Thames Borough Council

Thames Advertiser, Volume XXIX, Issue 9295, 10 March 1899, Page 3

Thames Borough Council

I The ordinary meeting of tho Couiic J was held last night. Present :~H' .Worship the (Mr 11. ■_ J Groenslade), Ors Ridrord, RiMizi «. Poulgraiti. Divpy, and IVeiaba b. I'he minutes of the previous raeetinj were read and coufirmed, Apologies,—Cr Menzies apologised for tfye absence of Cr Foy, and the Mayor on behalf of Cr Wood. Water Rate. - Richard 'I ietnoy wrote expressing his.disincination ti. pay water rate ou property occupier} by him, si'uated over 100 yds away from any water pipe,—Received. Unoccupied —-E. Rollorson wrote: " I hereby give you no'ice that a ah< p of mine in Brown street oupurt oi allotment 29 is now unoccupied, ai..n has been so for the past uvu month* and that if it remains unoccupied tli ime spectfi d by the law I shall apply ,to your. Council fur a rebate or remission of the rates accoi'Quig to law.—Received. Shellback,—F. C. Cowling drew attention to the Shellback Creek culvert near his place. In consequonce of its small size whenever there was a heavy fall of rain the water backed up and ran into his cellar. List time he los £17 from this cause, and if h sustained any farther "damage from the cause mentioned he would hold 'he Council responsible.—R -fured to Foreman of Works, with power to act.

A complaint.—G. Ruddish complained that he had bem ra'ed foi two separate buildings for h s residencin Grqy street in lieu of one, and he had also been charged two water rates for the same and full water rate for the allotment where his fowl house was.—lt was decided that the matter should be rf ctified.

Rebate.-J. Dunn asked the Council to grant a rebate of half the ainouuti of rates paid on a building in Waiotahi Creek Road for the year ending 3ntb June, 1898, amounting to £l 8s 5d The building was burned down about December 20th, 1897, and the property had not since been occupied.—Referred to the Finance Committee.

Treasury.'—'iho Cashier of the Treasury wired, that the local branch of the B.NZ. had been requested by telegraph to credit the Borough Fuud account with £196 15s 3d.—Received.

■Fever.—Dr.'Williams reported a case of scarlet fever, the pa'ient being a ohil I residing iu the Karaka Road,— deceived, - '

Omitted from Valuation List.—ln answer to a letter from the Council askiug why certain properties had not been ii-clude'd.in the valuation list for the North Ward, the Valuer (Mr T, W Clark) wrote explaining that it was a clerical error, as the roperties were placed on the street sheets, bu> had not been included in the fair copy. The iown Clerk ma authorised to lodge, objections to the list in the Assessmeut Court on behalf of the Council.

Shops.—The Chief Clerk of the Department of Labour enquired whether the resolu'ion mentioned in the Council's letter of the 23rd January, appointing the half-holiday under the Shop and . Shops Assistants' Act had been advertised seveu days prior to the meeting at which it was paseed.—A reply had been sent to the effect that it had been advertised.

Debentures.—llr Warburton, Chair* man of the Commisnoners of the Pubiic Debts Sinking Funds, wrote acknowledging roceipt of the Council's letter of 21st February. He pointed out that the payment of the debenturos issued by the Borough of ThameH, which were held by tbo Commissioners, did not fall due until Octobpr Ist, 19L7—so that they had yet 18J ynars to ;run instead of only 8£ yoars as appeared to have beeu supposed.— 'Ihe Town Clerk said that when he was appointed to the position he noticed an entry in the ledger showing that the debentutes were due in 1907. The same date wa* mentioned on the Council's balancf»sheet, which had been passed by the Government auditor as corrett. Since receipt of rhe letter he had looked up an earlier date in the ledger and there found the year 1917 stated. .

Ov-rdraft.—The manager of tho Bank of New Zealand wrote acceding to the Council's request for a temporary overdraft of £200 in excess of the limit pf £2600.—The Mayor mentionod that tho amount, askfd fur had not been required, as the amount of overdraft was only £.'4OO at present.

Public Bodies Powers Act 1887 — The Colonial Secretary wrote in reply to a letter from the Com cil ai plying for the issue of an Ordi r-in-Uquucil subj ic in? the Thamns Borough Council lo the provisions of the above Act. He desired to be furnished with a copy of the resolution of the Onuuci! in favor of such action. He alw> wished to be informed whether the Council was a "leasing authority" within the meaning of the Act,—The Town Clerk mentioned that. ;i loading authority meant any property owner. He would forward th necessary reply by next mail leaving for.Wellington. Harbor Board.— The Secretary wrote asking the Council to appoint a com mittee of three Councilors to meet a committee of the Board to confer re« garding the subject of rates levied by the Council, and the equivalent to be allowed the Board for permitting the Council te remove sand and gravel from the foreshore.—Rocoived, the Mayor and Crs (■Wgrniu and R-tdrml were appointed a couimiitoe with j.owi r I to act. • Not, Responsible—fieorgo Gmhras i claimed that he was uot responsible for rates on the bouse ho was li\ing in which belonged to the Charitable Aid Board. — Roferred to the Finance Committee. Tarring and Sanding—P. McGrogor and 0. Guy requested, the Council to

extend the tarring and sanding of the Pth iU street footpath from Mrs Alters' • oritur to their re>idence.—Granted on he 'motion of the Mayor, seconded by Or Ridford. i+'mk'iml Purposes Ciiamittfie —The Committee reported as follow: ''Mark i am p.uga—Xhui the matter stand ov»r; that the drains on Turaru Road be put in order as soon as possible; f hat the.footpaih in Davy street be ' made up' with the object of putting it in, a fit state for tarring next year; that tho belts, pouches, and junctions '>p granted.—Received and adopted. Pinmce.—lheFinance Committee's Hp'irt whs read and adopted. | Works. —The report of the Foreman ir Works was received and adopted — Or Menzies nvived that the attention if th», Foromau of Works bo drawn to he chsu pit at the foot of Wiitoughby ureet, near the Shortlund Railwa) Nation, as a mniter of urgency,— I hi-, vlayor seconded the motion, whiuh was carried, Accounts,—The accounts wore passed for payweni, Via.er.—Cr Radford • urged the iclvisrtbility of the Committee that had bwu appointed reporting upon the best way of receiving the amount of *ater from the County race, to which he Borough was entitled.—The .vlayor stated that the matter had not been overlooked, and the Committee .vould report it an,early date. Recreation Ground.—Considerable Jiscussion took place on Mr Frater's offer [oa behalf of the executors of the mte L)i', Killgour, of 29 allotments situated between Rolleston street and Sealey street, containing three and five eighths acres, for £1500, a report of wi>ich is held over. Tho Council then rose,