ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

Ashburton Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 1739, 13 January 1888, Page 2

ASHBURTON COUNTY COUNCIL.

The crdii.ary monthly meeting of the tehburton County Council wan held toay Present— Messrs B. Q. Wright. JH. rnedlonder, J Holmes, Ja«. Brown. E. I. Coster, and J Jackson. Mr Wright was vo'ed to the ohair, chairman's statement Tha Chairman said : — no Government ia» gazetted the appointment of tha Mayor of Ashburtoi, and the Chairman )f this Council as members of the North Canterbury and Aahburton Charitable Aid Bear.i.— The Treasury has notified oy sircular tbat it is the intention of the Qoreruraant to cease to pay, after the 31st March next, raten on Government and Native land*.-— The tender of Mr W. J. Hughe*, for £34 7a 6d for dog collars for this jear has been accepted. Theoollar* have come to hand and are r ady for distribution — Fertjeint Felton forwards, for the Council's information, the: report of the Constable who happened to-be crossing the Aahburfcon traffic bridge whea it took fire oq the 20 ih December laiit,— A letter from Mr Peach", on the -natter of a eidinj? being made from the Mount Somei* tramway to his etone quarry, will be read. —The Mount Hutt Soad .Hoard has written recommending a renewed slanghterr iog licence to be granted to Mr John Biker. Since the above latter has been received Mr 0. Hart, on behalf of several ratepayers, writes to request the Council to have this yard removed, on account of it being still a nuisanoe to the neighborhood, and from fear of a repetition' of; the illness that took place last year In the locality of. the slaughtering yarc£r-Tho Ashburton Borough Council forwards for tett'ement the account incurredYrt putting out the fire on the ARhburton traffic bridge, referred to m this statement, alao a copy of a report from Fire Inspectors, suggesting a way of dealiqg with, fires that may occur on this; bridge. —-Some time ago the Council agreed to allow Mr Jackson. , the use.of^tjje ( Ferry Hesjorve at Eating, on condition' that he. f ojerjed .per* sons on and off .the island m the fiangi« tbta, bnt there was no stipulated time ■tated how lopg this agreement was to be !in force. Mr Jackson now > aeka; if this arrangement is ; supposed to be m force . —The amount of! rates, (or 188S collected Ib £4815 12s lOd, leaving £111 12s lOd outstanding* • Toe. small amounts collectable will probably be paid, m by the next meeting of the OounciU ' EITOINEiR's BHPOET. The Engineer rerjiortfid as follows i~ Ashburton Rangitata Water Supply : Thi contract for auxiliary water supply" at Montalto has been satisfactorily completed since last meeting of Council, and the new raoa ia now m operation there.— The small addition authorised to dam at Limestone Greek has been finished, and the fords and head race ia Upper Hinds district have been repaired and cleared where necessary, Several ' seotions of ordinary raoea have also been oleared out at owners' expense. The deviation of oreek at Frazer's road, Tinwald, interfered to some extent with the supply m branch race leading to Saleyards Creek, and that had to ba deepened m order fully to supply the lower end of H3 race at Ashburton. Some work was necessary m re-instating the flame on Bame race near Ford's road, causefl by the displacement through storm water which previously prevailed m that district, The service between Aahbnrton and Biangitata fias, on tbe whole, been well maintained during the month.— ln some parts of tbe district, M elsawhere, there is a growing tendency on the part of the Boad Board to convert the races into storm water channels. For inatanoe, on the Hinds-Haokthorne road, the culvert situated between seotions 28499 and 28500, over whioh the flood water previously passed, has been removed and replaoed by a ford, into whioh the storm water has been made to discharge by an artificial drain out alongside the road and led direotly into it. This is a manifest abuse of the water-race system, and should not be permitted. Tha drainage of swamps and surface water there should be discharged into Hinds river. Plainß Water Supply : Tbe repairs to Pad* ding Hill dam and apron which, some monthi ago, wore authorised to be carried out as soon as the water m the meirgonow^ndughraxß now being camel out and are hear com* pletion. A few defective fords, whioh beoame so, principally through the notion of flood water, are being repaired by the Counoil, as it was not convenient for Boad Boards to do so. The supply m head races had to ba considerably increased when the dry weather set m, and there has been a fairly good oervioe m all the races, with the exception of the lower end of south branch of teat channel for a few days, and theßakaia Village! Settlement race, the former from partial negleot of maintenance by some of the settlers east of railway, and the latter from imperfeot formation, and probably from tampering also, bat that I have not yet been able to substantiate. —Charles Fawoett, Assistant-Banger, for ths lower portion of the plains, commenced work on 27th December, and reports a full supply m all races exoep't EIO, whioh is a little light, and the off-take of whioh will require to ba tested for somedistance to prevent the leakage through deep sandy out there.