BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XXXXV, Issue 92, 15 April 1903, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

The Council met on Tuesday evening Present: Hia Worship the Mayor (Mr E. Dockrili), Cis. Oouiißfc', Lealand, Brooking, Uollis, Carter, Tiach, Belljring- r, and Webster. I W. P. Drevvett, Custoiian of the Cowu tdall, wroto applying for an in;r- ate of wages, on account of a<ldt Siof.al duties, ile aiid that lawt year i bouua of £lO had been granted to

aim. I Or. Col lis said shat last year tho understanding was thtfc an extra £lO 1 a year should b? permanently added t > 1 thi< caretak r's a lary. Tae ra ufcrr was retired to the In- 1 sti(ute Committee. Messrs Govett and Q lilliam, Borough solicitors, wrote advising with refer- 1 ence to the proposed ex ensioa of the 1 C ffee Pal«ci. They stated there waa no defiaicion of the word hotel in the 1 Municipil Coi porations Ac"-, but they were of opinion the context showed that an hotel was intended to men a. lictinded hotel, If this were cj: rec - 1 the proposed plan would be a breach ol the Act. Apparently the law wis such that if the Coffee Palace bicime licensed promised the owner woud be l able to do what at present he cannot do. They added : " We are of course aware' that this reduits the law to an absurd-. ity, but modern leg alatioa s'aows many! Hxamples of absurdi'y." The Mayor said the matter waa one j of yard space, and rela'ed to the quea- j tion of hsalth. He moved that the letter be referred to-the He slth Department. Or. Brooking: I take it the owner of the Coffee Palace caonot build over the passage. The Mayor: Who is to prevent it ? Or. Brooking: We are. Or. OocnstS aaid it was not worth while incurring the cost of a legal opinion if the matter was to be referred to the Health Department. To build over the passage appeared to be ill-gal. The Mayor adhered to hia opinion chat the nutter rented with the Health Department as the Council was not a Board of Health. Or. L<;aland thought that the matter was one of air spao and oould there fore be settled by the Engineer. Cr. Brooking considered the matter had nothing to do with health and the question was whother the Council would or would not back up the Engineer and cairy out the terms of the Act. Or. Oonnett considered that no resolution waa wanted and that the Council should proceed to the n*xt buainsts.—This course was adopted, the Mayor'* motion not being seconded. A formal risolution, as advised by the solicitors, was pused consenting to an agreement made by S. and J. Rye t with the Public Works Department relative to a railway aiding through pars of section 1, block 3, Ng lire, and \ authorising the Town Clerk to endorse i such consent on the agreement without prejudice to the Oiuncil'sright for , compensation for any permanent injury . to the property. [ A circular letter was reid from the ( Taranaki Education Board asking the | Oouncit to co-operate in securing by legislation th* revenues from the Optku Ressrve for the benefit of the children in the Taranaki Province.—Agreed to unanimously. The Government Accident Insurance Department wro*e quoting ratfa of premium for insuring members of the Fire Brigade agunat accident.—To be ■ acknowledged. i The Engineer reported having beeu i engaged on preparing plans for the i Henui bridge and these been sett ' to Mr Fulton. He had also revietd the abattoir plans to meet the rr quire- : raents of the Department. The altera- ■ t-ions had prac'icilly revised the whole ! pltns. He suggested a c mtract bang ' let for the building alone without fi ' tings and races which cjuld bi> done afterwards so as to meet the wishes of ! the D partment. He estimated over 100 ctnics of 4-inch pipes woit urgently required, also 80 chains for the abattur site and Fitzroy, He suggested forming a foot pith along Oct*vius Place, the drain at the commence , ment of Octavius Place to be piped and covered. He reported on progress o' wotks in hand. The Waterworks En- | gineer reported the pumpj aveiaged 83 . hours during the month, the average daily fill in the reservoir being seven inches. —Received. The Works Committee recommended that Mr McGahey be informed tha 1 hia application for removal of lamp in Brougham-street will be eons : der*d later on, when the road is cut down; . that a lamp be erected at the cornei of Buller and Hobson streets, as sonn as tha gas mains are exterded that far. The report was adopted, i The Bind Rotunda Oommi'tea reported i hat afcer viawing the several sres they recommend«d a site on . Reserve E in a dircc: line with Morluystreek. Tne previous resolution of <he Ooun i oil as to a site for the ro'.unda was ' rescinded. In reply to Or. Brooking, Or. Tiech said the old i ite was too exposed, &nd > the suj/g stcd site was deemed th> most suitable one for the put pi se. The lepoit was adopted and on the motion of Or. Tisch the Ecg near was instructed to go on with the work at once.

