HAURAKI PLAINS COUNTY

Hauraki Plains Gazette, Volume XXXVII, Issue 4971, 7 May 1926, Page 4

HAURAKI PLAINS COUNTY

MONTHLY COUNCIL MEETING. ROUTINE BUSINESS. The final meeting of the. present members of the Hauraki Plains County Council was, held on Tuesday, Cr. J. C. Miller presiding over Crs. J. F. Mayn, T. McLoughlin, J. H. Nicholson, C. W. Parfitt, W. Madgwick, W. G. Hayward, C. W. Harris, J. A. Reid, the clerk (Mr E. A, Mahoney) and the engineer (Mr F. Basha.m). A welcome to the council wag extended by the chairman to Cr. J. A. Reid, the Netherton riding representative, who had been declared elected unopposed. Cr. Miller, said that in his opinion the settlers of Netherton had shown a very wise choice. Cr. Reid thanked, the chairman for his welcome, and for his kind rema,l'ks. He had been surprised at receiving notification to attend the .meeting, and had expected that the next meeting would have been his first. He was sorry Cr. Hare was not present at. the meeting, a,nd was df opinion that if he could keep up the reputation secured by Gr. Hare he would be doing good work.

BALANCE-SHEET. The treasurer reported thajt the balance-sheet for the year 1923-24 had been returned form audit certified correct, except that certain loan moneys had been placed to the county fund account. The clerk said that, the tag was purely a, formal one. When Governmoneys were received by the council’s, bankers, the bajik placed the money to .the I County Fund account, and t'heref it remained till the council was notified and instructions were given to transfer, the, money to other accounts. ' On a Cr commenting that, .the bal-ance-sheet. was a, long way behind time the clerk observed that the bal-ance-sheet for the year 1924-25. wa,s ready for audit, and the. balance-sheet fcr 1925-26 would be ready in a ; few 1 days. In all probability the .two would be audited in the near future.

NGATEA-KAIHERE ROAD. The.chief drainage engineer, Mr O. N. Campbell, wrote, advising that no funds wore available out ot which the full cost of metalling the KaihereNgatea road could be found.- There wr,s a £. for £ vote on the esitimqtes, and if the council would find half the cost he would take the necessary steps to. have the wprlr-ca.rried out. Cr. McLoughlin said that this only referred to the chain or so to the Puhanga bridge. He. moved .that, the chief drainage engineer be ■ advised that the £ for’ '£ vote was not known to the council, blit it did know that the department had offered £7OOO to the council’s £3OOO for' )the whole road, which offer wrn;, rejected by the council; a.lso, that the, request be renewed, and that a copy of the’ letter be sent to the Minister of Lands. Members opposed the motion, con- s tending that the riding should contribute something. Cr. McLoughlin contended that if the council gave way. on this-.section of road the depaii'tment would use it as a lever .to get the council to subsidise. the. whole road. It was the departhrent’s duty to metal the 'road, ‘ and if the council, as representative of the people, did not show weakness the department would metal the roa.d. The motion was carried 1 . NGARUA FERRY. ■ Mr A. M. Samuel, M.P., wrote, advising that he. had taken up the claim of the council on,‘beh,alf of the Kaihere settlers concerned regarding’.the construction of ,a ferry at the hTailicre landing.

MOTOR LICENSE F/EES. f ' The. HamiltQil Borough Council forwarded a report of the jmeeting of delegates, at Hamilton to consider the allocation of motor lorry i’icense feei*. Cr. Madgwick, the courncil’s delegate, reported, that the. conference had ended in a deadlock, and the matter would have .to tie decided by

a magistrate. It was agreed that the council support ,the proposal that 50 per cent, of the fees be divided according to the mileage of metal road and 'so' per cent.' according to the valuation of the counties in the group. CLASSIFICATION OF ROADS. The Public Works Department advised that approval had been given the classification a>, fourth-class of the rbadis: ot the Plains in accordance with the. motor lorry regulations. On a fourth-class road the weight of vehicle and load must not exceed four tons. The clerk was. instructed to ascertain .the cost of portable weighbrtdges for use by the inspector. RESIGNATION OF SOLICITOR. Mr E. Walton wrote resigning hia position as county solicitor, as he had been requested to for the council at the forthcoming election. —Accepted. NGARUA BRIDGE;. Cr. McLoughlin said that the council had set up a committee, over a yea,r ago to define a rating area for the Ngarua bridge. The matter had been held up pending a better offer from the department. He now understood that the department would make the £l2OO a free grant and subsidise ai,t £ for £ the balance df .the cost. The. estimate was £5OOO. The clerk was i-nstrutced to prepare a tentative rating area for the next meeting. GENERAL. On Or. McLoughlin’s motion the en-t gineer was instructed to have a set of pipes placed under the road at the Torehape-Kaihere corner. Notice boards warning motorists! to drivcAslowly were ordered for erection oh the. Kaihere-Torehape tbad and near the 1 Patetonga school. The engineer was instructed to confer with the Pialto County engineer relative toi the. use of metaj from the Maukorp stream. Slaughterhouse licenses weird gra,uteri to L' R. Mclndoe, Ka.ihe.re, and Adams Bros., Waitakaruru. It, was decided to recommend to the incoming council the transfer b>f two sections in .the Kerepeehi riding to the Netherton. riding.

The need for a second trip each way by'the Orongo ferry ,on Sundays was brought to ,the notice of the council by Gr. Madgwick, and it was decided to write to the lessees, on the subject APPRECIATION. Cr. Parfitt, moved that the council place on record its appreciation of the services of Cr. W. G. Hayward. Cr. Hayward, he said, had been a member” of the council; since its formation, and his: co-operation and assistance ha.d enabled it tc< sutmolrnt many , difficulties. To the' motion were added the names ofc Crs. Hare, and Nicholson, The resolution was seconded by Cr. Mayn and carried unanimously. Returning Or. Hayward said he appreciated the resolution very much, and wap: glad of <the opportunity of expressing his thanks for the treatment accorded him by the -council. The members had air ways co-operated with him, and his service during the last six years had been interesting and instructive, and lin'd given him a broader outlook on public affairs 1 . He would ask that his successor be given the sa ; me consideration as had been accorded' him. Being the last, meeting of the. present council the chairman, Cr. J. C. Miller, expressed his, appreciation of the courteous and Ifriendly manner in wliich members had .attended to business. Though at times swords had been crossed there had been no illfeeling. As some of the councillors had. been returned unopposed, some had retired, and some were being opposed a.t the coming election, he had come to the. conclusion that some o£ them had got their riding affairs into ; ueh a mess that no one else would attempt to straighten them out, while othere had managed .their affairs so well that there was competition for their seats. The present councillors bad all served honourably and wtell, and he knew they would' fight their elections on clean lines and in a friendly spirit.