BOROUGH COUNCILS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7687, 23 April 1903, Page 3

BOROUGH COUNCILS.

LYTTELTON.

Ail ordinary -m-eering of the Lyttelton Borough Council was hold iast night ; present — -The Mayor. (Mr J. Grubuj, Councillors -S. R. Webb, JR. Brown, W. Radcliffe, W. C. Cleary, C. Kay and W. L. Wliitby. A leiter "was received from the Lytt-elton Homing Society asking for t-ho us-o of the room at the back of the Colonists' Hall on paying for the gas, or on Mich other terms as the Council micjit approve. It was decided to reply that the Society could liavq thi use of the room on the usual terms. A letter from Mr. Robert G-arnott offering to contract for the repairs to the Sumner Rond was referred to the incoming Council. Messrs W. Coote and Hatton wrote calling attention to the inconvenience caused to them by storm water coming down from- the -hills at 'West Lytrelton. The -matter, was referred to the Works Committee to report upon. A letter was read from the District Engineer of the Railways stating that the< lease of the Council's private siding could be renewed for ten years on the present terms. It was decided to renew the lease accordingly. The. Finance Committee reported, that the receipts since last meeting .had been #341 5s sd, and recommended payment of accounts as follows: — General account £110 9s 6(1, gasworks loan account £2 19s 4d. The balances of the various accounts were reported to be as follow: — General account, debit £147 11s lid ; drainage loan account, credit £1544 4s 4d- ; gasworks loan account, credit- £1339 11s 7d ; and waterworks loan a'ccoiinl, credit 16s 2d. The report was adopted. The Town Clerk (Mr G. A. ].«? iv in) presented a report on th-e yearly accounts to March 31 last, showing that during thqyear the Council had completed the Fire Brigade Station at a cost of £3000, out of ordinary revenue, the abattoir liad been built, tho gasworks acquii-ed, very large extensions to the mum newer.* carried out, and an 8-inch main laid through the tunnel. The total expenditure for the year had been £30,311 3s 9d, made up as follows: — £10,199 Is 4d on general account, £2043 Is Id on waterworks extension loan account, £1437 7s 8d on drainage loan account, £2993 10s 9d on abattoir loan account, and £13,636 2s lid r>n gasworks loan account. The total receipts from nil sources for. the year had been £27;803 3s 2d, together with £5770 16s 3d (being the' balance of unexpended loan moneys). The general account proper showed receipts to the amount of £5590 19k, and the Council continued to spend considerably more on street maintenance alone than is collected as rates, the figures for the past year 'being as follow: — Cost of .street maintenance £1779 12s sd, collected as rates £1561 7s 6d. The cost of scavengering and dust removal was also on the increase, and the fo witer F-ei'vice alone now repr-eeent-ed in round numbers a cost of 16s per house per year. The whole of the rates collectable^ had been paid, and at the end of the year the outstanding rents were represented by a sum- of £51 4s 2d, anost of which, had since been collected. The water supply account continued to show a satisfactory return, the receipts being an advance on last year's figures of £359 0s sd, and now stood at £3672 18s lOd. The quantity of water, supplied to the shipping for the year was 7,712,340 gallons, as against 7,610,950 gallons for the previous year. The report stated that the valuation list had passed the Assessment Court without alteration, the- one objection, based on a legal point, 'being disallowed. The total value for ratable purposes was £26,068, which, with a IS 3d rate, would produce an increase of £53 5s on the Kites collected last year. The statement of public dejbfc 'by the borough showed that the borough's loan now stood at j?-37,782 2s sd, while the assets amounted- to £93,260 6s sd. On the- motion of Councillor Webb, seconded by Councillor! Kay, the report was adopted, and ordered to be! preserved among the records of the Council. The report of the Foreman of Works, which was of a routine nature, was adopted. The engineer at the pumping station reported, that during the year ending March 31 last 41,643,000 gallons of wate:« had been pumped into the main reservoir. Vicing about two and a half million gallons less than during the previous year. The pumps had worked for 3323 hours, against" 3315 hours in the previous year. The supply of watelr was ample, but the engineer recommended that two or thre-3 additional wells should be put down to cope with the fluctuating -^demand at certain periods of the yiiir. The report was received. It was decided to levy a rate o£ Is 3d in th-e pound on the ratable value of the prnnerty in the borough for the ensuing year. Councillor Wtjbb moved — " That this Council resolves to place- on record its appreciation of the zeal and ability shown by Mr G. A. Lewln, the Town Clerk, and Treasurer, in the discliango of the very important duties cast Tipon him and the vary able services ha has rendered in connection ■with the. acquisition of the- gasworks and the other ventures .made by this Council during the past two years." Councillor Brown sciconded the -motion, which Avas endorsed by the Mayor and the Councillors present, and carried unanimously : by acclamation. The iMayor conveyed the motion to Mr Le^in, with an expression of his owji personal thanks. Mr Lewin returned thanks for the compliment and for the manner in which he had always been treated by the Council. A vote of .thanks was also passed to the - Inspector, Mr Sowden. the Foreman of Works, Mr Russell, th? Engineers, Messrs Weir, Burnip and Wilson, and other members of the staff. The- Mayor thanked the members of the Council '-for the kindness, courtesy and assistance extended to him during his term of office. A vote of thanks was ipassed to his Worship for his services during the year. It was decided that til e next meeting should be held on Monday, May 4.