WAIMATE COUNTY COUNCIL. A LIVELY MEETING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 3596, 9 April 1886, Page 3

WAIMATE COUNTY COUNCIL. A LIVELY MEETING.

A meeting of the Waimate County Council, specially iidjourncd from lust, monthly meeting, was held yesterday, Messrs John Manchester (chairman), J. Douglas, Klworthy, Hardy, A. Hayes, D. McLaren, P. Murphy and M. Studholme boing pro?ont After routine, the Chairman said that ho was desirous of correcting an impression which had evidently got abroad that he, by bringing certain statements before the Council, was m fact making charges against tho overseer. This was not so. A contract had been referred to, which it was staled had not boon carried out a~?ording to the plans and specifications, and a bridge, which it wa9 contended was unnecessary. 'J'heso wore not charges against the overeeer, but, being engineering questions, were really charges against tlio Council itself if against anyone. So far as he know, Mr Black (tho overseer) was giving every satisfaction, and no ono for a moment could suspect him of anything wrong. Tho questions referred to wcro professional ones, and wcro beyond the province of tho overseer. Mr Black Was not responsible for them. Ho bad not undertaken professional duties, nor was ho paid to perform pro fcssional duties. As an overseer, they would not get a better man. Ho had pleasure m j saying this, and he wished to remove any false impression that might have been given. Mi- Hayes asl;oj that the letter addressed by the Chairman to certaiu Councillors not present nl a former meeting when the matter ' was first discussed, bo read : — Tho letter was read ns follows : — \ " Waimato, February 24th, 1886. I "Dear Sir, — At the meeting of our Council to-day, I reported that I had been informed . a contraot of some considerable size had been passed by an overseer and paid for m full by the Council, whereas it was not carried out ' anything liko the plans and specifications provided for, and tbat I had been further m.- . formed that the bridge by Nicholl's was not . needed at all, and that had the Council got i proper professional advice they would never have spent more than £50 or £60 on that work, if anything at all. I also pointed out that according to presont arrangoments we have no provision for professional advice relating to works asked for a profeafessional inspection and certificates when , completed. Are wo to pay upon the certificate of a man who has no professional ability j and makes no pretensions to it ? Mr Hillary, ■ it is true, is making some plans, etc., for us, but ' we h,avo no arrangements to get his certificate , as t j completion mac ordance with plans and , specifications. I feel it to be my duty to . protest against such groping m the dark. We ; are likely to lose more m one month than our ■ fancied economy will yield m twelve. We . must have- a proper guarantee that we are , properly advised and that our works are ■ carried out as they should b». If it be i necessary to have Mr Black as Overseer, we certainly need to make arrangements for engineering and surveying work as well. Then the question naturally arises, why not the engineer do all as before? These are 1 matters for the Council's careful consideration. As our meeting this day was small, yourself and two other members being absent, I wb3 requested to place the matter before you for consideration, bo that the whole thing may bo gone into at our next meetiDg." " I have, &c, &c, " (Signed) J. Manouesteb, Chairman " Mr McLaren said that tho whole gist of the 1 matter was contained m that letter. It all lay m a nutshell. Was tho Council prepared to r go on for twelve months merely keeping existing roads m repair ? If so, no alteration . m the staff was needed. But if tho Council i intonded to undertake any new works or fur- ; ther expenditure, they could not afford td employ two men to do it ; they would find ! that instead of economising, thoy were really i largely increasing the expenditure. He i thought the sooner they came to a determina- , tion to stop new worts, aud try and reduce ; their debt, the better. But the letter conl taincd certain charges against Mr Black, and ; he thought these should be thoroughly investii gated, not only for the Council's but for Mr i Black's own sake. ; Mr Hayes moved and Mr Douglas seconded > a proposition — "That Mr Black be Btill ) retained as overseer, and £100 be added to i his salary to enable him to procure any i necessary professional assistance. r In moving the resolution, Mr Hayes ex- ; pressed a desire that Mr Hillary might be l present at the meeting, but after some little r discussion the subject was dropped. r Mr McLaren could not agree with the ) motion. He thought that for their

