The West-hill Reservoir. At the October meeting, the Water Committee reported that they approved the plans and sections of the proposed new reservoir on the West hill for the storage and supply of water for the western district, and recommended the same to be adopted. They further reported that the Law Life Assurance Society had offered to lend £5,000 at 4½? per cent, repayable by 30 annual instalments; this they also recommended to be accepted, with the addition of £2,000 on the same terms, if the Society were willing to lend it. – Report adopted.
Error in taking the levels. At the meeting on November 2nd, the committee reported that the levels of the proposed reservoir were not correctly stated in the specifications. They recommended that the tenders for the work should not be opened, and that a sub-committee should be formed to ascertain the exact levels. This was done, and at the annual meeting on the 9th the sub-committee reported that the plans were not sufficiently accurate to enter into a contract upon. They advised the drawing-up of fresh plans and specifications, and that the general committee should be empowered to receive fresh tenders and to act upon them. It was stated that alterations in the plans would be made which would be more advantageous and cost less money.
Unsatisfactory Decision. The power given to the Water Committee to receive tenders and to act upon them had a result that was far less satisfactory to some members than was anticipated. The said committee reported at the December meeting that they had accepted Mr. Grisbrook’s tender of £1470, and that two lower tenders (W. Hughes’s £1455, and Mr. Broadbridge’s, £1425) had been rejected because the conditions of the specifications had not been complied with. Couns. Howell, Kenwood and Bromley strongly condemned the decision of the Committee, which they stigmatized as unjust. Mr. Howell contended that the usual practice in all contracts for public works was not to require sureties to be named until after the tender had been accepted, and that by the irregular acceptance of Grisbrook’s tender, the Committee had wasted £45 of the ratepayers’ money. He moved that the Clerk be instructed not to sign any contract for the construction of new reservoirs till the subject had again been before the Board. The motion was, however, negatived by a majority of four.
The Water Mains. Tenders for the laying of water mains were received from Messrs. Broadbridge, Welfare and Ashton, and that of Ashton was accepted. It was also resolved to employ George Glyde to fix the joints of the pipes at 4s. 6d per day. Glyde was an athlete who professed to be able to walk or run faster than any other person in Hastings, but had to yield the palm to the present writer in a non-pre-arranged trial.
