THE BOROUGH LOAN.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXIX, Issue 3375, 15 November 1911, Page 5

THE BOROUGH LOAN.

AMOUNT REQUIRED £58,500, COUNCIL APPROVE OF PROPOSALS. / A LENGTHY DEBATE. The proposed loan to complete the borough works was the subject of consideration by the Borough Council last evening. The Mayor said he wanted to put a few facts and figures before the Council. They must a% i^Pg»S| % as justified t<K3fr|jVletc«ilfe|lor the reports,' as they were full aJicH very valuable. When Mr Metcalfe’js Report came out, and it was found that shchia. large amount was necessary, he thought it was a big proposition to tackle, said if they went for a further loan of £IOO,000 they might meet with a rebuff. When considering the proposal he found there was provision for going to the health authorities to raise the amount for sewerage and waterworks without going to the ratepayers, but on mature reflection he thought _ it would be better to face the position pavers with -a reasonable scheme. The Council had inquired from the solicitors whether they could raise the loan without going to the ratepayers, and had received o reply that the Council could do so. Proposed Works. He thought it was right they should have that opinion, but he did not advocate that the Council should use those powers. They should go to the ratepayers for a reasonable amount of money. Mr Metcalfe had showed that £40,000 was necessary to complete their water works, and the reservoir he suggested should be put on the hospital hill. Tins sum gave them a bit of a shock. When the committee considered the proposal they wanted to know if the settling tank or the reservoir could be cut out, but Mr Metcalfe said that it would be better to cut out the settling tank. Mr Metcalfe was opposed to the Kaiti site of the reservoir. The amount with the settling tank out and the money authorised to be spent on Kaiti Hill would be brought down to £22,000. Hr. Vaiintine was opposed to the Hospital Hill site, unless they acquired the whole liill. The Borough Engineer suggested that the town reservoir should be dispensed with, for the present, and if they had a settling tank at the headworks they would be safe. They should, he thought, not push the site of the reservoir just now and should keep it in view. If they decided that the wisest thing was to go in for the restoration of the headworks this would require £6720, but he would say £7OOO. The settling tank could be set down at £BOOO. Leaving the waterworks they had to consider the sewerage. To complete Mr Metcalfe put it down as £ll,000 odd. He would suggest they make this amount £l-5,000. They would be allowing more for extras and the reticulation of new streets. This would not be extravagant, and it would leave them within the mark. In connection with the quarry line they, should raise the money to pay for this line, so that it could be refunded to the account from which it was originally taken. It would be acknowledged by all that this tramway was a success. They were enabled to bring in metal to improve their roads, and he thought the public would respond to this loan. At the end of three real's, when the Council had carriedl out their road construction, the Gisborne residents would not. know themselves. If carefully administered this amount should go a long way. They had £IO,OOO in hand, and they proposed to borrow £15,000. To form the streets they had to adept some system of storm water drainage, but he did not say that the amount, £SOOO. would put storm water sewers right through the borough. It would, however, go a long way. He had £2500 down for a new cemetery site. The present cemetery was not full vet, but the time had now come when they should make provision for a new cemetery. If left the Council would have to pay more in the future for a site. Question of Bridges. Everyone would be interested in the question of bridges. Mr Metcalfe had reported the Kaiti and Whataupoko bridges needed strengthening. He reported adversely on the McLean Street bridge, which it was proposed to erect, and recommended this should be erected at Ormoud Road. He (the Mayor) had taken the solicitor’s opinion to see whether they could divert the money raised for the McLean Street bridge to a bridge at Ormond Road. They replied that the Council should get a short local bill passed, but they should also approach the C-ook County Council on the matter. That disposed of immediately acting on Mr Metcalfe's report. It might be wise not to proceed with the erection of the McLean Street bridge. They should hold the money until such a time as they got the necessary power to erect this new brides to Kaiti. The cost would be about £5500. and they had £IOOO in hand. They could charge £IOOO for the facilities afforded by the bridge. It would therefore only be necessary to raise £3500. They had decided to raise £I6OO for the electric light by special order, and they would then be able to give it a fair trial before this amount was spent. He proposed that they should not put any amount on the proposals at present for this work. The ratepayers could then see what it was like. The tramway proposals he would treat in the same way. They had about £SOOO in hand, and had nearly all the material. They would have theii' cars running, and then could see, if the system was satisfactory. This completed the programme, and with the first year’s interest and cost of raising the loan (£2500) it brought the total loan to £58,500. He had exercised a great deal of thought and care in the matter, and if they went to the ratepayers for such a reasonable amount lie thought they would approve of it. The proposals should be put separately to the ratepayers. He thought the water and drainage loans were imperative, but it would not be necessary to raise the whole amount of the loan at once. If the loan was approved there was no reason why the sewerage works in Kaiti and Whataupoko should not be completed within six months. For the sake of the health of the borough the sewerage works should be completed as early as possible. He did not want to bind the Council hard and fast, and he would move:— “That tlio Council take immediate steps to raise the sum of £58,500, or such other sum ns the Council may decide.” A Cardinal Principle. Cf. Bright was very grateful to the Mayor for the thought he had expended on the matter. There was a cardina principle to be observed, and befor< proceeding he wished to move as a« i amendment:— “That this Council disapproves o completing the present loan work other than with the approval of tin ratepayers.” * _ Ci'. Collins was of opinion that thi phase of the question had been deal

