OTAUTAU TOWN BOARD.

Otautau Standard and Wallace County Chronicle, Volume XXVIII, Issue 1394, 11 October 1932, Page 3

OTAUTAU TOWN BOARD.

FINANCE.

>■„.■ .-,■=■-. . ■. ■" : r* ' " the first monthly meeting Olt he newly-elected Town Board took place on Monday evening, present Com* missioners E. Harrington, A. A: Liddell, : J. H. Smith, W. J. F. McCulloch, J. Campbell and Jno. Seatter. .

Cr. H- - L. Chandler; wrote apologising for absence as he had been dailedjio. iihe /country and would be unable to be back fori the meeting. —Leave of absence 1 granted, The Clerk; reported result of elec:tion^of to #• afld asked for nominations for^ the position of XhalrmSn.- Cr j: H. Smith moved, Cr. E. Harrington seconding, that Cr. Arthur A; Liddell be appointed Chairman. Cr.- Liddell moved that Cf. McCulloch be appointed :but; the Matter moved nominatiQna; close and dLiddelkwas duly appointed. .-. In a^suming^he Chair, Cr. Liddell said he- had -reaily no \yish for the nosition, knowing the duties it . en-

tailed, but be had been appointed by several- members and thought it was His duty to aet. Ke- trusted with :tbc assistance of all the toemb>r 6 to Jbe able to carry out the . I evplymg on him in the interests of' and of phe , ra^epayerß^v :^/ v-?;-:;: : before M& 'M no^found: himself in; a ppsi*idn:"fie: didtitot^like paying to face, but he knew he was expressing the sentiments 'of all the members ; in cpuyeymg their deep sympathy to the Clerk- in the very, sad^ loss he -had

suffered that day, in the loss ol Mis Fisher. It was a journey had to take fmt this fact ' did not make the parting a"ny easier. Mr Fisher returned thanks for the kindly sentiments, expressed m the motion. The said it was only right and proper to carry a motion- of appreciation 'of the good services done by the laW members,- Messrs W. J. Weßney, D. C McCrostie and W. E. H.'Fraser.. The thanks of all the citizens of any town were due any inan who gave of -his time and energy in their interests as a Commissioner, and he had pleasur ein moving that Board place on records its appreciation of the services of the above ien^emen. In- speaking to the motion, Cr. Harrington considered the present Chairman had_a hard row to 'boe to follow in the footsteps of Mr

tyesney. The late Chairman 'was a 'travelled man who had seen a lot and bad proved a leader in many of the (important work* created in- the interests of all .such as the Main Street surfacing, Street Lighting, Rest Room, etc.,. and he had given freely Jqf , his pme and energy in the past. Qr. McCulloch supported the motion icpnsideqetf the iflornier speaker's remarks weife quite true. He felt wire, however, the present Chairman could be relied upon to do equally good work. Cr. McCulloch,* on behalf of the old ipembers, extended a welcome to the jaew members to the Board table. - Hje assured them that, if they worked eogether in the pame harmony as the past Board had done, they would en--Boy, their term as- Commissioners thoroughly, while, carrying out the duties to the best of their ability. Cr; • liddell upturned thanks for the welcome and als o expressed the 'hope ttoo. would all 'work together in intersets of the ratepayers.

It was resolved the Finance Committee be the whole Board and meet a$ 7.45 p.m. with ordinary meeting atß'p.nu All members were appointed signing officers. COMMITTEES APPOINTED^ s Works Committee — Crg. Jno. Seatter and J. H. Smith. Hall Committee — Chairman and Cr.. H;L. Chandler. Domain Committee — Chairman, Cr.

