MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT

Taranaki Daily News, 19 April 1932, Page 9

MUNICIPAL MANAGEMENT

OPERATION OF SERVICES

BOROUGH OF NEW PLYMOUTH.

MEETING OF THE COUNCIL.

The New Plymouth Borough Council met last night, when theie iveie pi esent the Mayor (Mr. H. V. S. Griffiths) and Crs. R. W. D. Robertson, F. J. Hill, J. Brown, P. E. Stainton, R. J. Pentecost, F. Amoore and T. P. Anderson. ■ i The engineer, Mr. C. Clarke, reported on work during March as follows: Two new services were laid and two services re-laid, using 96 feet of pipe. A temporary service was laid to the Heiiui bridge for the contiactois. All fire plugs and service leaks had been attended to. Services had been cut for the sewerage contractors as required. The corner of Mangorei Road and Devon Street had been metalled out to the channel and tar-grouted. On Carrington Road near the water trough the° sides of the roadway, where they had been set back adjoining Mr. Fookes’ property, had been metalled and targrouted to the new kerb line. A new culvert had been laid across the roadway to the sump on the opposite side. A concrete retaining wall had been erected along Mr. Fookes’ frontage and finished with iron railing and cyclone netting. The kerbing had been set back to the new line and the pathway had been gravelled. Further work had been done to the water-tables in Devon Street central. / Tho following footpaths had been tarred and sanded: Liardet, Vivian, Robe Street East and Gover Streets and Esplanade, to vhe baths. Seaview Road footpath had been gravelled. Patching had been done in Brooklands Road, Ballance. Street, Shortland Street, Holsworthy Road and Brown Street. Relief works had been carried out on the stock route, Devon Street West bank, Gill Street (East End) cleaning out bamboo and screening sand at the abattoirs flat. Men had been employed in various reserves cleaning up. Sewerage contract No. 4 had been confined to the outfall sewer and tunnel lining. Fair progress had been made. Contract No. 7 was almost completed, several small sections of the work yet remaining to be finished. On contract No. 6 wood progress was made, approximately 30 chains of 18-inch concrete pipe being laid. The engineer was instructed to proceed with the erection of the. fencing along the river at the abattoirs. CURRIE LANE ASPHALTING. On the recommendation of the works committee it was decided that upon Mr. J. Power contributing £4 10s towards the cost the' engineer was authorised to asphalt 90 feet of the path on the northern side of Currie Lane. It was decided to inform Mr.. J. E. Lawrence that the footpath from Devon Street West to Glen Almond Street was a private path laid out and constructed by previous owners of the property and that the council could not expend money on it. ■ The electrical engineer (Mr. W. fl. Huggettj reported that during March 17 "applications were received for the supply of energy and 88 alterations or additions were made to existing installations. Twenty connections were added to the system. The Waiwakaiho River had been, very low throughout the month, with the exception of one rise to 4ft. Gin. on tho 24th at the intake. The lowest level recorded was Ift. Gin. ■ ’. . Assistance had been obtained from tne Public Works Department throughout the month, and from the 19th on permanent supply under the contract, and despite the very low river the levels of the Mangamalioe lake had been maintained between full and 4in. below the spillway. Full pressure had been maintained throughout the system, .without interruptions. The Diesel. engine had been started on two occasions, with a total running time of 7| hours, generatino- 2295 units on a fuel consumption of 100 gallons. The new generating unit at the power station had been placed in commission and was operating satisfactorily. belief men had been employed about the hydro lands clearing the bracken, etc., from the tree plantations. The maximum load recorded at the power station was 2750 k.w. and the greatest number of units generated in one day was 47,395, with a total of 1,307,088 for the month, as against 2550 k.w., 42,375 and 1,204,875 units for the corresponding period of last year. tramways operation. The tramway manager (Mr. G. J. Wyatt) reported that the month’s revenue from the trams was £1313 7s 3d irom 171,569 passengers, these figures representing decreases of £197 18s 3d and 1802 passengers, compared with the corresponding period last year. The buses travelled 6135 miles and earned £205 '4s 8d from 23,725 passengers, these figures representing decreases of £lB 9s 10d and 128 passengers. Details of the operations of the trams were: —Main route: Mileage, 16,336; passengers, 136,713; fares, £lO4l 13s 3d. Westown route: Mileage, 7675; passengers, 34,856; fares, £271 14s. ° The chief inspector (Mr. R. Day) reported that £493 8s 2d was paid in license fees during March. Applications for sewer connections under the comprehensive drainage scheme were comino - in in large numbers and the staff was kept* busy inspecting and testing drains. The trotting meeting traffic was quite orderly, except for the usual number of cars parked in unauthorised places. This matter had been taken up with those in charge of the vehicles. Mr. Day said he had been going into the matter of cutting down expenses at the Fitzroy nightsoil depot and pig farm and had been able to make a saving of £lOO a year from April 1. On behalf of the Robe Street Assembly Hall Mr. P. C. Warner wrote asking permission to hold an open-air meeting on June 3, between 6.30 and 7.30 p.m., and suggesting the corner of Brougham and Devon Streets or a position by the chief post office. Tho matter was referred to the chief inspector to fix a site.

Mr. Benoni White wrote asking per-

mission to wait on the council concerning “the restrictive condition of the drainage agreement of December, 1924” as it affected storm water drainage in Leach Street, and to make representations regarding “the dangerous and revolting conditions prevailing at Leach where access to my residence in Leach Street is obtained.” The town clerk reported that at the instruction of the mayor he had notified Mr. White that the council would decide at that night’s meeting whether it would grant him a further hearing at the meeting to be held on May 2. He would be ad-

vised of the council’s decision, and in the meantime would understand he could not bo received on April IS. —The council resolved that it would receive

Mr. Whit© providing he restricted his remarks to the matter mentioned in his letter. Invitations to the mayor and council-

lots to attend the Anzac Day procession and to an Anzac service in the Baptist Church on Sunday, April 24, were received. . The New Plymouth Swimming and Old Boys’ Surf Club wrote _ thanking the council for the way in which it had assisted the club during the past season, and stating that the club . would have ceased to exist but for the help of the council and business men of the t °ln l 'reply to a question by Cr. Rentecost, who suggested that a lorry might be promised for conveyance of unemployed from the stock route to town after work, it was explained that it was impracticable to send a lorry every time The matter was referred back to tho works committee for further consideration. . , The electric light committee decided to meet the Moa Dairy Company’s representatives, as requested, to discuss charges for electric power. Complaint was made by Cr. Pentecost that a tap had been running m King Street since Christmas and that a peer had been left in a dangerous position “on the footpath in Mangorei Road. The engineer said that the matters would be attended to. The commercial travellers were granted permission to hold a “clothes drive” in the borough. In recominending that the charge for carrying baby’s push chairs on trams be discontinued, the tramways manager (Mr. G. J- Wyatt) stated that under the present conditions the charge of 4d' was forcino- mothers of children off the trains. Mothers were walking to and from town, which meant a hardship for them. The recommendation that the chairs be carried free was made subject to the conditions that a chair would fold up, that it was accompanied by an adult passenger, and that not more than two chairs be allowed on any tram at the same time.

The council adopted the recommendation..