The Cametery. Committea recommended that the sum of £75 be plao d on next year's to cov r oos' "f oflmetery registr, etc,, and aurveye. I'hit tho Engireo>r be instructed to make the necessary surveys at the c?meterv as soon as he cau convenim.tly do so. Cm. Oollia nnd Brooking referred to the nature of the wo. k done, the latter claiming that though the expsnte was greater than anticipved the result was well worth the cost, He piid a warm tribute of praise for tho firnt-cL'aa way in which ihe work hud b.en done,

The report was thou adopted. The Town Clerk road a report of his valuation of the s ctions proposed to be vxclwnged between the Bjrough Council and the Hospital Board, the effcc 1 ; of which was that the valuta were about equal. The Mayor uiovtd that the Council do all in its power ta carry out the exchange. Cr, Connett, in eecocding the motion, expressed an opinion than the arrangement was not only equitable but r.he best that could be done for all parties. Or. Brook'ng also supported the motion which was carried.'

Accounts were passe 1 as fellows: Ordinary £799 19s 9<J, loin wo.ks £1425 18s lOd, abattoirs £ls 17s 6d, 1 (Jr. C.nor inquired what hj: d bei*n done relative to gett-'ng the crusher to lihe prrmanent site. Cr. Brooking suid t hut owing to the bad weather nothing had leen done. The Engineer staled that until the Ileum Iridic v/as reHuil' nothing would ba saved by moving the orusLor. The weight of the machine being placed

cirefly on t'vo *mall wheel* mule ife difficu't to move 'he pl»nt. (>. L aland au ages'* d the machine might b« tab n to pieces for removal. The Eugineer admitted that oould »e done.

Or. L n'and co-tonded that even II is c ss £2OO to m >ve the crusher .the • xp tn-e waul I he justified. Tht) mater 'heu dropped. Or. O.irtor '.nqu : rcd if the Workl Ouinmittae had n»kin any action with regard to conferring with thi Oouoty Council «a to charges for heavy traffic, a-j.i he mjv*d that a report be brought up at thn noxt meeting. Or. BeUriuger pointed out that U tha Council was going out of office the mo'ion was of no avail.

Thn Mtyor considered that under the ciicumstances the motion should not tie proofed d with. In r.ply to Or. Oollis, (be Mayor said th it the i rausfer to tho Oouncit ol the leaai held by the Scenery Preserva'ion Society of land on tho Esplanade ~- was in the solicitor's hantfs. Or. Carter moved for a return showing coooparati\ e valuations, inoom", expend it u e, an I estimate! for 19021903; also of receipts, expenditure, and invflj m nt of loan money. He thought that from the talk he had heard aa to the Council being annihilated it would be to gat the fullest information avail tb!<\

In i t ply to Or. L9aland the Town Clerk sttti-d that arrears on March 31st only imun.ed to about £75, chiely in respect of fp *cial water services due only at that date. Th* motion was carried.

On the motion of Or Tisch a vote of thanks was passed to the Town Olerk and Engineer for their oourteey and attention, Cr Brooking remarking that the new Council would find most useful officers.

Or Be'lringer eaid he waa sorry that Or Brooking was not seeking re-elec-tion, but he would like to bear testimony to the valuable services rendered by that Councillor, who had fpued neither time nor trouble in furthering theioteres sof the public. He moved a hearty vote of thanks to the retiring Councillors.

C'B Webster, Garter, Oonnet*, and the Mayor also highly eulogised Or Brook ing's services, Or Uonnntt r> marking that the only reward rr urotd for such sacrifices was abuse in the papers. The mo ion was c rried unanimously. In returning thanks, Or Brooking slid h : s work as chairman of the Works Gommittre had been very arduoua, especially before the advent of the engineer. At tha s«ae time the work was interesting, and had not circum* stances ari'eu leading to his retirtment he would have wished to have remained on the Counoil for the next two years, which period he considered would be a strenuous one for the Oounoil. Tne Council then weat into Committee on luan business.