OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

Otago Witness, Issue 1323, 7 April 1877, Page 7

OTAGO HARBOUR BOARD.

A special meeting of the Board was held on Wednesday last. The following members wem present:— The Hon. W. H. Reynolds (in the chair), Messrs Fish, Walter, Rutherford, Hackworth, John Mills, James Mills, K. Ramsay, Rattray, and Tewsley. RESERVES. The following report was received from the Reserves Committee, and resolutions were passed giving effect to the recommendations contained therein : — Your Committes, not havin? had an official rep'y from Wellington fixinjr definitely what laud 13 to be reterved for railway purposes, is not yet in a position to bring up a general report ou tho reserves. Messrs Halliwoll and Co. have been informed that the Board has no power to assent to their proposal in the meantime. Messrs Ila^gilt and Brent's application for consent of Board to au assignment of a lease of part of Wharves and Quays Reserves, James Byrne and Henrietta Byrne to Edward M'Allister, havin? been approved by the Board's Solicitor, your Committee recommend the Board* seal to be attached thereto. Examination fee, 10s 6d, to be paid by applicants. Kmcaid, M'Qucen and Co.'s application. — Becommended that their offer be accepted for six months, on the distinct understanding that they t^ke all risks of any interference by progress of reclamation works. Kent to be paid quarterly, in advance. Form of Leasts.— The Committee have several under consideration. Your Committee Iw c issued instructions for a plan to be prcpa-ed showing- the proposed sectional division of the area of reclaimed land between Crawford street and the cross wharf.

WORKS. The following report from the Works Committee was received : — MrProudfoot's Contract — By instruction, and carrying out the Board's resolution, the Engineer has handed over to Mr Proudfoot the plant promised to be loantd to him under hjs deed of contract with the Board, with the exception of the dredge New Era which is not yet ready for work. A complete inventory has been made, and Mr Proudfoot has signed the same. Rocky Walling.— The Engineer having reported that this work was not progressing- very rapidly, and that the material to be obtained from Bell Hili is comparatively limited in quantity to what will be required for the rocky walling, your Committee ha< had under its consideration the question of expediency lof advising the letting of the work by tender, or of obtaining an offer from the contractor for the dredging to carry on the walling simultaneously with his other contract. The latter proposal, if it could be arranged at a reasonable price, your Committee is of opinion is the one least likely to be open to questions of dispute >r. carrying on the work, and would relieve the Board from a very considerable amount of responsibility, which it would still remain under were the walling in the hands of any other contractor. Should the Board adopt the same view, Mr Proudfoot has expressed his willingness to submit proposals. Should, however, the Beard decide afterwards to call for tenders for the work, Mr Proudfoot expects that any pioposals submitted by him will not in any way be divulged, so a1)a 1 ) not to prejudice him in tendering. • City Corporation's Application for a Site on which to Deposit City Refuse.— Your Committee have carefully considered the terms of application, and would Tecommend that the application be granted, on the understanding that as the site is a portion of what is proposed to be reserved for railway purposes, the Board's consent must be limited by the requirements of the Government in respect tn the site, and that power be reserve! t» stop the using of the same on three months' notice being given. It was resolved that the recommendation contained in the report respecting the site for city refuse should be carried out It was re solved that that portion of the report referring to rocky walling, should be considered in Committee after the routine business was dealt with. FINANCE. The following report was received from the Finance Committee. The 'Committee have considered folly the various methods brought under their notice for levying and collectins the improvement rate of 2s per ton at Dunedin wharves, and Is per ton at Port Chalmers wharves, and they recommend that authority be asked from Parliament in the coming session to levy an equivalent rate on the value, instead of on the tonnage, and to collect that rate from the consignees cf the goods, through the Custom House. Upon considering the other classes of Harbour rates, it seems to the. Committee desirable that the Port charges on shipping should be rated quarterly, instead of half-yearly ; that all steamers should pay berthage dues on their gross tonnage, that the wharfage rates should give more time for removing timber ; that it should give 48 hours instead of 24, and 72 where now 48. These changes can be effected by altering the present bye-lawa. It was resolved that the recommendations contained in the report should be taken into consideration at next ordinary meeting. ; TENDERS FOR ERECTION OF NEW OFFICES. The following tenders were received for the erection of the new offices for the Board :— Siedeberg and Co. „ .. £2761 0 0 Grant 2580 0 0 TTRen 2301 0 0 J. Hopcraft 2700 0 0 Peter Gunn .. .. „ 2180 10 0 R. Martin 2847 0 0 R. Howlison 2299 0 0 Bateman and Stait .. .. 2725 16 0 Ewing and Qracie .. .. 2063 0 0 James Gore 2917 q q H. C. M'Cormack .. .. 2349 0 0 On the motion -of Mr Walter, seconded by Mr Ramsay, it was resolved that the lowest tender— P. Gunn, L2lßo los— be accepted. A BTEAITjIAUNCH. Mr Tewslet begged to move — " That the Board approve of the building of an efficient > steam launch." The Works Committee, in their report at last ordinary meeting, summarised as nearly! 'as^possible all the arguments in favour of buildhlg' a launch. There was only one other argument that occurred to him since. They would t almost immediately have to begin a survey of the Lower Harbour, and that would render the possession of a bunch still more necessary. '"*"' 1 Mr Walter seconded the motion. Mtßattray opposed the motion. It was stated that the cost of building the launch would be .about LISOO. - No doubt that really meant L2QOO. No doubt the possession of such a launch would be very desirable, but he really thought they could not afford it. They had no funds for the purpose, as the borrowed money was for the purpose of making a deep-water channel. He ihought they would be acting more Ayisely if they spent their money upon the main object of deepening the channel, and in making wharves and quays. Mr Fish opposed the motion, for the same reasons as those urged by Mrßattray. He would also point out that so soon as they committed themselves to the purchase of this launch, the Works Committee would urge that as a reason for lighting the long channel, as the launch would be convenient for that work. Now he yras as much opposed to lighting the long channel as to purchasing the launch, because he considered it was unnecessary. Besides, by getting the launch they would certainly be creating another department, which would probably grow into larger dimensions than they anticipated. Mr Ramsay supported the view taken by the Works Committee that a launch was necessary, and he was inclined to support the motion. Before doing so, however, he thought they were entitled to a little more information. He would move as an, amendment : — " That before committing the Board to the construction of a steam-launch, the Works Committee be requested to ascertain the cost of the launch, to prepare a statement as to the cost of maintenance, and alsn a statemeut an to' the probable cost of maintenance." The Chairman said it was all very well to say that the building of the launch would only cost LI2OO or LISOO. The chances, were that it would cost L2OOO. Then it was not the first cost that was to be considered so much as the cost of maintenance, repairs, etc. Mr Walter said they scarcely wanted auy further information, as they knew the probable cost of building a suitable launch would be LISOO ; and at the present time the boat service cost from L 25 to L 27 per month. There was no force in Mr Fish's remarks about the creation of a new department, because a boating department already existed hi connection with the Board. Mr Tewsley was surprised at Mr Ramsay's amendment, as the information asked for had alredy been furnished in previous reports by the Works Committee. It was urged that they had no funds, but they had a large balance to their credit, and unsold debentures to the amount of about L 120,000. He was very much surprised at the statement that their funds were only available for deepening the channel, when they had just voted L2OOQ for the erection of offices. He thought it was their duty not only to deepen the channel but also to look after the proper navigation of the whole harbour, and a launch was necessary for that purpose. It would be easy to place a limit on the price of the launch. The original motion was carried in the following form: — "That the Board approve of the building of an efficient steam launch*; and that the Works Committee be requested to get plans, specifications, and estimates prepared, to be submitted to the Board."

