RICHMOND.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLVII, Issue XLVII, 11 April 1912, Page 3

RICHMOND.

BOROUGH COUNCIL. The monthly meeting of the Richmond Borough Council was held on Tuesday, the 9th inst. Present : The Mayor (Mr James Hunt, in the chair), Crs. Hart, Coleman, Holland, Croucher, and Henman. The statement of balances was as follows £ s. d. Cr. General Ac. £305 5 6 ~ Water Supply Ac. 170 15 11 Cemetery Trust Ac. 46 19 11 Subject to payments, as follows : General Ac. 12 8 8 Water Supply Ac. 81 9 4 Cr. W. E. Wilkes wrote resigning his seat as a Councillor.—lt was resolved that the same be accepted.

Correspondence was received as follows : From the Railway Manager, in reply to the Council's representations as to the state of a ditch on the Railway Reserve at Richmond, stating that the matter would receive early attention. From the Chief Postmaster, in reply to an application to have the local Telephone Bureau opened to subscribers at 8 a.m., to the effect that, in accordance ; with regulations, the concession could j not be made unless there were 51 subscribers connected with the Bureau. From the Telegraph Engineer, in re- j ply to the Council's request to have the | telephone line removed from the north side of Queen-street, and placed on the posts on the other side of the street, to the effect that the line in question is a private one, and not under the control, of his Department.—lt was resolved, on the motion of Crs. Crouch": and Henman, that a further effort be made to secure the removal of this line. From the Under-Secretary for Public Works, drawing attention to a "Gazette notice setting forth the particulars to be furnished to the Minister of Public Works on applying for a license to construct and use electric lines, etc. From Mr J. E. Bartlett, objecting to the terms upon which the Council had granted his application for a water seivice to Lot 11, Henley, and explaining more fully what he required. Resolved that Mr Bartlett be requested to confer with the Water CommitteeFrom Mr Walter Lusty, asking permission to erect a cart entrance culveit to his property on Champion Road; also . requesting the Council to clean out the ditch and to remove a willow tree fiom j the side of the road. —Resolved that permission to erect the-culvert be granted, the structure to be subject to the Works Committee's approval, and that Mi' Lusty be informed that the ditch will be attended to. . Mr L. C. Holland wrote resigning his position as borough dayman. It \vas ; lesolved that Mr Holland's resignation be accepted, and that applications foil the position be publicly invited, the same to De considered at next meeting. Cr. Coleman drew attention to the state of the hand-rail oil the bridge at the foot of Oxford-street, which needed repairing.—Referred to the Works Committee. Permission was granted to the Hockey Club to cut the grass on the pitch. Cr. Hart moved that a final month s, notice be given to Mr Beach to open the piece of road between his property and that of Mr J. M. Croucher, notice having been given some months ago, and hitherto disregarded. The motion was seconded by Cr. Holland, and carried. The Water and Cemetery Committee reported as follows : —The reservoir was visited on the 6th inst., when it was found to be 15 inches below tlie overflow. Repairs to fence round the reservoir enclosure had been made; the road to the reservoir had been made passable by cutting down the scrub; the brambles, etc., within the enclosed area had also been cut and burnt. Repairs to the water main on lower Queen-street had been effected by putting m a length of new pipe, the work of connecting the same being done by a member of the City Council's staff. Laying the new main through Henley was put in hand on the Ist inst., but owing to the dayman leaving the Council's ser-. vice, only one day's work at trenching was done. Before this important woi-k • is re-started, the Committee would recommend that the Council arrange to have the work carried out by a thoroughly '-"liable and competent man. '/Tie proposed extra drainage at the Cemetery was still in abeyance. _ Cr. Hart thought the entire reservoir area should be cleared of noxious weeds. Cr. Holland remarked that as winter was coming on broken metal would be needed. It was resolved on the motion of Crs. Henman and Croucher that tenders be invited for 300 yards of broken metal. It was understood that some of the back streets might be repaired with river or beach 'gravel. 'The Mayor mentioned that Mr Webby had offered to roll the new streets at Henley with his traction engine for the sum of 255. It was resolved that the offer be accepted. It was resolved that the resolution of the 12th March levying a water rate for the ensuing year, be now confirmed. A new property was assessed for water rate purposes. The Committee set up on that behalf submitted a sketch of the proposed gas service, showing the area proposed to be served, the positions and number of lamps, etc. It was resolved that the plan be forwarded to Mr Blackman, with a request that he furnish in estimate of the cost ,and his opinion as to the'finaneial prospects of the propofed scheme. The Mayor read a letter he had receive from Mr Atmore, stating that he was doing what he could to induce the Minister for Railways to appoint a Stntionmaster for Richmond. The Mayor also referred to the fact that this was the last occasion, before the trysting day, that he would preside, and he took the opportunity of thanking iht» Town Clerk for his ready assistance, and the Councillors generally for the courtesy and consideration extended to him dur- ■ ing the time he had been in the chair.