CITY COUNCIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 4259, 13 November 1874, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

The fortnightly meeting of Council was held yesterday at the Provincial Buildings. Present—The Mayor [in the chair), Councillors Dransfield, Mills, Burrett, Greenfield, George, Moss, and McKirdy. A PERSONAL HATTER. t Mr. D. Anderson was in attendance upon Ihe Council to complain of the conduct of the Inspector of Nuisances, who had summoned him to Court to compel him to remove a closet the required distance from the adjoining premises. The closet was removed, but still the Inspector found fault, although other closetsin the locality were not the required distance ■ from the adjoining premises. It seemed to him that the Inspector was not actuated by a spirit of fairness. The Inspector said he never took action in any case until complaint was made to him, and in this instance complaint was made by Mr. Anderson’s neighbor. The closet was most unquestionably in a very dirty state, a statement which could be borne out by Dr. Johnston, who inspected it. All he had done was to insist that the law should be observed. No decision was come to. , THE CITY HATE. Mr. J. Hill complained in person of theexcessive valuation placed upon his premises, which had not been altered or added to since last year. The rate was altogether excessive, and he hoped the Council would reduce it. Some discussion ensued as to the right of Mr. Hill to appeal to the Council Councillor Dransfield called attention to the fact that the City Solicitor had already advised the Council that they had no power to hear appeals. The Mayor was of opinion" that the Council had the power, and suggested that the City Solicitor must have overlooked Section 212 of the Corporations Act, which gave the Council power to hear appeals. On the motion of Councillor Dransfield, the matter was referred to the City Solicitor. A DRAIN WANTED. Mrs. Lockyer, Mulgrave-street, petitioned the Council to provide means for carrying off the surface drainage from her premises. Re"ferred to the City Surveyor. GENERAL RATE. The City Valuator's report, for the purpose of striking a general rate for the ensuing year, was read. The report gave the following, valuation : IS7 «- v2SS£. Increase - TeAro .. £57,893 .. £38,801 ... £19,535 Lambton 40,979 .. 28,763 .. 12,216 Thorndon 2S,SGS, .. 20,202 .. . 8,181 £127,201 £87,320 £39,035 The Council fixed the rate at Is. in the £. COLLEGE-STREET. The tender of R. Lyon, for formation, &0., of College-street, was considered, the items of the tender being—Forming, £156 ; kerhing, &c., £97 10s. ; box drain, £156; total, £409 10s. . Councillor DransfiEld suggested that the expense of forming only be agreed to, making the cost to the Council £7B, the other half being contributed by the inhabitants. Councillor Moss objected to the outlay, on the ground that they were not benefiting any inhabitants of the city, but a private company. This was not a legitimate work, or one which the Council should accept. It would be time to form the streets when they were petitioned by householders resident there, and. not. by private speculators. Councillor Burrett took exception to the remarks made by Councillor Moss. There was a general outcry for dwelling-houses, and it was not right of Councillor Moss to fly in the face of those who endeavored to meet what was admittedly a ■ great want. The company " was rather deserving of credit, instead of disparagement such as Councillor Moss would throw upon it. Councillor Dransfield stated that as he was interested to the extent of 24 per cent, in the company, he wished to know whether he was debarred from voting upon the question.

The Mayor said Councillor Dransfield was not disqualified. ... .. councillor George opposed the motion on the general principle that it was the duty of private speculators themselves to form streets through their property. On a former occasion he applied for permission only to make a street through his property, and that permission was refused. It was, therefore, scarcely fair that, after such a refusal, the Council should now not only give permission to form a street, but assist to form it. Councillor Dransfield said the request of Mr. George was that he should be supplied with levels for the formation of his street, and as the Surveyor advised the Council that they might lay themselves open to pains and penalties if they did so, the request was not complied with. A general discussion ensued, during which Councillor Dransfield applied for - leave to withdraw his motion, which was refused. Councillor Moss said he would not oppose the formation of the street, if they could obtain any guarantee that the company would not come to the Council for further.expenditure on account of this street. The Mayor said he was greatly in favor, of facilitating the erection of dwelling-houses and forming streets, but he had always opposed the expenditure of public money on private streets. In the present case the expenditure would be judicious, and he should therefore support it. The motion was then put and carried, on the understanding that the expenditure should not exceed £7B. A CURIOUS EPISTLE, Mr. AV. Payne and ten others forwarded the following letter to the Council: —“ AVe, the undersigned, would like to know how long the Council intend to tolerate paying the ratepayers’ money to drunken workmen, and whether the escort who take them home get paid, as was the case on Thursday last, when one Morrison had to be taken home blind drunk (as usual). But what matters ? It’s all one price, work or play, drunk or sober. This has been going on for years, but we hope the time is not far distant when Council men get on the spree it will be at their own loss and not that of the ratepayers. Trusting you will find some more profitable way to spend our money, you will oblige yours truly,—AV. Payne and ten others.” The Mayor complained that the letter had not previously been shown to him. Councillor Moss considered such a letter should never have found its way to the Council table, and the Clerk was much to blame for not handing it either to the Mayor or to the City Surveyor. The Surveyor explained that the man referred to had been discharged. The matter then dropped. CLYDE-CLIFP, A letter from Mr. J. E. Fitzgerald, ClydeCliff, requested the Council to form that part of Hawker-street leading to his residence. A general opinion prevailed that the work should be undertaken upon the residents agreeing to pay half the oost, and the Clerk was instructed to reply to that effect. TURNBULL STREET. Mr. R. B. Bannister, and three other residents of Turnbull-street, prayed the Council to provide a temporary water supply for the inhabitants of that part of the city. Referred to the City Surveyor. BOULCOTT STREET. Dr. Kemp drew the attention of the Council to the want of proper drainage at the junction of Boulcott-street and the Terrace. The Clerk was instructed to inform Dr. Kemp that the matter could not be attended to until the contract for the formation of that portion of the Terrace was proceeded with. WATER SUPPLY, TINAKORI ROAD. The Mayor announced that he had received a letter from Mr. AV. R. B. Brown, with reference to a water supply for the lower end of Tinakori road. " ■ Referred to the Surveyor. HOBSON STREET. A letter from Air. C. C. Graham, Secretary to the College Trustees, drew the attention of the Council to the fact that the contribution of the Council towards the formation of Hobson street, amounting t- £279 3s. 10d., would be due on the 4th December next. APPLICATION FOR LEASE. Messrs. B. Coffey and Co. desired to be informed upon what terms the Council would

