MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS

Otago Daily Times, Issue 22326, 28 July 1934, Page 20

MUNICIPAL AFFAIRS

CITY COUNCIL REPORTS The committees of the City Council will report to the next meeting of that body as follows: RESERVES COMMITTEE The Reserves Committee will recommend that authority be granted to proceed, as a relief measure, with the filling in and re-turfing of the central area of Bathgate Park, The material for the filling would be obtained from the Drainage Board’s extension at Wilkie road sewer, and the only cost that would be involved would be for the cartage of the material from Wilkie road to the park, which is estimated at £IOO. It is proposed that the turf be lifted and the son removed, Ift inches of filling put in and the soil and turf replaced. It is considered that the work will effectively dispose of tlie drainage difficulty over the central area of the park and make the ground available for playing in all weathers. The cartage cost would be a charge against the relief works vote. The committee will report as follows: LOGAN PARK BOWLING CLUB. An application from the Logan Park Bowling Club for permission to enter into occupation of an area alongside the club s present green at Logan Park, which was reserved for the club for future extension Some time ago, has been granted, subject to the prescribed condition —viz., payment of the annua! charge of £4 10s per annum, commencing upon the expiration of two years from date of granting of privilege. PORTOBELLO ROAD. Consideration has been given to proposals which are being formulated by the Amenities Society for carrying out an extensive scheme of tree and shrub planting, and beautifying along the side of the Portobello road, between the city boundary, and Portobello. The Amenities Society is enlisting the aid and support of other bodies and societies in the carrying out of the sclieme, and has asked for the co-operation of the Reserves Committee in the matter. Your committee is of the opinion that, although the Portobello road is beyond the city boundary, the project of the Amenities Society is worthy of support, and hag therefore agreed to assist the society as far as possible by the donation of such trees And shrubs as can be spared and also by the provision of the necessary . expert supervision.

UNEMPLOYED DISTRICT COUNCIL. Consideration has now been given to the representations submitted by deputation from the Unemployed District Council in respect of:—

(a) Tho disinfecting and drying of gumboots before re-issue to any men. (b) The provision of shelters on all jobs (with particular reference to Montecillo and Chisholm Park). ' (c) The provision of latrines on all jobs. Necessary attention will be given to. itemg (b) and (c). in_ caeca where it is found that reasonable facilities are called for and are not now available, and the superintendent of reserves has been instructed accordingly. With regard to item (a) your committee is not aware that the disinfecting of gumboots is recommended by any competent medical authority On the grounds of ripk of infection, and, as a matter of fact, medical opinion, as far ag is known, appears to hold the opposite view. Adequate disinfection would present some difficulty, a* liquid could not well be need, but, quite apart from that aspect, your committee considers that the proposal is unnecessary, and would serve no good purpose. GENERAL COMMITTEE The committee will report as follows:TEPID BATHS. Arrangements are being made for the closing of the Tepid Baths for annual overhaul on Saturday, July 28, for a period of four or five weeks. Maintenance repairs and renewals, which will be carried out under the direction of the city engineer, are estimated to cost £4B 1 3a 10d. Sundry repairs to the building, principally on the flat portion of the roof, are also required, end theso arc estimated to cost £49 19s* CITY ABATTOIR. Authority has been granted for the purchase and installation of a “Lethalof at the City Abattoirs, at an estimated cost of £22 19s. This apparatus is a recent electrical invention which is used for the purpose of stunning pigs by the use of electricity prior to slaughter, The method is exceedingly simple, is most humane, and has the additional advantage that the carcass is in very much better condition for sale or export. The machine has already been demonstrated with success at the abattoir, and is strongly recommended by the district superintendent of the Department of Agriculture, and also the abattoir manager. LICENSES AND PERMITS. Applications for licenses and permits have been granted as under:—Advertising sign on wall of premises, Princes street South, one; hawker's license, one; meat hawker’s license, one; second-hand dealers' licenses, four. One application for a permit to deliver public addresses in the city streets on certain evenings at Shepherd s Corner, George street, Penrose's Corner, St. Andrew street, and at Upper Dowling street has been declined. WORKS COMMITTEE

The committee will recommend that approval be given for the erection of additional street lights and alterations to existing lights as follows; —

