CITY COUNCIL.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12399, 14 November 1908, Page 3

CITY COUNCIL.

FORTNIGHTLY "MEETING -The fortnightly meeting of" the City Council last night was attended' by the Mayor (Mr J. Piper) and Councillors J. D. Robertson, W. M. McConchie, W. S. Hampson, T. A. Field, A. A. Grace, W. K. Turner, T. Pettit and A. H. Bisley. - ; Leave of absence was granted to CrNeale. ■ ■ . The Mayor reported the debit balance at the bank to' be £13,981 8s ■ l'ld, and-': accounts amounting .. to ; £2604 16s 6d were passed for pay-: m'ent : . ; : Correspondence was read and dealt} with as under:— ; From Mr Daniel Finnegan, re Council's claim for £325 8s ; 8d al-' leged to have been overpaid on a contract. He declared that'ihe had : not been overpaid and he "denied; any liability.— Referred to the Works; Committee. .r /; ' From the Swimming Club .''stating; that it could not undertake ffche .re-'; sponsibility for accidents occurring at the Baths, the insurance prom■ium's being too heavy. The : Club / was ' also nuable to take over the ' Baths unless they were put in -r^- • pair" by the Council. The Club had cleaned the Baths at considerable : expense. The Club was not making ; any 'profit.out of the Baths and could not therefore go to further expense in regard to them. Several applicar ; tions had been received for. the use j of !the Baths; '.'":. '■ .'"•'■"''''■' '*' H Cr Hampson moved that the let- ; ter, be referred to the Finance Com- i mittee to confer with the Swimming } Club and report. : , ■ The motion was carried after some] discussion. .~.\ From Messrs Adams and Harley, ; solicitors, acting on behalf of Mrs | William; Samuel .Corby, claiming £110 ! expenses and damages incurred -, through an accident to which' the;! negligence "of the Council or its : em- i ployees contributed. On the night ' of 23rd October Mr Corby fell into an | uhlighted and .unprotected, drainages trench opposite his house in Kawai j street,^tnereby incurring the/loss and ' damage complained of. ; The matter ■ was considered Jater. , f A num\>er oi eomplamts were .re- : eeived from residents, on the'- hipth ;. levels, and asking for improvements.;; All the letters were referred to the ! Water Co.mmittee. „ - ; Several letters of minor import- | ance were referred to committees or ' otherwise dealt with. ' ■ .: . From Miss G. Sunley, asking -that the drainage. system in the vicinity of ; her residence in Hampden street east ; be made to fit in with the drain laid -i down by her at considerable expense ■ some two years aco 'in accordance .; with the understanding then.' arrived at.— Referred to the Drainage Com- ' mittee. . From the Retailers' Ajssociation, j cotoplaining of the dust nuisance. — ■ Referred to the -W6fks Coiriniittee; \ From the Town Clerk of Petone, j forwarding detail? of Petone's ex- ; perience. of the.;' operation, of the) Workers' Dwellings Act. The Gov- : crnment had acquired a cdnsiderable : area of land for the purpose ,and ! many of the dwellings were unoccu- ; pied. Upon these, and.land not built ' upon, the " Government declinedf to pay rates. The Council solicited ; the support of other bodies in secur- : irig-an amendment, of thelaw.— Re- | ferred to the Finance Committee. ; i From Mr A. E.Mansford, applying for the position of returning officer. On the .motion of Cr Grace,, seconded by.Cr Field,. the application was accepted. ' ; ■; .'"■•'_'.■' ■'..■'■■"■ -v From the ■ Secretary ' of the Hospital and Charitable Aid Board, stating that the annual meeting of delegates to elect members of the Board would be held on the 20th* inst.-— The