— The Wakanui Flat Supply has been pretty well maintained during the month, but the iu-take requires almost constant attention from the obstructed condition of the oreek there as reported on last month. Ths weekly shutting of the mill lake, too, causes that supply to M somewhat intermittent. The raoe along river road ia now supplied direotly from the river, and the outlet has been lowered to suit tha present ' low lsvel of water m the river— the total cost •! new w.ork has been £12, the amount authorised by the Counoil. Guaging Water Courses: I have com. pleted the record of guaging of streams and rivers between Ashburton and Bangitata for two months ended 3lßt December last. ABhburton |Traffio Bridge : A considerable extent of repairs to decking hue had to ba executed recently, oaused by breakages by traction engines, and similar expenditure ii likely to continue unless this eogmt traffio is plaoed on a more satisfactory basis of regulation than at present. Upper Bangitata Traffio. Bridge: The remaining portion of the old deoking of this bridge is now unfit for ordinary wheel traffio, and is absolutely dangerous for engine traffio. Some repairs have been made recently, but nearly all tha old deoking and many of the longitudinal bearers are m a state of deoay. • Carter's Creek: As requested by tha Counoil, I have inspeoted the line of thia creek from South Boad to vicinity of Bivers* dale. 1 found that the sides had fallen m m several plaoes, and flood banks m a few instances were considerably, worn down -through the treading of stock, also that the formation of watering plaoes along the course, and ereotion of bridge at a sharp « angle of tha ohannel, had all been causes of a considerable overflow, whioh, however, for the most part had been confined to the vioinity of the ohannel, and though spreading over considerable portions of the adjacent land, returned generally to the line of the ohannel again, and, so far as I could tfec*, the volume of water leading .oat from that looality towards Graham's Boad and Wheatatone had been inconsiderable. To the east of Grove Farm Boad the oreek is very muoh obstructed, but the depression along its course is deep and wide, and any overflow does not extend beyond it. What is most to be dreaded there, I should say, is tha encroachment of the river whioh is setting direotly m towards the oreekbed, and whioh apparently if left unoheoked will join it at no very distant date. Floodwater, Tinwald, Winslow and Wheat, ■tone— Flemington districts: In aocordanoo with the instructions of the Committee to visit and report more fully on the origin of the which these distriots are subjected to from the occurrence of heavy floods, I have now done so. The accompany, ing sketoh map Bhows the Hues of oreeks and directions of overflow. It is apparent that ths periodioal damage is occasioned through the aooumulated flow of surface and spring rater, whioh finds its way into the districts ibrough whioh these oreeks flow, and for vhich the present condition of these oreeks; gives no adequate discharge. More especially s this the oase with Shepherd's Greek, whioh a for the most part situated on low. ground, khd being outside the others haft to receive he drainage of a very largs Wea of tha plains. The effects of the aprjug water were mole recently along th,e general direotion of ks course, rising to the surface m some, several chains away from the lina Ufae creek, Near the pouraei} of wekf,

more especially had the underground water risen to the surface, which was quite suffused over large areas, necessitating the putting m by the owners of several furrow and artificial j drainß near th« commencement of the creek j lines. The Council will observe that the proposed flood drain along road known as I Tiznaru Track would be calculated to give a / large amount of relief to the districts along Creeks Nos. 1 and 2, and to some extent to Shepherd's Creek also, but it is apparent that the projected improvement of Shepherd's Creek from Flemington to Winslow should extend to point marked A on map m order to give any appreciable relief to those districts, beoanse the diversion of about half the quantity of flood water which circulates through the district is traceable to that point, and any overflow which takes place m that oreek higher np is intercepted by the eapacions natural water-course which joins it at point marked A. Any further information may perhaps be beat given by allusion to the map. Irrigation Farm : As the Committee decided io give the crops one watering before harvesting, this was done during the laat week of December and m the early part of this month. A considerable portion of expense inoorred was for making the necessary inlets and furrows. I calcnlate that the watering was equal to a depth of about 3 inches over entire surface, and the oost for actual distribution was about 4s per aore for oats and 2s 6d per aore for cowgraas. For the latter, furrows were cut along the ridges, whioh rendered the distribution so much the easier. When men get acoustomed to the distributing of the water over larger areas, Ihe cost per aore is likely to be considerably lets than the above. — The oats on the unirrigated portion, whioh were sown a month earlier than the other will be ready for reaping next week.