HARBOUR BOARD.

New Zealand Times, Volume LXXI, Issue 4466, 20 September 1901, Page 3

HARBOUR BOARD.

Tho monthly mooting of the Harbour Board was hold yesterday. There were present Messrs H. Beauchamp (chairman), W. Cable, W. Booth, G. Fisher, N. Reid, 11. Cook, J. G. W. Aitken (Mayor of Wellington). heave of absence was granted to the Hon F. 11. Fraser, M.L.C., Mr T. Wilford, M.H.R., and Mr T. VV. Gale. The bank books showed a current account credit balance of £B4IB 17s 4d; Imprest wages account credit balance, £450; and on fixed deposit, £83,000. The following payments were ised :—Accounts and wages, £5316 10s lid; progress on contracts, £6022 7s Cd; salaries for September, £475 6s lOd : total. £12,714 os 2d. The chairman reported:—(l) That tho tender of Mr Allen Maguiro for Contract No. 107, for the construction of store “U” at Waterloo quay, had been accepted for the sum of £12,166 8s Od; that tho agreement and bond had been signed, with Messrs Hamilton Gilmer ana John Duthie as sureties. (2) That Ih© tender of Messrs S. Luke and Co. for contract No. 108, for the supply of hydraulic jiggers for the gum of £994, being tho lowest, and in order, had been accepted, and that the agreement and bond had been signed, with Messrs John Duthie and John Banks as sureties. (J) That tho tender of Messrs S. Luko and Co. for contract No. 109, for tho supply of two steer m.-oring buoys for tho sum of £349, being tho lowest, and in order, had been accepted, and that the a"reeraent and bond had boon sig ne(; l> with Messrs John Duthie and John Banks as sureties. (4) That the tender of Mr Timothy Hayes for contract No. HO, for the supply of ten thousand loads of filling for the s um of £625, being tho lowest, and in order, had been accepted, and that tho agreement end bend had been signed, with Messrs J. J. K. Powell and Michael Bohan as sureties(s) That in accordance with tho advice of tho solicitor to the Board a petition under tho seal of tho Board had been presented to Parliament in opposition to tho Wellington Harbour Board and k"—• Corporation Empowering Act, 1898, Amendment Bill. (0) That the Wellington Harbour Board Act, 1879, Amendment Bill had passed both Houses of tho Legislature without amendment. The Board thanked Mr T. M. Wilfoid, M.H.R.. and Hon C. J. Johnston. M.L.C., for their assistance in taking charge of the Bill. (7) That tho City Council had consented to the connection of a system of fire alarms j from the Board’s property to tho Central Fire Station, and that a letter of thanks had been forwarded. (8) That the lessee of tho bookstall, Mr W. L. Aitken, had made default in tho payment of rent therefor. Tho Board resolved to take possession, arid that a leaso for throe vears be put up to auction. 1 The Wharves and Accounts Committca recommended tho Board: —(1) To re-de-posit tho sum of £BOOO, falling due on tho 21st inst., with the National Bank for a term of two years- 2. To ask permission from the City Council to place a weighbridge in the roadway of Jervois quay adjacent to the present weighbridge office, and if permission, ho granted to have a bridge erected. 3. To approve of plans for concrete wall and breastwork staging outside Customhouse quay and to send game on to the Marine Department for approval of the Governor in-Council. 4. To affix the seal of the Board to foreshore licenses to Dr Fell and Mr John Martin. t>. To call for tenders for hydraulic and return water valves required for the breastwork services from the Queen’s to the Glasgow Wharves. (6)-To authorise the National Bank to pay to Mossrg STiand, Mason and Co., the balance of £367 os Id, due to them for fire engine. (7) To draw tho attention of the City Council and the Melroso Borough Council to the narrow strip of land at tho head of Divans Bay lying between the road and the foreshore" and which is now being brought under the Land Transfer Act, and to sugges'. that a deputation should wait on the Premier to urge that power should be f m to the local bodies to acquire the 1- <1 for public purposes. Regarding the last clause, the chairman said that the owners of the urawford estate were desiroug of bringing the strip referred to under the Land Transfer Act, with a view of cutting it up. In his opinion, the land was suitable for a recreation ground, and it would oe a " pity to build on it. The engineer said ho understood indirectly that it was tho owners’ design to cut up the land into building sections- IVhen the Government made a military road across the isthmus to give better access to the forts, a strip had been left which the owners had fenced and now proposed to cut up. This was objectionable from a sanitary point of view. The land was included in Melroso borough, and could be taken by paying, compensation for it. After some discussion the recommendation 6f the Wharveg Committee was unanimously agreed to, and the composi*; tion Q f a deputation to the Premier on the subject decided upon. It was also resolved to write to the Hurt County Council, directing; it» attention to a matter affecting foreshore I rights at tho northern end of Day’s Bay, 1 where the owner w’as making a site just above high-water mark for an accommo dation house.