TIIE TOWN BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 567, 11 October 1862, Page 3

TIIE TOWN BOARD.

The weekly mi et'ng- of the Town Board was hdd on Tuesday „f e""oo;' at t'-ir ofHce--, Piinces sMeef. Mr Haidy waj c ii'cd to tl\ : chair, ai»d Iho other numbers jii-c-e:^ wore— Messrs Swilzer, Cargill, ami (towards the e'o^) Dr Hu'ine.

PI'rCIIISG OF MA\Si: STUEET,

Mr P. 11. Chev,. nnes, inspector of this work, reportrd upon the kttor of Mr Uua3, the coutiv.ctor, ;ts lead at the la.-.t mntin^. Al hou'.di not all in acooulance with the sppuificntiuii, "tho work as rubble pitc'iimr, r. well laid and strong-, and whon thoroughly spawled will b3 a pood job." As Mr Ross said that he could not ru stone from existing quirries, to work in accordance with the specific Uion, Mr Chevanncs recomwended tLat permibsioti to fro anywhere where suita.; !e stone could be fiot, .should be ghen to Mi- Ros3, the up of the streut being a gre-\t public inconvenient c.

It was a?:ai'.! that Mr Ito«s might get stone from any qiuny bcloniiini to th? Board.

A lettci from the Piw lit hi Sici-etary, stated that the (xovn nment cuii'cnted 10 Niinon, (he Nuisance Inspector, rcmiiiuing a member of tho police force, the B'lM-d pnjiii}^ ovei tbe amount of his salary.

Mr G. 0. JUu'scoll \n»U\ asking that ho muht be allowed to lay down a footway ot bku (jum, G by 3, the kerb bein^ of blut^t m\ alone; his property in Hopo street, and that if possible tho same peiuiisnion should be extei.ded to his Piincea-.street tront;.ge. Flo liad 80 feet frontage to the hitter, and ]"<> feet to the former, but tiie quantify of laud covered by his huiluias was relathuly very small, so thau the quest ion of co^t was imj ortant to him. The Cleik was (iirocte 1 to iufonn Mr Priscoll tlint he mi<;!.t hy down tho w oo 1 \ averncnt in Hope street, but that stone or asphalte must be used in Princesstreet.

Mr Vv'. Greenlaw, cop tractor for the footpaths in George-shvefc. wiote. pro])osiTijT tli-it they should be coveied v.ith fhrfp inches of fine jriavcl, which wns ne^tssiry to i-end.ii- tiiem really finu and uood, the soil b ing clay, and the we itli-'r wot Wiicu the paths were formed. The Board declined to entertain the proposal.

The Cierk ivporfe'l that the contractois for Ilopestreet and Walker strict, liari abandejned their contracts, and forfeited dopo-its.

Tt \\ as ordered that LI lys Gd bo repaid to Mr. H. Nathan, ot Stafford street, ibi: removing earth ar-cor-diue' to a'jfeement. Mr 11. Howorth applied for an allowance of Is 6d per j-ard, for removing 420 yards of .surface earth, in Hope-street and V7alkcr-str<?et : but, as the work had been_ done without the Board being consulted, the application was declined.

SIR KIRBY AND HIS CONTRACTS. — ATTACKS ON THE BOA KB. Tha Cleik read the following letter :— " Dunetiin 1 ", 3rd October, 1862. "?ir,— l am instructel by Mr Kiiby, to inform the Town Bond, t'uit it i> his intention to proceed with the metalling of Albany-street, notwithstanding- the intimation he Ins received from you to the contrary, and' that he will expect to be paid for the work in accordance with the terms of his contract.

" 1 remain, &c,

" Gkorce Cook

"Charhs Reid, Esq., Clerk." Mr Cat-gill, before the letter was considered, wished to draw attention to another mutter, with regard to which he much regretted that there was not a full attendance of the Board. This <;im« contractor had been in court, and Mr Cook, us his solicitor, was, no doubt, bound t<> dj his best for him. But Mr Cook Fecrned to have pone b -yond the license usually accorded to solicitor.-, and to have stepped out of the w;iyfor the purpose of ahusiugthe Bor.nl. He (MrC.irgill) hal hr.arti from Fevei al person's who were pre-sc-nt that Mr Cook's statements w<.ra somenhat extraordinary, and even the newspaper report, which he was told was miMer than the icaiitv, showed that MrCooko went far beyond the licence to which he might be entitled. He (Mr Cargill) tlnught that the magistrate <-hoiild not have allowed any solicitor, in open court, to run a muck against the credit of a public body. There were two leading .statements made by Mr Cook— one that Mi Kirby could not fivt money, although it w,?s ceitified to he dua by the Board's inspector, Mr JJiauk ; and the other was that the Boa'-d seemed to be in a state of insolvency. He rejrarded these statements as libels, and he was not disposed to rest under them.

