HAMILTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Waikato Times, Volume XV, Issue 1249, 1 July 1880, Page 2

HAMILTON BOROUGH COUNCIL.

Thk usual fortnightly meeting of the Council was held at the Counoil Chambers ou Tuesday evening, when there were present : His Worship the Mayor, Councillors Davis, White, MoGarrigle, Pearce, Jones, Price, Peat, and Vialou. The minutes of the previous meeting were read and confirmed, and the outward correspondence was read. A letter was read from Mr D. A. Tole, Crown Lands Commissioner, enclosing a letter addressed to him by Mr S. T. SeJdou, on the subject of the drain through his property, which, through its defeotive nature, was likely to do considerable damage, not only to his land, but also to the Domain and Crown lands adjoining. The Clerk said the matter had been before the Counoil before and it had been referred to a committee, which had resolved that it was outside the jurisdiction of the Borough. Cr Peat said if the Council had refused to have anything to do with it then they could have nothiug to do with it now. He moved—" That the Clerk be instructed to acknowledge the receipt of the letter." Thia was seconded by Cr Price and carried unanimously. A telegram was read from Mr F. A. Whitaker, M.H.R., regarding the proposals of the Government to abolish the subsidies, and in liett thereof to allow Councils to tax native and (.government lands — the former at Is 6d and the latter at Is in the £. He had not the same opportunities as the Council for arriving at the amount which the Hamilton Borough would raise by these means, but they could ascertain by finding out the acreage of the lands. The Mayor said he had some remarks to make relative to this matter, which he would defer till a later stage of the proceedings. A second telegram was read from Mi F. A. Whitaker, in answer to the Mayor, stating that he believed the amouui which would be realised by rates or Crown lands would be more than £20, and that he would endeavor to find oui the probable amount. Mr W. N. Searancke wrote, stating that he would be absent for some time ii Cambridge on private business, and ask ing that Mr Gelling might act as deputj returning officer. — The request was acceded to. A letter was read from the Waipj County Council, intimating that tha body declined at present to take anj steps in the matter of establishing i central hospital for Waikato. A further telegram from the membe for Waipa was read, asking the Mayor U see Mr J. B. Whyte, M.H.R., ou tin subject of the Government proposals and stating that the position of th< Hamilton Borough was similar to that o all others. A letter signed by Mr D. Hyde wa read, calling the Council's attention to i very dangerous ditch which existed nea his place, and stating that if the Counci would make the water-table he woul( form the footpath. The letter was referred to the Work; Committee. Mr John Gwynneth, C.E., wrote that having been informed that the Counci was desirous of having all the streets h the Borough surveyed, with a view t< levelling and draining, and understanding that the Council had not sufficient fund; to do so at the present, and seeing tha the work could be done much mon cheaply if done consecutively, he wai prepared to undertake it for the sum o £250 ; one-half of the sum to be payabl< in monthly instalments as the work pro ceeded and the remainder in quarterly instalments, the whole to be paid withii twelve months. — Letter leceived. Messrs J. Hinton and others wrote drawing the attention of the Council te the disgraceful state of Auglesea am' Clarence-streets, which were almost impassable, and they prayed that the Coun cil would allow the foreman of works te make a few necessary repairs. The Mayor said the subject had been dealt with by a committee and the report would be submitted in due course. Mr George Tuskan applied for a license to hawk flsh in the Borough. The Clerk reported that he had issued the license, and this action was duly confirmed. The Works Committee reported re the drainage of Bridge, that specifications were prepared and submitted by Cr. Vialou and approved by the Committee, and that the works will be let. Re street lighting and Bridge cleaning, the specifications had been ordered, and tenders are to be called for 2nd July. The footp«th on the Bridge waj not required for the present. The committee re slaughterhouses reported recommending that the resolution of the Council on the 7th July, 1879, fixing the licences for private slaughterhouses at £20 be rescinded, and that in lieu thereof the fee be fixed at three guinea^ half license fees only to be taken when the first half of the year shall have expired ; and that the By-laws be altered in accordance with the above. Che report was adopted. j The Committee appointed to report on the worst roads in the Borough, reported: re Peach Grove road, that they considered this to be a very important thoroughfare, and one which ought to be properly formed and gravelled, but in the present state of the Borough finances, they considered that the works required were of great importance, but as there were no funds they were compelled to recommend that the foreiiian of works should be instructed to repair the worst portions; re Rostrevor street, they recommended the foreman be instructed to report as to what work is most required to be done ; re Anglesea and Clarence streets, they considered that the works required were of great importance, but as there were no funds they were compelled