Total cost ~ .. ;. ~ £155 1 4 The committee will report as follows: MACKENZIE STREET; ' A petition ha# been received from a number of ratepayers and residents of Mackenzie street for the street to be repaired and tar-sealed. The matter has been considered, and authority has been given for repairs to be effected to the kerb and channel and street surface at an estimated cost of £3 15b. The committee is unable to sec its way to authorise tarsealing at present, and the petitioners have been informed accordingly. REQUESTS FROM UNEMPLOYED COUNCIL. The following representations were received from the Unemployed District Council:— (a) That the members of group 367 and another group who were ordered to Sullivan Dam to shovel snow be paid at standard rates. (b) That all gumboots bo disinfected and dried after use before being reissued to men. (c) That adequate shelters be provided on all jobs. (d) That latrines be provided on all jobs. (e) That a complete revision of the arrangements for dealing with wet days be made with the object of providing a more expeditious and equitable system from the men’s point of view. UNEMPLOYED COMPLAINTS. Dealing with complaints received from unemployed workers the committee begs to report that practically nil groups were called upon to shovel snow at some tube during the week in which the snow -fell, and, under the circumstances existing, this was considered to be quite reasonable work to be carried out under scheme No. 5. As to gumbbots, in general, these are dried when required, but disinfection is unnecessary according to medical opinion. It is impracticable to provide shelters on jobs where the nature of the work is of short duration, but authority has been given for one to be provided at the new Signal Hill road job. As in the case of shelters, it is impracticable to provide latrines on all jobs. With few exceptions, they have been provided on as many jobs as it is practicable to do so. Regarding wet days, the present practice of having a central authority deciding whether a

day is to be declared “wet” or not seems to be necessary for administrative purposes. To leave this decision to the ganger would be quite impracticable. The notifying of groups that a day has been declared “wet” is. carried out ns expeditiously as possible taking into account the scattered nature of the work. Men are not compelled, and in fact do not work during periods of heavy rain, and in this respect they are in a much better position than outside workers in general. INSTRUCTIONS TO CITY ENGINEER.

The city engineer has been instructed to act in respect of the undernoted matters:—Erecting a short length of post and rail fencing in Maori road to prevent vehicles from depositing rubbish in this locality (estimated cost, £3 9s); erecting a post in Arthur street and two in York place to prevent vehicular traffic on a screenings path between'these streets (estimated cost, £2 6s); erecting post and rail and chain netting fence at a high level path in Jones street (estimated cost, £25) : reshaping and widening path, Scone avenue (estimated cost. £4); constructing a shelter for relief workers, at Signal Hill road (estimated cost, £l6). WATER COMMITTEE. The committee will recommend that authority be and is hereby granted to extend the existing four-inch water main in Cairnhill street for a distance of three chains to serve two allotments in the Marne township, at an estimated cost of £55. The committee will report as follows: DEER CREEK WATERWORKS. During the month ended July 19, 1934, work was interrupted by adverse weather conditions, but normal operations have since been resumed. The department’s employees recommend work at the intake on July 16, and are now engaged completing the valve house and staging. The time has now arrived when it is necessary to engage additional field staff to cope with the amount of work required to keep up the programme. Authority has, therefore, been given for the appointment of a junior field assistant, with wages of to per week, less 7A per cent. A light truck is now necessary in order to deal with supervision over the length of the job and transport of sundry materials, and authority has, therefore, been given to call tenders for a suitable vehicle. The truck will later be required for the caretaker.

