MATAURA BOROUGH

Southland Times, Issue 21831, 7 October 1932, Page 12

MATAURA BOROUGH

SPECIAL MEETING OF COUNCIL. POWER BOARD’S OFFER. (From Our Correspondent.) A special meeting of the Mataura Borough Council was held on Wednesday evening. Present: His Worship the Mayor (Mr C. D. McConnell). Councillors J. J. Griffiths, I. Maslin, G. Halliday, J. Ingram, G. Beaumont, J. W. Aitken, C. E. Rowe and J. H. Clark. The principal business was the consideration of a letter from the Southland Electric Power Board concerning the taking over of the council’s reticulation scheme. The letter was as follows“ The board thanks you for your letter dated September 28 and has pleasure in submitting the following reply:— “(1) The board hereby offers to purchase the council’s reticulation system for the distribution of electric energy in and about the Borough of Mataura excepting the equipment used exclusively by the council for the purposes of street lighting at a price of £4200. “(2) As part of the purchase money for such reticulation system, the board offers to become responsible for and indemnify the council against all payments of principal, interest and other charges falling due after a date to be mutually agreed upon and with any necessary adjustments with respect to the following loans raised by the council: (a) A loan of £1750. (b) A loan of £950.

“(3) The board offers to take the steps necessary to obtain (a) the order-in-council pursuant to the provision of section 76 of the Electric Power Board Act 1925 and (b) the consent of the Local Government Loans Board pursuant of section 6 of the Electric Power Board Amendment Act 1928 and to confer with the council in respect thereto.

“(4) As a condition of its acquiring the council’s electricity reticulation, system, the board will agree to proceed with reasonable speed to overhaul such system so as to make a supply of electricity available where required at 40/230 volts three-phase 50 cycles and so as to bring it in every way up to modem standard requirements.

“(5) The board does not desire to purchase the street lighting equipment, but it will undertake to supply electricity for use on such street lighting equipment at a price of one penny per unit.

“(6) As a further condition the board will agree that the scale of charges for electricity to consumers of same in the Borough of Mataura shall not exceed the council’s present scale of charges, and further, that in those cases under the board scale of charges where consumers receive a supply of electricity at a lower price than that payable under the council’s present scale, then the board will reduce the charges in respect of electric current to consumers within the Mataura Borough, using a similar quantity of current for similar purposes under reasonably like curcumstances to the same rate as is charged by the board to other consumers outside of Mataura.

“(7) The board is willing to confer with the council on matters relative to consumers’ accounts, receiving of payments etc. “The board is willing to expedite an agreement and will be pleased to hear further from you.” The following letter was also acknowledged from the Southland Frozen Meat and Produce Export Company Ltd., under date September 8: Regarding the supply of electric current.— With reconstruction of our plant at Mataura works, we have had many technicalities to consider, and we regret advising that it will not be possible to negotiate for an extension of the present contract for the supply of electric current as between the borough and the company, which expires on June 30, 1933. We therefore give you forward notice of our intention to discontinue the supply at the termination of the present contract.”

The council went into committee to discuss these letters and on resuming in open council the following resolution was agreed to: “That the council meet the Power Board to discuss details in connection with the proposals submitted at a date to be mutually agreed upon.”