made without r.ide.quate results.

Neither ratepayers no r the C'oiiiwil any kni.g?i- can blitik the fact that the »je:\v -system of drainage is not septic, whatever e.ba it may be. TI-js sewage is not- /parsing through the ,se,ptic taink. but through the bypasses into the harbour. Every storm fili.s the pipes with watdr. a.nd a.s a proof t-he ejectoT-sitaticns a.rs pumping .f," inr times .as much a®- they should. In some places, notably in the Waimea-r.oad, connections eanniqt be made, as the main, sewer reticulation has never been oom(p!,efced. I,n. either districts, .every time there is heavy .rai.n tha ma.n-hc'es overflow with s:t.o>rm water, aind -the choked l piipeg cause them to act like geysers. Olbviously, to secure the full beniefits cif .a srj'stem that hia.s cost t'h.e I'accpayers a great- deal c.f .money it wil'l be neec£sary to unde.rta-ke further fixpe.ndLture, and to employ constant ';iu-pe-rvisicvn, for a t-ime at least. W'ill it .pay to have .such supervision d.c.n.e by a -consulting engiwaer fmm a dista.nce ? Apparently, under these conditions, the presence >of a good City Engineer is essential, <ind in. this matter am .official' who it. .siiniply a- gas ie.ngmeer will not be of . much use. Thi&n, thiere is it he water supply. Aftier adxr.'cet has) been, obtained from an. expert, it will be ineic.essa.ry to carry out the work such expert iwciiimends. Will it pay to liave the co nisuOting eiiigijieer making numc-rou.s visits aiiidi chairgi.ng for them, instead of having a. man on the spot on a, definite :amiual salary as Oi-ty Surveyor ? Where would the gas c-nig'ine'C-r "come in" under 'these ccuudi-tic-res ? • Presuming, therefore, thiat the n.eTids of Nelson: demand' the employment of a permanent- City Surveyor as wel!,'- of a gas engineer, the expenditure to be faced with -two officials employed is at least- £7OO a year, with .neither drawing the salary that can be c'.'aim/e,d' and secured by efficient .professional men. In these circum.sta.nccs, and en the ba.sie of th.e city's means, it. is eibvious that the appointment of a gas engineer would be premature t: II the whole question of having iir doing without, a City iSuryeyOr is thoroughly threshed out. It is liciped that the consideration of the 'Gas Gcwtnmit.te.e's report on Thursday e.veiiii.ng will bs on 'the lines i'ndicaited in our comments; for the need csf .tlva ■appointment of a gas engineer is .not .nearly so urgent as a S3ttiem>eiit of :the other 'nuait-. ters to which .attention ha.s bean drawn.