CITY COUNCIL.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 19013, 8 November 1923, Page 11

CITY COUNCIL.

The regular meeting of the City Council wag held last evening, and was attended • by the Mayor (Mr H. L. Tapley), Crs ‘ Douglas, Begg, Clark, Shacklock, Hancock, Wilson, Scott, Sincock, Holliday, Mitchell, and MacManus, The Mayor mentioned that Cr Taverner was absent through illness, and they all hoped that he would bo with them again shortly. PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE. Cr Wilson moved the adoption of tho Public Works Committee’s report. He drew attention to the new departure, of having tho city right-of-ways put in order. The adoption of the report was seconded by Cr Halliday. Cr MacManus moved as an amendment that clauses 1 and 2 of the report be referred back to the committee. These clauses referred to Alercer’s right-of-way, running from High street, to Maclaggan street, re- . quiring tho owners of properties affected to undertake tho work of grading, asphalting, forming steps, etc., ami tho clause referring to the council’s contribution to Ihe new concrete bridge near the Tomahawk Lagoon. He thought the attitude of tho committee was most inconsistent. He questioned the right of the council to contribute a portion of its rates to an outside body. The amendment lapsed for want of a seconder. Cr Shacklock hoped that the. Works Committee would see that the streets were put in good order. At present they were in a very bad condition as the result of openings made bv various departments. Cr Wilson, in reply, said with regard to clause 2 that no reasonable person could take any exception to it. The contribution was a very reasonable one; nothing more reasonable had ever been offered by one local body to another. With regard to tho clause referring to Mercer's right-of-way the Jaw was perfectly clear on the subject, end owners were compelled to attend to such matters. With reference to clause 6 granting the sum of £3O to the contractor engaged in the work of carting boulders from the bed of (he Leith to partly compensate him for the loss of a horse,’ it devolved upon the council to assist such cases, otherwise (hey would not get contractors to undertake work of this nature. The fact that tho rate had been raised from 25s 6d to 29s 6d showed that Cr MacManus was familiar with the position. The putting of the street? in proper order where cut up would be attended to. The report was adopted. WATER _COMMITTEE’S REPORT, CT Begg. in moving the adoption of tho Water Committee’s report, said that late that afternoon the town clerk and he had paid a visit to the Southern Reservoir, and had been delighted to find the water running in. He had been surprised to see the quantity of water already in the reservoir. There was 21ft of water. It had snread all over the grounds and was within 2ft of the top. Tho officer in charge had said that a daily record was kept of the water, and the city engineer had informed him that there was over 21.000.000 gallons of water in the reservoir. By to-morrow morning there would bo over 22,000,000 gallons, lie congratulated the department and the race-men over the attention they had given to the matter. If the race kept’up to its present capacity ho had not the slightest doubt as to what would bo the result. CT Sincock said he hoped next time they were turning on the water into reservoirs the chairman yvould consult the committee, and if the Mayor was out. of town have a telegram sent him. Ho thought the chairman should have consulted his committee on this occasion. Cr Halliday asked if tho report from the engineer with regard to the St. Kilda water supply had yet»been received. lie hoped the matter was not going to be shelved. It was necessary to have more water at St. Clair. It had been reported that there waa no water for the school last Monday morning. That was rather a rare experience. (T Hancock said that there had been no water till 10.30 that morning, and not till 11 o’clock tho previous up to the council to supply St. Kilda with water. The Alayor, speaking in regard to the turning on of the water, said it was up to the chairman to take committee-men into • his confidence over turning on the water, which was of special importance. He thought the chief magistrate should have received an intimation to permit of him being present. Ho wanted to give Cr Begg credit for the splendid work he had done in connection with the water supply. If he (the speaker) had got a telegram at Waimate he would have come down. Probably the public would wonder why he was not there. Ho was sure Cr Begg did not intend to overlook the Alayor or the committee other. Cr Begg said that a fortnight ago he lad stated the probable day for turning the water into the Southern Reservoir, and they had said they would keep in touch with him. The work had become broken, and the staff had not’been working under normal conditions. On Friday afternoon at 4.39 he had received a message that the bottom of the reservoir would he clear next morning. Mr Johnson had taken the matter in hand, and was to notify councillors and his Worship. He had said to let it bo known over tho ’phone. He had arranged with Air Johnson for 3 o’clock on Saturday afternoon, and he went to turn the wafer on. No one regretted more than he did that Abe Mayor was not present. They 3nigh* have held the function till over Sunday. but by Alonrlay afternoon they would have lost four million gallons of water. The policy of the department had been to get the work done as expeditiously as possible, and the water run in. He had got into touch with the Deputy-Mayor, and lie had been kind enough to step into the breach and bad carried out his portion of the function. lie (Cr Begg) was sure that he bad carried it out to tho satisfaction of the Mayor. They could have another ceremony if the council liked when they got the reservoir filled in. Said Cr Begg: “What do yon want? Do you want a blow-out?” Cont Mining, he said as to the renort about the St Kilda water supply, fie had no desire to discuss the matter. Tfie present condition was a matter that lav with the St. Kilda peonle themselves. The same re-mm-ks applied to what fiV Hancock had raid. It had taken the whole carrying capacity to supply requirements for three hours on Alonday. and lie thought the people must, have heop washing blankets and drinking Water all day. The renort was adopted. LIBRARY COMMITTEE. (T Clark moved the adoption of the Library Committee's report. He referred to the Selwyn College Library books. He doubted whether there was a more valuable collection of that class in the dominion. Ho thought the council was under a deep debt of gratitude to the librarian (Air M’Ewan) for tho excellent work ho had done in this connection. CT Hancock, seconded the motion. Ur Alitchell wanted to know how the attendances at the Library were computed. Cr MacAlanus wanted to know why it was found necessary to extend Whitcombe and To mbs’s contract for the supply of books and magazines for another year. He moved as an amendment that the matter be referred back to tho committee for further consideration. Cr Clark, in reply to Cr AlacAlunus, said the matter was all a question of discounts. The arrangement they had with Whitcornho and Tombs was that they got a discount on the published price, and when tho price of books fell the committee got the benefit of that reduction. Cr MacAlanus said that in view of the explanation given by CT Clark he would withdraw his amendment. This was agreed to. Cr Halliday said the council and the city should bo proud of the collection of books from Selwyn College. Ho thought they should advertise the fact that they had such a collection. There were many valuable books still left at the college, which were daily deteriorating. Most of those books were bound in wood covers and were affected by tho borer. He knew that tho Christchurch people were anxious to get some books of the nature of those at Selwyn College, and he thought they should be offered to Christchurch. CT Clark, in reply to CT Alitchell. said the attendances were only approximate. The attendances were taken at intervals and a statement and comparison made. With regard to Cr Halliday’s remark about the Selwyn College collection ho hoped to get a suitable article written on the subject, and the public would then know the priceless collection they were in possession ‘ of. The renort was adopted. RESERVES COMMITTEE. In reply to Cr MacAlanus Cr Hancock paid be questioned whether the council bad sufficient money to concrete the liotlom of the Woodhaugh Swimming Pool. There was quite a good sandy bottom in the pool, which was fairly satisfactory. The report was adopted. GENERAL COMMITTEE'S REPORT. CT Sincock, in moving the adoption of (he general secretary of the General Committee’s report, said four taxi-drivers’ licenses had been refused, not three. as appeared in the committee’s report. He asked that the report be amended in that, direction. This was agreed to.

