KAPONGA TOWNSHIP

Taranaki Daily News, 22 February 1935, Page 15

KAPONGA TOWNSHIP

REBATE ON THE RATES. TREASURY REFUSES REQUEST. Several communications between the board and the Treasury regarding applications for the 12J per cent, rebate on rates were discussed at the monthly meeting of the Kaponga Town Board on Tuesday evening. The Treasury’s latest communication stated that the legislation applied only to the following local authorities; (a) County councils, for rates levied for their own purposes; (b) certain road boards, for rates levied for their own purposes: (c) urban districts in which a farm lands roll, completed in accordance with the Urban Farm Land Rating Act,' 1932, was in force.

The secretary of the Treasury further advised that in view of the fact that the Kaponga Town Board did not come within either of the- first two classes and as there was no provision in the Urban Farm Land Rating Act for the preparation of a farm land roll by the board the application could not be accepted. '. The board decided to hold the matter over until a further reply had been received from the board’s solicitor, who had the matter under review. The chairman, Mr. A. R. Bates, presided, others present being Commissioners E. L. Abbott, W. G. Cran, R, A. Law, W. Marr and J. H. Tyack. Three formal notices of sale of sections within the town area were received. . .

The secretary of the South Taranaki Automobile Association wrote asking that the board’s traffic inspector should caution drivers to have rear mirrors fitted to their lorries. It was decided to give what assistance the Board could.

An application from Mr. L.. Rountree for a transfer of a billiard saloon license from Mr. W. Carrington was approved. The Kaponga Cricket Club wrote asking the board to have the light roller at Victoria Park filled with concrete, the roller at present being too light for rolling the wicket. The matter was left over.

A request from the Kaponga Vounteer Fire Brigadd for the free use of. the town hall for a picture entertainment for funds for.the Blenheim demonstration .team was granted. An offer to purchase. milling timber on the domain was refused, the board ■ deciding not to cut the trees- at present. March 28 was fixed as the- last day on which rates might be paid without the imposition of the 10 per cent, penalty. About £3OO in rates is..outstanding, it was reported. The electrical engineer, Mr. A. W. Anderson, reported that both plants had performed satisfactorily. A ' small leak in No. 2 pipe line was rectified. The stream flow was more satisfactory than during the preceding month but was still so low that a moderately large purchase of bulk power was necessary. A total of 48,190 units was generated in No. 2 power house compared with 39,640 units last year, and a bulk power purchase of 17,350 uhits, plus 87 kilowatts, was made at a cost of £67 5s 5d compared with £79 last year. There were several major interruptions. During a severe electrical storm on the morning of January 2 the automatic switch on the switching tower controlling the bulk power supply was struck by . lightning and it was necessary to shut down completely for repairs. On completion of the repairs it was found that bulk power was not available and power for milking was rationed out between the. various circuits until. 8.30 a.m., when the load was sufficiently decreased to permit the plant to carry the load offering on the whole area. The bulk power supply was restored at 8.45 a.m. The automatic switch controlling the western area was found to have operated and disconnected this circuit at 5 a.m. on the morning of January 27, but no fault was discovered and the switch was reclosed without trouble. A tree felled across the high-tension lines caused an interruption on this circuit during the afternoon of January 26, and a structural fault on the switching tower during the milking period on January 31, rendered it necessary to disconnect the citcuit for 25 minutes. The change-over to A.C. in Kuri Street was effected as authorised. It was considered this would make an efficient starting point when the balance of the change-over was put in hand. Assistance was given in repairing a breakdown in the generator armature at Dawson Falls Hostel. The report was received. /

The foreman, Mr. A. Melville, reported that work had been undertaken on sewerage jobs, which were now practically finished. Attention had been given to water tables and cleaning up work in the cemetery Was being done. A summary of the finance of the board for the first 10 months of the year showed that the expenditure exceeded receipts by £553. The electrical change-over was mainly responsible for the excess expenditure. The total receipts for the 10 months amounted to £5601 and the expenditure to £6154, the figures for 1934 being £6157 and £5951 respectively.. The figures for the three' main accounts were as follows, last year’s figures, being shown in parenthesis: General accounts: Receipts £l7lB (£2263), expenditure £3247 (£4128), electricity department receipts £3736 (£3765), expenditure £2781 (£1765). Town hall account: Receipts £146 (£128), expenditure £125 (£5B). Balances of £482 in the general account and £655 in the housing loan account were shown.