THE DRAINAGE BILL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLV, Issue 13780, 19 June 1908, Page 7

THE DRAINAGE BILL.

■EXPLANATION MAYOR. • REPLY TO A CRITIC. Six last night's meeting of the City Council the Mayor (Mr. A. M. [Myers) reported that' the town clerk, engineer, and himself had : examined the Drainage Bill carefully, and '.. ' having regard to the vital interests concerned he thought it should commend itself to both the City Council and the suburban bodies. It was fortunate that the proposed .'. measure had been published in time to alV low- of it being submitted to Parliament in the early days of the session. There.would bo a meeting of those concerned in the .drainage scheme the following evening. ..-<'■ ' The question of Greater Auckland would ho .shelved for the time being. Mr. C. J. Parr: What do you want us to do to-night? . The Mayor: To pass the resolutions passed some time ago at the conferencewhich have not so far oeen agreed to by this Council—with one slight alteration, which I have taken the responsibility of making. ' This, continued the Mayor, referred to the clause by which three commissioners were to be • appointed to allocate the amounts to be paid by the various suburban bodies interested. This now read that the basis of allocation should "be determined by an assessment made by the city engineer," giving each local body who felt aggrieved the right of appeal if so desired to the Supreme Court. Judging from press reports, continued the 1 Mayor, several objections were being raised by "local bodies to details of the Bill. In . the Mount Eden Borough Council reference had been made to the question of representation,, and it was resolved unanimously that the contributing bodies should have direct representation on the Drainage Board. On February. 26, at the conference of delegates, it was resolved that the only satisfactory manner of dealing with the drainage from the various districts, both in respect to efficiency and cost, was by carrying it out under the control of a, single authority. Again, on March 11, at a meeting of the committee set up by the conference, it-was resolved to ask-the local bodies to assent to the prosecution of the work of '' : constructing the main outfall sewer by the city, and to the city having in the future the full control and maintenance of such • main outfall sewer. The One-tree Hill Road Board, on March 20, approved of this. " It will tliereforebe seen," said Mr. Myers, •'.-. . -that the Bill as drafted only carries out these resolutions." The Mayor went ■on to refer to the xemarks of the Mayor of Mount Eden, with regard to the question of the basis of assessment, which, he said, were some- "• what contradictory. 'Mr. Nicholson was reported as saying that he thought the • basis of assessment was unfair to the borough, which he thought should only be called on to pay as far as its own, junction with the main sewer was concerned, ."'-.'and later on he was reported to have said that he considered the assessment the best. that could be devised. After referring to the alteration made in drafting the Bill, i , which disposed of the setting up of a epecial tribune to determine the allocation ; .of the 'assessments, the Mayor said, the '. newer Would be constructed for the benefit -and "health of every member of the comanimity, and it was therefore perfectly rea- ' sonable that he should bear, through the rates, his share of the cost of the drainage facilities provided for the property owned by him, and this could best be done by making the assessment on the basis of ' the ratable value. As different systems of rating existed, the capital rating value was taken as being common to fill. "It is true,'. continued Mr. Myers, "that !; one district may be enabled to connect its "'/ reticulation with the main -outfall sewer •earlier than another, but this is no argu- '." , tnent why any district should not be called ''::'' . upon to pay its- proportion.-of the cost of works which are being constructed and pushed forward as rapidly as possible to ;;■ ' meet its requirements. Throughout its en- • tire length the sewer is designed of suffi- •'■",. cient size to take the drainage of all the districts, -and, therefore, from, the initiation of the scheme' each district to be benefited should cheerfully bear its share of ' tliVcost of the expenditure, which is being made'really on its' behalf." With regard to the matter of administration expenses, the Mayor said it was quite a mistaken idea to connect the scheme contemp- , -dated under the Bill with the reticulation ' ; scheme of any district. The Bill was for the purpose of carrying out the construction of one or more main lines of sewers or drains, and such main outfall sewer was to.be constructed by the" drainage board. The reticulation of each district, including . - the city, would be carried out by the council or board of such district on lines approved by the drainage board's engineer, , so that the'whole scheme of drainage might fit in (reticulation and outfall). ..The administration expenses referred to would, therefore, be the administration expenses connected with the work that was to be undertaken for the benefit of all the ; ' districts and would not be connected with - the reticulation of ,',ny particular district. The Bill, however, contemplated this diffi- ' culty, for section 41 provided that the preliminary expenditure and th; first - ' two years' interest should be capitalised. _ '■ -';.• Mount Eden also considered that the powers of clause 21 (empowering the Drainage; .:.:.;•'!•■ Board to erect and use buildings, etc., and ■ do all such works and things in connection with drainage, as are required for the carrying out of the work entrusted to it) should be limited. "It is impossible in a Bill of this, description to define exactly what shall bo done in this respect, and the powers, ■given to the Board must necessarily be of a more'or less general character," said Mr. Myers, who stated further that whatever the Board did under this clause was limited to works in connection with drainage, sewerage, and sanitation. Mr. H. M. Smeeion; You call it a Drainage' Board? The Mayor: Yes, on the city solicitor's advice. Tho title will suffice lor want of a better. .The committee will go carefully through the Bill to-morrow, when Mr. Parr, I hope, will be present. Mr. Parr: Yes, I'll be there; and. you ;■.'■' will have the pleasure of listening to a few objections. ■ ' On the motion of- Mr. Entrican, the seal of the Council was attached to the resolutions of the conference, with the alteration indicated. ".- ; POSITION OF EDEN TERRACE. At a special meeting of the Eden Terrace. Road Board power was given to the .chairman, as delegate, to object to certain, clauses in the Drainage Bill, viz. .*— , . (1) The constitution of the Drainage Board, clause 5, 'where the Board would •.-■•■ hot be represented; (21 the powers of the ••,. Drainage Board, clause 21; (3) the hand- ';'.,'■''; ing oyer the/entire control of the drainage area ,to the representatives of one "portion only containing barely half the . total population. ■"'•'' ~~ '. r "■ ORAKEI MAORIS OBJECT. : ' N. Raweli, Orakei, wrote to the Coun- : cil to say that the natives residing at ;°. Oiakoi would not -agree to the sewer pipes • for the city drainage scheme being hud m front of the Orakei settlement, as proposed j ■".■'■ , in the plan. The ground of objection was <-' the complete destruction of the beauty of the settlement and beach that would result. ' . A deputation, on the subject will bo re- , ceived by the Mayor and-..Council' at 10 ; '--.,,; u'< luck this morning.