BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXIV, Issue 18851, 14 April 1931, Page 13

BOROUGH COUNCIL.

ORDINARY MEETING. An ordinary meeting of the Timaru Borough Council was held last evening, and was attended by the Mayor (Mr W. An gland) and Councillors M. H. Richards, W. H. Hunt, T. W. Satxerthwaite, A. Kennedy, F. B. Hawkey, F. Chittock, J. Hart and G. Benstead. The Mayor said the Council should increase the amount available for expenditure for relief works to £7OO, and also make the qualification for work under this scheme two months residence in Timaru. There were 500 unemployed on the books, and they should do their utmost to relieve distress and at the same time assist the Government. Councillor Hawkey said this was a fine attempt on the part of the Council to assist those in need of work, and also to help the Government in a very difficult period. He asked if it was the intention of the Council to control the ■work. The Mayor replied that the Council would provide and control the work, and Mr McKessar would allot the work to men requiring it. Councillor Hunt approved increasing the grant to £7OO. He also asked if it was a fact that a person who had received 19/6 in pay had to go to the Post Office to get a stamp to place on the receipt. The Town Clerk said he knew nothing of it. He would look into the matter and ascertain the position. Councillor Hunt: “If that is the position I think it is a crylhg shame that this should be done.” The Mayor: T agree with you. Councillor Hunt.” Councillor Hunt: “I will investigate the matter, and find out the position.” Councillor Satterthwaite said that at the Works Committee, the engineer reported that £6OO would be ample to complete the Waimataitai drainage and Ashbury Park. He intended to stand by the report of the Committee, which recommended this in terms of the engineer’s report. The Mayor: “There is only room for 50 men on the Waimataitai drainage scheme, and what are we to do with the rest?” Councillor Kennedy: “We considered the whole matter, and we thought we were doing good work in spending £SOO in the interest of residents of Timaru who were out of work. Quite a lot of people have drifted into Timaru, and my idea is that more work will be required during the winter months when the weather is cold. Therefore, we considered we would be doing quite a lot to help the Government if we spent £SOO or £6OO now. I think we ought to be cautious in spending our money, so tl|at we will be able to relieve necessitous cases later on when there is a greater need for it.” Councillor Benstead: “In committee I supported the spending of £6OO. Under half of those on the unemployed register are residents of Timaru.” The Council would want more than £6OO to help the needy before this winter was over. Dealing with the question of paying the unemployed, he suggested that this be done on Friday evenings. Councillor Benstead suggested that the £6OO be approved, and that if it was found that it was not adequate then it could be increased. The Mayor said that so far as taking too long to pay the men was concerned, it had been suggested that the old Council Chambers should be used for this purpose. He did not think that it would be right to take £BOO over there. As a matter of fact on Saturday morning the staff had paid 400 men at the rate of three a minute. Councillors Hart and Richards each supported the Committee’s recommendation. Councillor Kennedy said a better way of paying men was to place the pay in envelopes, and to go round in a car to the different jobs and pay the men there. This was the system adopted by the Public Works Department. Councillor Hunt: “Had I known, Your Worship, that this matter of the £6OO had been agreed to by the Committee, I would not have endorsed your suggestion to increase the amount from £6OO to £700.” The Mayor said that if they only had to find work for 300 men out of the 500 on the books, it would cost them nearer £750 than £6OO. He moved an amendment that a sum of £7OO be allotted for unemployed relief work. Councillor Hawkey seconded the amendment. On a vote being taken the amendment was defeated, and the report was adopted. The Omnibus and Electric Light Committees’ report was adopted without discussion. Omnibus Service. The Omnibus Committee recommended that on Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesday and Thursday evenings, unless the weather is wet or there are large attendance at places of amusement, the second bus to Highfleld be discontinued. This recommendation was brought forward in view of the fact that the omnibus returns had shown a decided shrinkage for the year. If the traffic warranted it an extra bus could be put on at any time. The omnibus engineer having reported that a collision had taken place between an omnibus and a motor-car driven by Mr R. Thompson, resulting in damage to the bus amounting to £6, the Committee recommended that a claim be instituted against all persons exceeding the regulation speed limits within the Borough, and that the police be asked to co-operate with the Council’s officials in this matter, and also in the matter of pedestrians congregating or loitering on the streets. General Committee. The General Committee recommended a reduction of the rent for the Park tea rooms from £2O to £ls per annum. An application having been received from Mr McNaughton objecting to the Curator cutting down trees on his holding in the West End Park unless the rent was reduced; the Committee recommended that the Council do not entertain the application, but that the engineer effect certain repairs to the house. With respect to the matter of renaming certain streets the present names of which had a similarity, the Fire Board wrote suggesting that alterations be made. The Board pointed out that such streets as Le Cren Street. LeCren's Terrace, Cain’s Terrace, Cain Street, Milton Road. Melton Road. Short Street South, and Short Street North, were all in different directions, but the names were likely to lead to confusion and also to serious loss of property. The Committee recommended that Short Street South be changed to Flinders Street, and that the name of Milton Road be changed, suggestions to be invited from residents as to the new name to be bestowed upon this street. The Committee had no recommendation to make in respect to the changing of LeCren Street, leCren’s Terrace, Cain Street, and Cain’s Terrace. On the subject of work being provided for the relief of the unemployed. it was resolved to recommend that the present works now being undertaken should be continued until Saturday, April 2oth, but that the labour be restricted to necessitous cases of Timaru residents of not less than three months residence, and that the expenditure be limited to £6OO.