Mr there had hern a full meeting, that it illicit have been con ?i It-red w hether there was not some mode in which the Board could protect itself from such iiisn'ts.

The Chniiman said tint he meant to have brought the matter forward lud no one eke dona so He could 8-ate positively, a3 treasurer, that during- the hhi, week or fen days every provision ha.l been nmde ■ that there had bocn nothing like chock or hind.nnce to the immediate payment ofanv authorised bill or account.

Mr Carqill said that there wns a statement in the Times report, that Kiiby produced a certificate from Mr Diack, the inspector, for Ll2O. as due for metalling Geoisestieeb and Great King-street. What weie the facts. ?

The Clerk said that the certificate was unadvisedly given by the inspector, who afterwards told him (the Clerk) not to pay it at present, as the amount would not b" due to Kirhy until the bioken mi tal hud been spread on the ro.adw.ay. It was certaiidy given unadvisedly, the objert beintc to enable Kirby to get money tn p,y his men. It was ne\er contemplated that it would be af once presented to the Board. MrSwitz'.Ts.ti'l it was most important thatno officer of the Hoard should ace from a consideration of tin-pri-vate potion of. a contiaitor. No <ui-h accoinmoJation should have been j;ive:i * % But l;iok at the facts. Instead of bi'ins: unfair!} dealt with, and kept out of his money, Mi- Kiiby had a bill given to him that cou'd be drawn apair-st, nlthoujih the work wns not really done. The fault arore from :in over-dc&ire to acciminodate the conti actor. He thought that Mr Cook should be called upon to retract the statements he had made.

In reply to n question, tho Clerk said he had never known a, cheque of the Board to be dishonored It was agreed that, as a first step, the Clerk 'should write to Mr Cook, iiskiug him whether the published report of his remarks wns correct.

Mr Car^'iil said that Mr Cook's letter on behalf of Air Airby na? certainly an extraordinary one. Mr Kirby was simply betting the Eoa'd at defiance, and yet, v lien he vas going to do just such woik as pleased himself, and not that r.'hich the Bjav.l pleased, he still " would expect to be paid " for ft. This was a ca-cof "'great expectations ''indeed. The letter was such nonsense, that to reply would be a mere boatinir of the air. Let Mr Kirby complete his contra tand he would be pni'l. The Clerk siid that the contract was to metal at so much a yard, not for any particular length. Mr Crirtill sai 1 that having been made durhr* had wen her, Albany street h-.d settled unevenly. °But becaus) home parts required lv-inetaliinL', the Board were not to be told that all of it should be done, and they must pay for it.

'1 he Clcik was directed to reply to the letter, cautioning Mr Kirby not to work beyond limits pointed out by tlie inspector.

r.I.rCTION OF CITY ENGINEER. Mr Cargill reported that the committee on the appointment of City Engineer, had examined several application 1 ; tint li.td come to hand, in addition to the Dim opened at the meeting lost week; and that thpyhad concluded that according to the best information obtainable, the nun most qualified for theefficp was Air Rjdncy Smith, of Melbourne, whose appointment they accordingly recommended. The salary would be £000 a-year.

The report was unanimously adopted. In reply to a question, the Clerk said that Mr Bwypv, who had *ome authority from Mr Smith had stated tiiat ho was prepared to recommend Mr Smith to accept the office.

TIU; CATTLE MARKKT SITE. Mr Switz»rsuid it would not ilo 1o lo^e«ifrht of the question of the Cattle Maiket site. Had" anything been hear 1 from the Government ?

Dr Huline thought it was a pity an arrangement conld net be come to for another piece of land. This pnrticu)a,jfsi!,e w.ts within the town belt, and therefore not suitable fora maiket.

Mr Cvrnill -.aid he was a^ureJ by practical men that tht site was the most convenient to be found in the lu-iir'ibj] hood, because cattle conld bo driven to and fiom if, in almost every direction, without entering the town. But the great thing was now to get hold of the hnd which the Government was attempting to nppropi Lite. A ffcer wards would be time enough to talk ox its appropriation. He held that not even tie Guteral Government could pass an Act taking This liitd froTi the people of Dunedin. It was set apait by the Nuw Zealand Company for public we and nearly all the land had been sold subject to such appropriation.

