PROGRESS OF HAMILTON

New Zealand Herald, Volume LX, Issue 18411, 29 May 1923, Page 9 (Supplement)

PROGRESS OF HAMILTON

! MUNICIPAL ACTIVITIES o I ° o o o _

I FOUNDATIONS OF A CITY o o a I POPULATION FORCES THE PACE o Q

I the lines of traffic, ready to he put down in a permanent way. ' Gas and water mains where necessary have been moved to the footways, so that once a street has been laid down it will not be disturbed. The engineer has been obtaining full data in connection with the new plant required for bituminous macadam work, and v.-ill shortly be making an inspection for the purpose of selecting the most suitable. Up-to-date machinery must be ready on the site when the other conditions are such as will allow the work to proceed in full swing. Electric Lighting. The council's electric lighting system j is now almost complete. During the last j year 1500 dwellings and business places have been connected, and at present from 40 to 50 premises per month, are being added to the number served. The revenue to date amounts to £18.561 5s 2d. The surplus on the first year's working was approximately £6000.* The loss on the- old steam plant is being met by a grant from this surplus. In addition £1500 is being - transferred from the surplus to pay for new services, and the balance is being kept as a working capital. The general " rate for power purposes ranges from- 3d nett for up to 200 units. . The price is reduced on a sliding scale to l£d for units used over 500 units. The cost of lighting to the consumers ranges from 8d nett up to 100 units, and 6jd over 500 units. Tenders for the bulk of the street lighting material have been accepted, and it is expected that the whole of the borough will be electrically lighted before winter sets in. > T ew electrically-driven pumps have been installed to deal with the water supply, and these have been in operation for .10 months. The system in use is of the latest and ensures a rapid delivery of water to the reservoirs. The pumps are operated automatically with the rise and fall of the water in the reservoirs, and at a minimum of expense. Tenders were accepted in No-t-ember for the supply of 200 chains of ivater mains, and as the material comes o hand these are being installed to assist the " pressure in ' the outlying areas. is a result of the council's work, a much mproved water service, has been given o the residents of Frankton, as well as . much better pressure. Waterworks Loan. At the last council meeting:, authority ■-as riven for the issue of £6100 of the JIO.OOO waterworks loan, and this money rill • be * available - for further waterworks xtensions. The Waterworks Committee fesires Jo increase the capacity at the eservoirs and to enlarge the mains wher- J ver this has been rendered necessary by easoh of the great growth in various arts of the town. About 120 chains of i-ew- pipes have already been -laid- in •the Yankton area, and tenders are now beinc ailed for the' laying of an additional 89 bains, the bulk "of which is in Hamilton last. . Tenders are also, being called for - nrtber supplies of new pipes and file, epartment %'■ busy preparing - plans for ' new 1.000.000-gallon reservoir, and in Warning prices for the raising of the 00.000-gallon reservoir so that it will be a'pable of holding 500,000 gallons. Detailed inquiries are being made residing various filtering plants, to deal dtb the impurities of the supply. At he moment the water is being chlorinted to kill various bacteria, which are j resent in the natural supply. This has he effect of bringing out an unpleasant