PATEA BOROUGH COUNCIL

Patea Mail, Volume XLIII, 5 November 1919, Page 2

PATEA BOROUGH COUNCIL

ORDINARY MEETING. The ordinary monthly meeting of the Patca Borough Council was held on Monday night, His Worship the Mayor (Mr. A. T. Christensen) presiding. Councillors Grainger, Bennett, Honcyfi dd, Rmnsbottom, Harrison, Cronin and Holtham were also present. An apology was received from Or. ’Williams for non-attendance. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed. Glasgow Lease. Mr. E. W. Godfrey applied for a Glasgow lease of the premises at present held by him. The request was granted. Drainage Extension. St. George’s Church Vestry -wrote agreeing to (he proposed extension of drain through the right of way between (be English Church and the Catholic Presbytery. Received. Foreman’s Salary. The Foreman applied for an increase in salary. Referred to Works Committee. Von Zedlltz. The Wanganui Borough Council wrote asking the Council to co-operate in protesting against the proposal to r ‘nstatc Mr. Von Zcdlitz as Professor o.' Modern Languages at Victoria Colli go. His Worship said he felt very strongly and dared not (rust himself to weak on the matter. Cr. Honeyfleld said he would move -.'at the request be strongly supported. Cr. Holtham, in seconding the resolution, said he thought it should be made general. Cr. Harrison said (hero were others in the country as well as Von Zedlitz holding public positions who should not hold them on account of their nationali; FHis Worship, said ho heartily supj u'ted (ho resolution, which was carried. Footbridge over Patca River. The Tinder-Secretary Public Works r rote stating that Mr. Wyvern Wilson h d been appointed a Commissioner to e quire into and report on the control, i st of maintaining, repairing, improvi and reconstructing the Patca bridge iu terms of Fee. 1-0 of the Public V orlcs Act. Tils Worship said that a sum of £l3O ■ is on tlic Estimates towards Ihe cost i f the bridge. Personally, ho would be (.".'to prepared for the Council to pay I for £ -with (he County Council towards the cost of the bridge. This sum should sullicc for the whole of the work required. The Commission would probably cost about £IOO, which would be saved if the County and Borough (.uuo to an agreement on the matter. The bridge was badly needed both for Bounty and Borough sol tiers who owned motor vehicles, of which about 200 oat of sonic 250 registered belonged to the County. Cr. Grainger moved that Crs. Hoi(liain, Harrison, the (Mayor and the uover be a deputation to wait on the County Council at its next meeting,

when. he hoped tlio Cuunly would allow the matter to be thoroughly discussed. Cr. Harrison .seconded the resolution, which was carried unanimously ; Or. Holtham pointing out that it was absolutely necessary to protect pedestrians from motor traffic, which was largely from the County. Half-Holiday. Mr. W. I’. Kirkwood wrote asking ■ or ,a subscription of lb/- towards the .■nst of carrying the Universal Saturday Half-holiday proposal to a successful issue. His Worship said a universal Saturday half-holiday was highly desirable, lie would move (hat the sum of 10s asked for be paid. If Taranaki had a Taranaki Saturday Half-holiday League it would be a step in the right dirrection. The matter was really one for Parliament. Or. Holtham seconded the resolution, which was carried. On the question that Saturday bo the half-holiday in future His Worship said he would do nothing without consulting the tradespeople. Cr. Holtham said he would move that provided the whole of the other local bodies in Taranaki adopt Saturday as the half-holiday this Council agree to do its best to have Saturday declared the half-holiday in the (own. Seconded by Cr. Grainger and carried. Streets. The Engineer reported on the work carried out on tlie streets during the month. The Works Committee's report was read as under, and adopted : The Committee begs to make the following recommendations : 1. 'That a -I-inch pipe be laid in Norfolk Street, draining into Devon Street' to take away the accumulation of water. 2. That the well in the footpath by the Albion Hotel be fdled up with material from Oxford Street and any other that is handy. That, la-inch earthenware pipes be laid Hi place of the old wooden flaming at the bottom of Bedford Street, to take away the flow from the stormwater drain. 4. That (he temporary water trough opposite the Eire Brigade Station be removed. ,1. That the Engineer’s report be adopted. His Worship said that Norfolk Street required attention. Ho would like the Works Committee to take the matter in hand. The cost would be about £f). Cr. Harrison asked why the watertrough should be taken away trom opposite the Fire Brigade Station. H was not doing any harm. Cr.. Bennett said it was only erected temporarily. It was not a very handsome structure. Cr. Cronin said the trough was an eyesore and a danger to the public. A Councillor: Why ? There’s only water in it. (Laughter.) Cr. Cronin said the sooner the trough was removed the better, now there