E. Harrington and the Clerk. • The foreman's report was received and Ho wab directed to place further gravel with clap binding at entrance to Main Traffic Bridge. Mr John Cameron 'was appointed

Ranger and Ptfundkeeper, subpectto his signing the specification of duties. Mr A. F. Hill, secretary/ Otaufcm Rover Crew, wrote they were in sympathy "with the formation ofxa Voluntary Fire Brigade and wouldlend their support provided a leader to take charge wer e appointed by the Board. In this connection Mr WesaSy reported .meeting the Crew and M. L. J. Parmenter, but the latter could not see his way clear to accept the position. The Chairman con-

•idered jbhis opened up a large question, and* the necessary appointment, of some persotf to, take' charge. The first result would' be the need of a fire engine', which meant big expenditure. Ab far as the present engine was concerned his opinion was it should be jbipped into the rubbish xheap and smashed into a thousand "piece«. He had known it for 20years and it had only been an expense to the Board since it first arrived. It was neither use nor ornament.

Cr. 'Harrington paid on the other hand there had been a lot of - talk about the fire~ engine, but Mr Chandler had tried (it out and considered the pump itself was -a good .one bu^ $he carriage and hose were done. It would take money to convert it to a chases with motor-driven power, but he was convinced it would <be a success. Mr Jno. Seatter agreed with. Ct. Harrington •&) a certain/ estcnt, but money tfae needed t<j

ftjprvy out the work and, unless thts whole Town area was going to he protected, the ratepayers would not sanction a loan. If the business block only was going to be prelected then they should pay for it. Cr. McCullooh said this matter had been shelved now for some mouths without finality and the citizens were beginning to * treat the Board • with their engine as a joke." They were

all agreed the purchase of an up-to-date pump was the best, but would the ratepayers sanction the five or six hundred pounds needed ? The late Board members had inspected a similar pump not far distant and 'concluded it, .was little better than their Own provided the latter -was properly driven by motor power.— lt was Mr W. G. Pearce, Main Highways Board, indicated the estimates for Highway expenditure in the Townshii> {or the •current year were: Liemen Street and Main Street £203 — rßepeived. : The Gas Works Manager advised distilled tar was available" at 8d and

crude tar at 6d per gallon>v The Secretary, feuicipal Assn.; forwaxded, re^it passied oft from the Hospital Board Members' Conference all Hospital and Charitable^ Aid-; Rates struck be shown separately.— On the motion of Crs. Campbell and Smith', no action "was, talen. -■' ; '. :. ; /■/. ■. ■'.'■'■ The same writer . notified the Annual Municipal Conferences would take

place in Rotor ua in March, 1933 and asked-' for any remite. — Members to bring forward x emits before next ■meeting. At this stage Cr. Scatter asked if the expense of sending the Chairman could not be cut out now. The Clerk advised that for thecurent term the late Chairman had been the South Island Town Board Representative on the executive) the expenses were not paid by the Town Board, but by the Municipal Assn.

If the Otautau delegate had not been appointed some other local body representative would have been and the same .expense incurred by the Municipal Assn. Cr. . McCulloch said the

Assn. was doing good work and had further work in view, it had been ad^ vantageous in having representation at no cost to the Board and; as the present -Chairman automatically took overthp late Chairman's position, he should attend. There was puite a prospect s of charges in administration with many of the smaller Local Bodies going out of existence and, as Otautau was the geographical centre of the Western District they should be represented. The Chairman remarked: "Wo do not admit any other than that Otautau is th_e centre."

The Manager, State Fire Insurance Office, advised his previous letter in. regard to reduction in premiums to Local Bodies did not apply to^Town Boards. The Unemployment Board advised the .Government were now taking over the Employers' -Indemnity Insurance of Unemployed men under ' Scheme No. 5 working for Local - Bodieß only. Men working for other than Local Bodies had to be covered by the Employer or person for whom the work wap being done. - " • The Officer, Department of Health, reported ten per cent.- reduction, in salary and expense fees of .Health - officers to Local Bodies would apply as from last April. — Clerk indicated

