HARBOUR BOARD.

Timaru Herald, Volume XCVIII, 27 April 1925, Page 13

HARBOUR BOARD.

I MONTHLY MEETING. ’ The monthly meeting of the Timaru Harbour Board was hole} on Friday. Present —Messrs W. Hayman (chair- , man), F. R. Flatman, A. F. Campbell, 1 W. H. Orbell, G. T. Dawson, E. R. i Isaac, J. Kennedy, H. B. 8. John- ; etone, W. T. Ritchiei, A. R. Guild, D. 1 C. Turnbull, T. B. Garrick'and J. Bitj chener, M.P. J ! CHAIRMAN’S STATEMENT, j, The chairman reported, that the ■ credit balance at the provious meeting l wua £605 5s Id. The receipts since i then had totalled £3611 10s 7d, .the .'principal' items beingShips’ dues :-'£2202, 12s 8d; rents £4B; ; wharfage ' £650; use of electrical clusters £33 12s; j sale 'of old 1 timber £2B; interest on ! mortgages' £123; interest on debentures j £57 -ills; rent deposits £411; sundries i £27;; wharfage paid, by fishing boats! | £l3. The accounts to be passed that ; day totalled £1486 10s 10d, and after < paying - these' there would bo a credit | balance of £2730. . ,- ’ , • Members, would have noticed., by the j- newspapers that 'the Board had won its appeaT against the decision of Mr ■ Justice Adiuns, who had ruled that the j- Board must pay rates on its reclaimed, ■ unlet .foreshore land. , . This would 1 mean that, the Board would get a.rei fund from the .Council of the £290 i which it had paid'in rates on the land ' im question. . , i Mr Dawson said . the action was !, brought, as a friendly one... to settle a 1 point'in dispute between the two 1 bodies, and he thought the costs’should' 'he shared by Council and the [ Board. r-’—v' ‘ - •' ; Mr, Johnstone said he did not think 1 that 'tHe Sbard 'K'ad’power to : pay, .the.; i Council’s costs, as the Court had direct- • ed that the Council'should-pay its own j costs. / / ■ . i The chairman, further said that the Borough Council wished the Board to contribute, towards -/jilie cost of extending the George * Street, sewbr. He did not think the Board should contribiite as it made its own streets and maintained 1 ; them., while the Council collected the rates. _ ' . ' . * No action was taken in this matter.

CORRESPONDENCE. ’ A letter was ■ received •from - the Mayor'Bf : Timaru ’ advising' iihat- at a meeting of representatives of local bodies in Timbru, it had been decided that South. Canterbury should be represented at the Dunedin exhibition. S -1 oh representation' would cost approximately £SOOO, 'of which the Timaru Harbour Board’s, share would be £SO. The chairman feaid he was certainly in favour of advertising Timaru in this, way/ ! On the motion of Messrs Turnbu.il and Garrick, it was unanimously decided 1 to vote £SO. ■ The secretary to the Wharf Labourers’ Union wrote drawing attention to the fact , that during the unloading of motor spirits at the wharyes, smoking tdok place on the,wharves and even on the ships., . The chairman expressed surprise that men would smoke, under such eifeum-r stonoes/' Ttwas not right that men’s lives should be endangered through carelessness. ... It w as decided to ,ask the Harbourmaster, to, keep a close .watch; and to ■take action in/.any future breaches of the law in this ,respect;, Acting-Captain i( Guy Stepford wrote thanking the Board for the comfortable berth,,provided' for Dunedin during f ho. vessel ’5 ;St dy _ at .Tirharii. He also notice, the extreme courtesy of the Harbourmaster (Captain McDougall)-, : v 'who’ •* had done all that he could to assist'in every way. J ,Mr Ronald, J. Harvey, London,, advised that . lie. had. been appointed consulting engineer to the New Zealand Government’ in succession'to Sir J. Duncan Elliott, K.8.E., who had relinquished the. post,;,on his retirement from business. , ' , _ The - Secretary of Marine wrote that a number of people were 1 removing shingle’ and sand from the foreshore north and south of- that portion which was vested in the Timaru Harbour Board. Nobody was entitled' to remove shingle or sand from Crown foreshores without a permit,'* and-having obtained a permit, the Department was entitled to charge .-royalty—as much, as 2s a yard was charged in Auckland. The royalty was quite a considerable source of revenue to the Department in Auckland. It was not suggested that nearly so much should be charged in Tibiaru as in Auckland, hut the Department and the Board- might 'obtain some financial benefit from (this asset, in Ti■ru. ! It was decided' to make no charge for , the'sand ,or shingle at Timaru.1; Captain O.'F. Mclntyre; sailing.master of Dredge 350. /and Deputy-Har-bourmaster-and-pilot, wrote resigning : his position, having been appointed dredge master under the New Plymouth Harbour Board. He thanked the • B,oard for the fair. and considerate j treatment accorded him at all times, : while in their employ. , , . _ , The resignation was accepted with regret, members referring in very com- < plimentary terms to the work of Captain Mclntyre, in Timaru. 5 HARBOUR IMPROVEMENT RATE. I Mi- Turnbull again /suggested that tho harbour rate should be abolished, as it was a vexatious rate, and took away trom the trade of the port. He cited two cases in support of this statement. In one case the trade; had gone to Oam- [ aru, and in the other, to Ashburton, j When this'rate was imposed it had been intended that the ships should pay it, but the ships simply put it back on the cargo. It was practically, an additional wharfage rate, and complaints had come even . from, London about it. , . . t The chairman said that this rate had brought 'in £3500 last year, and he thought they would have to retain it for at least another year. _ .-. _ , ( Mr Turnbull said the indications were for another good revenue year, and he was sure that it would pay the Board to abolish, this rate. Mr Kennedy suggested that they might abolish the rate during the year if they found that they could afford to do so, •. The chairman said he thought this ;. a good suggestion, and’ the matter was ; allowed to drop.

GENERAL. ! It was decided to renew for one year the lease of the site on which the fishermen’s shop is built, the rent being £l. Mr Turnbull thought that a higher rent should be charged. It was decided to let the Board’s section at the corner of Wharf and Fraser Streets at £250 per annum.

HARBOURMASTER’S REPORT. - The arrivals during tho month of March were 37 steam vessels, with an aggregate of 52,794 tons, and the departures, 40 steam vessels with an aggregate of 59,302 tons. The weather since last reporting had been somewhat broken.

RESIDENT ENGINEER’S REPORT. No. 350 has been dredging in the outside channel, on the centre line of beacons, and since last report has removed 30,000 tons of silt front this cut, tvhich had been advanced 470 feet, making a total length of 900 feet since the commencement of 23rd March. Since last report the “Taniwha” had been working satisfactorily, and had removed 4080 tons of shingle at No. 1 slipway, 190 tons of silt from No. 1 wharf,” and ISO tons from the north berth at No. 2 wharf, making a total of 4440 tons since the 25th March. A new pile driving frame was being built,

with much stronger soantling to replace the present one, which was now praoticalfy unserviceable for the Board's heavy work, Tho locomotives in tho shod had been moved and cleaned. Another six floating fonders for tho Harbourmaster's department had been dressed and fitted ready for uso,