BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XII, Issue 4201, 28 January 1885, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

— — ♦ The Council met last night. All were present except Cr Wilson. Cr Stevenson made the usual declaration and took Irs seat, and was, on the motion of Cr Hepburn seconded by Cr Kenny, appointed a member of the Works Committee. Leave. The Engineer wrote : — " I shall be obliged if your Council will grant me leave of absence for three weeks, beginning on Feb. 6 next. Mr G. Grant will perform my duties during my absence." — Granted, on the motion of Cr Townley seconded by Cr Kenny. Police Offences Act. The Mayor and Crs Kenny and Graham reported : — " Your Committee have to report that having considered the Police Offences Act they are of" opinion that the Council should cordially unite with the Auckland Council in urging upon the Government, That it would be fair and in accordance with the spirit of the Act that ; all prosecutions where possible should be laid under the by-laws duly made by the ' local authority, and that the police be in- [ structed accordingly. " J The Mayor said it was evident to the ; Council that the police had a discretion I as to whether they should bring informations under the general Act or the by- 1 laws, but the spirit of the Act was that the by-laws should not be interfered with. ' Report adopted. The Waikanab. ] Mr John Drummond wrote six pages of j foolscap proposing to reclaim the banks of ■ the Waikanae, from Grey street to Nes- . \ bitt road, to do away with the stench and make valuable land. Estimated cost, ( L 1,159. . \ Agreed to acknowledge the letter with ( thanks, the Council not being in a position ( financially to discuss the proposal. ( Stone Breaker. 1 MrJ. R. Duncan, Ashburton, wrote £ offering to this " rising town " > metal- - c breaking machine at a cost of Ll2l. The Mayor wished they had the metal 1 to crack. If Mr Duncan would tell them j how to get the metal they would be glad to talk to him about the machine. \ It was agreed, on Mr Townley's mo- c tion, to reply that the Council vraa not in t a position to buy. Disraeli Street. t Cr Graham presented the following pc- 1 tition :— "Dec. 15, 1884.— We, the under- 1 signed residents and owners of property t in Disraeli street, beg respectfully to re- c quest that the Borough Council will form a that long neglected portion of Disraeli 1 street from Palmerston road to- Aberdeen road. In winter the road is almost im- 1 passable, large lagoons of water lying all across the road.— s". T. Morgan, J. Somer- r veil, M. Colley, Alice Lewis, Alex. Thorn- f son, C. M. Maunsell, A. Ireland, T. I

Dhrisp, H. J. Thomson, J. P. Bannister, 1 M. Davis, G. Hall, G. Richardson, J. Boland, E. Chrisp, H Francis." Cr Graham said there were some holes n tho street which could be filled up, and t would answer the purpose in the meaniime, as the Council was nob in funds to lo more. The Engineer might see to it. The Mayor said there were one or two eery large holes and a great deal of water ay there. A little soil would remedy it. Agreed that the Engineer should attend ;oit. Payments. Houlden, £328 14s ; R. Douglas, £18 Lss ; Gas Co., £9 10s ; Returning Officer, 64 4s ;H. B. Herald, £2 10s ;G. Humphries, £1 Is 2d. Water Supply. Cr Graham said they should not lose sight of the question of securing the Wailiiriri or some other source of water supply—possibly under the Public Works A.ct. He hoped the Committee which liad been appointed would meet again as soon as possible. The long spell of dry weather had brought the water question prominently under notice. The M<yor gave the following notice af motion for next meeting :— " That the Committee appointed on Dec. 22 to consider andreport'upon certain questions of water supply be authorised to make % conditional purchase of any site suitable in their opinion as a source of water supply for the town of Gisborne. Provided that before closing any such conditional purchase they have the approval of the Finance Committee, and that the vendor or vendors agree to make the sale subject to ratification by the Council, and so far as necessary by the ratepayers of the Borough. That the Committee be further requested, before coming to a conclusion as above, to consider alternately the facilities given to local bodies of taking land for public works, and to report to the Council should they consider a site of water supply suitable for Gisborne can be thus acquired more economically than by private purchase." Gladstone Road Contract. The Engineer reported : ''The contractor is getting on very slowly with this job, and will be much behind time, and the work in some respects is not being satisfactorily done. Altogether 570 cubic yards of gravel have been delivered, oi which 350 yards have been spread on Gladstone road and 320 have been tipped near Roebuck road ready for metalling Aberdeen road." There was some discussion as to what should be done with the contractor (Malone), the term of the contract being seven weeks from Nov. 27. Several Councillors said probably Mr Malone was not hurrying because he had to wait six months for the money for the metal. It was proposed to write to him that the penalties would be enforced, but it was finally agreed to tell him that he was already over time, and suggesting greater speed, leaving the penalty question open. Aberdeen Road Contract. The Engineer reported : — "Formation fr«m brewery to Roebuck road : This work is finished and has, I believe, been inspected-by the Public Works Committee, and a final payment, £18 15s, is recommended. I should advise that the metalling of this road be proceeded with at once, the metal to be carted by the cart ng contractor " Cr Joyce moved that the carting be done by tender. That would be fair to a!l, and it would be probably be done cheaper. He thought the amount would be more than was allowed by the Aot to be done without tendering. Cr Stevenson seoonded, Cr Hepburn opposed this proposal. There should not be a day's delay, as the formation was being blown away. Cr Townley said they had accepted a tender at a low rate for carting, and there was no need of a separate contract foi this small job. Cr Lewis thought it would be absurd to do so, and it would keep people from tendering for the Borough carting. The contractor for carting was compelled to keep three drays, with the necessary horses and men. Cr Graham said if the metal was not quickly put on the road would want reforming, as the sand was blowing away. Cr Joyce's proposal was negatived and the report adopted. TURANGANUI BRIDGE. The Engineer reported : — "Good progress has been made, all the long piles in west abutment, three western piers, and turntable pier, having been driven ; caps have been put on the two western piers and two bottom chords of trusses (west-ern-most span) have been fixed. The work is being carried on satisfactory. A progress payment of £328 14s, as per certificate, is recommended." Cr Townley suggested that they should arrange as to getting money from the Government and the County Council foi the bridge. They had now paid all but £60 of the Borough's £500, and unless they arranged in the meantime the contractor would in a month have several hundreds due and they would have onl} £00 to give. After some discussion the Mayor said il would not do to keep the contractors waiting while they were negotiating with the Government and the County Council. He would therefore suggest that he should be authorised to write at once to the Minister of Public Works and the County Council on the subject, so that prompt payment might be made when more money was due. This was agreed to.