— The caretaker will finish the irrigating of the mangels tomorrow as directed. WATXK RACES AND STOBM WilBR, In reference to the Engineer's report M to storm water being turned into a water race on the Hinds-Hackthorne road, IBs Chairman said that If the Council Allowed one matter of this kind to pass It was impossible to say where it might and. .". After a abort disoasalon the matter was jpoitponed till later m the day. "" • DEFECTIVE FORDS. A brief diaoussion took place m regard to the defaotlve fords referred to by the Engineer In his report. The control of water race fords was some time ago delegated by the Council to the several Road Bosrdr, who expressed their willingness to look after the -fords, at the expense of the Counoil. The particular fords referred to, tbe worst of whioh are near Lauristori, were In the Upper Ashbarton Road District and had been repaired by the Council. It wai reiolved, after discussion, "That the Upper Ashbutton Road Board having undertaken to look after the water race fords be requested to co so thoroughly and promptly or relinquish the charge." BTOBX WATER. Mr Harper here took his sea*, and being the member for the district affaoted, thereafter of storm water being turned Into race on Hinda-Hackthome road was again considered. Mr Harper explained that the storm water formerly did a great deal of Injury to about five miles of the road. The road was now proteoted and no harm whatevar wai done to the race which ran through dry country or to anyone on its line. After a detul'ory discussion it was resolved " That the Upper Aehburton Road B>»rd be informed that the Council will hold that Board responsible for any damage whioh may accrue through their turning atorm water Into the race. It was farther resolved that notice be tent to all the Road Boards within the county not to remove culverts over water raoes In future without the written conBent from the Council be first ottalned. AHSMTANT WATER BANGER. la reply to Mr Brown, tha Engineer ■aid that the appointment of O. Fawoett m assistant water ranger was only ienc. porary. ASBBURTOH TSATTW BRIDGE The Engineer's report and a quantity oQ correspondence on this matter were read. The Borough Council wrote In refereroa to fires which had taken place on the bridge, and suggesting that a supply of bucket* and chains should be kept on *he handrails of the bridge, acd also requesting payment, o' expenses of Brigade m Attending fire. Mr Job a Holmes said that he had notfo to give of a motion on this matter. Iha fires which lad occurred, and the damage done by traction engines indicated to him that a care'aker was necessary. He recognised, however, that fully one-half of the ratepayers never used the bridge, and it would be unfair to saddle them with the «xpens9 of maintaining a caretaker, which should be borne by the persons who caused the damage — traction engine drivers and the rascals who set .fire to the decking. In order to make there latter pay it would be necera&ry to establish a system of tolls, and he would give notice to move at next meeting— "That % toll-gate be placed on the new bridge over the Asbburton river, and tbat tolls be levied on all persons using such bridge, m order to raise funds to keep the bridge m repair without expense to County ratepayers, and to pay tbe wages of a caretaker." Mr tried lander moved that tbe Borough Council's suggestion m reference to the Jbuckets be given effect to. ' Us Brown seconded the motion, which, after discussion, was carried. Some desultory discussion followed. Ultimately Mr Coster moved— "That the Aehburton Borough Council be asked to take control of the bridge at their own expense." Mr Holmes seconded the motion. The Chairman thought suoh a motion unwise. The motion was withdrawn. Mr Friedlander moved, " That a Committee consisting of the Chairman, Messrs Grigg, Holmei, Brown and the mover be appointed to enquire into the worklogr of the existing by-laws respecting the traffic, maintenance aad care of the Ashbarton Traffic Bridge, the Committee to report to tile next meeting of the Council," Mr Harper eeoonded the motion, which waa carried, RANGITATA TRAFFIC BRIDGE. It was reaolved, '' That notice be set up •t eaoh end of tha bridge that the bridge Is unsafe for traffic, and that traction engines be not allowed to cross the bridge, and tbat the Engineer report at next meeting as to cost of repairs." FLOOD