with, by the Mayor. . j. Cr Bri°ht: If the Council have affirmed that principle I am content to leave it at that. , Cr. Collins seconded the Mayor s motion. He agreed that the loan moneys should be equally expended throughout the borough. Ho also agreed that the proposals should be put sepal atelj. With regard to restoration of the headworks he agreed with the Mayor. If it was thought necessary to build a reservoir he thought it should be elected on or near the hospital site. In connection with the drainage proposals he agreed with the remarks of the Mayor, and also did so on the Gentle Annie quarry question. In his opinion they {had to come to the question of raising money for roads, and he did not think that they would be far wrong in saying that it would require £SOOO out of revenue and £IO,OOO out of loans, for the next ten years, to get good reads. He was also entirely with His Worship in regard to the stormwater problem and the cemetery site. VVith reo-ard to the McLean Street bridge he° believed there was £IOOO in hand and £IOOO to be charged to other services. Ho agreed that it -would be better to erect a utility bridge in the meantime. , , ■ Cr. Dart on considered tliat there was no justification in departing from the report of the committee, llie arguments brought forward at the committee meeting still held good, and h© only proposed to deal with the committee s recommendation, which had been left out. He'pointed out that the Mayor s recommendations were, to the best of their belief, only those of a layman, and he was departing from the recommendations of expert advice. He could not see how the Mayor could .expect the support of the Council if he intended to go and put the reservoir twenty-one miles away, and leave a long pipe line. Dr. Valintine was considering the hospital not the borough when lie objected to the Hospital Hill site being used as a reservoir site. It was essential to have the reservoir in town. He would sooner see a reservoir on Haiti Hill rather than on ground which was to a certain degree unsafe. No proposal for ■water would he support which did not include a town reservoir. Mr Metcalfe said the settling tank was the least required provided they made a milliongallon reservoir in town. He agreed with £7OOO for the headworks, but not with the £BOOO for a settling tank. He would vote against the proposals if the reservoir in town was excluded. The Mayor explained in reply to a question that he thought they had enough money to complete the construction of the trams. He did not mention four miles, for it might be less, but it would show the public the utility of the trams. Continuing, Cr. Dart-on said it was the duty of the Council to give the suburbs an opportunity to have the trams. He thought it was Cr. Collins’ opinion only to complete four miles. Or. Collins said that C'r. Darton was misrepresenting him. The trams would give the residents of Whataupoko and Haiti an opportunity to judge the success of the trams. Tramways and Electric Light. Cr. Darton contended that they should go to the ratepayers for -more money for the trams and the electric light. To make them protfiable they would have to go in for the whole system. He claimed that they should put on an amount to complete the seven miles and instal an electric lighting scheme that would do for some years to c-onie. Cr. Smith said that he agreed with Cr. Darton in a good many of his remarks. The Council had had a meeting with Mr Metcalfe, and 1 lie said the settling tank should be eliminated if. fhey wanted to cut the loan down. If they could not get the reservoir on Hospital Hill they should erect it on Kaiti Hill if another suitable site was not available. He did not like to see the items decided on in committee cut down. The 'Council did not want to expend money extravagantly, but they wanted money to keep the town in a state of progress. He had advocated that the storm-water loan should have been included in the previous loan. A bridge at Ormond road would be very useful to relieve the Kaiti bridge. Regarding the trams he thought that before the town four miles were in use the suburban lines would be nearly' completed. He thought the ratepayers should have the opportunity to say whether they wanted the trams, to Kaiti or Whataupoko. It was , alright to cut the loan down, but these works were necessary. It was generally recognised that the bottom had been clean knocked out of' the electric lighting scheme. It was now almost treble. They should go in for the whole loan if these works were to be carried out. He did not see where the ratepayers could object. He would like to see £SOOO put on for electric lighting, and also an amount for trams. The Council, if the system was notfully complete, would not get a return for their outlay. Cr. Bright said that it was far better to break faith with the ratepayers than break them altogether. He was surprised the glib way that the councillors talked of thousands. They would, if they raised £IOO,OOO, have their general rate up to equal to 6jd in the £ on the unimproved value. This rate would he equivalent to the interest on a£so mortgage on £IOO unimproved property. Therefore they were.mortgaging every section of the unimproved value of £IOO by £SO. This was more than this or any other borough could s+eWl. They must curtail somewhere. They had to consider whether this £IOO.OOO was a reasonable proposition to place before the ratepayers. It was absolutely unreasonable. They were courting disaster if they attempted to raise the £IOO,OOO, so they had to consider the proposals and see if some proposals could not be done without. They could then go to the ratepayers for a loan that was abslutely necessary, and if they rejected it then they could get sonieone else to administer their : ffairs. The Mayor had considered what items_ could be eliminated, and he had gone into the matter very carefully, for which he deserved the greatest credit. The headworks must be done, and the settling tank might just <as well be car- j ried out. He did not think it was de-‘ sir able to put the reservoir arm in arm

