GISBORNE DRAINAGE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2407, 23 January 1909, Page 6

GISBORNE DRAINAGE.

QUESTIONS FOR RATEPAYERS

SOME PERTINENT QUERIES

[To Tin-; Editor.J

Sir, —1 think the public ol Gisborne •are indebted to you " for facts am: figures that you halve put before then, iu connection with the loan proposals. There is, however, some further in formation wanted before the rate payers of the excluded or suburban districts will be inclined to vote to. the pumping and outfall parts of tlio scheme, and perhaps you might b. able to give them before the meeting on .Monday. (I) No. 2 District: (a) The cost o. extending the drainage system to tli district., first, with, and second, with out private connections; (b) the valuattion of the district; (e) the rate that will be required to pay working ex ponses and interest on the cost .of extending drainage to this district. ■II., 111.-, IV., etc.: The'same in formation for those districts as .is /indicated above for No. 1 district:

also; would the ratepayers in each tli.. triet have to vote' whether drainagt was to he mdopted in their district: also, assuming that.one after another all the districts have got drainage, might the drainage rate be diffeien in each district? For' instance th City district is to pay Is 3d ; nngli' Kaiti have to pay a rate- of say 2s (id. Whataupopo 3s, and West End .4s? o: is there any provision -for equalising the rate over the whole borough? If there is not such a provision 1 think the present peaecmcal scheme should be withdrawn and a proposa- 1 brought forward for the whole borough, - otherwise drainage will be confined to No. 1. district for a very long limit. ' .

If the drainage scheme is not carried it will not bo because the * ratepayers do not approve oi : the engineer’s .scheme, nor because they arc unwilling to pay the cost, hilt because they do not approve of the slip .shod wav that the nrpposals are put before them. I observe the Mayor is from time- to time puffing a rival .scheme.- Will this have a favorable effect on the poll ? Loan for Roads.—The expenditure seems frittered away, a little on every road in the borough., according to r scheme drawn up by the overseer and the Mayor (the public will judge how much by the overseer and how much by the Mayor). If your reporter were to interview our local engineers and other road .exports and get their otun ions as to the pernranency of work done on a street or group of streets for £9O to £l2O, £l5O and so on, his account of the interviews would he .in teresting reading. Recreation .Grounds Loan.—At leastone of these reserves is to have its share of money spent in erecting a high corrugated iron fence round i;c to ’•'l'event the public entering it or even seeing it.— I am. etc., “PRO BONO PUBLICO.’!

THE QUESTIONS ANSWERED

SOME NEW POINTS

A “Times” reporter yesterday mackinquiries into the various points raised in the letter, And from the information he .obtained .gives the follow ing replies: The first portion of the borough outside areas 1,2, and 3 that -desire?, to .connect with the main sewer might he called No. 2 district, but Air Mestayer so designates area No. 4. which is hounded by Roebuck Road the Taruhenr river, Stanley Road, and Gladstone Rond, and area No 10, which is that portion of Whataupoko hounded by Fox Street, the two river banks, and-the “Point.”- Air. Alestaver estimates the. cost of con - necting up those areas with the'main sc,wer at £19,081, exclusive of connections,- which will he charged .for as supplied to each house. The valuation of these ureas is ap proxiniately £IS,OOO. “Tihe rate that will ibe required will depend entirely upon the valuation at the time when the district is. connected with the main sewer, and a? the connections can only bo made after the mi in sewer is laid down—which will take at least two yearsit cannot he estimated now, as valuations and the -number- of properties -are almost certain to increase.

No special areas lipve yet beer, designated districts 3 and 4. but other districts may be connected with, the main sewer as the ratepayers'in those districts, on a poll being taken, desire.

A poll will have to be taken Jen' ouch .separate loan, as the Coitncl lias not ’ power to borrow without the consent of the ratepayers, shown at a poll. The rating for each district \yi.] depend exclusively oil the valuation on the properties within those* dis triets at the time the poll is taken. and the money required annually to ]i iy interest, sinking fluid, and working expenses. As population increases! u those- districts it is prolmbio tlm! the rate will lie gradually reduced. In reference to the last reply, Cr. Pettie explained that while the spec ial rate looks heavy! ratepayers will he saved Is per week, the.cost of the night service, and as each area is connected up that''amount can he lifted off the general rates, so .that the cost of sewage will not he so heavy as it at -present •appears, _J.ih.ou in the third proposal the Council proposes to secure a rate of Is Id over areas 1,2, -and 3, to pay interest for five, years on the £.10,000 to cover the cost'of household connections. Tue wording of the advertisement is somewhat obscure, and does not state whether the rate will be levied on the ] property valuation or on the amount advanced to connect each property. That is. whether a property of the same valuation that only needs one sewage connection will he rated tbo same as one that needs three connections. Cr. -Pettie informed the reporter that this Is let rate should he calculated and collected on the amount spent on the household service hv the Council, and that if a_ rate,haver pays cash for his service or has the work done independently of tH Council, he should bo free from •Hnt rate. In other words, the rateaver should only he called upon to nay this rate in proportion to tue amount individually borrowed Horn the Council, and if no mmyey.is. rowed then no portion of the rate So, the £IO.OOO loan should ho. due. The reporter asked the opinions o) two engineers of high standing on the road improvement proposd, and both were agreed that if the money was spent as set out m the schecuih it would, fee wasted. One gent.emnn said that no qualified engineer would

put forward such a proposal, and chat the work would' all disappear in a few years, at the longest within eight years. The TV.topaycrs would thus have to pay interest on tlip loan long after the work had worn out. The other engineer said that unless sufficient money was borrowed t,: properly macadamise the roads, dckin money would he wasted. To properly naeidamise Gladstone -Rond would cost about 15s a running foot. The proposal at present before the Council, which is one brought, forward by the Mayor, only provided for a coating of metal on the main roads, , and Kaitaratahi shingle on the side roads. This shingle, the engineer vt-ited, is useless for road-malcing purposes, and if put down 'would he worn into dust and mud in a few rears. Permanent work could not bt done for the money it is proposed to spend on each road, and the only benefit the -ratepayers v -a night get would be la reduction in the main tenancc account for fa year or two.

A “TIMES” SUPPLEMENT

THE ‘SKETCH PLAN

As ia supplement to the “Times” this morning a. well-drawn sketch plan is .published. The plan show' the portion of the borough tint .if included in areas 1,2, land 3 of Ah' Mestayer’s scheme, and which will b; the first- part of the town to Ik sewered if the drainage proposals ai'< carried. The streets are outlined ir black, land the sowers in red. ■ It can be seen on the . plan where/ th< sower Is deviated near AVilliam 'Street to Disraeli Street, .and where it run in a straight line between Disraeli Street arnf,Roebuck Road. The boundaries of the area and the varioviturns of the sewers arc also defined and the map gives ,/very/clear idea of. the proposal that is being put he lore the ratepayers, as it applies to the central, portion of the town.