avour, due principally to vegetable mater" in the water, but the water itself is erfeetly safe to drink, and it is noticebis that since the cblorinator was intailed there has been a marked dimuniion in the number of cases of diptheria i the borough. The sewerage system, -ithoi;t doubt, helped to bring this about, ut the Health Department's officers are repared to give no little part of the redit to the "chlorinating. It is hoped hat earlv in the new council's term of ffice the* department will be able to put .ill particulars before them of the best lethods of purifying the supply, and of j [iminating the unpleasant flavours. Gravitation- Scheme. Question has' often been asked hv the council has not embarked a' a gravitation water scheme, ut the council considers that the j •esent is probably not an opportune time ! r install a gravitation system of supply. { he cost at present day prices would be | jproximately £200.000,* and at the rates J interest charged to-day the scheme in>lves a verv heavy burden for interest id sinking fund on'the ratepayers. Even ith such a supply, increased reservoir pacitv will be necessary, and the water j self, within a few years, would require I eatment to ensure 'its purity. The ex- I •nditure now proposed will fit in with I iv scheme of gravitation, and a saving of j pei cent, on the interest charges will ; can a saving of £2000 \xr annum, while ; ,- waiting it is also probable that the . pita? cost of the scheme will lie niatt-ri-ly reduced. Throughout the borough the watermains c being increased in size, and a larger ea is being reticulated with 4in. and 6in. pes. The Gas Department's business has also own with th» town, and as in'the case electricity, reductions in the price have en made. > Of 'he Kin iti..t.ev* raided, £12.000', > been alb tied It.i extensions in the ! Mricity -eivH-o and £4030 for the i-oun- , 's .-hale m the io>t oi the Whatawhata idge. Generally speaking, the loan? for e various works have Veen raised on . rm> "hi. h will compare advantageously ; _ ith those obtained by larger cities. , The -mi; of £2000 lias jJ<t been spent | enlarging the Hamilton Public Library, j - adinc and mantes io< in. and in carrying ° t various impioveoients in the building, jo ie reading room is now equal to any in ] O un« of anything like the farm popu- j ° lion as Hamilton. The reading room is 0 iout to be bnilt at a cost of £2000. f>n o site given by the Jolly Estate, at ° ■ankton. and provision is being made to j 0 crease the size of the building as soon as ; o e snm of £1500, which i* expected to be j ° reived from the ( arr.rgie Trust, is to q nd. r o House numbering has been completed ' 0 i-oughout the borough, and a scheme : o ider which anyone desirous of having j O bbisb removed can do so at a reason- . ° i<- pi»«-e has been inaugurated. o Throughout the whole of its schemes the | ° unci has taken the broad Tiers that it j o better t. ; hasten slowly and in see j O at the bit!dens of the ratepayers will j Q it be unduly heavy when the tune ar- jo res. and it is necessary to strike rates j o pay tor the y~ 'i»' charges wrapped! ° > in* the works, winch .-.re being prose-j 0 ted in order of their urgency. Where J o is possible to hold off until the rate O interest drop' still further, this course | 0 being followed. I o The loans raised during the past 12 0 ..Dili? compare very favourably with o ose raised by other centres. 'the great O Ik of the payments for interest will j '° made within >ew Zealand. (OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO'OOO - : ."■--.:-.-■;'..-!>--

