TAIHAPE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXIV, Issue 17672, 23 September 1919, Page 7

TAIHAPE BOROUGH COUNCIL.

(From Our Own Correspondent.)

TAIHAPE. Sept. 20

The Borough Council held its usual monthly meeting on Friday night- I-iis Worship the Mayor presided over a full attendance of councillors, with the exception of Cr. Timbs. who was granted leave of absence. Mrs Brown was allowed to retain possession of section !). block 4, ,until the end of April next, at a rental of £2 15s per acre per annum. The Agricultural Department declined to entertain an exchange of sections on the opposite side of the road to the agricultural reserve. The Council was desirous of exchanging two sections for two belonging to the Department, which adjoined the sections reserved, for workers' dwellings, but the Department considered the proposed exchanges were unsuitable. The question of reserving a room in the Municipal Chambers for the use of the Chamber of Commerce was left to be dealt with by the Mayor. The transfer of a lease of a section from Mr D. Webb to Mr Eteveneaux and others was granted subject to signatures being completed. That the Borough would be revalued before the next financial year was the text of a letter from, the Valuation Department Mr Ritchie, salesman for Abraham and Williams, was granted an auctioneer's license. No further steps are to be taken in connection with the Nathan water scheme without the consent of the i Council. Rev. W. F. Stent. on behalf of the Citizen's Library Committee, waited on the Council, stating that no body of men would contribute £200 or .£3OO towards founding a decent library for the town, to hold o^ce <lur: ing the discretion of the Council. The subsidy of £10 was altogether too small considering the desirability Sf establishing a good library.. He made anything but flattering remarks about the present unsatisfactory state of the public library. He asked for a bro"ad-mind-ed, democratic spirit to be shown by the Council in dealing with the matter, and pleaded that it should show the jame solicitude for the moral welfare of the community as it did with its water and light activities. The Council was at one on all the points stressed by the reverend gentlemau, and thought there was somewhat of a misunderstanding in the interpretation of the conditions, but. agreed to allow the committee to have charge of the library and reading room during tenure of office of the present Council-

It is the intention of the Rangitikei County Council to station the assistant engineer at Taihape, and to erect offices and buildings to house him and the plant. A deputation consisting of Messrs Doole and Mair, waited on the Council to find out if it would consent to the section at the corner of Hautapu Street, where it runs into Carver Street, being vested in the County. The Kangitikei Council was prepared to lift the section from the present lessee, pay all arrears, and have it vested by Governor-in-Council. The Borough Council decided to let the matjter .stand over till next meeting. [ The Works Committee reported that the Health Inspector had been i given authority to compel the Auctioneers' Association to have/ the jsaleyards and paddocks adjoining placed in a proper sanitary condition. There was no recommendation to make with regard to metalling the roadway at St. Margaret's Chuch entrance and vicarage yard. A couple of named residents are t3 be informed that certain sanitary arrangements in connection with their premises are to be done forthwith, and that the gravelling, and forming a new footpath from I Moa Street to the Manse is to be proceeded with at last.

From the Electric Light and Waterworks Committee's reports it appears a neAV leanto is to be erected at the power house, and A. Thomson is to carry out the work; a new balance and switchboard are to be procured at a cost of £222, from the National Electrical Engineering Company. An extra wireman is to be employed at £4 per week; a new feeder box is to be erected at the Fire Brigade Station at a cost of £.150. Those consumers who are using a 230 volt meter on a 400 volt current are to b,e invited to change over. The generator has been received from Wanganui, and an erector is to be obtained to instal the machine at a stipend of £25. The power-house hands are to get two days' extra holiday on account of having to work during peace days. The engineer has been instructed to coax the low4ift pump, to resume operations, and the coal bins at the power-house are to be furnishe 1 with some fuel for the producer plant. An order to the value of £40 for new plant is to be placed with the National Electrical and , Engineering Co., of Wanganui.

The Finance Committee's report was concerned uncostly with conditions relative to the new lease of the Town Hall to Messrs Carr and Reid, who are to take possession as movie proprietors on 25th inst. The sup-per-room of the Town Hall is not available for boxing purposes, and Mr Welsh is to be told so-

Cr. Davies spoke for some time on the subject of the Borough's water supply, past, present, and future, the item appearing on the agenda paper as "Harnessing the River." He dealt with it in a most thorough and illuminating fashion and drew the moral that if the Coun: cil desired to avoid mistakes in the future, it must take to heart the lessons of the past. There were, he said, several schemes on the tapis, all with more or less obvious advantages, drawbacks, and uncertainties, and he thought it most advisable for the Council to '"mind its steps." He moved: "That immediate steps be taken to obtain at the earliest possible moment from the most highly qualified hydraulic engineer whose services are available a comprehensive report upon the most-effi-cient method of procuring a satisfactory permanent water supply for the Borough." Much discussion centred round the subject, and the resolution was carried, with the addition of the words, "subject to tho approval of the Finance Committee."

Cr. Cunninghame, as DeputyMayor, assisted in the necessary steps to complete a transfer of the lease of section 9, block 16, Taihape. The Mayor vacated the chair, as he was personally interested. After some other formal business the De-puty-Mayor, at 11.30 p.m., had the privilege of putting to the Council the motion "that the Council do now adjourn"—after a continuous sitting of four hours.

The money for the £17,000 loan will be available in a few days, and it is possible to proceed with schedule expenditure.

The engineer reports that the high-lift pump is not working satisfactorily. That there is now 6 ft. 6Vs ins. of water in the reservoir, as against 10 inches at the Council's last meeting.