this saved the Board £1 7s per annum. \ The Clerk, Invercargill City Council, forwarded £62 17s 9d for share of heavy traffic licenses'. — Received. . Mr Jno.; Maxwell asked the Board to clean out ditch running- along' Nantwich Street to give outfalK— Re-

solved t Q ask adjoining land owner to cut the fence back- from -creek prior to same being cleaned out. Mr N, D, McKenzie, secretary Local Body Industrial Workers' Union,

asked the Board's opinion in regard to the suggested reductions to the Labourers' Award. — The Members considered 'they, had empowered the Employers assessors to deal with this matter and received the letter. The Unemployment Board wrote

setting out hours of work aiid rates of wages for unemployed working under Scheme No. 5. They were not* aigafrnst men working longer hours per., day to use tip the part hours

such worker had to make up to earn the maximum allowed, no.t against men working ntor© days one week in the month to, fill in his due time. — Received. The Secretary, Southland Allied Building "Aspn., wrote in regard to subsidised lappur under the Govern-

ment "No. -10 scheme. The Clerk read the conditions attaching for citizens 'to have painting 1 , repairing or building done but Members considered tendering such work was' even cheaper than securing the subsidy and having to pay award > rates, The' St. Andrew's Church Commit-

tee 1 were granted permission to use! the Recreation Ground on 9th Novemi ber and charge a silver : coin admission. ' The Athletio Society were granted"

us€> of the Recreation Area and services of foreman to park cars on Labour Day. Admission charges to be adults 1/6, children 6d; The Otautau Cycling Club ;also apr? plied for right to use the Recreation Area f or training purposes and ;prbmified to look after the grounds.-— Granted on condition the tracks were only used when grgund and; grass was dry. ■'■-.'"":■;; ■ - - : - : -■■ •; : ".-' : : ; ; ;. ; . ;The Secretary, Qtautau Progressive League> r^oonain)?itd<3d) tfeo Bpafd |tq

erect a public ijojbice board on front of th<s Town' |3all.— Meinbers agreed [this was a good idea and it was left Co the Hall Committee to provide a Notice Board, to be hung' Just inside the Reading- Room window.

The same writer asked the Board to erect extra barbed wire along old gateWay and Kendal Street fence to dtop people climbing across. — Left to Domain Committee to attend to. ■ - The same writer referred an old Account from Mr D. Buchanan as received from Mr Kirk for work done at the Soldier s J \ Memorial Sit© to the

poafld i fjor ,its consideration. The Chairman said he_ had been assured the work had been done bait payment was never claimed and' the .League had handed over all monies to the Board, who now controlled the Memorial grounds.-—The account was

passed for payment. „ : Cr. Seatter submitted plans for a concrete shed to be erected at the new Cenildltery-.^Members thought {his was a necessary item r provided the finance was available and Crs. Mcaiid Harrington moved "that tenders be called lor the erection of a fjhfed^ Siv concrete after !the .Works Committee have viewed the specifications and reported on the site to next meeting." Cr. Harrington brought, up the matter of bad state of Al'derly street footpath; the big^stones needed picking out and the surface top-dressed^ The Clerk reported the work was authorised, but had been held up pending /an application for the Unemployed to farmland fill up the low places. — It was resolved the Works Committee have the work attended to.

The 'Clerk reported the Estimates, were always considered in July prior to striking the rates. For two years phey had not been able to balance owing to extra expenditure and la&t July the Board had closed its estimates on, fcbe barest -necessities to allow the position to be overcome. To-day the overdraft was only ,£96 8s Bd, thfe lowest at this time of the year

for probably P years: The ; suinmer was just coining on w extra work was done, but as far as one could judge the present Board should be able to finish up its financial year and

have its commitments within the limits of the Finance Act; The "accounts that night amounted, to ,£439 4s 6d, which, included ,£2lO sinking fund repayment on the Hall Loans. The Board was really starting ont velvet as far as finance was concerned in comp^ritod to the Boards of the last