BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XL, Issue 8980, 13 January 1891, Page 2

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Phb monthly meeting of the Borough Douncil was held on Monday night. Present: His Worship the Mayor (chairman), Messrs Small, Corkill, Cottier, King, Oollis, Dookrill, and Goldwater. Annual Meeting. — When the minutes of the annual meeting were read, Mr Small informed His Worship tha the had read his . remarks in print about members being absent from the annual meeting. He thought that His Worship's remarks on that occasion were uncalled for, as far as he was concerned, because he was ill in bed. Tho other Councillors absent from the annual meeting, ho considered, could perhaps also give a satisfactory explanation. — Mr Corkill stated that he had been absent on account of having been to the breakwater, and returned into town too late for the meeting. He did not take His Worship's , remarks to apply to himself, because he had always got along most amicably with His Worship. He had instructed a brother member to apologise for his absence. — Mr Cottier said he was another of the delin- • quente, his absence baring been caused by press of private business, which debarred him from giving attention to public matters. He thought His Worship's* remarks, as they appeared in print, 1 were pointed. — Mr Collis said he supposed ho ' must follow suit and also apologise for his absence, which was .caused through tho hour of meeting escaping his memory. — His Worship, in reply, stated that tho attendance at the last annnal meeting, at * which the installation of Mayor took place, was the sparsest ho had ever seen. He did feel a little piqued at this, and it was no use his saying he rlid not, because ho noticed as a coincidence that those who opposed his election to the Mayoralty wore among those absent. Some hard things had been said about him during the election heat, and he therefore felt hurt at the sparse attendance, because he looked on it as a coincidence. He was, however, pleased to accept Mr Small's explanation on the matter. — Mr Corkill thought the hour - (noon) fixed for tho annual meeting was most inconvenient. — His Worship said that was so, but as the hour was fixed by statute they could ,not help it. — The discussion then ceased. Courthouse. — A letter was read from the Resident Magistrate relative to the-relin- . quishing of the Courthouse and offices rented from the Borough.*— His Worship stated he would explain all he knew about the matter whon the Institute Committee's ' report came up. Liardetstreet Bridge. — A letter from Mr E. M. Smith, M.H.R., was read, stating! •- that one of the Railway Commissioners had promised to rebuild the bridge over the railway at Liardet street.— The letter was dealt with by the Works Committee. Governor's Visit. — His Worship made a few explanations relative to the recent visit of His Excellency the Governor. He stated that the visit had been devoid of ceremony at the request of tho Governor, who had informed him that he had eajoyed his trip exceedingly, and also stated that he intended to return here on a visit - at the end of March or the beginning of April. The cost of His Excellency's visit .-. had amounted to £10 11s 6d. Circular. — A circular was received from tho Justice .Department relative to tho Goveraorbaving power to appoint Licensing Committees whore the ratepayers had failed to elect such Committees. Works Committee. — The following ia a synopsis of tho Works Committee's report: - —Tenders for lighting the Borough lamps were opened as under : — C. ■ Edgecombe, £3 5s 9d per month for West Ward, and £8 2s for both wards ; W. Nichol, £4 10a per month for East Ward j R. Frewin, £2 per month for West Ward ; E. M. Smith, £1 '5s per week for all, provided £1 5s waß^ Said per week for waterworks. — It was ecided to accept E. M. Smith's tender without prejudice to the turncock business. Leave of absence was recommended to E. M. Smith during bis Parliamentary duties, and that the substitutes proposed by him. , should be accepted, and that his son, one - of the substitutes, should give his wholo time to Borough duties during tho time no lamps are to be lighted.— That the offer of , P. Okey for doing iron work, &c:, for the waterworks, £12 13s, be accepted, work to' be done to the satisfaction of the engineer.—As no tenders were, received .for cutting furze on the waterworks reserve, it was decided to extend the time for a further period of four w^eks.— The Oomm.ittee, after hearing Messrs Armitage and: Herd, - and seeing their correspondence with Mr I Samuel, the Committee are of opinion Mr Armitage gave over his right to the, water power " to- Mr Herd in consideration for the use of the tannery to enable Mr Armitage to complete his tannery work.— Mr Small moved, " That Mr Frewin's" tender for lamp lighting be 'accepted for the west end, and that fresh tenders bo , called .for the east end lamp lighting. — His Worship said he would not accept the amendment in that form. He could only allow the amendment to be! put in the • form that the clause accepting Mr Smith's tender should be struck out. — Mr Smalli said he would agree to that ruling. Ha pointed out that the lamplighting could be done more cheaply by the way heproposed. — Mr Dockrill seconded ths amendmentjL.ro/ornw. He spoke against Mr Small's amendment, as he j&pugjit' th 6 matter wtfs fairly met by ttie Committeß'ij recommendation. — Mr Corkili, asked it they would have Mr Smith's services in full. — His Worship stated that they had made the provision that Mr Smith's son should put in full time while his father was away.' on Parliamentary duties, and Mr F. Okey had guaranteed to do all rnech nical work at Mr Smith's expense,, which" could not be done by his sonJ-— On Mr Small's amendment to strike out the recommendation to • accept Mr Smith's tender being put it was rejected. — Mr KiN<f called for a division,' when Mr Sjjall" said .'