ROUGH OF GISBORNE.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2542, 1 July 1909, Page 6

ROUGH OF GISBORNE.

THE MAYOR’S POLICY. A STATEMENT TO THE BOROUGH COUNCIL. At the meeting cf the Gisborne Bo’gh Council last night, the Mayor W. I). Lysnar) submitted the folstatement: — > request of tho Council I have asure in submitting for its ion'the main important matting the welfare of this lduding tho order in which . bo dealt with, namely : —Sewerage.— ,-ould suggest that the Counc.very means in its ipower to ' bmitted to tho ratepayers at .iest date possible Mr Marchant’s •ge scheme now under consideration oy tho Board of Experts, should that Board approve of same, as I have every reason to believe they will. _ It is probable they may have suggestions to make that will still further improve tho scheme, and should any such suggestions be made I am sure the Council will give them a very favorable consideration. So far as we are at pr®r sent informed it seems to me that Mr Marchant’s scheme is the most practicable and economical one yet submitted to us. Regarding the house connections it wilj be neceesary for tk« Council to give this very careful consideration so as to avoid a prohibitive cost being .placed on the. householders upon the installation of the scheme. 1 should suggest that the Borough bear the cost of each connection up to the boundary of the property to he served in all cases, then as regards the balance of the. connections that provision should be made in the loan proposals to raise sufficient money to enable the Council to pay the cost of these connections say, up to £ls, in any case, and which should be made repayable to the Council in five equal yearly instalments, which would be made to include interest j and principal. This concession to ap- s ply to all those who participate in the ' initiation of the scheme only. This would probably involve a loan of £15,000 to provide for those, who are likely to avail themselves of this provision, There would be a number who would prefer bo pay tho cost of installation themselves. i—Street Loan. — The next urgent and pressing matter is the necessity of a street loan. This loan should be for the purpose of improving every street in the. Borough, and the aim of the Council te raising such a loan should he to see that every street, should be formed KL either metalled or shingled sufficiently ' to meet and provide for the traffic upon ’ it. I think the first thing is to hare the Overseer’s estimate, which is now . being prepared, which will show the putting our streets into good •rder. I would not advocate the Coun- • cil fixing any sum until the estimates > are available, but the Council should endeavor to keep it within £40,000, exclusive of road machinery for which about £3OOO would be required. Be- j fore such a poll is taken the estimates should be approved of by some com- * petent engineer. i —Recreation Grounds. — j The ratepayers should be asked to sanction a loan to convert the eleven acres owned bv the Borough opposite the Victoria Domain into a recreation ground. Also. to start a nucleus for botanical gardens in the recreation crround near the footbridge over the Taruheru River. Also to secure about four acres as near the centre of Wha- j taupoko, and also Bait;, as possible . as practice grounds and breathing spots i for the children of the two suburbs J I would advocate securing a lar> area if possible up to 50 acres of the Haiti Hill for botanical gardens as welt as a small reserve of a few acres up the Waimata River for picnic purposes. —Bridge Between Haiti and Whataupoko.—' It is urgently necessary, both for the safety of the Borough burgesses and the convenient working of County stock through the Borough that there should -be a bridge over the Waimata River at Harris’ Bend. The County Council should be made to share the cost or same as provided by law. —Order of Pfliis. —- Regarding the order of polls for the above matters I think if the Council are fair y unanimous about them that it would he prudent to take the poll on each of the above matters at the same time in one loan duly apportioned, but if the Council are not fairly unanimous then the subjects should be split up and a poll taken for the dram age on the one date and the other three subjects on another date. —Metal Supply.— I consider the Council should make every effort to have the Whihirere Quarrj" connected with the railway, and then to use the metal from there as pitching for the foundations of all our main ai:-.