grant a lease of about 60ft. of the Te Aro foreshore, to enable them to carry on the business of shipwrights. Mr. Coffey said he ■would require only two or three mouths’ notice to remove, and would claim no compensation. Councillor Mills said the proposal was one which should be at once agreed to; in fact, the Council should support all attempts to establish industries of the kind. Councillor Moss considered that by granting this application they would establish a bad precedent, as applications would flow in in number's afterwards. The Mayor hoped it would be so. The application was agreed to, the draft agreement to be submitted to the Council. M'LAGOAN’S STEPS. Mr. J. McLaggau drew the attention of the Council to the state of the steps near Jacob Joseph’s store, leading from Lambton Quay to the Terrace, and requested that they might be placed in repair. On the motion of Councillor . Mills it was: agreed that the work should be done, at a cost not exceeding £3. BOX DRAINS. Mr. J. M. Cleland applied to have two box drains laid down in front of his premises in Tinakori-road. Referred to the Surveyor, to report at the next meeting of the Council. ROAD METAL. Mr. Wilson, quarryman, forwarded a proposal to supply the Council with second-class road metal at rates specified in his letter Referred to the Surveyor, who informed the Council that the stone would cost about 2s. 6d. a load. WATER SUPPLY —MARTIN-STREET. An application from certain residents of Martin-street for a water supply was referred to the Surveyor. CONVEYANCE OP ROAD METAL., Mr. A. Garstin, railway manager,, informed the Town Clerk that he desired further information before furnishing a statement of cost of conveyance ■ of road metal from Ngahauranga to the Wellington railway station, as requested by the Council. STONE-BREAKING MACHINE. In answer to a communication from the Town Clerk, the Provincial Government intimated that they were prepared to dispose of the stone-breaking machine at present being used at the Upper Hutt, for £l7O. THE MARKET'RESERVE The correspondence between Mr. Taylor and the Council relative to a lease of a portion of ’the market reserve, was laid on the table. The original application of Mr. Taylor, dated May 9th, 1870, requested permission to erect a chapel on the market reserve for the “ Old Particular Baptists,” which application was granted; but instead of erecting a chapel, Mr. Taylor put up a shop and dwelling-house on the site. Councillor Moss said he was under the impression that Mr. Taylor obtained a concession on account of the ground being required for the erection of a chapeh Mr. Taylor’s lease, however, was drawn up in the same terms as the other leases, and it was held that there was no power to interfere with Mr. Taylor. WATERWORKS COMMITTEE’S REPORT. The Waterworks Committee’s report recommended that the claim of Mr. Schultze should not be entertained, and advised that the matter should be left in the hands of the City Solicitor, as provided by the Act. It was also recommended that the offer of the Gas Company of four-inch pipes at £l2 10s. per ton should be accepted, provided the Surveyor could obtain sufficient to carry out the extension in Taranaki-street. The' Surveyor was authorised to purchase 100 casks of cement at £1 os. 6d., to repay some borrowed. It was also recommended that £IO,OOO worth of debentures, of £IOO each, bearing interest at 7 per cent., term seven years, interest payable at the Bank of New Zealand, Wellington, be printed, these to be placed in the hands of the Manager of the Bank of New Zealand for sale at not less than par.The report was adopted. SURVEY COMMITTEE’S REPORT. The following report was read : —" The Survey Committee being of opinion that the first paragraph of the advertisement is not essential .to the proposed, drainage,of, the' city have determined: to ask each o£ the, tenderers to separate their - tenders, so as to enable the Council to accept a tender either for the whole of the work or only , a portion, the Town Clerk to forward a copy of the memorandum attached to the advertisement to each of the tenderers. The committee having considered the letter of His Honor .the Superintendent of the 29th ult., recommend that a reply should be sent to inform His Honor that the work proposed to be performed will not give the amount of information required to carry out a complete scheme of drainage, therefore, the proposal cannot be agreed to. The report was adopted. COMMITTEE MEETINGS. Councillor George brought under the notice of the Council the difficulty experienced in getting together a quorum at committee meetlings. Very frequently business was greatly delayed for want of a quorum, and he thought the number should bo reduced from three to two. The Mayor ruled that Councillor George should give notice of motion. INSPECTOR OF NUISANCES’ REPORT. The report of the Inspector of Nuisances : ■was read. The Council then adjourned.