CIVIC AFFAIRS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21358, 11 June 1931, Page 7

CIVIC AFFAIRS

FORTNIGHTLY COUNCIL MEETING The fortnightly meeting of the pun€din City Council was held last night, and was attended by the Deputy Mayor (Cr Mitchell) and Crs Shaeklock,Jlunro, M.P., Wilson, Wilkinson, Marlow, ilTndoe, Allen, Hayward, and Begg. PEE-SESSIONAL MEETING. The secretary of the Otago Expansion league wrote inviting the Mayor and a Representative of the council to attend the annual pre-sessional meeting with local members of Parliament, to be held on Monday, June 22 —The invitation was accepted, Cr Mitchell being appointed to attend with the. Mayor. RESERVES COMMITTEE. Cr Munro moved the adoption of the Reserves Committee’s report, which was adopted. GENERAL COMMITTEE. Cr Hayward moved the adoption of the General Committee’s report. He referred to the fact that a permit had been granted for a cycle race to Otokia from the Parkside Hotel. This. had been granted because the race was out ot town and back, and not through the city ■treete. ' The report was adopted. WATER COMMITTEE.

Cr Begg, in moving the adoption of the Water Committee’s report, said that a day and'a-half had been lost last week on the work of laying the Leith Valley , Id-inch main. Otherwise the work would ; have been finished. It would, however, be completed to-day. Unfortunately, it | had been necessary to pay off a number j of men on Saturday. The report was adored. • WORKS COMMITTEE. Before moving the adoption of the Works Committee’s report, Cr Mitcheil asked for permission to take back a clause authorising widening and improving work in the Queen’s drive in the particular section from Young’s terrace to Cosy Dell road. The Reserves Committee was interested in the matter, and it was to be given further consideration. 7 Permission to take the. clause back wasi granted. " .' •, ... Cr Mitchell added that the widening of the drive would’ make it possible to find •..great deal of work for the unemployed. Authority had been granted to. purchase a trench rammer at'a-cost of £llO. This Would enable the work to be done more efficiently and more quickly. Cr Munro: Labour saving., Cr Shaddock said that Cr Mitchell had stated earlier that more work was being provided for the unemployed, and then he had stated that the committee ■ had authorised something which would reduce the work. The upshot was that the. committee was just where it was before. He stressed the desirability of finding larger works for the unemployed and work ■which would be of use. If larger works could be found the cost of supervision would be less. As it was, the cost of supervision was high because of the smallness of the works and the way in which they were spread over the city. One work which he would like the committee to see i if it could take up was the reclamation of • portion oL Anderson's Bay. The council had the right to fill in the area at any time. It had also inherited the right to take free stone for the wall. To get to a quarry the Harbour Board had had to take stone belonging to the Baytown Board, and an agreement had been made allowing the Baytown Board to take stone , at any. time for the purpose to which he had .referred. , Cr- MTndoe said, that he was pleased to note that the paving of the intersection of ( Cumberland and St. Andrew streets had been authorised. r

Cr Begg stressed the necessity of street paving while the surfaces were in good condition. He suggested that the road up •Woodhaugh to Leith Valley was in fit. for paving. Cr Mitchell, in reply, referred* to Cr Shaddock’s suggestion that larger works ' should be found. It was not -asy to do eo, said the chairman. He wished to refute the statement that the money which had been spent so far had been largely thrown away. In cases where grass and weeds had been removed the streets had been improved, and this .was I of*’advantage th 'the city. At present a Targe number of men was employed in removing stones on the banks of the Leith, and when the preliminaries were finished a start would he made oh making the -•first boulder trap. This would take a considerable time, and would employ a large number of men. He assured Cr Shaddock that the department was doing its best to find useful work. The committee would go into the question or reclamation at Anderson’s Bay. The paving at the intersection of Cumberland and St. Andrew streets would be delayed in the meantime while drainage work was carried out, but it would be done as soon as possible. It should be remembered that tar-sealing could not be carried jut at all seasons. • y; The report was adopted. ELECTRIC POWER AND LIGHTING * ' COMMITTEE. Cr Marlow, in moving the adoption of the Electric Power and Lighting Committee’s report, stated that at the previous meeting Cr Mitchell had asked for ;; information regarding the cost of the six■iwheeled trucks. In 1925-26 the department had been paying for cartage from Lawrence or Henley to the dam 80s per -ton and, later 755. In the summer f 1927 the cost had been 57s 6d and in the summer of 1928 up to 60s. .In November of 1928 the trucks had arrived, and the .cost per ton for carting had averaged 45s from November to March, 40s r from March to- June, 38s 4a •from July to September, 37s 8d from Octo•ber to December, and by stages dow 25a 2d from October to December -1930 During the early part of this period, and well into 1929, the roads had been in a very bad state, and ordinary 'trucks could only operate in fine weather. The formation of the road had only been made possible by the trucks carrying metal back from the excavations on the dam site. The steady drop in cost had been due to road improvement. A report bv the engineer had stated that without the trucks nothing like the progress which had been''made in the winter and spring .i of 1929 whuld have been possible. lue tender for carting boats to the dam had been £2O each, but the trucks had done the work for £l4 7s '7d each. The trucks had cost £1348 19s 6d each, and they had carried 5300 tons. Qne would be retained by the department. i, Cr Hayward asked for. information regarding the water in the new dam. Cr Marlow said that the water was up to a height of 55ft in the old dam, and it could go to a height of 60ft before it was necessary to put any water into the new dam. No water was being wasted, and advantage was being taken oi the fine weather to put in valves. The report was adopted.