‘ principal streets, covering the Waihirare pitching with either Patutahi metal or Kaiteratahi gravel. _ Patutahi metal to be used for all mam or heavily used streets such ,as Gladstone Road, Peel, Lowe and Grey Streets, etc., and they should be asphalted as soon as possible with, Napier shingle, thus reducing the aunual cost of repairing by Patutahi metal which is the ,most expensive for the Borough to obtain. In the event of tho test no.w beino, made proving successful the Councif should have a proper plant erected at Gent'e Annie Quarry with hoppers so that the Straker waggon could b« fil'ed by' gravitation. If this is don© the Straker could bring into town a much larger quantity of metal from Gentle Annie, for the reason that there -is a down grade all the way, and it is about 2 miles nearer than the Patutabi ciuarry. If the ratepayers should sanction a street loan I would urge the iunci! to purchase another Straker 'pon to properly cope with the work arid ensure a sufficient Bupply or Gentle Annie stone being, brought into town. I would not advocate the entering into any .arrangement with the Cook County Council for the construction of a tram line for metal to la* tutehi. I. would sooner see our new sources of supply given a fair trial hrst, as I anticipate that it will be found the Borough will be well supplied with all k . metal. It must, be borne in mind that if a road loan is. sanctioned it will take several years to expend, and if the Waihirere Quarry is connected with the rail we will have an 'unlimited supply of metal from there, and gravel from Kaiteratahi, and the ovvlv w> Ir ra th at would be restricted ■wendu be Gentle Annie, but with the aid id -another Straker waggon I am sure-th- Borough will be well supplied and a? il’-e need of metal from tins 'source >v !I rather decrease than increase especially so when the mam streets re asphalted.

—W aterworks — In order to make full and reliable use of the Te Arai water supply it is essential that a reservoir should, in my opinion, be constructed on the hills on the other side of tho Te Arai Post Office,.so as to ensure .a supply in case of a breakage of the pipes in any of tho 58 crossings between there and the intake. It was intended that a reservoir should be constructed in accordance with tho original water loan sanctioned by the ratepayers, but the loan so authorised will be all absorbed without any .money being available for tho reservoir, consequently it will bo necessary to raise a further loan to oover the cost of the reservoir, and while obtaining the authority of the ratepayers for a further loan to cover the cost of tho reservoir, it would be advisable to obtain authority to raise sufficient to reticulate the balance of the Borough, as there are a number of streets requiring reticulation which cannot be done out of revenue. I would suggest, seeing that Mr Hay is incapacitated by illness and unable to give his personal attention to the work, that the Council should take the first opportunity of Mr Marchant being here to get him to report on the best site arid size of a suitable reservoir. It will probably be necessary to. have a larger sized reservoir constructed than was .originally intended, especially now that at is known, that the industries • of the district are to a large extent depending upon the Borough water supply. I .cannot too strongly impress upon the .Council the necessity for constructing .a reservoir as until it is constructed the .town never knows avhen it will be deprived of its supply of water. The .Council should as far as possible make the waterworks se f-supporting and so •avoid striking any water rate. This, I think, will be possible when.drainage ■is fully installed, but to do this the ■Council must be careful to see fair charges are made for special or extraordinary supplies. —Miscellaneous Matters.— ? I consider tho Council should first j deal with 'all the above matters, then ; it should take up the question of the prudence of purchasing the gas-works, erection of destructor, rating on unimproved values, street trams and other matters. I do not think it is advisable for the Council to have too many matters in hand iat the same time. Sufficient time should be allowed for both the Council and the Burgesses to thoroughly consider and understand each matter separately, for if too many matters are pushed on there will be a liability of confusion . without achieving the best results. Engineer.— j My idea on this head was to have a ' resident Engineer appointed who would ’ carry out drainage and other works, the Council retaining Mr Marchant M consulting Engineer for hi 6 drainage scheme, but considering that there is so much at stake in connection with the successful carrying out of a proper and ! effective sewerage scheme for this town both from a financial and health point of view, I would suggest that arrangements be made for Mr Marchant, the j designer of the scheme, to he responsible for the carrying of the work out > to a successful completion. Regarding road expenditure the esI timates should be approved of by » ’ qualified Engineer, and the works carried out so far as possible under the cxmtract system. Periodical services of an engineer would Be. required for drawing up specifications, etc., but the supervision could be carried out. by the Council’s present staff, which 'is fully capable of seeing that the very best work is done. ! DISCUSSION IN THE COUNCIL. The Mayor moved the adoption of the report. He had, he said, circulated the report to the Councillors, and at a special meeting several amendments and alterations had been made. _ The special meeting had been unanimous on it. He thought a great deal of good might come out of the policy, and it might very materially assist them m their deliberations. . They were settling on principles they were mutually agreed upon, and he hoped that it would result in their being able to go before the people with their loan proposals in a concrete form. Cr. Collins seconded the motion. Cr.’ Kirk said that the policy brought down .did not appear to add anything to the policy the Mayor had already expressed. The Mayor said that it was now more definite, and had strengthened his hand. Cr. Clayton moved, as an amendment: “(a)That this Council records a vote of thanks to the Mayor for enunciating the policy which he thinks should be adopted.by the Council; (b) that it be kept on record for the guidance and consideration of Councillors and for tho information of the public; (c) .tliat as it is impossible to settle all the details invo'ved at any meeting of the Council, and to avoid a repetition of discussion, the various subjects be dealt with as the occasion arises from time to tim«.” In moving the amendment, Cr. Clayton said that if they discussed the report in detail they would only be wasting their time. He thought that the question of tho municipalisation of the gasworks should have been brought up, also tho question of municipal tramways and a destructor. He thought there was too much tendency to committee work on the Council. They were trying to develop themselves into a mysterious Council of ten, and it was almost getting into tho position of an absurdity. He did not think they were doing any good by excluding the public from thoir deliberations, except in such eases where it was absolutely necessary. Cr. Kirk said that such' a motion showed the danger of bringing down any policy speech, as it left them An exactly the same position as they were before. As each question came down, it would no doubt be discussed, and be hold rightly discussed. Cr. Pettie seconded Cr. Clayton’s amendment. He did not think tho policy which had been brought down would do any good except as a programme. He wanted to have a free hand in the matter, and if he was supposed to abide by the policy, then ho was altogether against it, becauso.... he wanted to be perfectly free to consider the important measures in the policy. He had a sort of feeling that if they adopted the policy brought down they would be bound by it, and there were several things in it with which he could not agree. Cr. Collins spoke in support of the poliev, which he said had beeri accepted by the majority of the Council. They wore riot exactly as they were before, but had a well-defined programme before them, and he congratulated tho Mayor on the manner in which he, had brought the matter before them and

through the committee. ... The manner in which he handled the policy ' and brought it through committee, was a credit, not only to tlie Mayor himself, but to the ratepayers whom he represented. The Mayor had shown that lie had the constructive and administrative ability to bring forward a policy, and the ratepayers would soe that ho had the support of at least a majority of the Council.. Regarding the exclusion of the press from the meeting which N considered the policy, he felt it would not have been fair to* have had it publicly discussed in its rough form before the collective wisdom of Councillors had been brought to bear upon it, so mat they could share in its responsibility. He hoped that the policy would assist in tho success which was due to the Mayor on account of his sense of justioe and fairness. ■ The Mayor said that if Cr. Clayton’s proposition was carried they would bo as they were before. With the policy adopted they would only have to confine their attention to details of the various schemes, .and there would be no need for weekly meetings or late sittings. On the question of the. gasworks, he said that when tho items down for consideration were discussed, that would probably be the next question. What they wanted was result, and in excluding the press at the committee they had achieved a result that otherwise they could not have done in a month. He had agreed to the suggestion of those who had asked for the policy of excluding the press. Tho main questions were settled by the policy,, except in the caso of details. He would rule that any other discussion would require notice of motion to alter the poliev. He had framed the policy purposely to settle principles, and only the details required to be worked out. Tlie motion for the adoption of the report was then carried, Crs. Clayton and Pettie voting against it.