were permanent troughs erected elsewhere. It was decided that tho trough be removed. Electric Light and Drainage. The Engineer reported on tho electric light and drainage works. Ho also submitted the following report on the electric light extension : “As directed I interviewed Mr. Blair Mason at New Plymouth last Friday. As a result of the consultation he is prepared to recommend fluming the proposed new- water rage, providing the same is covered the whole of the way. In my report I proposed to only cover where the banks were high. We were in agreement as to tho fall of four foot to the mile, and the required area of the trench. Mr. Mason, however, suggested that the limning be 2 feet by 1 foot G inches, instead of 2 feet G inches by 1 foot 3 inches, the former being a bettor size to crawl through in tho event of a stoppage. “In my report I allowed £l4O for fencing ; if the fluming is covered this amount will not be required. Taking this into consideration, the additional cost for covering the whole way is £220. The actual amount to be covered in could be best decided as the work proceeds.” The Electric Light Committee also reported as under : “1. That a complete inspection of the proposed route for draining Surrey Street has been made and the whole position has been fully explained by the Engineer. Permission lias been ob tained from the Church of England to run the drain along the boundary of their property. The Committee therefore instructed the Engineer to order all necessary materials required to go oil with the work, in accordance with the plans submitted. Electric Light Improvements. “£6OOO Loan. .Proposed wooden fluming of water race.—A report of the Borough Engineer is attached and the Committee instructed him to interview Mr. Blair Mason and obtain his opinion on th.e proposed wooden fluming. The opinion is to hand and is also attached. After consideration of this report the Committee recommend that the pro posed new water race with wooden fluming be gone on with at once.” Mr. Blair Mason’s Report. Mr. Blair Mason’s report was as follows : “Referring to our interview of today which included a discussion of the question of conveying an auxiliary water supply from Ivaikiora and Blake’s [hikes into tho Oroua dam at the elec trie power station by means of a wooden fluming, I beg to report as follows : “The proposal submitted by you was to construct and lay on tho ground or a grade of four (4) feet to the mile, a. 2} ft, by 1} ft. totara box fluming between the Lakes and Oroua dam. “I see no objection to this course provided the flume is boarded on top and made as a closed box. 'The fluming should be carefully jointed and be ■and tight and practically water tight. The bottom, sides and end joints insideshould be flush so that any solid matter inadvertently getting into the flumiiu will have little chance to catch am. lodg«. “It was suggested that the eras; sections of the box be made 2 ft. with by H ft. deej) in lieu of 2} ft. by I.] ft. This will strengthen the flume to withstand the weight of the sand covering, and at the same time make it easier to got into it for examination. Whore the ground is low, wooden trunks 2 ft. square and brought above the surface of the ground should be provided at convenient distances apart to give ingress for examination when necessary. These trunks might be fitted with a padlocked cover to avoid risk of solid substances being droppeddown into the flume and interfering with the water flow. “At the intake end the flume should bo widened or splayed.. This would not only reduce the entry head, but at the same time allow of a screen being fitted to prevent carbonaceous and other solid matter from getting in and reducing the carrying capacity "Of tho fluming. A few posts put in a ores cent round the inlet, carrying say -J-in wire netting, would also be an advantage. “It is also asked what losses might bo anticipated in the water supply due to seepage and evaporation. With a water-tight flume, the loss between the’ Lakes and Oroua should lie practically nil. The losses over the Lake or Swamp area at the intake cud may be of three kinds : “I. Seepage ; 2. Absorption by vegetation ; 3. Evaporation. “With respect to seepage, no opinion can be given. The only method-is to ascertain the total losses by measuring the quantity of water flowing into the lakes and tho quantity being discharged therefrom. If this is difficult to carry out it would bo well to make an allowance for seepage, say of onc-tcnth cubic ft. per second, the same for absorption by yegctaliou and also onetenth for evaporation, which latter is equivalent to sixty inches evaporation per annum. The total losses so allowed would aggregate three-tenths of a cubic foot per second. If the creek supply is, as wo arc given to understand, a minimum of four cubic feet per second, three and seven-tenths cubic feet per second should be delivered by the flume into Oroua dam. “Reverting again to the laying of the fluming, ,it would bo advisable before tilling in the sandy soil to lay say six inches of mown tussock grass or fern on top of the flume. This will form a carbonaceous mat and reduce the risk of sand running into the flume through any crack or defective joint.” Cr. Grainger in moving the adoption of tho report, said that if the work proposed by the Engineer were carried out it would give an increased revenue of £IOO per annum. The other advantage was that providing the full four cubic feet of water can bo brought in from the Mangaroa stream to the proposed new dam, the hydro plant could then do all the present work required in tho Borough, the gas plant being

