CITY COUNCIL.

Otago Witness, Issue 715, 12 August 1865, Page 6

CITY COUNCIL.

Tbe first meeting of the City Council was held on Saturday afternoon, in the offices, Princes street North. William Mason, E-q, the M.-ynr, prcsued, and all the Councillors were present.

The Mayor said : In conformity with the Otago Municipal Corporations Ordinance, three days' notice of any meeting of the Council has to he given. Friday was, therefore, the earliest; day on which you could have taken your seata, and I intended to have called you together for that day; but as the election of Superintendent occupied a great deil of attention, I thought it desirable to postpone the first meeting of the Council until to-day. In the usual course of business, we should have before us an Order Paper, to guide us ; but as we have no such document prepared for this first meeting, I have myself jof/ed down the heads of what I think should be our principal business to-day. One of your first duties will be the appointment of your officers; and I strongly recommend that great caution should be cxercisr-d in making those appointments. I see by the 43rd and 44th sections of the Ordinance — to which, perhaps, you will be kind enough to refer — that you have the power oi making the necessary appointments, these offices being held during pleasure; but by the 118tii section, you will find that in certain matters you are bound by all the co;u r a&ts, mortgages, agreements, and bonds entered into by the late Town Board. Therefore, it will benecLssary for you to examine how far the arrangements of the Town Board, and of the City Commissioners, their successors, will bo binding on you. The first appointment 3'ou will be called upon to make is that of a Town Clerk. The present salary of the Clerk is LoOO per annum; and his engagement — made by ihe Town Board, according to a memorandum which I will la} 7 on the table — appears to terminate in November. You will find amongst these documents the letter appointing Mr Lazar, and the minute of the Town Board increasing his salary LIOO per annum, the original amount being L4OO. The next appointment you will have to make appears to be an entirely new one. The Town Board had a City Engineer ; bur the Ordinance requires that you should appoint a Town Surveyor. " The En gineer's present salary is LGOO per annum ; his appointment was made by the Town Board in 1863; and his engagement will terminate in February next. The Assistant Clerk's salary is L 2.50 a-year; it ha? been increased on two different occasions, and copies of the minutes respecting those increases, I will lay on the table. It will be your duty to appoint an Inspector of Nuisance?. Hitherto, this officer has been appointed by tbe Pioviucial Council ; his salary is L 275 15s a-year; and the Government have been in receipt of all the fines imposed under informations by him. It the Inspector becomes our officer, as a matter of course the fines will be piid into the treasury of the Corporation ; and as I understand from Mr Lazar that those fines have annually amounted to between L3OO and L4OO a year, the Corporation will be absolutely a gainer by the office. There is another appointment which must be mentioned — that of Se.vton at the Cemetery. His salary is Ll5O per annum ; and the income derived from the Cemetery during 1864, was LIOO4 8s "id. How it is that the Church of England Cemetery, the Roman Catholic Cemetery, and the Jews' Cemetery, are not under the control of this officer, I do not understand. It appears that the other grounds are so. There are two collectors — Mr Bourchier, who is subject to a month's notice, and receives L 250 a-year; and Mr Dunlop, at L 4 a-week, his engagement being of course terminable at any time. There is also a messenger, who receives 9s per diem. Those, I believe, are all the officers with whom you will have to deal. It is open to you to confirm all the appointments at once ; or to ask the officers to continue to peiform their duties until such a time as your Finance Committee shall have been appointed and been enabled to ascertain for you the exact position ia which you stand, monetarily. There is still another course open ; to appoint a Committee to enquire and report what officers, will be necessary, what should be the duties of each, and what; salaries should be paid. Another thing which we shall have to take into consideration, ■will be our occupation of the present offices. They have been taken at L3OO per annum ; and to give up possession, it is necessary that three months' notice should be given prior to the Ist of June in any year. In their present state, I think these offices would hardly be sufficient for all our requirements. The probabilities are, that we shall have a Mayor's Court, ia which case we should want a Court Roam. This apartment would answer for that purpose and for our general meetings. Then it would be necessary that a private room should be provided for the Mayor, another for the Town Clerk, and a third for the Assistant Clerk. Without these conveniences, I do not think that the public business 1 could be carried on satisfactorily. I should