Engineer’s Report. The Borough Engineer reported that repairs were effected to metalled roads in Heaton Street from Stafford Street to the railway, in Cliff Street from Stafford Street to Turnbull Street, in Hayes Street on the line of the George Street stormwater drain diversion, in Fraser Street and Cross Street, in King Street along the edge of the asphalt south of Queen Street, and at the junction of William Street and Rose Street, the north end of Park Lane and in Barnard Street along the western margin. In Lagoon Street the formation was completed to adopted levels. This work was commenced some-time ago for the relief of unemployment but w r as not finally completed. Improvements were made to the formation and paths in Mowbray Street and this work is still in hand. In Hassall Street two coats of tar and one of bitumen were applied and Queen Street from King Street to Craigie Avenue and from Memorial Avenue to High Street received two coats of tar. Existing sealed surfaces were coated with bitumen in George Street from Barnard Street to the station and Church Street from Sophia Street to Stafford Street. Asphalt footpaths were repaired and surfaced with bitumen in Sophia Street from George Street to Church Street, Hassall Street on the north side from Cain Street to Otipua Road, Otipua Road on the east side from North Street to Wai-iti Road and portions of Wai-iti Road path on the south side. The kerbing and channelling in Virtue Avenue was completed with two sumps, gratings and over-flows and also three stormwater drains were put across the pathway along the Benvenue Cliffs. Several channel crossings were laid and crossings over footpaths repaired at the expense of the property owners concerned. From the beach 526 cubic yards of gravel were carted and 398 cubic yards issued. Two connections were made to the sewers, 65ft. of drain being laid. Another stoppage occurred in the six inch sewer through what is known as Orbell’s gully and this was attended to and the drain properly flushed. Two connections were made to the water mains and four services replaced on account of corrosion. In addition six services were repaired and two leaks on mains in High Street and Avenue Road were attended to. A new fire plug on the 12” main in Wai-iti Road was put in and four on the 10” in Stafford Street. Of the total of sixteen plugs authorised to be put in, only one now remains to be done and that is in North Street on the 14” main. The flow in the race was more than ample for the town’s requirements and the reservoirs are full. There is considerably more water in the river than there was a month ago, and there is not such extensive weed growth to interfere with the intake. Ten permits have been issued of a total value of £1272. These include one dwelling, two house additions, four garages and two alterations to business premises. The unemployment work was proceeding satisfactorily upon the Waimataitai Creek and at the Ashbury Park football ground. In addition a gang was engaged in stripping the over-burden of clay at the quarry. Arrangements had been made to employ a further forty men on the cleaning of footpaths and street margins in the south, west and north parts of the town. As it was reported that the Unemployment Board would on the 11th instant stop all work being carried on under their No. 5 Scheme, an endeavour was being made to posh on the Waimataitai Creek job so that it may be sufficiently completed by that date to deal with the stormwater from the western districts without the possibility of any damage being done to the work already finished.

All the owners of properties in Hobbs Street whose frontages had not yet been set back had been communicated with and with two exceptions they were agreeable to give to the Council a strip of land 8’ 3” for the purpose of widening the street. With regard to the two exceptions, one was Mr E. S. Nicholson whose house was so close to the existing street line that if widening were carried out it would be necessary to remove the bay window of the dwelling. The other one was Mr G. Straw, who stated that he did not wish his frontage altered as it would leave his house too near the street and render useless a garage to which at present there was access by means of a steep track. He also asked what compensation the Council would give him in the event of his frontage being set back. Considering the other properties commencing at the east end of Hobbs Street, Mr M. F. Weir stated that he would require a concrete wall to retain the roadway as his land was at a lower level than the path. Mr A. Wilson and Mr C. A. Rodda make a similar request. Mr A. Hall would require a seven-wire fence and would permit the filling on the property to be tailed over. Messrs Bird, Agnew, and Smith were prepared to give 16’ 6” of land provided concrete retaining walls were erected and in addition Mr Smith asked for the sum of fifty pounds for the land taken. The estimated cost of the whole of the above work, assuming that 8’ 3” was taken from those owners who had offered it and acquired under the Public Works Act from the remaining two owners, would be £995. In this estimate allowance had been made for £IOO as compensation for Mr E. S. Nicholson and £SO for Mr G. Straw and in addition the cose of erecting fences and retaining walls and for cost of transfer of land in eacn case. Curator’s Report. The Curator (Mr D. N. Harper) reported that the work for March in the Parks and Reserves had been mostly routine, mowing, weeding and making generally tidy. An average of 40 men had been kept in regular work throughout the month at various classes of work. The subsoiling in Craigie Avenue had been completed as far as it could be done for this year. The work in the Domain on High Street frontage was well in hand, and most of the tree roots were disposed of by burning them in a pit. Sufficient soil had been screened for topdressing the Ashbury Park croquet lawns and Maori Park tennis courts. The subsoiling in Virtue Avenue was well advanced. The gorse fence on the east side of West End Park had been grubbed out and the rubbish burned, and the open drain in the hollow cleaned out. The tenant of the newly acquired house and land objected to any trees being removed unless the rent was reduced. In the meantime he had held up the work and would wait instructions whether to proceed with the work or not. The rainfall for March was 1.56 inches, and the sunshine 189.9 hours. For March of last year the rainfall was 1.06 inches and the sunshine 181.4 hours.