Financing Makerua Drainage Board Work

Chronicle (Levin), 12 March 1948, Page 3

Financing Makerua Drainage Board Work

V J . "We must ^riot' puP"g-5flohd .on tlni fhturej", said Trnste^sN.i B. ja-ibbons at yesterday 's meeting; idf. ithe Makqrua Ijrainage ; Board in..fep3y t.cGa. proposal put .forw'ard by Tr. S. Hf Claridge^ chainnan, "that the boar.d shopld go intd; ways of obtainjng' addi^bnal tnoney* to; finance its- works.-} Mr. JJlafidge at the prcvious meeting had announeed that he Would * put f or ivardythe1' mptipn v that the board should increase its l-ates, but since then he had reconsidered. He" now proposed that the board should investigate ways of obtaiqing mdney, but ho said if there was no other way of obtaining the money than by raising the rates, tlien the rates would have co be raised. ' ■ Tr. Gibbons said that caution wfis necosaai-y bef'ore committing the rate--payers to an 'expenditure that would g-o on into the future. He said that titnes were good and prices were high, but there were sigus that the boom was on the dceline. The pressi had yeporteil a sag in New York fbod prices and at the recent saies wool had gone down. ' ' If you are going ( to increase the pernianent Ioading; yott should ksk the ralc.payers about it. " : ? '/ Tr. J . D. Aitchison- said that Brit-ain, had guaranteed to take Naw Zealand 's produce until 1950 but she had made the provision that prices' be" reviewed annually. If prices were to slump the ratepayer would be hardput to meet his expenditure. / : j* 'j 7* ' k r"j . Tr. A. E. Olson recommeiid'ed that Ihe buaril dispose of its Vown area of farmland to the rehabilitation depart- - ment or apply for further subsidy rather than increase' tlie rates. It was decided that a small committee 0/ members of the board wait on a similar conmiitteo of the Catclinient Board and discuss tlie question.

rhe engineor's list of maiutenance Sj bs in tlie area was approved aud it was decided to send it 011 to the catchment board for coiisideration. Recent legisiation had widened tlie range of mibsidios tliat the Government was prepared to pav tlirough . its catchment boards. Tr. Aitchison pbpqcte^.;itb tllie Beitert's drain iiiiprovdiiiont job being placed iast 011* the list when everyone agreed iliat it was, pf - first. impqrtanee, : Tr. Claridge poiiitcd out"" that •lt was' placed last on the list because the' list, conta'ifieil niainteimncra jobs s oiily^a'nd only a small part of yeifert's drain was miuintenance work. The greater part olb it was, improvoment work wliicji conld not ile sulksidised. Tlie eiigineer (Mr. A. J. Dolan) also reported tJiat..ke-lui£l..a-ppr.oached . the.cu t clunenk. broa|-(l^ Sigikbffitig/Ihe. "ixire of the exe.avat.or for Beifert's drain and it had been arranged that tlie board should have it at tlie rate of 33s am hour after a fortnight work had befen. done. Mr. l>b|ail||#(| ifb|okt catclinient bbar.4 ,waJ%(?bfe&4ndfedv sfhqi ht'iglit of stopbanks at Himatangi should be oue foot belo.w tlie- Makerua. Mr. Dolan commented tlult the Makeruufl Drainage Board 's policy was that the! niaiumuiii height should be two'feet. A notieo to this efiect is to bevsent'fq thq catclinient board. Mr. Dolan -reportsd that tlie board was lcgally responsible for ihe care of Bpeir's floodgate at I'ratt 's cowshed. It was decided that Ihe board lepair ihe floodgate before the rains set in, Mr. Speirs to be instructed to stop cow manure escaping into tlie draiu, and uncontrolled arle.siau welis sliould be brought under control. , T}lc overseer reported that the cfeaning of Akers's drain north of the intersoctiiig chaunel was in progress and to date 85 cliains had been cleaned. ,A11 slips and alurry had been removed an'd tlio bottom t aken up ancl the timber removed for approximktely 75 chains. The mteisect ing cliannel from thg floodgate to tlio old maia drain would be cleaned as soon as Akers's drain is flnislied to the Opiki road bridge. Thoso in attendance were Tfustees S. I. daridge (chainnan), A. Gillespie, J._ V. Burkhart, J. A. Aitchison, N. B. Gibbons and A. E. Oisen. "****" \\ i 1 —111