Cr Sincock said the council had determined to assist tho police in weeding out men Tvho had been shown to be unlit to hold licenses. Cr Shacklock hoped that the committee would take action with regard to the smoke nuisance arising from the running sheds near tho Oval. The Christchurch people were taking action in this matter, and he hoped that Dunedin would follow suit. Cr AJacAlanus thought that before a man was condemned he should be beard in defence. He was not aware that this had been clone with regard to the taxi-drivers deprived of their licenses. The Alayor referred to the highly satisfactory result of Health Week and spoke on much the same lines as he did at the Health Committee meeting last week. CT Sincock, in reply, said he would have inquiries mode with regard to the smoke nuisance, and see if it could b® remedied. With regard to Cr MacManus’s reference to taxi-drivers’ licenses, he would luive preferred that little or nothing were said on the subject. Two of the men had statements which they had signed and which would bo accepted ns condemnatory of themselves in any court of law. In the third case the father of the license-holder took the car away because ho did not _ think his son was fit to continue as a taxi-driver. The fourth case was one where the driver had been convicted in the court. He was convinced that if Cr MacManns had only read the information w-hich the council had in its possession he Would be convinced that not one of the four men referred to were worthy of any further consideration. The report was adopted. GAS COMMITTEE’S REPORT. Cr Scott moved the Ga s Committee’s report and said that as to the coke being dealt out unfairly ho had asked the engineer to prepare a minute in the matter. He found that the amounts supplied during tho last two years varied a little, and probably if anyone had had a preference it had been the railways. But there had been very little to complain of, and the engineer denied that there was any shortage m tho meantime. The report was adopted. FINANCE COMMITTEE'S REPORT. CT Shacklock, previous to moving the addition of the Finance Committee’s report, said he thought that the clause regarding the proposed tramways loan should be deferred, and also that referring to the public works loan, and this was agreed to. _ He then moved the adoption of the remainder of the report, tho motion being agreed to. After the report of tho Supplementary Works Committee had been approved of tho clause in the Finance Committee s report with reference to the public works loan was also adopted. SUPPLEMENTARY WORKS REPORT. Cr Wilson moved the Supplementary Works Committee’s report, and said the idea was five or six years’ expenditure would run into £200,000. It was necessary that they should have loan money to carry on construction works. Portions of tho city had had to wait 20 or 30 years. Street paving must be completed. A sum of money had been put down in the schedule, but it was not a cast-iron schedule. The schedule of works was merely an indication of the requirements of the system. Cr Douglas seconded the motjon, and suggested that it might bo advisable to put the tramways expenditure to Lake Logali in at the same time in tho loan. Cr Wilson said Tie thought if it was made a separate item there was a great chance of it’ being cut out. It would be better to add it. and make the loan £250,000. Cr Mitchell suggested that tho £50,000 would be liable to prejudice the whole thing. The Mayor: Well, we will let this go as it is. Cr MacManua asked what about Tainui 'as a residential area, and what about defective streets in suburban areas. Were they going to ask these people to consent (o a loan proposal when they were going to be excluded. Cr Wilson said no streets in the city had been left out. They were asking for £200.000 as a first instalment out of £433,000. Cl- MacManus expressed himself as being satisfied, and the report was then adopted. ELECTRIC POWER COMMITTEE’S REPORT. Tho Electric Power and Lighting Committee’s report was adopted on the motion of CT Shacklock, practically without discussion.