CITY COUNCIL.

Colonist, Volume XLVI, Issue 10973, 12 March 1904, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

The usual fortnightly meeting of the City Council was held last evening, Present : His Worship the Mayor (Mr H. Baigent), and Councilors Lightband, Mercer, Orsman, Webley, .Neale, Ilarrison, Fairey, Pettit, Piper, and Tatton; Minutes were confirmed, and payments authorised as follows:— £ s. d.

CORRESPONDENCE. Correspondence was dealt with as follows : — The Harbor Board expressed thanks for the granting of request re Sands beacon, which was not now required to be availed of. Messrs Robertson Bros, applied for permission to remove cottage from Nile street east (Griffin and Sons) to Tasman street. — Granted on usual conditions. Mr Kirkpatrick applied to have water laid on to his house, Mount street. — Referred to Works Committee. Mr Edmund Allo, electrical engineer and hydraulic expert, notified that having taken up his residence in New Zealand, he could be consulted,—To be acknowledged. Prom Mr W. G. Vining and others j applying to have portion of the footpath Trafalgar Square asphalted. — Referred to Works Committee. From Mr W. Child, complaining of footpath Weka street being broken up by cart traffic footpaths being under water at spring tide. — Referred to the Surveyor. Mr H. Woods, Weka street, reminded the Council that he was . promised a footpath when he built. The tide had overflowed his garden, an.3 destroyed the Ehrubs. — Referred to tue Surveyor for attention. From Mr R. H. Martin, applying to put w\?od block crossing across the footpath Hardy street.— Referred to Works Committee. From Wirth Bros., applying for use of Milton's Acre for circus purposes for two nights. — Granted at a fee of £5, including license. From Messrs Robertson Bros., applying to erect verandah to Mr Griffiths residence, Haven road.— Granted subject to the usual conditions. From Mr F. Nalder, requesting permission to remove dead^tree near Maitai Quarry.— Resolved 'that permission be given, the Council workmen to fell the tree. From Messrs J. H. Cock and Co., requesting license for kerosene store transferred to brick store, Auckland Point. — Granted. "From Mr C. H. H. Clark, complaining of state of road near Clouston's bridge.— Referred to Works Committee. From Mr S. G. Robinson and others, complaining of irregular supply of gas to residents, Collingwood street and Weka 7 street. — Referred to the Gas and Water Committee, the general opinion being that the Council must devise some means offrelief, the Surveyor stating that the writers had a real grievance. From the Education Board, asking for extension of frontage fDr Technical School, or for "right of l'ght 11 to |be conserved.— Referred to Works Committee. The Public Works Committee reported :— l. That drivers' licenses have been issued to G. A. Whiting, and W. Ricketts. 2. Re W. Kerr and others' letter : That footpath be filled in and formed. 3. Re W. V. Salter's letter: That a street grating with traps be put in at the crossing of Alma lane. 4. Re letter from Bisley Bros. & Co. : That the City Surveyor be authorised to improve the turning. 5. Ke North Esk street: Consideration deferred, the City Surveyor to report with estimate of cost. 6. Re Estcourt and Wilson's letter : That the cost prevents recommending that work be undertaken at present. 7. Re Normanby bridge : That they are unable to recommend that the bridge be asphalted owing to the present condition of the bridge. 8. That permission be granted to hold the Passion play entertainment on Sunday evening. . Report adopted. ' The Special Committee re Cartage j reported :— That when tenders are| called they shall be at a rate per day