to recommend tnat the work be postponed for the present; re Clyde-street, they recommend that, as it had been formed, gravel lie laid on its whole length, some 10 or 11 chains. The Mayor said that the Peach Grove road would require €30 or MO to put it in repair. Resolved that the foreman examine the road and report to the Council. Cr Peat said something ought to be done in the matter of Rostretor Street, as a number of people resided in it who were greatly inconvenienced by the present state of the road. Cr Jones said the portion of the street which required repairing was only some five ohains in length. He thought they should call for tenders for the work, and then they would be enabled to form some idea of the cost. He moved that tenders be invited, to be submitted to the Council at next meeting. Cr Davis seconded the motion which was oarried unanimously. The portion of the report referring to Clyde Street was adopted. In the matter of Anglesea and Clarence streets. Cr Jones moved, — "That tenders be called for works in Clarence and Anglesea-streets by next ritting of tho Council, in accordance with the npecifications to be prepared by Mr Gwynneth, from Hood -street to Palm-srston-street, from Kingsley's Corner to Einton's Gully, and from Hinton 1 s Gully ;o the Ohaupo Road." Cr Price seconded After some discussion oa the sttbJQtt i

as to what portions of the roads were most in need of repair. Or McGarrigle wanted to know where the money was to come from to do any portion of the work. He moved as an amendment " that that portion of the report referring to these btreets be adopted." The Mayor seconded the amendment. He said it was quite clear that the Borough had no funds to do the work. There nad been a great talk about retrenchment and their principle had been to cut down the expenditure. Cr. Jones said they were not bound to accept any of the tenders. But in the present dull times people would tender low, and the Council could have an estimate of what the work would cost. Cr. McGarrigle thought it was a pity to call for tenders which they had no iutention to accept. It was only making fools of the contractors. Cr. Vialou said they had a minute on the books of the Conncil to the effect that they had resolved that the streets named in the present motion should be the first to receive attention. Nothing had been done by the Council on these streets except a little gravelling and for this the ratepayers had subscribed. The residents in these streets had been paying rates for the last 14 years and deserved some consideration. The plans had been prepared and he thought they should call for tenders. Cr. McGarrigle said they had not sufficient money to pay for the works on hand now. Cr. Jones concurred with Cr. Vialou. He thought they ought to do all that lay in their power for the ratepayers in the street. The amendment was put when there voted for it : Crs. McGarrigle, White, and the Mayor, the rest of the Crs. voting against. The motion was then past and carried. The committee re endowments reported that they considered that, in the present depressed state of the market, the endowments if put up to auction would not realise their value. They however recommended that they be surveyed and brought into the market at the earliest favorable opportunity. On the motion of Cr. Jones the report was adopted. The committee appointed to arrange for getting tenders from the "YVaikato Times, Auckland Herald, and Star, reported that they had received the following tenders for the Borough advertising : •—Waikato Times, 3s per inch ; Herald, 4s per inch ; Weekly News, 2s per inch ; Star. Is (kl per inch. The Mayor asked if any resolution had been prepared. Cr. Price thought that as the question was a most important one they should postpone consideration of it until they had a full Council. One of the Councillors was that night unavoidably absent. He moved " That the question be deferred till next meeting of the Council." Cr. Davis seconded the motion. Cr. McGarrigle moved as an amendment " That the question be deferred till next meeting of the Council, and that the Mayor in the meantime convene a public meeting of the ratepayers to discuss the matter on its merits. " Cr. Vialou seconded the amendment, and in doing so he said he was just about to frame a similar motion when Cr. McGarrigle rose. He considered that they were dealing with a most important matter. The responsibility of taking the printing and advertising of the Borough away from the Waikato Times ami giving it to the Star was more than he would care to take. He thought that, notwithstanding the saving which might be effected— and from the tenders it would appear to be 50 per cent. — by giving the advertising to the Star, he looked at the matter in this light : the Times was their local paper, and it was to the interest of everyone to keep the paper amongst them ; not that he for a moment supposed that the loss of the Borough advertising would drive the paper away, but it was their duty to support their own paptr as much as possible. Although they might have to pay a little more, they must ramember that in advocating the claims and advancing the interests of the district the Waikato Times conferred a much larger benefit upon the general public than anything which they were likely to reap by giving the advertising and printing to an outside paper. For these reasons lie would support the amendment. Cr Peat entirely agreed with the remarks which had fallen from Cr Vialou. Cr Price