BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXII, Issue 7309, 19 June 1895, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

overseer's beport.

» ■ • - The Council met last evening. Present:/ His. Worship the Mayor (Mr Towriley) and Crs. Lewis, Whinray, Johnston, Hepburn, Taylor, Somervell, Dunlop, and Harding. Mr H. McKay, secretary of the Charitable . Aid Board intimated that the Council's contribution to the cost of hospital maintenance, and charitable aid this year would be £177 10a to be paid in two half-yearly instalments on the Ist July and Ist January. The Mayor said the amount was a little in .■,,; excess of that paid last year, which was £160, '. though it was slightly under that set down /. in the estimates.

The Overseer reported as follows :— "During the last fortnight I^have had a ; few loads of bricks carted on to Aberdeen road. There is still a very bad place just ' above the brewery, and I would recommend that about 20 to 30 yards of shingle be put on as soon as possible. I think it would be a great improvement to this road if all the . large pine and gum trees were cut down, as owing to these trees the road never gets dry . in winter. — At the time Mr Chriap applied to have the trees thinned out in Childers road, it was understood that every alternate one was to be cut down. He now wants ; them all cut down,- and will replace them with another variety. — I would ask that the Waikanae -drain be cleaned out "again.— : Payments JSIB 4s, as per vouchers." . .. \ It was decided to request Messrs Crawford and Day to thin out the trees in front of/ their properties ; and to have shingle placed on Aberdeen road as suggested. Permission was granted to Mr Ghrisp to cut down all the gums in front of bis residence in Childera road and plant others in place of them, if he i , ..-. ; wi.-hed to do so— The Overseer was author--ised to have the Waikanae drain cleaned out. - - .

inspector's report. .-••.-

The Inspector reported that since December there had only been 18 cases of typhoid, 7 of wbichwere from the country and lljn * the Borough. The crematorium had been-' . disinfected. He recommended that all ap- . plications for boarding house licenses should : - be granted— Received. . Boarding house licenses were granted ,$0 : Mrs Hill, Mrs Murphy, Mrs Menzies, -Mrs Russell, and Messrs A. H. Budd and How chow. • :■■■' ■ ■■■■" ■ The Inspector informed the Council that on Sunday night a man was caught in the' ; act of. tampering" with the harness of the,,:-"/ nightsoil cart. The matter was, now in the hands of the Borough solicitor (Mr Finn.) , The Town Clerk mentioned that all persons who had not paid their rates by the : 31st December would be liable to be charged; 10 per cent, additional. This was provided ' for in the Rating Act passed last session. ; . : STRIKING THE BATE. ' On the motion of the Mayor, seconded by Cr Harding, a general rate of Is 3d in the £, on the ratable value in the borough, was struck. ' ■ .

AN EXPLANATION, ; _;

The Mayor said that some people were under the impression that the amount of £940 for salaries and wages, advertised in the estimates and expenditure for the financial, year 1896, was absorbed in office expenses. This was not so. The salaries paid by the Council were :— Town Clerk £200, Wilkinson £156, Faram £156, Morrison£l22, nightwatchman £26, Fire Brigade engineer £12, C. Clark £108, J. Kenny £108, Kavanagh £52. The office expenses were : Rent €52, advertising and printing £50, miscellaneous £13. They would notice ; that the only salary that could be reckoned in " office expenses" was that of the Town Clerk. All the others were for men employed on the streets. The total amount of office expenses, including salary of Town Clerk, rent, advertising and printing,! stamps and stationery, and nightwatchman, was £331 a year. The £300 which was set down for the prevention of fires included a sum of £200 for a new boiler. They might not have to obtain it, however, for twelve months— still provision for it had to be made in the estimates. Tho Council would have to try to reduce the amount of overdraft, and in order to do this would have to do only absolutely necessary works.

THE QUEEN'S ACCESSION. '

Cr Whinray said he had been requested by a large number of tradespeople to ask the^fcMayor to proclaim a half -holiday on^£ Thursday next in honor of ■ the accession of 7* Queen Victoria. The people of Poverty Bay were all intensely loyal, and he thought ib ; would be an excellent way of showing their loyalty. —Cr Harding seconded, saying that ■■;•" the people of Gisborne were loyal to~ the : backbone.— The motion was carried unanimously.

BREAKING THE BY-LAWS.

Cr Dunlop drew attention to the fact that after a shower of rain, the water in the channel outside Mr Budd'a, fails to drain away quickly. It became stagnant and caused a most unpleasant smell. — The Overseer said that the watertables were regularly and frequently cleaned out, but the shopkeepers swept the dirt from their shops, together with orange and banana skins, loose paper and other rubbish into them, thus ; causing them to become choked. — Cr Hard-' ing corroborated the Overseer's statement.— . Cr Hepburn said the 35th by-law prohibited rubbish being thrown on to the streets, and the Council should enforce it.— This tyftf agreed, t9i