TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13646, 14 July 1908, Page 6

TIMARU BOROUGH COUNCIL

Thii fortnightly meeting of the Tiinaru Borough Council was held last night. Present—The Mayor and Councillor Satlertlnvait'e, Raymond, Parks, Leathwiek, Rothwell, Schmidt, Oborn, Suahy, Hawkey, Mullin, Bowker, and Harney. MAYOR'S STATEMENT.

Tile Mayor suited that the overdraft was £5682 17s 4d. Since last meeting there had been paid in interest alone £2300; and collected, about £2OOO. Seeing that so much had been paid away the position was very satisfactory. Therehad also been Bold £llOO of 4J per cent, drainage loan debentures. Since Jaisfc meeting, said the Mayor, they had had a very trying tune, having had a rain heavier than had been experienced s-ince the great flood of 1868, and on the whole they had reason to congratulate tihemtelvts and the borough on having came through it with very little damage. The greatest damage had been done to (he water race. A part of the race round Mount' Horrible where there was a good deal of bad ground, always apt to slip in wet weather, had given WHV > by .flips coming uutvn and lining the race. A number of men had been sent up and in a couple of days.they got Hie race cleaned out and water running again. Then a worse accident happened on Saturday morning, when several yards of concrete work ati Ward's zig-zag'slip-ped- down a sideling. Temporary pipts had been fixed in the meantime and the water was running, but the complete restoration of the race would be a considerable job. He thought, the Council would agree tSiat the extra services of the, .Council's staffs should be recognised, especially those of the men on the water race, who were on duty 48 hours, and if the Council did not do anything more they could pats a hearty vote of thanks to the men. One of the greatest surl'trus wuuid be. the contractors tor No. 2 drainage contract. The drain running parallel to the invert in Wilson, street had been subject to big washouts, and the conltractom. would be big losers. The Government valuation of the borough had been received, as on March 31st )ai>t as follows:—Capital value of ratable lands £1,615,002, unimproved value £895,235, improvements £719,767, value of exempt lands, capital £142,495, unimproved £69,935, improvements £74,560. Adding the exempted properilies, the total was £1,757,497. At the previous valuation five or six years, ago, die valuation was £950,000.

The Mayor stated that the captain of the Fire Brigade had informed him that the Fire Brigades' Asociation was prepared to hold the next year's conference and competitions at Timaru if suitable arrangements could be made. He had seen the balance-sheet of the Napier meeting. It cost eight or nine hundred pounds, and the people of Napier subscribed between five and six hundred towards the cost. Tiie Brigade were very anxious to have the meeting at Timaru, it would bo a good advertisement for the place, and if the Athletic Ground could be got it would be viiy successful. The Napier Borough Council gave a subsidy of £SO, and this Coiucil should encourage the movement in that way if a canvass provided a sufficient sum to enable the mealing to be Jitld at Ji-uaiu.

The Councillors received the suggestion favourably, and in an informal way approved of an attempt being made to have the meeting held in Timaru. The manager of the abattoir reported that ; therevwa.s some illicit killing of meat, that was sold unstampedand uninspected in 'Timaru. He was looking into the matter. ;: i Next January, said the Mayor, the fiftieth anniversary of the arrival of the Strathallan at Timaru would, occur, and several old residents had written to him hoping that the event would be celebrated in some way. He thought that Timaru should be patriotic enough to do something in the direction, and the Council, he was sure, would co-operate with the people in making a good thing of it. The Mayor reported that the committee appointed for the purpose bad inspected the ground, and recommended that Mr J. Pearson's application for leave to make a new blind street off Pearson street be granted; also that Mr Harris's application for leave to erect a cottage in a certain position on section fronting on the end of Matilda street be granted. The Mayor's statement was adopted, and after a good deal .of discussion it was resolved to hold over Mr Harris's application, and "to grant Mr Pearson's. The Council unanimously agreed to vote a bonus of 10s to each member of the permanent btatt's for iheir exv.ra work in' the rain storm. CORRESPONDENCE. The Barrowfield Ironworks, Glasgow, forwarded prices of steel plate pipes of different sizes. . , . , On a letter from Mr Panton, architect, for the public library,. it was decided that it would not be advisable to hold any ceremony over the laying of the foundation stone, bub that an opening ceremony should be held when the library is completed. Dissatisfaction was expressed at the slow progress being made by the builders, and the architect is to be requested to write to them expressing this dissatisfaction. Mr K. Donn applied for a special permit to erect on sledge an office 6xß and 7ft high, for hia Market Square coalyard.—Several Councillors objected that! the application was contrary to the bylaw, and that the structure wotdd be no improvement to 'the borough. It was agreed to hold over the application for further consideration. Mv T. Thornton applied for permission to hang, for a fortnight, a "wrapper" 50 feet long, in front of the verandah of his business premises. Councillor Mulliu said he had seen the sign, and thought it ridiculous to summon him for it. —A conversational discussion took place on the question generally, some Councillors uhinking it, iind<.sirat>ie to make a precedent, and tha,t .'■" flapping" rags were a danger to horse'traffic. On the olher hand, it was said the cloths did no harm, and enlivened the town. —'The request was put to the vote, and was carried by a majority. The Hon. W. Hall-Jones sent a reply he had received from the Minister of Marine, that Mr Fergusson, Timaru, had already been supplied with meteorolgical instruments. A rain gauge had also been placed at the reservoir, and it could be shifted to Timaru. A complete set would cost about £64, and if the. Council desuvd the Department would procure them, at the Council's cost. The Gerald ine Borough Council' forwarded £Bl for lamp posts sold them, and stated that they ,wouhP take* half a dozen more. at ; the same price £4 : los each. Correspondence was received; from Mr Dickson, scavenging • contractor, and the keeper of the rubbish tip,- regarding the price paid for keeping, the tip in order.'— Tbe ; Council decided; to. keep the'present man, at the same pay. . Mr E. Hertnon sent a final offer re enlargement of site of Sandietown; fire station;; consideration of this; was'deferred. Mr H. B. Kirk wrote suggesting that the three life buoys sent 1 tovbim'by the Royal Humane Society, and now lying in

the Qrancil might as 1 , well foe? whei'i they would be useful, and thaft tSue MayoJ and chairman of the Harbcivi' Boari be asked where they should be places «n the bathing sands and the whar/ea. —The North Mole and Bay were name I'as suitable places. DRAINAGE. Mr Marcbant, Drainage Engineer, reported that No. 3 drainage contract (Stafford street between Strathallan street and Melvfle Hotel) had been completed and housl connections laid up to street side lines} The contractor was a good deal over J the time given for its completion, but le did not advise enforcement of the penaiy for delay in this case, as it was not ji'holly due to the contractor. Pipes could not be got just at the time they werejwanted, and working in a busy street causJd much hindrance to the operations. Mi Marchant certified that a payment of £L2O was due to the contractors, Messrs Hunt and Werry, this certificate to be taken in place of one previously issued. He had reduced the amount because Mr Shaw, solicitor, had called upon him , concerning a claim he intended to make against either the Council or the contractors for the death of two horses at SKewan's corner arising out of the contract operations. He was therefore, holding back sufficient money to satisfy the claim if it could be held against the Council. MISCELLANEOUS. A resolution was passed regarding the Theatre Royal, officers' reports were adopted, and accounts passed for payment, and the Council then proceeded to deal with the electric supply conditions, and the sitting 1 closed at ,11.20 p.m.