IMPROVEMENT OF THE LOWER HARBOUR. Mr John Mills moved—" That, in viet? of the urgent necessity at Port Chalmers for considerable improvements being carried out in the Lower Euirbour by dredging and otherwise, and that it is 'inlikely that the present dredging plant and capital of the Otago Harbour Board will be sufficient to overtake the same within areasonable time ; and whereas on April 17th, 1862, 24 acres were Crown granted to the Superintendent of the Province of Otago for the improvement of .the harbour of Port Chalmets; and on May 6th, 1866, four acres and 33 poles were Crown jjranted for a' patent slip'; and on August 11th, 1869, 20 acres and two roods were Crown granted 'as a site for J a jetty,' it is the opinion of the, Board (1) That the said reserves, or an equivalent for them either in land or cash, should be handed over to the Board to be devoted specially to the" requirements of Port Chalmers - Bay and the Lower Harbour. (2) That in the event of an equivalent in land being given, power should also be given to raise a special loan on same, say of £ ,to be devoted solely to the improvement of said P6rt Chalmers 1 Bay and Lower Harbour. (3) That a copy of the foregoing resolutions be forwarded to the Hon. 1 tne Commissioner of Customs (the Hon. Geo.i M'Lean), the Minister for Lands and Immigration (The Hon. D. Reid), and the Hon. W. H.Reynolds, M.H.R., requesting them to lake this important matter into their serious consideration and to give the 1 proposal their most' earnest support." ' ' ' Mr Ramsay seconded the motion pro forma. Mr Fish moved, and ' it was agreed > to — " That the debate be adjourned, and the' Reserves Committee, together with the mover, requested to prepare and bring up a report on the whole question involved in the motion." After passing accounts for the month; amounting to 'L 1519 Is lid, the Board went into Committee.