recommend that a Committee should be appointed to confer with the present proprietor of the building, and to make the necessary arrangements ; for Ido not pee the slightest probability of our having, for some time, t'^e msans of taking step^ t) erect a public building for our purposes. I think that a very large amount 0 ' the business of the Corporation might advantageously be transacted by Committee" : therefore, I have to suggest that Committees should be appointed for various purposes. The first would be a Standing Ordc-r3 Committee. It ia utterly impo^ible at all properly fo conduct the public business, unless we have some Standing Orders for our guidance. I have drafted a set of Orders, which I think may be sufficient for our purpose. I would suggest that the Committee, when appointed, should take this draft to assist them in arranging Orders to be submitted to the Council, and that they should bring up their report as speedily as possible. The next Court ittee would j be that of Finance — and this is, perhaps, 1 the most important appointment of the kind you will have to make. During the short time I have been in office, I have,, wi'h Mr Lazar's assistance, obtained such information as enables me to lay before yon a schedule of liabilities and assets. Our liabilities appear to bi L 10,404 8s od, and our assets Ll 1,146 los lOd, leaving a balance iv our favor — which I confe=s I am very agreeably surprised to find — of L 742 7s od." These liabilities, it may be uiicc-sarv to say, include an overdraft at tlvj Bank of New Z-.aland of L 432 9s lid. I have further obtained a schedule of properties belonging to the Corporation ; and it Ins been so prepared that, at a »!ance, you may see every properly which belongs to us, the number nf 3 ears for which it is leased, the name of the lessee, the period at which the lease v.ill expire, and the amount of rent payable yearly. Our fiuanciil year will commence from the Ist August ; and, therefore, it will be necessary that from that date we should commence a new system of book-keeping. I tru^t that you will appoint such a Committee to attend to this matter as will be able to lay down a system which shall be perfectly clear and iurelligible, so that, on turning up any folio of a book, we may see excctly how we stand with respect to the particular nutter there dealt with. Another very important duty ot the Council will be that of devising means of raising money. This is no small difficulty. We have at present a debt of L 35.000 — a loan, which I trust maj 7 be ere long converted into a grant by the Provincial Council. If this be done, much of o-ir difficulty will be removed ; for iv the face of this loan, and the fact that the Ordinance gives us power to borrow only at 7 per cent., added to the knowledge that the Provincial Government have some difficulty in launching debentures at 8 per cent., the difficulties of the Finance Committee must be considerable. It has been strongly urged, as you know, by man}' of the electors, that some consideration should be showu by the Council towards the Fire Brigade; and I trust that the Finance Committee will be able to see some means of assisting the Brigade in the performance of their very difficult duties. Another Committee that I think it will be necessary to appoint, will be one for the purpose of taking into consideration the important question of the number of assessors, and of fixing the period over which their labors should extend. The number up to the present time has generally been ttfo, and their labors have extended over six months. As it will be necessary lor us to raise money as speedily as possible, it m;ty be desirable for us to have more than two assessors. This quos tion will be left entirely in the hands of the Committee. The present mode of collecting the rate at the end of the year, is anything but satisfactory. Perhaps the Committee will consider that point, and see if it be not desirable that the rate should be collected ia advance, rather than at the end of the year. Another Committee that I should recommend would be one to inquire into and report on the condition of the Town Bait, and to offer such suggestions as appear mo^t desirable for its future management. I trust that this Committee, in dealing with the3e matters, will think it necessary personally to examine the Belt. I looked through a portion of it last week ; and I found, as I thought, that very considerable encroachments had been made upon it. If the Committee should agree with me, that that ia the case, it will be necessary at once to have a survey of the Belt made, and that notice to retire should immediately be given to those persons who are occupying portions of it without permission. The probabilities are, I think, that some portion of the Belt may be found -very suitable for a Rifle Range, and that without any chance of injury to the inhabitants. The Volunteers are very anxious to perfect themselves in the use of the rifle ; but it is utterly impossible if a man has three or four miles to walk to the Range, that he can, at the end of that walk, be in a fit state for practice. I know from experience, that after walking three or four miles, a