with the. hospital. Ho thought tie sewerage had been wisely inflated by the Mayor. Two per cent for extras as allowed by Mr Metcalfe was absolutely inadequate. The Council was' right in raising the money for the ouarry line. Regarding the new cemetery site the only thing in its favor at present was that the land would >be cheaper now. He was in favor of the bridge loan. Mr Metcalfe had said the superstructure of the Kaiti bridge was absolutely rotten, and wanted renewing. Regarding, the . two revenue producing items, electric light and trains, he had faith in the former and both these things were a' fair defence. They had. enough money on hand to make both of them prove themselves. A few months ago a ’bus to Kaiti only ran two or three weeks, because it did not pay and in liis opinion they were too small a community to satisfactorily start trams. Cr. Wildish said that he agreed with all the proposals brought down with the exception of the reservoir. He was pleased that it was proposed to take the proposals separately. He agreed with Cr. ~Bright that they must not overrate the properties in the borough. With regard to trams, he now supported the proposition;"to start on- the four miles 1 . Personally he was never in favor of trams, blit he was- now prepared to go to complete the four miles. Cr. Sawyer also differed with the Mayor - in regard to the reservoir proposal. and lie was of opinion that it would be< far better to have, a reservoir near town. Cr. Wade congratulated the Mayor on having brought forward such proposals. He was, however, convinced that if they were put to the ratepayers a number would be thrown out. He was certainly against the settling; tank at the headworks, and he would very much like to see the matter referred back in order to ascertain if a suitable site in town could not be found for a reservoir. The bridge proposals also had Ids support. and he would support- His Worship’s proposals ijf it was agreed to include provision for a reservoir in town,. Cr. Brown joined with other Councillors in congratulating His Worship. If they were compelled to reduce the items then they must reduce. He was of opinion that the most urgent work was the restoration of the headworks. Cr. Webb 'intimated bis intention to support the Mayor’s motion. The Mayor’s Reply. The Mayor said he was intensely gratified with the reception his proposals had . received. Until that day no Councillors knew any flung of the proposals that had been laid before them. It seemed to him that there was only one point on which there was any serious difference of opinion. That Was in regard to the waterworks, and he thought that they might leave tho question over. He did not want to leave any doubt- in the minds of the Councillors who had intimated that they would support his proposals, but be did not want to alter them. He would like to answer Cr. Darton’s criticism for departing from the recommendations of Mr. Metcalfe. Tire speaker was of opinion that he was right in consulting the chief health officer on the matter of the reservoir on the hospital site. Tire health officer was distinctlv adverse to having the hospital and the reservoir on the same site. He might say that he had caused the decision' of the health officer to be communicated to Mr. Metcalfe, and had received the following reply:— “Your telegram yesterday [under date Novi llthl re reservoir. I really do not know another site suitable, and think this one worth fighting for. Proximity to a hospital cannot possibly affect the tank, and I do not see that the tank can affect the hospital. The district Health Officer expects Dr. Valintine here next week, when I will tackle him again on the subject, and offer a tank underground if necessary.” There was another point which bad been raised, and that was that with a reservoir at the headworks there would be no provision for a time when the water W-as cut off. He pointed out that most of the houses in the borough had tanks attached to them, and a careful householder would make provision by keeping their tanks full. On the whole the proposals had been very favorably received. He thought that they would be wise to- go for the smaller amount, and he felt that it would, be wise and prudent for the Council to adopt the proposals. . . The Mayor was granted permission to alter , the £BOOO frorni settling tank'to settling tank or reservoir, which would be decided later. The Mayor then moved that these he the proposals put to the rate-pay ere wt-h the amounts stated.

The motion was carried, Crs. Darton, Smith and Webb voting against the proposal op the ground that certain other items should have- been provided for.