/TRAMWAYS COMMITTEE. Cr Wilson moved the adoption of the Tramways Committee’s report. Clause 1 read as follows:-" That the tender ot Messrs John Duthie and Co., Wellington, for the supply and delivery of 50 tons of ordinary tramway rails and 100 •tons of sorbitic tramway rails at the price of £l4 11s 3d per ton for the former and £l6 10s 6d per ton for the latter, or * total of £2380 12s 6d. complete with ’the necessary fishplates and holts c id. •and e duty paid, Dunedin, be accepted The rails are of British manufacture, and the tender recommended is the lowest of frmr received.” Cr ilson said this tender was the lowest. t’he tramway rope just removed from the Rosljn 1m had given the council the longest service of any other rope since the council had taken over the line. Cr Wilson said he had received a reply from the tramways manager regarding certain questions put by Cr MTndoe at the previous meeting of the council. Question (1) re *“‘, “ Owing to the persistent practice ot the Public Works Department in spreading loose metal on the road at each side ot the tram tracks in Anderson's Bay road Forbury road, and the Main South road, on Cemetery Hill, is it a fact that the Tramways Department has been put to , considerable expense iin employing men ■with brooms to keep the rails free from metal?” The answer to this question was: “ The average cost of this work is £9 per week, including £1 12s for overtime on Sundays.” The tramways manager had also reported that in order to cone with this work the track cleaners had started half an hour earlier than usual, namely, 6 o’clock instead of halfpast 6.. Double time was paid on Sundays. Cr Wilson said that the city engineer would submit a further report to the Works Committee. Cr Begg asked for information regarding the extension of the tramway along Burns street.

Cr Allen wanted to know if the chairman could give them any information regarding tramway fares. Cr Wilson said that the tramway extension along 'Burns street would not be lost sight of. The council, was under an obligation to do the. work, but he could not say when it' would be gone on with, in view of the present economic position. It was the policy of his department to prevent, as much as possible, loose metal from getting into the tram rails. He would go into the question asked by Cr Allen. The report was adopted. GAS COMMITTEE. Cr Wilkinson moved the adpption of the Gas Committee’s report. In reply to a question the chairman said that the light delivery truck to be purchased at a cost of £l9B was required to replace another truck which had been worn out. . . . , Cr MTndoe: Is it British? Cr Wilkinson; It bears an American name, but it is British-made. The report was adopted. FINANCE COMMITTEE. Cr Shaeklock moved the adoption of the Finance Committee’s report. In referring to the outstanding rates for the,year ending March 31, 1931, Cr Shaeklock said that the percentage outstanding of the whole amount payable was 3.4 per cent. It was stated in a press report that the amount outstanding in Wellington was 44 per cent., in Auckland 10 per cent., and in Christchurch 8J per, cent. If, therefore, the figures were correct it would mean that Dunedin compared more than favourably with the other centres. The deputy chairman said the amount outstanding was practically double the amount of a year ago. However, as they would see by the figures quoted by Cr Shaeklock other centres were experiencing a similar difficulty in getting money. The report was adopted.

TENDER. The tender of Mr E. W. Burgess for painting work for the Tramways Department at a cost of £97 was accepted.