BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVII, Issue 2654, 9 November 1909, Page 5

BOROUGH LOAN PROPOSALS.

DISCUSSED IN COMMITTEE

A special committee meeting of the Borough Council was held last evening to consider Mr. Marchant’s report on the loan proposals. There were present His Worship the Mayor (Mr W. D. Lysnar), and Crs. Kirk, Maynard, Somervell, Smith, Pettie, and Harris. It was agreed to recommend that Mr. Marchant’s sewerage loan should be adopted, including house connections to be borne by the Council from the sewer main to the boundary of the property, which item amounts to £4500, making a total for the sewerage, less the £2OOO for electrical pumping plant to be deducted in accordance with the experts’ report which is included iu the electrical report, of £60,500. It was also decided to recommend that £IO,OOO be included for the purpose of advancing the money to householders to cover house connections from the boundary to the houses, this sum to be repaid by five equal yearly payments, with interest at 5 per cent, and each connection to be limited to £l2, which is the engineer’s estimate for an. ordinary connection. The estimate for electric light as per Messrs Niven and Co.’s report was adopted at £16,142. Nlr. Marchant’s estimate for the reservoir and extra lOin and Sin service main to improve the fire pressure of. the t-own generally of £BSOO for a 2,000.000 gallon reservoir was adopted, and it was decided to add £2500 to this to cover the cost- of extending the reticulation in the borough in the streets requiring reticulation and not provided out of the original water loan, which makes a total of £II,OOO for water. The' various items including the recreation grounds, were approved of at £6500. This includes the acquisition of a recreation ground at Kaiti, Whataupoko, and part of the Kaiti Hill. The balance is for the purpose of converting the eleven acres opposite the Victoria Domain into a recreation ground and the removal of the buildings there to the nightsoil depot site, where they are required for borough purposes, as well as provision to start the . work of a botanical garden on the six-acre reserve at Carnarvon Street. It was decided to include the full cost of a bridge over the Waimata, river at £4950, Air. Spencer’s estimate. While the whole is included, "art, probably half, will have to be provided by the County Council. It was decided to adopt the tramway loan proposal of Messrs Heath and Co.’s estimate, but to add another car, which brings the total to £25,000. This includes seven miles of track. Up to this stage all the Councillors were unanimously agreed to all the proposals, but before the next item of road loan proposals came up, Cr. Pettie explained that he was quite in accord with the above proposals, but he did not desire to remain for the discussion On the road proposal. He accordingly withdrew. The committee then went on to consider the road loan proposals as prepared by Mr Gardiner, C.E., and which had been altered to the basis of Mr. Marchant’s report, which totalled £37,378. This allowed for the extra amount suggested by Mr. Marchant for the traction engine plant instead of the Straker waggons. The total of these items was £171,460, to which it was decided to add the first year’s interest on the loan money at 31 per cent in accordance with the Premier’s estimate at what the money can be obtained at, which amounted to £6OOO, making the total £177,460 in all. Of this it will be seen that £52,562 is self supporting and revenue producing, leaving a balance of £124,89S which is not revenue producing. It was decided that the Town Clerk should draw up a financial statement on the lines of a statement drawn up on the previous loan proposals put before the ratepayers, to show what rate will be required to be struck for the next ton years, covering all general administration and all interest and sinking fund on the above loans. This statement is to be submitted to Mr. John Coleman and Air. F. C. Fiddy, accountants, t-o be certified to by them as to correctness. The committee unanimously agreed that it was advisable, seeing the urgent necessity and importance of all tlie different loans, that thev should be submitted to the ratepayers for their approval at the earliest date possible Tn one loan for the one vote, each item being so earmarked that it has to be used for the one purpose for which it is pi'ovidcd.