Consideration was given to an offer from the pipe contractors to increase the rate of delivery of the pipes and fittings to 6000 feet per week. After wing carefully into the whole matter, it appeared that other construction aspects would render such a rate of delivery inadvisable. On the other hand, it appeared that a speeding up of the rate of delivery from the contract rate of 3000 feet per week to 4000 feet per week offered advantages to tho council, and the contractors have accordingly been advised that delivery of pipes and fittings up to 4000 feet per week will be accepted without prejudice to the terms of the contracts, and subject to either party having the right to terminate the arrangements by one month’s notice in writing. Authority has been given for the construction of a temporary telephone branch line to connect the, tally clerk’s office at Clark’s Junction with the main line, at an estimated cost of £3O. Arrangements are now being considered for the transport of pipes by rail from Dunedin to Outram, and instructions have also been given for the calling of tenders for transporting the pipes from Outram to Deep Creek. Other transport arrangements are under consideration for those portions of the pipe line which cannot be conveniently or economically served from Outram. Authority has been given for the calling of tenders for further trenching contracts along the pipe route to fit in with the construction programme. Investigations have now been completed with respect to the methods to be employed in crossing the Taieri River with the pipe line, and a design for a suitable overhead crossing is now being put in hand. . ROSS CREEK RESERVOIR.. The various improvement works which have been under way at the Ross Creek reservoir for some considerable time have now been completed. These included the following:— Widening upper part of the old storm channel above the upper basin. Reshaping area above the upper basin, thus directing surface water from the area into the old storm channel _ and away from the reservoir upper basin. General earthwork grading at upper end Of reservoir, along the outer edge of the new storm channel. > Building up and regrading grass margin along the west side of the lower (main; basin, thus directing surface water from the area away from the reservoir basin. Filling in and levelling off of an area below the main reservoir embankment on the right bank of Ross Creek, and shifting the visitor’s rustic shelter from above the reservoir to the new levelled area, below the reservoir. The filling in and grassing of this lower area are nearing completion. A water service is available on the area. The latter area provides a suitable picnic area below the reservoir. In tho interests of public health it is recommended that picnicking and lighting Of fires be now restricted to the new area, and that notices prohibiting picnicking and lighting fires at other than on the new picnic area he erected. ELECTRIC POWER AND LIGHTING COMMITTEE The committee will report as follows:—In accordance with instructions, the committee has further considered the matter of the tenders received for hardwood poles, and has decided to accept the tender of Meters A* J> Allen, Ltd., Punedin, in the sum of £1771 ss, c.i.f. and e., ship’s slings, Dunedin, for the whole of the poles required. The tender was tho second lowest of six received, TUNNEL CONTRACT. The report of the consulting engineers (Messrs Vickcrman and Lancaster) on the progress of the tunnel works at Waipori for the week ended 14th inst., is laid on the table. The contractor has now 32 men employed. The bottom end .has now been driven to 260 feet, and the rock is Still hard and requires no timbering, LOAN ON SYSTEM. For a period of one hour On the Hth inst. the maximum load on the system was nearly 16,300 kw., or 1250 kw,. increase on the highest hour’s load for the previous -winter. The two Diesel engines

at the converter station were utilised to take care of the additional load. In view of the possibility of further increase in the load during the following few weeks, the steam plant has been overhauled so that it may be ready for load at the shortest notice; NEGATIVE BOOSTERS. Authority has been granted for the purchase of two negative booster* from the Wellington Corporation Tramways Department at the price of £IOO each. These boosters are required for dealing with the return current from the city tramways in the southern area and will be installed in the converter station and maintained by the Electric Power and Lighting Department’s staff. The Tramways Department will pay to the Electric Power and Lighting Department a charge of 10 per cent, on the installed cost to cover capital and maintenance charges. TRAMWAYS COMMITTEE The committee will report as follows: — The tramway manager’s statement of the traffic returns for the fortnight ended July 21, as compared with the returns for the corresponding period of last year, show an increase in revenue for the period of £llO. The position, from April 1 to July 21 (16 weeks), compared with the corresponding period of last year, is that the revenue shows an increase of £06 — 23 per cent. FINANCE COMMITTEE CASH REGISTER. The committee will recommend that authority is hereby granted to purchase a new cash register for the city treasury at the price as quoted by the National Cash Register Company of Australasia, Ltd., of £655, less an allowance of £IOO for a, machine which the department will trade in. The machine to be replaced has been in use for about 15 years, and by reason of its condition is approaching the end of its usefulness as far as the treasury is concerted. Payment will not be required until April nest, and the cost will be apportioned between the departments using the machine. The committee will report as follows: MARNE TOWNSHIP. An offer of £2OO gross for the purchase of allotment 2, subdivision of sections 5, 6. 14, and 15, Marne township, Maori Hill, has been accepted. The upset price was £l9O. LOAN ISSUE. Instructions have been given that the interest rate of the debentures in the repayment loan of £264,000, which is to be issued at an early date, is to be 3J per centum per annum, ■'

yi New ligh Shifts. • « a\ *43 ■+> w £ ro 0 Hi O King street (north) Bullock Ncidpath road (north) Ncidpath road (lower) Middleton road .. .. 1. 2 3 — , o 2 — 4 — — 2 £ s. d. 18 19 10 22 0 0 6 15 9 17 18 3 35 16 0 5 1 0 Littlebourne road .. ,, 1 — 1 —> 4 8 4 19 8 0 Stonelaw terrace .. .. 3 — 1 — 29 1 5 2 3 0 Silverton street 1 — 4 13 7