WESTMERE RESERVOIR.

Wanganui Chronicle, Issue 12889, 23 July 1913, Page 4

WESTMERE RESERVOIR.

ADDITIONAL £7000_TO BE RAISED. COUNCIL DISCUSSION. CRy MUIR'S SCATHING REMARK H - "A SCANDAL^ ;f■;■■;•# j The circumstances- surrounding;- the erection of the Westlnere gsC*p^ fer* thrashed out at considerable length at a special meeting of the Borough Coun, cil last night, at which his Worship the Mayor (Mr T. B. "Williams) presided over a full-attendance of councillors. -;, The meeting was convened far the purivos% of--.considering, a recommendation brought down by the-Works Commatteothat the ratepayers be asked to sanction. a further loan of £7000 to complete the West mere reservoir. _ The question arose as to whether the matter should be dealt with in commit-, tee but Crs. Muir and Hogan objected,; and it was decided that the discussion should be open. . •*-. . ■ -l. ■ ' Mr N; C. Staveley, the engineer, when called upon by the-Mayor to; explain) how it was that it became necessary to raise the additional loan, said that the estimate of £12,000 was too low. I Ct McCaul: Who made the estimates? Mr Staveley: Mr Mansfield. Cr. Muir: Mr ltussell. (Mr Staveley: Well, they were in Mrj Mansfield's handwriting. The reason j why the estimates were too low was that; the gravel, which was at first obtained, fron- Peat's pit, deteriorated in quality. Personally, he wanted to make it, quite clear that £6000 had,been spent before he arrived on the scene, and of that amount lie had no knowledge as to how it was spent, apart from the , material on the ground. He had to t.ake what labour he could. In a reinforced concrete job. which is a speciality, experts could do the work cheaper than ordinary labour. Then there wias tlie extreme (cost of cafl'tage between the borough and Westmere to be reckoned. He considered- that the amount of work had been done for a reasonable price. He did not consider that it would cost £7000 to -complete the job. To a Councillor: He had spent about £7000. . To Cr. Wray: Ho did not attribute the excess of the estimates to the fact that he v work had 'been done -by.diay labour. He would have preferred a .oon-"ti-aci. on-it job of^this kindi; .The extra ; eb.st forligravei ;;tod : 3ieen from 2s; to ■2&;/6d,,:per yartlw" ' ■'■^ :'.:. ■ Ct: Muir: The whole'"thing is a scandal. We have wasted thousands of po.unds on the reservoir. Cr^. Wray suggested that a sub-com-mittee' should be appointed to go into the "whole ■ qtfestion. - ■■■'■ Th^'" new'> eduncil;lors, he considered, should know something about the matter. , The only way they could do this whs by asking questions, and to satisfy themselves whether it was necessary to raise this additional loan. As councillors, they should know.exactly haw they stood, otherwise they would probaijly be accused of having been responsible for the reservoir position. , , The Mayor stated that that was tho reason why it was suggested that the Council should go into commitiee. Cr. Luxtford asked whether it was not possible tho complete the work at its present stage and hold over the remainder of the work until the Council applied to the ratepayers for other loans for drainage . extensions, etc. That would only be a few months off. The Mayor agreed that that arrangement could be carried out, and the men now engaged. could be disposed of. Mx.. ..Staveley, to Cr. McCaul: We have atready commenced on part of the second division of the reservoir. The excavation has. been done, the buttresses built, and the floor laid •underneath. There, were two reasons why it was advisable to complete the whole job. One of the primary reasons for building the reservoir was for the clarifying and sedimentation of tho water. It was clear that this could bo better carried out in a five-million reservoir of four sections than m a reservoir of half that size. This work would take four or five days, iand while the mains were cut off in the meantime, the Westmere reservoir could supply the town. That could not be done with th© Westmere reservoir unfinished. Cr. Alderton said that ho could not sac with Cr. Muir that thousands * of pounds had been wasted. He would like to see Cr. Muir's figures. Cr..Alderton said that at-the first he held' that the gravel would cost 9s to land it at the reservoir. Cr. Mviii: That is your opinion-— Yes Gr. Muir: Well, you are wrong. Cr. Alderton replied that tho^e in the trade .should know^ Cr. 'Muir held that with a little engineering ability gravel could have been procured from Denby's pit much cheaper than it was. Continuing, he said that he could not understand this question of the gravel. He Lad been in the Works j Committee, but h was a mystery to him. He had done his best to fathem it. Denhv's- pit belonged to the Council, and I there were no royalties to pay. ; j . Ct. Thompson &aid that he had watch-1 ed the reports of the Council. The ques_: tion was either to turn the loan down,j or go to the ratepayers for £7000. He favoured giving effect to tho Works j Committee's recommendatioin, for he thought of the Durietown ratepayers, and their lack of water during tho sum-j mer. 1 Cr. Muir: We have got to go on with' it, ' ■ I

Mr Stavclcy, to Cr. Harkness: Tbero was no reason why the remainder of thework could not be carried out by contract. Cr Muir: Hear, hear. Cr. Muir suggested that tli c amount be. reduced to £0000. Ho nut this in the form of an amending motion, arid Cr. McCaul seconded. The Clerk reminded the Council that £300 for interest would have to come out of the loan. Cr. Wray moved as an amendment i.hal the matter be adjourned for «i fortnvri't md, that a sub-committeo confer with tho engineer and draw up an exhaustive report showing tho whole position Tlip Mayor said money was wanted to finish tho first part. If the matter was deferred the Council would hay© to get a special order to raise £1800 or £2000. This cost of• finishing the,-first part could not be charged to tho district fund account. Cr. "Wray stated that he would like to see how the loss camp about, and all details in connection with, the matter. Full particulars should be easily ascertained. The Mayor: It would b 6 almost impossible* to get at the estimates up to the time Mr Mansfield left Wanganui. Cr Dust/in was in favour of £7000 being asked for. Cr. Hogan said it was necessary to Mr. Staveley informed tho Council have water at Durietown. that a considerable amount of gravel hfld been taken from Denby's pit. and that it had cost 10s per yard. Tho striker was so much in disrepair that it did not helr> them much. Cr. Harkness did not agree with Cr. Wrav. and his opinion was that the Council shouM go to tli© natepayers. Cr. Alderton said that as a. member of the old Works Committee, the question of the (travel had been exhaustively inquired "into, and nine shillings was his estimate. The committee tad done its best. The Clerk said that only £700 could

be obtained by a special order, and the balance: would"have be borne by Uiedistrict fund account. . Cr Knuckey asked the engineer how many yards of gravel had been conveyed to the reservoir, and how much had been ■used, . ... ■■-■-. , Mr. Staveley said that thero was a loss in washing. , ~....-. ; I Co*. Knuckey was prepared to allow for: that': ' ■ " ■>'■."•■' ■•: "'■; . ; „ ~ ! TJie Engineer said that in some of the grilvel one yard -jY-ag got out of three yards after washing. ! Cr. Muir: That's a scandal. Mr. Staveley: That is only some of 'Cr. Wray gave notice that the engineer bo asked for a thorough report into the: -.question of the work at Westhiftre reservoir, giving the reasons why .it' was : now necessai"y to raise a loan t<i complete it. • ': :■:. Cu\ Muir supported Cr. Wray's action and again "stated that thousands of pounds had been wasted, and that the povsition was a scandal. The amendment reducing the sum to £6000 wias lost on the voices, and the original proposal "That the recommendation of the Works Committee be adopted," was carried. The Clerk was instructed to take the preliminary steps, the term and sinking fund r.t 2 per cent, were arranged as in ihe last loan. The meeting then went into committee to consider other business.