CITY COUNCIL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21300, 2 April 1931, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL

FORTNIGHTLY MEETING The fortnightly meeting of, the City Council was held last night, and was attended by the Mayor (Mr R. S. Black), and Crs Begg, Wilson, Mitchell, Wilkinson, Campbell, Tapley, Scott, Marlow, and Shacklock. LIBRARY COMMITTEE. Cr Tapley moved the adoption of the ‘Library Committee’s report. He said councillors would be pleased to see that the attendances at the library were on the increase again. He referred to the gifts of books which had been given to the library, and said that Mr Coventry, of the Bible Depot, had given the council four most valuable volumes, these haying been presented by the Church Mission Press more than 100 years ago. It was interesting to note that one of the volumes presented to them had been the property of the Rev. W. Lawry, a missionary in the South Seas over 100 years ago. He was sure the citizens would appreciate these valuable gifts.— (“Hear, hear.”) The motion was carried. RESERVES COMMITTEE. Cr Campbell moved the adoption of the Reserves Committee's report. He said that the railing being removed from the reserve in the Octagon was to be erected round the Littlebourne Park. The railing was intended to safeguard the cricket pitch, but there was no intention to prevent the public from going on the park. The report was adopted. GENERAL COMMITTEE. Cr Mitchell moved the adoption of the General Committee’s report. He pointed out that the council was entrusted with a very important duty in regard to the granting of licenses for the running of motor buses. They had discovered that some vehicle drivers had been carrying passengers at fares which brought the vehicles within the interpretation of a motor omnibus under the Motor Omnibus Traffic Act. The breaches had been referred to the city solicitors with instructions to prosecute the ofienders. Dealing with the question of the smoke nuisance from the locomotive sheds at Kensington, the divisional superintendent of railways had written to the town clerk stating that the department was anxious to eliminate as far as practicable the nuisance. For some time past a fuel known as “smokeless fuel ” had been used when lighting up engines, and though this had been fairly effective in the elimination of smoke during lighting up, it was not suitable for steaming purposes and bad to be replaced with ordinary coal as soon as the engines left the sheds. Experiments had been made in the use of a special class of anthracite coal, which compared very favourably with smokeless fuel in smoke elimination and at a very considerable saving in cost. The use of the anthracite coal was being adopted at the sheds. The department’s coal expert was coming to Dunedin to make arrangements for the use of this coal and the best method of firing. The nuisance caused by smoke should now be reduced to_ an extent that would scarcely give any justifiable cause for complaint. The report was adopted, WORKS COMMITTEE.

Or Wilson, in moving the adoption of the Works Committee’s report, said that the committee recommended that the oner of Mrs G. Mills of the sum of £225 cash for one of the council's building allotments in Forbury road, being the allotment numbered 2, subdivision of part sections 46 and 291 R, block VII, town district (Caversham quarry), be accepted. The area of the allotment was 31.58 poles. The report was adopted. WATER COMMITTEE. In moving the adoption of the Water Committee’s report, Cr Begg said that the field work on the Deep Stream survey was completed in January and that the necessary calculations and plotting of the field work were now in hand in preparation for making up the estimate. A report would be ready for submission to the council in the very near future. The report was adopted. E.P. and L. COMMITTEE. Cr Shacklock moved the adoption of the E.P. and L. Committee’s report. In reply to a query by Cr Mitchell, he stated that work on the new dam at Waipovi was now so far advanced that a flood in the river would not interfere with it at any point. The lowest height of the dam at any section was 12 feet, so that the concrete was above flood level right across the river. The report was adopted. GAS COMMITTEE. ’The adoption of the Gas Committee’s report was moved by Cr Marlow, who mentioned that the contract for the erection of the new gas holder was making very satisfactory progress. The report was adopted. TRAMWAYS COMMITTEE. Cr Scott moved the adoption of the Tramways Committee’s report, and said that the committee recommended that authority be granted to offer for sale to the present tenants the freehold of the department’s three sections in Moreau street, St. Kilda, at not less than the following prices:—Section 30, £350; section 28, £325; section 31’, £325. These allotments were at present let on 21 years’ building leases, which were about to expire. The suggested sales at the abovementioned figures would result in an estimated saving in interest as against the rental income at present received of approximately £2O per annum. The sections were formerly the property of the old Horse Car Company, and were of no use for tramway purposes. The tramway manager’s statement of the traffic returns for the last fortnightly period disclosed that, as compared with the corresponding period of last year, there was a further decrease in the revenue. The total decrease in the revenue for the year now amounted to £7091, equal to 4 per cent. This, however, was very much better than the returns shown by any of the other tramway systems in the Dominion. The Mayor asked if, in the case of trams being replaced by buses, the buildings might not be of some use. Cr Scott: They are not in the right place. The report was adopted.