BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XXVI, Issue 8701, 21 December 1899, Page 4

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

MAYORAL INSTALLATION. A OTKOUL meeting of tho Borough Council vrasheld last evening for tho purpose ot installing Mr J. Towuley as Mayor of the Borough for the tenth successive year. (The members present were : Crs Jones, Skeet, Lewiß, Hepburn, and Johnston, On the motion of Cr Hepburn Cr JohnBton waa voted to the chair. The minutes of the previous meeting having been read and confirmed, Cr Johnston said that Councillors were all aware of the chief reason for whioh they had met together that evening. It was MrTownley's tenth term of office as Mayor, and he was sure they were all pleased to see him in his old position. They were all aware of the time - ' and 'attention Mr Townley gave to the business of the Borough, and he was deserving of the best thanks of Councillors »nd ratepayers. (Applause.) Nothing • could have been more cordial than the relations which had in the past existed between. Mr Townley, in his position as Mayor, and the Council, and he hoped that the same good feeling would continue in future. He had much pleasure in asking Mr Townley to read the usual declaration, and again take the chair. His Worship the Mayor, ia returning thanks for the honor conferred upon him, said that it was not necessary for him to gay a great deal upon the present occasion. It seemed to him that he should not have occupied the position of Mayor so long, and he would not have done so but for one reason. By virtue of Mb office as Mayor he held a seat on the Harbor Board, and for that reason he at the preseut felt some interest in holding his seat. In reference to thishe wished to say a few words. They were aware that there had for some time past been a diversity of opinion as to the manner in which the work in the harbor should bo carried on. He was himself in r • a measure responsible for the work^under - way. The matter had been put to the trnff test.by Mr Napier Bell being asked to report on. the harbor works. That gentle- ..- man i&d practically endorsed all tbat had sTeen done, declaring tho works undertaken ■" to! be the moßt suitable and most advan- --•'" *' tegeous to the. port. This was one reason ■why he had so far clung to the office of and had endeavored to fulfil the :' '. duties in connection therewith. It was ■ an office that, in his opinion, Bhould go " -round, and had there not been the afore- ; .mentioned .circumstances he would prob- ■■"' " ably not have, been disposed to monopolise '•".;.. -itfora" farther period. 'Tho present year , " .ha6V-- ; been' a memorable one in many VOiwspeetß.' They had just passed through! ?. ■-■■, an election which, had proved somewhat of r''^-W surprise. v-TSFo ohe\had anticipated the fft.'great majority that the Government had ?-'- 'obtained. At the latter part of last session ' a deputation was sent from Gisborne to „ -Wellington to urge tho chief requirements , of -the district upon tiie Government, and 'among other things the necessity for the 1 : - . construction of railway works. It would ■; ' be remembered that in the. discussion in . : ;- .the House . the Opposition members hod V; .referred; to the. Gisbdrne-Karaka railway ■■T-ftt'sii election 'sop, and that the Govern.vJ.ment were not in earnest in carrying it "■- -~;.'out. If that was so,. the great majority • 'Atnat,tue'Governmeut had obtained would ;. ".: at least enable them to show their sincerity' •-'; and ensure the speedy construction of the y- v!Jjnt.f-lTn'e Government were evidently in regard to the line,*. ana it ;"ji: would.' be carried out with the utmost iv^speed., The forman of works had already :/y3;ttrrived')i«re> and it was only a question of ;. '.weeks when the work woiild be commenced. ;f£v;Se'; believed that it would be carried out possible despatch. It .work- wtiJoh would do the district I'-Snffifitttrfeafee" amount bF good; and one iv^sWhipK* they, "Should all welcome. There a large amount of country to open *,; v; ?Jog(^tbere cbeing plenty of land available §■*'; forspttlement.'. He had made out a simple V? • yeta^ <nne t. showing the expenditure of the iv^Ojunoit- during the time he had occupied It was stated in that evening's |'t'. >; ! paper that- the valuation of the Borough Vrlrßad" 'fallen from £317,000 in 1890 to ;SV ; . > £305,000' in 1398. This showed ' that they -v'^.'had/aob progressed in'the way they ehould '; /, have frorie,. out it was explained in several . -•; ways. , The revenue of the Borough in] ;? 1891 was £3294; in 1899 it was ;63888, an : - : increase of about £600. This amount had : :. 'not been made up by increased rates, but ; : .was received chiefly from miscellaneous ; .v ; items; . In 1890 the liabilities of the *u''- Borough- were: Overdraft £1931, loan ■Xi';;£10,*000, and (less sinking fund), £690. l-s^: making a total of £11,238 ; whilst in 1897 H, VOh«y amounted to only £7905, made up as ?i; L ;* follows : Overdraft £1950, loan (leas sinkSkiing fund) £6355. He aho wished to point ■y.'ij.i^'piK^hatitilSSl theßoroogh had little in property, whilst at the present - time they were in possession of water ;';. plant; sanitary plant, gas engines, stone ;.:,'' crushing depot, , and .ptnerißfoporty. So /r^tiai 'really] the, total indebtedness of the •'£- ' ' B^^jibjtjS?JbenlailowAncar,-wftß «m»de-fot I . * '{lies? assets, -"could 'not" be more >- than "J I £5000. The expenditure for lighting and' '.■'-h .watering' -the streets was in 1891 £203; ■ whilst in 1899 it was £186 ; on Btreet • ''■;■ ■ raainJSnanoe" in 1891 £616, in 1899 £1372 ; "\ on. bridges in 1891 £144, in 1899 £-i1l; misodllaueous expenditure in 1891 £1582, in ,1899 £1386 ; on interest in 1891 £749, ■ .. in 1898 £676. The streets throughout the "■,'.' Borough were' for the means at their dia- "''■}-■ posal in very fair condition. They had to ■ - face io the near future the question oi '■'„. - wkfcer : elippiy. and more complete system '„■ .-":-o f drainage. The advances whioh were '. daily, taking place at Messrs Nelson Bros. * . " and other places in the development of the ' artesian wells caused them to hope that they would soon be in a position to make l use of that means to insure a water supply i& . ?9 r « ■oj?^? rD^ .Whether they would get it *?? .^bb £ thiVside of the river he did not care, •'.: v ,, for it.was certainly coming so near that „ ' ; theyv.wVuld be able' to have artesian water > :^by some means, Mr Macfarlane was sink- -. V: in'i^;'« well 'near his place, and he would .'watch v/ith interest what success attended -,"•; ,-h>Beffortß. Mr Townley instanced what had :""^been done at Sumner, inthe South Island, " . i'Vbere, by an expenditure of about £3500, v > SJri'eicelleDt supply of water had been ob- ' , tamed from an artesian source. In the . case of Sumner they bad to go out some distance' for the water, and there waß not the slightest reason' why the same should not be done here. He had himself seen it used in the former place, and if they ' succeeded in Gisborne iv getting anything like it they would be fortuuate indeed. He thought the way was being cleared for something to be done in this direction. ■Passing on to general topics, Mr Townloy said he was extremely sorry to see so many deaths on the English side in connection with the war at present going on in the Transvaal. Most of the other places . in the colony, had opened subscriptions to relieve the distress and want of the . relations of those who had fallen in battle, and he thought something of the kind should be started iv Gisborno. They had no volunteers to send ftom this district, but they ought certainly to assist the funds by giving what they could. He would ask the Town Clerk to open a list, so that they might all have an opportunity of giving something. New Zealand had . already sent one contingent, and a second was in course of formation. The war was - - going to be a serious one, and would try the British nation very severely. Ihoy had not only to fight the Boers, but trained European soldiers in some shape or' another. In conclusion, he wished to thank the Council for the universal courtesy they had at all times extended to him, and this had in a great measure made the work a pleasure to him. Whatever differences they might have from time to time, there was on the part of all a strong desire to do tho best for the ratepayers at large. He hoped in the near future to see some adequate system of water supply and drainage decided upon. With this in view, he had at all times sought to administer the finances of the borough in the most economical manner possible. Ho thanked the officers for the support they had given him iv all works undertaken. They were always ready to do their duty, and it was a pleasure to work with them. ' He also thanked the Council for their assistance, and he could assure them that he would do his best to satisfactorily Carry out tlie duties of the office of Mayor. (Applause.) The ordinary business was then proceeded with, CORRESPONDENCE. Mr O. B. Hubblo wrote drawing the attention of tho Council to the fact that fires were often lighted on a section in Gladstone Road within the Borough. The Overseer said he had spoken to the occupant of the section referred to, but the uuißance had not been abated.— The Clerk was instructed to write to the ratepayer against whom the complaint was made, poiating out that it was n breach of the Borough bye-laws to light fires on a section, and the practice must at once cease. Mr R. Knox wrote asking for a return of his deposit of £45 in connection with the contract for the supply of metal. — After some consideration the Council decided that the specifications of Kno.v's contract prevented the deposit being returned. It was decided to inform the applicant to this effect. ovekseek's report. The Overseer reported that Mr Knox was making good progress with his stone contract. He recommended a progress payment of £90 for the same. After the

