CITY COUNCIL.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXVI, Issue 3204, 20 May 1871, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

* Fbiday, May 19. A special meeting of the Council was held yesterday afternoon at 4 o'clock afc the oflice. Present — the Mayor (in the chair), Messrs Plimmer, Miller, Moss, Q.uin Carpenter, MUIb. The minutes of the last meeting were read and confirmed. DYE-LAWS. The Mayor informed the Council that the object of their meeting was finally to pass the new Bye-laws. He had received a letter from his Honor the Superintendent giving his assent to fcho Bye-Laws in accordance with clause 190 of tho act, but stating thafc they could not be considered to be properly before the public until they had been published in one o.t other of the newspapers. Tho formal motion thafc the Byedaws be passed was then put and carried, Councillor Carpenter being the only disenfcient. Councillor Cabpenteb suggested that if the Bye-laws wero to be printed some arrangement ought to be made about printing so lengthy a document. WEIGHI-BBIDGE. A letter was received from Mr Burroll accepting tho conditions of lease of tho weighbridge, and offering sureties The sureties wero accepted and tho contract completed. TENDERS FOR KEROSENE. The following tenders for fche supply of kerosene to tho Council were opened ; — Henry Carpenter ... 3a 6d per gallon R. M. Cleland ... 3s 4d „ W. Gibson 3s 2£d „ H. F. Logan 3s 5d „ The tender of Mr W. Gibson was accepted. tainting- and glazing LAMPOST3. The following tenders for painting and glazing lampposts were opened : — Perry & Ringroso £14 10 0 R. Martin 14 5 0 J. Tustin 14 10 0 Mr Martin's tender was accepted. PAYMENT OF ACCOUNTS. Accounts amounting to £35 19s 6d were ordered to bo paid. BANK ACCOUNT. The balance at fche bank was stated by the Clerk to be £78 14s 4d ; the accounts paid amounting to £184 17s 9d. LAW OFFICBR. Councillor Moss, in re-introducing his motion with reference to the appointment of a law officer to the Council, said he had waited upon Mr Travera, and had requested that gentleman to state in writing what duties ho would be willing to perform for the sum mentioned afc the last meeting, and in reply he bad ■!• received from Mr Travera a letter stating that when he was appointed solicitor to the Christ" church City Council that body paid him a special fee of £20 for eaoh year, for which he advised tho Council on all matters connected with fcho ordinary business of the city ; but for any attendance ia Court he was paid fche usual fee. The refcaiaing fee merely covered consul' tation advice generally, and occasional attend* ance at the Council wbjn fche attendance of the solicitor might be usefw in the discussion of legal pointß connected with any matter at the

time under discussion. Tho cost of leases by fche Council would, in accordance with the usual custom, be paid by the lessees. The Mayor remarked that the payment of the £25 could simply be regarded as a consultation fee; whatever other business thoy had done they would have to pay for. Tho point they had to consider was whether thoy wero prepared to pay £25 for advice generally, and for any attendance at the Council that might be useful in any matter on which consultation might be necessary. Councillor Moss said thafc previous fco making the bargain ho might state that in making bye-laws he considered it would be the duty of their law officer to see thafc they were in proper legal form, without any addiJgL&at charge. Plimmer seconded fche motion. The motion that Mr Travera bo appointed legal adviser to the Council, on the conditions mentioned in his letter of 19th May, was then put and carried. PURCHASE OF PROVINCIAL PROPERTY. Councillor Moss proposed a motion to the effect thafc the Council should ask the Provincial Government on what terms they would bo willing to part with the wharf, tho bonded Warehouses, and the reclaimed land. He felt satisfied that if they could come to terms with the Government the property would prove Of immense advantage to the city in years to come j and from his knowledge of similar matters in other provinces, he was sure it would be the means of bringing in a large endowment to the Council. He would move thafc the Clork bo instructed to write to the j Provincial Government, asking them ou what terms they would bo willing to part with the J properties named. _ j Councillor Mills seconded the motion. ' Councillor Carpenter did not approve of the scheme at all. At. the same time, he saw no more harm in sending in an application to lease the property than if he were to send in an application to the owners of the Great Eastern for a lease of the vessel. Councillor Qutn thought they were not at all in a position to take over the bonded stores and the wharf. What they might and should do would bo to ask the Government for a piece of land to build a Council Chamber of their Own upon. He did not at all approve of the proposal of Councillor Moss. The MAYOR was inclined to think thafc a very wise course had been adopted by Councillor Moss. He himself had already had a conversation with the members of the Provincial Government on this subject, and they were of opinion that such an arrangement ns that proposed might bo come to if the Council could raise the necessary amount of capital, and he had not the slightest doubt in his own mind but thafc that could be done, because in speaking of the matter to a gentleman in town he said, " Only let mo know when you intend to do anything of this kind, and I will raise the money for you." As a matter of course the Council must bo willing to pay a prico proportionate to what the property had cost the province at largo, but at tlio same time, with regard to the wharf, he did not expect they would have to pay anything like what it had cost. These were all matters requiring careful consideration, but ho was satisfied that if tho scheme were entered upon, it would ultimately be very profitable to the town. The Provincial Government wero debarred from borrowing money, but the Council labored under no such disadvantage. If they could borrow the money for 21 years on favorable terms it would leave a large margin of profit to them, and never was there a more favorable opportunity of borrowing than afc present. W9 were in a position to go into the market and borrow, and we should be very unwise not to take advantage of such a favorable Btate of circumstances. He hoped the motion would be agreed to, because even if nothing came of it, no harm would be done. He thought Councillor Moss deserved great credit for bringing forward his motion. Councillor Pllmmer said he had been reading the act, and he thoroughly believed that they would only be purchasing what of right belonged to fche town. The motion was then put and agreed to. ABSENTEE ACRES. Councillor Moss said there were a number of abßentee acreß about the town, on which tho arrears had becomo very heavy, and as there was no possibility of discovering who the ©wners were, he thought the question of recovering the rates was one for the consideration of their legal adviser. Some means Bhould at once be taken to enforce payment of these rates, and he was 6ure that if instructions were given to sell the land tho owners "Would very soon turn up. Ho found, by an act of the General Assembly, that they had power to enforce payment of ratea for two years only, but he felt satisfied that if the matter were referred to their legal adviser they would be able to enforce payment of all back rates. There was an amount of £220 due on one lot, and ho thought that those who were in a position to pay and would not, should simply be forced to do so. As matters stood at present, there was a great difficulty in tracing the ownership of these absentee acres, and until some enforcement was made they would never get their rates. It was reßolved that the opinion of Mr Travera should be asked as to the best way of recovering these rates. On tho motion of Councillor Carpenteb the Council adjourned for a fortnight.