CITY COUNCIL.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 6316, 14 August 1888, Page 4

CITY COUNCIL.

An ordinary meeting of the Christchurch City Council was held at 7 p.m. yesterday ; present — Councillors Prudhoe, Crooks, Tait, M'Laren, Reese, Manning, Gray, Bishop, and Scott. Councillor Prudlwe was voted to the chair. Apologies ware made for the absence of Councillor Hulbert, through illness, and of Councillor Goss. FINANCE. It was reported that the receipts since last meeting were as follows : — General account, .£759 11s 9d ; Cemetery account, £5 3s 6dj Suspense account, £68 11s; Interest account, .£BS 5s lOd. The expenditure waa :— General account, £858 12s lid; Interest account, .£l24o 5s 8d; Suspense account, £306 Os Sd; Cemetery account, £2 6s. The debtor balance at the Bank was £2915 8s lid. The accounts as read were passed for payment. ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY. A letter was read from the Colonial Secretary, requesting the Mayor to present, in as public a manner as possible, the bronze medal awarded by the Royal Humane Society of Australasia to Mr Thomas E. Toneycliffe for his bravery in rescuing Harry Pillow, and attempting to rescue Arthur Pillow, from drowning, at New Brighton, on Jan. 5, 1887. The Chairman said that Mr Toneycliffe was anxious to have the presentation made at the present meeting. Councillor Reese thought that to do so would hardly be carrying out the spirit of the letter, which requested that the presentation should be made in as public a manner as possible. -■ The Chairman said that he agreed with Councillor Reeae. Perhaps Mr Toneycliffe might be induced to allow the presentation to be postponed. Councillor Bishop drew attention to a letter from Mr Toneycliffe laid on the table, in which he stated that he would be happy to receive the medalat the present meeting, or to wait until his Worship the Mayor returned. toonn<^or,^ay^agreedtthat : s:the^prer;

sentation should be made with as much iclai as possible, and moved — " That the presentation take p)ace on the return of His Worship the Major." Councillor Crooks seconded the motion, which was carried nem. con. CITY SURVEYOR'S EEPOET. The City Surveyor presented the following report: — "(l)The Works Committee request me to report as follows :— The estimated cost of the Cemetery Tramway was £6600; the actual cost of it was .£7700. The difference of .£llOO was caused by the estimate being made before the route was decided on, and a large expense was incurred in wideniKg and fencing' Buckley's road, which was not included in the estimate. The original contemplated cost of the Municipal Buildings was J65000. This was the sum named m the specification and advertisement inviting designs. The estimate made of the chosen design wa3 J34859. This was exclusive oS architect's Tees and clerk of works. The I tender of Messrs England and 1 . Martin was J54623. The actual cost waß .£5570 Is 7d. The difference between the estimated cost and the actual cost of the building was caused by several alterations that were made in the design during the progress of the work. In February, 1885, in consequence of havinpr to pay such high prices for cement, the "Works Commatee deter- j mined to import it direct, and consequently, five thousand barrels were ordered at 16s 3d, to carry out works under the loan, but before it was delivered!, owing to the want being urgent, one thousand casks of cement were purchased from Iffir C. W. Turner. This created a larger amount of | cement than was required to carrjy out the woiks, and, consequently, one thousand two hundred and thirty-four caßks were resold at an average price of 14s 10|cH. (2) The six-inch well on the South beib is now down 60ft." On the first clause being put to the Council, . Councillor Gray rose to a point o£ order. The return was, he considerod, not a report, but a return to be laid on the table, at the instance of Councillor Bishop, seconded by himself. He did not «cc how it could be discussed. The Chairman said that it could be considered either as a return or a report* It was not necessary that the Council tihould discuss it. Councillor Bishop said that the return was not what he wanted. It did not contain so much detail as the return presented at the former meeting. There had been expenses connected with the raising of the loan, with an enquiry us to the Council Chambers held after the building had been erected, and with, the furnishing of the Chamber. He moved as an amendment to the clauae — " That the matter be referred back to the Wcarks Committee to obtain further information." Councillor Eeese seconded the motion * Councillor Gray said that the return was quite what he wanted. He considered that no reasons had been given by Councillor Bishop or Councillor Eeeaa why further details should be called forj The Council had nothing to hide, but at | the same time there was no need to again. I drag the details before the public. Councillor Scott enquired why th© return had been called for in the first instance P The Chairman said that a letter had appeared in & newspaper stating: that the City Surveyor was in the habit of underestimating all his public works, and also that, as he had done this in other cases, he had very probably done the same with regard to the gasworks. Councillor Eeese pointed out that the matter had first come be£ re the Council in a report in which the Surveyor had, by mistake, put some information asked for privately by Councillor Gray. Councillor Scott thought that nothing waa to be gained by going further into the matter. Thia return had nothing to do with the estimates of the gasworks. Councillor Bishop rose to a point of order. The question of the gasworks was not before the Council. Councillor Scott said that the matter was connected with the question of the gasworks. Councillor Bishop considered that Councillor Scott was still out of order. Councillor Scott said that it seemed to him that the whole matter had arisen out of the gaaworka question, aa the information had been given by the City Surveyor in consequence of a letter dealing with that question. Councillor Tait thought that Councillor Scott was quite out of order, and that any Councillor had a right to call for any return he desired. Councillor Manning thought that the information supplied in the report was sufficient for all practical purposes. He had heard no reason given why further information should be supplied. Councillor Bishop having replied, the amendment was put and negatived by five votes to four. Councillor Bishop asked if a Councillor had the right to obtain the information at the public office. The Chairman replied in the affirmative. The report was then adopted. THE GAB QUESTION. Councillor Bishop here withdrew from the Council Chamber. The Town Clerk read the order of the Supreme Court restraining the Council from taking further action in regard to the loan for gasworks, and it was decided to engage a solicitor not connected with the Gas Company to endeavour to obtain a recision of the order. OXFORD TERRACE. Councillor Crooks drew the attention of the "Works Committee to the bad state of Oxford terrace, from the boatsheds almost to Willow street, where it was impossible to walk on the footpaths, on account of the mud, and where the crown of the road needed gravelling. He moved — " That the matter be referred to the "Works Committee." The motion was agreed to unanimously, and the Council adiourned.