next fortnight the contractor would commence delivering stono in the depot near Cook street, and should any crushed metal come in he purposed pntting it on the upper end of Gladstone road where required. Tenders would be submitted to the Council for tho supply of 300 yards of gravel. The payments for tho fortnight, amounted to £110 63.— The report was adopted. PUBLIC WORKS IU2FOKT. The Pnblio Works Committee met on Saturday, 16th inst., when there were prosent : The Mayor, aud Crs Skeet, Lewis, and Hepburn. After carefully going into the request from Mr Gray re his pay whilst sick, the Committee could not see thoir way to recommend the Council to pay the amount, the applicant being only a daily employee,— The report was adopted. auctioneers' licenses. Tho following auctioneers' licenses were reuewed for the ensuing twelve months : G. R. Wyllie, J. Campbell, W, Bright, and J. B. Kelts. RIyATJOIITEUISG LICENSES. Slaughtering lictuaes were granted to Messrs Nelson Bios, and the Gisborne freezing Company. TENDERS. The following tenders were received for the supply of 300 yards of gravel : James Henderson, Patutahi, 4s lOd per yard ; I. King 5s 9d, R. Knox 4s lOcJ, W. Jones4s lOd, Messrs Scragg and Greaves 6s 6d, J. Wall 4s 9d. The last-named being the lowest was accepted. ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to about £490 were passed for payment. The Council adjourned at 8.45.