. 'P'X 1111 1 ! I.°1 .° kIIPW there was an idea that the Provincial Council could pass an ordinance to as to acquire the and, by exohange or otherwise. Twi ti '' f Bnch W!lst!ie case, would have the Board, as the representatives of the people, meet the Government directly upon the issue. AlrSwitz;raii.ll ie certainly would not allow the fi-ht K 9 ot ds of the town with «i» Mr Cargill tlioughfc the substance of the matter was rastthis :-The land belongs to the town, and we will have it.

The Clerk was directed to write reminding the Government that a previous letter oa the subject remained unanswered.

WATER SUPPLY. Mr Switzer asked what was to be done on this question.

Mr Cargill said thot it was specially a matter to await the arrival of the engineer. Mr. Switzer believed that if an inducement was held out to a private company, that they would be protected, and allowed to break the streets, a good supply of water might be obtained in a very short time.

THE PETNCSS-STREET CUTTING. The Cierk read the following letter from Mr. H Farley, of Maelaggan-street :—

„„ , • "October 7th, 1862 "Gentlemen,- 1 should be glad to know if the Town Board would be disposed to contribute Is per

yard towards the cost of rpmo\ino- the embankment of earth opposite section 25, Princes-sheet cutting. The estimate I quantity belonging to the Tow i Boaul iis a' out 2 01 0 \.ji- N. and the covt to me wo'dd be af lei't .'- ]i.m- j.ud. ]f the lioa-.-d are dUpi-,0 1 to tntertii i this a-i;i!ieau in if w uld f 'cilit.it' 1 th'completion of tint pait i" Piince.-streat. 1 wo-ild bind I the contractor in i penalty of L 5 per day, exceeding , OOdiy-i. -Your early reply wi'l much oblige, I " Yours, ke. ,

■'lIENUV I'AKf.EY " Mr Pwitzer would decidedly ur.e the acecp:ance of the p:-opo-u), if there was hod 1 i )}? to jjrewnt it in Mr Barnes's contract with the Guvpi-iiniLiit. lie was satisfied that Mr Reynolds would come into the arraiiiremeut; and that beiiij; <o, tho cutting conld be at once widened through on the wcste;iy side, th re beinu' a guarantee tint sill should be done in sixty da\s. The oil'erew were Melbourne contractors, and Mr Farley would make the general arrangement with tlrm. Mr 0 n p ill thought that Mr Brfrnes's contract, while sjemiu^ly of no j;ood to any one, h.il rea ly nothing in it to prevent tlie acceptance of the present offer. The Clerk : Would you cp to the proposed new level i Mr Switzer: Certainly. The Clerk sain that as this would be at parts seven feet ib.jlow the existing le\el, a fenco would be requiici On the motion of Mr Car»ill, the offer was accepte 1, a-d the Clerk was instructed to carry oat the Jinnngeinent-, The Cierk was directed to get the necessary transfer of the section in D nvlimr-^treet, r.enr the Wrs lujan Chapel, on whioh the fire tower and engine house are to be elected. The Hoard arljounied, at a quarter after four o'clock, to Tuesday ne\t.

GENERAL ROAD BOARD

A meeting of the General Ho id Board was held ou Tuesday at the Provincial Se-re'.ar.'s Ofliee. There were pre«ont— His Honor the Supdi intendciu (in the chair), M"essra Reynolds, M'Glaslian, D'ck, and Kil-fro-iir. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed.

Tim Anderson's iut road.

Mr Mill, as attorney f>r Mr Hugh Robinson, wrote claiming £130. as compensation for injury done to him by the mode of rec-Mi&truetinc,' the Anderson's Bay road, instead of procuring inateii il from the dry hills at the ea&t side of the rood, or consulting the proprietor; the soft surface and sub s'lil to the depth of 2 feet or 3 feet, an I to a width of 12 feet, had b'en fiken, thus cutting off communication (except at considerable cost) between some ol Mr Robinson's land and the road. The £130 was "'conaidt'i-ed to be within the mark," irrespective of the laud nsjd in making the road.

It was revived that, on the production by the attorney of sufd'-icnt p )\ver to makj the claim, an attempt would be mvle to come to an underpin ling .as to the .amount to he paid, failing in which, arbitration would be lesortel to.