["Mr, Kjng \yapsj fa see my name ' figure in the paper qri division, but I'll be square with him before he is out of the Council.' I—Mr1 — Mr King : " I •jan give yqu every chance -of being square before I leave the Oonncjl." Thera was a slight lull at this stage, aqd the?} Mr Kino said that it ' was RJekening to come to the Council and hear . a man like Mr Small talking twaddle like he did. He wandered how' they could stand it— Mr . Small replied that " the man " had .as much principle aB Mr King. — Mr KIN(J : > Query. — The discussion then died away -without further comment. — A division was then taken, Mr Small being the only one to vote for the amendment, which was therefore lost. — Mr Small , then 1 made fen explanation, He said that" some; peopl'^ rap away with the. idea ' fhi}t"lie 'had t " a down" on Sir' Smith, but su6h'\was nqt the,case. He maintained, however, that "Mp Smith bad neglected his duties to the Borough. — His Worship then ruled the discussion as vlosed, and the Committee'! report aa read was put, and adopted. Institute Committee. — The Xlommittee, who met on January 9th, reported : "That the letter of the Resident Magistrate having been read the Committee find that tho conditions of leasing the Institute upstairs robins having comef rom the Government! thw :> Council' cannot see its wayto'makb alteration; that -the school- teachers have the use of the' .Council Chambers on the' days men'tpned : in/ their letter, ' provided they do ijot clash - with any previqijs arrangement.! I—Hi1 — His 1 WoKfeim>- ; made 'ad with reference/ to the first' clause. He stated that on account of ~lhe hcjisp from Istrpet traffic and ' pflEenßiya Bniel}s ffdji! stables jyh'en a H^es^erly'wj'^ was blowing, he believed ii was the intention of the Courthouse authorities to shift, their quarters to the Government Building* at Borne future date.^Tbs report ww thfg, jHtf and cirriedi

Reserves Committee. — This Committee met on January 12, and reported, " That the deposit made by A. Bates be determined ; that J. McCook of No. 3 having failed to fulfil his agreement of throwing 17 acres, he, on his security of J. Mubee, be called on to pay £10; that the transfer of tho lease of sco 13 from W. Rowe to Aiken Bros., dated from September 1, 1888, be approved of ; that 700 feet of f pipe be procured, and that it be laid by the Borough turncock to the upper portion of the racecourse reserve." A letter was received from Mr Samuel, Borough solicitor, relative to the transfer mentioned in the report, to -which was added a special resolution bearing on the transfer. This resolution was put and carried, and the report was adopted. Financial — His Worship informed the Council that the rates were coming in most satisfactorily, and in consequence the financial condition of the Council had improved considerably. — Mr Gorkild said that the Town Clerk deserved credit for the way he worked the ratepayers up. Dog Tax.— The question of the dog tax rate for the. year was discussed, and was finally fixed at ss.— An amendment moved by Mr Shall, and seconded by Mr" Collis, to fix. the rate at 7s 6d was negatived. The CounciVs Bankers.— Bis Worship informed the Council that the Colonial Bank had decided to carry on all business again with the Council in and not verbally, as had been decided on by the Bank Manager some short time ago, owing to a certain circumstance that had arisen. Mayor's Expenses. —Mr Dookrill brought up the question that the Mayor should be granted an honorarium of £10 10s to meet the expenses that His Worship had incurred over the Governor's visit. — His Worship vacated the chair on the matter being brought up, and Mr Corkill was voted to fill it.— Mr Dookrill pointed out that the Council had empowered His Worship to entertain the Governor, and therefore an honorarium for £10 10b Bbould be voted to meet the expenses incurred. He moved a resolution to that effect, which was seconded by Mr Collis, and carried unanimously. Waitara Regatta. — Mr Dookrill wanted to know if the letter from the secretary of the Waitara Regatta Committee had been attended to. — His Worship said he had asked the burgesses by public notice to observe next Friday as a holiday. He considered that these little acts of courtesy tended to do away with that bad feeling which had existed between New Plymouth and Waitara in the past. — Mr Corkill said that a much better feeling existed between the two places now, and this was particularly noticed by him on his last visit to Waitara. Town dock.— Mr Goldwateb brought up the question of maintenance of the Town Clock. He pointed out that Mr Wright, who had put it in his buildings, and had also looked after it, was leaving the district, and he understood that the new occupiers of the building would not take any responsibility about the clock. He thought, therefore, that the Council might vote a small sum of money to pay for the winding, of the clock and any needful repairs. — The matter was referred to the Institute Committee. Queried — Mr Small queried two payments in the accounts for the turncock and" lamplighter.— His Worship explained the matter to Mr Small, who stated he had made a mistake with respect to the payments in question. Accounts. — Accounts amounting to £175 17s 2d were passed for payment. The Council adjourned.