BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume XLVI, Issue 14963, 16 July 1919, Page 7

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

• ; The Borough Council met last night. Present: The Mavor (Mr G. Wildish), and Crs. YEL DeCosta, D. W. Coleman, H. Kane, T. Todd, Q. E. Ashton,, T. G. Lawless, I. Mirfield, J. Mouat, and H. E. Hill. The secretary of the Giaborne Harbor Board wrote stating that that Board did not desire to evade contribution towards expenditure incurred by the Council on certain general district matters, and they suggested that as each case came -up the Harbor Board be communicated ' with, so that the Board's* due proportiort would be considered and' agreed to at the time.— Received and suggestion adopted. The Cook Hospital Board wrote asking for the early payment of the levy for the current year. Matter to be attended to. The Ordnance Director wrote asking the Council for -a copy of the letter sent by the Department .'offering a German machine-gun .captured by the 9th (H.8.) Company.— The Mayor reported that a copy, had been sent.— Cr. Todd said he had been, informed that a Gisborne boy was instrumental in the capture of a German field; g.un at Gaza, and Gisborne should ' ask ior that.— The suggestion ' was adopted,' j The Minister of Internal Affairs notified acknowledgment of the Council's letter endorsing the resolution passed by the N.Z. Returned Soldiers' Association j regarding the declaration of a whole' holiday on Anzac Day, and intimated that the question of introducing the necessary legislation was under consideration!. , i Mr W. |L Frazer, a - carrier on the Peel street 'stand, wrote compla-ining, of the system-. of controlling the telephone.! He said he ■ was desirous of using the ' telephone, .iihd was informed that to do -. so it would cost him £3. The winter * offered 30s, but this .was declined.— The Mayor said he considered this telephone should be municipalised, the same as the taxi-stand ones had been. — Cr Coleman moved in that direction, and Cr Mirfield seconded.— Cr Mouat moved as aa amendment, and Cr'-'Hill seconded, that the letter be sent on to the postmaster, for his perusual.— Cr Coleman agreed to include the amendment in his motion, and this was adopted. The P.W. Department, Wellington, forwarded "a copy of the Commission's •report on the proposed cemetery bridge(already published). — Received. Mr 'G. H. Puflett wrote asking the Council Lo remove a bluegum tree at the Derby : street bridge entrance, as it was a source of annoyance and inconvenience" to him; his place had jusb been, nicely laid out. The Mayor said he did not think^ the tree in question was an ornament/ The people who cut down the tree could have the wood. — Or Mouat considered the Mayor might bring down during his tferm of office the introduction of legislation governin.tr the planting of trees.— lt was decided to have the tree cut down. The N.Z. Returned 'Soldiers' Association forwarded a copy of the report of the Lands Committee as adopted at the '] Christchurch conference held recently, ! and asked -^or the Council's support in the matter.- — It was decided to write asking for copies of the report for councillors^'' ' 4 | The secretary of the Vigilance Committee forwarded a copy of a petition I (already published) to be presented to Parliament, urging that the railway construction policy be "speeded up" on the East Coast. The letter also requested tliat councillors sign the petition and secure as many names •as possible . on these lists, which will be forwarded) ! ■to Parliament "with the petition. — Cr.) Mouat ; moved : "that all the councillors' sign the petition.— -Cr Ashton seconded the motion. — It was decided, however, ' after some discussion, that each councillor should endeavor to secure as many . signatures as possible. | The Electrical Committee of , the Council reported that the question, of cheaper house iinstalia/tiyns wa» con- ; sidered, a^lii rep6rt-";dn tho subject : from the electriaal engineer was read, ' when it was decided that the matter be j defe^Ted for the present. The matter i of wiremen's licenses was also consider-' ed, and, after due deliberation it was agreed to recommend , that the by-law be amended making journeymen license fee 5s and apprentices free; master wiremen to stand 1 as at present, 20s. In his report for the past fornight on the administration of the borougjh, the engineer (Mr McDonald) stated: — One hundred and fifty tons of coal arrived during the fortnight. Free lighting was supplied to the poultry show at the Garrison hall oh June 27th.. Tramways: Traffic revenue £128 9s ld, wages £60 10s 9d, rolling stock mantenance £9 ' 7s 2d, track maintenance (surface repairs) £7 7s, power expenses £27 17s 4d; passengers carried 17,437, car mileage 2239, car hours 398. j Pound : Impoundings for the month of June — Horses 75, cattle 24, total head 99. Fees received as per- schedule rates £16 6s, incl-usive of 18s 6d residue from on© horse sold. :i Sanitation: During the past fortnight the usual inspection of premises within the congested of the Borough haa -been aarried out ; several defects ' have been located and since' rectified'. Owners of overgrown trees and encroaching hedges in various parts of the borough have been notified and 1 satisfactory compliance has been ob--1 served. Inspection of sanitary depot 1 has also been carried out and conditions '■ found to "be satisfactory. Waterworks : Top Btn©.--<Everythi(n*j! is in good order and working satisfactorily. The amount of water through the Venturi meter wa» for Aveek' ending June 30 4,220.000 gallons, and for week ending July 7th 4,620,000 gallons. • The rainfall for 'June was 3.20 inches. Re the new telephone line to the waterworks, I would recommend that formal application be made to the Cook County Council for permission to erect the necessary telephone poles aloaig the County road from Manutuke to Waingake. ■ Buildings : During the fortnight seven * permits were issued, the value of the buildings being. £1445. Cr deCosta referred to the necessity for the reinstatement of the bridge in Stanley road, arid the subject was left in the engineer's' hands. j Cr Ashton pointed out the necessity for tar sealing the surface of Lowe street, which had recently been metalled,—The engineer replied that the weather at the present time was unsuitable for tarring. The cost would • be about £200. Various suggestions were made by councillors for lights to be installed at different parts of the town, aqd the, suggestion of Cr deCosta that the Electric Committee make a tour round the town oni a dark night was adopted. The notice of motion by Cr Mouat that taxi-proprietors lie allowed to manage their telephones came up, and after discussion, it lapsed for want of a seconder.