GRADER PROPOSAL

Otago Daily Times, Issue 26782, 27 May 1948, Page 3

GRADER PROPOSAL

STATEMENT BY CR BAIN

REASONS FOR SPECIAL MEETING In a statement issued to the press, Cr D. S. Bain told a Uaily Times reporter that he had promised to make 'a statement so that the views of the Works Committee of the Oamaru Borough Council could be expressed to the ratepayers. At the outset, he said, he expressed admiration of the members of the committee for the great amount of time they had devoted to inspecting various streets and drainage problems, so that they coulo approach their work efficiently in the ratepayers’ interests. It had been stated, Cr Bain said, that there was no work for a heavy grader in Oamaru; that the tractor grader the council had at present, was all that was needed. The answer to that was to see it doing a job of work. The previous council had sent forward an extensive list of loan proposals. Most of the items had been approved by the Local Government Loans Board for submission to the ratepayers at a poll, and some of the councillors were seeking ways to reduce if possible the added cost to the ratepayers for these loan proposals. Projected Road Works Giving his personal opinion, Cr Bain said a good deal is necessary, though some of the items could be done without. There were 380 chains of gravelled road which needed reforming to get them ready for sealing; 335 chains of roads were in such a state that it would be cheaper to sacrify and reform before resealing; on. 206 chains of road shoulders should be removed, and 231 chains of road which needed a smoothing coat and planing. In addition, certain roads, comprising 140 chains, would need to be done in the next few years. The total of all these was 16 miles. Leaving some out as improbable for some years to come, let them say 12 miles of road required attention by heavy grader. The present rate of formation, re-for-mation, and sealing was less than one mile a year. People who lived in these streets would be Interested to learn that it would take 12 years to seal them all with the present grader, always supposing the maintenance of the already sealed streets could be kept up. Allowing for a considerable speeding up of the work with a heavy grader, there were eight or more years’ work ahead without any increase in borough boundaries. The loan proposals, Cr Bain continued, allowed for nearly £3OOO for the purchase of a neW heavy grader. The problem to be decided was whether to buy this machine by way of loan with a consequent Increase in rates for eight or ten years, or buy a used grader on which they had expert reports at a cost of at most half that figure, the payment to be met out of renewal funds. The Town Maintenance Renewal Fund had a credit of £1961 13s 7d at present. The ratepayers were asked to note that the Works Committee did not propose to recommend the council to purchase a second-hand grader out of revenue from rates or by way of purchase under the loan, also to be paid by rates, but to purchase from the renewal fund of the department concerned. The Special Meeting "We may have erred in procedure." Cr Bain said, ” but there was no suggestion of defiance on the part of the com-’ mittee. Every member of the committee desires to work amicably with the Mayor and every other councillor for the, advancement of the borough.” Continuing he said the question of a second-hand grader instead of a new one was introduced at a joint committee meeting on May 13 to discuss the loan proposals, but the Mayor ruled correctly that the meeting was called to discuss loan proposals only. On Monday, May 17, he (Cr Bain) telephoned the Mayor and said the members of the Works Committee wanted a meeting that night. Mr Qooney agreed to the meeting being held, but said he was unable to attend because of another engagement, and gave his approval of the engineer going to Clyde to make a report. The meeting was arranged, and later the Mayor telephoned the speaker withdrawing his approval of the engineer going to Clyde. At that stage there must have been a distinct misunderstanding between them because the Mayor said he countermanded the meeting, but he (Cr Bain) understood that the Mayor withdrew his approval, and he promised to report this disapproval to the committee, which was done. The committee met because there was no opportunity to advise all the members otherwise, and decided that it was desirable in the interests of the borough for the engineer to go to Clyde, Inspect the machine, and report. This was reported to the town clerk/ so that the Mayor would be told, as the committee could not commit the council to expense. The Mayor turned down this responsible committee’s request. Later, Cr Bain concluded, the Mayor was given an opportunity to call a special meeting himself before the requisition was signed. He declined to do this, so a special meeting was called because of (he closing date of, the tenders, May 26, so that democracy might rule by the majority vote of the council.