AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIX, Issue 15174, 13 December 1912, Page 9

AUCKLAND CITY COUNCIL.

i y-^'r COST OF-STREET. WORKS.

EXPENDITURE QUESTIONED.

Mg TAR LEAD TO BANKRUPTCY

; Tjffi Auckland City Council mot last even- • r present: The Mayor (Mr. C. J. Parr) JVlwsrs. J. Court, R. T. Michaels, p jj' Mack ay, .1. Trevithick, A. J. Entri- ' p J. Norheny, J. C. Gleeson, F. E. v ' Gaudin, J. M. Mcnnic, M. CaseV. K. Tndehope, G. Read, and J. S.

discussion on the state {thfl citv finances took place. It began when the Council was asked to sanction th« expenditure of £3300 for the formation of Shelly Beach Road. Mr. Gaudin questioned whether the Council was justified in spending this amount in view of the state of the city's finances- They all knew that they could not are tlm rnonc -- The Mayor said that tho Tramway Company had submitted plans for the laying of the tramway, the road would have to came up, and the work was necessary, fhs trams would not run until next

vear. ■■ " Mr. Gaudin: Look the matter straight in th« face; is the work really needed? I am not going to countenance a vote like jhi,. Why is it wanted? \ Councillor: To let the trains go

down. Mr. Gaudin: Then lot tho trams wait. The Mayor said that the question of M cess to the beach had been on the : Council's conscience for a long time. The (fork had to be done: and although ho 'had himself been surprised at the cost, it aaust be carried out. Mr. Bash (city engineer] said tho cost was not extravagant. The street was 2200 ft long; and as tho trams would occupy practically the whole width of ." the portion now metalled, they had to consider the present road formation as virtually non-existent. The cost was, according to his estimate, about 30s per ./ running "foot, which was really quite a - moderate figure. , '' ine Council then agreed to the execui tion of the work. '' At a later stage in the meeting, reference was made to the use of a tar-sprayer in Qneen-street. the engineer reporting '■> '■'<'' that the first coat spread by the machine ,''' cost -just under 21d a yard, and the " ' second lid, the cost for 9000 yds being ' about £60 for the second coat. The Mayor and others expressed surprise at If' the cost, and the Mayor said that the i,v; t engineer must be careful' with this tar- . spraying, or he .would land tho Council $F - in the bankruptcy court. ;&< Mr Entrican exclaimed, that the Council had agreed to £5000 for repairs of sewer., and £3000 for the Shelly Beach v- 1 Roads, without any difficulty, but now they said that a few pounds spent on tar would mean bankruptcy. The Mayer said that tho works passed

were necessary.

A SITE FOB A NEW PARK.

t OFFERED TO THE CITY.

. A site of 50 acres situated just, over the city, boundary in Grey Lynn was offered ' to the Council for the purposes of a park. I .The block was described as having 1 a fronts age of 1313 ft to Wolsley Crescent, -while ; from the crescent to the -water it was said to have a depth of 2332 ft. Further, it was pointed oat that tho land was only five minutes" walk from the Richmond Road tnun terminus and 15 minutes' walk from the Hern® Bay terminus. The price asked £20,500. ' offer was referred to the; Endowi&fof. Committee for consideration.'

pm!'* :2i, A PLUMBERS' DIFFICULTY. EffflP;

INFORMATION WANTED.

■ The Auckland master plumbers wrote !; -vy" drawing attention to the fact that they exi writ—ced considerable dift.culty in obtain- .' . log correct information regarding plumbfj'iffeincr "work ordered by or tendered to the Citr Council. They requested that public ■ tenders should be called for all municipal -' plumbing work above the amount stated "i in the by-laws, and that all other work bo jft equally divided. ; The city engineer reported that ho was having the complaints looked into, and f'v,; added that he was asking for further in- /:. formation. In the meantime the matter f * ' was referred to tho Works Committee.

A HEW STREET NEEDED.

• BETWEEN UNION AND NAPIER

STREETS.

A petition was forwarded by the ')£ owners and occupiers of property in the .. vicinity of Union and Napier Streets, who urged the Council to take a piece of land ' .'•• ; lor a road between the two streets. The petition pointed out that there are no ■ ' . Wildings on the land proposed to be , : . . taken. The petition was referred to tho . [Works .Committee*.

MIXED BATHING,

INQUIRIES TO BE MADE.

. The question whether mixed bathing (should be allowed on Shelly Beach was briefly discussed. Seme of the members declared that the adoption of the system ' sooner or later was inevitable and the difficulties of regulating the bathing when certain hours were set apart, for tha exclusive uso of either box were referred to. Instances were quoted of the annoyances which women suffered through the intrusion of men upon the beach ■when they were bathing, although it was I said the caretaker did liis best. - Further consideration of the question •; vas deferred, ponding inquiries into the l; best methods for regulating bathing.

MISCELLANEOUS ITEMS.

DRIVERS' CONDITIONS.

v?! The result of the recent conference be--1 tween the representatives of the City • Council and of the Auckland Drivers' ; .Union was reported by the city engineer. He recommended that the wages of twohorse drivers should bo increased from -£2 12s to £2 14s. The report was adopted, with the exception that suits of . - . overalls should not bo provided for dust- - men, " '■'< The Council's employees are to be . _ granted a holiday on March 8, 1913, for the purpose of holding their annual picnic.

Tenders were accepted in connection ■v With the new power station as follows r; ; Linoleum, Messrs. Tonsou Garlick. £43 - 19s 6d; demand indicators, Mr. E. J. «nn, £754 4s. /t' The town clerk submitted a sugges/f''£y • t °n that season tickets for bathing ►hV privileges should bo made interchangeJfjfgj. ftble among the several public baths, but 'ifl'fi?'. 9 Council decided to take 110 action. < ' ; Permission was granted to the Teleifhf B r aph Department to extend its uncier- , 4 ground system from the corner of Albert •X \ toil Wyndham Streets, along the eastern l§f|l Of Albert-street to Wellesley-street. wllfiSr thonco along the northern side of i§|P*ley-Btreet, and across Queen-street '■''fxfe corner of Lome-street. new volumes for the public 'j|,' *brcxy, costing £31 18s, was adopted. It Miw *ws> decided to accept an offer of A. SpiEftrlo'g "View of New Zealand" (1838) Ste^% iSIIFl 5 city treasurer reported that ho £160 ° worth of debentures in, i/X i «S improvement. loan,

In connection with a recent accident winch resulted m the death of a cabdriver, the Council received a recommendation from Dr. Murray that applicants or drivers _ licenses should produce a medical certificate as to sight, hearing, and whether they have suffered from injuries to the head. The matter' was left m the hands of the. Mayor. ' t'M 10 £ ou . ncil resolved that on account of the Christmas and New Year holidays, riu. 0 meet next on January 23. The Council went into committee to consider a number of proposed increases m the salaries of members of the staff, I'll© matter was finally doferred till the next meeting of the Council.