Mayor was appointed on behalf of the Council. Tho City Engineer's repott was read as follows:— Sewerage. —No. 2 gravitation area: Good progress is being made with the work in this area. Tbe whole of the plans tor the complete carrying out of the work ns far aa Mr ftleatayev can judge nave now como to hand. Should it be Ihe Council's intention to ask Mr JMestayer to revisit Nelson,: I jvould respectfully, suggest that now is "the time to consider such a question, as it would be well for us to go over the ground in order to ascertain if any points could be amended to advantage. 1 desire to inform, your council pi' tbe very great assistance that nas bean afforded me by Mr Mestayer by bis. for warding tie plans in sucn sections that euablfed me to carry on the works where most reauired, and it is through him obliging me in this respect that T have been enabled to make such good progress: consistent w.ith- economy.—Works::The .metalling of Wakefield Quay is well in hand and should be completed parly next week. So soon as this:work is finished the metalling and, repairs to Haven road will be resumed.—Water —High level dam: This work is being pushed on wi'th^ and so soon as pipes and valves arrive the work ol pipe laying will be put in hand. — Cummings' Creek: On account or iDJurios received in my^ recent.accideut, I have been unable to carry out tne investigation in this cbnnectibn—l would direct the attention of your Council to the abnormal consumption of water, and the great amount of waste due to watering with the hose, during hours other tban provided for in the Council's by-laws. I would recommend that consumers' attention, be drawn .to the provisions of the by-laws,, and that all offenders be summarily dealt witn. Jn the: lattor connection I would respectfully suggest that so soon as Tlodge information with the Town Clerk he be authorised to take action. This would be the.means of effecting a great saving of time in prosecuting. feThe daily consumption of water is now 870,000 gallons,-and the daily flow does . not exceed 900,000 gallons. It will therefoie be necessary to. adopt measures to conserve tne supply.' ■', . ■■:■-. . .: . The Finance Committee" reported, recommending that the opinion of the Solicitor to the Municipal Asaociatibn- be obtained ss to the ."rateability of the abattoir/ The matter of the Sands Reserve should be settled at once on the basis of the letter from the trustees in Green's estate. As to the stcck condemned at the "abattoir, the committee recommended that the Uenartment be asked to give the Council information as to localities from which the cattle condemned during the last tbree mootbs came. ..: . The report was adopted. '_The report of the Works CommitT tee, dealing with unimportant.matters, was also adopted without discussion. ' The Inspector of Nuisances reported that the city was still free from infectious diseases. .' ; ■ It was decided to advertise the provisions of the' water by laws regarding the use of the hose /and the Town Clerk and City Engineer were authorised to prosecute in cases of breaches of the .by law! ./ : -_■- The Abattoir Managers report was read. _ The Mayor said he had be,en told that there would be some danger in taking water from Aniseed Valley, in consequence of the rights-of a mill owner there. Before they proceeded to action in the matter that should" be enquired into. The matter was referred to the "Water Committee. On the motion of the Mayor the matter of repairing Collingwood street bridge, was referred to the "Works Committee. ,■__ S. Cr Hampson said that Mr Chenery Suggate, A.M. Inst. C.E. of Auckland, was at present in Nelson, and he would move that he be retained at a fee not exceeding twenty guineas, to report on the cost of. putting the new dam in such repair as .to. provide storage for water during the' summer. If they cduld'put the dam wall in repair at a small cost it would pay them to do it. There was a^ prospect of a dry season and where else they were to get water from he failed.to see. • . . Cr Pettit seconded the. motion. They should study the numbers of people who had gardens. .He referred to the failure of. the water supply at the fire on the previous night, and said that something must be wrong. . , _■ The Mayor opposed the motion. He would be against doing anything to the new dam wall. They would have plenty of water, and . better water .than they had last year from the new dam. . - . ... Cr Grace also opposed the motion. He said the failure of the water supply at the fire must have been the fault of. the reticulation system, as the pressure was tested in the. city the same evening arid found satisfactory. • . „ - . „ Cr Field also opposed the motion. He said there had been a fair pres.sure at the fire, but the force, had been lost in the length of hose used and the frequent turns in it. : In reply to Cr Field the City Engineer said" the waste of water between midnight on Tuesday and five o'clock on Wednesday moraiing was 26,000 gallons ari hour.; Cr Hampson replied, and the motion was then-put and lost, only the mover and seconder voting.for it. The.Mayor gave notice that he would move at the next meeting^ that a motion once defeated should not be reintroduced under three months oxcept by. permission of the Council. , Cr Bokerbson movei thft resolution sibanaing in his name," viz ,:.- 'That in order to prevent confusion as to tne ' respective'duties of the Finance and Public Works -Committees, such duties be denned as follows :—- - :. "That the Finance: Committee deal

with all questions relating to the finances of the, Council, as to providing the money for any particular work, and generalljMas: to ways and means. "That, the public Works Committee deal with all questions in connection with the construction of works in all departments, 'and^generally as to the carrying out of such works, and ali matters, in [connection with streets, sewers, etc.", except financial questions. "That the Public Works Committee be called the: Public Works and Construction , Committee, and that in referring matters to the committees, the above rules to be strictly observed." . '„:•.' ■;. ■- ■ I «■:' _ Cr -Hampsdn seconded the rdsolution which was carried unanimously, after some discussion. : On the motion, of Cr Pettit",' seconded' by Cr Grace, the Council resolved that 'a letter, of condolence be sent' to Foreman Kenning on the death' of his sister, which had occurred that day; . . Tlio Council then ..wont into committee to consider the appointment of an engineer for the power house .and another matter, and on resuming ; it was reported that Mr C. Kershaw, of Nelson, had been appointed power house engineer.