CITY COUNCIL.

Evening Post, Volume LXVIII, Issue 133, 2 December 1904, Page 2

CITY COUNCIL.

At the meeting of the City Council last mght there were present the Mayor (in the chair), and Councillors Wiltshire Cohen, Keene, Smith, J. P. Luke, Izard Murdoch, Jorgensen, Barber, Frost, Devme, Godber, Rev. W. A. Evans, and ' M'Lai'en. The resolution passed on 3rd November adopting the new bylnw relating to express s'tanda was confirmed. FIRE BRIGADE MATTERS.. t The Bylaws, Fire Brigade, and Light-" ing Committee recommended : — (1) That ft 'jrortioa bf the shed id the reserve at Brooklyn be partitioned off and utilised for a. station in which to keep the chemical engine. (2) That the fire bell be erected in the reserve at Brooklyn adjoiuing the Library.' The report was adopted. f FINANCE COMMITTEE. ISLAND BAY AND THE TOWN HALL. The Finance Committee recommended : '— (1) That the pioposal of the Island Bay residents with respect lo the extension of the Island Bay culvert be favourably considered by the Council if the applicants can give a satisfactory guarantee for payment of half^the coat. (2) That the insurance at the Town Hall be up to £30,000 on the building, and £4000 on the furniture. (3) That the applications for refund 'of portion of traction engine licenses be not implied with. (4) That accounts v as per attached list be passed for payment: —Wages: Electric tramways, £1339 17s 2d ; Melrose, £912 13s ; wood blocking, £515 0s 6d ; general waterworks, reserves, etc., £1699 12s lOd. Supplies : Electric tramways, £2463 Is lOd j general and waterworks, £1351 5s 7d. Interest street widening loan, £1328. Total, £9609 10s lid. The Mayor said the open culvert at Island Bay, which really drained the wholer district, was a very difficult question. The feeling was that the sooner the watercourse was culverted the better, and the longer jt went on the more difficult it would be to deal with. Now that they had to get rid of the flooding in anticipation of the truirways being ! extended it was- necessary that some portion at least of the watercourse should be culverted. What they had to do was I to prevent, as far a? possible, the flooding that had occurred in times past. I Some of the residents of Island Bay were | very much exercised with regard to this flooding, more especially of late, as they wished the tramways to be taken there as speedily as possible. The City Engineer had pointed out that it would be absolutely wrong of the Council to lay the tramways along that track] unless they built a culvert that would prevent the flooding. That flooding took place at the very time that people wanted to use the trams more than at any other j time, in wet weather, and even if it | j only lasted two or three days, it would j be a very great inconvenience if the trams had to stop running for that period. Some of the residents had expressed themselves willing to meet together and discuss the matter and see if they could provide half the cos.t of the culvert. The total ' cost, as far as he could gather, was £13,000. A gentleman with whom he communicated thought they could provide between £6000 and £7000. ' The point considered by the Committee .was whether the Council aTiould encourage the people to find the money, and whether there was any probability of them being able to finance the matter. The Finance Committee was strongly of opinion that the residents Should be encouraged to provide the money^ while they were favourable to it. He understood that they would be willing to allow a- charge to be made against their land for the payment of the amount, which was to be spread over a period of time. The report of the Finance Committee war agreed to aln\ost unanimously. • If it was adopted it would go into the question of ways and means and as to whether the culvert could be made in its entirety Councillor J. P. Luke urged that the Council should .have some document by which it could enforce the amount of the guarantee.' Councillor Berber asked what amount of premium was to be paid for insurance on the Town Hall. The Mayor . I don't know. . Councillor Barber : We should know before we insure,- because if it is the same as on the Opera House it will be £1200 a year. The Mayor : They will never charge the same as on the Opera House. Councillor Barber : They charge 80s per cent, on^ the Opera House, and the Town Hall is a public hall the same as that. He nioved that the clause be struck out. Councillor Godber seconded the amendment. As to the Island Bay watercourse, he said that if it was cleared out before the racecourse was .reached and the culvert enlarged at the other end of the racecourse there would be no danger of flooding. Councillor Keene agreed that the expenditure of about £1000 at the south end of the racecourse would do away with the fl( oding, but at the same time they would &till have the nuisance of an open drain. If they could do the whole of the work so much the better. Councillor Devine did not see the necessity of spending such v. large sum of money so soon after the district had been added to the city. It would mean keeping back the streets' of the city for two years for the sake of work which was considerably in advance of the times. If the creek was scoured out there would bo no trouble and nothing obnoxious about, it. The expenditure of about £2000 would be sufficient. He also objected to this indirect method of fixing the tramway route, before the matter of the route had been brought before theX'ouncil by the proper method. The resicßnts ought to state definitely on what basis their contribution was to be made. The proposal to take the tramway along this route would be strongly opposed by a number of the residents, and their opposition might make it difficult to get the Order-in-Oouncil through. The payment by property owners should be on a. frontnge or ratable basis, so as to definitely fix the amount payable by each. As to the Town Hall, the insurance ought to ba o,n some special quotation. Perhaps the Government Fire Insurance Department might take it up as a start. Councillor Jorgensen : They .have not started yet. Councillor M'Lai'en wanted to know how far the ratepayers of the city would be consulted with regard to the work at Island Bay. The value of the adjoining lands would be considerably enhanced, and a lien over tho lands would be the onlj