1 present salary tho Council could get any ' number of applications from professional , men, who could do their own engineer- : ing and surveying, as well as overseering. i Mr Hayes said the whole affair looked to ; him like api .t. He bad personally examined , all tho roads approaching the road referred i to m tho letter, and foun-l nothing to com- ' plain of. One thing struck him as a very • curious coincidence. At tho last regular I meeting of tho Council but one, word caino m I some mysterious way to tho chairman that a i certain contract was, not according to tho I plans and specifications. At the sauie rneeti ing an account from Mr Hillary was pre- ' sented for work not yet half completed. > Mr Mcl area considered" Mr Hillary's prices • exorbitant. He (Mr Hayes) thought ■ h-.it i tho work might have been done for less But s on the other hand, such a piece of work as i the road m question, had never before been ; done by the Council m so short a time. A ■ road twenty miles long, over a very difficult : country, had been completed m ono year. > He proceeded to quote figures, showing that i sinco 1879 the Council had expended a yearly • avorago of £293 15s, m addition to their [ Engineer's salary, for professional eerviees ' During tho last ten months, since they had I dispensed with an Engineer, they had only i expended some £250 for professional services, i notwithstanding that a work of such magni- : tutle as the road had been carried out. As a i further instance — some time ago, the monager I of tho Hakateramea Station asked for a road, i During the professional regime plans and > specifications were prepared for such, road, i calling for £300 or £400. Under Mr Black i the road had been made, and had given satiss faction at an outlay of only £25. I Mr Douglas asked for figures showing Iho i average amount paid for day labour under I Mr Hillary and Mr Black respectively. i Mr Hayes, continuiug, said he was sorry to ; speak as he was doing, but he felt it his duty to defend a man who was, ho thought, unjustly assailed. (Mr McLaren: No, no.) The letter was a charge against Mr Black. Tho Chairman : I must deny that. I Mr Hayes : Then of course I withdraw my . words, but I should not liko to have a letter like that addressed to me ns regarding myself I I must ncccpt tho chairman s statement, but the pu lie generally will consider that letter 1 a charge against Mr Black. I Mr Hayes then proceeded to answer Mr I Douglas' question. He said that under Mr Hillary's rulo the average monthly cxpendi- • turo for day labour was £198 ; under Mr l Black, £124, or with teams £139. Mr Douglas : Surely not. Are those I figures correct? . Afr Hayes ; Quito correct. ! Mr MoLaron : But you nro averaging over ■ four years of Hillary's work and only ten ' months' of Blacks. Mr Hayes : Unfortunately Mr Black Ims • only been m office ten months. Mr Ehvorthy did not see that Mr Black was before the Council m respect to his qualification. Ho had read the Chairman's i letter as Mr Hayes had, but ns tho Chairman disclaimed such interpretation, of course it i was not so. He could not ugreo with Mr Hayes that tho difficulty would be met by iillowing the present overseer £'00 a year extra to provide professional assistance Any extra professional assistance required could bo procured by a, committee. , M r Hayes reminded Mr Ehvorthy thut il had hitherto been done by a committee, and yet there was dissatisfaction. If Mr Black was paid as ho suggested, tho whole <mm would be taken from tho Council. Mr Douglas thought Mr Hayes must hwe uiti'.le a mistake m his figures ; they astounded him. Mr Hayes : They aro taken from tlio books. t'lhe books were thereupon produced, und Mr Hnycs' calculation found to bi correct.) Resuming the discussion, Mr Douglas thought that they emld not gel a prof' 3sionnl ujim fi.r the salary they offered. Ilia Chairman did not consider that any of tho engineer applicants who answered their advertisement would huvo consented to place their professional kuowlcde ut the Council's service without extra charge. Mr Elwortliy doubted this, as did Mr McLaren, who went on to pay that tho present question was not us to Mr Black's capabilities. .No one doubted that he wns n first rato man, but did not the Council require a mun to do, an! could they git one to do, tho entire work of tho Council 'i lie thought so. If the Council intended to go on letting contracts month after month, t! cy could not afford to keep a man at £200 a yeur unri pay as much or more for additional professional assistance. The opinion of the Council eceined to be ' that the recent expenditure was exceptional. After a short discussion Mr Uuyts consented to withdraw his motion ami moved instead tho following resolution, which was seconded by Mr McLuron — '•That tho Council having taken into consideration Iho complaints made, against their Overseer, Mr Black, find they nre groundless, and thut he stiil retain his ofllca und carry on his duties as ho has dono hitherto." In seconding tho resolution, Mr McLaren expressly pointed out that he still reserred the liberty of attempting to cut down Council expenditure. A short bye-discussion ensued on the bridge at Mukikihi question ; Messrs Hardy and Sttidholino considering it necossary, Mr Elwortliy lwdly agreeing with them, but the matter dropped. The Chairman objected to tho word " complaints" m tho motion. Mr Douglas suggested the substitution of " misconception." Mr Haves said he liked plain English. Ho had originally written it " charges," and had modified thut to "complaints" Ultimately the resolution wub amended by the substitution of "statements" for "complaints," and was carried unanimously, Mr i Hayes characterising tho whole affair "as a storm m a tetwup " The meeting then adjourned.