hold in reserve ; this alone would mean a great saving. For instance the expenditure at the gas plant for the current seven months amounts to no less a sum than £GOO, including the new belt -just ordered. Presuming this rate of expense is continued it would mean approximately £IOOO for the current year. If the above scheme is carried out the greater part of this £IOOO would be eliminated, the gas plant only being used in case of a temporary stoppage of the hydro plant for repairs and annual overhaul. Continuing, Cr. Grainger said: “The interest on the whole £OOOO loan including sinking fund amounts to £330 per year, so that the saving to be effected will amount with increased revenue from say 20 houses in sight to bo built £SO plus reduction in the running costs of the gas plant of £BOO deduct from this the annual interest and sinking fund on the load £330 loaves a clear saving of £514. The houses in sight to be built includes those being built by _ tho Freezing Company, and without increasing our available power in the near future it is doubtful if these and other houses to be built could be supplied with light. Even with the above improvements carried out, and presuming that the town continues to grow say within the next five years it may bo found necessary to run the gas plant in parallel with the hydro during peak loads, when this time arrives the Council will have to consider further expenditure in providing a duplicate plant at the lower power house with either a gas engine or a crude oil engine direct coupled to the generator, as a single unit cannot be relied upon for continuous service the year round. Before this time arrives of course some other source of power may be available in cither the Government scheme or from New Plymouth. “The estimated cost of the whole scheme outlined will be £SOOO, which included a motor and a new generator at the lower power house. The installation of the motor will safeguard the water supply at all times as it will enable pumping to be done at the hydro at any time when the power load is low; this is an urgent necessity. The new generator will be one running at half tho speed of the present machine, thus giving a pulley twice the diameter of the present one, by which means it is anticipated that at least one factor of loss will be eliminated. “One thing that has been agitating the minds of the committee was how much of the available water now going •vw the cliff from the Mangaroa stream would be lost by soakage and evaporation when the 10 or 12 acres arc flooded, as Mr. Blair Mason’s report did not give any definite information on this point, and as it is a very vital one, Mr. Davies was instructed to interview Mr. Blair Mason on this and one or two other matters. This information he has now obtained and is in the opinion of the Committee satisfactory. “It must be again emphasised that even with the proposed expenditure within tho next say five years, further expenditure may have to be incurred in duplicating the plant at the lower power house as already mentioned, as should the town progress and more power is required than the additional i) k.w. which it is anticipated will be got by increasing the head at the dam, and the two plants arc called upon to run in parallel, then unless some outside source is available a duplicate plant will be required in the Lower power-hous®. “From the foregoing tho advantages to bo gained by the expenditure of approximately £SOOO as propose! can be summed up as follows : (a) Increased , power at the hydro ; (b) Increased time it will be possible to run the hydro ; (c) reduction in running costs of from £BOO to £IOO pear year ; (d) Net gain after deducting interest and sinking fund on the loan of approximately MOO per year, (e) Greater reliability and steadier«running of the hydro as against the involuntary stoppages of tho gas plant due to belt trouble and other troubles incidental to suction-gas plants ; (f) Greater certainty of nonstoppage of water-supply.” Cr. Harrison, in seconding the adoption of the report, said the scheme proposed was a highly desirable one. They had to thank their Electrical Engineer, Mr. Davies, who had had many difficulties to contend with and had carried the matter through successfully. Ho said all honour was due to Mr. Davies for the magnificent work carried out.

Cr. Cronin, endorsed Cr. Harrison’s remarks. The new power would be a splendid thing for the Borough. His Worship said he strongly supported the adoption of the report. With the new water power the gas plant would be merely a stand-by. Ho hoped to sec the work completed as soon as possible. The resolution was then put and carried unanimously. Mayor’s Honorarium. I The honorarium for the Mayor was fixed at £3O as before. Ownerless Sections. It was decided that two sections for which owners could not be found bo sold for unpaid rates. General. Cr. Grainger brought forward the question of the excessive speed of cars through the town, particularly on race days. The practice should be stopped at all costs. A mile should be measured off and telephones installed, and the necessary steps taken to prosecute offenders. His Worship suggested that the Council take steps when the next race meeting in the district was held. After further discussion it was decided that this course be followed. Cr. Ramsbottom brought forward 'the need of a signboard at the corner of Egmont and Bedford Streets directing cars to Wanganui. At present a number of cars went to the Heads intoad of down Bedford Street. It was decided that the sign-post be erected. Accounts were read and passed for payment and the Council rose.