for single jhorse teams, and two-horse i teams, witn driver. That separate tenders be invite for street-watering, and that the City Surveyor anc Town Clerk prepare a fresh specifi cation, and submit same to the Committee next Thursday evening. The Committee met again oe Majch 10th l-^They submit specification for cartage they have approved. Report adopted. The Finance Committee reported: — 1. Be special loan : That the necessary steps be taken to pass a special order to raise a special loan of £4,000 as proposed to repay overdraft foi new Municipal Buildings. 2. Be G. Page's letter: That a lamp be provided on ccondition that the Church light it, make connection to the meter, afld pay the- coat. 3. Re Griffin & Sons' letter: That they be charged full rate on the property to 18th November, and half rate for remainder of half year. 4. That the matter of raising loan to repay overdraft on Gasworks stand over for further consideration. Report adopted, the special meeting to pass special order mentioned in Clause one to be held on Tuesday afternoon, at three o'clock. The Drainage Committee reported: —1. Be letter from H. Brown : That matter be lefc in the hands of City Surveyor. 2. Re letter from S. Kirkpatrick: That Mr Kirkpatrick pay half the cost unconditionally. 3. Re letter from Mr Pill : That when the houses, are near completion the drain will be laid, on condition Mr Pill pays one-half the c O st. 4. i Re letter from Laborers' Union : That temporary measures have been taken to alleviate the nuisance complained of/ The Union appears to be unaware that the Council have had the matter of this ditch under consideration for some time past. 5. Re letter from J. Anstice: That the work be carried out, on condition Mr Anstice pays £10 towards the cost of the work. 6. Re typhoid fever in St. Vincent street: Consideration deferred until the District Health Officer has reported. 7. That the City. Surveyor be instructed to put in a grating and pipes at the junction of Waimea street and Wainiea road. 8. Re sewer outfall: Consideration deferred. 9. Re ventilation of sewers : That action be deferred till drainage scheme is settled. 10. Re Vanguard street : That nuisance complained of has been abated. ! There was a good deal of discussion regarding clause 3, and eventually clauses 2 and 3 were deferred for a fortnight, and the remainder of the report adopted. The City Surveyor reported that permits to connect with the sewers had been granted Miss Damant, Victoria Crescent, and Mr B. A. Watkins, "Waimea street. — The work connected with the erection of new retort bench, was now in. hand, and would be pushed on with despatch. The iron work for the roof was daily expected. Meantime other work was ready for placing in situ on arrival of the iron for the principal. — The work on the dam was in a forward state, and with the existing good weather would be completed by the end of April. — The laying of mains was being pushed ahead. Report adopted. The Inspector of Nuisances reported having collected fees amounting .to £30 17s 3d. Two cases. -of scarlet fever had been reported on 29th February, and since then no infectious diseases of any kind. Report approved. The Abattoir report showed that from February 27th to March 11th, inclusive, 55 cattle; 542 sheep; 28 lambs; 13 calves; 42 pigs; total 900 animals had been slaughtered. Mr Barnes reported that the ditch complained of by Mr Parker was not upon the Abattoir property. — to } attempt to keep the ditches cleaned / by the labor of the handy men of the I Abattoir would, he feared, disorganise the work. The term "handy man" wag a misnomer applied to any of the present employees at the Abattoir, as each man had his allotted duties. "Work was commenced at 7 a.m. each day, except Friday, when it was 6 a.m., and cleaning up was not finished until 6.30 p.m. On slack days the men entitled to "go easy" seldom left before five o'clock. Altogether the men were so far employed that he had never felt justified in asking them to do such work as suggested. Before the Abattoir was started it was estimated that the stock slaughtered would be about 1000 per month, for February last the total was 1871. There was work for an extra man on Friday, on which day the men worked 33^ hours extra in order that the butchers could get their meat on that day. Or Piper referred to the growing increase of expenses at the Abattoir as a question for the serious consideration of the Council, and proper investigation. He moved that the report be referred to the Abattoir and Finance Committees. Or Fairey seconded the motion, and in doing so warmly defended the staff at the Abattoir, saying that they were a splendid staff, and did good work. The building was kept in order second to none in the Colony. Motion'carried. GENERAITBUsINESS. Resolved to call for tenders for supplies, schedules^to ±»c referred to the Finance Committee. A formal resolution to cover the overdraft at the Bank was passed, authorising the Council to overdraw to the extent of £12,000, was passed. The Mayor explaining that the additional accommodation would be temporary only, as^transfera to loan would shortly relieve the overdraft. CrJPiper moved to have Abattoir statistics obtained from other towns of|about the^size of Nelson. Seconded £by Cr Fairey, and carried. ££?£ 'r~:-~:, Cr Fairey moved that the Finance Committee make enquiries; as to applying to}Mr Carnegie" fora grant for a public library. ~ r _;~r ' Seconded^by Cr Piper, and carried. The Council rose at 10.45 p.m.

Genftral Aocoant .. 214 18 11 Gasworks „ .. 333 3 1 Waterworks „ .. 34 0 1 Abattoir „ .. 42 11 8 Interest „ .. 79 17 7 Trafalgar Park .. 18 5 Special Fund (water extension).. .. 2334 12 0 Total .. ..£3039 11 9 The report showing the 9tate of the Base Balances at date was presented as follows : — Dr. Cn £ Si d. £ s. d. General Ac . . 9854 4 6 Water ,', .. 885 iti 0 • Gas „ .. 1853 6 8 Interest „ .. 417 0 6 Abattoir „ .. 198 18 11 £12 124 11 8 £1082 16 11 Cr. Cemeteries Trust Account . : 141 17 4 Contractors' Deposits Account 132 0 0 Trafalgar Park Account . . 21 15 2 Debenture Account . . . . 211 a Waterworks Loan Account . . 3748 4 2 Dr, Bank Balance .. .. £1,103 5 4