o o o 0 ° Fe - *- toirns in New Zealand have made O . the progress Hamilton has made during O 'he last few rears, and in few Towns O . O has there been the activity in municipal o . ,",.„., o enterprise as is fo he noted in Hamil--0 jb?n. Public services have been installed 2 at great expense to meet the require- ° intents of the ever-increasing population. o and the town is now well equipped with o ■nailer, sewerage, electric light and ° pov.ver, and gas systems. Private enters' prise has been active to a Ten- large O exfimt, and progress in this direction has O been maintained with little abatement 0 righlt through the slump period 0 It was to be expected that the returns 9 for t>uilding would show a slight rednc--0 tton -compared with the average for the o previous four year?. The contrary, bowO ever, .has proved to be the case, for the o nunfoar of permits is nearly equal to q those 'issued during the boom year, while ° the values are well maintained. Permits o to the number of 457 for buildings and o additions valued at £257,628 were issued O during 1922, compared with 585 at o £216,247 for the previous 12 months. ° 475 at £392.882 for the boom year 1920- ° 21. and 366 at £234.252 for 1919-20. In o O eluding btu'diiigs erected by the Governed ment and for which no permits are 0 issued, it is estimated that the average O value of building? in each of the last o four years is not less than £275,000. O For the 12 months ended March 31, 2 1925, the cost of buildings erected, ino eluding Government was ] 0 £245.955. Dnirng t?Te financial year just 5 closed 215 nrw houses were built at a ° cost of £135,775, while 69 additions were o O made to bouses at a cos-t of £7923. o■ m , o Twenty-one new business premises were ■ o erected at a cost of £55,162, while 128 ° additions were made to business premises ° at a cost of £18,450. The money spent o on buildings, exclusive of Government o buildings, was thus £217,510. o . 0 Kemarkable Figures. O According to the 1921 valuations, the ° j capital valuation of Hamilton is ° 801.000, and tin* unimproved value o , o £2,181,047. The amount of loan moneys 0 borrowed up to March 31, 1923, waa o £458,180, and the sinking funds provided § amounted to £25,329. The loans placed. 0 but not vet raised, total £165,900. The o * . . 0 -population of the town is officially given ' H o l us 13,-000. In the interests of health the JO programme of sewers drainage works has |° been ntivly prosecuted. 'l"he sura of 0 £60,000 vao raised during 1922 and has O been practically spent. Payments have o averaged £5000 per month. A farther O £45.0p has been made available for ex- § pendsjje 011 sewerage during the next ® nine months, j o The work, must of which follows deq previous in the ground, has been canned $ out Dv contract, as far as possible, at 0 prices which compare more than favour- : o . ably with the engineers estimates.' Up ! o to March 31 of this year there have been O completed seven septic tanks with a coin- ° bincd capacity of 429,290 gallons, two O aerobic filters, 337 manholes, 101 lampo holes, and inspection chambers and vent. o columns. Altogether, 82.980 lineal feet, ° or nearly I6i miles, of pipes have been ° laid. The council has connected • 724 o O buildings, and has made the service O t ~ O available to 1180 vacant sections. 8 Few people realise the magnitude of q the worK being carried out in connection O with the council's sewerage scheme, for O the septic tanks are mostly in out-of-the- ° way gullies where they could not be seen O unless specially looked for. The sites had O been chosen in accordance with the prin- i ° ciple of gravitation, and therefore they O were in low-lying places. The council has 5 had many difficulties to overcome in eon- ° nection with it;, sewerage scheme. Many O . O visitors have inspected the works, and 0 have expressed their- surprise at the size o ' . Or of tlie system and tin* quality of the work. 2 They had remarked they had no idea that O such his undertakings were in progress O It. "l 0 in Hamilton. O o Drainage Operations. ° Schemes are in hand for completing O the storm water drainage of the borough. 0 but no great amount of work will be done 0 for some months owing to the fact that O the council's staff will he hilly occupied ° 0:1 sewerage drainage work, and it is O not considered advisable to proceed so 0 fast that competition among contractors O will l>e reduced to a minimum. Several ® permanent works in connection with O streets have been completed, or are in 0 course of completion, notably, the im.o provements at the east end of the traffic O bridge and Garden Place wall. Kerbing O and channelling has been earned out in O additional street*, and a number of stormO water drains have been piped. The sum 0 of £5000 was raised for streets work in O connection with the £80.000 loan and O £2000 raised for assisting persons to eonq re.-; with the sewerage system. Work o ha« been going on =toadily in connection ° ";t'i each of the schemes since the propos--0 a)« *<e<re carried and the bulk of the stormO "a'": money available has been spent or O fomrn tments have been entered into that 0 v. II ahsuib it before lons. For year; O pa-- out- ..f the great difficulties local 0 l«>d'es in the WaLkato have had to face 0 ha« been the trouble to obtain in any 0 quantity a first class tough Milestone O I metal win!: wdi stand up under heavy c traffic and to set assured deliveries so that O ' a scheme <_.:' any size could proceed con--2 ' Sinuously over a period. An arrangement q j was recently entered into with the Prisons O j Heparin-:*::, under winch the council has O the first call on their output from the new 0 plant they are installing at Mount Eden. o and thin this difficulty has been surO mounted and the new council assured of 0 a good supply of first quality metal and 0 'hips aT a reasonable price. The work 0 will depend upon weather conditions, so ° ilia' it is not expected that any great o showing will be made until the spring. 0 Meantime, when the council can lift the q metal, it will be moved to dumps along o , _ o 0000000000000000000000000000