Mr Cumming had made a e'aiin tor compensation for damage done to a section held by him at Waihola, as to which the surveyor a 1 Tokoin-iiriro reoorted that the llamas was very slight indeed, and t!nt£'3<vould be ample coinpiiu-iiion. It was directed that Mr Cumminc; should make a specific claim. Mr Turns, Kast Taieri, wrote complaining that some drai-is \/hich had been cut and connected with the Pi.'ver Stieain, caused floods, which not only flrorted much of his own lan 1 which had never been ljoode.l before, but as the water got upon land of his Jiti'shbom^, he foiled that ho might be hpid liable thioufrli his bavins _iven .about 105 cli iin-,, by half a eh .iv in width. thiou_'li which one of the diaiuswas cut. Mr 11-jbeits had icported that ikj flooding did occur, but only in times of flockl. I*uiight hi reuelied by contiitui: g a l.ir^e dit'-'h eisrlit or ten cha'i.s fuithcr, so tli.it it mi^Jit acaiu connect with thf> silver If arrangements wero m\'le to carry all the drained water in'o one channel, what wns now u'vl hid always been siswanip mi«ht be eouyeited into ta wheat/ field. The Provincial Engineer in a letter he be'.'evc 1 that Mr iltrns's- oinplaint was altogether uuc.iUed for. He (tli ; enirincci) ha-l heard ev'dence which eonvincei! fiini that the land had been much bonefittcd by the woiks of fie Government.

Mr Burns attended and enve some explanations.

The Pro\ineul Surveyor (Mr Tl:omv n) said there was an understaudinsx with Mr Burns tint tlic work should be well and effectively done ; and it w is ordered that the necessary steps should be taken for icmedjing what wa.s complained of.

THE CAVERSHAM DIBTMeT BOARD,

This Board forwarded resolutions, in favour of a district rate of G>l an acre, and of a special rate of LI an acre on the owners of the sections along tli3 existing line of roal from the Edinburgh Cistlo Hotel to the top of Look-out Point. The special 1.-ito would raise T/200. which it wa.s hoped the Government would supplement with a like sum.

Mr Fulton and other members of the Caver-ham Board attended, to suppoit the rates. It was explained th.it it \v;is necessary to inotal the road and otherwise improve it, airi then it would not only hi beneficial to the owners alons; the line, but would be very useful for traffic, towards Dunedin.

His Honor thought it would be most dangerous ro establish anything like a piecedent for piviiu: supplementary grants in such cif-es, and tli it nothing ought to be done un'il the Provincial 'Council hn-l had an opportunity of coming- to a decision on the glacial q-iclion.

Mr Sidey protested n»ainst the .special rate. The road ran through propeity of his, hut it had not been and would not be of us,o to him. He declared that he had not had a chance of goina; before the District Board to urge !)i^> objections.

Mr 1-Viton v.id that the district board were unanimous in i lvour of the rate, and he believed that Mr Sidey had all,along been cognisant of what was doing. His Honor thought it would be well for the district bond to grant Mr Sidey a hearing, and this was apree'l to.

As to the general question, it was resolved that the Government should be recommended to put an item of L2OO on the estimates, simply that the Council mi'j;ht ha\ethe matter before them for discussion, and that the Provincial Engineer should be called upon to report.

Thp rates were allowed, subject to the hearing of Mr Sidey.

The Caversham Board also naked fur a special rate of LI per acre, for Use purposes of a line of road to the Ocean Beiuh.

Mr Fulton said that all the owners interested had consented.

The matter was referred back to the district board, with directions to them to supply a list of all who would be aifectrd by the rate, and the signatures of those who consented to it.

A request tor a supplemental grant was dealt with as in tho preceding ci'-e.

There was a Ion 1 ; discussion respecting a refusal to consent to take compensation for nilowin» the south road to be cairied through two sections in the CavershaindUtnct, o;i the ground that in the original grant from the New Zetland Company, there was no stipulation for such beius done, and r,he case wa3 referred to the Provincial Solicitor for an exposition of the law and to the Engineer for the f.icts as to the constructional necessities.

GREnN ISLAND DISTRICT IiOUXDATUES,

The Grc^n Is'and District Board, by resolution and deputation called attention to the inconvenience of the present northern, boundary of that district The cart track to the upper part of the district, which leaves the main South Road at Look-out Point was very circuitous, besides rising over a hill that might be avoided by leaving the main road at a lower point, and passing over part of the Caversham district, But the Caversh-im district would have no interest in the making of this new road, and Green Island would nor vote mot'ey for a road over which it had no control. Therefore it was asked that the northern boundary should be altered. Mr M'Laren and 'Mr Johnson, the deputation, said that the boundary should be b-ouirht down the south road until it reached Anderson's.

It, vrai directed that intimation should be given to the parties interested, that the question would be considered at the nj'Xt meeting. The Board adjourned at two o'eloclc.