obtained leave to withdraw his motion in favour of the amendment, aud the latter then became the substantive mot' on. The Mayor qui f e approved of the terms of the motion. The matter was a most important one. The motion was then put and carried. The following tenders were opened for the gravelling contract for three months, at per cubic yard:— Ridler, Is 8d ; Lovett, Is 7d, Hamilton Went, and la 4d Hamilton East; J. Deegan, Is lid; Livingstone & Booth, Is BW. It was resolved that the tender of Mr. Lovott being the lowest, be accepted, provided the bonds *or security arc sent in ; in the eveut of such not being done the next lowest tenderer to have the .work. An account from Mr Kelly for £20, on account of his gravel contract, was ordered to bo paid. The accounts submitted were referred to the meeting of tke Council on Monday next. J The Clerk read the statement of funds as follows:— Bank overdraft, £-571 9s lid ; Special fund, £247 3s Bd, credit. In accordance with notice given at la&t meeting, Cr McGarrigle asked: — Cr. Vialou to show cause why he prevented the foreman of works from taking up sixty 12-inch pipes laid down through his propprty by the late Hamilton WeU Town Board, valued at £18, more or less., he agreeing* to do at a former sitting of the Council. He would defer his remarks till he had heard the explanation. Cr Vialou replied denying that he had refused to allow the foreman to take up the pipe 3 he had agreed to give, as far as the gully. It was not likely that he would allow the drainage of his yard te he interfered with. He was proceeding to deal with the question of the footpath near his place, with a view to disabuse the miads^ of councillors of some erroneous ideas in connection therewith, when The Mayor said he could not permit the discussion of matters other than that introduced by Cr McGarrigle. Cr Jones said he certainly understood that the Council was to get all the pipes | on Mr Vialou's property. Cr Price said he had understood that they were to get sixty 2-feet pipes, but instead of this thfty only got about thirty. Cr Peat said he always understood that they were to get all the pipes. He did not think there was anything about a gully in the letter of indemnity which Cr Vialou had given them. It must have been put in subsequently to its perusal by couxcillors. Cr Vialou protested against such an accusation as this. The document had never been outside the Council Chambers since it was read before the committee. Cr Davis was also under the impression that they were to get the whole of the pipes. Cr McGarrigle said if his memory served him right Cr Vialou had promised that the pipes should be taken up as far as the gully. If gully wean,t a, connect-

ing pipe, he was, of course, satisfied. In his opinion a gully meant a gutter or ditch, and he had understood that all the pije^, with the exception of those under Mr Vialou's shop, were to bo handed over Cr Vialou said they had got all the pipes which he proinibed. They wore simply making mountains out of mole hills. Ci 1 Jouos said it was only right to say that the foremau of works had circulated a report to the effect that there were still about 30 feet of piping remaining on Mr Vialou's place. Cr Vialou said he had no doubt that the report was true. He could not be expected to allow the pipes which actually drained his place to be taken up. Cr Jones considered that if Cr Vialou wanted to drain his property he should do so at his ow , expense. Cr Vialou s;iid it was simply monstrous that such things should be said. Why, he had actually been draining the whole town-hip through his land for years, because the Board had considered that to take the water down pa^t tho Hamilton Hotel would cause a gully to bo washed out. The Mayor remarked that he had noticed that all mention of the removal of the earth from the bank near the Commercial Hotel had been omitted from the repoft of the Works Committee. Cr Vialou was about to make an explanation regarding the footpath, but Cr Peat rose to a point of order. The Mayor rultd Cr Vialou out of order. Cr McGarrigle moved and Cr Jones seconded, 'That the explanation given by Cr Vialou regai ding the pipes is not, in the opinion of this Council, satisfactory. * The motion was carried unanimously. The Mayor reported that he had placed himself in communication with Mr J. B. Whyte, M H.&., during that gentleman's recent Vi*it, on the subject of the Government proposals re the subsidies, and Mr Whyte had promised to see what could be done. He (the Mayor) asked him to endeavour to get the Boroughs classified according to age and income, and to endeavour to secure that tho smaller Boroughs shall be included in the proposals of the Colonial Treasure*-, and get the same support as the Counties-. He also brought under Mr Whyte's notice the fact that part of the money due from the Government on account of the Bridge approaches had not been paid, and that when the Minister for Public Works was lately in Hamilton he had promised to order the payment of the amount at once, which had not been done. Mr Whyte promised to see the Minister on the subject immediately on his return to Wellington. He (the Mayor) had also urged Mr Whyte to use his influence to get the railway works pushed on with a view to provide employment during the present bad times for men who were out of work. This was all the business, and the Council then went into Committee on a letter received from the Comptroller and Auditor-General ou the subject of the Bridge Fund.