LAWRENCE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Tuapeka Times, Volume XVIII, Issue 1162, 15 July 1885, Page 2

LAWRENCE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

; The ordinary meeting of the abovenamed body was held in the Council Chambers on Monday evening/ Present, — His Worahip the, Mayor (J., Thompson, Esq.), ahd'.Crs Miller, Chalmers, Taylor, Mitchinsori, Walker, Morrison, M'Kinlay, • Johnston, and Fraer. ' , ; The minutes of the previous, meeting were read and confirmed. > - ' -,',.. . .CORRESPONDENCE. , Messrs Arbuckle, Robertson and Co. drew the Council's attention to the urgent ; necessity that .existed for the construction! of a channel in that portion of Irvine-' street between the Railway: Hotel- and the corner of the right-of-way leading: into the railway. — Referred 1 to the I Public Works Committee to furnish a report showing the necessity or otherwise of the work, and. an estimate of the probable cost of its construction. Mr J. C. Love brought under notice the necessity of forming a crossing' in Irvine^ street at tbenofcth-east end of Whitehavenstreet. — Moved by Or Fraer, and seconded by Cr Morrison : v That the letter be referred to the Public ' Work's Committee, with power to' act." Carried.— Cr Taylor drew attention' to the desirability of extending the foot crossing at the' junction of Whitehaven-street and Ross Place an additional 3ft.— Referred* to the, Public Works Committee. , . . Mr H. P. Thompson (manager of. the Tuapeka Milling Co.) wrote stating that the Directors were: prepared to. pay £75 towards the purchase of the mill-site (which, with the deposit of £25 already paid, would cover halikthe purchasemoney), and to girajjtlls, extending over ; three years, for thepalance, provided the [Council would give* tire ' Company a title to. the ground.— Consideration ' deferred' ■' till a deputation from the Milling Go; was jheard,, -, ■ . / " Vi •■"■'■{, •*. Mr D. Finlayson (solicitor) submitted' i an opinion to the Council, advising them', as tp their position in reference to_condi- r tiona of sale of leases of sections in the vicinity of> Beaumont road. — After some diacusspn, it was resolved » to refer; ithe ? I opinion to the Reserves Committee, with a request, to bring up a report thereon at •next meeting. , , tl A requisition, bearing the signatures of twenty-four ratepayers, residentßof Irvine-f I street and vicinity, -was received, praying the Council to erect a lamp at -the foot of Carlisle-street (milieu of the two lamps which were recently removed from Irvinestreet), and likewise 'requesting that the footpath in Irvine-street be gravelled.— The. Mayor* remarked 'that the< path in Irvine-street was in a most deplorable" state, and as there was a lot of foot traffic along there it would be wise to give effect' to the prayer of the petition. — Cr Fraer, moved and' Or 'Johnston 'seconded s :* "That the 'PubuV Works 'Committee be instructed to gravel Irvine-street, and that the question of erecting a lamp at the foot of Carlisle-Btreet or of re-adjusting [ the position of the present lamps in Irvine' {