guarantee worth considering. He should vote against the clause. The Mayor, replying lo a remark about insuring the Town Hall, said that if too high a premium was asketi, the officers of the Council would not effect any insurance at all. Councillor Smith thought the clause about the Town Hall should be amended to provide that the insurance only be effected at a reasonable premium. He thought the proposal re the Island Bay drain was a fair one, as the watercourse ran through a large extent of the city's property. Councillor Jorgensen moved to amend the clause relating to the Island Bay watercourse so as to provide for the residents giving satifactory security for payment of the amount guaranteed. If that was done he did not see why the Finance Committee should not .see if the. money could be found. Councillor Murdoch thought £30,000 was too much insurance to put on the Town Hall. Twenty thousand pounds would be quite enough. It would not be possible to do £30,000 worth of damage to the building. Councillor Wiltshire asked whether any portion of the cost of the work at Island Bay would be charged against the tramiray loan; He should oppose doing the woik out of general revenue. The Mayor, referring to the Town Hall, paid a large portion of the building could not be burned, but a great deal of damage could be done by water as well as> by fire. If the rates proposed were excessive the matter would again have to come before the Council. In a previous case where the Council stood out against tEe proposed rate they obtained a reduction by one-half. As to clause 1, he said it did not commit the Council to anything definite. Councillor Jorgensen's amendment to clause 1 was agreed to and the clause was adopted. Clause 2 was adopted by 10 votes to 3. The remainder of the report was adopted on the voices. / PUBLIC WORKS COMMITTEE. The Public Works Committee recommended—l. That, consent be granted for the erection of a balcony at the Exchange Buildings, subject to~ the conditions imposed by the City Engineer . being given effect to. 2. That the "application of Mr. G. Wiltshire for leave' to extend a new street off Constable-street lately constructed by him be granted. 3. That the .suggestion of the Chief Sanitary Inspector that Inspector Greeks be appointed ranger, eto., for the Melrose Ward be approved. 4. That in consequence of the late decision of the Magistrate, no further action be taken with reference to the smoke nuisance cases in hand. 5. That the former decision of the Council with respect to closing the track through the Karori Waterworks Reserve be adhexed to. 6. That the question of the purchase of land at Island Bay required for tramway purposes be left in the hands of the Mayor to deal with. 7. That the communication from the Socialist Party with reference to the erection of workmen's homes be refererd to the Housing Committee for a report. 8. That the City Engineer be instructed to furnish a further report with reference to retainingwall required at Ohrro-road. 9. That a reply be foftvarded to the RegistrarGeneral, in anßwer to his circular-letter as to the constitution of Assessment Courts, .that this Council considers that the local body should have the right to nominate one, of the assessors of such Court. 10. That the St. John Ambulance Association 'be informed, in reply to its application for room at the Town Hall, that same cannot bs granted free of charge, but that a room will be granted according to the scale of fees by the Council. 11. That the application of Mr. C. H Izard for permission to erect a party wall on the •land leased by him in Featherston-street be granted, subject to" conditions to be laid down by the Engineer. 12. That the offer of Mr. W. Miller to present a photostraph' of his !ate grandfather, Mr. W MiW, be accepted with thanks. (Mr. W. Miller was a member of the first Wellington City Council.) 13. That the letter from Mi. W. Hayward with reference to Sutherland-road ard the Queen's Drive be referred to the Melrose Improvement Committee for a report. The report was adopted. ACCOUNTS. <• The following accounts were passed for payment : — Electric tramways, £3802 ; general, £5806. The Council then went into committee.