WAT^R. Consideration of the paragraphs m the Engineer's report In reference to flood water on tbe south side of tbe river, and of a letter from Mr W. Stoddart on the came subject was deferred till next meeting; Before finally resolviog on the postponement, Mr Brown said he thought tbat the only satisfactory way m which tbe matter could be dealt with would be by constituting the district a drainage district. He moved " That the Connoll ftdvise the ratepayers of the Ashbarton riding to present a petition defining a drainage dUtrlot, ai provided by section 269 of tbe Counties Aot v " Mr Harper seoonded the motion. The Chalrmm thought the motion rather prejudged the case. The Cmnittee appointed to report on this matter had not been able yet to bring up its jeporfc owing to certain requisite loformaMon having only now been obtained by ihe Engineer. Beslder, the member for the district was absent and had expressed • hope that the question would be deferred till next meeting* : Under these circumstances Mr Brown consented to withdraw his motion, and farther consideration of the matter under discussion was deferred, M.BIGATION FABM. ft The following report was read :— Messrs ' Grigg and Harper, two members of the Irrigation. Firm. Committed, accompanied

? by Mr Baxter, visited the farm on to i 2'6-d of D cerab9r, and found the crops of 1 outs, cow grass, mangolds, and carrots ;/ io 4-ing fa»ry well, also the potatoes. | Attera thorough inspection they instructed ! - Mr BaxU r to tnrn water on one-half of I ih3 crops whic'i was commenced the following day. On ieeember 31st Mr Har- • per, witb Mr B xter, visited the farm, and found that the water had been sue cesßfulJy led over one-half of the crops. The season havisg become so very hot and dry, your Committee anticipate yery beneficial results from the portion irrigated The effect of this watering will very ehortly be apparent, and will, we trust, demonstrate the advantages to be obtained by such treatment of crops on light land. FINANCE. The following resolutions adopted at a special Committee meeting', held to consider the Gmneial position of the Council, came up for confirmation : — ''That ihe Committee recommend to the Council to strike a water rate m accordance with the existing by-laws to be made payable March Ist, 1888" 11 That m future no part of the cost of clearing and maintaining the water races shall be defrayed out of the general rate." "That it is recommended that the Clerk of the Council be Returning Officer for the Conucil, and that the resolution appointing Mr Braddell as returning omVr be rescinded^" "That it be a recommendation to the Council to revert to the report oE the Committee presented on the 26th IV o venaber, 1884, acd adopted by the Ctuncil on January 9tb. 1885, stating that the Engineer should b 3 retained at £250 a year for half bis time." 11 That the salary of the Clerk be at the rate of £225 per annum with free residence, the duties to be aa heretofore also those of returning officer without fee." " That the cultivation of the irrigation farm be limited to the growing crops, unless otherwise specially ordered." "That no new works be undertaken after the expiry of clx months from thii date uutU the Council's overdraft be paid, except special works In strict accordance with clause 152 of the Counties Aot." "That the Committee recommend that the dog tix be a uniform tax of 10a for the next year." The resolutions were confirmed. Mr Brown thought that it would be better to make fresh arrangements as to engineering and Mr Holmes objected to the clause m reference to dog tax, It was resolved that the resolutions m regard to the officers of the Council should take effect on March Ist. BOUNDARY KOAD, Extension of time to next meeting to report was granted to the Committee to whom was referred the question of opportioning the control and cost of maintenance of the Boundary road between the South Rakaia and Wakanui road districts. ■WAKANUI WATEB SIPPiY. Pursuant to notioa Mr Brown moved "That the resolution of the Council, deciding to adhere to its determination ; 1 that fences In the line of watercourses m the Wakanui dißtriot be removed,' be rescinded " The motion was aeconded by Mr Frledlandtr pro formi, end after being dlaoassed at length was lost. Mr Brown withdrew two notices of motion m reference to the water races m the Wakanui district as the BUjply of water had now been resored. KANGITVTA STOCK BBIDQB Mr Friedlandor, by request, handed In to the Council, a letter which had been received from tha Minister of Publio Worka m reply to a petition by settlers that a fctock bridge be ereoted over the north branch of the Bangltata rivor. The Government were of opinion that the work was one for the County Councils to carry out. Shoald however, the locil bodies find the amount required £600, Government would have the work carried oat. The lettor was received and ordered to lie on the ÜbK PAYM NTS The usual monthly accounts were passed for payment. (Left sitting)