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report!^ - t — Or TMprnjjon^, as wpreaptativerf ofjEa^^at P peßhttaij affie necessity of erecting; a lamp, Jlo j^P fc °^ CarlisleIs treetsM lam£ w reafipld there badly V^^ttF* •^2_|^ a 8 sufamleu at the Public Woip^G^offlmkleja^removins the two .lamps from Irvine-street. He moved : "|rhat a lamp be erected at the foot of jßarlisle-street.'' —Or Walker seconded. The Council could not ignore the prayer of such a numerously-signed requisition. "Hepperoeived^tlf sr a* m&ETliacr Been madpin removing two #f v the- lamps from Icvind-street,- ¥nd' he ttiougWthe least that could be done was to erect one at the •fb^Sf^€iaMf-streer^CF^Jo^nStSn: iAifother' fomp is certainly 'wanted in Irvine-street.-^ Or Taylor; It is preposterous to remove lamps from a street one week, and then propose to replace them the following week. — Or Ohalmers strongly urged the necessity that existed for the erection of another lamp in IrvineBtreet. — Cr, Miller was firmly of. opinion that three lamps were quite sufficient for Irvine-street, which was as weillighted at the, present time as any street in the town. It wduldbe establishing a bad , precedent to gravel the Irvine-street footpath. just now ; there were other streets'iatthe town in a worse state, and it would not do to gravel one street and not the others.— Or Fraer : With Or Johnston's permission, I shall withdraw my motion and propose : " That the prayer of the petitioners be granted."— Or Johnston : I'll Becondthat. Cr Morrison : Your motion meets with my approval.— The motion was then put and declared carried on the voices.— At Or Fraer's suggestion, it was resolved to remove the lamp-post at the, junction of Oolonsay and Peel-streets to Irvine-street, and to attach the lamp there to the tele* graph post. PUBLIC WORKS REPORT.. The Public Works Committee reported that j since last Council meeting , the surfacemen had been engaged gravelling the footpath iv Campbelltown-Btreet lead* ing to Mr J. 3jj. Bromley's residence; they had also raised several crossings in , Ross .Place to' provide better accommodation for foot-passengers; and had also removed two lamps from Irvine-street to the corners of Oampbelltown and Edenstreets, respectively. — Report received. At the suggestion of Cr Morrison, it was resolved that the .Public Works Committee obtain two truck-loads of bluestone for the purpose/of protecting the newly-formed' crossings for a distance of Bft or, 10ft on either side from the .effects of the heavy traffic. .-.,.[ f, ACCOpKTS. The following accounts were referred to the Finance and |?üblic;Works Committee for payment if found correct:— C. Fidelle, £2s 2a ; D. Lawrence, £3 7s 4d. DRAINAGE SCHEME. The Mayor reported " that Mr Smaill would be prepared towards the middle, of the week to furnish plans and .specifications and other data required to be forwarded to. Wellington in connection wifjh the application for further, assistance from Government in carrying out the drainage scheme. AN EXTRAORDINARY THREAT. The Mayor said it would be within the recollection of Councillors that it was decided some time ago re the exchange of land in Derwent-street from Mr Docherty to the Borough Council and vice versa'i'h.ab each party bear their own costs of the transfer of the land. Mr Docherty camo to his (the Mayor's) office' the Other day and requested that the Council" be -at the expense of paying the cost of title for the balance of hi 3 -lan.d,. as he alleged that some of^ the Councillors whom he had interviewed were favorable to the Council bearing the 'cost of the 'title, amounting to £1. "This he (the. Mayor) refused to do in the face of the resolution adopted by the Council, and, further, because it was contrary to all business rule.. When he refused to accede to the request, Mr Docherty turned round and shook his fist at him (the Mayor) and said ; "By — — , I'll make this as good as LlO out of your pocket — yes, as good as L2o!'* Mr Docherty then left after holding out this threat of intimidation. He (the Mayor) regarded this as a gross and deliberate insult to him in the discharge of his public duties. , 4Mr Docherty subsequently, demanded the deeds from Mr Finlayson (who wa3 preparing the necessary conveyances); and' after obtaining possession of them refused to give them up. If he allowed himself to be overawed by any threat held out by a man like Mr Docherty he (the Mayor) would think himself unVorthy of the trust that had been repos&d in him by the ratepayers in appointing him to the Mayoral office. ' He moved : *<That the Town Clerk write to Mr Docherty informing him that if the deeds be not returned within seven days to complete the transfer of exchange of land in Derwent-street, that the matter be allowed to, remain in the same position as. if no action whatever had been taken."— Cr Morrison seoonded the motion!, The Mayor deserved to be commended for the fearless and independent stand which he had taken.' It was high time, that p^tty threats of Intimidation and .attempts at bribery and corruption were. stamped out. -r-Cr Fraer gave it as his opinion that the cost of transfer was to be borne equally by both parties, and therefore Mr Docherty should not be at the 1 full expense of ob-. taining a title to his land. — The Mayor, speaking as an expert, gave it' as his opinion that Mr Docherty could not tekpecfc the Council to.be at the expense of giving him a title for the balance, of his land.— Or Walker approved of the acfidh : of the r Mayor. — Cr Miller was of the same ; opinion as Cr Fraer — that the expense of giving Mr Docherty a title to his land was 'to be borne equally by the Council and ,'Mr Docherty. — The Mayor's motion was Ithen, put and declared carried, Crs Fraer {and .Miller being the only dissentients: j DEPUTATION. FROM MECrHNG COMPANY. ; Messrs M'lntosh arid Cpwen. appeared as a deputation' from tha' Milling'o6mjpany re the purchase of .the mill-site in Derw.ent-stree.t.TrMr'M'intosh said .the^ ooj'ew of tW deputation' was to endeavor' ito come to some satisfactory arrangement with the Council relative to the purchase of the milt'site. The Company were not prepared at present to put down the full amount of the purchase-money, but were [ willing to wipe off half the amount— viz., £100— and,to give bills for the balance if the Council would give them a title to the ground on which the mill now stood. He would ask the Council to deal as liberally as possible, with the Company. — The Mayor remarked that the • Company deserved the fullest consideration at the. hands, of, the Council. It was ivery un«" fortunate that the Company > had been obliged, to pay such a high figure .fop. the : land, but of course that could not be helped in the face of the opposition they had to contend with. — Cr Taylor questioned the wisdom of taking the Milling Company's bills for such a length of time.