man is a little shaky for shooting ; and, besides, when that distance has to be done, a man has not the opportunity of going to the Range as frequently as is absolutely necessary to muke him a perfect shot". To j ber-ome^that, a mm rcq'iircf 'o shoot twicf a clay ; and when it came close to the time of a match, I believe that you would find many of our Volunteers would be practising three times a day, if the Ranse was within, an easy distance. With these remarks, gentlemen, I leave the Order Paper, as I have sketched it, to be dealt with; only calling upon you, first, to take whatever steps you think necessary with respect to the appointment of officers APPOINTMENT OF COMMITTEES. Mr E, Ciiai-mer thought it would be very necessary, before any appointment was made, that th«'re should be a Committee apninted to inquire and report as to the officers who would be required, their duties, and the salaries to be paid. He moved that Messrs Turner, Birch, Ro.ss, and the Mover, be appointed a Committee for that, purpose. Mr A. Carrick seconded the motion, which was agreed to. The Mayor said that, as his first suggestion had been complied with, the Council would perhaps now consider the second one. The following Committees were appointed, the motions being very briefly proposed and seconded: — Proposed by Mr James Turner, seconded by Mi" Drivkr : To prepare Standing Orders, and to report at the next meetins — Messrs Birch, Barr, and the Mover. Proposed by Mr D. Ross, seconded by Mr T. BißCii : Public Works Committee — Messrs Chalmer, Turner, and the Mover. Proposed by Mr Birch, seconded by Mr J. 11. Barr : To consider and report as to the number of Assess :>rs to ba appointed, and the mo-le of levying rates — Messrs Ross, Griften, and the Mover. Pioposed by Mr Driver, seconded by Mr Carsick : To inquire into the present stite of the Town Belf, and to make such recommendations as to its future management as may be deemed advisable, report to be presented within one month — Messrs Birch, Griffen, and the Mover. Proposed by Mr Carrick, seconded by Mr Ross: The Finance Committee — Messrs Driver, Barr, and the Mover. RKPORT TKOM THE LATE COMMISSIONERS. The Clerk read the following : — OfSce nf the City Cu'iimissioners, Dunt'din, 3lsfc July, 1855. Report of the Commissioners for the City of Dunedin to the Ma' or and Corporation. Gentlumen, — Our term of office expiring this d.iy, we have the honor of submitting to you an account of our proceedings since our appointment. On the Sth M'iy list, W3 enteied upon our duties, all operations of the lite Town Board having: remained in ab a yinct* from the 12th April. A few days proved sufficient for the re-organisation of the various departments; and we are happy to say that our efforts have to a great extent been successful. The financial position of the Board was first considered by us. In consequence of the certainty that a Municipal Corporation would be speedily created, we resolved to abstain from entering into any important contracts, iind to appropriate income to paying off pressing liabilities. The amount nf rates coll J cted during our tenure of office has been L3OS2 3s 4r>d; and the other receipt have been — Municipal rents, Lj-12 16s 6); building licenses, cemetery fees, &c, LIOO 4s ; making a total of L 3525 5s lO^d. Out of this sum, we have liquidated deposit ace mnts upon contracts, paid salaries and Jay wag-p, to date, and reduced the gas award and exuenses from LI 01 1 5s to Li 07 ss, and the overdraft at the Bank from L 4817 Gs 8d t0L4550 2s 7d. To accomplish these things, the strictest economy has been necessary, but attention his been given to the immediate requirements of the city,. An application has been made by the Committee of the Athei-te lm, for the canceimenfc of the present Town Bo^rd leise of the site of the Institution, and for a new arrangement generally with respect thereto. This subject was considered by us so important, that we resolved to refer its decision to the CityCouncil; but we venture to urge the importance of an amicable arrangement being arrived at, and of every facility being given for the improvement, of so useful an Institution as the Athenaeum. Several deputations have waited on the Commissioners with respect to the improvement of Market street South ; but as the matter must involve considerable expense, we have preferred to le.ive it to our successors. When the Commissioners took office, an, action was pending fur compensation for nonfulfilment of the lighting contract between the late Town Board and the Gas Company. The amount claimed by the Company was L 656 18s, which was increased by L 637 which was claimed by the lessee for continuous default. There was thus a sum of L 1494 8s claimed. It was frequently discussed ; and as a similar claim had beea referred to arbitration, and an award given for L 907 17s, which, with costs, amounted to LlOll ss, it was thought advisible that the Clerk should be instructed to arrange the matter, which, ho succeeded in doing by giving L 747 4s in satisfaction, in bonds at three, six, nine and twelve months, without interest, and each ( party paying their own costs.

f The iDommrssioners cannot retire from office ' "without acknowledging the uniform courtesy and good feeling which have been shown bj* ratepayers upon all occasions when requests for improvements to be made could not be entertained, consistently with the Commissioners' views of their duty ; and the Commissioners hope that by unanimity iv a desire to promote the interests of this rising city, the Corporation will prove that its members are worthy of the high positions in which they have been placed by their fellow citizens. — We have, &c, R. H. Form an, Chief Commissioner. John Grey. Mr Caeeick moved that the report be received. Mr Tubneb seconded the motion. He ■wished to draw attention to that part of the report which had reference to the disposal of the site of the Athenaeum; but he was not sure whether it would be better to do more at present, or to bring forward the subject at the next meeting. The Mayor said the report contained a great deal of information. He thought the better plan would be simply to receive the report at present ; and then, prior to the next meeting, there would be opportunity of considering it. The motion was agreed to. The Clerk formally reported the result of the recent elections. Me3srs A. Fleming and W. 0. Ball made the declaration as auditors. i A memorial from residents in Marketstreet was presented ; and, after the transaction ol some unimportant business, the Council was adjourned.